Hot on the heals of announcements from Paramount and Dreamworks to exclusively support HD DVD, Fox and MGM unveiled their strategy for Blu-ray releases which includes over 29 titles.
Among the titles are new theatrical releases from Fox, including the FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER and LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD, four new theatrical releases from MGM, 19 'must-have on BD' films from the two studios' libraries, Fox's first-ever TV release on BD - PRISON BREAK, along with Fox's intention to release at least one state-of-the-art title per month featuring numerous BD 'firsts.'
We've also seen recently, reports of how Blu-Ray titles have been outselling HD DVD on a global basis. Commenting on this, Mike Dunn, President Worldwide, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, said "Given that Blu-ray has consistently outsold HD DVD all year, and this is the case for any titles released by any studio in both formats, we believe that the time is right for us to accelerate our activities and help convert the nearly 60 million high definition households worldwide into Blu-ray households. By the end of this calendar year there will be expansive availability of technically vibrant releases featuring never-before-seen, advanced BD-J interactivity as well as a broad offering of playback devices at attractive prices that will prove to any doubting consumers once and for all that Blu-ray is the only way."
"And as Blu-ray continues to grow stronger, it has become survival of the fittest which is most apparent in the retail landscape where our eager and growing global Blu-ray consumer base has caused a shift that is forcing the allocation of more space to the format that is selling the best. And, in many recent instances of note, top retailers in North America are choosing to promote the Blu-ray format exclusively in their stores," continued Dunn.
Along with the better picture quality, the higher capacity available on Blu-ray media (25GB on single layer and 50GB on double layer), allows for many features to be made available such as BD-Java interactivity which supoprts advanced or sophisticated content such as network access to download trailers, picture in picture display and even games. All Blu-ray Disc players supporting video content are required to support BD-J.
Mr Dunn also commented on this, "By the end of this calendar year there will be expansive availability of technically vibrant releases featuring never-before-seen, advanced BD-J interactivity as well as a broad offering of playback devices at attractive prices that will prove to any doubting consumers once and for all that Blu-ray is the only way."
Listed below are the upcoming Blu-ray Disc releases from Fox and MGM excluding new theatrical day & date BD/DVD releases. EXACT TITLE CONFIGURATIONS TO FOLLOW IN THE COMING WEEKS.
| TITLE | Nth America RELEASE | INTERNATIONAL RELEASE |
| MASTER & COMMANDER | OCT. 2 | OCT. |
| THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW | OCT. 2 | NOV. |
| FROM HELL | OCT. 9 | OCT. |
| THE FLY (1986) | OCT. 9 | Q1 08 |
| EDWARD SCISSORHANDS | OCT. 9 | NOV. |
| 28 DAYS LATER | OCT. 9 | North America Only |
| ROBOCOP (MGM) | OCT. 9 | DEC. |
| AMITYVILLE HORROR (1979) (MGM) | OCT. 9 | North America Only |
| BATTLE OF BRITAIN (MGM) | NOV. 6 | Q1 08 |
| A BRIDGE TOO FAR (MGM) | NOV. 6 | Q1 08 |
| I, ROBOT | NOV. 13 | Q1 08 |
| DIE HARD | NOV. | NOV. |
| DIE HARD 2: DIE HARDER | NOV | NOV. |
| DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE | NOV. | NOV. |
| RED DAWN (MGM) | NOV. | Q1 08 |
| MR. AND MRS. SMITH | DEC. 4 | DEC. |
| INDEPENDENCE DAY | DEC. 4 | DEC. |
| CAST AWAY | DEC. 4 | North America Only |
| RONIN (MGM) | DEC. 4 | DEC. |