Fox Puts Rush on "X-Men" For PS3 Blu-ray
Seeking to ride PlayStation 3 momentum, 20th Century Fox is rush-releasing "X-Men: The Last Stand" to Blu-ray Disc on November 14, three days before Sony's next-generation video game console makes its U.S. debut.
Executives from studios supporting the high-definition optical disc format
believe PS3 will be the Trojan horse that gives Blu-ray an unbeatable advantage
over rival HD-DVD. Both formats are vying to succeed standard DVD as consumers
transition to HDTV.
PS3, which will hit stores at retail prices starting at $499, comes with a built-in Blu-ray Disc drive, while the other hot game console in the market, Microsoft's Xbox 360, has an add-on HD-DVD drive available for about $200.
"The demographics between 'X-Men' and PlayStation 3 are a near-perfect match," said Steve Feldstein, senior vp marketing communications for 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. "This is the biggest new release yet for Blu-ray, and we're working closely with retailers and others to ensure that when people are buying their PS3s, they're going to know they can get 'X-Men' to play on it.
Fox's other Blu-ray titles coming November 14 include "Behind Enemy Lines," "Fantastic Four," "Kingdom of Heaven," "Kiss of the Dragon," "The Omen," "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen," "Speed" and "The Transporter."
The Blu-ray version of "X-Men: The Last Stand," which lists for $39.98, includes both the film -- with a domestic gross of $234.4 million, the year's No. 3 movie -- and all bonus materials in high-definition. The film itself is authored in HDMV with AVC (MPEG 4 compression) and features 6.1 DTS ES HD Lossless Master Audio. Bonus features include two commentary tracks (one from director Brett Ratner with writers Zak Penn and Simon Kinberg, the other with producers Avi Arad, Lauren Shuler Donner and Ralph Winter), 12 alternate or extended scenes, and a "Marvel Trivia Track" consisting of color graphics that pop up throughout the film with inside information on characters and events in the Marvel universe.
PS3, which will hit stores at retail prices starting at $499, comes with a built-in Blu-ray Disc drive, while the other hot game console in the market, Microsoft's Xbox 360, has an add-on HD-DVD drive available for about $200.
"The demographics between 'X-Men' and PlayStation 3 are a near-perfect match," said Steve Feldstein, senior vp marketing communications for 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. "This is the biggest new release yet for Blu-ray, and we're working closely with retailers and others to ensure that when people are buying their PS3s, they're going to know they can get 'X-Men' to play on it.
Fox's other Blu-ray titles coming November 14 include "Behind Enemy Lines," "Fantastic Four," "Kingdom of Heaven," "Kiss of the Dragon," "The Omen," "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen," "Speed" and "The Transporter."
The Blu-ray version of "X-Men: The Last Stand," which lists for $39.98, includes both the film -- with a domestic gross of $234.4 million, the year's No. 3 movie -- and all bonus materials in high-definition. The film itself is authored in HDMV with AVC (MPEG 4 compression) and features 6.1 DTS ES HD Lossless Master Audio. Bonus features include two commentary tracks (one from director Brett Ratner with writers Zak Penn and Simon Kinberg, the other with producers Avi Arad, Lauren Shuler Donner and Ralph Winter), 12 alternate or extended scenes, and a "Marvel Trivia Track" consisting of color graphics that pop up throughout the film with inside information on characters and events in the Marvel universe.
