Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) President David Bishop today announced, as part of the company’s first quarter Blu-ray line-up, that Bond will be making his way to Blu-ray with the much anticipated release of Casino Royale on March 13. Casino Royale, starring Bond newcomer Daniel Craig, grossed more than $400 million at the box office worldwide and will debut on a 50GB dual-layer disc encoded in MPEG-4 AVC. Consumers can see even more of Craig who also stars in Layer Cake, a riveting thriller set in the U.K. underworld, when it hits Blu-ray (50GB) that same day.
“With software sales up 700 percent since the mid-November launch of Playstation 3 and other Blu-ray hardware from manufacturers, the market is poised for maximum impact blockbusters like Casino Royale,” said David Bishop, President, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. “We’re proud to be the first to deliver Bond on Blu-ray with the best picture and sound quality available today. This is just the tip of the iceberg for Blu-ray in 2007.”
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Sony Pictures Animation’s first full-length animated feature, Open Season starring Ashton Kutcher and Martin Lawrence, will mark the debut of the first MPEG-4 AVC encoded BD title from SPHE on January 30. In addition to Casino Royale, three more dual-layer 50GB box office hits were announced for Q1. Gridiron Gang, starring Dwayne The Rock Johnson, will be available January 16 followed by Running with Scissors, with Annette Bening in a Golden Globe®-nominated performance, on February 6 and Stranger Than Fiction, featuring writer and producer Will Ferrell, February 27.
Catalog titles announced include Resident Evil: Apocalypse, featuring Blu-Wizard(TM), January 16 and Vertical Limit, February 20 (50GB). Also upcoming from the SPHE catalog are Hostel, Jerry Maguire and A Few Good Men. SPHE has released a broad selection of Blu-ray Disc titles since the format’s initial launch June 20, 2006. The studio was the first to deliver a 50GB Blu-ray Disc title with the release of Click October 10, followed by Black Hawk Down November 14 and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby on December 12.
Gridiron Gang - January 16 - Dwayne The Rock Johnson (The Rundown, Walking Tall) stars in this gritty and inspirational movie, based on a true story, about a group of teenage delinquents given a second chance to redeem themselves by playing football. The 50GB Blu-ray Disc features:
Deleted Scenes
Gridiron Gang: Football Training
Phil Joanou Profile
The Rock Takes the Field
Multi-Angle Football Scenes
Theatrical Teaser Trailer
Uncompressed audio
Resident Evil: Apocalypse - January 16 - After narrowly escaping the horrors of the underground Hive facility, Blu-ray beauty Milla Jovovich is thrust into a war raging above ground between the living and the undead in the nightmare sequel to the 2002 sci-fi action hit Resident Evil. Resident Evil: Apocalypse is the second Blu-ray Disc title to feature SPHE’s Blu-Wizard(TM), a unique playlist technology that allows users to customize special features to create a personalized “Playlist” that can be viewed as a supplement to the feature film. Special features consumers may customize on the Resident Evil: Apocalypse Blu-ray Disc include:
Game Over: RESIDENT EVIL Reanimated (a six-part making-of documentary)
Game Plan
Building Raccoon City
Running, Jumping, Fighting
Big Guns
Zombie Choreography
Smoke and Mirrors
Featurettes:
Game Babes
Symphony of Evil
Corporate Malfeasa
Deleted Scenes:
Weather Report
Graveyard Melee
Extended Stairway Chase
Umbrella Laboratory
Extended Gate Scene
“What are you staring at?”
Terry’s Big Break
Just Say No …
The Lord’s Judgment
“You be on the weather!”
Pray for Help
I Was A Ghetto Superstar
“What the hell was that?”
Point, Pull, Repeat Pt. 1
Alpha-Team Base
Point, Pull, Repeat Pt. 2
Stay Alive
Dogs in the Kitchen
“Save your ammo!”
Closure
Poster Gallery
Cast Outtakes
Uncompressed Audio
Open Season - January 30 - Sony Pictures Animation’s first full-length animated feature, Open Season, chronicles the journey of a domesticated grizzly bear (Martin Lawrence) and a fast-talking mule deer (Ashton Kutcher) who unite the woodland creatures and take the forest back before open hunting season. Encoded in MPEG-4 AVC, Open Season on Blu-ray Disc features hours of activities. The disc contains loads of added-value features in high-definition including:
Boog and Elliot’s Midnight Bun Run Short
Behind the Trees Featurette
The Voices Behind the Stars Featurette
Forest 102
Facial Tick
Music Video: Deathray - “I Wanna Lose Control (Uh Oh)” by Deathray
Activities:
Voice-A-Rama
Wheel of Fortune: Forest Edition
Swept Away Scene Deconstruction
Ringtales:
Rabbitball
Security Camera
Camouflage
Galleries:
Environments
Characters
Beat Boards
Running with Scissors - February 6 - A poignant film based on the personal memoirs of Augusten Burroughs, Running with Scissors is the critically acclaimed story of an outlaw childhood where rules were unheard of, valium was consumed like candy, and if things got dull an electroshock-therapy machine could provide entertainment. The 50GB Blu-ray Disc features:
Inside Outsiders Featurette
A Personal Memoir by Augusten Burroughs
Creating the Cuckoo’s Nest Featurette
The Tailor of Panama - February 6 - Based on the 1996 novel, The Tailor of Panama stars Pierce Brosnan and Geoffrey Rush in an espionage thriller set amidst the controversy of the handover of the Panama Canal from Panama to America in late 1999. The 50GB Blu-ray Disc contains:
The Perfect Fit: A Conversation with Pierce Brosnan and Geoffrey Rush
Alternate Ending
Vertical Limit - February 20 - K2, a 28,250-foot mountain in Pakistan’s Karakoram Range, is the perfect showpiece for Blu-ray’s high definition picture quality and theater quality audio in this adrenaline-pumping action-adventure film. The capability of the 50GB Blu-ray Disc allows viewers to see every detail of the breathtaking scenery in true high definition and comes loaded with special features including:
Surviving the Limit
Search and Rescue Tables
Vertigo Magic
As Easy as Falling off a Cliff
Avalanche!
The Death Zone
Peak Performers
The Elixir of Life
Credits and Acknowledgements
Stranger Than Fiction - February 27 - Will Ferrell shines in the original comedy Stranger Than Fiction, a tale about the journey of self-discovery to find the meaning of life. The 50GB Blu-ray Disc is filled with bonus features including:
Actors in Search of a Story – A discussion with director Marc Forster and cast members
“Building the Team” – The importance and contributions of Forster’s production, costume, photography, writing, special effects and editorial teams
“On Location in Chicago” – An in-depth look into the Windy City
Words on the Page – Dual interview with producer Lindsay Doran and writer Zach Helm discussing the film’s relevance
Script to Screen – Shooting script available as a gallery
Outtakes and Deleted Scenes
Deleted and Extended Scenes
On the Set – A montage of funny on the set moments
Picture a Number: The Evolution of a G.U.I. – A look at the special features
Casino Royale - March 13 - Casino Royale introduces James Bond to the world as he is earning his “00"status and is sent on a dangerous mission to trump a high stakes poker game that could take down one of the world’s largest terrorists organizations. Added-value features in high-definition on the Casino Royale 50GB MPEG-4 AVC encoded Blu-ray Disc include:
Becoming Bond – An intimate look at how Daniel Craig stepped into the role of the 6th James Bond
Bond Girls Are Forever – A closer look at Bond’s Leading Ladies (standard-def)
Chris Cornell Music Video, “You Know My Name”
Layer Cake - March 13 - Layer Cake is a riveting thriller set in the drug underworld of the U.K. and explores the dangerous world of sex, drugs, deception and money. The film stars Daniel Craig in a role that undoubtedly helped him prepare for his stint as James Bond in Casino Royale. The 50GB Blu-ray Disc is equipped with loads of added-value including:
Deleted and Extended Scene:
Duke at the Cafe
On the Rooftop
Lunch at Jimmy’s
Sidney and Sam
Charlotte
Setting Up the Meeting
How to Find Charlotte
Where is My Prisoner?
Fishing
Meeting at Gene’s
Tiptoes Has Been Calling
Driving Away Alternate Ending
Guarding the Goods
XXXX in Bed with the Gun
Alternate Ending On the Staircase
Q&A Screening with Matthew Vaughn and Daniel Craig
Behind the Scenes Featurette
