Avatar Blu-ray & DVD official for April 22, "ultimate version" in November and 3D...?

It's really no surprise, since Fox was quick to dispute Jim Cameron's prediction of November for a 3D home release of Avatar but didn't say anything about the now confirmed release of April 22 (check the press release after the break for worldwide release info) for the standard 2D DVD & Blu-ray. The L.A. Times reports we can expect one first for this version -- a new release Blu-ray movie with no trailers or promo content of any kind. No extras, no nothing, with the justification that they'll use all the space on the disc for the highest quality audio and video transfer possible. Whether you buy that one (literally or just the idea that 50GB isn't enough for a beautiful movie and a featurette or two) get your wallet ready as an "ultimate version" multi disc release is already on deck due in, wait for it... November. The "ultimate" tag might be a bit much if it can't present an extra dimension to the visuals, but we should find out more during a press event planned for March 23 featuring producer Jon Landau and director James Cameron (the Black Eyed Peas are regrettably not scheduled to attend.)

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TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCES AVATAR BLU-RAY DISC AND DVD
GLOBAL RELEASE DATES

Much-Anticipated Blu-ray and DVD Launch of James Cameron's
History-Making Epic Begins April 22 -
Coinciding with the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day



LOS ANGELES (March 16, 2010) – Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment today announced that it will launch director James Cameron's history-making motion picture AVATAR on Blu-ray Disc and DVD on Thursday, April 22.

AVATAR on Blu-ray presents the ultimate high definition experience for home viewing audiences. Fans around the world will soon be able to discover every detail and relive every moment of James Cameron's AVATAR in the comfort of their own home. Blu-ray is recognized for presenting optimal picture and sound, and now AVATAR's masterful cinematography, art direction and visual effects will lend itself to awe-inspiring clarity when you become absorbed in the extraordinary all-encompassing experience in the living room.

Since its global theatrical release last December, AVATAR has continued to make motion picture history. Written by James Cameron and produced with his long-time collaborator Jon Landau, AVATAR stars Sam Worthington, Zoë Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Wes Studi and Laz Alonso.

Oscarâ and Golden Globe® winning epic is the highest grossing film of all time, taking in over $2.6 billion in worldwide box office. Director James Cameron takes audiences to a spectacular world beyond imagination, where a reluctant hero embarks on a journey of redemption and discovery as he leads a heroic battle to save a civilization. AVATAR delivers a fully immersive cinematic experience of a new kind, where the revolutionary technology invented to make the film disappears into the emotion of the characters and the epic nature of the story.

AVATAR will be available on Blu-ray Disc and DVD everywhere in the United States and Canada on Earth Day, April 22. Please see below for additional release dates around the world:



FRANCE – April 21 BELGIUM – April 21
NETHERLANDS – April 21 SPAIN – April 21
CHINA – April 22 BRAZIL – April 22
RUSSIA – April 22 NORTH AMERICA – April 22
GERMANY – April 23 JAPAN – April 23
SWITZERLAND – April 23 MEXICO – April 23
UK – April 26 DENMARK – April 27
NORWAY – April 28 SWEDEN – April 28
NEW ZEALAND – April 28 AUSTRALIA – April 29
FINLAND – April 30 ITALY – May 6


About Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
A recognized global industry leader, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment LLC (TCFHE) is the worldwide marketing, sales and distribution company for all Fox film and television programming on DVD, Blu-ray Disc (BD) and Digital Copy as well as acquisitions and original productions. The company also releases all products around the globe for MGM Home Entertainment. Each year TCFHE introduces hundreds of new and newly enhanced products, which it services to retail outlets -- from mass merchants and warehouse clubs to specialty stores and e-commerce - throughout the world. Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment LLC is a subsidiary of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, a News Corporation company.

[barkingghos Posted Mar 16th 2010 12:25PM]

Are they forcing BD fans to pay extra for a DVD most BD fans would consider to be worthless?

[RichardLawler Posted Mar 16th 2010 12:36PM]

@(Unverified) do you honestly believe that plays into the pricing at all?

[John H Posted Mar 16th 2010 12:59PM]

@RichardLawler

Maybe not, but I wish they would offer a standalone Blu-ray version and then a DVD/Blu-ray combo, rather than a standalone DVD and a DVD/Blu-ray combo. That way it can be pitched to customers as "If you only want the BD version, just buy that. If you want the DVD version, take this BD version as well for whenever you upgrade." Right now the only people who buy the BD and would need the DVD version are those who might have entertainment systems in their cars. Of course I guess whichever way it goes, someone will end up getting something they might never really have a use for (i.e. BD fans with no DVD players or DVD fans with no BD upgrade plans).

[erh Posted Mar 16th 2010 4:15PM]

It costs less than 50 cents to manufacture a DVD, and around $2 to manufacture a Blu-Ray disc. The majority of the price goes towards the movie, not the discs it's reproduced on.

[techlord Posted Mar 16th 2010 12:34PM]

They gonna 4th dip on the release

movie + dvd
movie + extra
3d movie
3d movie + extra

[John H Posted Mar 16th 2010 1:01PM]

@techlord

Would that surprise you? Look at how many times Lord of the Rings has dipped -- and we're still waiting for the Extended Edition on BD.

[FORDY Posted Mar 16th 2010 1:13PM]

Man, I really hoped Blu-Ray wasn't going to fragment like this and cause haptic confusion among consumers..

Why oh why can they not just give us a movie, with 3D if we have it, or 2D if we don't.. would save an upgrade of movies as well as hardware too.

Not to mention the TV Series' (I have Band of Brothers in mind) where they put just a couple on a disc so they can sell a chunky metal box set as "Contains EIGHT HD Discs" - when you know they'd all fit on like, 2.

[Cory Bauer Posted Mar 16th 2010 1:23PM]

The fact that the April release isn't 3D is annoying (Fox is releasing Ice Age in 3D Blu-Ray the same month), but it would be absolutely outrageous if the November release isn't 3D. They were using the excuse that the market for 3D doesn't exist yet; a bogus excuse, considering 3D Blu-ray's are backwards compatible with 2D players. There should only be one blu-ray release, and when people upgrade their equipment in the future they'll be able to enjoy the 3rd dimension at that time. There's absolutely no excuse for their being a separate 3D release, apart from the fact that 2.6B apparently isn't enough profit for Fox.

[Cory Bauer Posted Mar 16th 2010 1:27PM]

The major manufacturers are all rolling out their 3D HDTVs and players RIGHT NOW; the fact that people can't buy the movie that got them interested in 3D in the first place — possibly until sometime in 2011 — is going to single-handedly stagnate 3D adoption.

[Darren Pillans Posted Mar 17th 2010 5:45AM]

@Cory Bauer

I totally agree with both of your posts.

As someone that plans on my first 1080P TV purchase this year to be 3D, this Avatar Blu-Ray release news makes me livid.

[Hexen302 Posted Mar 16th 2010 4:06PM]

I wonder now how long it will be until Netflix has it available for streaming in HD!!!!

[Cory Bauer Posted Mar 17th 2010 1:22AM]

@Hexen302 At the rate Netflix currently adds desirable films to their HD streaming library, about 75 years.

[Darren Pillans Posted Mar 16th 2010 9:22PM]

I dislike the trend of releasing a bare-bones version whilst telling us there'll be a Special Edition down the track. Why not wait just a little longer and release one definitive version and be done with it?

I find it extremely disappointing that Cameron used this movie to build the buzz for 3D and now he says it won't be out on 3D Blu-Ray until at least next year because Fox wants more 3D hardware penetration in the market first. Thanks a lot Jimbo.

So what, we're gonna see 3 separate Blu-Ray releases for Avatar? Great.

I'm sick of the excessive milking that goes on and the consumer being treated with such disrespect.

[UnnDunn Posted Mar 17th 2010 12:47AM]

@Darren Pillans Then don't buy all the extended/ultimate/3D/supercalafragilisticexpialidocious versions. They wouldn't make them if people didn't buy them.

[Darren Pillans Posted Mar 17th 2010 5:02AM]

@UnnDunn

It's your kind of response that angers me even more.

Did you read the first paragraph of my post?

[UnnDunn Posted Mar 17th 2010 7:43AM]

@Darren Pillans Yes. And my response still stands.

Like it or not, the studios are doing exactly what they need to do in order to maximize revenue from their movies. That's just the way the world works. Deal with it.

[Darren Pillans Posted Mar 17th 2010 9:56AM]

@UnnDunn

And why are you so happy defending their despicable apathetic capitalistic methods?

Are you a drone with no opinion or willingness to criticise them?

[UnnDunn Posted Mar 17th 2010 11:51AM]

@Darren Pillans No, I'm a realist who recognizes why this model exists.

The only people who think this model is "despicable" are those whose lives are ruled by studio Blu-ray release schedules.

It's just movies. No-one is pointing a gun to your head and forcing you to buy the standard/special/3D/digital-copy/ultimate edition. Deal with it.

[Gordon Posted Apr 4th 2010 2:04AM]

@Darren Pillans …Sometimes I only care about having a barebones edition. Like, if I like the movie enough to own it, but not enough to watch special features (or, more to the point, spend the money on those generally more expensive editions).

So actually, I like it if they say they're planning a souped-up edition, too, because then I know to wait for the fancy one, if I like the movie. They're actually doing us a favor — and trying to AVOID the perception of double-dipping — by telling us this stuff.

Also, sometimes the later special editions or ultimate editions or whatever are because a different distribution company picked up the rights to the movie from the studio that owns them — but the new distributor DON'T have the rights to everything from that first release, so they make their own disc. And of course they want to add something new, to entice people to repurchase it — or they strip something away (from the packaging, more often than not) in order to get the manufacturing cost down. I mean, that just makes business sense. (In Hollywood, the distributors and studios are often the same company, of course, so this isn't always the case.)

It's capitalistic, sure, but I don't see what's despicable about that specific practice, and I'm a pretty big pinko.

Anyway, really, how often have you felt stung by a new edition of a movie you've already bought? I'm just curious, because I can only think of two movies I've repurchased, because I really wanted the new stuff: Iron Giant and The Dark Crystal.

[shivah Posted Mar 23rd 2010 9:32AM]

Good post

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