FOX announces discs pre-CES

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CES: 'Ice Age,' 'I, Robot' Highlight Fox Q1 Blu-ray Wave
Fri Jan 04, 2008 at 03:22 PM ET
Tags: Disc Announcements, Fox, CES 2008 (all tags)

In a pre-CES announcement, Fox has unveiled their complete line-up of Blu-ray catalog titles for Q1 2008, including new dates for the long-delayed high-def debuts of as 'Ice Age' and 'I, Robot.'

Unveiled today via press release (which can be read in full here), Fox says it will be bringing six "must have" catalog titles to Blu-ray in the first three months of 2008.

Among those included in the diverse slate are the four previously-announced hits 'Man on Fire,' 'Me, Myself & Irene,' 'Wall Street' and 'Independence Day,' as well as the long-awaited debuts of 'I, Robot' and 'Ice Age' (both of which were originally scheduled for high-def release in 2007 but subsequently delayed).

The studio's complete announced Blu-ray catalog schedule for Q1 is now as follows:

January 8: 'Man on Fire'

February 5: 'Wall Street,' 'Me, Myself & Irene'

March 4: 'Ice Age'

March 11: 'Independence Day,' 'I, Robot'

Aside from a barebones edition of 'Man on Fire,' the remaining five titles will include most of the extras found on their standard-def DVD counterparts, including multiple audio commentaries, deleted scenes and trailers.

Blu-ray exclusives include trivia tracks and D-Box enhancement on 'Independence Day' and 'I, Robot,' while 'ID4' will also include the BD-Java interactive game "Alien Scavenger Hunt."

Tech specs for all titles include 1080p/MPEG-2 video and DTS-HD Lossless Master Audio 5.1 Surround tracks. (Note that some of these titles were initially announced with 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 video, but the press release now indicates MPEG-2 on all releases. We're updating our listings to reflect this new information, and will keep you posted should there be any further changes.)

Complete disc specs for each of these titles can be found in our Blu-ray Release Schedule, indexed under their respective street dates.

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FOX ANNOUNCES NEXT WAVE OF “MUST HAVE”
BLU-RAY DISC CATALOG TITLES

Includes the Highly Anticipated Blu-ray Debuts Of
ICE AGE, INDEPENDENCE DAY and I, ROBOT

MAN ON FIRE, WALL STREET, and ME, MYSELF & IRENE Also To Release on BD Q1 2008

LOS ANGELES -- Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (TCFHE) today confirmed the arrival of six fan favorite “must have” Blu-ray Disc catalog titles available in the first quarter of 2008. Highlights include the long-awaited BD debuts of ICE AGE (March 4), featuring everyone’s favorite sub-zero heroes in a daring quest to return a human baby to its tribe; the sci-fi action thriller INDEPENDENCE DAY (March 11) starring Academy Award®-nominated actor Will Smith and featuring a Blu-ray exclusive trivia track and BD-Java Alien Scavenger Hunt game that challenges players to correctly identify items in select scenes to unlock additional bonus features; and the high-tech action adventure I, ROBOT (March 11) also starring Will Smith and featuring a BD industry first – direct access to in-movie features through one of the four colored buttons on the BD remote that allows viewers to quickly access the enormous amount of bonus materials on the disc including commentaries, production diaries, extended and deleted scenes, trivia and more.

Additional BD titles to debut include the psychological thriller MAN ON FIRE starring Academy Award®-winning actors Denzel Washington and Christopher Walken available January 8; Academy Award®-winning director Oliver Stone’s behind-the-scenes look at corporate greed and corruption, WALL STREET, starring Charlie Sheen and Michael Douglas, in his Academy Award®-winning Best Actor performance; and the hilarious Farrelly brother’s comedy about nice guys with multiple personality disorders, ME, MYSELF & IRENE, starring Jim Carrey and Academy Award®-winning actress Renee Zellweger, both available February 5.

Each of Fox’s BD titles will be available for the suggested retail price of $39.98/49.98 CANADA.

MAN ON FIRE: Authored in BD-Java using MPEG2 compression and presented on a 50GB dual layer disc with English 5.1 DTS HD Lossless Master Audio and French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital Sound. Subtitles: English, Spanish, French.

WALL STREET: Authored in MPEG2 compression and presented on a 50GB dual layer disc with English 5.1 DTS HD Lossless Master Audio and English, French and Spanish subtitles. Bonus features include:

o Commentary by Oliver Stone
o Intro by Oliver Stone
o Greed is Good-Featurette
o Deleted Scenes with optional commentary by Director Oliver Stone
o Money Never Sleeps - The Making of Wall Street

ME, MYSELF & IRENE: Authored in MPEG2 compression and presented on a 25GB disc with English 5.1 DTS HD Lossless Master Audio and French 5.1 Dolby Digital Sound. Subtitles: English, Spanish, French. Bonus features include:

o Deleted scenes with optional commentary by Bobby Farrelly and Peter Farrelly
o Crap on the Lawn
o My Cow Likes The Road
o Warming The Melon
o Morning After
o Can't Find My Wallet
o Hat On Fire
o Dear Old Dad
o Sex Flashback
o Hank and Charlie Disagree
o Extended Butt Chin Scene
o Theatrical Trailers

ICE AGE: Authored in MPEG2 compression and presented on a 25GB disc with English 5.1 DTS HD Lossless Master Audio and French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital Sound. Subtitles: English, Spanish, French. Bonus features include:

o Commentary by Director Chris Wedge and Co-Director Carlos Saldanha
o Deleted Scenes with commentary by Director Chris Wedge and Co-Director Carlos Saldanha
o "Paying Toll"with Aardvarks
o Sylvia and Sid Introduction
o Sabre Stake Out
o No More Fruit For You
o Sid and the Ladies
o Sid and Sylvia
o Gone Nutty – Scrat’s Missing Adventure
o Theatrical Teaser
o Theatrical Trailers

INDEPENDENCE DAY: Authored in BD-Java using MPEG2 compression and presented on a 50GB dual-layer disc with English 5.1 DTS HD Lossless Master Audio and French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital Sound. Subtitles: English, Spanish, French. Bonus features include:

o Scene Specific Commentary by Director Roland Emerich and Producer Dean Devlin
o Commentary by Oscar-Winning FX supervisors Volker Engel and Doug Smith
o Trivia Track
o Search Content
o Personal Scene Selections
o Alien Scavenger Hunt (Java Game)
o D-Box Technology
o Theatrical Teaser
o Theatrical Trailers

I, ROBOT: Authored in BD-Java using MPEG2 compression and presented on a 50GB dual-layer disc English 5.1 DTS HD Lossless Master Audio and French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital Sound. Subtitles: English, Spanish, French. Bonus features include:

o Commentary by Director Alex Proyas and Screenwriter Akiva Goldsman
o Commentary by Screenwriter Jeff Vintar
o Commentary by Composer Marco Beltrami with isolated cues from the score
o I, Robot Trivia Track
o Extended and Deleted Scenes
o D-Box Technology

Blu-ray Disc is a next generation optical disc format developed for high-definition video and high-capacity software applications. A single-layer Blu-ray Disc holds up to 25 gigabytes of data and a dual-layer Blu-ray Disc holds up to 50 gigabytes of data. This greater storage capacity enables the Blu-ray Disc to store over six times the amount of content than is possible with current DVDs, and is particularly well-suited for high definition feature films with extended levels of additional bonus and interactive material. Blu-ray also features the most advanced copy protection, player backward compatibility with the current DVD format, connectivity and advanced interactivity.

The Studio’s commitment to emerging technologies is dedicated to enhancing the consumer experience of its products and providing for backward compatibility with their existing home entertainment libraries while also aggressively protecting its intellectual property from piracy. The Blu-ray companies fully embrace the Studio’s steadfast commitment to the fight against piracy and the preservation of the integrity of its properties. Twentieth Century Fox is a member of the Board of Directors of the Blu- ray Disc Association.

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 VHS, DVD and Blu-ray Disc (BD) 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.