Universal Says No to 'Jason Bourne Collection' HD DVD

[becomingwater]

Thought this was weird. Maybe Universal has some plans up their sleeve.


Universal Says No to 'Jason Bourne Collection' HD DVD
Thu Nov 15, 2007 at 11:00 AM ET
Tags: Disc Announcements, Universal (all tags)

That 'Jason Bourne Collection' HD DVD box set we wrote about a few months back? Universal says it's a no-go, but there is good news for fans hoping to pick up the Bourne trilogy on high-def.

As we first reported back in September, Universal had originally planned to issue an HD DVD box set containing all three Bourne flicks concurrent with its December 11 release of 'The Bourne Ultimatum.'

Since then, the studio has released full details for a standard DVD edition of 'The Jason Bourne Collection,' but we've not heard a peep regarding that high-def counterpart. The title has also been conspicuously absent from online retailer lists, with no major outlets offering an HD DVD version for pre-order.

With some prompting from a few 'Bourne' fans in our forums area, we contacted Universal for the scoop, and they confirmed what many had come to suspect -- the 'Jason Bourne Collection' is now an DVD-only release, and there are no current plans for an HD DVD version.

The studio was quick to point out that high-def fans won't actually be missing out on any new content. The DVD version of the 'Jason Bourne Collection' is set to include a bonus fourth disc containing three featurettes -- "The Ludlum Identity," "The Ludlum Supremacy" and "The Ludlum Ultimatum" -- but all three features were already included on the stand-alone HD DVD version of 'The Bourne Identity' (released back in July).

And although Universal may have scraped plans for the HD DVD box set, Amazon has stepped into the void, exclusively offering a three disc bundle that includes all three Bourne flicks for the low price of $49.95 (a savings of over $20 compared to buying each title at Amazon individually). Amazon's bundle is expected to ship on the same day as 'The Bourne Ultimatum,' December 11, 2007.

Given this latest news from Universal, we've shifted 'The Jason Bourne Collection' to the "Release Dates Postponed" section of our HD DVD Release Schedule.

For a complete look at the two previously-released 'Bourne' titles on HD DVD, click to read our full reviews of 'The Bourne Identity' and 'The Bourne Supremacy.' Watch for our 'Ultimatum' HD DVD review in earlier December!

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/sh...n_HD_DVD_/1171