Downloadable files coming to next Harry Potter DVD

Users clamoring for alternate (read: easier) ways to transport commercial DVD footage to portable media players will likely enjoy knowing that the next Harry Potter DVD will reportedly feature "two downloadable digital files" for easy viewing on devices other than a vanilla DVD player. According to Jim Wuthrich, Warner senior VP of digital distribution, users can "buy the DVD and have the option of the digital copy," and apparently, he also suggested that "another studio was preparing to launch digital copies of a film tied to its DVD release." Unfortunately, details about the actual formats and whatnot weren't disclosed, so barring any unforeseen announcements, it looks like we'll be waiting for the December 11th release of Order of the Phoenix to find out exactly what this disc contains.

[Via ArsTechnica]

[David @ Oct 10th 2007 11:44PM]

Hello, Piracy!

[Piracy @ Oct 10th 2007 11:54PM]

Hi

[Josh @ Oct 11th 2007 12:41AM]

Should have figured someone would name themselves piracy...

[IndiaTech @ Oct 11th 2007 5:13AM]

Hi Piracy, I am RIAA

[c.g. @ Oct 10th 2007 11:52PM]

well finally the studios are starting to understand what most of us want.. and where the technology is shifting... weird that itunes and others have still not struck any deals to distribute content in canada and other countries... very frustrating...

[a ham sandwich @ Oct 10th 2007 11:53PM]

mm? smell that? smells like DRM-laden small pieces of the whole movie. i LOVE that smell.

[David @ Oct 10th 2007 11:57PM]

Does it smell as good as napalm in the morning?

[a ham sandwich @ Oct 11th 2007 12:04AM]

better

[Laron @ Oct 10th 2007 11:58PM]

Potta...

[Saffy @ Oct 11th 2007 12:04AM]

According to Jim Wuthrich, Warner senior VP of digital distribution, users can "buy the DVD and have the option of the digital copy,"

Someone should tell Mr. Big "VP of digital distribution" that a DVD a digital copy.

moron...

[Saffy @ Oct 11th 2007 12:06AM]

*is

[john @ Oct 11th 2007 12:24AM]

Amazing!
Soon Apple will sell iphones with downloadable video of 3rd party apps being used on the iphone, so you can play the videos and make coworkers 'believe' you're one of those crazy bad-ass hacker/rebels with 3rd party apps installed!!! -- but really you're a good little boy Steve-minion. Only Steve and you will know your little secret!! :)

Unlocked and Installed, baby!

[Andrew @ Oct 11th 2007 12:25AM]

Too bad the movie sucked.

[Kyle Mahaney @ Oct 11th 2007 12:46AM]

Quite the contrary. It did a fairly good job sizing down an gigantic novel with many different subplots. It was defidentally better than PoA and GoF as far as staying true to the source material.

[Andrew @ Oct 11th 2007 1:50AM]

I'm not going to lie, I'm a purist. I liked the third movie because of the style, mostly. It's really the only one that I've enjoyed enough to watch multiple times. I think that the sheer volume of material in the later books doesn't allow for a movie adaptation that truly captures the essence of the novel. In my opinion, it's not necessarily the plot of the Harry Potter novels that makes them so enjoyable, but the nuance and back story that truly make it worthwhile, and I really think that's what you can't really get in a movie.

[andy @ Oct 11th 2007 10:23AM]

Andrew and tits, you guys nailed it.

The problem with the movie isn't the movie, but the book. The thing that made the books so great was the detail and the backstory and the way it all fit together.

When we walked out of that movie, I said, "Man that was short." You need a 4 or 5 hour director's cut to make that movie have the work of art that the book is. The setup at Sirius' house was completely absent compared to the book.

I'm praying that they made that 4 hour director's cut, and that's something that would make me buy the movie twice. (unlike star wars and Lucas' 5min extra cut)

I welcome premade downloads. That way, I can quit making them myself.

[tande @ Oct 11th 2007 12:52AM]

I think you're already seeing this.

IIRC the Target version of 300 had a version for your portable device. I never got that version so I don't know what it all entailed but I thought it was a great idea at the time.

[Nic Aragon @ Oct 11th 2007 1:09AM]

All of the DVD's we release at the publisher/developer i work at include the iPod version in the DVD-ROM contents folder so the user can take our DVD on the go wiht them on their video ipod.

Granted we are a low budget special interest publisher that develops our own content, like fitness and indy wrestling, and arent big, they wouldnt be the first to do it. I came up with including it over a year ago and have been authoring all the dvd's with the iPod version since.

you can find out stuff at frys, best buy, other retailers.

[Tyler @ Oct 11th 2007 1:10AM]

Sounds like/similar to the "Managed Copy" feature in the HD DVD spec. Not sure if there was one in Blu-ray, though. I personally like the idea. Hopefully, it works out for the consumer :)

[Bob Brown @ Oct 11th 2007 1:22AM]

*ding* One order of pheonix on rye coming up

[2Perfect @ Oct 11th 2007 1:32AM]

or you can always just download the dvd for free and convert to a portable format like you always do. Seriously. The people who will do this most likely already know of a way to do this anyway :$ lol.

[britainforever24 @ Oct 11th 2007 1:45AM]

Harry Potter is a brilliant franchise. The best movies ever put into cinemas are Harry Potter movies according to rottentomatoes.com, just goes to show how the brits are always number one at everything. Of course Americans always copy our ideas; American Idol, America's got talent (LOL oxymoron), and the list goes on. Oh btw X-factor is a notch above crappy american idol. British TV and Cinema is the best in the world.

[strat @ Oct 11th 2007 3:24AM]

Armericas got talent came first.
get your facts straight before you mouth off. (btw i am british)

would be great to have it already converted but I cant see it being drm free which sucks!

[Nick @ Oct 11th 2007 8:57AM]

obviously you havent seen many movies. I am a huge fan of the books, but the movies just dont cut it. I would recommend you look into something called AFI and watch some of the movies on their list.

[rockintom @ Oct 11th 2007 10:49AM]

Um, some people are better at things than other people, regardless of where they are from. Stop being such a prejudice moron.

Also, the Harry Potter movies are generally crap.

[rouge @ Oct 11th 2007 2:30AM]

get off the flagpole britiangorever.

There's alot of things about England that the US lack...
but HP being the best movies?
Ever put into Cinema?
According to Rottentomatoes.com?

....
You're not very smart.

[Matt - Perth @ Oct 11th 2007 3:36AM]

Still.... you gotta admit... Hermione is daaaaamn fine ;)

[andy @ Oct 11th 2007 10:27AM]

amen.

And then there's Cho with the odd combination of an Asian with a scottish accent. Very interesting.

[macmankev @ Oct 11th 2007 3:42AM]

My guess is that the DVD will probably include promo codes for two of the most popular movie download services. My guess is iTunes and Amazon Unbox. Both easy to use and I know iTunes can tie a promo code directly to a specific title or titles, Unbox is probably the same. Plus DRM is built into the files when you download them. Probably just enter the code on a little card included in the DVD case and it's downloaded and you can load it straight to your iPod or whatever.

[Thomas Wrobel @ Oct 11th 2007 4:30AM]

Why should I buy the film twice anyway :?

The medium is worthless, the film is what I'm paying for.

[joel @ Oct 11th 2007 6:46PM]

I can't remember the title, but I remember seeing a sticker on a DVD in Wal-Mart last week that said if you buy this movie, you can get the download version for $X at Wal-Mart.com. Can't remember the price, but with Wal-Mart already the #1 seller of DVDs, and them already doing something similar, it seems likely that it could be a "Wal-Mart Exclusive". Now before you folks start flaming me for goign into a Wal-Mart, keep in mind I live in the sticks (literally I live in a forest) and the Wal-Mart is the only non-grocery-only store within a 1/2 hr drive.