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What's coming to Netflix in September: 'The Politician' and 'The Spy'
We're edging into the final embers of the summer and as the weather starts to turn for many of us, we'll perhaps find ourselves curled up on the couch a little more often to stream some movies, shows and whatever else happens to be on offer. To wit, Netflix has revealed much of what's coming to its platform in September.
What's coming to Netflix in January: 'Kimmy Schmidt' and Star Wars
Most of us will have a couple of days off at the start of the year before getting back to work after the holidays, and Netflix hopes to keep us occupied with a slew of show and movie additions. January 1st brings the final season of A Series of Unfortunate Events, along with stand-up series Comedians of the World and Tidying Up with Marie Kondo -- perfectly timed to inspire a start-of-year clear out.
The first season of Telltale's 'Batman' wraps next week
Just a year after it was announced, the first season of developer Telltale Games' Batman series is drawing to a close. Its final episode "City of Light" will makes its debut on December 13th on Android, iOS, PC, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. And, based on how you played the penultimate installment, you'll start episode five in pretty different places, according to Telltale.
Warner Bros. signs distribution deal with Lovefilm, ahead of Netflix's UK arrival
With Netflix creeping ever closer to its UK doorstep, Lovefilm is readying its defense -- beginning with Warner Bros. Today, the Amazon-owned streaming and rental service announced a new, multi-year partnership with the Brothers Warner, promising to deliver "wider choice and more access" to content across multiple platforms. Under the deal, users will be able to access a range of Warner Bros.' recent and forthcoming titles on their iPad, PlayStation 3, and, as of later this year, their Xbox 360, among other devices. The agreement will go into effect this December, with films like The Dark Knight, The Hangover, Gran Torino and Sex and the City 2 all available for exclusive viewing. Beginning in 2012, customers will be able to rent Warner Bros. titles 60 days after retail release, either via Lovefilm's DVD and Blu-Ray subscription service, or the studio's WarnerFilms channel. Intrigued cinephiles can whet their appetites with the full PR, after the break.
Warner posts The Dark Knight Rises trailer, we're already waiting for it on Blu-ray
The new Chris Nolan Batman flick is still a year away from hitting theaters, but after The Dark Knight we're more than convinced it will be worth the wait whenever it comes home on Blu-ray. Warner Bros. posted the first teaser trailer for The Dark Knight Rises on Facebook today, hit the source link or look after the break to check it out. There's some glimpses of Bane and desperate words from Commissioner Gordon spliced up with the briefest of looks at Batman doing his thing,
Warner Bros. starts renting movies via Facebook
If you were looking for something more worthwhile to spend Facebook credits on than virtual trinkets for some game, Warner has an idea: all those movies you said you "liked." Starting today it is testing out a plan to rent movies right on their respective pages for 30 Facebook credits / $3 each. The first one on deck is The Dark Knight (again?) which should be live later today, with more available to rent or purchase in the future. there's no word on resolution or other features, but at the price we're assuming SD only. Full details are in the press release after the break, but the rentals have the standard 48-hour VOD window and can be paused/resumed simply by logging back into Facebook. In its current state, we doubt Netflix, Amazon and the rest have anything to worry about as far as competition, but maybe Warner thinks it can snag a few bucks from simply making sure there's a buy button of some kind awaiting our various identities in as many places as possible.
Warner packages movies as iOS apps, starting with The Dark Knight and Inception
Online rentals and purchases of movies are still just a tiny fraction of the home video pie, but Warner's latest effort to expand that is similar to Paramount's recent efforts on Windows Phone 7 (Thanks SteveyAyo), offering its highest profile flicks as apps for iPhones and iPads. The Dark Knight and Inception are the first two releases out of the gate, offering free apps with some bonus content and the first five minutes of the movie, then charging $9.99 and $11.99, respectively to unlock the rest. According to Warner, it offers a different experience than simply purchasing the flick over iTunes because of the extras which include Twitter and Facebook integration among the extras, plus the ability to offer the digital version in countries where iTunes doesn't sell movies yet, like China, Brazil and the Netherlands. There's a video demo and press release after the break, but the downside of being locked to portable devices is keeping us from clicking the buy button for now, but if you could sprinkle some Ultraviolet on it, we might change our tune. %Gallery-116925%
The Dark Knight isn't ready to surrender its all-time Blu-ray sales crown yet
Apparently four days isn't all Avatar needed to bypass The Dark Knight for best selling Blu-ray disc ever, as Warner ?Bros. has informed the public that the growly voiced hero has moved 2.9 million high definition units in the U.S. and Canada, more than the 2.5 million previously noted. Of course, since Avatar was up to 2.7 million in just four days, it's probably flying by Batman right about... now. Update: Just that fast, Avatar is already claiming the biggest day 1 Blu-ray sales in U.K. history with 222,824, so clearly it's not feeling too bad about the short setback.
The next Batman flick could be all-IMAX
It's absolutely no secret that The Dark Knight director Chris Nolan is a big fan of IMAX, the latest rumors indicate his third Batman flick could make the jump from part-time to full time. The IMAX scenes fom The Dark Knight came home in frame filling 16x9 to the delight of some and the ire of others, but perhaps a movie that didn't switch between aspect ratios would have a more universally positive response. Of course, Ain't It Cool News reports this could all fall through despite the best of intentions, but, are you excited by the potential of 100% IMAX feature films?[Via Splash Page]
Michael Bay plans The Dark Knight-style IMAX sequences for Transformers 2 Blu-ray
Hope you liked The Dark Knight's treatment of its shot-for-IMAX scenes, as it may be a trend. Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen director (and Blu-ray fan for life) Michael Bay has stated that among other unspecified extras, the disc release will see similar frame filling transfers that let viewers see top to bottom. This is your chance to be heard, are you a fan, or just want everything in one aspect ratio?
If you saw Star Trek or The Dark Knight on IMAX Digital, did you get your money's worth?
Since most of you are apparently waiting to see Star Trek at home anyway, this might not affect you but recently there's been a ruckus over what constitutes "real" IMAX. Judging from the map above, the company has been very successful spreading its IMAX Digital gospel to movie theaters across the country, but when patrons drop an extra $5 or so and don't see the gigantic field of vision-filling screen they're used to, is that really the IMAX experience? Whether you agree with IMAX CEO Richard Gelfond that the quality of digital projection, improved sound and slightly shifted viewing angle is enough to create the "wow factor" or Aziz Ansari's accusation of Liemax for the converted theaters, it's not right that it usually isn't clearly indicated which kind of setup your local theater has until you're actually inside. Check out the Google Map link to know what your local moviehouse is like, and let us know which kind of screen you've seen recent blockbusters like The Dark Knight and Star Trek on.[Thanks, Ryan]Read - AZIZ VS. IMAX ROUND 2: IMAX CEO Responds! And so do I. I challenge you to a televised debate sir!Read - IMAX Digital vs. 70mm IMAX Google Map
Sony still pushing the potential of BD-Live, but is anyone listening?
Still believe in the potential of BD-Live? Sony does, exec David Bishop called this the "Pong" stage of development in the technology during an industry demo yesterday on its lot. Apparently wanting to get some fresh eyes on BD-Live after some glitchy releases and underwhelming features, Sony, Disney and others are still trying to find different ways to work BD-Live into their discs, and new wireless capable players like Samsung's 2009 models mighty see more people going online. We've seen live directors chats, games, story databases and other twists, but at the moment we're not as optimistic about where BD-Live is headed in 2009 and beyond.
The Dark Knight Blu-ray Disc up to 2.8 million worldwide, driving PS3 sales
Fresh off saving packaged media and smashing first week sales records, The Dark Knight Blu-ray is up to nearly 3 million copies sold worldwide, according to Senior VP Dorinda Marticorena. Beyond that, while PlayStation 3 sales may not have quite matched the competition in December 2008, 1/3 of the people who did buy counted the latest Batman flick as a reason why. Warner Bros. Q4 numbers also came out today and were up about 7%, not the least of which had to do with TDK outperforming most of the studio's 2007 releases. Hopefully up to the challenge with their home releases this year? The Watchmen and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Good luck.[Via Blu-ray.com and Movie Web]
Engadget HD CES schwag giveaway: Blu-ray discs and more
Although the announcements at CES weren't particularly wonderful this year, the schwag was pretty sweet. In fact at the Blu-ray Disc Association press event some of the best schwag of the entire show was dispensed -- assuming you like Blu-ray Discs, which we do. You'd expect that if discs were given away, the titles wouldn't be anything to write home about. But in this case, the BDA gave out six movies and a few of them were not only the hottest selling this year, but one of them (The Dark Knight) was the hottest of all time. So we're passing on the goods to our favorite people, which is of course our readers. Up for grabs is four sets of the following movies; The Dark Knight, Batman Begins (Limited Edition Gift Set), WALL-E, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Pineapple Express, and Dr. Suess' Horton Hears a Who! We're also including a Blu-ray branded bag to tote 'em in and one lucky winner will also receive some additional schwag. If you're interested, leave a comment below and we'll randomly pick four winners for the discs and one of those four will also get a TiVo doll, a Cyberlink wallet and a few other goodies -- see below. The rules: Leave a comment below. Any comment will do, though we'd prefer to hear about your favorite CES announcement. You may only enter this specific giveaway once. If you enter this giveaway more than once you'll be automatically disqualified, etc. (Yes, we have robots that thoroughly check to ensure fairness.) If you enter more than once, only activate one comment. This is pretty self explanatory. Just be careful and you'll be fine. Contest is open to anyone in the 50 States, 18 or older! Sorry, we don't make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so be mad at our lawyers and contest laws if you have to be mad. Winners will be chosen randomly. Four winners will receive one (1) copy of each of the following movies on Blu-ray; The Dark Knight, Batman Begins (Limited Edition Gift Set), WALL-E, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Pineapple Express, Dr. Suess' Horton Hears a Who!, and a Blu-ray bag. Approximate value is $239.99. In addition one of those winners will also receive a TiVo doll, REALD 3D glasses, Cyberlink wallet, Samsung notebook and pen, and Rock & Roll beads from The Digital Experience. Approximate value is $5. Entries can be submitted until Monday, January 26th, 11:59PM ET. Good luck! Full rules can be found here.
Roku digital video player adding Amazon Video On Demand
Roku owners looking to go discless are one step closer, now that Amazon Video On Demand will be available on the box after a free software update in early 2009. Fulfilling the promise of more "big name" providers to come, flicks like The Dark Knight, Pineapple Express or any of Amazon's 40,000 other titles can be purchased and played back to the TV for a 24 hour window. The bad news? Max bitrate is an h.264 compressed 1200Kbps. Not bad if SD only is your bag, but we're even more eagerly awaiting another Amazon VOD HD rumor.
Blu-ray lifts UK disc sales
Blu-ray sales in the UK didn't keep up their mind melting increases from earlier in the year, but considering the economic slowdown worldwide, a 378% jump from 2007 doesn't seem too disappointing. The British Video Association and Official Charts Company numbers point out a 1.9% lift in DVD sales as a whole in 2008, including 3.7 million on Blu-ray. The Dark Knight finished the year moving 281,000 Blu-ray copies as the UK's best selling HD release. We'll see how things proceed in '09, hopefully with cheaper players on the way.
DISH Network adds The Dark Knight to 1080p on-demand movie lineup
Here's an indication of just how important The Dark Knight is to the movie / content industry. DISH Network has just pushed out a bona fide press release solely to announce that the aforementioned film is now available via its 1080p on-demand service. Customers of the satcaster who skipped out on the Blu-ray version and would rather just rent can spend their New Year's Eve trying to figure out if Batman's voice can possibly go any deeper without exploding for just $6.99.
The Dark Knight saved 2008 for packaged media
Even the most optimistic analysts didn't predict that The Dark Knight would be able to single-handedly save packaged media sales in 2008. But thanks to the 13.5 million units sold, packaged media income was only down 3% to $22.9 billion in revenues -- that's with a B. This is hardly the doomsday loses predicted and down right impressive when compared to the US economy as a whole and many in the industry are thanking Blu-ray for this. While some predicted that digital downloads would be the next saving grace, it is actually Blu-ray that is showing promise. Now to be fair it should be noted that The Dark Knight won't be available in HD on digital download services until tomorrow, but then again that is part of the problem. And while we know that the Blu-ray version of The Dark Knight brought in about $50 million in one week, we'd be very surprised if any of the download services anounced even a fifth of that next week.
Nielsen VideoScan High-Def market share for week ending December 14th, 2008
The Dark Knight didn't disappoint anyone this week as it clearly outsold any other title (this week and the history of Blu-ray) by an unprecedented level according to Nielsen VideoScan numbers courtesy of Home Media Magazine. Although TDK didn't make the top 10 on Blu-ray's market share chart this week -- thanks to a number of catalog titles, which are obviously availability at a great price somewhere -- based on our estimates it managed just under eight percent of DVD's share. This is barely half of what Blu managed overall, which was at an all time high of 14 percent -- the highest before this was October 5th (Iron Man) at 13 percent, but that week had less than half the revenue at $26 million. Speaking of revenue, this is the most money ever spent on Blu-ray in one week, and by a long shot. In fact this is close to what Blu-ray would make in a month. It truly does look like a Blu Christmas especially if you consider how many more DVD players there are out there. We can't say we blame anyone, with Blu-ray players selling for a little as decent upscalers, why not enjoy some real HD?
The Dark Knight Blu-ray sells 1.7 million in a week, shows Iron Man a magic trick
Just like it did to the one day Blu-ray sales record, The Dark Knight Blu-ray disc jumped even Warner's projections for its first week, selling 1.7 million copies worldwide, topping Iron Man's 500,000. Apparently undeterred by any claims of issues fans jumped on the release, with DVDs added it moved a total of 13.5 million on both formats. No word yet whether there's still space to chat with director Chris Nolan on the 18th, but Warner's also claiming 300,000 digital copies activated, and the number on spot on iTunes. Not enough celebratory back slapping for you? Check the press release after the break while we try to figure out what movie has a chance of breaking the #1 sales figure next.
