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Disney, Fox, Warner and Universal may team up on downloadable movies
After nearly a decade of battling between movie lockers, Disney may finally have support from other studios. According to a report from Bloomberg, "several major Hollywood film studios" are signed up to participate in a new film service with Disney, including Fox, Warner and Universal. Since 2010, most of the industry has relied on Ultraviolet to enable cross-store digital movie ownership, with the exception of Disney, which launched its own Movies Anywhere service in 2014. Most of us got our first taste of the systems that link purchases across stores like iTunes, or Amazon via digital copy codes included with DVDs and Blu-rays. The studios hope that by finally banding together, they can convince customers to buy more movies instead of relying on subscription services or other avenues to get their flicks. There's no word about what might happen to studio support for Ultraviolet, or stores that support it like Walmart's Vudu, but Disney Movies Anywhere currently links to iTunes, Amazon, Vudu, Google Play, FiOS and not Microsoft. The other major studios, Lionsgate and Paramount, are reportedly "supportive" but aren't joining yet.
Apple and Amazon reportedly pursuing James Bond film rights
Sony's distribution rights to the James Bond films expired with 2015's Spectre and MGM has been looking for a new distributor ever since. As of now, Warner Bros. is expected to land the rights, but two new rather surprising players have jumped into the game -- Amazon and Apple. Sony has also pursued a deal with MGM, as have Universal and Fox, but sources tell the Hollywood Reporter that the tech companies are willing to throw down as much as or more money than Warner Bros. to land the rights.
'Gears of War' is headed to the silver screen
Today Microsoft has announced that it's partnering with Universal Pictures to bring Gears of War's hulking soldiers and massive monsters to the big screen. There's no word on casting yet, but there is some information about who will be on the other side of the camera. Scott Stuber and Dylan Clark (Ted and the recent Planet of the Apes movies) will produce, and... well, that's about all that's known.
Comcast is reportedly in talks to buy DreamWorks Animation
In the past Dreamworks Animation has been mentioned as a possible purchase for companies including Fox, Hasbro and Softbank, but now reports say it's in talks with Comcast. The Wall Street Journal first reported the discussions, claiming Dreamworks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg is courting an offer from the cable behemoth of over $3 billion. The live action arm of Dreamworks, now renamed Amblin Studios, is distributed by Comcast's Universal Pictures which could bring the two back together in a way after the animation arm spun off on its own in 2004. Also, as The Hollywood Reporter mentions, Universal is already home to Illumination Entertainment, which created Despicable Me and Minions, and sees the two as a competitor to Disney/Pixar.
'Warcraft' among Universal's first Ultra HD Blu-ray offerings
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment detailed its list of Ultra HD Blu-ray releases scheduled this summer, and it's just the tip of the iceberg for 4K home video collectors. Beginning with Warcraft, Jason Bourne, and The Huntsman: Winter's War, more than 100 titles will be available by the end of the year for 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray and digital formats. Each title will be mastered in Dolby Vision as well, with HDR and brighter colors across digital and physical releases.
'Battlestar Galactica' movie starts coming together
There has long been talk of a Battlestar Galactica movie (supposedly as far back as 1999), but it looks like the flick is becoming more than just a bunch of whispers. Universal has signed on well-known producers Dylan Clark (Rise of the Planet of the Apes), Michael De Luca (The Social Network) and Scott Stuber (Ted) to helm a big-screen version of the humanity-versus-Cylon struggle. The X-Men series' Bryan Singer is reportedly involved as an executive producer, but it's not certain that he'll direct.
'The Last Starfighter' is getting a TV series with VR scenes
The Last Starfighter tested the limits of early computer-generated movie graphics, and it's about to explore uncharted waters once again. Original writer Jonathan Betuel is developing The Starfighter Chronicles, a related TV series (about alien law enforcement, not an arcade fan turned hero) where virtual reality should play an important role. If you're watching through a VR headset, certain scenes will have more to them than what you'd see on a regular screen -- you could look around a spaceship, or see every aspect of a battle. You're probably not going to find this on conventional TV (current broadcast tech wouldn't allow for VR), but it would literally add a new dimension to online streams and app-based video.
Man lands in jail for using phone to pirate movie at the theater
The concept of someone recording films at movie theaters for pirating purposes seems so outdated. Yet, that's still happening in some parts of the world, apparently. Most recently, there's the case of Philip Danks, a 25-year-old UK man who just got sentenced to 33 months of jail time after using his phone to record a film in the theater and, subsequently, upload it to his website to let the internet download it at no cost -- at least initially. So which movie, you ask? None other than Fast & Furious 6. According to Universal Pictures, Danks' pirated upload was downloaded nearly 780,000 times, which the studio claimed resulted in a loss of about £2.5 million, or about 4.1 million in US dollars. After his initial arrest, and before he pleaded guilty to the charges yesterday, Danks took to his Facebook page to share his feelings about the ordeal: "Seven billion people and I was the first. Fuck you Universal Pictures." He's now facing 33 months in jail, while 120 hours of unpaid community service were served to a friend who helped him along the way.
The time travel movie 12 Monkeys is becoming a TV show in 2015
If you're so enamored with time travel in TV shows that even Doctor Who isn't enough, we have good news: you're about to get a lot more of it. Syfy has ordered production of a series based on Terry Gilliam's classic movie 12 Monkeys. While the show will go without most of the apocalyptic flick's cast and crew when it airs in January 2015, its first season (appropriately 12 episodes long) will involve original producer Charles Roven as well as veteran actors from Nikita and X-Men: The Last Stand. The story arc will likely be familiar to anyone who watched the 1995 film -- or 1962's La Jetée, for that matter -- but we're not going to complain about revisiting one of sci-fi's most enduring concepts.
Waze partners up with Universal Pictures to let celebrity voices give you driving directions
GPS turn-by-turn directions are staid and boring, whether they are relayed by a male or female voice. Waze wants to give us what we really want, which is, quite naturally, driving directions delivered with the gravitas only Hollywood actors can bring. To that end, the social navigation company has partnered up with Universal Pictures to deliver some cross-promotional synergy that'll have actors in forthcoming films acting as your virtual co-pilot. The first such star of the silver screen is comedian Kevin Hart (promoting the aptly titled film Ride Along), and you can get a taste of what Waze will be like with Hart telling you where to go in the video after the break.
E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial Blu-ray trailer and box art pop up online (video)
Ever since Universal announced during CES 2012 that it would deliver many of its classic films on Blu-ray this year as part of a centennial celebration, we've been keeping a careful eye out for news regarding Steven Spielberg's classic E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial. While we still don't know the release date, price or if it will contain the changes made in the 2002 edition of the flick, Universal posted a trailer for the Blu-ray (embedded after the break, note that at 0:25 seconds the FBI agents are holding guns, so it appears to be the original) that confirmed a digital remastering from the 35MM film, 7.1 surround sound and "hours of bonus features". Additionally, forum posters on Blu-ray.com have noticed this (probably not final) box art appearing on Amazon UK recently. After waiting for word since a new distribution deal brought the flick back to Universal in 2008, a few months of silence hasn't broken us, but hopefully more details appear soon. The best guess still sees the 30th Anniversary release hitting store shelves in time for the holidays (likely after Jaws, which is scheduled for release August 14th), when we can relive our childhoods in proper 1080p HD at last.
Jaws debuts on Blu-ray August 14th remastered and upmixed (video)
Universal Pictures promised it would celebrate its centennial by bringing classics out of the vaults and onto Blu-ray discs and now one of our most anticipated flicks, Jaws, finally has a release date. Steven Spielberg's 1975 hit will come home in "digitally remastered and fully restored" form with an upmixed 7.1 DTS-HD MA soundtrack August 14th. The soundtrack and picture have both been carefully restored in a process undertaken in conjunction with Spielberg and Amblin Entertainment, as they went back to the original 35mm film and repaired it frame by frame. Also packed in will be four hours of bonus features, including an all new documentary The Shark Is Still Working: The Impact & Legacy of Jaws. If you're wondering about the restoration process, there are a couple of samples included after the break, plus a video about it and teaser trailer for the Blu-ray disc -- we're gonna need a bigger boat.
Universal's Charlie St. Cloud Blu-ray is the next to include bonus BD-Live movies
As excited we are that Zac Efron's summertime flick Charlie St. Cloud is coming to Blu-ray November 9 (and we're really excited) the main reason we're mentioning this one is it's the second flick by Universal to offer buyers their choice of bonus movies viewable through internet streaming. Lorenzo's Oil and What Dreams May Come (also like the Get Him to the Greek deal because both films have not yet been released on Blu-ray) can stream to viewers TVs via their BD-Live connected Blu-ray player or to another device on the pocketBLU app for iOS, Blackberry, Android, Windows and Macintosh hardware. We're still not sure what to make of streaming video as the new big thing for BD-Live, but if these implementations work better than the buggy implementation included on the Wolfman Blu-ray, then free extras are always welcome.
Get Him to the Greek Blu-ray includes a free streaming copy -- of a different movie
Universal's added a new wrinkle to persuade people to buy Get Him to the Greek on Blu-ray -- throw in a copy of an entirely different movie. Sure, during the MTV Video Music Awards we imagined not having to watch Russell Brand was a feature that should be included more often, but we didn't expect to see it tucked in among these other Blu-ray exclusive extras -- karaoke, the Pocket BLU iPhone remote control app, social BLU access, Mobile-To-Go support for taking bonus content with you and keyboard support. Anyone who buys the flick between September 28 and March 31, 2011 can also gain access to one of the following movies streamed to the player over BD-Live or directly to their mobile phone: Uncle Buck, Dazed & Confused or Life (Eddie Murphy & Martin Lawrence, not David Attenborough.) The flicks are notable not only because they appear to have been randomly chosen, but also since they're not available on Blu-ray yet. Unlike The Office, there's no promise of HD resolution here so the quality is still in question, but really, what Blu-ray release couldn't use an extra dose of John Candy? Check out all the details and extras in the press release after the break.
Sony signs up all six major studios for HD movies on PlayStation Network
Well, it looks like Sony has a little treat for PS3 users now that they're able to turn their consoles back on -- it's just announced that it has signed up all six major studios to deliver HD movies on the PlayStation Network (the first company to do so, as Sony is happy to point out). That includes 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros. and, of course, Sony Pictures Entertainment, which combined have an initial slate of 19 HD movies available to buy or rent -- including "Fantastic Mr. Fox," "Star Trek," "District 9," "Inglourious Basterds," and "The Wizard of Oz," to name a few. Those are only available in the US at the moment, but Sony says it plans to also roll them out to the U.K., France, Germany, and Spain "soon."
Fast & Furious to be first major theatrical release with D-BOX
When you're on, you're on. After notching its best ever quarter in terms of sales, D-BOX has just landed yet another huge win. Universal Pictures' Fast & Furious -- which is slated to ignite a new generation of street racers who compete for gas money rather than pink slips -- will be the first major theatrical feature release with the company's Motion Code technology written in. 'Til now, Motion Code had been mostly restricted to at-home films and video games, but now moviegoers who can find a D-BOX-equipped cinema can enjoy this film while feeling all the vibrations and rumbles as the engines rev and the egos flair. Something tells us this kind of occurrence will only get more and more common.
The Bourne Ultimatum simultaneously launching in HD on VUDU
For Bourne fans the world over, you're well aware of what tomorrow is. December 11th, of course, is the day that The Bourne Ultimatum will be landing on DVD / HD DVD, but what you may not realize is that it will also be launching on VUDU. Granted, we've seen simultaneous launches before, but this is quite an eventful way for VUDU to get the ball rolling on its HD movie releases. We already knew the firm was aiming to release HD flicks before the holidays, and just recently it announced that a number of studios had already signed on. Universal Pictures, however, is going the extra mile by being the first to unveil a downloadable HD version of a major motion picture on the same day the actual disc hits shelves. Notably, The Bourne Ultimatum won't be available as a rental (purchase only), and while it appears that it'll run users $24.99, it sure sounds like the previous two Bourne films will be available "for free during the holiday season."
Castlevania film gets Rogue distributor
Rogue Pictures, a sub-sub-division of Universal specializing in low-budget action and horror flicks, has signed on to distribute Paul W.S. Anderson's Castlevania adaptation. Rogue will handle distribution in North American, the U.K., Spain and German-speaking territories. Crystal Sky, co-financers of the (not-so-low-budget) $50 million project, will be responsible for distribution throughout the rest of the world.Anderson is currently scouting out shooting locales in Hungary and Romania for his Blade-meets-Highlander epic. Dracula's castle will be re-imagined in some back lot in Budapest. Shooting starts this spring. Drink your holy water and keep your crosses crossed.[Thanks, Dave]
CinemaNow and Universal team up for same-day DVD burning
Unbox and iTunes have been getting all the attention lately, but movie download "veterans" like CinemaNow still have a few tricks up their sleeves. CinemaNow is still the only service to allow DVD burning of select downloaded films, and now they're about to get their first same-day title, which will be downloadable and burnable the very same day the retail DVD hits stores. Universal Pictures is providing the pic, "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift," for a CinemaNow-standard $9.99, and everybody else will be watching from the sidelines to see how such an "unprecedented" release affects the market. We can't quite seem to muster as much excitement for the release, but maybe that's because such a thing is so long overdue -- it's hard to argue with it being a decent evolutionary step in the realm of online video distribution. Now if CinemaNow could just get the infernal things to play.[Via Ars Technica]
