X-Men: Days of Future Past on DVD October, Digital HD September
Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment has announced home video release dates for X-Men: Days of Future Past.
The movie will be available on Blu-ray on October 14, with digital purchases available a month earlier, on September 23. The packages include a Blu-ray with digital copy (shown here, list price $40), a 3-D-included deluxe edition ($50), and a standard DVD ($30). As is sadly becoming typical, there doesn’t seem to be a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack. (I blame those who buy the Blu-ray and sell the DVD as convincing studios that combos are undercutting their sales.)
The special features list looks nicely comprehensive. It includes:
- Deleted Scenes with Optional Audio Commentary by Bryan Singer
- Gag Reel
- Kitchen Sequence
- Classification: M
- X-Men: Reunited
- Double Take: Xavier & Magneto
- Sentinels: For A Secure Future
- Gallery: Trask Industries
- Theatrical Trailers
- Second Screen App
10:11 am
That or even after this long, only home theater enthusiasts/tech types are really excited about Blu-Ray; judging from family, everyone else seems either to stick with cheaper DVDs (since Hollywood still thinks HD should be priced at a premium) or moved onto Netflix/iTunes/streaming (no discs period).
Still, this film’s out on video this fast?!
10:12 am
Could be. I only get Blu-rays because I like the extras, the glimpses behind the scenes, and so much of the time those are only available on the higher-priced format. That’s another gripe about eliminating the combo pack; the price they used to charge for Blu-ray + DVD has stayed roughly the same now that the DVD is gone.
As for speed, most all the big films come to home video within 3 months, since that’s when people are still aware of the movie.
10:12 am
Three or four months is about standard for home video release windows nowadays. http://natoonline.org/data/windows
The market for combo packs would seem to be people who think they will eventually upgrade their purchases from dvd to blu but haven’t taken the plunge yet. I don’t think that market is very large. Blu won out against HDDvd way back in ’08 so by now I think people will have either already moved to blu or shifted entirely to digital purchases or streaming as their post-dvd video watching paradigm.
10:13 am
Or people, like me, who have a lot more DVD players (and more portable ones) than Blu-ray machines.
You’re right, the choice between discs and streaming is the important distinction now, as indicated by the staggered release dates. I wonder if the studios consider the earlier streaming release as a kind of publicity for the disc sales?
10:13 am
oooh, that’s a very good point i wouldn’t have noticed otherwise about the lack of DVD/Blu-Ray combo packs.
incidentally, and along those same lines, did you know selling the Digital Copy is also frowned upon? at least, on eBay it is–where i can no longer list anything in the DVD Category :(
10:29 am
Yeah, I wrote about that two years ago here:
http://comicsworthreading.com/2012/04/20/dont-like-ultraviolet-digital-movies-you-cant-sell-the-codes/
in reference to ebay blocking UltraViolet code sales.
Although I don’t think we’ve had the definitive court case yet on the resale of digital property.