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The next Batman flick could be all-IMAX

by Richard Lawler posted Aug 26th 2009 at 1:09PM


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]

The Dark Knight Blu-ray Disc up to 2.8 million worldwide, driving PS3 sales

by Richard Lawler posted Feb 4th 2009 at 11:43PM


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

by Ben Drawbaugh posted Jan 19th 2009 at 11:40AM Featured Story

Blu-ray Disc giveaway
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.

Continue reading Engadget HD CES schwag giveaway: Blu-ray discs and more

The Dark Knight Blu-ray sells 1.7 million in a week, shows Iron Man a magic trick

by Richard Lawler posted Dec 17th 2008 at 6:46AM Breaking News


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.

Continue reading The Dark Knight Blu-ray sells 1.7 million in a week, shows Iron Man a magic trick

The Dark Knight Blu-ray Disc sneaks onto store shelves early

by Darren Murph posted Dec 7th 2008 at 3:18PM


Looks like Meijer's is a little antsy to help The Dark Knight Blu-ray become the best selling BD of all time. At one particular store near Urbana, Illinois, the disc has already been spotted -- and we're not just talking about one or two, but a whole gaggle. Can't wait 'til Tuesday? No harm in taking a leisurely stroll to your nearby retailers in hopes of getting lucky. A live shot of the back is after the break.

Continue reading The Dark Knight Blu-ray Disc sneaks onto store shelves early

The Dark Knight Blu-ray Disc review roundup

by Darren Murph posted Nov 28th 2008 at 3:01PM


To (mis)quote the infamous Dennis Green: "It was what we thought it'd be." In other words, Warner Brothers' The Dark Knight truly is as mesmerizing and awesome on Blu-ray as it was in theaters. Some very early (and very thorough) reviews have already hit the 'net days before the film's sure-to-be-monumental release, and we've found nothing but praise across the board. Sure, varying critics had varying levels of appreciation for the plot, but when it comes to visual and auditory quality, the Blu-ray transfer delivers. Utterances of "wow," "stunning," and "spectacle" were peppered throughout each and every review, dashing any fears one may have had that the BD would fall short of the hype. For those who really want to dig deep, we've linked thousands of words below. But truthfully, they all come to the same conclusion: The Dark Knight is a must-own Blu-ray Disc.

Read - Big Picture Big Sound
Read - The HD Room
Read - Rope Of Silicon
Read - Home Cinema Choice
Read - HighDefDigest

Best Buy to sell exclusive Joker mask figurine with The Dark Knight

by Darren Murph posted Nov 25th 2008 at 9:49AM


Just when you had your buying plans for December 9th all sealed up, in flies this to totally shake 'em up. As if there won't be enough options out there for snapping up The Dark Knight early next month, Best Buy has announced that it will sell an exclusive Collector's Edition DVD and Blu-ray packaged with a Joker mask figurine. From what we can tell, everything else (movie wise, anyway) will be the same, but an expected price premium has yet to be disclosed. Aw, did we just cause you to cancel an existing pre-order? Why so serious?

[Thanks, Anthony]

Gallery: Best Buy to sell exclusive Joker mask figurine with The Dark Knight

The Dark Knight Blu-ray disc leaking out, complaints already rolling in

by Richard Lawler posted Nov 24th 2008 at 3:46PM

Don't let that December 9 street date fool you, it seems like many are taking our advice and getting their hands on The Dark Knight Blu-ray disc as soon as possible. Reports have popped up on more than one forum over the last weekend of people ordering -- and receiving -- copies from retailers with 7-11-style views of release date tyranny, or for the less scrupulous, downloading ripped copies. Even worse the biggest Blu-ray debut to date is being met with criticism before it even (officially) goes on the shelf, with complaints about edge enhancement, compression and director Chris Nolan's aspect ratio choices in relation to IMAX / non-IMAX footage. Need to check it out for yourself? A bit of poking around should earn a copy sooner rather than later, no mail-ins necessary.

Read - AVSForum
Read - Blu-ray.com

Denon rewards buyers of its pricey Blu-ray decks with free Batman BDs

by Darren Murph posted Nov 22nd 2008 at 8:42AM


It's one thing for Amazon to toss a few free Blu-ray Discs in with the purchase of a PlayStation 3, but we'd expect a little something extra from Denon. After all, when the least expensive Blu-ray deck you make rings up at $749 (MSRP), we'd say a free universal remote or weekend at the lake would be a more appropriate gift. At any rate, Denon and Warner Home Video have linked up to provide buyers of Denon Blu-ray players (the DVD-1800BD, DVD-3800BDCI and DVD-2500BTCI) with a BD copy of The Dark Knight and Batman Begins. The promotion is set to run from November 23rd to January 10, but you've still got to deal with that whole "mail in with the proof of purchase" rigmarole to get your money back. Groan.

The Dark Knight features BD-Live chat with Chris Nolan for first 100,000 -- Bat Growl not included

by Richard Lawler posted Nov 17th 2008 at 11:31PM

Clearly unwilling to be seen as anything other than the premiere Blu-ray release of the year, The Dark Knight will follow Hellboy II in featuring a BD-Live chat session with director Chris Nolan -- but apparently only for the first 100,000 registered purchasers (regular or Bat-Pod edition). As TheHDRoom points out, with over one million copies headed to shelves for the launch, you may want to grab yours early. Also coming to the Bat-Channel is video commentary sharing, while details like how to submit questions and exactly when the viewing party will take place are still unclear, fans have plenty to look forward to December 9th.

Dark Knight Blu-ray set to break shipping records, sales records next?

by Richard Lawler posted Nov 12th 2008 at 3:05PM

Hopefully Iron Man isn't getting too cozy in the #1 Blu-ray spot, with over a million copies of The Dark Knight headed to store shelves on December 9. Iron Man set a first week mark of over 500,000 sold on an unknown quantity shipped, but it's probably a bigger question whether Warner can keep it's BD-Live servers working than whether it can take the top spot. VideoBusiness points out the old days of March '07 when Casino Royale shipped 100,000 units, or 300's 250k combined high definition disc launch last year. Number watchers will also be keeping an eye out for Blu-ray's share of first week sales; last year Transformers set records with 190,000 HD DVDs compared to 8.3 million DVDs, with Iron Man averaging around 10% how many will chose Batman the way it was meant to be seen?

The Dark Knight Blu-ray Bat-Pod display case gets pictured

by Darren Murph posted Oct 22nd 2008 at 2:44PM


Back in September, we heard that a limited edition The Dark Knight box set would be motoring onto the scene this December 9th, and now, we're being assured of that. The HD Room has acquired a number of images detailing the Bat-Pod package, which will include an exclusive display case, Gotham Uncovered: Creation of a Scene, Batman Tech: The Incredible Gadgets and Tools (in HD), Batman Unmakes: The Psychology of the Dark Knight (also in HD), a few other bonus features and the feature film in 1080p with a Dolby TrueHD 5.1-channel audio track. Worth $64.99 (MSRP)? Check the rest of the images in the read link to make that determination.

The Dark Knight storming onto Blu-ray on December 9th

by Darren Murph posted Sep 29th 2008 at 3:27PM


You knew there was no way Warner Home Video was letting its crown jewel release of 2008 slip until after the holiday season, right? As expected, the studio has just revealed that the latest tale in Batman's life on the silver screen will be outed on BD this December 9th. It's also expected that the film will be available in a standard edition and two-disc limited edition box that comes with a Bat-Pod display case. The film in each set will be presented in 1080p with a 5.1 Dolby TrueHD soundtrack, and a few swank HD extras should be wrapped in as well. No price is given just yet, but c'mon, you're buying this.

Warner delivering Academy screeners on Blu-ray, starting with Batman

by Richard Lawler posted Sep 28th 2008 at 12:13PM


Confirming earlier indications The Dark Knight's IMAX sequences would remain largely intact -- full widescreen with the rest of the movie letterboxed --on Blu-ray, director Christopher Nolan pushed for Academy members to receive that version as a screener (why not give them a guided tour via BD-Live?), prompting Warner to mail them ahead of time offering the option of Blu-ray or DVD. The Hollywood Reporter mentions other studios are thinking about making the switch -- notably Sony regarding Will smith's upcoming Seven Pounds -- but haven't done anything yet, with concerns about cost and piracy. We wouldn't be surprised to see watermarking systems like the one Fox recently adopted come into widespread use, as much as studios want to avoid leaks they still want their productions seen in the absolute highest quality, right? Still, the first hurdle is making sure people can actually watch them, the report ends mentioning several members tossed the letter since they don't own a Blu-ray player yet.

[Via MovieWeb]

The Dark Knight Blu-ray to kick off social BD-Live features for Warner?

by Richard Lawler posted Aug 6th 2008 at 6:41PM


Batman and Sleeping Beauty might have something in common pretty soon, as DVDTown reports Warner Bros. is considering making The Dark Knight its first release with BD-Live features. If they're planning on testing for synchronized watching among groups with chat running alongside the movie, the summer's biggest flick (and w/ IMAX sequences already coming home) seems like a good place to start. All we can hope is that it comes out sooner rather than later, apparently some people have too much time on their hands.

[Via MovieWeb]




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