by Anton Shilov
06/13/2006 | 11:57 PM
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, a major movie label, said Thursday it would release the first batch of motion pictures on Blu-ray media on the 20th of June, 2006. The company also said that by that time there would be Samsung Blu-ray consumer player and Sony’s Vaio notebook with Blu-ray disc (BD) drive available. The firm also revealed further Blu-ray movies introduction schedules.
<%BANNER[article]%>“The delivery of the first seven BD titles, timed to coincide with the first commercially available BD player from Samsung Electronics and BD-compatible Vaio PC from Sony,” said a statement by Sony’s movie arm.
Titles available at retail June 20 from Sony Pictures include: “50 First Dates”, starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore; Luc Besson’s “The Fifth Element”; the comedy starring Will Smith, “Hitch”; “House of Flying Daggers” from director Zhang Yimou; “XXX”, starring Vin Diesel; “The Terminator”, featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger; and the follow-up to the hit action-thriller “Underworld”, from director Len Wiseman and starring Kate Beckinsale, “Underworld Evolution”.
“Ultraviolet”, the first day-and-date BD title from Sony Pictures will debut one week later on June 27, along with “The Last Waltz” (MGM) and “A Knight’s Tale”. On July 11th, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will release “Basic Instinct 2: Risk Addition” on Blu-ray. “Kung Fu Hustle”, “Legends of the Fall”, “Stealth”, “Species”, “SWAT” and “Resident Evil Apocalypse” will debut on Blu-ray disc July 25th.
Earlier Sony and Pioneer reportedly announced delays of their Blu-ray disc players for consumers from June to August and September, respectively, putting the debut of the new format at risk.
Traditional single-layer DVDs allow consumers to watch movies in 720x480 (NTSC) or 720x576 (PAL) resolution with Dolby Digital audio. The blue-laser discs will provide consumers 1920x1080 resolution as well as DTS or Dolby Digital Plus audio along with some additional interactive features.