Business News Holding

Tag: the-matrix

  • The Matrix to be released on Blu-ray

    Seven-disc set will include the five Matrix movies, hard-cover book and biogs

    The film that played a major part in converting mainstream audiences to DVD is now to be released on Blu-ray.
    Warner Home Video has announced that they will bring the highly anticipated The Ultimate Matrix Collection to Blu-ray on October 14th.

    The sci-fi action hit starring Keanu Reeves was an immediate success on DVD, particularly in the sell-through category. Previously, most DVD owners were satisfied with renting movies.

    Craig Kornblau, president of Universal Studios home entertainment, recently claimed that Wanted, starring Angelina Jolie, could have a “Matrix-effect” on Blu-ray.

    He suggested that the highly visual nature of the new thriller could be the trigger to mass sales of Blu-ray devices when it is released in the format.

    Whether one movie can have such an effect remains to be seen. However, signs that Blu-ray is gaining momentum have also come from Japan, where shipments of Blu-ray players and recorders in Japan have increased to a six-figure level with 122,000 in June alone.

    This is a dramatic increase compared to May when it was only 82,000 units.
    It is expected that these figures will continue to rise in coming months, as Japanese workers receive a bonus in July and the Olympics in Beijing are held in August.

    Both of these factors are predicted to boost the consumer electronics sector.

    The seven-disc Matrix set will include five BD-50s – one disc for each of the three Matrix films, one for Animatrix, and one for The Matrix Experience – and two DVDs.

    Also included in the set will be a hard-cover book with photos and information from the films.
    Video will be presented in 1080p VC-1 and accompanied by a Dolby TrueHD soundtrack.
    Among the extras with this release are three exclusive In-Move Experience BonusView features, 35 hours of extras and digital download of The Matrix.

  • Could Angelina Jolie do for Blu-ray what Keanu Reeves did for DVD?


    The idea that one movie could transform a technology from niche to mainstream may seem extreme.
    Yet that is what Craig Kornblau, president of Universal Studios home entertainment, is suggesting will be the effect of the yet-to-be released new thriller starring Angelina Jolie.
    The studio executive believes the film’s highly visual nature could be the trigger to mass sales of Blu-ray devices.
    James McAvoy plays an average guy who’s recruited by Jolie to become a contract assassin.
    Kornblau told Variety Magazine he thought Wanted, which is released in US cinemas on Friday, could do for HD disks what The Matrix did for the standard-def DVD.
    The Matrix, a sci-fi action hit starring Reeves, was an immediate success on DVD, particularly in the sell-through category.
    Previously, most DVD owners were satisfied with renting movies.
    “What The Matrix did for DVD, this could do for Blu-ray,” said Kornblau.
    Variety reported that an audience at an LA Film Festival screening of Wanted applauded the action scenes half-a-dozen times, a reaction unseen since the premiere of The Matrix.
    Kornblau, who was attending the festival, did not say when the movie would be available on Blu-ray.
    But the studio could be preparing to coincide the release with the much speculated introduction of Blu-ray players priced at under US $200.