Los Angeles –
Universal Studios Home
Entertainment
said Monday that it will start issuing double-sided
Blu-ray/DVD discs that place an HD Blu-ray version of a movie on one side and
the standard DVD version on the other side.
The first titles to appear using the new system will be “The
Bourne Identity,” “The Bourne Supremacy” and “The Bourne Ultimatum.” All three
are scheduled to street on Jan. 19, each at a $29.98 suggested retail.
It is also the first time all three “Bourne” movies will be
available in Blu-ray format as individual releases. Universal originally
launched the trilogy in HD in the HD DVD format.
The studio had also previously employed a flipper-disc format
for that now-defunct format.
Universal sees the flipper-disc concept as a vehicle that
will help consumers make the transition from DVD to Blu-ray Disc, by enabling
them to purchase a DVD today that will be fully HD compatible when they add a
Blu-ray Disc player down the road. The discs will also enable users to play a
Blu-ray version of the movie at home and still have it playback on the DVD
player in the car or laptop device.
Other studios have sought to deliver similar solutions by
offering dual-disc combo packs.
Universal said it is still exploring use of the format on
new-release titles.
As for extra content, Universal will include bonus material
on both sides of the disc. All three Blu-ray titles will include Universal’s “U-Control,”
offering disc navigation while the Blu-ray title is playing.
Features include picture-in-picture, a “Bourne Card Battle
Strategy Game,” dossiers, location analyses, and Blackbriar and Treadstone
files.
In addition all three Blu-ray versions of the films will
include a BD Live-enabled My Scenes Sharing feature.
The Bourne Identity will include four featurettes that reveal
the creation of the character by novelist Robert Ludlum. Deleted and extended
scenes will be offered on both the DVD and Blu-ray sides.
