Paramount Studios, the last of the major studios to announce their support of the BluRay high-definition DVD format, have finally announced their first titles to debut on the new format. Surprisingly enough, the first of those titles will be on store shelves in less than three weeks. The first five BluRay titles from Paramount have already been released on DVD, with it’s fifth planned release, The Spiderwick Chronicles on June 24, being the studio’s first simultaneous DVD and BluRay release.
Leading off the studio’s BluRay line on May 20th are two films starring Nicolas Cage- Face/Off and Next, and one film that doesn’t star him, the animated film Bee Movie. The Face/Off disc will feature multiple commentaries, deleted scenes, an alternate ending and a “Making Of Face/Off” featurette while Next will sport a “Making Of” featurette, “Visualizing the Next Move,” “The Next Grand Idea” and “Two Minutes in the Future with Jessica Biel.”
January’s monster film Cloverfield and Paul Thomas Anderson’s Academy Award winner There Will Be Blood will make their BluRay debuts on June 3. Cloverfield looks as if it contains the same special features as the standard DVD release, with the addition of a feature-length “Special Investigation Mode” with added details about the film. Special features for There Will Be Blood include a slideshow of vintage photos selected by the director and set to the film’s score by Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood, deleted scenes, a featurette on dailies and more.
Unfortunately, there is no news on some of the titles that folks are most interested like the recently remastered Star Trek: The Original Series or the original Indiana Jones trilogy. Still, Paramount is just dipping their toes in the water, so hopefully they’ll take the big plunge and start digging out the gems in their vaults soon.
