Posted Tue Sep 18, 2007 at 06:30 AM PDT by
Warner Home Video has revealed new details for the Blu-ray and HD DVD releases of 'Harry Potter Years 1-5,' including first word of several extras exclusive to the new limited edition gift set.
As we've previously reported, earlier this month Warner announced that it would release the five-movie box set alongside 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix' in a cross-format bow on December 11. But while specs for 'Order of the Phoenix' were included in that original release, details for the box set have been sketchy until now.
According a new press release from the studio, both the HD DVD and Blu-ray versions of 'Years 1-5' will span seven discs -- five HD-30s on the HD DVD, and five BD-50s for the Blu-ray for each of the films, plus two additional standard-def discs with exclusive bonus content.
Each of the first four movie discs will replicate the same bonus materials as found on their respective two-disc standard-def DVD counterparts, including audio commentaries, multiple featurettes, deleted scenes and more. (Tech specs remain TBA, but we'll keep you posted.)
The fifth disc (for 'Order of the Phoenix') will mirror the extras found on the concurrently-released HD DVD and Blu-ray editions of that disc, including all of the high-def exclusives previously outlined for that release.
The two discs of bonus content will be a mix of interactive games, and never-before-seen 'Potter' content. The first disc, entitled "Hogwarts Challenge," will include what Warner describes as a "unique interactive gaming experience with 14 adventure games based on the first three Harry Potter films, and containing clips from the fourth and fifth films." The second disc, "Bonus Materials," will feature more than three hours of all-new content from past Harry Potter films. (Note that both discs of bonus content will also be included in the concurrently-released 'Years 1-5' standard-def DVD release.)
All three versions of 'Years 1-5' will come housed in collectible packaging, including five unique metal bookmarks for each "book" in the set, and four packages of Harry Potter Trading Cards.
Warner has set an MSRP of $149.99 for the Blu-ray and HD DVD versions of the 'Harry Potter Years 1-5 Gift Set.
As of this writing, Warner has not yet announced plans to make each of the first four 'Potter' films available for purchase on Blu-ray and HD DVD as stand-alone releases outside of the box set. Needless to say, we'll keep you posted.
As always, you'll find disc details for 'Harry Potter Years 1-5' and 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule and HD DVD Release Schedule, where they are indexed under December 11.
We've also set up dedicated threads for the limited edition gift set in our Forums area -- click the following links to discuss the 'Harry Potter Years 1-5' Blu-ray release or the 'Harry Potter Years 1-5' HD DVD release.
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