James Bond fans who had collected the original round of Blu-ray SteelBooks for the franchise back in 2008 have been very disappointed that MGM never followed through with releasing the rest of the series in metal packaging. If it’s any small consolation, the latest entry, ‘Skyfall’, will get the SteelBook treatment in the UK.
At the moment, I’m having trouble confirming the American Blu-ray release date for ‘Skyfall‘. Originally, our site listed it as March 12th based on info from Amazon. However, Amazon doesn’t currently have a date attached at all. This site claims that the disc will street in both the U.S. and UK simultaneously on February 18th. At the very least, that date appears to be correct for the UK, where retailer HMV will offer the following exclusive SteelBook edition:
I think this looks pretty classy. The disc can be preordered from HMV now. The last I checked, HMV does ship to the United States.
For those of you who missed the original batch, the following SteelBooks were issued in 2008 as exclusives to either Best Buy or Amazon. The artwork on the metal cases was identical to the standard keepcase versions at the time. (Click to enlarge.)
Additionally, ‘Casino Royale’ received a SteelBook in Germany:
Most recently, UK retailer Play.com (which doesn’t ship to the U.S.) sold an exclusive ‘GoldenEye’ SteelBook a few months ago.
For the completist collector, the Bond series still frustratingly lacks about half of the franchise’s movies in SteelBook format. Whether those will ever eventually come is something we can only hope for.
Drew
The UK HMV steelbook is also being sold by Amazon.fr (French Amazon).
It can be ordered, domestically, and Amazon.fr will ship to the states. I pre-ordered mine, a few weeks back.
Alex
Totally digging the cover art on that Steelbook. Very classy.
Not like it matters too much. My Skyfall disc is going straight into that convenient empty slot in my Bond 50 collection.
Josh Zyber
AuthorIf MGM makes it a 2-disc set, you may need the extra case for the supplements. 🙂
Julian
Yeah, I wonder. Will MGM also offer a disc on its own, specifically for the people that bought the box set? A Blu-ray in, say, a carton sleeve (like CD singles) just to ship it?
TK
Is that steelbook Region Free?
Josh Zyber
AuthorTo any collectors who had planned to order the UK SteelBook, HMV has fallen into “Administration,” the British equivalent of bankruptcy protection. Apparently, UK law does not require them to honor preorders.
The same SteelBook will be available in France on March 1st, and can be ordered from Amazon France:
http://www.amazon.fr/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00AFWB2GO/panandscathed-20
Josh Zyber
AuthorAmazon UK has picked this up from HMV. Preorders can be made here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00B5W9I5K/panandscathed-20