Warner Bros. is offering Academy members the option to receive screeners in Blu-ray format instead of the traditional watermarked DVDs, per THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.
The winner here, is Christopher Nolan's THE DARK KNIGHT, which is the rare summer mega-blockbuster to garner awards-season buzz as well and could benefit from a Blu-ray screener.
"We really tried to do a lot with the film technically to give audiences a real reason to go see the film in theaters," said Nolan, who is a big advocate of Blu-ray. THE DARK KNIGHT included six action sequences shot in IMAX. "The Blu-ray version is vastly superior to DVD. You can actually see the things we did in IMAX, and it will give Academy members the best possible chance to see what we did technically."
THE DARK KNIGHT has grossed upwards of $523 million domestically and holds a 95 percent positive rating at RottenTomatoes.com.
However, Blu-ray increases the costs of mastering and manufacturing the screeners and could also raise the risk of digital piracy. Also, films that are finished later in the year, just in time for awards show deadlines, might not have enough time to master Blu-ray discs.
DARK KNIGHT has already been mastered in Blu-ray and has a rumored street date of December 9. Warner Bros. has not confirmed the home video release date.
For the Blu-ray version, Nolan was able to approximate the changing aspect rations of the film's IMAX edition. The sections shot in 35mm will play in letterbox, with the image expanding to fill the entire widescreen for the IMAX sequences. It doesn't completely capture the IMAX image, but "it still gives us more of the way it was projected in IMAX," Nolan said.
WB will also hold screenings of the film, as well as re-release the film in January.
