Sony Pictures Home Ent's blockbuster James Bond title, CASINO ROYALE (with acclaimed seamless vfx from Peerless Camera), released March 13, 2007, on Blu-ray Disc, has hit the 100,000 units shipped mark and is setting records at retail for greatest number of high-definition copies sold in one day. The title debuted in the top 10 on Amazon's DVD top-sellers list -- a first for any film in high-definition. The film's director, Martin Campbell, extolled the disc quality and commented, "It's just unbelievable. Clearly, it's fantastic. The comparison between standard def DVD and Blu-ray is quite stunning and quite transparent to the master. It's precisely what would make me want to buy a copy."
Since the November launch of PlayStation 3, sales of Blu-ray titles have seen more than a 700% increase. "As a point of comparison, the first DVD title to ship 100,000 units took approximately 11 months (AIR FORCE ONE, in February 1998)," said SPHE worldwide president, David Bishop. "CASINO ROYALE on Blu-ray has done it in far less time and is clearly demonstrating the format's robust growth in the marketplace." Sony DADC has replicated more than two million Blu-ray Discs for Sony Pictures since the launch of the format."
SPHE's Blu-ray releases will continue to utilize its 50GB dual-layer disc capacity advantage along with MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 AVC codecs, uncompressed audio and feature high-definition added-value content.
Sony Pictures Home Ent. is a division of Sony Corp. of America, a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corp. Sony Pictures Ent's global operations encompass motion picture production and distribution; television production and distribution; digital content creation and distribution; worldwide channel investments; home entertainment acquisition and distribution; operation of studio facilities; development of new entertainment products, services and technologies; and distribution of filmed entertainment in 67 countries. Information on Sony Pictures Ent. and Blu-ray can be found at www.sonypictures.com/bluray.
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
