Blu-ray movies debut dual-layer discs

 

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By Alun Williams

Posted on 10 Oct 2006 at 12:28

Today marks the first public release of a movie on a dual-layer Blu-ray disc. Sony Pictures is making Adam Sandler's 'Click' available, in the US, on a 50GB capacity disc.

It will be the first of three such releases from the company, with Sony hoping it will help Blu-ray gain traction in the CE market against the rival HD DVD format promoted by Toshiba.

20th Century Fox, with Kingdom of Heaven, and Lionsgate, with The Descent, are other studios expected to release dual-layer discs later this year. Sony Pictures itself will be releasing Black Hawk Down and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby in November and December.

When it comes to extras, Black Hawk will be the first title to feature Sony's Blu-Wizard playlist technology, which can customize the viewing of special features, reports Reuters.

The first Blu-ray releases were announced back in May, again from Sony Pictures - unsurprisingly, given Sony's backing for the new optical disc format.

Appearing as single-layer discs, from Sony, were 50 First Dates, The Fifth Element, Hitch, House of Flying Daggers, A Knight's Tale, The Last Waltz and Resident Evil Apocalypse. At the same time, Lionsgate shipped Crash, Lord of War, The Punisher, Saw and Terminator 2.

Although the double-layer discs have an RRP of $38.95, Amazon in the US is offering the Blu-ray release for $27.25.