We’re pretty sure James Cameron is rockin’ the Wu-Tang Clan’s “C.R.E.A.M.” fairly hard these days with the $2 billion and counting success of “Avatar,” and he’s ready to keep milking that cash cow as long as he can.
On top of the planned theatrical re-release later in the summer, Fox has announced plans for a bare bones DVD and BluRay release of “Avatar” on Earth Day April 22nd to be followed with a full-blown multi-disc affair in November. While there is a press conference scheduled next week where Cameron and producer Jon Landau “will discuss the release, the environmental tie-in” and details on the forthcoming versions, can we call bullshit on this for a moment? No matter what foundation, charity or fund that will inevitably benefit from these releases, or the environmental packaging that will undoubtedly be used, you know what would really help the environment? Not creating two separate and unnecessary releases within six months of each other. The environmental footprint alone from manufacturing and shipping all these DVDs around the world will probably be staggering. And oh yeah, think the 3D version will arrive later this year? Think again. Fox is saying that won’t happen, so expect a third release of this film sometime in the future.
Anyway, in case you still care about the “Avatar” DVD and BluRay you won’t be buying unless you seriously feel like wasting money, it has apparently been planned to make maximum use of the space available on both the DVD and BluRay releases. “This is a movie that has done the unexpected every step of the way. Fox agreed with us and the result is amazing. Everything that is put on a disc takes up room — the menus, the extras, the trailers and studio promotions — and we got rid of all of that so we could give this movie the best picture and sound possible,” said Landau. So, no trailers or ads will be on the discs. Yay.
Suggested retail price for “Avatar” will run $29.98 for DVD and $39.99 on Blu-ray, though you can expect the actual in store price for both to be about $10 less. Dollar dollar bill y’all.