K1Bond007.com » DVD

Casino Royale Ranks #9 Best-Selling DVD in UK

K1Bond007 — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 04:23:48 +0000

According to LastBroadcast.co.uk Casino Royale ranks ninth for best-selling DVD in the past 10 years (might as well say “of all time”) in the UK surprisingly beating out Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire which came in at #10 and is the only Harry Potter film to make the list.

Casino Royale was the best selling title of 2007 for both DVD and Blu-ray and obviously with that stat it ranks #1 on Blu-ray’s top selling list of all time. Of course, lest we forget at least 500,000 of the Blu-ray edition were given away for signing up for the PlayStation Network (PS3) and recently it was bundled again with the PlayStation 3. According to the report Casino Royale on DVD has currently sold 3.1 million units in the UK.

I’m curious to see how it’s been doing in the United States since we last heard.

Royale Bundled with PS3 Again

K1Bond007 — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 20:17:53 +0000

Coming off their victory over HD DVD, Sony is releasing a new PlayStation 3 bundle in Europe with three Blu-ray movies packed-in; the very awesome James Bond film Casino Royale, the very awesome Spartan-kick-ass film 300 and the terrible Spider-Man 3 (face it, it sucked). This bundle includes the 40GB PS3 and will retail for €399 on March 19th. In my opinion, if you’ve got an HDTV and you want a Blu-ray player (keeping in mind they aren’t very cheap), the only way to go in my humble opinion is to just get a PS3. Why not? First off, it’s your best bet considering it’s futureproof for when the Blu-ray Association finally releases Profile 2.0 later this year and you get a PlayStation 3. I’m not even really a Sony fan, in fact it’s the only current-gen system I don’t have, but this is what I’d do. Later on March 29th Sony will release another 40GB PS3 bundle, this time with Gran Turismo 5 Prologue.

In the good ol’ US of A, we’ll be getting an 80GB PS3 bundle with the new DualShock 3 and Metal Gear Solid 4 Guns of the Patriots for $499.

The DVD From U.N.C.L.E.

K1Bond007 — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 21:15:00 +0000

Today, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., the complete series, was released on DVD in a nifty looking attaché case that contains all 105 U.N.C.L.E. episodes that aired during the show’s original run from 1964 to 1968. The four seasons come in boxsets of their own with included 4 8-page booklets, and tons of extras. The briefcase is not sold in stores and is exclusive to Time Life for $249.95 (or “five easy payments of $49.99″). I have no idea when the individual season box sets will be released in stores.

Some of the early development of the show was done by Ian Fleming who famously came up with the main character’s name, Napoleon Solo which derives from Goldfinger. Some of Fleming’s handwritten notes on the show which includes plots and characters are included in the DVD’s bonus features.

Here’s a review from MonstersandCritics.com and another from the LA Times.

Order here.

U.N.C.L.E. on November 27th

K1Bond007 — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 20:13:07 +0000

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. finally arrives on DVD on November 27th in a huge complete series briefcase. Airing on NBC from 1964 to 1968 there were 105 U.N.C.L.E. episodes. Some of the early development of the show was done by Ian Fleming who famously came up with the main character’s name, Napoleon Solo which derives from Goldfinger. Some of Fleming’s handwritten notes on the show which includes plots and characters will be included in the DVD’s bonus features. Among numerous other bonus features, the DVD set will include new commentary by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum.

Royale Blu

K1Bond007 — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 06:14:58 +0000

Casino Royale has sold an estimated 3.6 million copies on DVD in the past 6 months, having been out for only 5. The top 6 went to Happy Feet (sigh), Night At The Museum, The Departed, Open Season, Charlotte’s Web, and The Pursuit of Happiness though Nielsen VideoScan claims Bond is #4 following Happy Feet, The Departed, and Night At The Museum. This doesn’t take into account Royale’s Blu-ray sales which we know to be good – most likely the #1 Blu-ray seller as well as HD overall, though I know Batman Begins and The Departed is also up there. Anyway, speaking of which, Sony released a press release today saying how much Blu-ray is kicking ass in Europe.

“Our European Blu-ray sales increased more than 1,000 percent since the launch of the PS3 in March 2007, due to strong sales in the UK, France, Germany and Spain. This is extremely positive news not only for SPHE but for the European high-definition market as a whole, as it underscores the increasing consumer demand for high-definition content and the power of the PS3.”

So guess who is #1 for Blu-ray in the UK, France, Germany, and Spain? You know the name. It’s #1 in Europe, period. Of course it helps if 500K of them are given away for signing up for the PlayStation Network (PS3). That being said, the PS3 is not really flying off the shelves, but as I hear it, a price drop is imminent.