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Lionsgate Announces First 4K Blu-ray Releases
Posted January 12, 2016 03:09 PM by Webmaster
Lionsgate Home Entertainment has announced that it will begin releasing titles from its catalog on 4K Blu-ray. Sicario, The Last Witch Hunter, Ender's Game, and The Expendables 3 will be available March 1, 2016, timed to Ultra HD Blu-ray players' market availability.
In addition to 4K UHD resolution which offers 4x the resolution of conventional HD, the new high-impact discs pack even more of a visual punch with High Dynamic Range (HDR) imagery available on television sets supporting HDR. HDR provides a dramatic improvement in brilliance, contrast and breadth of colors that must truly be experienced to be believed. The combination of 4K Ultra HD with HDR provides a more vivid and realistic visual experience than ever before.
For optimal sound quality, the discs for the critically acclaimed box-office success Sicario, Ender's Game and The Expendables 3 feature next-generation object-based Dolby Atmos audio, while The Last Witch Hunter delivers cinematic audio with advanced, object-based DTS:X™ Audio.
"As we were with Blu-ray, we are proud to again be at the forefront of a new format and excited to offer consumers the highest quality home viewing experience possible with the 4K disc being the premiere showcase," said Ron Schwartz, President, Home Entertainment. "These four films are uniquely suited to show consumers how incredible this new format can be with a truly immersive experience complementing the new hardware capabilities."
Each 4K UHD release will be packaged with a Blu-ray and Digital HD copy and will contain all previously released special features. Sicario and The Last Witch Hunter will be available at the suggested retail price of $42.99. Ender's Game and The Expendables 3 will be priced at $22.99 SRP.
Goddamn, these are some awful titles. This is exactly why I decided a while back that I'll give the 4K conversion idea a long, long while, seeing as it'll be both costly, possibly won't be as big as regular blu-ray is, and it'll be stripped of proper titles in the beginning.
I'll upgrade Enders Game at that SRP. The Expendables 3 looks like it might only have the PG-13 cut, so I'll pass. I'll wait for Sicario to go on sale.
Sicario is made for 4K with Deakins' lovely photography. Will probably get that as I was getting the regular release either way, and seeing as how it's included here, why not future proof the collection a bit...
Wow, people here seem to forget how DVD started with lesser titles, as did Blu-ray. Give it more than its first line-up before you announce anything DOA.
So... will the Blu-rays included with these that weren't already Atmos or DTS:X have the immersive audio, or just the UHD version? I would double-dip on Ender's Game on Blu-ray for an Atmos track, but it'll be years before I go 4K.
ThE more 4K bluray is out the better the movie company's and the owner's of 4K tv's will be.This is a win for everyone who has a 4K tv or is thinking about 4K blurays.I myself am looking forward to the 2016 months and future of what 4K tv and 4K bluray will bring us.I pray it become's the standard for Film and bluray watching it self.
I agree with RyanMathew - We need OLED first
Need to get some decent Flat panel OLED Screens in both 1080p and 4K models out on the market before i will invest in 4K Blu-ray.
I will grab all 4. Glad I didn't open Sicario yet. Would be surprised if The Hunger Games doesn't end up being the first 4K boxset when Mockingjay Part 2 comes out.
@Phonecia - "Sicario was not shot in 4K but in 3.4K on the Alexa"
So a 1080p Blu-ray would represent only 58% of the native resolution of the shoot? While a 4K BD would be an upscale of only 15%? Yeah, 4K Blu-ray is stupid.
There's not a lot of titles that are truly 4k. 2k is the best we can hope for. Wait a few years to adopt this. Also I will not replace my FullHD Blu-rays because of the masters aren't true 4k.
People here seem to be forgetting movies shot on actual film.
Imagine movies like Alien, Spartacus, Lawrence Of Arabia, Ben Hur, 2001, The Leone westerns, Vertigo, North By Nortwest, Patton and hundreds of other classic films that would look glourious in 4K
if transfered properly.
Okay so it the usual ploy - trying to capture revenue for financial bombs. Then when no one buys the company looses faith in a new format and supports their opinion not to re-master catalog titles.
The culture of 4K bluray is stupid--Not 3.5K being uprezzed to 4K. I'm not going to re-purchase my entire library just because a new fad has surfaced. In two years you will all be clamoring for 8K -- whatever. Bluray is good enough. I've collected movies on VHS, laserdisc, DVD, and now Bluray and I've had it. I laugh at all the money you guys will spend on another format. If my favorite movies stop coming out on Bluray then I will stop collecting. Your endless quest to have the greatest copy of whatever is a ridiculous argument. I will be very happy to sit this one out.
"I'm not going to re-purchase my entire library just because a new fad has surfaced"
Okay, show of hands who IS going to re-purchase their entire libraries?
*crickets chirping*
Never understood this argument, I didn't upgrade all my VHS to DVD, I didn't upgrade all my DVD to BD. Why do people think some segment of the population exists that feel they're going to be forced to upgrade everything they own just because a new format comes out? What's wrong with just buying day and date titles in the better format, upgrading only the older titles you already own that you know had a new 4K master struck and are movies that are amongst your faves? DVD is still being released, it's good enough for some people. Is Blu-ray stupid just because DVD is good enough for someone? Talk about ridiculous arguments.
Well said! Although I actually DID replace my VHS's with DVDs . I figured THAT upgrade would make the most sense, as VHS's can degrade over time. And nothing is going to be NOT backwards compatible with DVDs anytime soon.
I already had to upgrade my TV, Roku and house network to support streaming 4K. With manufacturers like Sony and Oppo hedging their bets on UHD players, I can afford to wait the months or years until discs become affordable.
Just like I did with blu-ray, I'll wait until they have content I want, and equipment I can afford. I do want it to succeed, but I don't want to be the early adopter.
jdw89
4K will die soon enough.. Right, we heard the same thing with Blu-ray and DVD before that. When are you guys going to learn, what the industry wants to happen , it always happens. 4K will prevail and the doomsayers will look like fools again.
Lol. But you can only go so far. It gets to the point where not all formats are going to take over. It's owning movies on a disc lol. Its not misinformation, DVD at the time took a bit to get going, and at that time knew it was going to work and hell it did, bluray I think for what it is has done and still does well with these days of how many ways to watch film. I as with a lot of other people don't think this will catch on. I think it's a lot of hype and this is quit obvious at least to me it is it's just not going to happen.
i think you all are too focused on the actual 4k rez; right now. the revolutionary thing now is the HDR/better colors. i wished that was available back in 2k days.
i also wished that BD gen1 should have already been 4k straight out of the gate, saves us the time, lol.
and i also dont get the 8k HDTVs either... 8k, 16k what's the point? =P
I think one point that people may be missing is that as movies are remastered for the 4k market there may also be 1080p releases of the new master which is a win win situation for adopters of 4k and also people who want to stick with Blu Ray
Still waiting for so many movies and TV seasons to be released on Blu-ray with decent transfers. Meanwhile studios going back and doing re-masters for the Blu-ray format because their first ones were absolute trash. The Graduate is one example. Most people on this forum are "influencers" so I wouldn't take their opinions so lightly. Just go to Walmart and they are still selling predominately DVDs. In the retail space, there really isn't room for 3 formats. Expect 4K adoption to be a long, slow process with very little selection for quite some time to come. Was there really a need for new audio formats when most people just replaced their amplifiers to support 4K pass through, only to find out what they just bought won't support the new codecs? What were they thinking? Can anyone say "triple dip"?
Sicario is such a great title to release in this format, but it wasn't even shot in 4K. I do get that the dynamic range and color will be better no matter what, but they're just stretching pixels at this point to fill that 4K frame. So many films are shot with the Alexa camera, which shoots at 2K (or 2.8K if at the full resolution)
. I figured THAT upgrade would make the most sense, as VHS's can degrade over time. And nothing is going to be NOT backwards compatible with DVDs anytime soon.
