Starting with
X-Men: First Class, Twentieth Century Fox are to include a digital copy
compatible with Android phones and tablets with Blu-ray Discs. The digital copies will
leverage Google's newly acquired Widevine DRM platform, which is also used by Netflix and
other digital video services.
On the new digital copies for Android, Vincent Marcais, senior vice-president for marketing
at Twentieth Century Fox International Home Entertainment said "Given its strong growth
as a mobile operating system, the support for Android is an important move for us because
it further enhances Blu-ray discs as the best way to get your movies to all your screens." It
seems that many studios see the best way of combating declining home video revenues is
to pack more value into the BD release.
Adding features and extra copies is not a new practice for BD, many studios already release
'Triple Play' versions of their movies, and Fox adding an Android copy is an extension of the
bundle. Another extension we could see in the near future is digital copies also leveraging
the new UltraViolet platform which allows people to take their digital copies and play them
on any compatible device regardless of manufacturer or which platform the UV code has
been bought from.
It is extensions of the Blu-ray platform like these ones which will ensure a long and healthy
life for the format, by expanding the remit of the format and including UV and Android
instead of fighting them it will ensure that every movie sees a HD 1080p release on BD
rather than a lower quality streaming only release to avoid piracy.
X-Men: First Class is out on September 9th of this year.