Well, we have been quietly working on a few BLU titles already... we just didn't blast the public with the info using press releases for titles that have no release dates yet, because, well, we don't know when they'll be ready at this time.

I actually DO have a nice Blu-Ray of our MANIAC COP at home right now, sans menus, though... a beauty of a VC-1 encode with uncompressed PCM 5.1! You'll all get to experience it probably close to the beginning of 2009.

We're working on MANIAC COP, plus THE IMAGE (with a SMOKIN' brand-new HD transfer... we were even able to get rid of the green scratch during the cafe scene) as our first two BD titles.

More to come, obviously, if we actually succeed in making some money with those two. Probably STREET TRASH is the next candidate.

All our HD transfers are on either D5 tapes or HDCAM SR, so I can't really watch them at home. I can watch MANIAC COP because its our BD encode given to me on a BD-R disc. Nothing really beats seeing the 35mm film up on a telecine unit, though, which I am lucky enough to experience on a regular basis.

We have a couple HD transfers for things that NO ONE knows we are putting out yet... and, with those, we are looking into the possibility of releasing both DVD and BD on the same release date.

We'll see...

MANIAC COP wasn't really our first choice for BD, but the studio doing the project for us wanted something with a handful of extras and audio options just so they could put it together with their software/encoders, etc. and MANIAC COP fit the criteria. They wanted do do a "demo" with it for potential clients showing a few extra options available and using multiple sources. LEMORA "is" a good candidate but, every time I bring it up for BD, I see the huge grimace on my business partner's face... the title is beautiful and one of our favorites but... IT TANKED. Zero. Ziltch. Nada. Sales blew.

That's not always a decision we can make. It's all up to the licensor and what our contracts state for any particular film. If we are allowed, our BDs will be region free when we can do it.

And Blue Underground has just announced the Blu-ray Disc release of Two Evil Eyes on 3/31/09. Extras will include 4 featurettes (Two Masters' Eyes, Savini's EFX, At Home with Tom Savini and Adrienne Barbeau on George Romero) and the theatrical trailer. Two Masters' Eyes will include interviews with directors Dario Argento and George Romero, special make-up effects supervisor Tom Savini, executive producer Claudio Argento and Asia Argento.
Blue Underground is ABOUT to announce Fast Company for Blu-ray release on 4/28/09. Extras there will include audio commentary with co-writer/director David Cronenberg, 2 featurettes (Inside the Character Actor's Studio and Shooting Cronenberg), two early Cronenberg films (Stereo and Crimes of the Future), the theatrical trailer and D-Box control.
We're not done with Blue-U yet... our friends at the studio have additionally let us know that Circle of Iron is coming to Blu-ray on 5/19 (the date is tentative). Bad Boy Bubby and Living Dead at Manchester Morgue are also on tap for Blu-ray later in 2009. We're also told that the following titles are among those being planned, but they require a lot of HD restoration work, so look for them in either late 2009 or 2010: Fire and Ice, The Crazies, The Toolbox Murders, Daughters of Darkness, Vampyres, The Blood Spattered Bride, God Told Me To, The Prowler, The New York Ripper, Maniac and Vigilante.