I'm surprised no one has posted this yet. This bit of news comes courtesy of Blu-ray.com and HighDefDigest.

Apparently in the insert for the new Poltergeist Blu-ray there is an ad touting The Matrix Digi-book release coming in 2009.

Personally, I'm a completist so I'd rather have all 3 films (which I already have on HD DVD), but I'll definitely keep an eye out for this to see how nice it looks.

Its being discussed in the Announcements thread but a stand alone one seems important (since many people hate the second and third film so much)

Too bad it'll be a BD25 with DD 5.1 . . .

I'm teasing. Warner wouldn't do that, would they?

I reckon this is good news for all the folks who've been waiting to buy just the first film. Of course the "Complete" HD DVD set could probably still be had for the same price that this will list for, but still: "digi-book packaging" . . .

I'm buying it for the Digibook packaging alone. I already have the 3 HD DVD set.

Gizmo, I think I want your job.

It would be awesome if they released The Animatrix separately.

I agree with you on that point. I wouldn't mind upgrading my Animatrix DVD.

Hooray! A definite purchase. I myself am a fan of the digibooks. Very classy stuff.

I have the HD DVD set as well, and probably paid less than this single will cost.

But anyway, is there any word on if this will have anything different content wise (I don't care about the packaging) than the HD DVD?

I believe The Animatrix will be released separately in the UK. Since Warner doesn't region code their discs, it should be safe to import.

Where'd you see this announced? If this is true, that's good news.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Animatrix-Bl.../dp/B001CP4VM0

http://www.sendit.com/sendit/9988960.product

I just bought the HD set at Fry's for $30 last month, but I may be taking a look at this one too.

If I end up buying anything Matrix on HD, it would be this standalone release. But this movie hasn't held up well over the years, IMO. Maybe it's just the sequels that leave a bad taste in my mouth.

If anybody's interested it looks like there's somebody over at AVS unloading their "Ultimate" HD DVD set for $25.

I think the Matrix holds up very well actually, but the sequels were never very good (a few individual sequences notwithstanding).

+1. I just hope Warner does something astounding with the video/audio qualities. If it doesn't get a TrueHD track, that might be a deal breaker for me. There is no excuse why a catalogue title of this caliber should have anything less that the best fidelity.

All the Matrix movies have TrueHD on BD.

I like the new cover for the digibook:

That looks pretty cool actually. I'll probably pick it up.

Huh. No green. Seeing as how I snagged a copy of the Ultimate HD-DVD set on the cheap from DeepDiscount just for the first flick, I'll double up for this Blu-ray.

The three individual HD-DVD releases for the trilogy (which I got for $20 total) is more than good enough for me. But if I hadn't purchased the films that way I would have settled for this standalone release (though I dislike the new cover art).

I have the Ultimate HD-DVD set, but I'm contemplating this one. I happen to like the Digibook packaging.

I wonder if the extras are new. If they are I will gladly double dip as I already have the blu collection.

I'll buy it to go with my DigiBook collection. Will I ever watch it? Nope. My HD DVD copies still remain sealed.