The "Indiana Jones" trilogy, one of the most requested film series for the DVD format, is finally slated for worldwide release Nov. 4 as "The Adventures of Indiana Jones -- The Complete DVD Movie Collection," a box set that will include a fourth disc specifically dedicated to bonus materials.
Since DVDs first hit store shelves in April 1997, the Indiana Jones films, from Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, have consistently ranked among the top 10 most-requested titles among DVD consumers.
Elements slated for the special fourth disc include a documentary crafted by Laurent Bouzereau, who has gone behind the scenes on Lucas projects like "American Graffiti" and such Spielberg projects as "Jaws" and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind."
"The fourth disc explores every facet of how the films were made -- from stunts to visual effects to the music and sound," said Jim Ward, vp of marketing at Lucasfilm. "We take viewers around the world to explore the history behind the 'Indiana Jones' legends."
Ward said that there will be no director's commentary tracks on the three discs containing the films: "Raiders of the Lost Ark," "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" and "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade."
"We felt that because of bandwidth issues and, more importantly, the amount of information provided on the fourth disc, it would be redundant to include a director's commentary track on the title discs," Ward said.
Available in both wide-screen and full-screen versions via Paramount Home Entertainment, the collection has no suggested retail price but is expected to be available for about $49.95 in the United States.
Each of the films were color timed at Paramount Studios and then were sent on for further digital restoration at Lowry Digital Images -- whose work has included such classics as the Walt Disney Co.'s "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" and Paramount's remastered "Sunset Boulevard."
While Paramount executives wouldn't comment on specifics of the marketing campaign, suffice it to say that this will be the largest marketing campaign that the home video division has ever undertaken, second only to "The Godfather" box set release, one Paramount executive said.
Since DVDs first hit store shelves in April 1997, the Indiana Jones films, from Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, have consistently ranked among the top 10 most-requested titles among DVD consumers.
Elements slated for the special fourth disc include a documentary crafted by Laurent Bouzereau, who has gone behind the scenes on Lucas projects like "American Graffiti" and such Spielberg projects as "Jaws" and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind."
"The fourth disc explores every facet of how the films were made -- from stunts to visual effects to the music and sound," said Jim Ward, vp of marketing at Lucasfilm. "We take viewers around the world to explore the history behind the 'Indiana Jones' legends."
Ward said that there will be no director's commentary tracks on the three discs containing the films: "Raiders of the Lost Ark," "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" and "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade."
"We felt that because of bandwidth issues and, more importantly, the amount of information provided on the fourth disc, it would be redundant to include a director's commentary track on the title discs," Ward said.
Available in both wide-screen and full-screen versions via Paramount Home Entertainment, the collection has no suggested retail price but is expected to be available for about $49.95 in the United States.
Each of the films were color timed at Paramount Studios and then were sent on for further digital restoration at Lowry Digital Images -- whose work has included such classics as the Walt Disney Co.'s "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" and Paramount's remastered "Sunset Boulevard."
While Paramount executives wouldn't comment on specifics of the marketing campaign, suffice it to say that this will be the largest marketing campaign that the home video division has ever undertaken, second only to "The Godfather" box set release, one Paramount executive said.
