Warner Home Video has let
the next “shoe” drop in its post-Labor Day hit parade with the selection of
Nov. 12 as the street date for director Zack Synder’s summer super hero
blockbuster, Man of Steel.
The ARR for this
three-SKU product launch — double-disc DVD edition, plus two Blu-ray/DVD Combo
Packs, one with and one without a 3D viewing option (all releases feature
UltraViolet) — is 151 days. Ticket
sales were a robust $289.6 million.
A Brit as an iconic
American comic book super hero … a bold move.
That is whom producer/writer Christopher Nolan (three Oscar nominations
— writing for both Memento and Inception, plus Best Picture nod for
Inception)
hit upon as Superman/Clark Kent in this reboot of the series, Henry Cavill from
The
Tudors cable series (also such films as Immortals, Blood
Creek, Whatever Works, etc.).
It worked (reviews and
the box office gross say so), even the story, which is faithful to the comic
books (in terms of mythology and origins), the 1948 Superman serial (with
Kirk Alyn) and the 1978 Superman theatrical launch (with
Christopher Reeve) … all of the elements are there.
Nolan and co-writer David
S. Goyer (Batman Begins, Dark City, etc.) have just moved
things around a bit and broaden the action.
Which, if the truth be known, is the only negative in that it made the
film — at times — seem like a dozen other CGI-laden, overly loud super hero
movies of late (a long list). A little
less of that and a little more character development (relationships) would have
been welcomed.
Amy Adams as Lois Lane,
Russel Crowe as Jor-El and Michael Shannon (perhaps best knows as Van Alden in
the Broadwalk
Empire cable series, plus Oscar-nominated as Best Supporting Actor for
his performance in Revolutionary Road in 2008) as General Zod were all excellent
casting decisions on the part Nolan and company.
In short, Man
of Steel works … a sequel in this re-launch of the series is planned
for 2015 (Superman vs. Batman, which has already stirred controversy with
the selection of Ben Affleck as Batman).
As to bonus nuggets,
there are three production featurettes included on all three SKU selections —
“Strong Characters, Legendary Roles,” “All-Out Action” and “Krypton Decoded” —
while those choosing the Blu-rays will have two additional featurettes as bonus goodies — “Journey of Discovery:
Creating Man of Steel” and “Planet Krypton.”
