THE MESSENGERS DVD

- Available on DVD, Blu-ray Disc and Sony PlayStation Portable June 5 -

On June 5, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will present the Pang Brothers’ (The Eye, Internal Affair) thrilling U.S. directorial debut, The Messengers, on DVD, Blu-ray Disc® and Sony Playstation® Portable (PSP).  In The Messengers, produced by Sam Raimi (The Grudge 2, Spider-Man 2), Roy and Denise Solomon, played by Dylan McDermott (TV’s “The Practice,” Runaway Jury) and Penelope Ann Miller (TV’s “Vanished,” TV’s Carry Me Home), are determined to rectify their failing marriage.  The couple moves their family from the fast-paced city life of Chicago to a remote North Dakota farm.  When their children, played by Kristen Stewart (The Land of Women, Zathura: A Space Adventure) and twins Evan and Theodore Turner, begin seeing ominous spirits invisible to everyone else, they experience the fright behind terrifying seclusion. The Messengers includes numerous never-before-seen bonus featurettes and a commentary by Kristen Stewart.  The DVD will be available for $28.95 SRP, Blu-ray Disc $38.96 SRP and for the PSP $28.95 SRP.

Synopsis:

In The Messengers, the Solomon family leaves the hustle-and-bustle of Chicago life for the solace of a small, run-down farm in North Dakota. As Roy (McDermott) and Denise Solomon (Miller) try to repair their failing marriage, their troubled teenage daughter, Jess (Stewart), and 3-year-old son, Ben (Evan and Theodore Turner), realize their new farmhouse is haunted.  The children see ghosts and find the apparitions intriguing until one night, when the ghosts’ sinister side is revealed, their true intentions are made apparent.  The evil spirits tear the seemingly peaceful house apart and drag Jess into the darkness as she and Ben struggle to face the threatening spirits on their own.

DVD BONUS FEATURES

Seven behind-the-scenes featurettes including:

“Pang Vision”

“Script Evolution”

“Constructing the Set”

“Kristen Stewart, Rising Star”

“John Corbett, Unexpected Villain”

“Meet the Crows”

“Exploring Visual Effects”

Commentary with Kristen Stewart and Guests

WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW!: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON DVD

ON DVD JUNE 12

The gang from What’s Happening! return after 7 years for more comic misadventures when Sony Pictures Home Entertainment debuts What’s Happening Now!: The Complete First Season on DVD June 12.  The three-disc DVD features all 22 episodes starring Ernest Thomas as Raj, Fred Berry as Rerun, Haywood Nelson as Dwayne, Danielle Spencer as Dee, and Shirley Hemphill as Shirley, all reprising their roles from the earlier, original series.  The DVD will be available for $29.95 SRP.

Loosely based on the 1975 film Cooley High, the urban sitcom What's Happening! debuted on ABC in 1976 and ran for three seasons.   After its network cancellation, the series went into syndication in 1980 and became so popular that the series was resurrected as What’s Happening Now!

In the new series, which made its debut in first-run syndication on September 7, 1985 and ran for three seasons, all the major cast members from the original show are depicted seven years later.  Since the end of the original series, Raj and his friends have grown and their lives have changed.  Roger “Raj” Thomas is an aspiring writer married to Nadine (Anne-Marie Johnson), a social worker and civic organizer.  They are foster parents to Carolyn (Reina King), who displays the sass of Raj’s younger sister Dee, who makes periodic visits home from college.  Raj also purchased a half interest in his favorite high school hangout, Rob's Diner, which he now runs with feisty waitress Shirley.   His dimwitted buddy Dwayne has become a computer programmer, Rerun is a used-car salesman and the two bachelors share an apartment.  

DVD Special Features Include:

• Digitally Remastered Audio and Video
• Full-Screen Presentations
• Audio: English
• Bonus Previews
• Closed Captioned

Broadcast Year:         1985 - 1986

CATCH & RELEASE DVD

DEBUTS ON DVD AND 50GB BLU-RAY DISC MAY 8, 2007

On May 8th, Catch & Release will make its way onto DVD and Blu-Ray from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment for the suggested retail price of $28.95 and $38.96 SLP respectively.  This heartfelt comedy stars America’s Sweetheart Jennifer Garner (“Alias,” 13 Going On 30), with a fantastic supporting cast that includes: Timothy Olyphant (“Deadwood”, The Girl Next Door), Kevin Smith (director/actor Clerks I & II, Dogma) and Juliette Lewis (Natural Born Killers, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape) and is directed by Oscar® nominee Susannah Grant (Erin Brockovich).

After the sudden and unexpected death of her fiancé, Gray Wheeler (Jennifer Garner) seeks solace and refuge in the home of her fiancés’ former roommates and true-blue friends Sam (Kevin Smith) and Dennis (Sam Jaeger).  Also joining the household is childhood buddy, Fritz (Timothy Olyphant), a slightly untrustworthy, slick commercial director from Hollywood.  Despite Fritz’s best effort to keep them hidden, secrets emerge in the form of an undisclosed checking account and a monthly payment to an eccentric young woman (Juliette Lewis) out in Los Angeles.  Suddenly the veneer of Gray’s once-thought-perfect fiancé begins to tarnish.   What follows is a haphazard union as all parties come together-- connections are made, wounds begin to heal and faith in love is renewed.

DVD SPECIAL FEATURES INCLUDE:

2 Commentaries

Director/Writer Susannah Grant and Kevin Smith

Director/Writer Susannah Grant and Cinematographer John Lindley

BLU-RAY DISC SPECIAL FEATURES INCLUDE:

2 Commentaries

Director/Writer Susannah Grant and Kevin Smith

Director/Writer Susannah Grant and Cinematographer John Lindley

Deleted Scenes

Making of Featurette

Cast Auditions From Kevin Smith, Juliette Lewis and Sam Jaeger

BLOOD AND CHOCOLATE DVD

May 29

From Sony Pictures Home Entertainment comes the fantasy thriller Blood and Chocolate May 29 on DVD, Blu-ray Disc® and Sony Playstation® Portable (PSP).  Based on the popular young adult novel by Annette Curtis Klause and from the producers of Underworld and The Covenant, Blood and Chocolate is the story of Vivian Gandillon, a young girl caught between two worlds - a human world by day and the life of a werewolf by night.  Actress Agnes Bruckner (Dreamland, The Woods) portrays Vivian, whose life is turned upside down after meeting artist and relics researcher Aiden Galvin, played by Hugh Dancy (Basic Instinct 2, King Arthur).  When the protector and controller of Vivian’s pack, Gabriel, played by Olivier Martinez (Unfaithful, S.W.A.T.), becomes aware of Vivian’s new friendship with Galvin, she realizes she must decide whether to follow her heart or betray the secret vow of her family.  Blood and Chocolate is full of deleted scenes and will keep viewers guessing until the end.  The DVD will retail for $28.95 SRP, the Blu-ray Disc for $38.96 SRP and for PSP at $28.95 SRP.

Synopsis:

As a young girl living in the remote mountains of Colorado, Vivian (Bruckner) watched helplessly as her family was murdered by a pack of angry men for the secret they carried in their blood.  Vivian survived the attack by running into the woods and changing into a wolf. Ten years later, Vivian is living a relatively safe and normal life in Bucharest, Romania.  Vivian spends her days working in a chocolate shop and nights trawling the city’s underground clubs, fending off the reckless antics of her cousin Rafe, and his gang of delinquents he refers to as “The Five.” 

Vivian’s life begins to unravel when she has a chance encounter with Aiden (Dancy), an artist researching Bucharest’ ancient art and relics for his next graphic novel.  Aiden pursues Vivian until she relents and begins to see him, but she can’t bring herself to tell him the truth - and lives in fear of showing him who she really is.  Even though Vivian has sworn never to kill, she is as much an animal as she is human, and her love for Aiden threatens to cast him to the very wolves who saved her life and who are waiting for their chance to hunt him as prey.

DVD BONUS FEATURES

Deleted scenes

Director’s commentary

SERAPHIM FALLS DVD

May 15, 2007

The breathtaking landscape of the American West is the setting for Sony Pictures Home Entertainment’s new DVD release Seraphim Falls, a Civil War adventure that features epic chases and primal battles and stars Liam Neeson (Batman Begins, Star Wars:  Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace), Pierce Brosnan (The Matador, Die Another Day), and Angie Harmon (TV’s “Law and Order”). Special features on the Seraphim Falls DVD include a “Behind the Scenes” featurette and a commentary track with Pierce Brosnan, David Von Ancken and Michael Hanan.

Synopsis:

It’s been five years since the end of the American Civil War, but Colonel Morsman Carver (Neeson) is on one final mission: to kill his bitter rival Gideon (Brosnan), no matter what it takes. Somewhere deep within the snowy mountains of the West, Gideon sits in front of a fire, a lonely figure lost in thought.  Abruptly, he is pulled out of his reverie by the echo of a Henry rifle and a bullet puffing into the snow inches from his head.  Instantly Gideon calculates his one chance of survival -- to leave everything he owns and run for cover.  And so begins the thrilling account of Colonel Morsman Carver’s terrible revenge – to hunt down and kill Gideon.  Many men will die before these two meet face to face, and only then will Carver comprehend the full cost of his undertaking.  Launched by a gunshot and propelled by rage, the relentless pursuit will take them both far from the comforts and codes of civilization and into the unforgiving wilderness.

SECRETS OF THE CODE DVD

Debuting on DVD June 5

Based on Best-Selling Book by Dan Burstein,

Feature-Length Documentary Includes Interviews and Commentary by

Renowned Scholars, Theologians, Scientists and Historians

Academy Award® winning actress Susan Sarandon (Best Actress, Dead Man Walking, 1996) narrates the feature-length documentary Secrets of the Code, debuting on DVD June 5 from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.  Based on writer Dan Burstein’s best-selling book of the same name, this documentary looks at the controversy in the bestselling novel and blockbuster film The Da Vinci Code and explores of some of the world’s greatest mysteries.  The DVD will be available for $24.96 SRP. 

Secrets of the Code explores the global obsession resulting from The Da Vinci Code, the fastest-selling adult novel in the history of publishing.  This documentary examines the importance of religion in today’s world and also tours the mysteries surrounding the ancient signs and symbols, the true identity of Mary Magdalene, Leonardo da Vinci, the Gnostic Gospels, the meaning of the search for the Holy Grail in history, and the facts concerning the so-called secret societies including the Freemasons, Priory of Sion and Opus Dei.

The film includes interviews and commentary by renowned scholars, theologians, scientists and historians, including Timothy Freke, Richard Leigh, Sean Martin and Elaine Pagels.

First published in hardcover in 2004, the book Secrets of the Code was a worldwide bestseller, appearing in 28 foreign editions.  With two million copies now in print, it has outsold all the other guidebooks to The Da Vinci Code combined.

DVD Special Features Include:

·        1.85 Anamorphic Widescreen Presentation

·        Audio: English 5.1

·        Subtitles: English, French

·        Color/Closed Captioned