Good news for those of you who plan to make the switch to Blu-ray DVDs: Warner Brothers has announced that several films will be released in a special book-like edition, including Harry Potter. HighDefDigest.com reports:

...the studio will kick off a new line of deluxe next-gen releases geared towards the collector's market. Sure to please film buffs, the slate of ten releases will wrap the high-def picture and sound in a handsomely bound volume containing rare and never-before-seen archival material.

We're not yet sure which Potter films will be re-released, nor what "archival material" they will include. However, we'll keep you updated. Thanks to Matt for the tip!

The Order of the Phoenix DVD has been released in the United States today, a month after fans in UK and Australia got their hands on it.

Several visitors have e-mailed in to tell us that there is a new sneak peek of Half-Blood Prince on the DVD. The clips differ from those that were available online to UK/Australia buyers. It has been uploaded to YouTube for those of you who don't hold the United States disc. If these clips are made available online for international viewers, please let us know via tips at staff dot mugglenet dot com!

Additionally, Larry sent in this article from MTV which speaks with producer David Yates about Half-Blood Prince filming:

That's because, as director David Yates points out, it's the "sex, drugs, and rock and roll" of the Potter books, with massive making-out sessions to occur for several characters — Ron and Lavender, Harry and Ginny — as they come of age. "It's the 'American Graffiti' for this set," Yates said. "I'm looking forward to developing the relationship between Ron and Hermione, and Ron and Lavender. There's a nice triangle there."

Follow this link for more from Heyman, Dan Radcliffe (Harry), Katie Leung (Cho), and Evanna Lynch (Luna).

WB has sent along a promotional video featuring several aspects of the upcoming Order of the Phoenix DVD, Interactive DVD Game, and DVD gift set. Some of the clips include a small interview with Set Designer Stuart Craig, Set Director Stephenie McMillan, and Art Director Alex Walker (who is interviewed by Tonks actress Natalia Tena). You can view it right here, already in podcast form if you so chose to bring it with you on your iPod.

What's more, a demo of the Interactive DVD game is now available in flash form at this link.

We now have all of the sneak peeks that ran the other day on ABC Family during their presentation of the first three Potter films. Thanks to MuggleNet reader Craig for putting them all together into one video!

To be viewed right here on YouTube, you can see several deleted scenes as well as a couple of parts from the DVD feature "Trailing Tonks." Thanks again to Craig. Enjoy!

There are several new updates tonight relating to the Order of the Phoenix DVD, sent in by a few visitors.

First up, WalMart is selling an exclusive DVD set (seen left) which includes the film disc and three toys: a snitch, broom, and globe. It is priced at $19.96

Next, in an HD DVD first, the HD version of Order of the Phoenix will include a feature called Live Community Screening. With an internet connection, you will be able to "Invite other owners of the HD DVD to simultaneously watch from their own internet-accessed players and text with your remote, PC or cell phone."

And lastly, a very detailed movie and special feature review comes from WF DVD Report. They give the two-disc edition a "Recommended" rating, calling it a "a solid two-disc release for an enjoyable film."

All versions of the DVD will go on sale December 11th in the United States. Thanks to Caitlin, Mark, and Tarpals for the links!

UPDATE: Best Buy is also selling a bonus two-disc gift set. Theirs comes with a Death Eater mask replica and is priced at $34.99. Thanks to Vickram for this!

Warner Brothers has commenced a new sweepstakes on the official Harry Potter website, with the grand prize being a trip for four to the set of Half-Blood Prince!

The contest runs now through January 5th, and there are two ways to enter. First, you can simply visit this page and fill out your information. You can also add their Facebook application to your profile, and "for each of the first twenty (20) of the Actions you perform during each Entry Period, you will receive one (1) entry into the drawing for the applicable Entry Period and one (1) entry into the drawing for the Grand Prize Entry Period, up to twenty (20) entries into each drawing, per day."

Full details can be found here. Good luck to everyone who enters! Thanks to HeartlessBlueAngel for the tip.

Lizo over at CBBC Newsround has posted a review of the upcoming Order of the Phoenix DVD, which is scheduled for release tomorrow (November 12th) in the UK. He gives the DVD 3 out of 5 stars and writes this about his favorite parts:

Which are the best bits?

Seeing some of the behind the scenes stuff in the Tonks feature. The long version of the scene where Umbridge inspects Professor Trelawney's Divination lesson is great.

Fans who are particularly into the books will enjoy the Secrets of Harry Potter documentary, although now those that have read Deathly Hallows will have had a lot of their questions already answered.

Fans who are more into the films will enjoy the editing feature where they can try putting together a scene in the Room of Requirement.

Anyone looking to purchase it in the United States will have to wait until, very unfortunately, December 11th. Thanks to Ukean34 and Lisa for the tip!

Several MuggleNetters have been e-mailing in a couple of Order of the Phoenix DVD updates this evening.

First, we've learned that the Half-Blood Prince sneak peek promised on the OOTP DVD will be viewed on the internet. Once you have your copy of the film, insert it into your computer and visit this page. There are two clips blocked out right now which can be viewed when your OOTP DVD is in the computer. It looks like both feature Half-Blood Prince filming with Dan Radcliffe (Harry Potter) and Michael Gambon (Dumbledore).

Second, Yahoo! UK has online a preview of the Order of the Phoenix DVD special features. This clip shows Natalia Tena (who plays Tonks) working with a choreographer to create some dueling scenes. Click here and then click "Watch the Exclusive DVD clip" on the right. Enjoy!

Warner Brothers is pioneering a new digital download concept with the upcoming Order of the Phoenix DVD release, Video Business reports. WB will be including two digital copies of the fifth Potter film on its DVD, which you'll be able to download onto your PC or portable media player:

Jim Wuthrich, Warner senior VP of digital distribution, unveiled the development at Tuesday’s DVD Forum conference here, as he discussed the studio’s plans to meet what it sees as a growing consumer demand for digital content.

“You can buy the DVD and have the option of the digital copy,” said Wuthrich. “This future-proofs the format for consumers.”

While there is no word yet on exactly which media players you'll be able to put OOTP on, we can assume WB is targeting the very large iPod and iPhone markets. Both devices are capable of playing movies on-the-go. The DVD will be released in the UK on November 12th and the US on December 11th. Thanks to Lauren for the tip!

After various sites confirmed the Limited Edition Gift Set and 2-disc Special Edition, Warner Brothers has announced details for all four DVD sets being released on December 11th.

Details of note:
- Single disc (both fullscreen and widescreen) priced at $28.98, Dual-Disc at $34.99, HD and Blu-ray at $35.99.
- Dual-disc set to include "sneak" peek at Half-Blood Prince.
- Additional 17 minutes of OOTP footage included on all DVDs.
- Limited Edition Gift Set to include "more than three hours of all-new content from the past Harry Potter films."

For all information from Warner Brothers, click the link below.

UPDATE: To hold all of this information, we now have a page in our OOTP Movie section of MuggleNet.

Thanks to DVDTown.com, you can now take a look at the front cover and the back cover of the new Order of the Phoenix widescreen DVD as well as the front and back cover of the special edition. As previously reported, the movie is said to come out on DVD on December 11th of this year.

On top of news about the upcoming Order of the Phoenix DVD, DVD Times also has our first look at the "Harry Potter Limited Edition Giftset." The completely collection of Potter movies on DVD will be released on December 11th - the same day as the OOTP DVD.


By looking at this picture released by DVD Times, it looks like there will be several bonus items included in the set:

- "Harry Potter Bonus DVD"
- "Harry Potter Interactive DVD Game - Hogwarts Challenge"
- "Bookmark Collection"
- Trading Cards

We'll update with more information as we receive it. Thanks to everyone who e-mailed with the tip!

DVDActive.com and ComingSoon.net, both reliable movie sources, are now reporting that the fifth film will be released on DVD December 11th. From DVDActive:

Extras on the two-disc release will include 10 minutes of additional scenes, a A&E documentary, a Trailing Tonks feature with Actress Nat Tena, various making of featurettes, and a Fun and Games feature in which director David Yates and editor Mark Day show us what a difference a good edit makes and allows you to edit a scene.

It looks like some fun new features that have not been on Potter DVDs before will appear with OOTP! In addition, the film is slated for Blu-Ray and HD-DVD release. We'll update with more when we hear it! Thanks to everyone who e-mailed with the tip.

Various details concerning the upcoming Order of the Phoenix DVD release are slowly starting to emerge.

The Movie Informer has received what looks to be the front and back cover the 2-disc Special Edition DVD. Check it out right here! The back lists several bonus features, including:

- Additional Scenes
- Conversations with the Cast
- Reflections on the Fifth Film
- The Noble House of Black
- A New Order
- Ministry Mysteries
- Flight of the Phoenix
- Theatrical Trailers
- EA Game Demo

While this picture of the front and back cover do look pretty promising, this is still not confirmed by Warner Brothers. We're working on confirming all of the aforementioned details.

Last month at the US premiere of the film, Emerson and I asked director David Yates how many deleted scenes we could expect on DVD. His answer falls in line with an update at the British Board of Film Classification's website, which lists 10 minutes worth of deleted and extended scenes to be included on the DVD. Thanks to Leaky for this.

As for a release date, rumors are currently circulating that we can expect to see it in mid-November (many sites report November 12th in the UK). We'll be sure to update you as soon as we hear more!

HDTV News has a very positive review of the recently released Goblet of Fire High-Definition DVD:

The Goblet of Fire is possibly one of the best HD transfers to date, with clean crisp pictures looking stunning and at times almost 3D like in quality. Warner have made a real effort to provide all of their High Definition release with Dolby TrueHD which adds to the superb mix, especially when pushed through a decent quality amp. The whole experience is an assault on the senses that will leave you demanding more of the same.

Unfortunately, these discs require a very pricey HD DVD player or an XBOX 360 with a separate HD add-on. Prices for this new technology will likely decrease over the next year.

With the first three Harry Potter DVDs now on moratorium, and Goblet of Fire being removed from store shelves on January 22nd, Warner Home Video has announced that the DVDs will be re-released later this year in high-definition format. WHV HD DVDs offer resolution six times higher than regular DVDs, as well as vibrant color, contrast, and sound.

Remember, you can still purchase the standard HP DVDs through our shop.

The first three Harry Potter DVDs are set to be removed from US shelves today, with the Goblet of Fire DVD coming off on January 22nd. Some companies, like Disney, do this so that longer and higher quality versions can be released later on.

You can you can still purchase the DVDs (while they remain in stock) through our online shop:

- Sorcerer's Stone
- Chamber of Secrets
- Prisoner of Azkaban
- Goblet of Fire

Get them now before they're gone!

DVD Town is reporting that the HD-DVD for the Goblet of Fire movie will be released on August 29th. We're currently working on verifying this date with Warner Bros. Also, both the front and back cover art for the DVD has surfaced online.

Thanks U-C.net for the tip!

Reuters reports today that The Chronicles of Narnia DVD has sold 11 million copies, beating Goblet of Fire which holds just under 10 million sales. Of interest, Narnia was released on DVD nearly a month after GOF went on sale. Don't forget: You can find complete details on the fourth film's digital video disc on our GOF DVD page.