Universal Reveals Early 'American Gangster' HD DVD Details

Issuing a rare "pre-announcement," Universal says it's planning a late winter HD DVD bow for Ridley Scott's 'American Gangster.'

Although the studio stopped short of issuing an exact street date for Denzel Washington-Russell Crowe starrer (which is still in theaters), it's promising an HD DVD/DVD Combo edition sometime in March, day-and-date with a matching standard DVD.

Tech specs will include a 1080p/VC-1 transfer, along with Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Surround and Dolby Digital-Plus 5.1 Surround tracks.

Extras are already looking quite extensive, with audio commentary by Ridley Scott himself, the "Fallen Empire: The Making of American Gangster" documentary, "Uncovering the Past" featurette, deleted scenes and a U-Control-enabled picture-in-picture commentary. The HD DVD will also include web-enabled extras, which will be announced along with final details when the full press release arrives sometime in the next few weeks.

Universal has set a suggested list price of $39.98 for the HD DVD/DVD combo.

While we await a final street date and complete details for 'American Gangster,' we've added a listing for the title in the "Release Dates Pending" section of our HD DVD Release Schedule. Stay tuned!

We've also set up a dedicated thread for early buzz on this titles in our Forums area -- click the following link to discuss the 'American Gangster' HD DVD release.