Vivid had planned to release Thomas’ big-budget remake on April 18 in standard definition, HD DVD and Blu-ray simultaneously, but had to push back the Blu-ray release date after replication issues, according to Vivid’s national sales manager Howard Levine.
“‘Debbie Does Dallas…Again’ is the first fully licensed AACS-encrypted Blu-ray disc,” Levine told XBIZ. “This DVD will play on any Blu-ray player. Adult companies were not getting licenses and that’s why this release has taken a long time to get to the market. We didn’t want to make a stripped or ripped copy; [we] wanted to do it fully licensed. This is legitimate — the first legit one.
“Vivid is the only company to go through the proper channels to produce a true Blu-ray disc,” Levine continued, alluding to CDGirls’ announcement that it has taken Blu-ray replication in-house and is producing discs stripped of DRM. “Other companies burned to BD-R discs but they aren’t necessarily going to play in every machine; some machines might require a firmware upgrade [to play].”
Manny Ulele, CDGirls.com chief technology officer, disputes Levine’s claim. He told XBIZ that his “Jenna Haze Oil Orgy” distributed by LFP Video, the first adult title to be released on Blu-ray, plays in the Sony PS3 gaming console and on all Blu-ray players.
Levine said that finding a Blu-ray replicator willing to handle adult content was extremely tough, but with persistence and the right connections, Vivid found one after going to 25 replicators.
“Replicating on Blu-ray is an expensive process — considerably more than standard def,” Levine said. “I’m not knocking any other company’s claim to [being the first on] Blu-ray, but if you’re looking for the real McCoy, ‘Debbies Does Dallas…Again’ is it.”
The highly anticipated movie is a remake of the iconic 1970s film about sexually adventurous cheerleaders. “Debbies Does Dallas…Again” stars Stefani Morgan, Hillary Scott, Penny Flame, Staci Thorn, Courtney Simpson, Savanna Samson, Monique Alexander, Samantha Ryan, Cassidey, Lacie Heart and Sunny Leone.
The movie is packaged in a 3-D box and includes one disc with the new version, another with the original 1978 version starring Bambi Woods, and a bonus disc packed with behind-the-scenes footage, photo galleries and scenes from previous Vivid remakes.
