More Casino Royale DVD Details

DVDActive is reporting an even earlier release date for Sony's Casino Royale DVD than The Digital Bits did yesterday: March 13, 2007. They also offer the first details on what special features to expect on the 2-disc collectors edition. According to the website, we can look forward to "a 'Becoming Bond' documentary that takes an intimate look at how Daniel Craig stepped into the role of the 6th James Bond, a 'James Bond: For Real' featurette that looks at the action and stunts, a 'Bond Girls are Forever' featurette that takes a closer look at Bond's leading ladies, a 'Death in Venice' featurtte, and the Chris Cornell ‘You Know My Name’ music video." The movie will be presented in anamorphic widescreen, naturally, and receive a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. Retail is announced as $28.95, though it will surely be cheaper at most stores when it comes out. MI6.co.uk adds a few additional details, assigning a 30 minute running time to each of the above documentaries and adding "5 news wraps" to the list.

You can't really judge much about the ultimate features from the titles alone, but if one were to attempt to do so (which I will now attempt), then they don't sound too impressive right off the bat, to be honest. A whole half hour on the rather routine Venice stunt sequence, and nothing on the gambling scenes (which must have presented a vexing dilemma to the crew on how to pull of, whether you think they succeeded or not)? Nothing on the torture sequence, which must have seemed at first impossible to film? And, worst of all, apparently nothing on the adaptation process? I would really hope for a "page to screen" type featurette featuring Broccoli and Wilson, Purvis, and Haggis on the choices they made in bringing Ian Fleming's first Bond novel to life. Of course, additional features could still be TBA, and the existing ones might cover these aspects despite their titles. I hope so!