This past Monday sent shockwaves through the
Charmed community with the
report about Spelling/Paramount's announcement: fans will be able to celebrate Halloween this year with an
October 21st release of
Charmed - The Complete Series on DVD! And no, there's not just one release coming...but two versions, because the studio is also releasing
Charmed - The Complete Series: Limited Deluxe Edition on the same date! Nothing was really known about these titles at first though, other than the release date and that they would contain all 8 seasons of the show.
This evening, however, we've gotten ahold of information that the studio sent to retailers, and it fills us in with quite a bit more about these two packages! First of all, let's go over what makes the Limited Edition so "Deluxe". And the answer is SIZE, plain and simple.
Both of these releases are designed to look like the Book Of Shadows, which the Halliwell sisters found in the attic and used throughout the series. The regular version of the DVD package measures 7.5" wide by 10.75" high by 2.375" spine (approx. 19cm x 27.3cm x 6cm). How big is that? Well, it's much bigger than a normal DVD case. In fact, the front measures as just a wee bit smaller than the face of a standard magazine...but at more than 2 inches on the spine, it would take a whole stack of mags to properly get the idea! And that's the "small" package: the noticeably bigger
Limited Deluxe Edition measures in at a foot wide on its face: 12" x 15.375" x 1.75" (approx. 30.5cm x 39.1cm x 4.45cm). Whoa! Check them out:
The shorter package, seen on the left, holds 2 discs per "page", while the Deluxe package on the right shows that the pages are "3 discs tall" instead. The studio info specifies that both of these will hold the exact same number of discs, however: these will each have 49 DVDs in them! As a result, the "Deluxe" release has a thinner spine, as you'll note by checking out the measurements above.
So what's on those 49 discs? Besides all 8 seasons, running 7764 minutes according to the studio specs, we will - AT LAST! - get some substantial bonus material on these two releases. According to the info provided to retailers, the studio shows these brand-new extras are on board:
- The Original, Un-Aired Pilot
- Behind-the-scenes featurettes including:
- The Demons of Charmed
- The Men of Charmed
- The Book of Shadows
- And More!
We also understand that there will be some Easter Eggs to find on these discs, so get ready to go hunting!
How many bones will these cost you? Paramount Home Entertainment is NOT setting a "named" SRP for these releases, but rather they are letting the retailers calculate an approximate number based on the "wholesale" prices each individual retail outfit negotiates with the studio. However, to get you in the ballpark, DVDEmpire.com is showing that
Charmed - The Complete Series DVD set has a "list price" of $299.99, but - at the time of this writing, anyway - is taking pre-orders for $207.40, after discount. That's the standard edition release. The
Charmed - The Complete Series: Limited Deluxe Edition DVD set is shown there with a "list price" of $350.00, but as of this writing DVDEmpire is discounting it to $276.50 if you pre-order it now.
UPDATE: Amazon has JUST added listings for both of these, and it forms an interesting comparison to DVDEmpire's pricing. The
Charmed - The Complete Series DVD set at Amazon shows a "list price" of $247.99, and as of this writing will cost you $173.99 to pre-order it right now. Meanwhile, the
Charmed - The Complete Series: Limited Deluxe Edition DVD set is shown there with a "list price" of $289.99, and Amazon is currently discounting it to $202.99 if you lock in your copy right away. It's interesting to see these significant levels of difference!
Please keep in mind that all info, and especially the package art pictured above, is not necessarily final and could be subject to change. Some fans are wondering if all of the original music will be intact on these releases. Frankly, we don't know yet, but we're looking into it. Stay tuned and we'll bring you any updates we can, plus larger pictures of both packages, just as soon as it's available!
