XIII - As a Regular Series Heads Into Production, 'The Conspiracy' Mini-Series Comes to DVD and Blu-ray

The first female US President is shot dead by a sniper during her Independence Day speech. Three months later, a wounded man is washed up on a beach with no memory of his identity. The only clue is a tattoo on his neck, 'XIII'. Submerged in a far-reaching conspiracy which threatens to overthrow the entire government, XIII's identity becomes the key to unraveling a complex and dangerous truth that will shock and excite. From the first bullet, this gripping action-thriller will leave audiences gasping for breath.

The story of "XIII" (13) began life in 1984 as a comic book series written by Jean Van Hamme, with artistry by William Vance (both are from Belgium), with comparisons drawn between it and Robert Ludlum's story The Bourne Identity. The next step was a videogame released on several platforms by UBIsoft in 2003. That videogame was noted for a voice cast that included David Duchovny (The X-Files, Californication), rapper Eve (Glee, xXx), and Adam West (Batman, Family Guy).

Then, in 2008, the first story arc of the comic book run was adapted as a mini-series titled XIII: The Conspiracy, starring Stephen Dorff (Blade, Public Enemies) in the title role, plus Val Kilmer (Top Gun, Deja Vu), Jessalyn Gilsig (Boston Public, Glee), Ted Atherton (Hollywoodland, Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye), Stephen McHattie (Watchmen, 2012) and Caterina Murino (Casino Royale, The Garden of Eden). This 2-episode production was aired in the United States on NBC in February 2009.

Plans are now moving ahead to continue the television life of XIII with a regular series consisting of 13 hour-long episodes that are going to be produced, with plans to broadcast them in 2010 (once a network deal has been signed...and as spectators of the Leno/Conan situation know, NBC has room in prime time all of a sudden, so anything's possible). In the meantime, Phase 4 Films of Canada has secured the home video rights to release XIII: The Conspiracy, and you'll be seeing that production available very shortly.

The mini-series will be available as both a 136-minute DVD release, and a 180-minute Blu-ray Disc release. Cost is $29.99 SRP for either one. Phase 4 Films is advertising the title as available exclusively for rental starting on February 9th, then for general retail sale on April 6th. However, Amazon.com's pre-order listings for both the DVD and Blu-ray versions currently show the February date as the ship date. We're not sure if this is correct, though, due to the general sale date shown by the studio for April.

Bonus material, if any, has not been mentioned (we're of the belief that there won't be any). The DVD release is in anamorphic widescreen video, with English 5.1 Surround Sound audio, plus Spanish subtitles and closed captioning. The Blu-ray Disc version, with the longer cut of the show, is in high-definition widescreen, with DTS HD audio in both English and French, but no subtitles. Package art that Phase 4 sent us on a sale sheet is seen below, and as you can see from it the DVD version will come enclosed in a "limited edition foil o-card." But first we also have an online trailer that the studio pointed us to. Our thanks to Cameron Archer (who posted about this at his own site) for his assistance.