Avatar: The Way of Water
June 20, 2023
June 20 sees one of the biggest films of the past year, Avatar: The Way of Water, make its way to DVD and Blu-ray Disc formats. Also new to DVD and Blu-ray is Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant.
Disney June 20 releases 20th Century Studios’ Avatar: The Way of Water on DVD, Blu-ray Disc, 3D Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray. The film has been available through digital retailers since March.
From director James Cameron, the sequel brings viewers back to Pandora, where humans have returned with plans to colonize the alien moon. Hunted by a squadron of hybrid Na’vi marines, the now Na’vi Jake Sully flees with his family to hide among the clans who inhabit Pandora’s oceans.
The film, the No. 1 movie of 2022 with a worldwide gross of $2.32 billion, and $684 million domestically. It was nominated for four Oscars, including Best Picture, and won for Best Visual Effects.
Produced by Cameron and his longtime filmmaking partner Jon Landau, the 20th Century Studios-Lightstorm Entertainment production stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Cliff Curtis and Kate Winslet. Joining the adult cast are newcomers Britain Dalton, Jamie Flatters, Trinity Jo-Li Bliss, Bailey Bass and Jack Champion.
The Avatar: The Way of Water Blu-ray releases include the three hours of bonus featurettes released with the digital version. Read a review here.
Also arriving June 20 is the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray of the original 2009 Avatar with high dynamic range for the first time. It also becomes available in 4K from digital retailers. The 4K edition of the original Avatar has both existing and new bonus features including “Memories From Avatar,” where producer Jon Landau leads a conversation with cast members Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Lang, recalling memories from production and reflecting on the success of the film. “Avatar: A Look Back” provides a retrospective where cast and filmmakers reflect on their journey making Avatar, the groundbreaking technologies they used to create it, and the effect the film had on audiences worldwide.
The action thriller Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer will be released on Blu-ray and DVD June 20 from Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment. Directed by Guy Ritchie (Wrath of Man, Aladdin) from a screenplay by Ritchie, Ivan Atkinson and Marn Davies, the film is produced by Guy Ritchie, Ivan Atkinson, John Friedberg and Josh Berger. The Covenant stars Jake Gyllenhaal (Ambulance, Spider-Man: Far from Home), Dar Salim (“Game of Thrones”), Antony Starr (“The Boys”), Alexander Ludwig (Bad Boys for Life, “Vikings”), Bobby Schofield (Cherry), Emily Beecham (Cruella) and Jonny Lee Miller (T2 Trainspotting). The film follows U.S. Army Sergeant John Kinley (Gyllenhaal) and Afghan interpreter Ahmed (Salim). After an ambush, Ahmed goes to Herculean lengths to save Kinley’s life. When Kinley learns that Ahmed and his family were not given safe passage to America as promised, he must repay his debt by returning to the war zone to retrieve them before the Taliban hunts them down.
Season 16 of the procedural series “Criminal Minds” — “Criminal Minds: Evolution” — arrives on Blu-ray and DVD June 20 from Paramount Home Entertainment. The three-disc release includes all episodes of season 16 (which also streams on Paramount+) and more than 35 minutes of special features, including three featurettes. In season 16, the FBI’s elite team of criminal profilers come up against their greatest threat yet, an unsub who has used the pandemic to build a network of other serial killers. As the world opens back up, the network goes operational, and the team must hunt them down, one murder at a time. Season 16 stars original cast members Joe Mantegna (David Rossi), A.J. Cook (J.J. Jareau), Kirsten Vangsness (Penelope Garcia), Aisha Tyler (Dr. Tara Lewis), Adam Rodriguez (Luke Alvez) and Paget Brewster (Emily Prentiss) as well as Zach Gilford (Elias Voit).
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The Chinese animated fantasy adventure I Am T-Rex debuts on digital, Blu-ray and DVD June 20 from Well Go USA Entertainment. In the film, after a power-hungry dinosaur from outside the valley attacks the king of dinosaurs by surprise, a young T-Rex escapes and begins to train, vowing never to return until he is the biggest and bravest in all the land — and finally strong enough to challenge the evil Fang and restore peace to Green Valley. Directed by Cai Shangming and Chen Silin, I Am T-Rex features a new English dub.
A complete list of new disc and digital releases, compiled each week by the Media Play News market research team, can be found here.