From Universal Studios Home Entertainment: Tower Heist

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif., Jan. 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- A wealthy Wall Street swindler gets his just desserts at the hands of the employees he stiffed in the year's most uproarious action comedy, Tower Heist, coming to Blu-ray™ Combo-Pack with UltraViolet™ , as well as DVD, Digital Download and On Demand February 21, 2012 from Universal Studios Home Entertainment.  Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy lead an all-star comedy cast in this hilarious tale of sweet, sweet revenge. The film's stellar ensemble cast includes Casey Affleck (Ocean's Eleven trilogy), Alan Alda (The Aviator), Matthew Broderick (The Producers), Stephen McKinley Henderson ("Law and Order"),  Judd Hirsch (A Beautiful Mind) Tea Leoni (Fun with Dick and Jane), Michael Pena (Battle: Los Angeles) and Gabourey Sidibe (Precious).  The film is produced by Academy Award® winning-producer Brian Grazer (8 Mile, A Beautiful Mind, American Gangster).  The Tower Heist Blu-ray™ Combo Pack delivers the film in perfect hi-def picture and perfect hi-def sound and features over an hour of bonus features including two alternate endings, deleted scenes, a gag reel and exclusive behind-the-scenes features on the making of the film.

Included in the Blu-ray™ Combo Pack is an all-new UltraViolet™ copy of the film. UltraViolet™ is the revolutionary new way for consumers to collect movies and TV shows, put them in the cloud and stream instantly to computers, tablets and smart phones and soon, consumers can download to devices of their choice too.  The Tower Heist Combo Pack also includes a DVD and Digital Copy of the film which is compatible with iTunes®, iPad®, iPhone®, iPod™ touch, Android or other retail partners.  So now, consumers can truly enjoy their movies and TV shows anytime, anywhere, on the platform of their choice!  The Blu-ray™ also includes Universal's Second Screen—a technology that enhances the viewing experience by allowing viewers to simultaneously control and interact with the film and bonus material on a WiFi-connected tablet or computer as the movie plays on the television screen.  The new Flick View Feature will allow fans to interact even more with the movie and be able to move content from their tablet to their TV screen.

BONUS FEATURES

Bonus features that appear on the both the Blu-ray™ and DVD versions include:

• Two Alternate Endings – not seen in theatres!
• Hilarious Deleted & Alternate Scenes
• Gag Reel
• Plotting Tower Heist—Following the structure of a classic caper movie in three acts, director Brett Ratner, producer Brian Grazer and the entire cast bring this heist film to a whole new level. Viewers will learn how the project started, as well as meet the screenwriters and cast.  This exclusive feature reveals the secrets of the set design, special effects and more, including what it took to create the iconic sequence involving Steve McQueen's car!
• Feature Commentary with director Brett Ratner, editor Mark Helfrich and co-writers Ted Griffin & Jeff Nathanson

The following features are exclusive to Blu-ray™:

• Tower Heist Video Diary – Director Brett Ratner takes fans through the filmmaking process with these personal video production diaries from the set.
• U-Control:
  • Picture-in-Picture – featuring pre-visualization and storyboard comparisons of some the film's most exciting scenes.
  • The Music of Tower Heist
• pocket BLU™ App:  The popular free pocket BLU™ app for smartphones is now even better with newly updated versions for iPad®, Android™ tablets, PC and Macintosh computers, with features made especially to take advantage of the devices' larger screens and high resolution displays.  
  • Advanced Remote Control:  A sleek, elegant new way to operate your Blu-ray™ player. Users can navigate through menus, playback and BD-Live™ functions with ease.
  • Video Timeline:  Users can easily bring up the video timeline, allowing them to instantly access any point in the film.
  • Mobile-To-Go:  Users can unlock a selection of bonus content with their Blu-ray™ discs to save to their device or to stream from anywhere there is a Wi-Fi network, enabling them to enjoy content on the go, anytime, anywhere.
  • Browse Titles:  Users will have access to a complete list of pocket BLU™-enabled titles available and coming to Blu-ray™.  They can view free previews and see what additional content is available to unlock on their device.
  • Keyboard:  Entering data is fast and easy with your device's intuitive keyboard.
  • And with UNIVERSAL'S SECOND SCREEN, viewers can enjoy an innovative and interactive viewing experience, that allows them to control, interact and explore Tower Heist with groundbreaking new features right on a networked tablet or computer, in synchronization with the movie on the television screen! While the movie plays, experience features such as:
    • Flick View:  Interact with the movie; move content from the Tablet to the TV screen; and compare storyboards, animatics and other executing content by "Flicking" them from on their tablet to their TV screen, simply by gesturing their fingers upwards on their tablets. 
    • Behind the Scenes w/Flick View:  Viewers get an all access look at the making of the film featuring interviews with cast and crew.
    • Storyboards w/Flick View:  Viewers will be able to take a closer look at the storyboards created for some of the amazing sequences in the film.
    • The Music of Tower Heist—Songs from the Tower Heist soundtrack are highlighted with the option to add to a playlist and purchase.
• BD-LIVE™ - Access the BD-Live™ Center through your Internet-connected player to access the latest trailers, exclusive content, and more!

SYNOPSIS

When the staff of New York City's most expensive and luxurious condominium discovers that the billionaire investment advisor living in the penthouse has plundered their retirement fund, they take matters into their own hands in a "downright fun, comic caper" (Mike Scott, Times Picayune). Convinced that light-fingered Wall Street Titan Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda) has stashed his ill-gotten millions in his apartment, building manager Josh Kovacs (Ben Stiller) rallies his troops and enlists the help of small-time thief Slide (Eddie Murphy) to make sure they get back what's rightfully theirs. These rookie thieves—including high-strung concierge Charlie (Casey Affleck), broke ex-Wall Streeter Mr. Fitzhugh (Matthew Broderick), new bellhop Dev'Reaux (Michael Pena) and feisty maid Odessa (Gabourey Sidibe)—know the building better than anyone.  It turns out they've been casing the place for years…they just didn't know it.

www.TowerHeist.net

CAST AND FILMMAKERS:

Cast: Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Casey Affleck, Alan Alda, Matthew Broderick, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Judd Hirsch, Tea Leoni, Michael Pena, Gabourey Sidibe

Directed By: Brett Ratner

Screenplay By: Ted Griffin and Jeff Nathanson from a story by Adam Cooper & Bill Collage and Ted Griffin

Producer: Brian Grazer, Eddie Murphy, Kim Roth 

Executive Producers: Bill Carraro, Karen Kehela Sherwood

Director of Photography: Dante Spinotti ASC, AIC

Production Designer: Kristi Zea

Edited By: Mark Helfrich

Visual Effects Supervisor: Mark Russell

Costume Designer: Sarah Edwards

Original Music By: Christophe Beck  

TECHNICAL INFORMATION

BLU-RAY™

Street Date: February 21, 2012

Copyright: 2012 Universal Studios

Selection Number: 2014928

Running Time: 1 hour, 45 minutes

Layers: BD-50

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

Rating: PG-13

Languages/Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish

Sound: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1/DVS Dolby Digital 2.02, French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (Canadian) and Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1

DVD

Street Date: February 21, 2012

Copyright: 2012 Universal Studios

Selection Number:

Running Time: 1 hour, 45 minutes

Layers: DVD-9

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

Rating: PG-13

Languages/Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French

Sound: English, French and Spanish 5.1

Universal Studios Home Entertainment is a unit of Universal Pictures, a division of Universal Studios (www.universalstudios.com). Universal Studios is a part of NBCUniversal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production and marketing of entertainment, news and information to a global audience. NBCUniversal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment television networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group and world-renowned theme parks. Comcast Corporation owns a controlling 51% interest in NBCUniversal, with GE holding a 49% stake.

CONTACT: UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Michelle Slavich
Vice President, Publicity
Universal Studios Home Entertainment
818-777-5344
[email protected]

SOURCE Universal Studios Home Entertainment