Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and VUDU Launch "VUDU Extras+," a New Interactive Movie-Watching Experience

CULVER CITY, Calif. and SANTA CLARA, Calif., Oct. 23, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) and VUDU, Walmart's subscription-free video streaming service, are delivering a new, enhanced way for movie fans to experience their digital movies with VUDU Extras+. Fans can now enjoy extras they've come to love from DVD and Blu-ray titles online with additional interactive features.

Select Sony Pictures titles on VUDU will now feature "Enhanced Scene Search" and "Clip & Share," along with deleted scenes, featurettes and movie trivia, available on the cloud with UltraViolet. 

Action and sci-fi fans can experience VUDU Extras+ today with District 9, directed by Neill Blomkamp (Elysium), followed by other exciting new release SPHE titles including This is the End, After Earth, White House Down, Grown Ups 2, Mortal Instruments, Smurfs 2 and One Direction – This is Us later this year.

VUDU Extras+'s "Enhanced Scene Search" allows viewers to search movie content such as dialogue, videos, photos and extras and enables viewers to instantly jump to favorite scenes, including events inside the film. "Clip & Share" delivers social movie-watching to fans. The feature enables viewers to select a clip from the film and share with their friends on Facebook and Twitter.

In making the announcement, David Bishop, SPHE President said, "Sony Pictures has always been at the forefront of creating innovative technologies to enhance the consumer home entertainment experience both in the physical as well as the digital spaces. VUDU Extras+ will bring the extras experience which consumers have come to expect from discs to digital retailers more consistently and with increased interactivity. Strategically, VUDU Extras+ will enhance the value proposition of digital ownership which is so key to the future success and strength of the home entertainment industry. Our intention is that it will evolve it into an industry standard for use across multiple studios and services."

Added James Underwood, SPHE Executive Vice President of Worldwide Digital and Commercial Strategy, "VUDU has been an ideal partner to enhance the digital extras experience thanks to its long-standing commitment to our shared vision for the future of the online digital business. Launching VUDU Extras+ joins a long line of digital technologies from VUDU that enriched the consumer digital viewing experience, including Ultraviolet, in-store disc-to-digital, and in-home disc-to-digital."

"Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and VUDU developed VUDU Extras+ with the movie fan in mind. We wanted to give fans new ways to interact with the digital movies they own," said Amit Balan, head of marketing and merchandising, VUDU. "The launch of VUDU Extras+ is an exciting innovation that enhances the way people watch and enjoy movies."

VUDU Extras+ is available to preview before purchasing the movie. Consumers can access the full VUDU Extras+ experience when they purchase a movie or redeem their UltraViolet code on VUDU. VUDU users who already have the movie in their library will get access to the VUDU Extras+ experience at no extra charge.

VUDU Extras+ for District 9 is available now on PC and Mac, with additional titles and platforms coming soon. Consumers can go to www.vudu.com/extrasplus/District9 to access the features. SPHE is also committed to enabling these interactivity features as an industry standard for EST/digital ownership. View the VUDU Extras+ sizzle reel here.

VUDU supports UltraViolet, the movie industry's initiative that allows consumers to put their purchased movies into a cloud-based digital library and keep track of them safely and securely. VUDU is able to offer customers the ability to watch and purchase UltraViolet-enabled titles directly from vudu.com.

ABOUT VUDU
A leader in HD streaming, VUDU offers the world's largest selection of HD movies and hit TV shows, including thousands of blockbusters, Hollywood classics and indies available in stunning HDX 1080p with Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 and 7.1 Surround Sound. The company is rated #1 for customer satisfaction by Consumer Reports 2012. Movies are available the same day they are released on DVD or Blu-ray, and can be rented or purchased without a subscription. VUDU is available on Internet-capable HDTVs, iOS and Android devices, PCs, Blu-ray players, XBOXs and many more streaming media devices. VUDU is a wholly owned subsidiary of Walmart Stores, Inc., and is headquartered in Santa Clara, CA. For more information, visit http://www.vudu.com/.

ABOUT ULTRAVIOLET
UltraViolet is an entirely new way to collect and enjoy your digital entertainment, giving you the power to instantly access your movies and TV shows with unprecedented flexibility. For more information, visit www.uvvu.com.

ABOUT SONY PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is a Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) company. Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE's global operations encompass motion picture production and distribution; television production and distribution; home entertainment acquisition and distribution; a global channel network; digital content creation and distribution; operation of studio facilities; development of new entertainment products, services and technologies; and distribution of entertainment in more than 159 countries. For additional information, go to http://www.sonypictures.com/.

CONTACTS
Fritz Friedman
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
(310) 244-7799
[email protected]

Melissa Schumer/Alex Munson
Rogers & Cowan for SPHE
(310) 854- 8100
[email protected]
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Bao Nguyen
Walmart Global eCommerce
[email protected]

Rachel Kahn
Sparkpr for Walmart Global eCommerce
(415) 321-1881
[email protected]

SOURCE Sony Pictures Home Entertainment; VUDU