Walt Disney Studios and Lucasfilm Ltd. officially announced today that Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens will be coming to Blu-ray Combo Pack and DVD on April 5, 2016. The movie will be available via streaming services on April 1st.

The movie was released on December 18th, 2015, and dominated the box office for four straight weeks and stayed in the top 10 until this past weekend. According to BoxOfficeMojo, the movie has made over $926 million in the U.S. and it's still playing in more than 1,000 theaters this weekend. By the time the movie comes out on Blu-ray (109 days after release), it will likely have played itself out, and the timing will be perfect to let fans enjoy it again at home.

Waiting for those fans on April 5th will be a package that contains the movie in 1080p high definition (sorry, no UHD Blu-ray release has been announced) and a 7.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio lossless soundtrack. Disney has always done a really good job with its soundtracks, and I'm sure that this one will be as good as it can be, it's very disappointing that Disney has decided to forgo including Dolby Atmos or DTS:X on this release. The Dolby Atmos sound for the movie was very impressive in the Dolby Cinema that I attended back in December, and this would have been a great title to hear at home in Dolby Atmos or DTS:X.

Blu-ray Combo Pack

Buy at Amazon.com

The following bonus features will be included:

• Secrets of The Force Awakens: A Cinematic Journey – For the first time, discover the complete story behind the making of The Force Awakens, revealed through in-depth footage and exclusive interviews with the actors and filmmakers in this feature documentary.
• The Story Awakens: The Table Read – Cast members familiar and new reflect on the memorable day they all first came together to read the movie’s script.
• Building BB-8 – See how the filmmakers brought the newest droid to the screen, creating an instant fan favorite in the Star Wars universe.
• Crafting Creatures – Watch movie magic as the filmmakers bring a cast of new creatures to life.
• Blueprint of a Battle: The Snow Fight – Go deeper into the epic, climactic lightsaber battle between Rey and Kylo Ren.
• John Williams: The Seventh Symphony – The legendary composer shares personal insights of his work on Star Wars and The Force Awakens.
• ILM: The Visual Magic of The Force – An insider’s look into the remarkable digital artistry of the movie’s visual effects.
• Force For Change – Heroes come in all shapes and sizes. See how the Star Wars: Force for Change initiative has united Star Wars fans all over the globe to help others.
• Deleted Scenes

The press release mentions that the digital offerings may vary by retailer, so check the details closely so you know what you're getting.

Technical Specs

FEATURE RUN TIME: Approximately 136 min.
RATING: PG-13 in U.S.; PG in CE; G in CF
ASPECT RATIO: Blu-ray Feature Film = 2.40:1, DVD Feature Film = 2.40:1
AUDIO:
Blu-ray = English 7.1 DTS-HDMA, English 2.0 Descriptive Audio, French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital Language Tracks
DVD = English, French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, English 2.0 Descriptive Audio Language Tracks
LANGUAGES: English, French & Spanish
SUBTITLES: English SDH, French & Spanish

A Renewed Call for an Isolated Score

Legendary composer John Williams received his 50th Academy Award nomination for his work on this movie. His work is so synonymous with the Star Wars series that it's difficult to imagine the movies being the same without hearing his compositions highlighting the action sequences and punctuating the dramatic scenes.

You can purchase the soundtrack for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but I can't think of a better way to enjoy it then while watching the movie. Yes, you can listen while everything else is going on, but a few select movie releases have featured isolated scores, where the music plays without the dialog and sound effects. This would be an incredible way to enjoy Williams' work on a whole new level!

(Nearly eight years ago, I wrote a Journal article calling for more isolated scores.)

The one reason that we've heard for why this doesn't happen on many home video releases is that the property owners of the soundtrack want to be paid for their efforts (completely understandable) and there is likely a reluctance on the part of the movie studio to give them a share of every purchase on Blu-ray and DVD unless they believe that including the isolated score would increase sales by a significant measure.

Use BD-Live for Unlocking the Isolated Score

My idea is that both concerns can be addressed by including the soundtrack on the disc but offering it as an upgrade option. This would involve visiting the studio's web site and purchasing a keycode that one could use to unlock the isolated score by entering that keycode into the disc's menu, or perhaps by using the BD-Live feature that could be included on the disc to reach out to the studio's server for authorization. Another way to handle this would be to include the unlocking keycode in the audio CD of the soundtrack, much like studios do now in Blu-ray packages to access the Digital HD versions of the movie.

This would allow fans of the music to enjoy the isolated score, it would be a source of additional revenue for the studio, and the property owners of the music would get paid as well. I would happily pay the going rate for the soundtrack (currently, the MP3 version on Amazon.com is $8.99 and the CD version is $11.05), even though I have already purchased the soundtrack on CD.

For examples of how isolated scores could be done, check out the Film Music Fan YouTube channel. The Miami International - Casino Royale and Interstellar - Dr. Mann Montage (Coward) clips are pretty good (the Interstellar clip may spoil a portion of the plot for you if you haven't seen it), as are many of the other clips. Compare the latter clip with one containing all the audio elements.

Source: Walt Disney Studios Press Release. STAR WARS and related properties are trademarks and/or copyrights, in the United States and other countries, of Lucasfilm Ltd. and/or its affiliates.© & TM Lucasfilm Ltd.