Firefly

Sci-fi adventure first from studio on high-def format on April 18

APRIL 10 | Universal Studios Home Entertainment appears poised to become the second studio to release films on HD DVD. The studio will debut Serenity on April 18 as its first HD DVD release, followed a week later by Apollo 13 and Doom, according to retailer Web sites.

Universal hasn’t made any announcements and a spokeswoman was unable to confirm anything Monday morning. However, all three films are available for preorder at Amazon.com for $23.99 and for the same price on Target.com’s video store, which is run by Amazon.com. Amazon shows the list price of the disc at $34.98.

CircuitCity.com also has the discs listed for preorder, priced at $33.95, but the site has no release date for the film.

At least one rental retailer also confirmed it has placed orders with Universal for its initial April HD DVD releases, though as of last week, the retailer hadn’t been given a release date for the titles.

Warner Home Video announced last month that it would debut its first three HD DVD titles on April 18, after delaying its planned March 28 release. Warner will debut Million Dollar Baby, The Phantom of the Opera and The Last Samurai April 18, followed by a dozen other releases into May.

Paramount Home Entertainment, the only other studio to commit to HD DVD releases, has not yet announced any release plans.