'Kong' Is King of Exclusives

18 Jul, 2017 By: John Latchem

Walmart's two-pack of 'Kong: Skull Island' and 'Godzilla.'

Retailers weren't shy with exclusives tailored to Warner's Kong: Skull Island July 18.

Walmart actually had two disc exclusives for the new adventure film. The first was a single-disc DVD edition in which the only extra is a director's commentary; the widely available DVD is a two-disc set with a bonus disc containing featurettes and deleted scenes.

The other Walmart exclusive was a Blu-ray two-pack containing Kong: Skull Island and 2014's Godzilla, the film for which the "Kong" reboot is something of a prequel, in that both films are set in the same fictional world and the central monsters of both are destined to fight on film in 2020. In addition, the version of the Kong Blu-ray combo pack included with this set features unique box art.

Best Buy offered a Steelbook edition of the Kong: Skull Island Ultra HD Blu-ray edition.

Target offered a special Kong Blu-ray combo pack with lenticular box art and 12 minutes of exclusive bonus content labeled as "A Terrifying Paradise: Creating Skull Island."

At Amazon, on the other hand, the DVD edition wasn't even being sold on its debut day; fans looking to buy the DVD version from the online retailer had to find a copy from a third-party Marketplace affiliate. To compound the issue, the version of the DVD linked to the title was the Spanish Region 2 version; the proper Region 1 edition was listed separately.

Not that the version availability issues are isolated to Amazon, as several of the big retailers only stocked either the DVD or Blu-ray version of the bigger titles of the week. Target just had the DVD version of Universal's The Promise, while Best Buy stores offered just the Blu-ray version of The Promise and Lionsgate's Free Fire. At Target and Best Buy, the missing version was available online.

Also notable at Target, Sony Pictures' new animated Resident Evil: Vendetta was available only in the Blu-ray version, not DVD or UHD, which were readily available at the other retailers.

Otherwise, Target's weekly ad devoted a lot of space to tout preorders of the Aug. 22 Blu-ray release of Disney's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, for which Target is offering a free $5 gift card with preorders. Target's Blu-ray also includes exclusive digital bonus content.

Best Buy will have the exclusive 4K/3D Blu-ray combo pack for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

'Kong' Is King of Exclusives

About the Author: John Latchem