Warner Bros. Going Blu with Award Screeners

Warner Bros. is making history once more, and the director of the studio's biggest film ever had a hand in it. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. has sent out a mailer to Oscar voters stating they will now have the option to receive their Academy Award screener discs in either the standard format or in high-def Blu-ray.

Apparently, The Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan, a huge BD supporter, had persuaded the studio to break new ground in this arena, which would likely benefit his film's Oscar chances greatly.

"The Blu-ray version is vastly superior to DVD," Nolan said. "You can actually see the things we did in Imax, and it will give Academy members the best possible chance to see what we did technically."

With its incredible box office success ($523 million domestic gross) and critical success (95% "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes), The Dark Knight could be a rare blockbuster that garners Academy consideration, and BD screeners of the film will only enhance its chances.

Other studios have been considering offering 1080p screeners to Oscar voters as well. Sony might offer a Blu-Ray screener for its Will Smith drama Seven Pounds, but it isn't clear if a BD screener could be made available in time to ship to voters, since the film opens on December 19.