Most modern DVD players should be able to handle region 2, but you do have to check with the one you have.
As far as I know there are no modern players that can handle region 2 unless they are specifically labeled as region free. You can buy region free players, but you'll have to search for them. Big box and electronic stores won't carry them. It would defeat the purpose of regional coding if players could accommodate foreign discs.
Universal Uk, for most of the time, doesn't region lock their blu-ray. Im so happyyyy
Unfortunately amazon has this listed as strictly region 2.
Butters, go buy World of Warcraft, install it on your computer, and join the online sensation before we all murder you.
--Cartman: South Park
ATTENTION FANS: I will be played by James Barbour in the upcoming musical, "BroadwayWorld: The Musical."
I contacted Universal UK and they referred me to Universal US. When I e-mailed them the response was there is no plan at this time for a US DVD/Blu-ray release of BE Live. There is also no plans for it to be released in cinemas in the US. I was wondering why BE Live is not given any US consideration when the show was on Broadway for a few years and also toured through the US. The West End production of From Here to Eternity will be playing all over the US via Fathom Events and that show has never been here at all. It seems odd to me.
tzaber, it's usually as easy as playing a bit with codes on your remote, not a hardware thing (but again, Google is your best bet on this since it's different with each model).
It's true there are currently no plans to release this in the US (might be a rights issue?), but don't count it off just yet. Universal did The Phantom's 25th filming and released it just a few months after the initial UK date. My guess is February 2015 for BE Live.
"Movies will make you famous; television will make you rich; but theatre will make you good." - Terrence Mann.
Conversely it took awhile for the Shrek recording to make its way to the UK. So hopefully BE will eventually be available in region 1.
On an off-topic note, when I was checking out TaleofTwo's original link I saw that From Here to Eternity is also being released (only on dvd as far as I could tell) on 11/10/14 in a region free version.
It's true, unlocking a dvd-player is usually really easy. I live in Europe and did it with a different models, because when dvds started coming out Europe was quite a bit behind on new releases.
You can also always use your computer to watch region locked Dvds, just use vlc player.
I'm not 100 percent sure but I think the blu-ray region lock is hardware based, so that would be a lot harder.
Update : Billy Elliot Live will be shown in Us theatres Nov. 12,15 and 18 according to Fandango. Book your tickets now (ones in nyc are AMc Empire 25 and Regal Union Sq)
Do you think more theaters will add it in the coming days? I'm able to see it in NYC, but my friend who lives in the Baltimore metro area has to travel pretty far to see it and we were hoping that they'd add it at a theater closer to her.
jingjo2, where are you getting the information on Billy Elliot Live in the US? I'm not finding it on the Fandango website - but then my internet skills are not the best.
on edit: NEVER MIND. I found it through a google search.
Thank you for the heads up on the US dates! Will be getting my tickets once the Fandango site decides to cooperate – is anyone else having issues? When I click to continue with my payment after putting in all of my information, it says the session has timed out (even though it only takes about 20 – 30 seconds and the timer counting down on the page will still say I have over 9 minutes to complete it).
They have already done an "encore" presentation of BILLY ELLIOT LIVE in the UK and other countries as it was quite a financial success --the biggest audience for a theatrical live performance ever in the UK cinemas (beating the record held by WAR HORSE). It even beat out the big Hollywood movie that opened the same weekend. Therefore, there may very well be "encore" broadcasts in the states. It was originally billed as a one time event. And if Universal does not release it in the USA they will lose tons of money on pirated copies, which I am sure they don't want to do.