Twentieth Century Fox was one of the first to jump on the 2-disc special edition bandwagon. Now the studio is going back and re-releasing movie only editions of some previous 2-disc sets. The Abyss, Cast Away and Independence Day are set for release this spring as single disc DVDs.

In “The Abyss”, a civilian oil rig crew is recruited to conduct a search-and-rescue effort when a nuclear submarine mysteriously sinks. One diver soon finds himself on a spectacular odyssey 25, 000 feet below the ocean’s surface when he confronts a mysterious force that has the power to change the world or destroy it.

In “Cast Away”, Tom Hanks stars as Chuck Noland, a FedEx systems engineer whose ruled-by-the-clock existence abruptly ends when a harrowing plane crash leaves him isolated on a remote island. As Chuck struggles to meet the basic needs of survival, he discovers that his true personal journey has only just begun.

On July 2nd, communications systems worldwide are sent into chaos. A number of enormous objects are on a collision course with Earth that are revealed to be gigantic alien spacecraft. After attempts to communicate with the aliens go nowhere an ex-scientist turned cable technician discovers that the aliens are going to attack. On July 3rd, the aliens destroy New York, Los Angeles and Washington. The survivors devise a plan to fight back and July 4th becomes the day humanity will fight for its freedom. July 4th is their “Independence Day”…

All three titles will come in widescreen, but “The Abyss” will apparently still have a non-anamorphic transfer. Because these are movie only editions., none of the discs will carry any supplemental material save for theatrical trailers on “Cast Away” and “Independence Day”.

All three titles will be available on March 5th, and have a retail price of $19.95.