Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment has announced that X-Men: The Last Stand will be released on DVD on October 3rd.  The third X-Film, which is currently the second highest-grossing film of 2006 (though Cars will pass it soon), will be available in two extra-packed versions, a single-disc release (MSRP $29.98) and a Collector's Edition (MSRP $39.98), which includes an exclusive 100-page commemorative book with a new story written by Stan Lee.

Exclusive Book

Both versions of X-Men: The Last Stand will include three alternative endings, ten deleted scenes, audio commentaries from director Brett Ratner and two hidden 'Easter Eggs,' one featuring the Beast reciting Shakespeare and the other depicting the landing of the X-Jet in Washington. 

Fox is also releasing all three X-Men movies in an X-Men: Trilogy Pack with a suggested retail price of $44.98.

Fox is obviously hoping to kick off the fourth quarter DVD buying season with a bang, though it is difficult to see how the final X-Men movie will have much momentum on DVD by the time the holiday gift-giving season is in full swing.  DVD release dates for blockbuster movies are now staked out with the same sort of intensive strategic planning that goes into picking theatrical debuts, and Fox is evidently happy to let the X-Men movie have a few weeks more or less to itself in early October, rather than having to face increasing competition later in the quarter. 

Paramount has already announced the DVD release of Over the Hedge ($151 million at the box office) for October 17th, while Ice Age: Meltdown ($194.9 million) will street on Nov. 21st.  Superman Returns is another likely November release as is The Da Vinci Code ($215 million).  Pixar's Cars ($232 million and counting) and Disney's mega-hit Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (both of which will be distributed on DVD by Buena Vista) should dominate the DVD market for a couple of weeks following their release, and it is likely that they will street at some point late in Q4.