Codex Pictures announces that ULTRAMARINES: A WARHAMMER 40,000 MOVIE will be available as a Special Edition Collector’s Edition for a limited period only exclusively from the official website. Pre-orders start today, for worldwide release November 29 2010. This unique edition comprises the DVD with bonus features, in a SteelBook™ case and a specially commissioned graphic novel.

Here’s the new trailer..

Paul Lyons, Games Workshop’s Head of Licensing, says, ‘We are extremely pleased with the movie that Codex have produced, and excited at the prospect of Warhammer 40,000 fans being able to see the universe in a 75 minute animated film for the first time. One of our criteria in granting a license for a film based on our long-standing property was that it should appeal very directly to the fanbase. We have been approached many times by studios over the years but in Codex found a partner who for the first time we felt could be entrusted with bringing the Warhammer 40,000 universe to life in a motion picture’.

Codex producer David Kerney adds, ‘This is a new business model for movie production and distribution, and Codex in this respect are commercial pioneers. As an independent production company with enormous passion and creativity, we wanted to produce a movie that would not only do justice to Games Workshop’s iconic property but also resonate strongly with enthusiasts of futuristic stories everywhere. Its success – and that of the future Warhammer 40,000 movies we would love to make – depends on the fans supporting it by buying it from our website’.

Warhammer 40,000 veterans Alan Merrett and John Blanche are amongst those at Games Workshop who have seen the finished film. ‘The very cool thing with ULTRAMARINES is that it actually tells a really powerful story about the characters in the 41st millennium. It’s not just shooting and killing, although there’s plenty of action. It’s a really great story there. At the heart of the film is a fantastic plot that draws you along. I think that all 40k fans will love it’, says Merrett. Blanche comments, ‘This movie is a big, big thing for me. Seeing the universe come alive, moving and reacting, rather than just still images… 30 years of my life have become reality.’