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are Paramount and universal sticking with hd-dvd exclusively?

#1
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1/4/08 at 6:23pm
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Forgive me if this has already been asked.
But will Paramont and Universal continue releasing movies on HD-DVD (and SD-DVD) only?
If so, I don't think HD-DVD will be completely dead.
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#2
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1/4/08 at 6:29pm
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Re: are Paramount and universal sticking with hd-dvd exclusively?

No one is sure. The haven't said anything yet. Bases on Toshiba's press release they aren't calling it over yet. They may be talking to retailers or ?? to see what they can do.

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#3
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1/4/08 at 6:40pm
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Re: are Paramount and universal sticking with hd-dvd exclusively?

I don't know how they can stay HD-DVD exclusive for much longer, considering what happened today. I don't expect we'll hear anything at CES regarding Uni or Para changing sides or anything, but a few months down the road, I wouldn't be surprised if one or both of them start supporting Blu.
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#4
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1/4/08 at 7:12pm
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Re: are Paramount and universal sticking with hd-dvd exclusively?

I've read that Paramount has an out for their agreement. It may be that certain situations will have to be met before they can go blu and not breach contract--which may take some time. This is all assuming they would want to do so.

Universal on the other hand has seemingly handled this all very poorly from the start and theres no telling what they've gotten themselves into.

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#5
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1/4/08 at 8:32pm
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Re: are Paramount and universal sticking with hd-dvd exclusively?

Just a guess on my part but I don't think Universal or Paramount will go blu-ray anytime this year.

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#6
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1/4/08 at 9:49pm
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Re: are Paramount and universal sticking with hd-dvd exclusively?

I'd expect their shareholders to want them to go BluRay before the next holiday season sales. They can't rely on only the current HD-DVD owners to even match current sales -- they'll want growth.

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#7
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1/4/08 at 10:05pm
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Re: are Paramount and universal sticking with hd-dvd exclusively?

I'm not sure what to expect from them but I'm not counting them out of the HD DVD market just yet.

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#8
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1/4/08 at 10:19pm
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Re: are Paramount and universal sticking with hd-dvd exclusively?

I do expect Universal to make a move very soon and I also think certain retailers will be making a move soon, as well.
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#9
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1/4/08 at 10:49pm
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Re: are Paramount and universal sticking with hd-dvd exclusively?

If everybody immediately drops HD-DVD there are going to be a lot of titles that will become unavailable in HD.
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#10
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1/5/08 at 1:33am
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Re: are Paramount and universal sticking with hd-dvd exclusively?

What titles have Paramount and Universal brought to market thus far? The Star Trek OS? Not my cup of tea but would consider the ST movies if they brought them out. Heck after all these years Universal STILL hasn't come out with a decent DVD of The Seven Percent Solution.

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#11
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1/5/08 at 1:48am
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Re: are Paramount and universal sticking with hd-dvd exclusively?

I believe Paramount/DW has to stick with HD DVD-camp for the certain amount of time after their "HD DVD exclusive"-deal (not talking about the money necessarily), so probably we don´t hear any big news from them after 3rd or 4th quarter of 2008.. But of course they´ll be re-evaluating their whole strategy after this new move from Warner. In the end, it´s about the money and markets for them, not about "formats".

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#12
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1/5/08 at 1:55am
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Re: are Paramount and universal sticking with hd-dvd exclusively?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dennis Nicholls
What titles have Paramount and Universal brought to market thus far?

A lot of damn fine ones IMHO.

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#13
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1/5/08 at 2:14am
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Re: are Paramount and universal sticking with hd-dvd exclusively?

Yes but none of them are the kind of "classic" film that I personally want. Just a bunch of "car crash" etc. recent releases.

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#14
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1/5/08 at 5:22am
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Re: are Paramount and universal sticking with hd-dvd exclusively?

I'm not sure why the HD or BD powers that be have totally forgotten that people in their late 40's and 50's and 60's and ALOT MORE disposable income at hand and I'm sure would love some "classic catalog Hi Def titles". Very dumb move on their part.

Ken

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#15
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1/5/08 at 6:58am
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Re: are Paramount and universal sticking with hd-dvd exclusively?

I think they're all scrambling right now to figure out the best course of action.

I think both will support Blu-ray as soon as they can. I expect we'll hear some noises along those lines in the next week.

Paramount especially maybe locked in to HD DVD for a while, so the actualy transition may not happen overnight. Maybe they'll both continue to support HD DVD for a while, too. Who knows.
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#16
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1/5/08 at 7:20am
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Re: are Paramount and universal sticking with hd-dvd exclusively?

I think Universal makes an announcement next week.
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#17
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1/5/08 at 9:11am
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Re: are Paramount and universal sticking with hd-dvd exclusively?

I am hearing through sources that they have both committed to continue to release films on HD DVD. That could change anytime this year, but that is where things stand today.

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#18
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1/5/08 at 9:45am
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Re: are Paramount and universal sticking with hd-dvd exclusively?

they'll probably be format "neutral" by mid-2008...
unless they're legally obligated, it makes no business sense to stick with a sinking ship. cut your losses and make the best of it.


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#19
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1/5/08 at 9:53am
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Re: are Paramount and universal sticking with hd-dvd exclusively?

Yeah I wouldn't expect Uni to drop HD DVD but going neutral might very well be possible. Paramount is probably locked in through the end of their 18 month deal (which would be to the end of 08).
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#20
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1/5/08 at 10:25am
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Re: are Paramount and universal sticking with hd-dvd exclusively?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dennis Nicholls
Yes but none of them are the kind of "classic" film that I personally want. Just a bunch of "car crash" etc. recent releases.

Well, then I guess you're SOL then. Personally, I'm completely happy with the Universal and Paramount titles I've purchased so to each their own.

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#21
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1/5/08 at 12:37pm
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Re: are Paramount and universal sticking with hd-dvd exclusively?

Universal has put out a TON of new releases AND classics on HD DVD.

Do a search on my name and with Review as keyword and titles only and you will find almost all of the Uni reviews, tho others have contributed a few.

Uni has been strangely silent in all of this, dunno whats going on at all with them....

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#22
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1/5/08 at 12:43pm
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Re: are Paramount and universal sticking with hd-dvd exclusively?

Speaking of sticking to sinking ships, I would imagine that a title like Titanic would be forth coming. Whichever format it will be has to be resolved in a mainstream selection. Which may or may not be Blu Ray. Considering Warner's announcement and the overall feeling that the format options could dwindle to one, then it could be BD.

I mentioned this in the other thread, but no one commented, but I recall the Chief Technical Officer for Paramount speaking of the virtures of HD-DVD as one big reason they went with it. The standards and technology were in place and the cost effectiveness to manufacture figured into the selection. I guess that can all go out the door now if and when they make the switch to BD only.

There are a lot of Paramount titles we want, The Indiana Jones trilogy and the forth film coming to name one franchise. The Tom Clancy/Jack Ryan films perhaps has a big following. Of course, I have to have Star Trek, what will become of the TOS seeason sets, will they continue in HD. Probably given they have set a standard or they need to stick with contractural agreements. Maybe a HD/BD hybrid discs will come of this.
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#23
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1/5/08 at 1:30pm
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Re: are Paramount and universal sticking with hd-dvd exclusively?

Honestly, I think we've gone beyond the point of studios simply going "neutral." I think Universal/Paramount will either continue to support HD-DVD exclusively for the rest of the year (considering retail permits it), or they will simply cease HD-DVD production and switch to BD replication. I really don't think retail will continue to support major studios publishing in both formats at this juncture.

This is a guess.......

Toshiba may try to go after other smaller studios (Liongates, Starz, etc) in a last dash attempt to save the format, but if they are unable to secure additional support within the next several months, then they'll probably concede defeat. If Toshiba concedes, this'll probably void any contractual obligations with Uni/Paramount/DW.


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#24
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1/5/08 at 1:56pm
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Re: are Paramount and universal sticking with hd-dvd exclusively?

Do we really want to see Universal's combo crap coming to Blu-Ray?

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#25
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1/5/08 at 2:04pm
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Re: are Paramount and universal sticking with hd-dvd exclusively?

Combo is great as a bridge technology, I've used it LOTS to take my copies to friends houses who only have SD. If they cost the same as SD I dont think people would care as much. I dont see a BD/DVD hybrid ever coming, if there were one format there would be no need for it, regardless of price.

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#26
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1/5/08 at 2:14pm
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Re: are Paramount and universal sticking with hd-dvd exclusively?

I'll bet there are clauses in their contract that allow for this kind of development in the marketplace. If they remain exclusive at this point, they might well be releasing titles to an all but non-existing market. I don't say this to stoke people's emotions...I was red before I was purple...but, I think the bottom is going to drop out for HD. How many people do you think are going to pour dollars into a format, that on paper at least, has next to zero viability?

I think that, very soon, we're going to see fire-sale prices for HD players and HD software. That's how far I think sales will tumble. Retailers don't want to get stuck with it. Toshiba doesn't want warehouses full of it. And the further away we get from this announcement...this one alone...the less perceived value that merchandise will have, and the bigger the bath that re-sellers (and Toshiba) will have to take in order to get rid of it. Don't forget the aggravating effectiveness of the Sony media/marketing machine. Soon as they get cranked up, maybe next week, they'll convince whatever small potential market, that memorial services are being arranged for HD.

The up side: get ready to pick up one or two, very attractively priced, factory fresh, spare players that will ensure years of longevity for your HD library.

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#27
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1/5/08 at 2:38pm
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Re: are Paramount and universal sticking with hd-dvd exclusively?

When Universal and Paramount do start to release on BD in 2008 (hint hint), they BETTER use updated film transfers (not the 10-year+ masters they've been putting on HD DVD for catalog titles) and they BETTER provide lossless audio.

Frankly, I don't want their film to be delivered in the same sub-par manner only to be re-released later mastered/authored properly. I'd rather wait... even a year or so, and get their titles the right way. Plenty of high-def to buy in the meantime from the folks who are providing new transfers and lossless sound.

Quote:
The up side: get ready to pick up one or two, very attractively priced, factory fresh, spare players that will ensure years of longevity for your HD library.

Here here. In fact, as long as someone doesn't care about their collection having resale-value, there will be a LOT of discounted 1080p product and hardware available very soon. Could be a great way to build an instant collection, as long as one is in full knowledge of the situation.
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#28
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1/5/08 at 3:07pm
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Re: are Paramount and universal sticking with hd-dvd exclusively?

Yeah, with Blu-ray there will be zero excuses like oh, we added extras on to our Transformers HD-DVD so no lossless audio for you, or the bandwidth was supersaturated so we couldn't provide a better video encode... blah, blah, blah!

They should be high bitrate and 24 bit lossless from now on!

Now, I understand that Paramount has a contract, but that didn't stop Warner from dropping HD-DVD now did it? I bet you there are some clauses in those contracts so that they can get out from under HD-DVD more quickly than we realize.

Universal did not renew their exclusivity contract, so they're in the clear even though their rhetoric was very anti-Blu, so were a lot of DIVX supporting studios against DVD, but they quickly switched over.

It's about revenue first and foremost, so the bad feelings will soon dissipate.

Go Blu!!

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#29
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1/5/08 at 3:15pm
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Re: are Paramount and universal sticking with hd-dvd exclusively?

I've got more faith in Paramount doing right and delivering lossess as a matter of course than Universal... the Paramount boys actually *wanted* to provide Dolby TrueHD on Transformers (but couldn't for lack of bandwidth/space). Of course, there are also plenty of HD DVDs that *did* have room that also got shafted with lossy sound, and Paramount, Universal, *and* Warner are all offenders. Since the BD-exclusive players (not including Warner) are doing right with 100% lossless on every title, hopefully the marketing departments at these other studios will start to realize that high-end home-theater consumers demand lossless audio if they want to earn our purchase dollar.
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#30
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1/5/08 at 3:45pm
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Re: are Paramount and universal sticking with hd-dvd exclusively?

When Universal goes Blu (either exclusively or neutrally) I cannot see Paramount as being the only studio to release on HD DVD - not at this juncture.
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