The major studios with significantly large film catalogs (for our purposes these are Warner, Disney, Fox, Universal, Paramount, Sony and Lionsgate) have basically three strategies when it comes to their catalog holdings on Blu-ray: 1. Release them on their own, 2. License them out to specialty labels, 3. Don't release them at all. If we expand our discussion to DVD, we can add another: 4. Release them as Made-on-Demand DVD-R.
Let's break it down for each 7 as they stand currently:
Disney
Blu-ray:
With the one of the smallest pre-80s catalogs Disney is really doing what they've always done: release their premiere animated titles at 6 month intervals. Where they're slacking is in their live action catalog of the 50s-80s. I suspect, aside from Tron this December, these may be really spread thin for Disney for a while. Disney has little interest in licensing out their titles as far as I can tell (last time they did was early in DVD's lifespan with the Anchor Bay licensed titles, as well as a few Criterions, with only Chungking Express making the Blu-ray leap). They recently sold off Miramax and the 700 film catalog it came with, which cleared a lot of their slate. I don't think they have rights to anything other than their own titles. They've also found that unlike DVD there's zero market for shovelware compilation cartoon titles on Blu-ray, which was a large part of their output on DVD from 2000-2008.
DVD: They've basically stopped catalog releases, aside from double dips. No MOD program as of yet.
Fox
Blu-ray: They've taken a few chances (Diary of Anne Frank), but mostly they've stuck to tried and true evergreen titles, like the upcoming Alien set and Rocky Horror Picture Show. I imagine this strategy will continue for the near future, and hopefully there's a surprise or two. They distribute for MGM, which despite their prominent financial problems have done a decent job in releasing older catalog titles, which has basically matched Fox's output. Fox does license out titles to specialty labels, notably Criterion, and we've got a number of great releases through this arrangement (Bigger Than Life, Kagemusha). Recent rumor had them licensing even more titles to Criterion.
DVD: Non-existent, and no MOD titles. Again, there are the Criterion licensed titles.
Lionsgate
Blu-ray: They don't have a lot of catalog holdings, but they've been aggressive in obtaining licensing rights to other catalogs. Namely, they have licensed several Paramount and Republic titles from Paramount, they've wrestled the StudioCanal rights away from Criterion, MGM, Anchor Bay and others, and they've got independent holdings like American Zoetrope. Overall, they're putting in more than most of their longer established big brother studios.
DVD: They seem focused on Blu-ray mostly. Most of the titles they've licensed from other rights holders already have DVD releases, so they've only done Blu-ray for those. No MOD program.
Paramount
Blu-ray: They seem content to release maybe 1-3 A-list catalog titles a year, and either license out (Criterion, Lionsgate) or sit on their other titles. They either declined to or failed to match Lionsgate's offer for American Zoetrope distribution.They still have distribution rights to the Wayne Estate films. They would seem a logical choice for the Blu-ray upgrade as Wayne titles are almost always solid sellers.
DVD: Pretty much silent. They've licensed a lot of titles to Criterion, but only one of those (Days of Heaven) got the additional license to Blu-ray. Recent rumor has them working on more titles to license to Criterion, hopefully with an expansion of Blu-ray distribution for the titles Criterion already has out on DVD. No MOD program.
Sony
Blu-ray: They have done a solid job, IMO. While their pre-80s output is a little lower than ideal, one has to remember that their pre-60s holdings are mostly black & white (when compared to other studio catalogs of the same era), which is unfortunately harder to market for HD, and by most account their bigger titles of that era (Capra, for example) have film elements that need some serious work if to be released in HD. Fortunately they've done a real good job with the Harryhausen titles (helped by the authorized colorization versions in means of promotion), as well as some other A-listers, such as Dr. Strangelove and Easy Rider. They just announced The Bridge on the River Kwai, so they're chugging along quite nicely, if not at a breakneck speed. Obviously their vested interest in Blu-ray as a format probably helps them push harder than the other studios. Strong rumor has them licensing a number of titles to Criterion.
DVD: The last of the major studios to still release new-to-DVD catalog titles. They have slowed down as of late, but nowhere near the degree of the others. No MOD program.
Universal
Blu-ray: Late to the game due to their HD-DVD allegiance in the format war, they have trickled out a steady amount of titles, but almost exclusively 80s and later. They still have 81 HD-DVD releases without a Blu-ray counterpart. As of late, their corporate-level insistence (supposedly) of using heavy DNR is well documented. They have licensing rights to the the Hitchcock Estate titles, and Psycho is debuting in a couple months, hopefully without DNR blemish. They distribute for Focus Features, and have licensed both Focus titles (Monsoon Wedding, Ride with the Devil) and their own titles (Charade, Videodrome) to Criterion. Some titles they licensed to Criterion for DVD they released on Blu-ray themselves (Traffic, Do the Right Thing).
DVD: Dead as a doornail. They have done a very limited MOD program through TCM.
Warner
Blu-ray: The 800lb gorilla of the studios, Warner has consistently churned out catalog title after catalog title, from all decades since the 30s. While this is nowhere near the level of their DVD glory years, it is far and away the most output of any major studio currently. These have mostly been of solid quality in their releases. Warner has experimented with several marketing schemes, from double-feature releases to the infamous 'box-o'-junk' editions of beloved classics, to the digibook cases. Currently Warner still refuses to license out their catalog titles to specialty labels. There have been rumors of a deal with Criterion for 2-3 years now (the most prominent titles would be Badlands and Akira Kurosawa's Dreams), but nothing has ever emerged. Lately Warner has declined to extend their distribution agreements with several small catalog rights holders, such as the Caidin Trust (Stagecoach, To Be or Not To Be, Foreign Correspondent) MK2 (Chaplin Estate films) and CBS (My Fair Lady). One wonders if the licensing deals New Line made when they were independent, such as with the Harold Lloyd Estate, will also be allowed to expire without renewal.
DVD: A small trickling of titles the last couple years.... except for thier massive MOD program. Hopefully it'll continue to improve, as it's likely the only way we're getting most of the titles yet to make it out on DVD.
Let's break it down for each 7 as they stand currently:
Disney
Blu-ray:
With the one of the smallest pre-80s catalogs Disney is really doing what they've always done: release their premiere animated titles at 6 month intervals. Where they're slacking is in their live action catalog of the 50s-80s. I suspect, aside from Tron this December, these may be really spread thin for Disney for a while. Disney has little interest in licensing out their titles as far as I can tell (last time they did was early in DVD's lifespan with the Anchor Bay licensed titles, as well as a few Criterions, with only Chungking Express making the Blu-ray leap). They recently sold off Miramax and the 700 film catalog it came with, which cleared a lot of their slate. I don't think they have rights to anything other than their own titles. They've also found that unlike DVD there's zero market for shovelware compilation cartoon titles on Blu-ray, which was a large part of their output on DVD from 2000-2008.
DVD: They've basically stopped catalog releases, aside from double dips. No MOD program as of yet.
Fox
Blu-ray: They've taken a few chances (Diary of Anne Frank), but mostly they've stuck to tried and true evergreen titles, like the upcoming Alien set and Rocky Horror Picture Show. I imagine this strategy will continue for the near future, and hopefully there's a surprise or two. They distribute for MGM, which despite their prominent financial problems have done a decent job in releasing older catalog titles, which has basically matched Fox's output. Fox does license out titles to specialty labels, notably Criterion, and we've got a number of great releases through this arrangement (Bigger Than Life, Kagemusha). Recent rumor had them licensing even more titles to Criterion.
DVD: Non-existent, and no MOD titles. Again, there are the Criterion licensed titles.
Lionsgate
Blu-ray: They don't have a lot of catalog holdings, but they've been aggressive in obtaining licensing rights to other catalogs. Namely, they have licensed several Paramount and Republic titles from Paramount, they've wrestled the StudioCanal rights away from Criterion, MGM, Anchor Bay and others, and they've got independent holdings like American Zoetrope. Overall, they're putting in more than most of their longer established big brother studios.
DVD: They seem focused on Blu-ray mostly. Most of the titles they've licensed from other rights holders already have DVD releases, so they've only done Blu-ray for those. No MOD program.
Paramount
Blu-ray: They seem content to release maybe 1-3 A-list catalog titles a year, and either license out (Criterion, Lionsgate) or sit on their other titles. They either declined to or failed to match Lionsgate's offer for American Zoetrope distribution.They still have distribution rights to the Wayne Estate films. They would seem a logical choice for the Blu-ray upgrade as Wayne titles are almost always solid sellers.
DVD: Pretty much silent. They've licensed a lot of titles to Criterion, but only one of those (Days of Heaven) got the additional license to Blu-ray. Recent rumor has them working on more titles to license to Criterion, hopefully with an expansion of Blu-ray distribution for the titles Criterion already has out on DVD. No MOD program.
Sony
Blu-ray: They have done a solid job, IMO. While their pre-80s output is a little lower than ideal, one has to remember that their pre-60s holdings are mostly black & white (when compared to other studio catalogs of the same era), which is unfortunately harder to market for HD, and by most account their bigger titles of that era (Capra, for example) have film elements that need some serious work if to be released in HD. Fortunately they've done a real good job with the Harryhausen titles (helped by the authorized colorization versions in means of promotion), as well as some other A-listers, such as Dr. Strangelove and Easy Rider. They just announced The Bridge on the River Kwai, so they're chugging along quite nicely, if not at a breakneck speed. Obviously their vested interest in Blu-ray as a format probably helps them push harder than the other studios. Strong rumor has them licensing a number of titles to Criterion.
DVD: The last of the major studios to still release new-to-DVD catalog titles. They have slowed down as of late, but nowhere near the degree of the others. No MOD program.
Universal
Blu-ray: Late to the game due to their HD-DVD allegiance in the format war, they have trickled out a steady amount of titles, but almost exclusively 80s and later. They still have 81 HD-DVD releases without a Blu-ray counterpart. As of late, their corporate-level insistence (supposedly) of using heavy DNR is well documented. They have licensing rights to the the Hitchcock Estate titles, and Psycho is debuting in a couple months, hopefully without DNR blemish. They distribute for Focus Features, and have licensed both Focus titles (Monsoon Wedding, Ride with the Devil) and their own titles (Charade, Videodrome) to Criterion. Some titles they licensed to Criterion for DVD they released on Blu-ray themselves (Traffic, Do the Right Thing).
DVD: Dead as a doornail. They have done a very limited MOD program through TCM.
Warner
Blu-ray: The 800lb gorilla of the studios, Warner has consistently churned out catalog title after catalog title, from all decades since the 30s. While this is nowhere near the level of their DVD glory years, it is far and away the most output of any major studio currently. These have mostly been of solid quality in their releases. Warner has experimented with several marketing schemes, from double-feature releases to the infamous 'box-o'-junk' editions of beloved classics, to the digibook cases. Currently Warner still refuses to license out their catalog titles to specialty labels. There have been rumors of a deal with Criterion for 2-3 years now (the most prominent titles would be Badlands and Akira Kurosawa's Dreams), but nothing has ever emerged. Lately Warner has declined to extend their distribution agreements with several small catalog rights holders, such as the Caidin Trust (Stagecoach, To Be or Not To Be, Foreign Correspondent) MK2 (Chaplin Estate films) and CBS (My Fair Lady). One wonders if the licensing deals New Line made when they were independent, such as with the Harold Lloyd Estate, will also be allowed to expire without renewal.
DVD: A small trickling of titles the last couple years.... except for thier massive MOD program. Hopefully it'll continue to improve, as it's likely the only way we're getting most of the titles yet to make it out on DVD.
