ET, Jaws and Jurrasic coming to HD DVD? (1 Viewer)

[Dave H]

I think they jumped the gun on those Spielberg titles as some kind of response to some of the big titles recently announced on Blu-ray (Such as Pirates, etc.).

 

[Rolando]

wow, this is actually a big downer. Think about it. For them to actually go out of their way to annouce these movies are NOT coming to HD-DVD soon... it's... bad.

I mean yes, I got excited at the news. However like many I would not have been surprised if no solid release date was determined this year. Heck an announcement at end of year that they were scheduled for late 2008 or Jan2009 would have still been pretty exciting.

But this? You have to interpret something out of the fact that someone at Uni or in the Spielberg camp specificaly did not want these titles supporting HD-DVD.

hmmm...

 

[ppltd]

No where does this mean that they did not want these titles supporting HD-DVD. It simply looks like someone jumped the gun, probably by at least a year, nothing more.

 

[Dave Mack]

I'll bet it was because of the whole dreamworks sale debacle. Left a bad taste in Speileberg's mouth with universal.

 

[TravisR]

Why is Speilberg or Universal the bad guy (for lack of a better word) in this situation? To me, it seems like the site posted the wrong info. All three of those movies were, at their time, some of the biggest grossing movies ever. Did anyone actually think that Universal wasn't going to wait until there's a lot bigger growth in the market before releasing them?

 

[Rolando]

Oh I don't think there is a "bad guy" at all. It was obvioulsy just an error. Someone got a little over eager. I am just startled I guess at the fact that someone felt it necessary to get a retraction. Why not just let the announcement sit there? There was no official date, not even a tentative date. Just find it odd.

And I agree that it might not necessarily mean they did not want to back up HD-DVD. I guess my post sounded like that. I just meant they are making it really obvious that they don't want people to even think there is a remote possibility of these coming out sometime soon.

 

[Jace_A]

I seriously doubt this. I knew the moment I read the original press release that this retraction was coming. Spielberg has form when it comes to releasing his films on home video. Remember how long it took for his A list titles to be released on DVD? The Color Purple was released as one of the first DVD titles by Warners without Spielberg's permission and he had Warners delete the title from its catalogue, to be re-released several years later as a special edition. These titles won't be seeing the light of day on HD DVd or Blu-Ray until there is a vastly greater number of HD players in homes. Ditto George Lucas.

 

[Dave Mack]

I'm not talking about the retraction specifically. I'm talking about in general because of what happened.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/12/...ness/dream.php



"..Negotiations began with Universal more than a year ago, when Geffen sat down with one of his best friends, Ron Meyer, president of Universal Studios. A sale to Universal made sense for both sides, and Hollywood insiders as well as Wall Street observers fully expected a deal.

Spielberg has longstanding personal ties to Universal, the studio that gave him his first break as a young director when he made such blockbuster hits as "Jaws," "E.T." and "Jurassic Park." His production company, Amblin, is based on the Universal studio lot, where he has a contract to remain through 2010.

Indeed, Geffen said he and Spielberg favored making a deal with Universal. Geffen added, "Steven's instructions were: 'If it is possible to make a deal with Universal, make a deal."'

In July, DreamWorks and Universal agreed to a period of exclusive negotiations, and a tentative deal was struck for Universal to acquire DreamWorks for $1.5 billion, with about $900 million of that sum going to pay DreamWorks' principal executives and investors - $125 million more than the deal that was ultimately struck.

But the talks broke off two months later when Universal lowered its bid to $1.4 billion after the poor performance of some DreamWorks films, principally the big-budget summer thriller, "The Island," and the romantic comedy "Just Like Heaven." Geffen said the chairman of NBC Universal, Bob Wright, had made a handshake deal for the $1.5 billion, and then "reneged."

Feelings were bruised, but at the time, Universal was the only bidder for DreamWorks. Paramount had started to negotiate, but when Grey and Tom Freston, the co-president of Viacom, brought the proposal to the Viacom board of directors, they were told the deal was too expensive and was poorly timed because Viacom was in the process of splitting into two companies, Viacom and CBS.

Rather than abandoning the deal, Grey took a different message from that meeting. He felt the board favored the deal if he could overcome the obstacle of the price. When Grey learned that Universal had not closed its bid for DreamWorks by late November, he sounded out several private equity firms about the prospect of helping to finance the DreamWorks purchase. When he secured interest from a number of firms, he went back to Geffen to see if a deal were still possible.

On Dec. 2, Geffen called Meyer and told him another bidder was in the game. During the next week, Meyer waited for a response from GE's chairman and chief executive, Jeffrey Immelt. None was forthcoming.

On Thursday, Viacom's board met in New York and approved the purchase of DreamWorks. Grey and Freston flew through the night on a private jet to bring the contracts to the DreamWorks principals.

All that remained was for Spielberg, the powerhouse director with longstanding affection for Universal, to get comfortable with the deal and his new patrons. That took place on Friday morning at his home.

But before signing the contracts with Grey and Freston, Geffen called his friend Meyer. He would still make the deal with NBC Universal, he told Meyer, if General Electric would produce a check for $100 million as a good faith deposit on the purchase.

It was not to be. "They said, 'We couldn't get a deal done today under any circumstances,"' Geffen recalled. "That was the end. We knew they couldn't get it done in a day. They couldn't get anything done in a day..."

and from another article on Rottentomatoes.com

"...Steven Spielberg said, "I am thrilled by today's announcement of the deal with Viacom/Paramount, who came recently to the table and were able to conclude and sign agreements quickly. Due to my very long history and my loyalty to Universal, I was saddened that after long negotiations and many compromises, we were unable to come to terms with Universal's parent company, GE. Nevertheless, I am truly looking forward to working with Tom Freston, Brad Grey and Gail Berman, as this is an exciting opportunity for each of us to embark on a new adventure together..."

I'll bet Spielberg isn't too thrilled with Universal currently...

 

[Jason Seaver]

Maybe, but I imagine he's too canny a businessman to let that sort of grudge hurt his bottom line.

 

[Cees Alons]

I wouldn't be surprised if this was caused by something completely different.
Perhaps the titles were on the list alright, but not supposed to be published at this moment?


Cees

 

[Rolando]

so Dave, based on the info on the story you quoted. Would it be your "guess" that Spielberg pulled these titles as a way to hurt or retaliate at GE (and therefore Universal)?

 

[Peter Overduin]

Wouldn't it be more the case that the rights to release these films...however much subject to Spielberg's [ersonal approvals - is more the result of the financial deal with Paramount? Just a musing of course...SOMEBODY please get them out there! Frankly I don't care who.

 

[MikeMO]

I still don't understand this. What is the problem with Spielberg releasing the movies on HD DVD? That the format isn't stable yet? Why would that matter?

 

[Shawn Perron]

The fact that both formats have been "cracked" in the last month surely can't make Spielberg want to rush a title out right now.

 

[Jason Seaver]

Movies (and CDs, and books, and most forms of media) make most of their sales in the first week or moth, when they've got prime placement in retail stores, a publicity campaign fresh in people's minds, etc. Thus, it's better to have that first week be when you can theoretically sell ten million, rather than at most a couple hundred thousand.

 

[Jesse Blacklow]

Spielberg has a history of not releasing his movies on video until the format is stable. Neither format is popular or stable right now.

 

[Dave Mack]

i'm not implying that he "pulled them". I don't think he was even consulted when these were "announced."
My point was that after the sales debacle, I don't think Spielberg is rushing to do any favors for Universal.

 

[Tim Glover]

Please tell us what you know Dan!

 

[Douglas Monce]

Universal could release Spielberg's early films i.e. Duel, The Sugarland Express, Jaws, 1941, with out his permission. They don't need it as Universal owns these films lock stock and barrel. However regardless of the deal over Dreamworks, Amblin is still located on the Universal lot and still has a major distribution deal with Universal. (Amblin, Spielberg's personal production company was not bought by Paramount) They are not about to upset one of their major partners by releasing these films with out his participation.

Also I don't think the Universal/Paramount deal over Dreamworks is as personal a thing to Spielberg as some are making it out. Spielberg is still a major stock holder of Universal's parent company. I think you will continue to see Spielberg films released by Universal.

As others have said Spielberg (and Lucas) tends to not jump into new formats until they have proven themselves. I think it was something like 5 years after the introduction of DVD before the first Spielberg films showed up on that format.

Doug

 

[MarekM]

I just hope, that we will see something from Spielberg or Lucas much sooner than 5 years :frowning:

Marek