**Official HTF HD Formats Ind./Retailer/Studio Support Thread-*SEE POST 3176, p. 106* (1 Viewer)

[Brandon Conway]

From the main article about HD-DVD's demise

At least one of the two studios exclusive to HD DVD is already gearing up to join the other team.

"While Universal values the close partnership we have shared with Toshiba, it is time to turn our focus to releasing new and catalog titles on Blu-ray," said Craig Kornblau, president of Universal Studios Home Entertainment.

"The path for widespread adoption of the next-generation platform has finally become clear. Universal will continue its aggressive efforts to broaden awareness for hi-def’s unparalleled offerings in interactivity and connectivity, at an increasingly affordable price. The emergence of a single, high-definition format is cause for consumers, as well as the entire entertainment industry, to celebrate."

 

[Dave_P.]

Paramount is waiting in the wings

 

[Dale MA]

Niiiiiiiiiice. Now where are the Blu-ray releases of Jaws, Back to the Future and Blues Brothers?

 

[Sean Laughter]

And here I was expecting them to announce support for 8-track video cassettes encoded in ASCII art.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Those titles need new optimized HD transfers... and hopefully will come to BD with lossless sound...

 

[Marc Colella]

Yooooohooooo! Criterion... where are yooouuuu? Come out, come out - wherever you are.

 

[Brandon Conway]

 

[Paul.S]

High Def Digest has a blurb up about USHE announcing support for BD. No link to a press release though (which always makes me wonder where Peter gets the text for his quotes--fax from, in this case, Kornblau's office?).

Edit: I see Brandon's post from an hour-and-a-half ago now, with a link to HMM. Hate that the e-mail notifications of posts don't include quoted text.

 

[Eric F]

LINK
And there you go. Even faster than I thought.

 

[LarryH]

It's hard for me to see how there can be any expectation that many of those highly desirable titles will suddenly be released to HDM. The market, at least for some time, will be even smaller, compared to DVD, than before. If the BR production lines are working to maximum capacity now, until many more of these expensive line are constructed, the capability just doesn't seem to be there. Certainly, the unification of the market may ultimately result in more product, but I think it will be a long, long time coming. Meanwhile, a lot of HD DVD titles will remain exclusive to that format. Also, the possibility of any continuation of series (Star Trek, Lost) seems to be in limbo.

 

[Chris Atkins]

What I'm really interested in is how much longer Universal, Paramount, etc., will release films in HD-DVD.

 

[Eric F]

Probably not much longer. I forsee them wanting to clear out inventory, but what possible incentive would they have to press new titles? Universal said as much.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

And please, Criterion, don't let Storaro butcher The Last Emperor (or whatever else) on BD!

_Man_

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Aye! Hopefully, I won't have to wait too long for some of their already-on-HDD titles to come out on BD -- the ones that don't need new/better HD transfers anyway. I was *really* tempted to jump in and buy a Tosh A3 (and deal w/ my 1080i/component mess) to go w/ a bunch of clearance priced Universal HDDs, but this faster-than-expected end to HDD and Universal's move to go Blu will probably help stave off my temptation.

_Man_

 

[Brandon Conway]

Most discs are pressed 3-4 weeks before release.

With that in mind, here's the current announced schedule from Universal, Paramount/DreamWorks, and Warner:

2/26

Beowulf (Paramount)
The Brave One (Warner)

3/4

Into the Wild (Paramount)
No Reservations (Warner)
Things We Lost in the Fire (DreamWorks)

3/11

Bee Movie (DreamWorks)
Fletch (Universal)
In the Valley of Elah (Warner)
Michael Clayton (Warner)

3/18

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Warner)
Justice League: The New Frontier (Warner)
Led Zeppelin: The Song Remains the Same (Warner)

3/25

The Jack Ryan Collection (Paramount)
The Kite Runner (Paramount)

4/1

Appleseed Ex Machina (Warner)
August Rush (Warner)
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Paramount)

4/8

I Am Legend (Warner)
There Will Be Blood (Paramount)

4/15

Bonnie and Clyde (Warner)

5/13

Sublime: Uncut Version (Warner)

5/27

Twister (Warner)

Now, IMO, it's 95% chance Warner cancels all titles scheduled past this month. Why release on HD-DVD when there are no retailers to carry it, and why would they muddy consumer perception further?

Universal only has one title, which can be easily canceled, especially since they have already publicly announced their Blu-ray intentions.

Paramount has the most titles announced. I don't see the April titles making it out, personally. Maybe they keep the March titles around since most of them are early in the month, and the Jack Ryan Collection is already packaged and ready to go.

In any case, that's my viewpoint.

 

[Dave Scarpa]

There's Only One title I'm interested in Beowulf coming on 2/26 I would think that's too far in the channel to cancel

 

[Jari K]

I thought that I won´t be hearing about "cheap Chinese players" ever again, but "Betanews" says that HD DVD is not dead and China will help!

BetaNews | For 1.3 million HD DVD customers, what's next?

 

[Nick Graham]

I think BetaNews just flushed it's remaining credibility down the toilet.

 

[Jason Seaver]

Well, not entirely - if CH-DVD is introduced and plays HD DVD, yeah, it might be possible to buy one of those players should one's HD DVD player go bust. I don't know how many desirable movies will be released on that format, though.

Myself, I'm waiting for the triumphant press release from the HD-VMD guys. "One down, one to go!"

 

[Chris Atkins]

These are the only two I care about...especially the first one.

I care about There Will Be Blood too but that one is probably too far off.