Universal: in relation to HD-DVD-A "blu" plan? (1 Viewer)

[bob kaplan]

Was wondering if anyone has been able to figure out a plan for Universal's release on "Blu" in relation to its previous releases on HD? Are they playing catch up at all...or just releasing titles as they are unveiled on standard DVD? Obviously there are still some big titles missing from the future releases...but i would really like to see the release of the "smaller" TREMORS. It's so much fun.
Any thoughts?
Thanks
bob

 

[Jeff Robertson]

I think they've only released "The Mummy (1999) so far. So, their plan is apparently to release movie tie-ins of their latest films.

I do hope they take a better approach to BD than Paramount has so far. Exploiting BD's capabilities rather than just porting from HD-DVD.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Also, Eastern Promises on 10-14-08.

 

[Paul Arnette]

Universal has only released the following HD DVD exclusives on Blu-ray Disc to date: The Mummy, The Mummy Returns, and The Scorpion King.

However, announced are:

End of Days
Heroes: Season One
Miami Vice
U-571
40-Year-Old Virgin, The
Dawn of the Dead (2004)
Knocked Up
Land of the Dead
Thing, The
Eastern Promises

The strategy, it would seem, is to release titles that sold well on HD DVD and/or have marketing tie-ins. One would not expect low volume sellers or smaller titles to appear this year for a number of reasons, especially when you consider that Universal was one of the last, if not the last, studio to receive their allotment of BD blanks and place in the queue. Certainly room will be made for day-and-dates or proven sellers, but the rest will surely wait until next year at the earliest I'm afraid.

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

Modifying the above slightly, I think Universal is focusing on new releases, marketing tie-ins (e.g. Mummy), and titles anticipated to appeal to the current Blu-Ray adopter demographic which remains youth-skewed towards PS3 gamers. This is not quite the same thing as titles that sold well on HD DVD, although there is likely a good deal of overlap.

This makes a lot of sense from a marketing standpoint, and they are competing for the replication slots with everyone else now, so they presumably need to choose their titles carefully. As player penetration increases and the demographics expand, we will likely see a more balanced slate of catalog releases.

Regards,

 

[Nick Graham]

I know they were told by the authoring house they approached when they first started laying the groundwork for Blu that some of the masters they released on HD-DVD were not gonna be kosher on Blu, so some of their more popular titles are getting remastered before they will be released. The only specific ones I can recall off the top of my head are Spartacus and Army of Darkness (which is likely why it's not part of the Halloween promotion). Generally the ones that got torn apart in reviews on HD-DVD are the ones that will see remastering before they are ready for Blu.

 

[Paul Arnette]

Damn it, Ken! I was trying really hard not 'go there'.

 

[Sam Posten]

Well their HD DVD schedule was pretty random so...