SHOCKER: Paramount Goes HD DVD Exclusive!!!
If you had told us Martians landed on the White House lawn, we wouldn't be any more surprised than we were when this news came our way this morning: Paramount Pictures has announced they will now be an HD DVD-only studio.Even the most optimistic HD DVD supporters would admit before today that Blu-ray was leading in the so-called “format war,” but now all bets are off. Paramount brings with them DreamWorks home video releases, as well as a strong library that includes the Star Trek franchise. It also means that Universal is no longer the sole exclusive supporter of HD DVD among the major studios, evening out what was once a rather one-sided playing field.
Paramount’s exclusivity will begin with the release of Blades Of Glory. We’re still waiting for word on whether announced titles from Paramount on Blu-ray are now cancelled, as well as if currently available Blu-rays will be discontinued once stock runs out.
posted by Shannon T. Nutt at 10:44 AM
4 Comments:
The future releases are indeed canceled. They were actually still working on them when this deal was made. An estimated $150mil was paid (confirmed by NY Times). That'd be $50mil for Paramount and $100mil for DreamWorks. However the deal will not include Steven Spielberg's directed titles. All that this will probably do is end the war by killing both formats (which is probably what Microsoft wants so they can push their downloadable movies).
Thanks Clayton - Yes, we confirmed yesterday that all future scheduled releases on Blu-ray from Paramount have been cancelled. Blu-ray owners should also note that once Paramount runs out of stock on current Blu-ray releases - that's it...they have no plans of re-pressing.
The Paramount HD DVD "deal" is for 18-months, so it will be interesting to see after that where the two sides stand and if Paramount re-evaluates their position.
Arg. This just kills me. Why don't these companies just come together and create one single format. I know that the HD format side has been pushing hard with publicity through sending out HD-DVD movies to various journalists who work with entertainment/advertising/branding/marketing magazine. One of my colleagues here at my work has been innundated with HD-DVD titles and she doesn't even own either HD or BluRay dvd players.
Just reminds me of the BETA/VHS war. I was a staunch BETA supporter. You could definitely see the difference in picture quality, but I guess price is what will definitely be a decision maker in who wins this war.
ridiculous! why dont they just release them in both formats and let the consumers decide with their dollars which format to chose? ... I have a PS3/blu ray but luckily i also went the way of home theater PC which can play any format with the right upgrades...
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