Just last week Blu-ray looked to be taking a major step into owning the high-definition home video format as Disney announced that Sleeping Beauty, Finding Nemo and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe would soon be coming home on the new Blu-ray high-definition home video format. It has also been said that since Blu-ray has the most studio support that it would soon find itself on top of the heap, beating HD DVD as the preferred format for high-definition home video. However, that took a bit of a turn today.
In a press release sent out in the last few hours Paramount and DreamWorks Animation each declare exclusive support for HD DVD. This includes Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Nickelodeon Movies and MTV Films, as well as movies from DreamWorks Animation, which are distributed exclusively by Paramount Home Entertainment.
The companies each said that the decision to distribute exclusively in the HD DVD format resulted from an extensive evaluation of current market offerings, which confirmed the clear benefits of HD DVD, particularly its market-ready technology and lower manufacturing costs. Paramount Home Entertainment will launch its exclusive HD DVD program with the release of the blockbuster comedy hit Blades of Glory on August 28th and follow with two of the biggest grossing movies of the year Transformers and Shrek the Third. These three titles alone represent more than $1.5 billion in box office ticket sales worldwide.
“The combination of Paramount and DreamWorks Animation brings a critical mass of current box office hits to consumers with a line-up of live action and animated films that are perfect for HD DVD,” stated Brad Grey, Chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures, which is currently the leading studio in domestic box office. “Part of our vision is to aggressively extend our movies beyond the theater, and deliver the quality and features that appeal to our audience. I believe HD DVD is not only the affordable high quality choice for consumers, but also the smart choice for Paramount.”
“We decided to release Shrek the Third and other DreamWorks Animation titles exclusively on HD DVD because we believe it is the best format to bring high quality home entertainment to a key segment of our audience — families,” stated DreamWorks Animation CEO, Jeffrey Katzenberg. “We believe the combination of this year’s low-priced HD DVD players and the commitment to release a significant number of hit titles in the fall makes HD DVD the best way to view movies at home.”
There is one catch to this all though, the release goes on to say that today’s announcement does not include films directed by Steven Spielberg as his films are not exclusive to either format.
That last part is a really interesting piece considering many people believe the format war will be decided by what major film franchises land on which format. On one hand you have all of Disney’s classic animated films such as Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, The Lion King, etc. All those films will end up on Blu-ray as will the Star Wars trilogy from Fox. On the other hand the new Paramount announcement means that films like The Godfather trilogy and the Star Trek television shows and feature films will all be HD DVD only. However, with that Spielberg initiative does that mean that the Indiana Jones trilogy will be HD DVD and Blu-ray?
Over at Warner Bros. they are still supporting both formats which means the Harry Potter franchise will most likely be available on both formats while The Matrix franchise currently resides only on HD DVD, a move WB seems to be supporting by releasing their films on HD DVD before Blu-ray.
WHAT ABOUT CURRENT SALES NUMBERS?
Taking this new development into consideration this means that Sony, Disney and Fox are now the only two major studios exclusively supporting Blu-ray while Universal and Paramount support HD DVD exclusively and Warner Bros. is the only home video outlet supporting both.
Stats out of Home Media Magazine said total sales of Blu-ray discs, using a Sony Corp (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research)-backed technology, totaled 1.6 million units from January 1 through July 1, compared with 795,000 HD-DVD discs sold in that period.
Both formats were launched in spring of 2006. An estimated 3.7 million high-definition discs have been sold, including 2.2 million in Blu-ray and 1.5 million in HD-DVD through the end of July, according to Home Media.
The next question will be what will the rental houses do? Blockbuster already said in June that it was setting out plans to line its shelves with Blu-ray DVDs, saying Blu-ray rentals were “significantly outpacing” HD-DVD rentals.
Perhaps this war is more reminiscent of the VHS and Betamax battle than we originally thought it would be. The only saving grace is a potential machine that will be cost effective and will play both formats. Currently LG’s Super Multi Blueâ„¢ Player (BH100 pictured above)
is the only player to play both formats, but if you want it it is going to run you $999 at Amazon.com. The only set back I know about this player is that it does not support the interactive menus on HD DVDs
. Whether that means it also doesn’t take advantage of the HD DVD exclusive features I do not know.
How long will this format war be waged? I can see it lasting quite a lot longer, or at least until player prices drop. You can currently get an HD DVD player for $238 at Amazon while it is still going to run your $458 for a stand alone Blu-ray player. Blu-rays current success in sales can most likely be attributed to the PlayStation 3’s ability to also play Blu-ray movies and the recent release of 300, which is a perfect fit for that audience.
I wouldn’t go worrying about it all too soon, but the time will come that the line will be drawn and it is a toss up right now as to who will end up on top.
