Paramount Drops Blu-ray, Goes HD DVD-Exclusive

Mon Aug 20, 2007 2:35PM EDT

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Now here's a move that I didn't see coming. Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks—the studios behind such lucrative movie franchises as "Mission: Impossible," "Star Trek," and the "Shrek" movies—have announced that they're no longer releasing movies in the Blu-ray format, choosing instead to go with HD DVD exclusively.

It's a huge boost for the HD DVD camp, which previously had only a single exclusive studio—Universal—in its corner. Many industry watchers (including me) had speculated that HD DVD's days might be numbered if Universal were to change sides to Blu-ray (or go dual-format); now, with exclusive support from three big-name studios, HD DVD's footing is looking considerably more solid.

So here's the new landscape: Blu-ray now has exclusive studio support from Fox, Disney, MGM, and Sony, while HD DVD now counts DreamWorks, Paramount, and Universal. Meanwhile, Warner Brothers and New Line are releasing movies in both formats.

The move by Paramount and DreamWorks is bad news for anyone hoping that Blu-ray was close to delivering a knockout blow to HD DVD. Yes, depending on the numbers you're looking at, Blu-ray would appear to have the edge on disc sales; for example, the fast-selling "300" has, as it turns out, moved twice as many Blu-ray discs as it had HD DVD. But prices for Blu-ray players are still way too high—indeed, the cheapest player available is still the $500, Blu-ray-equipped PlayStation 3. By keeping HD DVD in the game, there's a better chance that overall HD player prices will have dropped to reasonable levels by the time a winner emerges.

Update: Paramount and DreamWorks have checked in with a few more details: the Will Farrell skating comedy "Blades of Glory" will be the first of its exclusive HD DVD titles, streeting on August 28, with "Shrek the Third" and "Transformers" bowing later this year.

Related:
Paramount to offer movies in HD DVD [Hollywood Reporter]

Comments on Paramount Drops Blu-ray, Goes HD DVD-Exclusive

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  • 1 Posted by theyowman on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:06PM EDT Report Abuse

    Not buying either format untill they are $100 or less. I have a 60" Panasonic Plasma and my regular dvd's play at satisfactory quality, not going to make a marginally better upgrade for hundreds of dollars (plus the cost of new dvds themselves).

  • 2 Posted by squerly25 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:37PM EDT Report Abuse

    God must of been looking over my shoulder this week as all of New England was out of the Panasonic BluRay player so I was unable to buy one. Thank you Paramount (Dreamworks etc.) I will now wait at least another year until this silly war is over and,as usual, all the consumers who purchased one format already are screwed and will have to wait for the very expensive dual units which I can see coming over the horizon. BIG BUSINESS WINS AGAIN. Where's the government now to help us little folks? Oh yeah, chasing down grandmas for illegal music downloads.

  • 3 Posted by aliveinboston on Thu Sep 3, 2009 2:50PM EDT Report Abuse

    This is horrible for the consumer. Given the low volume of high def movie sales, I can see why $150M dollars would be enough to sway paramount/dreamworks. Based on the report about the deal, it was probably Microsoft who funded it since they are just about the only company who can throw that kind of cash around.

  • 4 Posted by commorancy on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:28PM EDT Report Abuse

    As if any Will Farrell movie is actually worth owning in ANY format, much less HD. Not sure why Paramount has opted for HD-DVD since clearly the format is losing. But, it may have more to do with Sony itself than the actual format. As far as which one will win, who knows. If they keep going at this rate, they'll both lose simply because another format will come along and jump ahead of both of these formats.

  • 5 Posted by msctalbtrbb on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:29PM EDT Report Abuse

    didnt ur 60in tv cost hundreds of dollars ne wayz? lulz

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