Paramount Drops Blu-ray, Goes HD DVD-Exclusive

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]