Great news for film buffs and Blu-ray fans alike, Criterion has announced their Blu-ray plans. Starting in October Criterion will be releasing Criterion Collection titles on Blu-ray. The high-def Blu-ray releases will have all of the bonus features of the standard definition DVD releases, and, even better, at prices equivalent to the standard definition releases. Criterion has released the list of their first BD lineup:

The Third Man
Bottle Rocket
Chungking Express
The Man Who Fell to Earth
The Last Emperor
El Norte
The 400 Blows
Gimme Shelter
The Complete Monterey Pop
Contempt
Walkabout
For All Mankind
The Wages of Fear

This is great news. Criterion releases are fantastic, and getting them in HD will be awesome. Picked up from Blu-ray.com.

And, fulfilling the inevitable, following their earlier announcements, Paramount has stated that they’ll be re-releasing all of their back catalog Blu-ray titles. The re-releases will be identical to the original releases, down to the SKU. Basically they’re just putting them back into production as-is. Via High-Def Digest.

Ever since the death of HD DVD the question has been out the HD DVD exclusive studios would enter, or re-enter, the Blu-ray market. Universal announced their plans a couple of weeks ago, and now Paramount has announced their initial Blu-ray plans, which also includes DreamWorks Animation.

Their re-entry into the Blu-ray market will begin with Face/Off, Next, and Bee Movie on May 20th. Following those, two weeks later on June 3rd Cloverfield and There Will Be Blood hit. And then on June 24th their first day-and-date title, The Spiderwick Chronicles, streets.

I am a little surprised that their announcement didn’t mention bringing their existing Blu-ray titles back into production, but I would expect that to follow fairly quickly since the authoring work is done.

Picked up from High-Def Digest.

EDIT: Catching up on some more blogs (I’ve been busy with work the past couple of days) I see that after making their first announcement, Paramount made another one announcing the return of many legacy titles. Blades of Glory, which was pulled at the last minute when Paramount went HD DVD, so late that some copies still found their way to shelves, finally streets on May 20th. In addition many of the titles previously released on BD also hit May 20th: Aeon Flux, Babel, Black Snake Moan, Coming to America, Disturbia, Dreamgirls, Four Brothers, The Italian Job, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Sleepy Hollow, Trading Places, The Untouchables: Special Collector’s Edition, The Warriors: Ultimate Director’s Cut, U2: Rattle and Hum, We Were Soldiers, and World Trade Center.

Via Blu-ray.com.

Their press release:
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As HD DVD plays out its last days on the market, it has had one last shot at the limelight. For the week ended 2/24 HD DVD managed to grab 23% of the high-def market, with Blu-ray taking the other 77%. This makes them 76:24 for the year, and 65:35 since inception. But the real story is American Gangster. It managed to do something HD DVD has done in quite a while, take the top spot for best selling high-def title. In fact, it is the only HD DVD release to make the top 10, outselling second place Blu-ray Michael Clayton 3:2. This is one of the last major HD DVD exclusive blockbuster titles, there aren’t many titles left. And it is possible that some of those announced titles could be dropped, just as Paramount did with their post 3/4 titles.

Tuesday, March 4th, will see the last HD DVD releases from Paramount and DreamWorks Animation - Into the Wild and Things We Lost in the Fire, both from Paramount. All previously announced HD DVD releases due after 3/4 are canceled. Those titles are Bee Movie (3/11), The Jack Ryan Collection (3/25), The Kite Runner (3/25), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (4/1), and There Will Be Blood (4/15). So, while Paramount and DreamWorks Animation were the last major studios to official announce the end of their HD DVD effort, it seems they will be the first to actually drop the format due to the abrupt nature of their plans. They did the same thing when they switched from format neutral to HD DVD, canceling Blu-ray releases that were already in retailers’ hands.

This means no high-def releases from the two studios for a couple of months, as they plan to begin distributing their films on Blu-ray this summer. I imagine that the HD DVD films that were dropped will be undergoing a crash remastering effort for Blu-ray. Picked up from High-Def Digest, Video Business, and The Hollywood Reporter.

The Hollywood Reporter claims that ‘reliable industry sources’ tell them Toshiba is finally ready to give up on HD DVD and will pull the plug ‘in the coming weeks’. Toshiba, of course, maintains that no decision has been made:

Officially, no decision has been made, insists Jodi Sally, vp of marketing for Toshiba America Consumer Products. “Based on its technological advancements, we continue to believe HD DVD is the best format for consumers, given the value and consistent quality inherent in our player offerings,” she said.

But she hinted that something’s in the air. “Given the market developments in the past month,” she said, “Toshiba will continue to study the market impact and the value proposition for consumers, particularly in light of our recent price reductions on all HD DVD players.”

They also report that, for the week ending 2/10, BD took 81% of disc sales to HD DVD’s 19%. That would be a large backslide for HD DVD from the previous week’s 74:26 split, almost back to the 1/27 82:18 split. And this with heavy discounting on HD DVD players, a Super Bowl ad that reportedly cost Toshiba $2.7 million, and a number of concurrent promotions on both players and media. They also caught a few Blu studio converts that I’d missed:

Blu-ray support among independents is rising. ADV Films, Tai Seng Entertainment, Topics Entertainment and National Geographic have all confirmed they are going Blu-ray exclusive, while more than one indie that was releasing titles just on HD DVD, including Surround Records and Opus Arte, will now offer Blu-ray as well.

This is still firmly in the rumor category, but it really seems inevitable. Toshiba cannot continue to bleed red ink on every HD DVD player they sell. Their deep price cuts were also deep cuts to the corporate wrist. A desperate cry for attention - but one that doesn’t appear to have worked. The only upside could be clearing out stock from their warehouses so they aren’t stuck with too many units when they finally announce that HD DVD is dead.

Picked up from High-Def Digest.

An array of Blu-ray news today.

Opus Arte, a distributor specializing in ‘high-art’ titles (Swan Lake, Strauss: Die Fledermaus, and the like), has previously been exclusively HD DVD. However, they’re going neutral, adding Blu-ray Disc to their high-def releases. Their first Blu-ray title, Mendelssohn’s A Midsummers Night’s Dream, previously released on HD DVD last November, will hit in March. Via High-Def Digest.

Sharp announced a new generation of Blu-ray laser diodes which will support 4x-6x BD recording. A 3.3mm version will be used in laptop drives, and a 5.6mm version in desktop drives. Mass production begins in April, with a monthly production capacity of 700,000 diodes. Products using these new diodes should hit in the second half of the year. The Sharp press release, via I4U, by way of Blu-ray.com.

It looks like Spain is really turning Blu. Previously distributors Manga Films, Filmax and Tripictures went Blu, and now another Spanish distributor, Cameo, can be added to the list. They’re currently preparing a version of the BBC’s Planet Earth for the Spanish market. Additionally, the largest Spanish online movie retailer, DVDgo, has added a Blu-ray tab to their site. (No HD DVD tab.) From PlanetaHD, via Blu-ray.com.

Signamtek has announced a less expensive standalone Blu-ray player for the European market. The SBR-1000 is expected to retail for under €250 when it hits the street in April. That should make it the new low bar in BD player pricing for Europe. From Presence PC via Blu-ray.com.

Hollywood in High-Def has an interview with big name producer/writer Dean Devlin about why he prefers Blu-ray. Via Blu-ray.com.

Finally, The Register reports on a survey done by PriceGrabber.com about high-def player adoption. Their survey of 2185 people concluded that the main issue limiting adoption has been the high prices of BD players, with 56% of those interested in going Blu holding out for lower prices. While only 19% said the format war was holding them back. 24% said they were interested in buying Blu-ray in the next 12 months, while 21% were interested in HD DVD. 14% were interested in an “integrated video game console” - which, today, means only the PS3.

I take these results with a huge grain of salt. The methodology of the survey isn’t shared, but keep in mind PriceGrabber is a comparative shopping site used mainly by those looking for the best price on an item (I use it myself). So if this survey was of PG users, it is unsurprising that they’d cite price as their main concern. But for the market at large, this has clearly not been the case. Blu-ray continues to outsell HD DVD, despite the price advantage HD DVD enjoys. And BD sales spiked after Warner’s announcement removed most of the uncertainty from the market. Of course lower prices will attract more buyers to high-def players overall. But price does not appear to currently be the deciding factor, or HD DVD would be besting Blu-ray - and quite the opposite is happening. Also, I think this survey must have been done before Warner’s announcement. I have a hard time believing nearly equal percentages of respondents said they’re looking at BD and HD DVD post-announcement. Thanks to reader Morac for the pointer to the article.

Both Amazon and Barnes & Noble are currently running extensive sales on HD DVD titles. Amazon is offering 50% off on 147 titles. (some at 57% actually) Barnes & Noble is offering 50% off on 97 Universal titles.

Via EngadgetHD for B&N and High-Def Digest for Amazon.

Three more European companies have decided to join the Blu-ray camp. Spanish distributor Filmax is going Blu-ray exclusive, announcing titles such as Resident Evil, Flyboys, and Million Dollar Baby. (PlanetaHD via Blu.ray.com) Additionally, two of the largest film companies in Sweden, SF and Scanbox, have also gone exclusively Blu-ray, scrapping all HD DVD release plans. (DVD Forum via Blu-ray.com)

Here in the US, independent distributor Echo Bridge has announced their initial slate of high-def releases - and they’re also exclusively Blu-ray. They’re planning to bargain price their releases at $14.95, with six titles due April 1, 2008. The titles are the theatrical releases The Last Sentinel and Artie Lange’s Beer League, TV mini-series 10.5: Apocalypse, Category 7: The End of the World, and The Curse of King Tut’s Tomb, and telefilm Blackbeard.

But the biggest news comes from Warner. Warner is celebrating their 85th Anniversary with a large slate of releases in 2008 and 2009 and, of course, after May they’re all Blu-ray exclusive - no more HD DVD. (Well, and DVD of course. ) They’ll be (re-)releasing Special Edition DVD versions of many of their classic films, and Warner intends to release Blu-ray versions day and date with the new DVD versions. The Digital Bits covered the story extensively and Blu-ray.com compiled this nice list of known Blu-ray releases (with some tweaks from me based on The Digital Bits’ coverage):

08Q1

• Bonnie and Clyde: Ultimate Collector’s Edition (also on HD DVD)

08Q2

• Dirty Harry: Ultimate Collector’s Edition Box Set (Dirty Harry, Magnum Force, The Enforcer, Sudden Impact, Dead Pool, and Clint Eastwood: Out of the Shadows)
• Twister (also on HD DVD)

08Q3

• An American in Paris
• Batman Anthology
• Batman Begins: Ultimate Collector’s Edition
• Gigi
• How the West was Won
• The Dark Night

08Q4

• A Christmas Story: Ultimate Collector’s Edition
• Otis: Uncut

2008

• The Adventures of Robin Hood
• Casablanca
• Clash of the Titans
• Excalibur
• Forbidden Planet
• Heat
• Grand Prix
• The Matrix Trilogy
• Mutiny on the Bounty
• V for Vendetta

2009

• Ben-Hur
• Gone With the Wind
• North by Northwest
• The Wizard of Oz
• Woodstock

And note that this list is not complete, it is just the titles Warner has announced at this time. There will be more titles announced going forward. Additionally, with the movie to Blu-ray and its increased capacity, Warner will be released all of their high-def titles with lossless audio. High-Def Digest also has coverage of the story.

I bet that their 85th Anniversary played a role in Warner’s decision to go Blu-ray exclusively. Not that it had to be BD, but that continuing to support two formats when they new they’d be doing a huge push with a lot of new and catalog titles to celebrate the anniversary would be very expensive. While some of the work could be shared, there is still a lot of unique authoring costs for each format. But now that they are Blu, their big push is going to be very tough for HD DVD to match. The HD DVD camp’s current release slate is anemic at best. And this is just Warner, all the other BD studios have a number of big releases coming.

Amazon is having a sale on HD DVD’s, 50% off 103 titles. (Well, 50% off 102 titles, and 57% off Van Helsing.) Via High-Def Digest.

The 53% off Blu-ray and HD DVD sales are still running as well.

After catching the Best Buy HD DVD sale I’d missed earlier, I checked some of my other affiliates for high-def sales. Looks like Buy.com still has a couple of ‘Blu-ray Blowout’ sales running. One, which is indefinite, has 32 titles with pricing starting at $16. The other, which runs through February 29th, has prices starting at $15.

And, on the subject of Blu-ray, independent distributor Surround Records, which releases multi-channel audio discs on DVD and HD DVD, is also adding Blu-ray to their format lineup. They’ll be starting by releasing Blu-ray versions of titles previously released on HD DVD. From High-Def Digest via Blu-ray.com.