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.

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:

PARAMOUNT HOME ENTERTAINMENT’S FANTASTICAL HIT THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES LAUNCHES DAY-AND-DATE WORLDWIDE ON BLU-RAY

There Will Be Blood, Cloverfield, Bee Movie, Face/Off and Next Also Released in Time for Memorial Day and Father’s Day; Focus Remains On Immersive High-Def Home Entertainment Experiences

LOS ANGELES (April 29, 2008) — Paramount Home Entertainment (PHE), a division of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA), today announced its first day-and-date Blu-ray release, The Spiderwick Chronicles on June 24 and rolling out in key international markets beginning in July. Continuing its commitment to offer the best possible movie experiences for consumers, the studio will deliver the highest quality picture, sound and special features available with these upcoming Blu-ray releases. In the U.S., There Will Be Blood, Cloverfield, Bee Movie, Face/Off and Next will begin arriving May 20 to capitalize on Memorial Day and Father’s Day. Internationally, The Spiderwick Chronicles will be followed by Cloverfield and the Academy award-winner for Best Picture, No Country for Old Men beginning in August.

“Paramount Home Entertainment continues to focus on the consumer and to explore avenues that allow fans to get more out of their home entertainment experience,” said Kelley Avery, President of Worldwide Home Entertainment, Paramount Pictures. “We will have a strong slate of titles for Blu-ray release throughout the year worldwide and are enthusiastic about expanding the format’s offerings for a broad consumer audience while delivering an experience that goes beyond what viewers love about DVD.”

The Spiderwick Chronicles launches PHE’s day-and-date new release strategy. Based on the best-selling series of books, The Spiderwick Chronicles takes viewers on a fantastical journey into the unseen world all around us and the Blu-ray disc will include behind-the-scenes featurettes, an exploration of the Spiderwick world, an exclusive peek inside Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide and much more.

PHE’s 2008 Blu-ray titles debut on May 20 in the U.S. with two sensational action-adventures: a Special Collector’s Edition of Face/Off , the mind-blowing crime-drama starring John Travolta and Nicolas Cage, with special features such as multiple commentaries, deleted scenes, an alternate ending, the Making Of Face/Off and more; and the sci-fi thriller Next , which stars Nicolas Cage, Julianne Moore and Jessica Biel in an adaptation of a Philip K. Dick story. The Next Blu-ray includes a Making Of featurette, “Visualizing the Next Move,” “The Next Grand Idea” and “Two Minutes in the Future with Jessica Biel.”

DreamWorks Animation’s smash hit Bee Movie also will buzz onto Blu-ray on May 20. The hilarious animated adventure from renowned comedian Jerry Seinfeld took audiences by swarm and earned approximately $287 million in worldwide box office. The Bee Movie Blu-ray features a wealth of bonus materials including “Barry’s Trivia Track” with fun pop-up trivia, changeable menus, a Build-A-Bee feature to allow viewers to create their own avatar, lost scenes, alternate endings and much, much more.

Following the initial wave of titles, Producer J.J. Abrams’ monster hit, Cloverfield, arrives on Blu-ray on June 3. Earning over $166 million in worldwide box office to date, Cloverfield thrilled critics and audiences alike with its shocking, first-person video account of a horrifying attack on Manhattan by an unknown — and seemingly unstoppable — force. The Cloverfield Blu-ray will include an exclusive feature-length “Special Investigation Mode” with added details about the film. Additional features include a director commentary, Making Of featurettes, deleted scenes, alternate endings with commentary and more.

Director Paul Thomas Anderson’s critically-acclaimed epic There Will Be Blood also arrives on Blu-ray June 3. The film was named by more than 200 critics as one of the top 10 movies of 2007 and stars Academy Award®, Golden Globe® and SAG Award® winner Daniel Day-Lewis. The Blu-ray features a slideshow of vintage photos selected by the director and set to the unforgettable score by Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood, deleted scenes, a featurette on dailies and more.

About Paramount Home Entertainment

Paramount Home Entertainment (PHE) is part of Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment. PPC is a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), a leading content company with prominent and respected film, television and digital entertainment brands. PHE is responsible for the worldwide sales, marketing and distribution of home entertainment products on behalf of various parties including: Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks Studios, Paramount Vantage, Paramount Classics, Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central, CBS, PBS and Hasbro and for providing home entertainment fulfillment services for DreamWorks Animation Home Entertainment.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

Furthermore, despite NBC Universal having a fairly good sized pavilion at CES, Universal confirmed to High-Def Digest that they will not be making any HD DVD title announcements at CES, despite having been expected to do so. The previously couple of years have seen a number of Blu-ray and HD DVD titles announced during CES by the various studios, but this year the HD DVD camp has been silent, while the Blu-ray camp has talked up their future plans. It seems that the hD DVD studios have decided to consider their options before committing to any further announcements.

And the persistent rumors that Paramount and Universal will go neutral, and possibly switch to Blu-ray, just won’t go away. They got more fuel today from Bill Hunt at The Digital Bits:

We remain convinced that both Paramount and Universal are moving towards announcing Blu-ray Disc support soon, and we have real reason for that belief, not the least of which is that our sources in this situation are second to none – a fact which should be readily obvious by now. Announcements could happen tomorrow, they could happen next week, they could happen next month. We’d be surprised if it took longer than a month or two. We’re hearing that Universal may not announce until February at the earliest, as we’re given to understand that their contract period with the HD-DVD camp expires at the end of January.

There is even more at the site. Bill is well connected in the industry and he’s had the scoop on a number of issues in the past, so I wouldn’t write off what he has to say too easily. (Via EngadgetHD.)

And the LA Times is reporting that Warner’s move did trigger an exit clause in Paramount’s exclusivity contract with HD DVD.

Warner Bros.’ decision last week to start making movies exclusively for Blu-ray players, rather than HD DVD, triggered an “out” clause in Paramount Pictures’ contract with the HD DVD camp. An industry source said there was a significant possibility that Paramount would exercise that clause. It plans to decide within a month.

It seems they noticed something that I had made note of myself as well:

That enthusiasm appears to be shared by the show’s attendees, who flocked to the numerous Blu-ray displays on the show floor. The numbers were noticeably thinner at similar HD DVD displays.

The Blu-ray and HD DVD pavilions are neighbors – right across from each other. When I hit them on Tuesday I found the Blu-ray pavilion jam-packed. Just navigating through it was rough because of the people packed in watching all the demos, talking to reps, etc. And when they ran their regular demos, on a sweet 103″ Panasonic flat panel, they were well attended, with pretty much all the seats full and people standing around the edges. It was very lively and the energy level was up, even though it was late in the day and everyone was pretty tired by that point.

Conversely, the HD DVD pavilion felt like a ghost town. It was mostly empty. People just kind of meandered around – wandered in and out. There was nothing exciting to see. Unlike Blu-ray, showing off a slew of upcoming players, demos of upcoming titles, etc, there was nothing new in the HD DVD booth. The players on display were existing units. Frankly, the booth was boring. The energy and excitement level was zero – and it was very noticeable with the noise of the BD booth clearly audible from across the way.

To rub salt in the wound, just by coincidence (I asked) the demo area of the BD booth, with that 103″ screen, pointed right at the HD DVD booth. So the entire show all the demos BD is running on a regular basis are blasting the HD DVD booth. Ouch.

New Line has not only announced that they’re going Blu-ray exclusive, but it is effective immediately. All of their announced future HD DVD releases have been canceled. And their sole existing HD DVD release, Pan’s Labyrinth, will cease manufacturing and once existing stocks are depleted it will no longer be available. Via High-Def Digest.

Digital Playground, an adult film studio which only recently went neutral from being HD DVD exclusive has decided to fully back Blu-ray along with HD DVD on all of their high-def releases“until there is a clear-cut winner” according to a statement made before Warner’s announcement. One has to wonder if, in light of the announcement, they might consider Blu-ray a ‘clear-cut winner’ at this point. CE Pro via EngadgetHD.

And the Times Online out of the UK is reporting that as many as 20 of the studios that are part of the HD DVD Promotion group are looking to have their names removed from the roll.

Pony Canyon, a major Japanese music, animation and film studio and part of the giant Fuji Television media empire, said that although it was currently part of the HD-DVD Promotion Group, the decisions of US studios meant it would “choose Blu-Ray in the end”.

Several other Japanese firms – including content producers and electronics component makers – said that their support of HD DVD was “under review” and that they knew of many others in the same position. Others, who admitted that they had previously been waiting for “clear market momentum”, said that it had now probably arrived.

I think we’ll be seeing more HD DVD studios going neutral, as well as out-right defections by both HD DVD and neutral studios to the Blu camp now, especially if Paramount returns to being neutral – definitely if they go fully Blu. At this point any party who really wants to end the war should throw their weight behind Blu-ray. If studios, retailers, rental chains, etc, shunned HD DVD it would be hastened to its end. Times Online via AnimeOnDVD.

While this is happening, Microsoft seems to be hedging their bets with respect to the Xbox 360. They seem to be softening a bit toward the idea of the Xbox 360 supporting Blu-ray via an add-on drive:

“It should be consumer choice; and if that’s the way they vote, that’s something we’ll have to consider,” Albert Penello, group marketing manager for Xbox hardware, said when asked whether Microsoft would support a Blu-ray DVD accessory in the event that HD DVD failed.

I think they’re setting the stage to hedge their bets in case HD DVD does fail, as is looking likely. They can soften their stance, and then they won’t look as bad if they start supporting Blu-ray. From CNET News.com.

But then, the Financial Times, a very respected source, has something different to say:

Paramount is poised to drop its support of HD-DVD following Warner Brothers’ recent backing of Sony’s Blu-ray technology, in a move that could sound the death knell of HD-DVD and bring the home entertainment format war to a definitive end.

They claim that Paramount has an escape clause in their HD DVD exclusivity contract which would allow them to resume releasing Blu-ray Discs should Warner go Blu-ray exclusive – which, of course, they have. Even if Paramount were to only return to neutrality, and not dump HD DVD completely, it would be another hard blow to HD DVD as it would leave Universal the only HD DVD exclusive studio.

And that’s if Universal remains in the HD DVD camp – they’ve declined to comment on their future plans since the Warner announcement, not even to confirm a commitment to HD DVD.

FT news picked up from EngadgetHD.

“The packaged media business is a $42 billion dollar business worldwide at the retail level, and we [Warner] have the largest market share of anybody,” said Tsujihara. “From our perspective, the most important piece of this whole puzzle is, “How do we get growth back into this category?” That far outweighed anything else.”

This [decision] was one hundred percent around what makes the most sense for the consumer, the retailer and the industry. This was not a bidding war. This was all about what was best, strategically, for us.”

Personally, even if there was a payoff, I don’t have a problem with it. That’s business. I don’t blame the HD DVD camp for buying loyalty either. That’s also business. It happens all the time, very few alliances happen in the business world without some financial compensation being involved.

In related news, Warner says their announcement does not cover New Line, HBO, or BBC titles, and that those studios will make their own decisions, likely soon.