So it was announced this week that Paramount and DreamWorks animation has agreed to release high-definition movies only in the HD-DVD format. Quickly, industry insiders wondered how HD-DVD might have pulled off this impressive blow to Blu Ray (Paramount was previously a supporter of both HD-DVD and Blu Ray). Well it seems that good old fashion payola might be the basis for this decision. Allegedly the studio was paid $100m to release only HD-DVD titles over the next 18 months. Of course, nobody is admitting that there was pay to play.
Before this announcement, Blu Ray was starting to take the frontrunner position in the battle to become the standard next generation format. Universal was the only movie studio not producing Blu Ray titles and watchers were waiting for them to change position to declare Blu Ray the winner. Now it seems HD-DVD has closed the gap. Paramount and Dreamworks will offer some great titles that will be available on HD-DVD only, including Shrek the Third and possibly Transformers. These titles will be up against Blu Ray only Spider Man and Pirates of the Caribbean this holiday season, putting all 4 of the years $300m movies head to head in the high definition disc battleground.
As a side note, Michael Bay who directed Transformers said that he will not make the sequel for Paramount if they don’t release his movie in Blu Ray. He has since recanted and is now towing the company line supporting HD-DVD. Stephen Spielberg is also cautiously and diplomatically sitting on the fence with a potential to impact the industry’s direction
Further Reading:
http://www.whatpc.co.uk/vnunet/news/2197185/paramount-paid-drop-blu-ray
Just so you are aware, I don’t blog this subject often as I blog to take my mind off of work related things, but this subject is very near and dear to my profession and I dare say my companies future.
No comments:
Post a Comment