Studio Canal becomes Blu-Ray exclusive

[pro-bassoonist]

A quick note that earlier last night French giant distrib Studio Canal officially switched to Blu-Ray exclusivity, with Jean-Jacques Annaud's Sa Majeste Minor set for an April 22 release:

Info courtesy of Filmsactu.com:

C'est officiel depuis quelques minutes : StudioCanal, exclusif du HD-DVD depuis le début, abandonne le format en faveur du Blu-ray. On pensait à tort que l'éditeur sortirait tout de même, à l'instar de Warner, les quelques titres qui avaient été annoncés sur ce support ; mauvaise nouvelle, StudioCanal annule purement et simplement les éditions HD-DVD de My Blueberry Nights et Sa Majesté Minor.

Nous reviendrons plus tard sur My Blueberry Nights, ce qui nous intéresse ici étant le bide français de 2007. Sa Majesté Minor donc sera présenté dans un transfert 1080p au format 2.35 respecté (à l'inverse du DVD pour lequel Annaud a revu film pour le reformater au format 1.85 : plus d'info ici) accompagné d'une piste 5.1 et d'une piste 2.0 toutes deux en DTS-HD Master Audio. Côté bonus, le Blu-ray sera moins bien loti que son homologue DVD puisque l'on ne retrouvera que les bonus suivants :

- Un making-of (68min)

- Un visio commentaire de Jean-Jeacques Annaud sur le film.

Les fans du film équipé d'une platine Blu-ray ne trouveront donc pas les bonus présents sur le DVD :
- Six scènes coupées avec commentaire audio par Jean-Jacques Annaud
- A la rencontre de sa majesté Minor : portraits croisés de José Garcia, Vincent Cassel et Jean-Jacques Annaud (26 min)
- Module vidéo sur les décors
- Module vidéo sur les personnages
- Le scénario illustré à lire et à imprimer depuis la partie DVD-Rom

La faute sans doute temps top réduit imparti à l'éditeur pour concevoir le disque.

Ciao,
Pro-B

[emm7th]

Great! That's a big one!
But not unexpected...

[lnh_boy]

Unfortunately, I don't speak French, but does their announcement say they're releasing My Blueberry Nights on Blu? If it's an all region release, I would be happy to import it. I doubt the Weinsteins will put it on Blu.

[Elandyll]

Finally ! Better late than never I guess. And we're still waiting on Para & Uni releases .. <sigh>

Trad:

This is official since a few minutes: Canal Studio, exclusive HD-DVD since the beginning, is dropping this format in favor of Blu Ray. It was wrongly believed that this publisher would release anyway, like Warner, the few titles that had been anounced on that support. Bad News, StudioCanal is cancelling simply the editions of My Blueberry Nights and Sa Majeste Minor on HD DVD.
We will come back later on My BlueBerry Nights, what is interesting here is the French Flop of 2007. Sa Majeste Minor will be presented in a 1080p transfer (contrarily to the DVD, for which Annaud re-mastered the film in 1.85, more infos here.) with a 5.1 track and a 2.0 one, both in DTS-HD MA.
On the bonus side, the Blu Ray will have less than its DVD companion as we will only find the following bonuses:

- a making-of (68min)

- A visual commentary of Jean Jacques Annaud about the movie.

Fans of the movie with a Blu Ray player will not find the following bonuses present on the DVD:

- Six cut scenes with audio commentary by Jean Jacques Annaud
- Encountering "sa majesté Minor" : crossed portraits of José Garcia, Vincent Cassel and Jean-Jacques Annaud (26 min)
- Video about the decors
- Video about the characters
- Illustrated scenario to read and print on the DVD-Rom side

The reason being probably the reduced time left to the publisher for the release of this new version.

[pro-bassoonist]

Originally Posted by lnh_boy

Unfortunately, I don't speak French, but does their announcement say they're releasing My Blueberry Nights on Blu? If it's an all region release, I would be happy to import it. I doubt the Weinsteins will put it on Blu.

Studio Canal will release in Blu-Ray, Sa Majesté Minor from Jean-Jacques Annaud (April 22), My Blueberry Nights from Wong Kar-Wai (June 3) and Shekhar Kapur's Elizabeth: The Golden Age (June 12).

They will do the same for films they produced that are not out in theatre yet.

Babylon A.D. from Mathieu Kassovitz with Vin Diesel, Mélanie Thierry, Michelle Yeoh, Mark Strong, Gérard Depardieu,
Charlotte Rampling, Jérôme Le Banner, Alain Figlarz, Lambert Wilson, Nicky Naude.

Paris from Cédric Klapisch with Albert Dupontel, Juliette Binoche, Romain Duris, Fabrice Luchini, François Cluzet,
Karin Viard, Mélanie Laurent, Gilles Lellouche, Zinedine Soualem.

Disco from Fabien Onteniente with Franck Dubosc, Emmanuelle Béart, Gérard Depardieu, Samuel Le Bihan,
Abbes Zahmani, Annie Cordy, Isabelle Nanty, Christine Citti.

We have a thread for all upcoming BR non-US releases here, if you like to keep track of them:
http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showthread....&page=13&pp=25

I try to update it every week.

Ciao,
Pro-B

[lnh_boy]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

We have a thread for all upcoming BR non-US releases here, if you like to keep track of them:
http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showthread....&page=13&pp=25

I try to update it every week.

Ciao,
Pro-B

Awesome, thanks! I hope to import My Blueberry Nights, and I've heard that the US version of Babylon AD will be severely chopped.

[NutsAboutPS3]

Grrr, Studio Canal really annoy me, they supposedly went format neutral ages ago but as far as I am aware they have NEVER released a single Blu-ray title in the UK, so all their titles are STILL HD DVD exclusive here.

So if they didn't release on Blu-ray when they were neutral I won't hold my breath waiting for their releases now they are claiming to be Blu-ray exclusive.

[Clark Kent]

Many HD DVD fanboys depended on Studio Canal for HD DVD imports of BD exclusive titles in the U.S. I wonder when the last HD DVD will be produced? It doesn't seem that long away...