Warner already starting to delay HD DVD titles.

[atomik kinder]

Check it out on AMAZON

The BD of The Invasion is coming out Jan 29th.

The HD DVD is Feb 19th.

The Brave One still says Feb 5th for both, but I am sure that will be changing.

[Musashi]

Per what they said in the press statement. DVD and Blu first, HDDVD in limited quantities a couple weeks after.

[Petra]

Yup! Warner day-and-date gap between blu-ray and HD-DVD is 3 weeks. Can't wait for I AM LEGEND!!!

[w_tanoto]

it should be given 1 month gap.... IMO

I am legend should be released at the very end of may, meaning it won't go to HD DVD

[danielpwnz]

I was curious about this, as most titles I checked didn't report any delay yet. I guess I should have checked this one first, since it's their first since the bomb dropped.

I REALLY am hoping for BD-specific encodes. Not really on the Invasion since I couldn't really give a damn about it. The Assassination of Jesse James on the other hand...it would criminal to release a bit-starved HD-DVD port for that one. I kind of doubt it, though...


Edit: I only checked the system at my work for Jesse James, but Amazon is already showing the delay. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw...james&x=9&y=19 February 26 for Blu and March 18 for HD.

[Grubert]

Delays already showing on deepdiscount.com but not on dvdpacific or dvdempire.

[Grubert]

From the January 4 press release:

After a short window following their standard DVD and Blu-ray releases, all new titles will continue to be released in HD DVD until the end of May 2008.

It was thought that this meant that day-and-date titles would be slightly delayed on HD DVD, and it seems to be the case.

The movie The Invasion, announced on Blu-ray and HD DVD for January 29, appears on amazon with a release date of February 19 for HD DVD. The SD DVD and Blu-ray are still up for January 29. (On deepdiscount.com, the HD DVD appears as releasing on March 11).

Similarly, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford has a release date of February 26 for DVD and Blu-ray, and March 18 for HD DVD.

The delays haven't been applied uniformly thus far.

The Brave One shows on amazon with a date of February 5 for both formats. deepdiscount does indicate a three-week delay for HD DVD.

For its part, No Reservations shows the same February 12 date for both formats on amazon. deepdiscount shows the HD DVD up for March 4.

dvdempire and dvdpacific indicate no delays yet.

One other thing: catalog releases such as Bonnie and Clyde seem to be unaffected by this and still are announced for the same date on both formats.

(credit to atomik kinder for pointing this out)

[MerrickG]

Good news if you ask me!

[maximus2323]

I guess they are spreading releases every month until May to fulfill contract obligations.

[Memnoch71]

Well, you don't want to produce any content than is absolutely necessary for a dying format.

[goodstuff]

excellent!

[Petra]

Warner is the stud. Once switch, they want to kill HD-DVd right away!!

[Seretur]

Good catch, Master Grubert. Didn't know they're implementing it already.

[Icemage]

Originally Posted by Petra

Warner is the stud. Once switch, they want to kill HD-DVd right away!!

Indeed.

It seems like Warner is giving Toshiba the finger on this. They're providing the barest minimum support they are required to; I can just imagine how much of a second-class citizen HD DVD buyers will feel after they see the DVD and the Blu-ray hit the streets weeks before they can purchase the red cases.

Kudos to Warner for doing everything within their power to end this as quickly as possible.

[stockstar1138]

excellent news.

what im most intrested to see is how avaliable these titles are going to be when they are finally released.

i think it would be foolish of warner to make more than 5k-10k copies. im also curious to see how retailers will respond to this. I can't find Man on Fire anywhere so i would be shocked if these movies are availble in many B&M stores. I think there is a good chance the only way to get these is directly from WHV or through other online retailers.

[ezcobar411]

The approach that Warner is taking is the appropriate one. Make it clear that one format is the preferred format. Delaying the HD-DVD releases could possibly allow I Am Legend to be Blu exclusive. Wishful thinking I know. lol

[stockstar1138]

Originally Posted by ezcobar411

The approach that Warner is taking is the appropriate one. Make it clear that one format is the preferred format. Delaying the HD-DVD releases could possibly allow I Am Legend to be Blu exclusive. Wishful thinking I know. lol

Oh it will be. Don't expect Warner to make any announcments for any new DVD, Blu-ray or HD DVD that is scheduled to come out before June 1st.

What we see from Warner right now, should be what we get til June 1st.

[Grubert]

Some confirmation here.

With this move, HD DVD effectively loses two-thirds of its Q1 day-and-date slate (Warner has a strong lineup for the next few months).

[WimeTime]

Originally Posted by Grubert

Some confirmation here.

With this move, HD DVD effectively loses two-thirds of its Q1 day-and-date slate (Warner has a strong lineup for the next few months).

and once evaluating Q-1 sales?... Bye Bye HD DVD???

[Blu Titan]

A three window between releasing in Blu-ray the HD DVD is great news. First most people go in the stores to buy the movies the week of release. Everyone wants to see a movie in the first week it is available (either purchase or rent).Customers will always see the Blu-ray version and not the HD dVD version. Any neutral buyer will purchase the blu-ray version. By the time the actual HD DVD version is released 99% of the public would have either purchased it on Blu-ray, DVD, or rented it from Blockbuster.