Cast Away in BD format?

[planosuperman]

Is there any word or news on when and if "Cast Away" with Tom Hanks is to be released on Blu-ray DVD?

[Chad Varnadore]

It's one of those titles that was originally slated to release this summer before Fox pulled out of the game. Based on our last communication with the studio, at this time Fox doesn't even know when, what, or if they'll have any more BDs this year. I'm sure they will, but our contact still didn't have any new information for us last week. And the email implied there's no certainty they even will rejoin this year. Assuming they get back at it when BD+ is ready rather than holding out longer to make sure there aren't any bugs, I'm not expecting them to fulfill the promises they made at CES. If BD+ slows them down I doubt they'll even maintain the pace they were early this year.

[David Vaughn]

Wasn't it FOX who said HD DVD would be dead by the end of the first quarter?

[Chad Varnadore]

I remember them saying that BD would be outselling HD by 3:1, which happened. But, I don't remember them putting it that way, no. If anything, Fox's apparent paranoia regarding piracy just reinforces why we won't see them support HD DVD, which further spells out the formats inevitable demise. But, now I'm concerned what will happen should BD+ prove as vulnerable as AACS. Why they're so much more concerned than other studios is curious as well. But that's one of the perks of not having hard specs to go by. It's never too late to make changes necessary for the format to evolve.