Ask questions to The Digital Bits team (Bill Hunt, Jeff Kleist et.al.)

[johndoyle123]

every other studio is on a role with catalog for next year

so this leaves the question , wats going on with paramount , there starting to traumatize us


regards
-jon-

[fitprod]

Originally Posted by johndoyle123

so this leaves the question , wats going on with paramount , there starting to traumatize us

My educated guess is that Paramount is trying to figure out a way to get some of their HD masters redone at a discount, via Technicolor or whoever does their masters. Many of them are 7-10 years old, and in poor shape, like most early HD masters.

Their new contract where they just pay for replication of discs (Blu-ray and DVD) just kicked in at the start of 2010 at Technicolor. - Compression and Authoring (C&A) are thrown in as part of the deal.

I'm thinking most of their limited catalog plans that may have been in place for 2009 & 2010 were put on hold until they settled into the new contract. (They were likely playing Sony and Technicolor for the best deal, since both companies could offer C&A and disc replication.)

fitprod

[jaaguir]

Jeff, I've just read Bill's post with Image's January-February slate of blu-rays and that's definitely a list filled with obscure titles... Although I think some people will be glad to get the 80's cult-classic "Five corners".

Anyway, I also read about the release of "Kansas city confidential" and "The stranger" on February. Do you happen to know anything about the guys releasing those? What can we expect? Amazon's pre-order page lists the aspect-ratio as 1.77 but I guess that's a mistake? The fact that a 5.1 mix has been announced on the press release makes me fear they might also think that filling the screen is a good idea.

Thanks

[Jeff Kleist]

I'm aware of several good Paramount catalog titles scheduled for the first half of the year. The stuff Fit mentioned certainly is a factor, on top of what were slow catalog sales and cash flow issues

There's more coming from Image as well, so keep an eye out

[jaaguir]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

There's more coming from Image as well, so keep an eye out

I will. I wish they got around to releasing some Public Domain stuff that they released on dvd, for their editions were hands-down the best of all.

For example, they managed to get a great print of "D.O.A."(1950), and they also found an uncut pre-code version of "A farewell to arms"(1932). This was a world-event caliber discovery but nobody seemed to pay much attention to it. Before their 1999 dvd release, the uncut version of the movie was believed to be lost, and all the Public Domain editions that have been circulating forever and from which every other dvd out there are culled from, are of the 1945 re-release censored version. I guess Criterion should have released it and now there'd be a bigger change of an upgrade...
Sorry for the rant.

[Nick Graham]

I'm likely behind the times on this, but I was lamenting the BTTF Trilogy packaging to my friend this weekend, and he stated his copy is in newer packaging that actually has hubs for the discs - is there a way I can get the new version of the packaging from Universal?

[Jeff Kleist]

Are you sure ge didn't get a UK copy?

I'll ask, but again no one is in the office till after the new year

[Nick Graham]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Are you sure ge didn't get a UK copy?

I'll ask, but again no one is in the office till after the new year

He got it as a gift from his brother-in-law, who ordered it from Amazon (US). No UK markings on it, and MPAA ratings, so I'd say Uni has put out revised packaging stealthily.

[DenonCI]

Originally Posted by Nick Graham

He got it as a gift from his brother-in-law, who ordered it from Amazon (US). No UK markings on it, and MPAA ratings, so I'd say Uni has put out revised packaging stealthily.

Smart of them. I never thought I'd see worse packaging after Heroes Season One, but they topped it with BTTF!

[Esox50]

Here's what I'm hoping for in the next Rumor Mill update () re 2011 releases:
- Abyss
- The Terminator (the James Cameron restoration hinted about over a year ago)
- True Lies
- Indiana Jones will be coming late Spring (like May)
- Jurassic Park Trilogy coming in 4Q (this time for sure, Universal )
- Star Wars details (just something about what they are possibly including in this set)
- Incredibles (spring?)
- The Naked Gun series from Paramount (RIP Leslie Nielsen!)
- The Ghost and the Darkness
- Filling out a few series only partially available on Blu, such as released Rush Hour 2 and Bad Boys 2

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by Esox50

Here's what I'm hoping for in the next Rumor Mill update () re 2011 releases:
- Incredibles (spring?)

Didn't they already say March?

[Esox50]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

Didn't they already say March?

I know Disney put the flyers in Toy Story 3 that said Spring, but we know how unreliable those flyers are. A rumor mill "confirmation" would be great, was my point.

[Azyiu]

Hey Jeff, any word on when or if both The Devil's Advocate and The Cell will be available on blu in the US?

[gettodamoofies]

Hi Jeff,

First off: All the best to you and everyone at The Bits for 2011! Here's hoping the holiday season was a good one.

I just wanted to bring something up that I noticed and it concerns me a little. Although it's too early to call it a pattern it's something I can potentially see happening again in the future and wanted to see if this has been brought up at The Bits and in any discussions with studio insiders:

This past week here in Australia we saw the release of Piranha on Blu-ray through Roadshow Entertainment. Although I have no interest in the title itself what interested me was the way it was released: one release with both 3D and 2D versions.

This may not seem like a huge deal but that meant anyone intending to buy a Blu-ray release of Piranha had to get the release with the 3D version. Not really an issue? Normally it wouldn't be except that due to the inclusion of the 3D version the price tag had magically increased. The cheapest you can get it for is $39AU ($40US) Our new releases are generally between $25-30AU so you're looking at a minimum of $9 more for this title or an increase in cost of at least 30% over a regular release.

This is particularly concerning to me as I have no interested in 3D. I certainly don't think of it as a "fad" as some of the haters seem to and I have seen some 3D titles which are quite good but I simply don't find the benefits that enticing. I'm quite certain there are many others out there like me who feel exactly the same way and I'm sure they too would be concerned if all of a sudden they had to pay the increased cost of a title they wanted at release date because there wasn't a 2D only Blu-ray version released.

I can only see a decision like that as damaging the ongoing market penetration of Blu-ray if the prices of titles released in this manner push new release prices back up to early 2008 prices. I certainly hope it's not going to be a regular occurrence because I'm sure at some point there will be a title that I want released this way and I will flat out refuse to pay that price because of the inclusion of a 3D version. That's not even bringing other factors into consideration such as decreased bit rates leading to a potentially inferior looking 2D product, the exclusion of special features to fit the 3D title on if the title is a single disc release and cosmetic factors such as case colours not matching (well some people are a little OCD about these things! ).

Unlike the very popular BD/DVD combos which here in Australia rarely cost more than a basic BD release this is adding an additional cost to a title for what would be the majority of Blu-ray owners.

Have any of you heard of this happening in the US and/or other markets and if so has this been brought up with studio contacts etc? I'd be very interested to see if this is something that is going to happen more regularly as I'm certain it will ruffle quite a few feathers if these types of releases become more common place and the price is increased to cover the 3D inclusion.

Cheers.

[Jeff Kleist]

Here you go guys, buy a Panny BDT-100 3D player, get Avatar

http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/image...175015680_.pdf

Working on finding out what's going on with legacy 3D players

[Jeff Kleist]

I can only see a decision like that as damaging the ongoing market penetration of Blu-ray if the prices of titles released in this manner push new release prices back up to early 2008 prices. I certainly hope it's not going to be a regular occurrence because I'm sure at some point there will be a title that I want released this way and I will flat out refuse to pay that price because of the inclusion of a 3D version. That's not even bringing other factors into consideration such as decreased bit rates leading to a potentially inferior looking 2D product, the exclusion of special features to fit the 3D title on if the title is a single disc release and cosmetic factors such as case colours not matching (well some people are a little OCD about these things! ).

Pirahna is not going to be a huge title to begin with, and one of the ways the studios are justifying the creation of 3D versions now rather than much later is by bundling in with combo packs. Titles with broader appeal will have vanilla 2D versions available like Disney did with Christmas Carol.

Australia is a screwy market, no one gives you priority because there's so few people, so everyone imports, and they use the fact that everyone imports to justify giving you priority. It's a viscious cycle

[PaulGo]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Here you go guys, buy a Panny BDT-100 3D player, get Avatar

http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/image...175015680_.pdf

Working on finding out what's going on with legacy 3D players

It would be nice if they offered a similar deal for prior Panasonic 3D Blu-ray player owners.

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by Esox50

Here's what I'm hoping for in the next Rumor Mill update () re 2011 releases:
- Abyss
- The Terminator (the James Cameron restoration hinted about over a year ago)
- True Lies
- Indiana Jones will be coming late Spring (like May)
- Jurassic Park Trilogy coming in 4Q (this time for sure, Universal )
- Star Wars details (just something about what they are possibly including in this set)
- Incredibles (spring?)
- The Naked Gun series from Paramount (RIP Leslie Nielsen!)
- The Ghost and the Darkness
- Filling out a few series only partially available on Blu, such as released Rush Hour 2 and Bad Boys 2

I am 100% behind this list, but I dont expect much. The floodgates were supposed to open in 2009, but at best it has been spurts of titles coming out.

Q4 of 2010 was pretty damn good though.

[SpaceDog]

I'm not sure what everyone thinks "floodgates" will look like. Virtually all new titles are coming to blu-ray day and date with their DVD counterpart.

Marketing will always have a big hand in how catalog titles are handled. You will never see an "all at once" strategy from studios, and they will always pay attention to what the other studios are promoting to get the most bang from the buck for what they decide to promote.

Titles are always going to be evaluated based on the work that needs to be done versus the probable return. They will also be evaluated on the marketing cycle. No studio wants to get all of their catalog on the market and then have nothing big for next year. Most studios are not like Disney with their vault, so doing a repromote on an existing format that a title has already been released on is very difficult.

I think you'll start seeing a lot more anniversary titles and a lot fewer missed anniversaries. I think you'll see virtually every title to promote a forthcoming sequel.

[jpaul1972]

Hey Jeff/Bill, have you heard any news or considerations from studios (other than Warner & Disney) about a DVD to Blu Upgrade/Trade-in program??
I would probably upgrade alot of my DVD's, but I'm not as willing to fork over $20-$30 all over again for the same titles.
Warner's current program seems to be a pretty decent deal, and Disney is not bad, but I wasn't sure if any of the studios were doing this or even considering doing this.