Archived: Ask the Insiders: Judgment Day Edition

[Member-9711]

Will New Line and HBO drop HD DVD support as well?

[Grubert]

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

I see everything has come out in the wash then...

I would like to give special thanks to all of the Blu fans who made this possible, without you lot, we wouldn't be in the position we are in now!

Congratulations Max, and thanks for everything.

[scott1256ca]

WB will continue to release HD DVDs but not in any sort of timely fashion...

thanks max

sounds like you already knew this announcement was coming today? Can you expand on what you mean by "any sort of timely fashion"?

[RickD]

Thanks for all of the great info Max. Glad to have you back!

Rick

[DaViD Boulet]

My (non-insider) theory is that Warner didn't know for sure but was leaning Blu to end the war, and basically let that be known to both sides (in part as a feeler to see if someone would offer them $) which led to that mysterious meeting last Friday with Uni, Warner, MS + Toshiba. And that's when MS came in with their offer that included exclusive digital downloads, and wouldn't offer any deal without the exclusive downloads - They knew the war would soon be over one way or another, so why not lay the cards on the table? If people read into it that you're more interested in downloads than optical media and maybe you have an ulterior motive for your hd-dvd support, who cares - if your offer is rejected then Warner's goin Blu and the whole thing is all a moot point anyways. And at that meeting Warner turned down the offer, and so those guys knew what was going to happen, and that's the day when MS came out with a big shift in rhetoric, minimizing high-def media in favor of downloads.

Insiders,

according to Ron and other moderating staff at HTF, the final decision for WB signing the deal wasn't reached until last night. Care to elaborate?

[JBlacklow]

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

I see everything has come out in the wash then...

I would like to give special thanks to all of the Blu fans who made this possible, without you lot, we wouldn't be in the position we are in now!

I almost don't envy you, sitting on what you knew, even if the decision was only made last night. I would have gotten wasted and run down Hollywood Blvd screaming it to the world.

[zipbags]

Originally Posted by BluDomain

Is Toshiba making a litigation threat in
their reply to the Warner announcement?


Can an Insider comment please? I'm sure it was to be expected,
but it seems a little threatening to me.

Warner Lawyer: Paramount

Judge: Case dismissed.

Whats good for the goose is good for the gander.

[Member-9711]

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

Yes.

This is across Time Warner, not just WB. All of TW's studios will be be Blu exclusive by May or sooner.

Fantastic! Great work

Thanks to all insiders here for their work and information!

[sj001]

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

WB will continue to release HD DVDs but not in any sort of timely fashion...

In May WB will no longer be shipping any HD DVDs to their distributors.

From March, any HD DVD that has sold out will not be be replicated again. So if anyone wants to pick up a few of these 'collectors items' get them now!

Thanks Max, as always!

[scoobiesnackarff]

Max,

Is there any truth to the rumor that another "universally" known studio will go blu in the near future?

Alan

[benes]

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

I just read through some of this thread where Amir tries to bring up anonymity as an issue. Well judge me by my record, not by my name or job title or employer.

I think I speak for all Blu insiders.

Edit: Fact is even if people knew all of that stuff, it is completely useless information anyway, my job title has nothing to do with HDM and neither does my company, well not directly like paidgeek's.

I think the main issue is that Amir and all the other M$ employees on AVS are being paid to post there. Its part of their job. Thats a well known fact. So of course they don't mind revealing their identities.

Paidgeek posts on his own free personal time. And I assume its the same for you.

Oh and great news about Warner. Rah-rah. And so on.

[statikcat]

I wonder if Universal goes Blu.. Will Paramount even bother releasing any movies? Lol (not that they are releasing many now..)

[TheRealBob]

Originally Posted by BluDomain

(Quoting Toshiba's press release) HD DVD players and PCs have outsold Blu-ray in the US market
in 2007.

After posting we should all be gracious in victory, it's hard to hold on to that thought when Toshiba's still pulling the same trick of not counting PS3s, as if absolutely zero PS3s are used to play BD movies (that's primarily what I use mine for!). Unbelievable. Not to mention that they've reportedly been losing the (artificial) "standalone" sales race lately anyway.

Let them litigate, I say. Then see who wants to partner with them in the future.

[Balian]

Originally Posted by scoobiesnackarff

Max,

Is there any truth to the rumor that another "universally" known studio will go blu in the near future?

Alan

There you go, Penton-Man is still busy working.

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Hey guys, I’ve told you time and again don’t call me at work.

One lady[Weinstein or Universal] wants highlights and another new customer[Universal or Weinstein] just walked in and wants a color change.
I’m busy!

Take advantage of kjack and talkstr8t while they’re here.
Later.

[GarettP]

Max, Penton, or Paid
Is there anyway to let WB know that all of us would like to have no more DD 5.1 on their Blu's but something like PCM or DolbyTru HD? Also perhaps some AVC encodes like we have seen from Disney too? Not trying to be greedy, just want the best like they do NOW!

Thanks for all of your work behind the scenes!

[sj001]

TO Penton-man, Paidgeek, Kjack, Maxpower, Talkstr8t, and any other Insiders I missed, a big THANK YOU for always being there for us!!!

TO anyone reading this who is a member of the BDA, or works for them, big KUDOS to you for a job WELL DONE!

TO the forum staff and mods, great job running this site, this is the best forum ever!

TO everyone else, I am glad to be part of your community, and congratulations to all, it's Miller time!!!

[monkyman]

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

if not for Lionsgate's Burns, we could have had this wrapped up a bit earlier...

It's all in the past now though.

Yeah, I feel sorry to all the wives/girlfreinds that bought HD DVD players for their guys after seeing the Christmas commercials for Toshiba players. Probibly thought they were buying the perfect gift. It would have been nice if this happened before Christmas.

[zed0118]

Originally Posted by sj001

TO Penton-man, Paidgeek, Kjack, Maxpower, Talkstr8t, and any other Insiders I missed, a big THANK YOU for always being there for us!!!

TO anyone reading this who is a member of the BDA, or works for them, big KUDOS to you for a job WELL DONE!

TO the forum staff and mods, great job running this site, this is the best forum ever!

TO everyone else, I am glad to be part of your community, and congratulations to all, it's Miller time!!!

There's not much more to say beyond the above. Very nicely put, and I agree 110%.

[hollywoodguy]

Originally Posted by Maxpower1987

It wasn't really, but there have been talks and outlines had been made all the way back in September for this move. WB going Blu was not a rush job like Paramount, it was very well thought out and executed, if not for Lionsgate's Burns, we could have had this wrapped up a bit earlier...

It's all in the past now though.

Max,

thanks for the info. Considering what we all know the WB move ultimately means, would you consider the overall pricetag (not necessarily payoff, but all costs involved [manpower, incentives, and/or payoff]) adequate? Could this all have been had cheaper if Paramount could have been kept neutral or Blu-exclusive back in the days of the format war?

[Member-9711]

Originally Posted by sj001

TO Penton-man, Paidgeek, Kjack, Maxpower, Talkstr8t, and any other Insiders I missed, a big THANK YOU for always being there for us!!!

TO anyone reading this who is a member of the BDA, or works for them, big KUDOS to you for a job WELL DONE!

TO the forum staff and mods, great job running this site, this is the best forum ever!

TO everyone else, I am glad to be part of your community, and congratulations to all, it's Miller time!!!

Well put!