Launch titles for HD DVD and Blu-ray

[Grubert]

Hi! I come from avsforum and n2blu asked me to come over here. It is my pleasure to be here.

The other day I made a color-coded list of all the launch titles by the major studios, to make it easier for the forum members to see exactly was going to be available in each format at their respective launches. I tried to be as objective as possible, especially considering the level of animosity reached there. Therefore, for Fox, I only considered the 5 named titles, even though there are supposed to be 20 titles. Similarly, I included the whole Waners launch release, even though it spans two months.

Then I included the studios releasing each title, and the release date when it is known.


40-Year-Old Virgin (U)
Aeon Flux (P)
Apollo 13 (U)
Armageddon (D)
Batman Begins (0328) (W)
Behind Enemy Lines (F)
Blazing Saddles (0509) (W)
Bourne Supremacy (U)
Bram Stoker's Dracula (S)
Brothers Grimm (D)
Charlie & The Chocolate Factory (0516) (W)
Chronicles of Riddick (U)
Cinderella Man (U)
Constantine (0328) (W)
Dark Water (USA remake) (D)
Desperado (S)
Devil's Rejects (L)
Dinosaur (D)
Doom (U)
Dukes of Hazzard (0509) (W)
Dune (mini-series) (L)
Everest (D)
Fantastic Four (F)
Fifth Element (S)
For a Few Dollars More (S)
Four Brothers (P)
Full Metal Jacket (0509) (W)
Goodfellas (0425) (W)
Great Raid (D)
Green Mile (0516) (W)
Guns of Navarone (S)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (0411) (W)
Hero (D)
Hitch (S)
House of Flying Daggers (S)
Ice Age (F)
Italian Job (P)
Jarhead (U)
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (D)
Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (D)
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (0425) (W)
Kiss of the Dragon (F)
Knight's Tale (S)
Kung Fu Hustle (S)
Ladder 49 (D)
Last Samurai (0411) (W)
Last Waltz (S)
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (F)
Legends of the Fall (S)
Lethal Weapon (0411) (W)
Lord of War (L)
Manchurian Candidate (remake) (P)
Matrix (0425) (W)
Million Dollar Baby (0328) (W)
Oceans 12 (0516) (W)
Phantom of the Opera (0328) (W)
Punisher (L)
Rambo: First Blood (L)
Reservoir Dogs (L)
Resident Evil Apocalypse (S)
Robocop (S)
Rumor Has It (0509) (W)
Sahara (P)
Saw (L)
See No Evil (L)
Sense and Sensibility (S)
Serenity (U)
Sky Captain & the World of Tomorrow (P)
Sleepy Hollow (P)
Species (S)
Stealth (S)
SWAT (S)
Swordfish (0425) (W)
Syriana (0425) (W)
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (L)
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (0509) (W)
Tomb Raider (P)
Total Recall (L)
Training Day (0411) (W)
Troy (0516) (W)
Twister (0328) (W)
U2: Rattle and Hum (P)
U-571 (U)
Unforgiven (0411) (W)
Van Helsing (U)
We Were Soldiers (P)
XXX (S)


Blue: launch in Blu-ray only
Red: launch in HD DVD only
Green: launch in both Blu-ray and HD DVD

Where D=Disney; F=Fox; L=Lionsgate; P=Paramount; S=Sony/MGM; U=Universal; W=Warner

Disney, Fox and Sony are Blu-ray exclusive.
Universal is HD DVD exclusive.
Paramount releases the same titles on both formats
Warner releases in both formats, but more on HD DVD (for the moment). Warner release dates have only been given for HD DVD.

Total titles = 87
Available in BD only = 43
Available in HD DVD only = 19
Available in both = 25

Total available in BD = 43 + 25 = 68
Total available in HD DVD = 19 + 25 = 44

Hence,

A buyer of a player, at launch, will have access to:

Buyer of a Blu-ray player: 68/87 = 78% of all launch titles
Buyer of an HD DVD player: 44/84 = 51% of all launch titles


So I don't think you'll see any 'blue' titles change color. Unless Universal concedes in the following weeks, the only development we can reasonably expect is some 'red' titles by Warner changing to 'green'. A good example of this would be Goodfellas, which was displayed at CES in the Blu-ray booth.

Edit to clarify: it may be argued that comparing the two launches does not make any sense, as they are not likely to be simultaneous and by the time both formats launch, the lineup may be different. Fair enough. But considering that, apart from those initial titles, we know very little about the title rollout during the rest of 2006, this is one of the very few ways to establish an accurate frame of reference.

[Gorkab]

Great and interesting post Grubert, It's another proof of the non-born but yet dying new HD-DVD format

[Marwin]

Welcome Grubert and thanks for posting your list

[zombie]

Thanks for joining us and sharing your incredible list. I'm going to make it a sticky as it'll be a great reference for everyone here.

[Grubert]

Thanks to you.

To put that list in context: I created it to try to clarify a debate on titles that was going on on avs.

As you will probably know, the HD DVD Promotion Group has stated they will have "200 titles in 2006". Some forum members questioned the wisdom of relying on such a statistic to measure a format offer.

The reply to these comments came from amirm (Amir Majidimehr, Microsoft Corporate Vice President, Windows Digital Media Division):

Originally Posted by amirm

[A]t face value, the claim that BD studios had 80% of content and such, as was proclaimed before CES, did not materialize for them. How is it that with all of their might, they did not must a single big number that was bigger than HD DVD?
[...]
The claim was that BD had more titles. I simply showed public statements that showed that not to be the case. Hopefully this argument can be put aside for now. BD did not manage to pull a victory on title count after CES.

JBlacklow replied:

Originally Posted by JBlacklow

The highest numbers on both sides are both claims, nothing more. If we want to stick to numbers, why not use announced titles only?

Undeterred, amir retorted:

Originally Posted by amirm

I have done that too. My count of specific committments shows 72 for BD and 81 for HD DVD. And of course, Warner, the studio with most hit titles, has announced 26 titles versus 15 for BD.

Look we could play this game forever. The high level point can not be lost though. BD did not show any kind of decisive advantage in titles at CES. [...]

Then Esox50 intervened:

Originally Posted by Esox50

That is silly Amir. Ok, let's do this then, please list out the 200 titles that are announced for HD-DVD? Ok, maybe that's a little ridiculous (just trying to make the point that you can't ). My guess is that you are going to come up with somewhere around 40-50 announced titles. How about this instead, list out the studio breakdown of the "announced" 200+ HD-DVD titles. Go on record. I understand some releases change, so we'll give you a 10% margin of error (when we come back at year's end and see who has more titles).

FACT is that either side, Blu-Ray or HD-DVD, can claim that there will be 200+ titles by year's end. The HD-DVD side decided to throw out this general number whereas the BD side did not. Those are the facts Amir. General year-end prognostications vs. BD announced launch titles means squat in terms of who has (or will have) more content on 12/31/06 (and the inverse is too true). I simply cannot fathom why you continue to come here and imply anything differently. It smacks of desperation and, in turn and MHO, hurts your "cause" here on this forum.

You think amir would cry uncle? Think again.

Originally Posted by amirm

Then I think you missed my point. First, I did not bring up this topic. Actually, I hardly ever start new discussions here. Assertion was made that BD had more titles. I have explained multiple ways why BD does not have this advantage [...]. What is silly is to keep insisting that there is a BD advantage when at the time they could show this, they didn't.

That was when I decided to count the freaking launch titles. Then amir promised to reply on January 19. He didn't. I opened a thread on the topic. He didn't reply there either. I decided not to pursue the issue further.

Note to the moderators: this is in no way, shape or form a personal attack to anybody, but a thorough research of the claims that had been spreading around the Net.

[zombie]

I am well aware of the spin coming from Amir. He's got "converting the masses to HD DVD" at the top of his agenda. No amount of reasoning can get him to agree that HD DVD is struggling versus BD. However, since he's not a member here we'd like to avoid bringing him and his arguments up at our forum. No harm done by what you've posted thus far as it's good to get the background of your list for those members who don't visit AVS. As for future discussions of him we'd prefer that they be battled out at AVS. Now if he were to join our forum thing's would be different. I suspect that may happen as the format war kicks into high gear in the next few months.

Thanks again for your list. I think it's the perfect way to establish what each format has to offer in terms of movies. I'm going to print out a copy for a friend of mine who's also planning on getting into HD disc. I've of course told him about each format and made a point of explaining the studio support each format has. Your list will make it even clearer what we as consumers will be dealing with.