"Universal is going Blu-ray exclusive" post

[Helicon]

Who takes the time, to write something like this It's clearly fud to my eyes.

I took it from eproductwars.com

link - Hide thread - By Universal Soldier on August 4, 2007:

- I work at Universal, I cannot give you my name for obvious reasons, I work in the DVD release deptartment. This is supposed to be kept Top Secret until a week before Black Friday, however I gotta spill the beans. Universal is going to begin releasing movies on Blu-ray, not only that, but they are going to go Blu-ray exclusive. This is going to raise some eyebrows, but Ill tell you why and how it happened. Basically, Universal is in finanical trouble. Fox and Universal were working on the Halo movie together, however this movie is costing a ton of money and Universal couldn't keep up. This movie is all CGI and its very impressive. Universal has had quite a few of financial blunders this year, most notibly Evan Almighty, so to make up for it they sold their rights of the Halo movie to Fox. Microsoft knew this was going to be huge trouble, because Halo would then become a blu-ray exclusive and their belief is if Blu-ray wins, PS3 wins, and Sony knows this and is going to capitalize on it. Sony has basically have paid Universal approx. 1 billion dollars to go Blu only. This way there are no HD DVD exclusive studios, which will end the war will instantly, and it will really hurt 360 add-on sales (they lowered the price to clear out useless inventory), and PS3 will be ensured victory along with digital downloads. Don't kill me I'm just the messanger. 1 billion gets you a lot as Bourne Ultimatum will also be coming Blu-ray way this Xmas season.

[Deciazulado]

so why spread the fud?

[dialog_gvf]

Yeah, that seems to be someone stirring up some trouble.

For one thing Sony paying $1 billion for Universal merely to go exclusive would not only be moronically expensive, but it would also be anti-trust.

The insiders here are very clear that Universal is still committed to their mistake.

If Universal wants to be in the disc business and encourage it properly they will eventually have no choice but to support Blu-ray.

Gary

[teacher_man99]

Why would anyone pay Universal anything to go Blu-ray exclusive? They're bound to go Blu eventually when they figure out their mistake after the "Blu-Christmas", and it won't cost a penny! How's that?

[Maximus]

This is the stupidest post I have ever read. Ever.

[JBlacklow]

Look a couple posts before it. It's just someone making fun of an "insider" saying Fox was going neutral. They basically replaced Fox with Universal.

[Maximus]

Originally Posted by JBlacklow

Look a couple posts before it. It's just someone making fun of an "insider" saying Fox was going neutral. They basically replaced Fox with Universal.

Well then, that was the stupidest post. Ever.

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by JBlacklow

Look a couple posts before it. It's just someone making fun of an "insider" saying Fox was going neutral. They basically replaced Fox with Universal.

Ah yes:

Originally Posted by Foxy Insider

I work at Fox, I cannot give you my name for obvious reasons, I work in the DVD release deptartment. This is supposed to be kept Top Secret until a week before Black Friday, however I gotta spill the... Show entire thread and 51 responses
- I work at Fox, I cannot give you my name for obvious reasons, I work in the DVD release deptartment. This is supposed to be kept Top Secret until a week before Black Friday, however I gotta spill the beans. Fox is going to begin releasing movies on HD DVD, not only that, but they are going to go HD DVD exclusive. This is going to raise some eyebrows, but Ill tell you why and how it happened. Basically, Universal is in finanical trouble. Fox and Universal were working on the Halo movie together, however this movie is costing a ton of money and Universal couldn't keep up. This movie is all CGI and its very impressive. Universal has had quite a few of financial blunders this year, most notibly Evan Almighty, so to make up for it they sold their rights of the Halo movie to Fox. Microsoft knew this was going to be huge trouble, because Halo would then become a blu-ray exclusive and their belief is if Blu-ray wins, PS3 wins, and they won't let that happen. They basically have paid Fox approx. 1 billion dollars to go red only. This way there are two blu-ray exclusive studios, two hd dvd exclusive studios, which will ensure the war will go on forever, and it will really hurt ps3 sales, and 360 will be ensured victory along with digital downloads, as their belief is nobody will adopt a two format system. Don't kill me I'm just the messanger. 1 billion gets you a lot as Star Wars will also be coming HD DVDs way this Xmas season

One billion to Fox to not support Blu-ray would also be anti-trust.

And, the end of Microsoft as we know it.

I guess a billion would also buy a lot of Fox looking the other way as thieves stole their titles on HD DVD.

Gary

[WickyWoo]

One billion to Fox to not support Blu-ray would also be anti-trust.

And, the end of Microsoft as we know it.

If rumors are true, again I have no confirmation, Microsoft invested large sums of money in about a half dozen Universal films ($15 million in King Kong I read somewhere) instead of a direct cash payment

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

If rumors are true, again I have no confirmation, Microsoft invested large sums of money in about a half dozen Universal films ($15 million in King Kong I read somewhere) instead of a direct cash payment

And Kevin Collins let it slip in the HD DVD debate that they do a lot of the encodings and help with a lot of the encodings.

Gary

[JTK]

Originally Posted by dialog_gvf

And Kevin Collins let it slip in the HD DVD debate that they do a lot of the encodings and help with a lot of the encodings.

Gary

Explains a lot.

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by JTK

Explains a lot.

Actually it does.

Universal is faced with a rather hefty cost structure shift if they go neutral. I'll bet they lose the freebies.

So, when Ken Graffeo is waffling on about needing more mass market, it really means it represents the point could no longer afford to ignore not having the BD net income (revenue - cost) because he has a sweet deal that eliminates a lot of the up front costs of HD DVD releases. So, it's probably profitable for them, even with the poor numbers.

Gary