Paramount releasing Blu-ray before DVD

[bluflu]

http://www.videobusiness.com/article...dustryid=47212

Paramount needs to do this with Transformers 2 to make up for some of that $150 million they made off with, or atleast make the BD and DVD the same price.

[Batman1980]

Disney may lead the way here with stuff like Snow White, would be nice if it became a precedent that spreads like wild fire to the point where ALL movies come out on blu-ray first, would get more people to switch.

[owa]

Cool, hopefully more studios will start doing this.

[syncguy]

Very good news. I was waiting for this to happen.

[HeManster03]

great news. glad to see people taking the ball that Disney started rolling and trying to run with it. definately a great step for the format.

[Afrobean]

Originally Posted by Wolverine1980

Disney may lead the way here with stuff like Snow White, would be nice if it became a precedent that spreads like wild fire to the point where ALL movies come out on blu-ray first, would get more people to switch.

Snow White is a catalog title. Who cares if it comes out on Blu-ray first. If you're gonna look at stuff like that, Ghostbusters got a new edition on Blu-ray without a version on DVD.That's even better than merely releasing before a DVD edition.

And Disney's little window of a couple days means nothing too.

That said, Dance Flick is definitely not a good movie to start this with. It should be a reasonably high interest action title. Something like Watchmen would've been good I think. Is there anything coming up that has a similar demographic? A decent sized following of adults, with nice action to show off the superior picture? I know tons of you guys love the audio too, but frankly, almost no one cares about that. Most people's sound system is limited to the two stereo speakers built into their set.

[spaceball1]

I think this will be a nice draw for Blu-Ray. Either that, or a really nice jump for pirated DVD's. If they decide to use this for Transformers 2 and/or Star Trek, BD player sales should see a solid increase.

https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=3198

[Terjyn]

Originally Posted by Afrobean

That said, Dance Flick is definitely not a good movie to start this with. It should be a reasonably high interest action title. Something like Watchmen would've been good I think. Is there anything coming up that has a similar demographic? A decent sized following of adults, with nice action to show off the superior picture? I know tons of you guys love the audio too, but frankly, almost no one cares about that. Most people's sound system is limited to the two stereo speakers built into their set.

I see what you are saying, but I actually thinkhaving (some) titles like Dance Flick are a good choice. You've already got the audience who was going to buy Blu for Blockbusters/Action...to expand further you need to start getting the comedy/childrens/etc fans involved. What better way to do that than to make them choose between delaying the movie and buying the player? I'm sure it'll piss off some people, but people were pissed off waiting for VHS movies too.

Very interesting that Paramount is the one doing this given what occurred during the war.

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by Afrobean

Snow White is a catalog title. Who cares if it comes out on Blu-ray first. If you're gonna look at stuff like that, Ghostbusters got a new edition on Blu-ray without a version on DVD.That's even better than merely releasing before a DVD edition.

not at all, ghost buster is available on DVD, go to the sttore and try and get Snow white on DVD. Disney has, what they call, the vault systeme, they release titles for a sertain period, then remove them and then re-release them many years later. Sometimes some titles from other studios can go out of print or become harder to find (not many carrying it) but it is not the same thing.

And Disney's little window of a couple days means nothing too.

7 weeks, more then a couple of days, plus Disney has the DVD included in the BDF and one of the BD versions is in a standard (DVD) case.

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by Terjyn

Very interesting that Paramount is the one doing this given what occurred during the war.

agree, I hope more studios jump in. On the other hand, except for being extremely annoying (because of the BS that we had to listen with the decision) and help extend HD-DVD from mid 2007 to early 2008, all they did is accept a large sum of $
.

[P@t_Mtl]

Originally Posted by spaceball1

I think this will be a nice draw for Blu-Ray. Either that, or a really nice jump for pirated DVD's. If they decide to use this for Transformers 2 and/or Star Trek, BD player sales should see a solid increase.

https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=3198

Transformers 2, release on BD about 2 months before the DVD, that would make a huge impact on BD sales and future

[bluflu]

Originally Posted by P@t_Mtl

Transformers 2, release on BD about 2 months before the DVD, that would make a huge impact on BD sales and future

Hear that Paramount? Make amends for your sins.

[syncguy]

Studios should keep the momentum going in this initiative. This will really improve blu-ray take-up and also will give indirect publicity and increase know-how about blu-ray.

[DetroitSportsFan]

This is nice, but let's face it - it's just Dance Flick.

Hey Paramount, want to really get people talking? Do it with Star Trek or Transformers 2.

[bluflu]

Originally Posted by DetroitSportsFan

This is nice, but let's face it - it's just Dance Flick.

Hey Paramount, want to really get people talking? Do it with Star Trek or Transformers 2.

It appears many are thinking the same thing. If Paramount really wants to show their support...

http://www.dvdtown.com/news/paramoun...-releases/6878

While the choice to release Dance Flick to the Blu-Ray format before the DVD is unlikely to inspire a significant uptick in sales for the format, it could prove to be a different story if the studio chooses to pursue the same strategy with their most anticipated releases, such as J.J. Abrams´ "Star Trek" reboot or Michael Bay´s Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen.

[fatediesel]

This is a curious strategy because I would think this would lower their DVD sales and not necessarily increase Blu-ray sales because now people will rent the movie rather than buy it. I think it would make more sense to not release the DVD in any way until weeks after the Blu-ray. I'd almost guarantee they don't do this with Transformers 2, and they've already set the DVD release date for Star Trek as the same date as the Blu-ray and are taking pre-orders so it's unlikely they will change the release date.

[stargazeruk]

I can see the rental editions going up for paramount since the rentals will be cheap but I can't see the blu-ray sales increasing much. They need to do it with a better film I think like star trek.

I think its a mistake to have rentals at the same time cause then most people will watch the rental DVD and then pick up the movie when it hits DVD and we waited 4 - 6 months for the DVD/Blu-ray so an extra 2 months is nothing.

[Afrobean]

Originally Posted by fatediesel

This is a curious strategy because I would think this would lower their DVD sales and not necessarily increase Blu-ray sales because now people will rent the movie rather than buy it. I think it would make more sense to not release the DVD in any way until weeks after the Blu-ray. I'd almost guarantee they don't do this with Transformers 2, and they've already set the DVD release date for Star Trek as the same date as the Blu-ray and are taking pre-orders so it's unlikely they will change the release date.

This is the same thing they did for VHS:DVD. Ads would say "rent it on VHS, own it on DVD!"

People who are on the edge will be motivated to take the plunge by the this sort of thing. The people who have already decided they'd go Blu eventually just need a push, and this is the sort of push they need, assuming it's a title they're actually interested in. Dance Flick probably won't pull anyone over, but this is just the first one they're doing... I'm sure they'll pull out heavier hitters for the BD crowd. Maybe not Star Trek or Transformers, but something. And I wouldn't be at all surprised to see other studios announcing similar tactics soon as well.

[BluBrown]

Am I the only person that thinks Paramount WILL do this with Transformers 2? I can see them releasing the extravagent 2-disc blu-ray with all the bonus features along side a stripped down single disc dvd for rental. 99% of the people who own the first movie will want the second too. A blockbuster release that is blu-ray exclusive during the holiday shopping season along with cheap BD player prices and a possible PS3 price drop?! That could be an all but fatal blow to DVD....in my opinion.

[syncguy]

Originally Posted by P@t_Mtl

Transformers 2, release on BD about 2 months before the DVD, that would make a huge impact on BD sales and future

Yes, an early BD release will impact the market and increase awareness of blu-ray. Most likely it will positively contribute to blu-ray sales. In the other hand, day and date release of BD and DVD would simplify logistics etc and make life easier for the supply chain.