Warner Amazon.com sale rankings between Blu & HD-DVD

[E-Dogg]

Originally Posted by noneatall

I'm all Blu-ray but I don't see why Warner would want to go Blu-ray exclusive. They would lose all the sales from the HD-DVD camp if they did. That's alot of money to lose just to go exclusive to one format.

That was a joke, right? If you are all Blu why would you want WB to release on both formats? There is no room for both formats to survive. There has to be one winner and one loser and we all on this site want Blu to win so therefore WB going exclusive to Blu after the holidays would be a crucial blow in the HD format war.

[noneatall]

Originally Posted by E-Dogg

That was a joke, right? If you are all Blu why would you want WB to release on both formats? There is no room for both formats to survive. There has to be one winner and one loser and we all on this site want Blu to win so therefore WB going exclusive to Blu after the holidays would be a crucial blow in the HD format war.

I do want them to go Blu-ray exclusive. I was just pointing out that they will be losing alot of money doing so.

[CptGreedle]

I don't think of it as a "blow" to the HD-DVD camp. It is more like a victory for BD, and a victory for the future of HD discs.

[SpikesBluBlooded]

I have to agree with E-Dogg. There's no viable reason for them to support two formats. Paramount and Universal is proving the point for them, in that they're (Par and Uni) not getting the sales in DUD that they were expecting for their exclusivity. It's a waste of money to provide both formats. If WB went BD exclusive, it would be financially beneficial to them in lower production costs, and ultimately take the public one step closer to a single format, which, as history has shown, will begin to increase sales overall. Joe Q Public won't buy in until this has been decided, and the industry doesn't want this war to go on any longer than we do. It simply delays their eventual sales, and the ability to ultimately cut back on DVD production once Hi-def is the preferred format of choice. How many stores still have a sizable VHS sales area? Anyone?

[atomik kinder]

Originally Posted by PS34EVER

Warner announced a few months ago that they were going to watch the results this upcoming holiday season to see who sells more to MAYBE make a decision who they would support exclusively, either Blu-ray or HD-DVD.

So, I decided to do a little research on Amazon.com. This took about 2 hours to type up, so bear with me and read it all! I only included Warner movie's starting from the beginning of October since to me, that is what clarifies the "Holiday Season." It also would have taken me too long to look up all other movies's both released on Blu-ray and HD-DVD. Granted, this is just one website, and a lot of these movies aren’t released yet. But if this is a sign of things to come, it looks like we are showing Warner who buys more!

According to Amazon.com, here are the following rankings when it comes to Warner films. The comparison’s are Blu-ray’s to HD-DVD’s. The rankings are in Amazon.com’s DVD category. These results are as of 10:00 PM CDT (USA) Sunday, October 21, 2007. The leading seller is in Bold Print.

Enjoy my friends.

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Twilight Zone: The Movie
Release Date: October 9, 2007
Blu-ray ranking: 1,654
HD-DVD ranking: 3,516

The Reaping
Release Date: October 16, 2007
Blu-ray ranking: 1,828
HD-DVD ranking: 2,675

Return to House on Haunted Hill
Release Date: October 16, 2007
Blu-ray ranking: 3,543
HD-DVD ranking: 2,839

Eyes Wide Shut
Release Date: October 23, 2007
Blu-ray ranking: 263
HD-DVD ranking: 416

A Clockwork Orange
Release Date: October 23, 2007
Blu-ray ranking: 181
HD-DVD ranking: 253

2001: A Space Odyssey
Release Date: October 23, 2007
Blu-ray ranking: 62
HD-DVD ranking: 106

Full Metal Jacket (Deluxe Edition)
Release Date: October 23, 2007
Blu-ray ranking: 221
HD-DVD ranking: 302

The Shining
Release Date: October 23, 2007
Blu-ray ranking: 119
HD-DVD ranking: 129

License to Wed
Release Date: October 30, 2007
Blu-ray ranking: 6,707
HD-DVD ranking: 17,686

The Aviator
Release Date: November 6, 2007
Blu-ray ranking: 5,109
HD-DVD ranking: 7,349

Oceans Trilogy (movies 11, 12, 13)
Release Date: November 13, 2007
Blu-ray ranking: 1,383
HD-DVD ranking: 1,957

That’s Entertainment: The Complete Collection
Release Date: November 13, 2007
Blu-ray ranking: 20,113
HD-DVD ranking: 14,914

The Omega Man
Release Date: November 27, 2007
Blu-ray ranking: 14,046
HD-DVD ranking: 25,881

Harry Potter Box Set (movie’s 1-5):
Release Date: December 11, 2007
Blu-ray ranking: 272
HD-DVD ranking: 449

Blade Runner: Complete Collectors Edition
Release Date: December 18, 2007
Blu-ray ranking: 294
HD-DVD ranking: 720

Blade Runner: Ultimate Collectors Edition
Release Date: December 18, 2007
Blu-ray ranking: 1,164
HD-DVD ranking: 1,852

Twister
Release Date: January 8. 2008
Blu-ray ranking: 9,109
HD-DVD ranking: 5,487

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Final Results:

Blu-ray leading sellers:
Twilight Zone: The Movie
The Reaping
Eyes Wide Shut
A Clockwork Orange
2001: A Space Odyssey
Full Metal Jacket (Deluxe Edition)
The Shining
License to Wed
The Aviator
Oceans Trilogy (movies 11, 12, 13)
The Omega Man
Harry Potter Box Set (movie’s 1-5)
Blade Runner: Complete Collectors Edition
Blade Runner: Ultimate Collectors Edition

HD-DVD leading sellers:
Return to House on Haunted Hill
That’s Entertainment: The Complete Collection
Twister

I don't think Warner came out and exactly said we will discontinue HD DVD if the Holiday sales don't improve over BD. They just said they would be watching the figures. What does that mean? It could mean anything to them. I am sure all studios are watching their sales. Warner probably already realizes that BD sales percentages are going to show a wider gap with all of the good exclusive BD titles that are coming out. I do think though that if Warner did go Blu-Ray exclusive, that Universal might go Neutral. And I don't think Paramount at this point even would have the option to return to releasing BDs yet.

[whippersnapper]

Originally Posted by noneatall

I'm all Blu-ray but I don't see why Warner would want to go Blu-ray exclusive. They would lose all the sales from the HD-DVD camp if they did. That's alot of money to lose just to go exclusive to one format.

Well, the idea is that if they went Blu-ray exclusive it would vastly accelerate the move toward high definition video by eliminating the confusion factor and the fear of adopting the wrong format factor. Both these factors are holding the transition from DVD back.

Warner would stand to make more money from expanded Blu-ray sales and that increase would more than make up for the end of HD-DVD sales.

[whippersnapper]

Originally Posted by atomik kinder

I don't think Warner came out and exactly said we will discontinue HD DVD if the Holiday sales don't improve over BD. They just said they would be watching the figures. What does that mean? It could mean anything to them. I am sure all studios are watching their sales. Warner probably already realizes that BD sales percentages are going to show a wider gap with all of the good exclusive BD titles that are coming out. I do think though that if Warner did go Blu-Ray exclusive, that Universal might go Neutral. And I don't think Paramount at this point even would have the option to return to releasing BDs yet.

When Warner goes Blu exclusive, Universal would be INSANE to continue HD-DVD exclusive. Not only would the writing be on the wall, but the HD-DVD wall would be bulldozed by such a Warner move. And such a decisive move by Warner would really be in their customers long term interest also. Even the current HD-DVD owners.

[Blu-Ray Buckeye]

Originally Posted by E-Dogg

That was a joke, right? If you are all Blu why would you want WB to release on both formats? There is no room for both formats to survive. There has to be one winner and one loser and we all on this site want Blu to win so therefore WB going exclusive to Blu after the holidays would be a crucial blow in the HD format war.

He was commenting on WB's motives not his own.

[Clark Kent]

While Warner's Q4 sales totals will be important, my guess is that status quo for them(Blu-ray outselling HD DVD 61-39 since inception) in Q4 would mean they'd remain neutral. I do believe that Warner executives are afraid that the bulk of their catalog of movies don't fit in with the Blu-ray demographic very well and they're afraid of low sales on BD outside of action blockbusters like 300. It's why it's very important that people pick up the BD versions of the Kubrick titles. Warner sales figures for titles like that will be looked at very closely by their decision makers. Warner will only give up HD DVD when the numbers get much worse like 80-20 week after week.

Just remember that Warner playing favorites with certain HD DVD exclusives has probably cost us several points in the sales ratio. If Batman Begins had been a neutral release my guess is that SI the Nielsens would be 65 or 66 to 34/35 instead of 61-39. Batman Begins has consistently been one of HD DVD's top sellers.

[NoQuestion]

You guys just think of what those hd-dud exclusive titles would make if they were out on BLU....batman begins and the matrix would easily sell well over 100,000 and Warner knows this, i really think that they were paid to keep it on the losing side through the rest of the year. I expect all the exclusives to release early next year and at CES we may just hear exciting news of WB and UNI jumping sides

[dbs2]

Originally Posted by CptGreedle

Now if WB would just give us all the HD titles they already put out on HD-DVD!

I'm sure they will when there is some profile 1.1 players to test/play them on, to me, this is the biggest stumbling block for any exclusivity deals to be had....

EDIT> PS34EVER - Excellent work on the OP....... THANKS

[Bullseye]

Originally Posted by noneatall

I do want them to go Blu-ray exclusive. I was just pointing out that they will be losing alot of money doing so.

That did not stop Paramount who were selling more BD titles than HD-DVD titles.

[PS34EVER]

Originally Posted by dean1474

PS34EVER - Excellent work on the OP....... THANKS

You bet. It took forever to type up!

[justinbaily]

Well i'm getting polar express on bd and have pan's and hairspray waiting in the wings...will get potter 1-5 at christmas.

[gvortex7]

Unfortunately, in the world of movie studios, releases and different video formats it's never that cut and dry. There is always politics involved in every major decision made.

So, with that in mind, we just have to keep our fingers crossed.


Oh, and also keep buying WB Blu-rays.