Universal's HD-DVD slate for the year

[Jack Torrance]

from the digital bits:

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/rumormill.html#030107


Our industry sources have checked in with some MAJOR release info today.

First, a bit of BVHE news: Sources are telling us to expect Buena Vista to release Mel Gibson's Apocalypto (for Touchstone) and Venus (for Miramax - the Peter O'Toole film) on 5/22.

Meanwhile, Sony Pictures is expected to debut both Catch and Release and Stomp the Yard on disc in May (exact street date TBA).

Now for that Universal news. Let's start with HD-DVD. Specific dates are still TBA, but here's what the studio is prepping for high-definition over the summer (most of the April and May titles are already confirmed):

April - The Good Shepherd, Smokin' Aces, The Game, The Jerk, The Hitcher, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Nutty Professor

May - Alpha Dog, The 40-Year-Old Virgin: Unrated, Smokey and the Bandit, Hurricane, Skeleton Key, The River, Midnight Run, The Frighteners, The Big Lebowski, Dragonheart, Lost in Translation

June - Breach, Bruce Almighty, Liar Liar, Sneakers, Born on the 4th of July, Scent of a Women, Daylight, Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, Meet Joe Black, Mallrats, Being John Malkovich, Mystery Men, American Me, The Watcher, Bulletproof

July - Billy Madison, The War, The Wedding Date, Dante's Peak, Cat in the Hat, Dead Silence, The Bourne Identity, The Nutty Professor 2, In Good Company, Streets of Fire, Hot Fuzz, Sea of Love, Darkman, Shaun of the Dead, Deliver Us from Eva

August - Heroes: Season One

September - The Last Starfighter, Legend, Battlestar Galactica: Season One, For the Love of the Game, Knocked Up, Evening, The Getaway: Unrated, Patch Adams, Cat People[/B][/B]

As of now, all the above titles are HD-DVD only, but we've learned that there's some "executive upheaval" going on in the studio's home video division right now, so things could change.


Now this last past is very interesting and goes along with the rumors I've heard that Universal are considering a switch to blu-ray, or supporting both, very soon.

[AzbatX]

Darn it! I want Heroes on BD

[Jack Torrance]

Originally Posted by AzbatX

Darn it! I want Heroes on BD

Hey and I really wanted THE JERK!

Damn - will just have to make do with CASINO ROYALE

[Spankey]

Originally Posted by AzbatX

Darn it! I want Heroes on BD

Do you really? Not being sarcastic..really?

[Iceman_II]

I want Heroes too... not being sarcastic at all, one of the better dramas/sci fi shows out there (although not as good as BSG IMHO)

The good news is that August is 5 months away, in the past two months, universal has gone from a rabid supporter of HD-DVD to just a supporter, I can't imagine the shift from supporter to neutrality can be that far away.

[assur191]

They MUST be getting desperate. We don't know much of what's coming out in June, let alone September, for BD.

[assur191]

I was reading today's main post from Bill Hunt, and this is what he says about the Rumor Mill:

"We've also got LOTS of upcoming Universal release news, for both DVD and HD-DVD titles too. Just because we think Blu-ray is going to win the format war, doesn't mean we don't have love for you HD-DVD guys. This is your big Uni HD news for the year, so enjoy it."

--That last line is so funny.

[blurayalltheway]

wow i think maybe legend,dragonheart and the bourne identity would be the only ones i would want. dont know if universal can save hd-dud with legend, as great as it is. i kinda hate the fact that i already own all these movies on dvd- and am going to be struggling to replace them with the bd counterpart.frustrating and costly.

[ProvenFlipper]

Looks like Universal has finally got themselves on the ball and has been saving up some releases to make a big splash in the early summer. Maybe this has something to do with FOX delaying some titles to compete. I wonder what Sony has up their sleeve to compete.

Disney is starting to bring the heat rocks in late May to early June... Could they be planning to bring out Kill Bill and Armageddeon alongside of Sin City?

And I know this is just me, but there are only 6-8 titles on that whole list of over 40 that I would want to purchase? Am I alone in this?

[iceman]

Sigh.. this won't change the outcome of the war, only prolong it

[blurayalltheway]

AWWWWW flash gordon in hd would be amazing. it took me about 3 months to find flash gordon on dvd-and i found it at a blockbuster and had to burn it...shhhhhh

[JTK]

Originally Posted by Jack Torrance

"As of now, all the above titles are HD-DVD only, but we've learned that there's some "executive upheaval" going on in the studio's home video division right now, so things could change"

Now this last past is very interesting and goes along with the rumors I've heard that Universal are considering a switch to blu-ray, or supporting both, very soon.

We'll see when/if they actually see the light of day and in what form.

I really have this funny feeling we're going to see at least some of those start trickling out on BD possibly come summertime or so.

I think there's some changes already underway at Universal, hence that upheaval you refer to and we've seen other mentions of before.

Originally Posted by AzbatX

Darn it! I want Heroes on BD

Great show. I definitely want it.

Originally Posted by Iceman

Sigh.. this won't change the outcome of the war, only prolong it

We shall see. Right now it's just talk.

[Deciazulado]

Originally Posted by ProvenFlipper

And I know this is just me, but there are only 6-8 titles on that whole list of over 40 that I would want to purchase? Am I alone in this?

No. I'd want to purchase, maybe, 1/4 too. And we both buy lots of discs!

[bluearth]

Hmmm Universal is going to release 13-15 movies for HD-DVD a month for 3 months straight? May-July

That's about 3 HD-DVD movies every Tuesday for 12 straight weeks

If they keep their word, then I'll be impressed.

most of those movies are years old. It is common knowledge that people aren't that big into rebuying older DVD movies, thus why the newer movies just coming from theaters etc are selling much better then back catalog movies being released in HD.

I can truly say without any fanboy type attitude that not much if anything on that list interests me enough to make me jealous of HD-DVD. I've seen the Jim Carry movies a thousand times and I've seen the Adam Sandler movies a thousand times. + comedies aren't a great reason to rebuy a higher priced HD disc. Besides the comedies theres DragonHeart and The Bourne Identity. 2 good 3-star titles from yester-year. I'm not impressed.

Where is Jurassic Park? ET? etc etc Now I would be jealous if HD-DVD had those movies.

[blurayalltheway]

i would'nt expect to see a georgie lucas or stevie spielburg flick on hd-dud or BD ...anytime in the near future. or far future. took stevie years before he released a movie on dvd.

[Blu_Ray_UK2007]

I have to admit, a few of those movies are a kick in the nads to me as a total blu-ray supporter.

Not anything that's going to make me even think about investing in HD-DVD.

The movies in that list that I would buy on BR.. I have on DVD anyways.

[Jack Torrance]

Originally Posted by Blu_Ray_UK2007

I have to admit, a few of those movies are a kick in the nads to me as a total blu-ray supporter.

Not anything that's going to make me even think about investing in HD-DVD.

The movies in that list that I would buy on BR.. I have on DVD anyways.

Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead, Bourne, Meaning of Life and The Jerk would be my immeadiate purchases if they were on BD - if not on BD any time soon, then SD will just have to suffice.

Hard to get that excited about anything else

[JTK]

Originally Posted by ProvenFlipper

Looks like Universal has finally got themselves on the ball and has been saving up some releases to make a big splash in the early summer. Maybe this has something to do with FOX delaying some titles to compete. I wonder what Sony has up their sleeve to compete.

I think they know by now that they need to, and probably will do...have something big up their sleeves.

Disney is starting to bring the heat rocks in late May to early June... Could they be planning to bring out Kill Bill and Armageddeon alongside of Sin City?

That would be killer if they did that.

And I know this is just me, but there are only 6-8 titles on that whole list of over 40 that I would want to purchase? Am I alone in this?

Same here.

[Amon37]

Ya I'm not too impressed by that list either, but at least they Universal is trying to make some headway.

[dialog_gvf]

OK, some of those titles look interesting:

The Big Lebowski
The Bourne Identity
Battlestar Galatica - Season One
Darkman

But, all in all, rather underwhelming. Would those titles get you excited about buying an HD DVD player if there was no Blu-ray?

Gary