Digital Bits: HBO is Blu only, Paramount & Uni ARE going Blu, too

[dialog_gvf]

Yes, Band of Brothers is a guaranteed purchase for me.

Quite a nice week we're having.

[The Don]

Originally Posted by BlueNeon

PAramount could happen any day...WOW. Is this incredible or what? It is funny that Bill referred to drinking coffee in his post. We know a "person" that has been in touch with Bill

[Ferris]

Yes! ROME!!!

[stockstar1138]

Originally Posted by darkblueme

Can't wait to read all about it on these forums.

i know, with victory wrapped up its hilarious to see the hd dvd fanboy threads like 10 reasons ITS NOT OVER.

10. Internet connectivity
9. Universal and Paramount EXCLUSIVE SUPPORT
8. ITS NOT JUNE YET PEOPLE! WB STILL SUPPORTS US
7. Cheaper prices
6. Its better PQ and AQ just go read the reviews at hdcampaign.com
5. Retailers are still backing us
4. Toshiba is still contining to make players aren't they??? yep, so how can you say its dead.
3. Its got the Indie film industry wrapped up.
2. The PS3 bubble will pop soon
1. Sony's CEO said it was a stalemate recently.

[Joe Cain]

Originally Posted by dialog_gvf

Yes, Band of Brothers is a guaranteed purchase for me.

Quite a nice week we're having.

And it's only Wednesday!

[Blu Titan]

HBO had never been mentioned until now. Bill referred to the Home Media article today. This thread is NEWS and should be kept! This has been a fantastic ride (since Friday)!

[CptGreedle]

Yes this is new news. Confirmation was not given before. New Line and WB went Blu, HBO was silent. Now they too have gone Blu, there is another logo the HD DVD promo group has to take off their site.

[xtop]

a month or two? and we were expecting this week. bah. I hope he's wrong..transformers and bourne need to be mine asap

[CptGreedle]

I don't know about you guys, but I am also excited at the possibility of a new Police album! W00T!

[glenn22]

Originally Posted by xtop

a month or two? and we were expecting this week. bah. I hope he's wrong..transformers and bourne need to be mine asap

Well what Bill said makes sense. Warner has probably had this in the works for some time, going over legal issues and such. Paramount and Universal have just started all that, so it will take time... legal things always take forever because the potential consequences for getting it wrong could be disasterous.

[The Don]

Originally Posted by xtop

a month or two? and we were expecting this week. bah. I hope he's wrong..transformers and bourne need to be mine asap

I'm thinking June...

I was even wondering that when the war was over that releasing Titles like Transformers would take even longer because the incentive was gone and they would want to sell other movies that may not do as well down the line...

but then again...with MS mentioning digital download every other sentence...I think we'll be fine

[Memnoch71]

Paramount already has product ready to run out to the Stores. (All of the Blu-Ray Disks that they recalled when the Payoff went down!) However I believe I read that Universal was already looking into Blu-Ray replication facilities in the event they needed to get the ball rolling. It's not a question of 'if', it's just a question of 'When' do they start supporting Blu-Ray at this point.

I'm sure as soon as it is 'Legal' for them to do so there will be some sort of announcement. Followed shortly by actual Product on the shelf. Of course all of this means that the Blu-Ray production facilities have just had their workloads doubled in the Month of January alone! Once all the studios are on board officially, expect the sales of Blu-Ray Players and Media to skyrocket and therefore the price of both to start coming down.

[eat_me_cool]

Originally Posted by Manco

Now... what will happen with BBC and Planet Earth??

BBC will probably insist on keeping neutral, they can't get involved in format wars and have to serve all media without bias.

[Blu-Ray Buckeye]

Originally Posted by greekjgg

It makes sense for Paramount to announce sooner then Uni. They already had a blu plan in place originally, they just need to dust off the mothballs and update it. Plus, old stock can be used now.

It's obvious that Warner just didn't make this decision last min. Everyone thinks you can just snap your fingers and announce a decision like this without having a project management team in place.

Uni will take the longest to figure it out. They are starting from scratch.

You can announce it w/o the actual logistics in place as long as you throw out a future date that has some forethought. It has been known to happen in the corporate world.

[juanleche]

Originally Posted by The Don

I'm thinking June...

I was even wondering that when the war was over that releasing Titles like Transformers would take even longer because the incentive was gone and they would want to sell other movies that may not do as well down the line...

but then again...with MS mentioning digital download every other sentence...I think we'll be fine

plus Mr Bay did mention transformers going blu, its just a question of when

[jhansla]

Apologies if this has already been posted! But it looks like we have fantastic news ahead of us in the next month or so

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/#mytwocents

We remain convinced that both Paramount and Universal are moving towards announcing Blu-ray Disc support soon, and we have real reason for that belief, not the least of which is that our sources in this situation are second to none - a fact which should be readily obvious by now. Announcements could happen tomorrow, they could happen next week, they could happen next month. We'd be surprised if it took longer than a month or two.

We're hearing that Universal may not announce until February at the earliest, as we're given to understand that their contract period with the HD-DVD camp expires at the end of January. So everyone needs to just take a deep breath and relax. We know that's hard, given how fast things have been moving this past week.

Rest assured, Paramount and Universal are going Blu, but sorting out all the legal details and organizing the logistics takes time. The Warner move was apparently well planned, but Paramount and Universal have only just started that process. They may or may not continue releasing HD-DVDs for a time - we'll have to wait and see. But retailers are now seriously pressuring the studios to go Blu, and we'd be surprised if many mainstream stores still have HD-DVD hardware and software on their shelves come next Christmas.

I suspect that Paramount especially wants to be able to announce a few actual titles when they announce their Blu-ray support, and it takes time to get all that ready. Keep in mind that things have been extremely chaotic within the home video industry this week. So everyone just take a deep breath and try to calm down, while we wait for things to play out.

Oops just seen the other thread. Mods feel free to close! Sorry guys!

[JackStraw]

Give me my Sopranos on blu ray!!!!!!

[The Don]

Originally Posted by juanleche

plus Mr Bay did mention transformers going blu, its just a question of when

yeah...but I'm not sure the release date would be up to him...

I think they kind of owe it to use to release Transformers as one of their 1st movies as an apology...

I'd accept that apology...thank you very much

[Living Near Shamu]

This is awesome. If BoB is good on dvd, they certainly will be great on Blu

[stockstar1138]

you really gotta wonder why toshiba is being such a d1ck about things. they know they are going to lose both of them, so why not just fold up shop, stop wasting everybody's money, let universal and paramount go blu-ray asap and say that hd dvd is done with.