Seems that Spielberg AND Coppola are embracing Blu-ray

[nhaase]

From the Bits:

But if the Trek HD-DVD news was something of a letdown, there was a MAJOR Blu-ray Disc announcement from Sony that came as a bit of a surprise. Sony had a strong presence on the Comic-Con show floor, which included a booth dedicated to promoting its forthcoming releases. Without question, the biggest of these, due to hit stores on 10/2, is the very first Steven Spielberg film to debut on ANY high-definition format... the Close Encounters of the Third Kind: 30th Anniversary Ultimate Edition. The Blu-ray Disc version will be a 2-disc set (SRP $49.95). Disc One will include all three versions of the film on the same disc in full 1080p video via seamless branching: The 1977 theatrical version, the 1980 special edition and the director's cut (originally released on DVD in 2001). The new high-def transfer has been personally approved by Spielberg himself. Disc Two will include a new, never-before-seen interview with Spielberg, The Making of Close Encounters of the Third Kind retrospective documentary and (exclusive to the Blu-ray version) all-new storyboard-to-scene comparisons, the original 1977 Watch the Skies featurette and the original theatrical trailer. A 2-disc DVD version will also be available (SRP $39.95).

Some of you guys might remember that, earlier this year, there was talk that one or more Spielberg films would be released on HD-DVD format by Universal in 2007, but Universal was forced to issue a statement denying the news. It's hard to deny that the fact that Spielberg would chose (or at least allow) Blu-ray to be the format of his first high-definition release is not insignificant in this format war.

By the way, Sony also announced the first Francis Ford Coppola's film to hit high-definition on Blu-ray Disc... Bram Stoker's Dracula. The film will arrive on 2-disc Collector's Edition on both DVD and Blu-ray Disc on 10/2 (SLP $24.96 for the DVD and $28.95 for the Blu-ray). Coppola has provided both a video introduction and an audio commentary for this release. Other extras will include deleted scenes, 4 behind-the-scenes featurettes (The Blood is the Life: The Making of Dracula, The Costumes are the Sets: The Design of Eiko Ishioka, In-Camera: The Naïve Visual Effects of Dracula and Method and Madness: Visualizing Dracula) and a trailer for Coppola's new forthcoming Youth Without Youth.

The statements that are bolded, underlined, and italicized seem to point that these two (who are practically blood brothers w/ Lucas) have chosen blu-ray. Why else would they approve release on this format AND make new features for these releases?