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.
Last edited by Jack Torrance; 03-01-2007 at 08:37 PM.
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.
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."
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.
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?
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
"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.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AzbatX
Darn it! I want Heroes on BD
Great show. I definitely want it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Iceman
Sigh.. this won't change the outcome of the war, only prolong it
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.
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.
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.
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.
Quote:
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.
Quote:
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?
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