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Re: Official Blu-Ray & HD-DVD Thread
Universal Moves Up 'The Kingdom,' 'Eastern Promises' HD DVDs
December 13, 2007
Universal Studios Home Entertainment has just officially confirmed a pair of new theatrical HD DVD titles have been issued a street date change. The Kingdom and Eastern Promises, originally scheduled for release on December 26, will arrive in stores three days earlier on December 23.
The move puts these titles on shelves before Christmas as opposed to after, mirroring a similar move made by New Line with Rush Hour 3. We've always questioned the odd December 26 date so these street date changes aren't a huge surprise. They're more like a sigh of relief.
Both titles are presented on Combo Format HD DVD discs and carry an SRP of $39.98. Online retailers have not updated their listings to reflect the street date change, but should be doing so momentarily.Comment
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Re: Official Blu-Ray & HD-DVD Thread
Blu-Ray & HD DVD relevant CES schedule
Sunday, January 6
8:00 AM - 8:45 AM: LG Electronics
9:00 AM - 9:45 AM: Pioneer Electronics
10:00 AM - 10:45 AM: Toshiba
11:00 AM - 11:45 AM: Panasonic
12:00 PM - 12:45 PM: Sharp Electronics
1:00 PM - 1:45 PM: Philips Consumer Electronics
2:00 PM - 2:45 PM: Samsung Electronics
4:15 PM - 5:15 PM: Sony Electronics
8:30 PM - 10:30 PM: HD DVD Promotion Group
Monday, January 7
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM: Hitachi Ltd./Hitachi America
5:00 PM - 6:00 PM: Blu-ray Press ConferenceD E S E R V E_V I C T O R YR.I.P. Sean Taylor (1983-2007), a True CaneComment
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Re: Official Blu-Ray & HD-DVD Thread
Disc biz seeks new spin in 2008
**Warning: Long read**
Very interesting.Homevid arms plan to do everything they can to jumpstart their various formats next year. Given the size of the biz — just under $24 billion domestic annually — and studios’ reliance on this coin to offset theatrical costs, they have to.
Ten years in, the DVD format appears to have peaked and its successors remain more murky than ever: Consumers are taking their sweet time warming up to high-def (i.e., HD DVD and Blu-ray) and are even slower to embrace digital delivery (i.e., download and streaming).
As with every other aspect of showbiz, there is the question of the writers strike. In the short term, viewers deprived of their favorite shows may buy them on DVD: The first season of “The Office,” for example, has seen a recent spike in sales as reruns air on NBC.
But one of the concerns in the long term is the current abbreviated season. TV series on DVD is a growing segment of the biz and most series are facing the possibility of very few segments, which will affect pricing and sales of the season’s episodes down the road.
Studios plan several tactics to weather the upcoming year. Chief among them: resolving the high-def format war, luring consumers into digital distribution and offering even more massive boxed sets.
The homevid biz started the year in the hole and will probably end in the hole. There have been bright spots in the fourth quarter — “Transformers,” “Superbad” and “The Bourne Ultimatum” flew off shelves — but other B.O. hits such as “Spider-Man 3” and “Shrek the Third” didn’t.
A late-year turnaround, due to a flurry of high-profile titles, is possible but not likely. However, there’s enough momentum that some are holding out hope the biz will end flat this year.
“By and large the category is holding up,” says Warner homevid topper Ron Sanders.
Early 2008 projections are sobering, however. Analysts and homevid toppers caution that the DVD biz could erode upward of 3% next year if next-gen formats don’t take off soon.
Two major toppers forecast a 5% decline next year as the worst-case scenario, which would translate into $1.2 billion less in consumer spending. Of course, that would still mean consumers spent more than $20 billion on homevid, compared to the $9 billion or so on domestic B.O.
Disc mavens can’t control the vagaries of the product pipeline, and at this stage of the DVD format’s lifespan, they can’t rely on catalog to boost the bottom line either. What’s more, as this quarter has reminded, monster B.O. hits don’t always convert to equally massive disc sales. Franchises such as “Spidey,” “Shrek” and “Fantastic Four” showed signs of fatigue, while others, including “Harry Potter” and the third installments of the “Bourne” and “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchises, did not.
Non-sequels such as “Transformers,” “Superbad” and “300” performed exceedingly well. The good news, execs say, is that next year is shaping up to be less dependent on sequels. On the other hand, that means as-yet untested commodities will be making their way to homevid.
“It’s kind of like the theatrical market,” says Fox homevid topper Mike Dunn. “It’s been around 80 years and it’s tied to product. We’re tied to product.”
There’s also a growing belief that the high-def battle is hindering the success of a replacement format; even Warners, the lone studio backing both formats, has indicated its desire to back one format in the near future.
“We have to ensure that high-def takes hold and breaks out of the niche business,” Sanders says.
He believes the key to success will be to emphasize consumer benefits of high-def, drawing attention away from the format war.
Blu-ray backers are bullish about the coming year, crowing about fourth-quarter sales in their format. Execs say they should have a better idea about high-def after the Consumer Electronics Show in early January, when homevid execs confer with their manufacturing brethren. Should Warner drop HD DVD then, sibling New Line is expected to follow suit, further tipping the scale toward Blu-ray.
Paramount, the last studio to drop dual-format support, is committed to HD DVD through the coming year; Universal also supports HD DVD only.
“The table is probably set for high-def in 2008,” says Dunn. “I think by CES it will be pretty clear there will be one format.”
“We see meaningful movement toward Blu-ray globally,” says Sony homevid topper David Bishop, who points out that the Sony-developed format has dwarfed HD DVD in countries like Japan and Australia.
Others aren’t certain the battle will be resolved so quickly. Earlier this month, Adams Media Research and sister research outfit Screen Digest projected that both formats would co-exist at near parity for several years to come.
Adams forecast that in 2012, standard DVD discs would generate $10 billion in consumer sales Stateside, and HD DVD and Blu-ray would each generate $5 billion, with Screen Digest projecting a slightly greater edge to Blu-ray globally.
A key question is digital. Four studios have released (or will soon bow) DVDs with digital copies that can be transferred onto PCs and certain portable devices.
Fox got out of the gate first with “Live Free or Die Hard,” followed by Warners with the latest “Harry Potter” disc last week. Sony will soon do the same with a Wal-Mart exclusive of “Resident Evil: Extinction” and New Line plans to experiment with the option early next year.
Fox says 10,000 users unlocked digital copies of “Live Free or Die Hard” the week after the disc hit shelves. The studio plans to embed future discs with digital copies.
Warners, which earlier experimented with offering low-cost Internet downloads with DVD purchases, believes free digital copies embedded on discs is a better way to get consumers to dip their toes into digital delivery. Not only is it cheaper, but it’s a lot faster to copy files from discs to a portable device than it is to download them.
“You have to keep it simple for the consumer,” concurs Bishop, who says the studio is in test mode on the strategy. “If you try to upsell consumers it’s an added step that makes the proposition awkward.”
“People like to migrate their movies onto laptops and other devices,” says New Line homevid exec VP of marketing Matt Lasorsa. “That’s something the industry needs to respond to. We need to offer more alternatives to ripping or pirating movies that don’t compromise our revenue.”
He points out that a managed-copy function is built into high-def but not being used yet. Also worth noting: at this point, Mac and iPod users can’t make copies to their devices. If studios make deals with Apple to distribute movies on iTunes, that could change.
In addition to such pioneering moves, the homevid biz will be tweaking with proven hits, like boxed sets. Warners had twice the orders for “Harry Potter” sets than it created, so the studio will likely reissue another collection next holiday season.
Fox, which took over distributing MGM and UA fare little over a year ago, was pleased to see that Oprah Winfrey’s endorsement of UA’s 90th anniversary set worked the same magic as her book club endorsements despite an almost $900 pricetag.
Uncertainty about the future of Hollywood’s cash cow hasn’t escaped Wall Street’s notice. Several analysts have downgraded the entire entertainment sector due in part to these concerns. Last week, Bear Stearns became the latest investment firm to do so in a report that projected 3%-4% annual declines for the U.S. homevid biz over the next five years.
“With little traction on HD so far, pricing pressure, and less penetration opportunity left, we believe that the decline in the DVD market will accelerate in 2008 and beyond,” Spencer Wang wrote somewhat ominously in his Dec. 10 report, titled “The Tipping Point.”
That day, Pali Research analyst Richard Greenfield projected a modest decline in consumer DVD spending this year and a 3% dip in 2008.
“With the DVD ‘halo’ gone and digital distribution still in its infancy, studios need to make profitable movies; catalog will no longer save them,” he opined.
Happy holidays!D E S E R V E_V I C T O R YR.I.P. Sean Taylor (1983-2007), a True CaneComment
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Re: Official Blu-Ray & HD-DVD Thread
Anyone hear if The Kingdom was pushed up on HD-DVD? I know it was pushed from 12/26 to 12/23 but Deep Discount is showing a release date of 12/18 and since I dont like ordering from them unless its a possible deal like this I wanted to verify first. The last thing I want to find out is I order and then at the last minute they say it was an error on their end and its not coming out until 12/23, if thats the case I would much rather get it from Amazon.Comment
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Re: Official Blu-Ray & HD-DVD Thread
Blade Runner releases next week and this movie looks like it got a really nice transfer, comparison of HDNet vs. HD-DVD
http://horn.hdtvtotal.com/hdtvtotal/.../brhdm7gw8.jpg
http://horn.hdtvtotal.com/hdtvtotal/.../brhdm8pp8.jpgComment
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Re: Official Blu-Ray & HD-DVD Thread
On a side note, I was somewhat surprised that nobody seemed to be excited that 3:10 to Yuma is coming out in Finland on HD-DVD and should be available for import through xpolitedcinema.com, unfortunatly I would imagine it would be somewhere near 40.00 to import it though.Comment
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Re: Official Blu-Ray & HD-DVD Thread
We'll guys I finally got to checking my IMPORT copy of Reservior Dogs..
This title also comes from DFW(DUTCH FILMWORKS) as did my copy of SAW III. The DVD Menu as the Menu in SAW III isn't interactive. It's actually very plain. In the Set-Up menu there is an option for DTS HD, there's also an option for Dolby Digital.
Again my Set-Up for this review is:
HD DVD Add-On via OPTICAL
Pioneer Reciever outputting WMA PRO
HITACHI 57' 1080I RPTV (Professionally Calibrated)
Audio wise the movie was pretty good. DFW did a nice job on the Audio Transfer, but it's not a knock you off your sox AUDIO Transfer. I had no Lip Sync problems or any problems with the Audio cutting in & out. My Center Channel got a lot of work due this movie being dialogue heavy & the transfer did a great job as keeping the dialogue within the Center Channel. Rears got action during scenes when it call for it.
3/5 out of 5
As for the Video Transfer, DFW did an excellent job as the movie looks very good with no sign of DNR(Digital Noise Reduction) or EE(Edge Enhancements) For a 15 year old film I have never seen RD looks so good. This includes the Anniversary Edition DVD that hit the market a couple of years ago.
This transfer was treat to watch. Colors were spot-on. Black Levels were excellent & the film had little to no GRAIN @ all. It's NOT the best looking HD DVD I've seen, but it's definitely a nice-1.
4 out of 5
You can't go wrong, double dipping on this title as it's a great movie & the Transfer is better than the SD DVD...
Last edited by bigfnjoe96; 12-14-2007, 10:45 PM.Comment
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Re: Official Blu-Ray & HD-DVD Thread
First Hi-Def Home Theater in a box (HTIB) announced
It's a blu-ray player centered HTIB. The player has the SMP8634 chip that supposedly will result in easy Profile 1.1 support (more here).
Nice.Last edited by SLAYER; 12-15-2007, 08:45 PM.D E S E R V E_V I C T O R YR.I.P. Sean Taylor (1983-2007), a True CaneComment
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Re: Official Blu-Ray & HD-DVD Thread
Those pics look good. It looks just as good on BD.We'll guys I finally got to checking my IMPORT copy of Reservior Dogs..
This title also comes from DFW(DUTCH FILMWORKS) as did my copy of SAW III. The DVD Menu as the Menu in SAW III isn't interactive. It's actually very plain. In the Set-Up menu there is an option for DTS HD, there's also an option for Dolby Digital.
Again my Set-Up for this review is:
HD DVD Add-On via OPTICAL
Pioneer Reciever outputting WMA PRO
HITACHI 57' 1080I RPTV (Professionally Calibrated)
Audio wise the movie was pretty good. DFW did a nice job on the Audio Transfer, but it's not a knock you off your sox AUDIO Transfer. I had no Lip Sync problems or any problems with the Audio cutting in & out. My Center Channel got a lot of work due this movie being dialogue heavy & the transfer did a great job as keeping the dialogue within the Center Channel. Rears got action during scenes when it call for it.
3/5 out of 5
As for the Video Transfer, DFW did an excellent job as the movie looks very good with no sign of DNR(Digital Noise Reduction) or EE(Edge Enhancements) For a 15 year old film I have never seen RD looks so good. This includes the Anniversary Edition DVD that hit the market a couple of years ago.
This transfer was treat to watch. Colors were spot-on. Black Levels were excellent & the film had little to no GRAIN @ all. It's NOT the best looking HD DVD I've seen, but it's definitely a nice-1.
4 out of 5
You can't go wrong, double dipping on this title as it's a great movie & the Transfer is better than the SD DVD...
That sounds cool.Comment
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Re: Official Blu-Ray & HD-DVD Thread
Amazon FOX/MGM Bogo:
Species - 19.95
The Last Waltz - 19.95
The Terminator - 19.95
Flyboys - 23.95
28 Days Later - 27.95
28 Weeks Later - 27.95
AVP - Alien Vs. Predator - 27.95
Behind Enemy Lines - 27.95
Broken Arrow - 27.95
Bulletproof Monk - 27.95
Chain Reaction - 27.95
Courage Under Fire - 27.95
Die Hard - 27.95
Die Hard 2-Die Harder - 27.95
Die Hard 3-Die Hard With a Vengeance - 27.95
Entrapment - 27.95
Eragon - 27.95
Fantastic Four - 27.95
Flight of the Phoenix - 27.95
From Hell - 27.95
Hart's War - 27.95
Hoosiers - 27.95
Ice Age - The Meltdown - 27.95
Kingdom of Heaven (Director's Cut) - 27.95
Men of Honor - 27.95
Mr. Brooks - 27.95
Night at the Museum - 27.95
Phone Booth - 27.95
Planet of the Apes - 27.95
Rescue Dawn - 27.95
Rising Sun - 27.95
Robocop (1987) - 27.95
Speed - 27.95
The Day After Tomorrow - 27.95
The Devil Wears Prada - 27.95
The Fly - 27.95
The Hills Have Eyes 2: Unrated - 27.95
The Home of the Brave - 27.95
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen - 27.95
The Omen - 27.95
The Sentinel - 27.95
The Usual Suspects - 27.95
Transporter 2 - 27.95
X-Men - The Last Stand - 27.95
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How aggravating, a few titles on this list that I would like to get. These need to stop. LOL!
It makes you feel like not even buying a movie anymore day/date release knowing that a BOGO will be around the corner.Last edited by CaptainZombie; 12-16-2007, 03:26 PM.Comment
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Re: Official Blu-Ray & HD-DVD Thread
You know when these things are getting out of hand? When you sit out one BOGO free sale to wait on a better BOGO free sale.
I'm waiting on more Kubrick WB, Pathfinder, and Cast Away to be thrown in a future BOGO. Hopefully, it starts Wednesday. lol.D E S E R V E_V I C T O R YR.I.P. Sean Taylor (1983-2007), a True CaneComment
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