paramount
Latest
Current Paramount Blu-ray titles will not be recalled
Yeah, we know this is pretty obvious, but there's nothing like a proper confirmation. Paramount has told HighDefDigest.com that once the current stock of Blu-ray titles is depleted, there will be no more produced, but they will not recall the titles already in the channel. According to HighDefDigest's count there are 32 titles, and they've compiled a list so you can get 'em while they last. As for our weekly title count, we're kinda stuck; on one hand the titles are out there, but on the other, they might not be readily available. So, as a compromise we'll be adding an asterisk next to the Blu-ray count with an explanation that 32 titles have limited availability.
Paramount's CTO defends their decision
It has been a crazy week for the format war and the news just won't stop. Now Paramount's CTO, Alan Bell defends their decision by proclaiming the benefits of HD DVD over Blu-ray like HDi, inexpensive players and the fact that full featured players available today (compared to October 07). We agree that this makes sense, but none of this is new, so while we certainly appreciate their candor, at the same time we understand that each studio does what it thinks is best for their business. So no matter what the reasons that a studio has chosen to support a format, there have to be economic reasons for them to not support both -- this goes for all the studios in both camps. Alan didn't directly comment on what those reasons might be, but he did address how long this exclusivity would last by saying that "At this moment in time, it's an indefinite commitment." which sounds to us like a definite maybe.
Michael Bay "drinks the Kool Aid," now supports HD DVD
Ha, so much for standing up to the boss-man. Michael's latest post now says that, "I drank the Kool Aid" blah blah blah "so I think I might be back on to do Transformers 2!" Whatever, wuss.
Fox, MGM pledge more support for Blu-ray
The high-definition format war was due for a shakeup. Following yesterday's news that Paramount will be ditching Blu-ray in favor of HD-DVD exclusivity, Twentieth Century Fox and MGM (whose video releases are, not coincidentally, handled by Fox) pledged more support for the Sony-backed Blu-ray, citing the format's dominant sales compared to HD-DVD.That pledge totals 29 new Blu-ray releases by the end of the year, which breaks down as follows: Six new films from Fox, including Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer and Live Free or Die Hard, that will be released day and date with the DVD version. Four day and date (for U.S. only) Blu-ray and DVD new releases from MGM 19 titles deemed "must have on Blu-ray" from the two studios' collection Additionally, Fox has promised to bring television drama Prison Break to Blu-ray. According to the announcement (via GameDaily), Fox said it intends to release "at least one state-of-the-art title per month featuring numerous BD 'firsts.'"[Via PS3 Fanboy]
The NY Times is reporting that Paramount and Dreamworks were paid
Contrary to what the BDA would have you believe, the format war is far from over, but the news yesterday without a doubt extended it -- but for how long? Well, according to the NY Times, the deal between the HD DVD camp and Paramount/Dreamworks for $150 Million in incentives is for 18 months. A lot can happen in 18 months, but one thing that won't is an end to either HD DVD or Blu-ray. We can't say we blame them for going exclusive, after all we doubt there is any way they could have made $150 Million by selling Blu-ray discs between now and February 2009. We don't know about anyone else but those dual format players are looking better and better everyday.
Michael Bay responds to Paramount's abandonment of Blu-ray: "No Transformers 2 for me!"
So by now you've heard that Paramount has dropped support for Blu-ray right? Good, so has a notable Hollywood director. Michael Bay -- the man behind "Transformers," "Bad Boys," "Pear Harbor," etc. -- just threw down with Paramount in his personal blog. In a forum post titled "Paramount pisses me off!", he states, "I want people to see my movies in the best formats possible. For them to deny people who have Blu-ray sucks! They were progressive by having two formats. No Transformers 2 for me!" That's right Mike, aim your PS3 right at their coffers!Update: Ha, so much for standing up to the boss-man. Michael's latest post now says that, "I drank the Kool Aid" blah blah blah "so I think I might be back on to do Transformers 2!" Whatever, wuss.[Thanks, Pilam69 and Carl G.]
Paramount, Dreamworks Animation drop Blu-Ray
And the high definition format war rages on with Paramount and Dreamworks Animation opting to drop Blu-Ray support in favor of HD DVD exclusivity. According to Kevin Avery, president of Paramount Home Entertainment, the move was made because HD DVD offers better quality, cheaper players, and lower manufacturing costs. So, when you go shopping for the hi-def version of Transformers this fall, the only place to find it is in the HD DVD section. Furthermore, Dreamworks Animations films like Shrek 3 will also be exclusive to the format. Thus, you have one more reason to not regret buying that 360 HD DVD player (unless you hated Transformers, in which case ... um, sorry?).Us, we're going to hide in a bunker with our DVDs and wait for it all to blow over.[Via Major Nelson]
Paramount drops Blu-ray support -- everybody groans
After months of reports proving that Blu-ray sells more movies than HD-DVD, Paramount's parent company Viacom has announced that they are dropping Blu-ray support and going HD-DVD exclusive. According to Viacom, they made this decision based on researching the benefits of HD-DVD, which "confirmed the clear benefits of HD DVD." Some of the benefits of HD-DVD that they mentioned included lower sales, a much smaller user base, and limited storage space (okay okay, they actually said 'market ready technology' and 'lower manufacturing costs').There are rumors of a 150 million dollar payout by the HD-DVD consortium to nab the Viacom exclusivity, which sure would help explain the move more than the officially given reasons. Regardless, we now can look at the format-war that nobody wanted getting strung out even longer. Yay -- thanks Viacom.[Thanks to everybody who sent this in]
Paramount, Dreamworks dropping Blu-ray in favor of HD DVD exclusivity
Affiliations in the HD DVD vs. Blu-ray format war have been pretty clearly defined for nearly two years now -- despite a hybrid player here and some international releases there, most of the players involved have not switched support since the early days. Well that's all about to change, as Paramount Pictures and Dreamworks Animation -- which started off HD DVD only before deciding to go both ways -- have officially announced plans to release movies exclusively on HD DVD, dropping Blu-ray support entirely. This means that hits like Transformers, Shrek the Third and Blades of Glory won't follow Mission: Impossible III as cross-format releases when they debut this holiday season. Paramount has released about 30 movies on Blu-ray so far, but those days have come to an end: apparently cheaper HD players trump a 2:1 sales advantage. We can't wait to see how the Blu-ray camp responds to this.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Star Trek: The Original Series S1 HD DVD boxed set hits November 20
CBS and Paramount have lived up to their promise of more details on the Star Trek:The Original Series Season 1 HD DVD/DVD combo boxed set at Comic-Con, announcing the 10 disc set will debut November 20th. As seen in the HD broadcasts, the visuals have been updated, along with remastered audio with a Dolby TrueHD soundtrack. HD DVD exclusive special features include picture-in-picture video commentaries, an interactive tour of Enterprise, a documentary on the remastering process, rare home videos and additional information on seven of the episodes. All that Star Trek goodness that comes packaged in a "futuristic, clear case" with an SRP of $217.99, and still no word of a Blu-ray release.[Thanks, Cameron]
New details emerge on Star Trek: TOS HD DVD
We know, the wait is most definitely not enjoyable, but here's a few more details to hopefully tide you over until Star Trek: The Original Series is finally launched on HD DVD. Reportedly, the disc will feature "never-before-seen footage exclusive to the next-gen edition," including behind the scenes 8-millimeter footage taken during the original production of the show. Additionally, it's being hinted that the studio is planning to give Comic-Con attendees a "first peek" at the long-awaited release on July 26 at a special event, and while there's still no word on this title making its way to Blu-ray, we'd be fairly surprised if it didn't make the jump in due time.
Wii Warm Up: The nature of the fanboy
Time for a bit of self-reflection. We are, by definition, Fanboys. We're huge followers of Nintendo; we eagerly await every drop of news that springs forth from those locked doors in Kyoto, we have an effigy of Reggie in our bedrooms, and we attempt to feed mushrooms to every Italian we cross in the street.The word "fanboy" has a negative connotation these days. With the possible exception of the PC vs. Mac battle, it's quite rare to see people galvanize and root for multi-billion dollar companies as we do in the land of gaming. People do not "root" for Paramount Pictures, nor do they "cheer" for Exxon-Mobil. One could make the case that we want Nintendo to succeed because their success will breed more of the same: as in, more of the franchises we know and love. But why are we so passionate, so stalwart in our fandom? Is it truly a "bad" thing to be a fanboy, or do you bleed phazon and red potion? Let's hear it!
CBS plans first HD DVD release: Star Trek TOS
CBS has created a new division within itself, CBS Home Entertainment, specifically to focus on DVD releases. First up are plans to dive headfirst into the Blu-ray / HD DVD marketplace by releasing the newly-remastered-in-HD Star Trek series in the fourth quarter of this year on a DVD/HD DVD combo disc. No word on a Blu-ray release date, however like Paramount Pictures we can expect them to be nuetral in the format war. CBS Home Entertainment plans to roll out 85-90 releases this year, including content from Showtime. It's certainly interesting to see HD DVD releases planned already for the fourth quarter, especially since Blu-ray already won, but that notwithstanding, we'll see if Trekkies take to the combo disc trojan horse, opting for HD DVD players later to check out each episode in resolutions fit for their HDTVs. [Via High Def Digest]
Over 100 Paramount movies now available on iTunes Store
Today's Keynote theme is 'from rumor to reality,' and as Michael posted earlier over 100 Paramount movies are now available for purchase from the iTunes Store (most for $9.99). This marks the first studio that isn't directly involved with Disney to make their movies available on iTunes. Can the others be far behind? Knowing Hollywood's traditional fear of digital distribution, sadly I think the others could, in fact, be far behind.
Apple confirms Paramount and iTunes deal
It's official, Viacom's Paramount Pictures will indeed offer its movies for download over Apple's iTunes service. Some 250 titles in fact, including Tomb Raider, Italian Job, Wrath of Khan, Chinatown, Zoolander, School of Rock, and Sum of all Fears. The titles are currently being moved into the iTunes store and once available, should cost the same (no pricing was given) as the Disney films already available: $9.99 apiece for most titles, $14.99 for new releases and $12.99 for pre-orders.
Paramount movies coming to iTunes?
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Viacom -- parent company to CBS and Paramount Studios -- is set to join Disney in offering movie downloads via Apple's iTunes store. This, according to "people familiar with the situation." For the moment, the deal will only cover Paramount's back catalog of titles such as "Forrest Gump," "Mission Impossible," and "The Truman Show." The deal could be announced as early as today. No mention of any LionsGate deal which we've been expecting since August. So come on in, join us for our live coverage of Macworld and find out for yourself.[Via ArsTechnica]Read (subscription required)
Paramount to join iTunes sez WSJ
Viacom Inc. studio Paramount will join the iTunes movie revolution with catalog (older, rather than new-release) titles, according to a story on the Wall Street Journal online (reg req). Selling the catalog films via iTunes (likely at the current $9.99 catalog price point) leverages the power of the Long Tail without treading on the Walmart-asaurus Rex's scaly toes, or so the thinking goes.Finally, the perfect opportunity to pick up that Beverly Hills Cop ultimate collection that you've wanted for so long.[via Macrumors]
Paramount's 2007 Blu-ray high profile titles
Blu-ray needs some blockbusters in '07 (cause Fox's isn't going to cut it) and Paramount just might have the ticket to the show with Babel, Flags Of Our Fathers, Payback and Face/Off. Hopefully this isn't all Paramount is going to release this year on Blu-ray but even if it is, they are sweet films. Babel was nominated for seven Golden Globes and Flags Of Our Fathers was simply an epic movie from Clint Eastwood. Plus, the Blu-ray version of Payback and Face/Off are going to have tons of Blu-ray exclusive extras that should fill you need for HD content. Babel is slatted to arrive on Blu-ray along with the standard DVD February 20 and the rest of the titles should come out sometime this year on yet to be announced dates with yet to be announced prices. Full press release after the jump.
BitTorrent strikes a deal with Hollywood
You might consider BitTorrent to be the discerning pirate's choice when it comes to obtaining everything from movies to software. Well, it's about to go mainstream, given that BitTorrent, Inc. announced a partnership with pretty much everyone in Hollywood, including 20th Century Fox, G4, Lions Gate, MTV Networks, Nickelodeon, Paramount Pictures and plenty others. This isn't the first time that the establishment has saddled up with everyone's favorite file sharing company, although we're not exactly sure what the effects were on the seedy underground of the internets, nor what new revenue Warner Bros. saw from that deal. Still, this new unnamed service's offerings and prices will be made available in February 2007, which will be when the BitTorrent's new online retail marketplace opens for business.[Thanks, Alan]
Apple, Hollywood go toe-to-toe on movie downloads
Not surprisingly, Apple is facing heat from Hollywood companies that want to sell their movies on iTunes, but don't want to play by all of Apple's rules. The big issue is whether or not Apple will restrict the number of devices that can play a film bought from iTunes; Universal, 20th Century Fox, Paramount and Warner Bros. are rightfully concerned with rampant digital piracy and how iTunes might help inadvertently contribute to that. Of course, Hollywood could go the Wal-Mart or Amazon Unbox route if Apple won't back down, but then those studios would miss out on some of that big Apple halo action. Still, if Disney and the soon-to-be-added Lions Gate are already at the iTunes party, it seems unlikely that the rest of Hollywood could stay away much longer. [Via Apple Insider]
