According to an article at The Hollywood Reporter, Paramount’s HD DVD release slate for the first quarter of 2008, originally to be unveiled at CES, will be presented on Thursday, January 17, 2008.

From past statements and educated guessing based on 2007 releases and delayed discs, we can pretty much guess what many of these movies are going to be, but the formal announcement should make things a lot clearer. For example, we can already guess that Beowulf, Bee Movie, Into the Wild, and Things We Lost in the Fire will be mentioned (since they’ve been mentioned before), as will an update on last year’s The Jack Ryan Collection which was recalled due to problems with the discs not containing any of the advertised bonus materials. We’ll report on the release slate after the information is made available.

Meanwhile, fellow HD DVD-exclusive studio, Universal, has been busy with a couple of movie announcements in the last couple of days. They’ve announced that the critically acclaimed, American Gangster comes to HD DVD on February 19, and Elizabeth: The Golden Age on February 5. They had also previously announced Ang Lee’s Lust, Caution for February 19.

Warner still has HD DVDs to crank out for at least the first half of the year, such as Invasion, and I Am Legend among others. As a side note related to Warner, it’s been reported that BBC titles will continue to be distributed on HD DVD. Though BBC discs are released through Warner, the BBC has some independence in asserting their support for HD DVD. After all, the BBC is not a Time Warner company — they’re just a studio that needed a local distributor for their discs, and the HD DVD version of Planet Earth has outsold its Blu-ray counterpart any way.

So that’s a little bit of a peek into the movies coming in the future. If all of that has whetted your appetite to pick up a few movies, you can click on any of the movie links above to get to the pre-order pages (if available) on Amazon. For more instant gratification, you can check out these sales on movies that are already out:

• Amazon still has their sale on 84 HD DVD movies with plenty of titles at $14.99
• Circuit City has 34 HD DVD and Blu-ray titles at $17.99 until Saturday, Jan. 19
• Tower Records has a sale similar to Amazon’s but on lots more movies and slightly more discounting
• Deep Discount has plenty of HD DVDs under $20

It’s not a reflection of the times but just a demonstration of how the studios have always been slow at releasing high-def discs. We only had one official HD DVD release for January 15, The Ten, with both the HD DVD and DVD of The Lawless getting delayed. Both of these are from smaller studios that usually don’t get counted when people add up the studio support for HD DVD.

As for the low number of releases, I can understand how the smaller players take their time, but the bigger studios with their large catalogs and bank accounts are another story. You often wonder how they choose which discs will come out on high-def next, and this is true on both formats.

This week’s official release, The Ten is joined by Galaxina which finally came out after being delayed from last week, so at least we do have more than just one movie to choose.

The Ten features an ensemble cast in a comedy about a very unlikely hero being chosen to introduce the Ten Commandments. He’s got quite a lot of issues trying to uphold those principles in his own life, and this comedy has received some really great reviews.

Galaxina is a classic B-movie. It’s a comedy that came out a little after Star Wars and Alien and tries to parody them and others. It’s one of those titles that’s a guilty pleasure, meaning you enjoy it even though most people look down on it.

A few months ago, Amazon was giving away an Xbox 360 and HD DVD add-on drive each day along with a box set of Heroes. Right now, they’re giving away an HD DVD player each day, along with 100 HD DVD movies. The contest started January 14 and ends on February 12. You enter once and are eligible for the whole month, so if you don’t get picked for a particular day, you’re still eligible for the other days of the month.

They’ll be drawing the winners randomly on January 21, January 28, February 4, and February 18.

Amazon has the same contest going on for Blu-ray as well, with the same dates and terms.

Talk about lower pricing on HD DVD players had already been surfacing at internet forums, and late Sunday night, Toshiba formally announced new prices on the third-generation of players:

• HD-A3 at $149.99
• HD-A30 at $199.99
• HD-A35 at $299.99

According to the press release, the new pricing will be accompanied by major initiatives including joint advertising campaigns with studios. They’ll also start highlighting the benefits of HD DVD along with the benefits that HD DVD players bring to consumers’ current DVD libraries via upconversion of standard DVDs to provide near-high definition picture quality. Though it’s not mentioned specifically, I’m sure the free movie offer is likely to be extended for some more months too, but let’s see.

Jodi Sally, VP of Marketing for Toshiba’s Digital A/V Group is quoted as saying:

Our HD DVD players not only play back approximately 800 HD DVD titles available worldwide and deliver an entirely new level of entertainment but also enhance the picture quality to near high definition on legacy DVD titles by all studios. In short, we added high def to DVD which already is the de facto standard format created and approved by the DVD Forum that consists of more than two hundred companies.

The press release touts low prices as crucial for mainstream adoption, with Yoshi Uchiyama, Group Vice President Digital A/V Group saying:

Consumer sales this holiday season have proven that the consumer awareness of the HD DVD format has been elevated and pricing is the most critical determinant in consumers’ purchase decision of the next generation HD DVD technology. The value HD DVD provides to the consumer simply cannot be ignored.

These prices are already being discounted at Amazon and elsewhere, and appear to have gone into effect as early as last Friday. Some will describe it as a fire sale, but it’s definitely the logical step for HD DVD in the format war. In fact, it’s probable that these price reductions were planned all along for the post-holiday season.

These actions will certainly get more players out into the wild, and further increase awareness of the format and its various features. I hope that they’ve got some really good commercials and print ads lined up to go along with all of this.

I’m sure many people will have strong reactions to the news that HD DVD is still fighting in the format war. Some will be cheering while others are jeering. What I really want to learn more about is the much bigger strategy from all of these supporting companies. A crystal ball would come in really handy right about now…

My HD DVD player was in top form a few nights ago as I watched The Kingdom a third time with Peter Berg’s director commentary on. My guess is that the player’s going to keep on working just great as I find the three hours to watch Zodiac this weekend, and dozens and dozens more HD DVD and DVD discs in the weeks and months ahead.

Much of this story is going the be same for most of you with HD DVD players as well. To that end, you should know that Amazon’s got a good sale on HD DVD discs going on (link goes to main promotion page). The 84 movies are discounted anywhere from 44% to 57%. Past history with these kinds of sales suggests that the number of titles will decrease as the sale goes on, so act quickly.

Most of the movies are $14.99, with a few dipping below that, and just a few titles closer to $20 and $22. Transformers, Shrek the Third, Shooter, Stardust, and Disturbia are all $22.49, and there are too many titles to list at $14.99.

I know that some of you may be thinking that this is a fire sale on HD DVDs to empty all inventory, but Amazon’s actually got a 50% off sale on Blu-ray discs too. And Amazon’s catalog of HD DVD movies is way more than just these 84 titles. Way, way more.

There’s also a sale on HD DVD players with some really good prices there. As I write this, the HD-A3 is $147, the HD-A30 is $172, and the HD-A35 is $299. The reason that many people get the HD-A35 is because it has the extra audio output jacks to plug in to their home theater’s receiver, while the HD-A30 does not. The HD-A3 is modest with only 1080i, but it turns out that there are a ton of people with 720p and 1080i HDTVs who can’t use 1080p any way.

Listen, I’m fully aware, perhaps more aware than some, about all the stuff that’s going on with the formats. But the reality is that all the headlines in the world don’t change that fact that I’ve got a machine at home that works really great. They also don’t change the fact that I’ve got a bazillion HD DVD movies in my Netflix queue, and lots more deals from Amazon and others coming along that are going to give me even more HD DVD movies to enjoy. If I have to get a second kind of player in another ten or twelve months, then so be it. My high-def world hasn’t suddenly melted away just because a few companies or fanboys had unfavorable things to say.

• Amazon HD DVD disc sale

The schadenfreude has gone into overtime regarding HD DVD these last few days, with many people taking pleasure in reporting all the bad news they can find or manufacture.

Following the usual pattern, an article appears in a credible news source, and is subsequently enhanced on the internet, sometimes becoming a new story altogether. The life cycle ends with the company at the heart of the matter issuing a statement to set the record straight. But the fact is that few people care to make retractions and corrections, and fewer pay heed to them, so the more sensational version of the news ends up becoming the common knowledge.

In the latest round of events that has already happened with Paramount and Microsoft, Universal Studios came out to say the following on late Thursday afternoon:

“Contrary to unsubstantiated rumors from unnamed sources, Universal’s current plan is to continue to support the HD DVD format”

That statement is attributed to Ken Graffeo, the Executive VP of HD Strategic Marketing for Universal Studios Home Entertainment, and he’s also the co-president of the HD DVD Promotional Group.

The statement is terse, and follows in line with a similarly terse statement from Paramount the other day.

The “current plan” part leaves a lot to the imagination, and some people have gotten very creative. I’m not oblivious to the recent news and ramifications, however it’s nice for HD DVD owners to know what’s really happening out there.

So I was just saying in the previous posting, and many others in the past, how people like to jump to conclusions or come up with interpretations based on just a few facts. The latest such example has many ill-wishers scrambling to say that Microsoft is prepared to make a Blu-ray drive for the Xbox 360.

It started with a Reuter’s article quoting Albert Penello, marketing manager for Xbox hardware, saying that the company would have to consider making a Blu-ray add-on if that’s what consumers ask for. Penello did not say that they are making one, nor did he say that the company would stop supporting HD DVD. But since it’s the flavor of the day to spin all comments in that general direction, that’s exactly what happened.

Microsoft contacted gaming site Kotaku, to clarify Penello’s comments and set the record straight:

There was a critical element of our comments missing from the story — Microsoft currently has no plans at this time to consider Blu-ray as an option. We continue to believe that HD DVD is the best optical solution for consumers, since it’s the only format today that delivers quality experiences at affordable prices.

Anyone who thinks Microsoft would jump on the Blu-ray bandwagon needs a better education about the politics involved in the format war. (more…)

My, how rumors spread, especially on the interwebs!

Paramount had a really good year in 2007, coming in first place amongst all the movie studios with a 15.5% market share of the $9.6 billion overall gross box office, and they have a promising 2008 lineup as well. As one of the major HD DVD exclusive studios, a lot rides on Paramount’s support for the format, so it’s no wonder that everybody’s interested in them.

On Monday, Financial Times wrote that Paramount Studios might invoke an “escape clause” in their HD DVD exclusivity contract and leave the HD DVD camp. The story picked up some steam and lots of people started reporting on it as if Paramount actually did leave, or that they’d made a statement to that effect.

While it’s entirely possible that Paramount could make a decision like that, it’s not truthful to put words in their mouth and say that they have. The actual wording on Tuesday from Paramount spokeswoman Brenda Ciccone, to Bloomberg.com is, “Paramount’s current plan is to continue to support the HD DVD format.”

I’ve already read anti-HD DVD spinners read into that statement and take apart the “current plan” part.

Sure, they could ditch the format. Or they could go neutral. Who knows what they’ll do until it’s actually done.

Some people who aren’t that familiar with how these studios and distribution work wonder if Dreamworks would follow suit or choose some other course. Dreamworks will follow any action taken by Paramount because the two companies are related. This actually covers a lot of other Viacom properties as well, including CBS releasing box sets of TV shows like CSI.

What an interesting year 2008 is turning out to be!

It’s the second Tuesday in January, but the first one in 2008 with new HD DVD releases. Two releases (Galaxina and Road to Rio/Road to Bali) are delayed another couple of weeks, leaving us with five discs to enjoy this time around.

Of the five, the most talked-about is Zodiac, based on a true story about a serial killer who terrorized San Francisco in the 60s and 70s. The film has been described as a very thought-provoking experience, and I’m looking forward to watching it later in the week.

Roman Polanski’s The Pianist won top honors at the Cannes International Film festival in 2002, three Academy Awards the following year, and is another top choice for the week.

White Noise and White Noise 2 are based on speaking with the dead through “Electronic Voice Phenomenon” or EVP, with the sequel dabbling into near-death experiences. These movies manage to come up with some good scary moments.

Finally, there’s plenty of action in Mobsters, the story of four buddies who rise to power in the criminal underworld of the 1920s.

Zodiac (2007) Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Edwards, Robert Downey Jr., Brian Cox Directed by David Fincher Rated R

White Noise (2005) Michael Keaton, Deborah Unger, Ian McNeice, Chandra West Directed by Goeffrey Sax Rated PG-13

White Noise 2 (2007) Nathan Fillion, Katee Sackhoff Directed by Patrick Lusisier Rated PG-13

Mobsters (1991) Christian Slater, Patrick Dempsey, Richard Greico, Costas Mandylor Directed by Michael Karbelnikoff Rated R

The Pianist (2003) Adrien Brody Directed by Rated R