Make some room, Jason Bourne, Shrek is about to join you exclusively on HD DVD.
Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Animation announced today that their future is in the HD DVD format ONLY. This exclusivity applies to all movies distributed by:
- Paramount Pictures
- DreamWorks Pictures
- Paramount Vantage
- Nickelodeon Movies
- MTV Films
- DreamWorks Animation
Chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures, Brad Grey, said “The combination of Paramount and DreamWorks Animation brings a critical mass of current box office hits to consumers with a line-up of live-action and animated films that are perfect for HD DVD.” Grey went on to say, “Part of our vision is to aggressively extend our movies beyond the theater, and deliver the quality and features that appeal to our audience. I believe HD DVD is not only the affordable high quality choice for consumers, but also the smart choice for Paramount.”
DreamWorks Animation CEO, Jeffrey Katzenberg, is quoted as saying, “We decided to release ‘Shrek the Third’ and other DreamWorks Animation titles exclusively on HD DVD because we believe it is the best format to bring high quality home entertainment to a a key segment of our audience – families.”
Paramount’s new HD DVD strategy begins with the release of “Blades of Glory” on August 28, followed by “Transformers” and “Shrek the Third.” These three movies generated over $1.5 billion in worldwide box office ticket sales.
This is HUGE news for HD DVD. Paramount and DreamWorks alone represent a big share of the movie industry, and Paramount brings along a link to television content as well. We’ll undoubtedly be talking more about this in future posts at HDDVD.com, and you’re welcome to add your comments about the significance of this move.
August 20th, 2007 at 12:30 pm
this is a big move for hd dvd.
what many fail to see is that sony has banked every thing on the ps3 and the fact that w/o much gaming content, owners of the ps3 will be forced to somehow justify that 600 dollar purchase and us it a a blu ray player. thus increasing their sales and secure that hd market, which is on the top of their list. this marketing strategy is working, however, once hd dvd gets their heads out of their butts and advertise, they will secure a large niche as well.
i think they have done that now with this move. there next big plan will be to launch transformers and shrek III during the holidays while possibly offering them in a bundle w/ hd dvd players, or lowering the price of the players to get people on board. also if walmart adapts they will be very succesful with the middle class. if they do that sony is in real trouble.
hd dvd is already starting to put more money into ads and people that i see in best buy or Cir City can not tell the difference when they are side by side.
I know blu ray has more storage and in oct with java will finally have PIP. but what people fail to see it that most hd movie content is only about 7-10gb including sound in most cases, thus both players can hanlde it. aside from film makers producing movies that are 4 hrs in length and tons of special features blu ray is not that important with these movies. gaming however, is a different story.
i perdict we will see a tremendous shift this holiday to the blu ray camp and i also believe that b/c of that shift you will see other studios, ie, disney and pixar, changing camps or playing both sides.
August 20th, 2007 at 12:59 pm
This makes a HUGE amount of sense.
I was always curious as to why Paramount was only released Star Trek: TOS on HD DVD, and now we know. Great news for us. I can’t wait to get my hands on the entire Shrek Trilogy.
P.S. When is Warner gonna switch?
August 20th, 2007 at 2:25 pm
[...] Paramount and DreamWorks Only on HD DVD! [...]
August 20th, 2007 at 2:47 pm
THis was the stupidest decision ever made. Way to to care about your fans paramount, all you needed has a big check and you jump ship. ITs so obviosly they only went to HD DVD cause of money. They were sellign more disc on blu ray then they were on HD DVD, Even spielberg refuses to let his movies go to HD DVD. What a stupid move PAramount just made. Good luck releasing Transformers , a title made for the Gamers Generation which there are over 4millino blu rays players waiting for that movie.
But you know what , i get your plan. you just wanted some quick easy money cause you know HD DVD is gonna bomb, thast why you didnt force Spielberge directed movies to go with the rest of the line up. MAke a quick 150 mil then when HD DVD takes a dump your right back with the leader. thats makes sense i guess.
August 20th, 2007 at 3:16 pm
All of the players in the format war have their own reasons for choosing the sides they have, and I doubt any of those reasons was based on putting you and me first. It’s naive to think there hasn’t been major deal-making on the Blu-ray side to get them where they are right now.
August 20th, 2007 at 5:33 pm
Yes I agree there will be a big shift to blu-ray this holdiay season. With Warner going exclusive and Universal going nuetral. PS3 will drop 50 to 100 dollars during the holiday season and the price gap between Bluray and HD-DVD with shorten if not disapear. I HD-DVD wants to sucseed getting more than one hardware manufacure may be a start. Lets see, will I get a toshiba, a toshiba or a toshiba? I don’t know.
August 21st, 2007 at 7:55 am
This is a big shock to me. I just recently read an article discussing how blu-ray was clobbering HD-DVD in sales. It appears that Paramount is getting some under the table influence if you ask me. Of course HD-DVD supporters (panasonic) are going to be willing to give Paramount what they want in order to have Shrek and Transformers on their side. I am just not very confident that the move will pay off. I agree with Zet’s comment in that the gaming industry is all blu-ray. I bought a PS3 for the mere fact that it was a $600 Blu-ray player. Sure I play Resistance occasionally, but mostly my kids and I use it to watch movies on our 62inch HD TV. One things for sure. If blu-ray wants to keep being on top they better figure out a way to produce more inexpensive players like HD DVD.
August 21st, 2007 at 7:59 am
Correction above….
“Of course HD-DVD supporters (panasonic) are going to be willing to give Paramount what they want in order to have Shrek and Transformers on their side.
* I meant toshiba not panasonic.
August 21st, 2007 at 11:21 am
@ Rwarner174
What are you on?
I sincerely hope that your comment was pure sarcasm. Otherwise it is nothing but pure BDfanboy dribble at best.
August 21st, 2007 at 1:06 pm
I am on a heavy dose of reality.
Love how this blog is has nothing to say about Michael Bay’s latest comments or Steven Spielburg’s movies not being HD-DVD exclusive.
At best, this whole site is HD-DVD dribble.
Why in the name of god would I want an inferior product to win.
An what is sarcastic about saying that HD-DVD only has one hardware manufacturing making standalone players?
Is that some sort of lie or something?
This is great, HD-DVD tries to make a move and all they get is bad press.
August 21st, 2007 at 1:14 pm
I’m gathering information on various reactions on forums and other sites before I make the next blog posting on anything. The silence isn’t because there’s nothing to say, but because it’s important to make all of your words count.
If you’re itching to talk trash about HD DVD, there are plenty of opportunities available at Blu-ray oriented sites and forums.
August 21st, 2007 at 1:26 pm
Sorry that I view you people as a hinderance to the industry moving forward.
There is no senerio where HD-DVD can win. That window closed with the XBOX360 elite not having built in HD-DVD capablities.
If that would of happened, then HD-DVD could be dancing in the streets. Microsoft decided that the future was downloadable content not HD-DVD.
Microsoft doesn’t want HD-DVD to win. They are using it as a tool to stall the High Def market until downloadble content is ready to compete with it.
And I must give them credit, they are doing a new job. This should help HD-DVD limp along for 12 to 18 months.
This is what makes anyone that supports HD-DVD a counter productive force.
Only two things can happen, either Bluray and HD-DVD fail in lieu of on downloadable content or Bluray wins the market.
There is no other possible outcome when a principal backer of the technology doesn’t even want it to succeded.
No hardware manufacture in their right mind is going to produce and HD-DVD player when they have to compete with the 299 grabage model toshiba released.
You guys really havn’t though things through.
August 21st, 2007 at 8:13 pm
$150m is how much selling your soul goes for now days. Pathetic. It so bluntly obvious that it is a smack in the face to consumers. I realize corporations do things like this all the time but this is different how they publicly made such an obvious move. Bluray is increasingly becoming the chosen format and at HDDVD’s fading moments Paramount takes a bribe to keep them alive a little bit longer. Bluray owners lose titles that could be released and enjoyed by consumers, HDDVD owners lose, they spend more and more money on a format that will eventually not be here, and the corporate world loses, the format war could have been damn near over and more consuymers would jump on the high definition scene making all the corporations more profitable. Oh well, short term massive profit for Paramount is what meant the most for them. Their image is forever tarnished.
August 22nd, 2007 at 6:10 am
Enough with the dramatics and mudslinging already. It seems massively hypoctrical of the BRD camp to start crying foul when the BR format was lagging behind until the PS3 came along and starting throwing BR movies at everyone. Of course they have the right to do as they please, but to then turn around and cry foul at Paramount for also doing as they please seems a lot like the pot calling the kettle black. At least with the Xbox you aren’t forced into buying an HD-DVD player if you don’t want one yet. And as far as MS “intentionally” stalling the market or whatever until downloadable content comes, I highly doubt it. This will happen eventually whether or not either format “wins”. People really need a heavy dose of reality.
August 23rd, 2007 at 8:26 pm
here is another side of the medal,i actually sell elctronic equipment for a living and yes even for us it is difficult to really suggest either format to people.I have lived and sold both the vhs and beta and saw the war between these formats and was not too impressed with what happened .my personal take on this though is ,lets face it ,the better
and more stable product on the market is hd dvd players .I dont really see it as a war but mostly two formats that will co-exist together a bit like apple and ibm are in computers .I suggest to my customers to
buy the hd dvd players first since they will up convert any old dvd to the best image possible ,and lets face it ,what product is more available out there to view…… normal dvds obviously.the price of these units are extremely interesting too.I personally have both and believe that is where we are going to be going .when blu ray machines will be better and more stable ,then it will be time to compliment your home theater system with this format ,and then you do like me and enjoy any movie out there .I have both systems and can vouch that hd dvd is a better product at the moment.lets hope this move by dreamworks and paramount humbles sony a bit and maybe makes them want to improve their blu ray machines ……
August 28th, 2007 at 6:51 am
Aside from who is taking what side, I would love to see some real experts tell me Why Toshiba hasn’t allowed other manufactures to produce HD-DVD players? Are there any prospects on FOX, Newline Cinema, and Touchstone/Disney making a jump to HD DVD? Honestly, I believe the HD format technologies are extremely similar and the clear edge blu-ray has is capacity, better marketing, and more industry back up. I walk into any electronics store and I see a Blu-ray a presentation, heck I go to the movies and on comes a blu-ray presentation that blasts you to the back of your seat, in comparison the HD-DVD marketing is boring and doesn’t get me excited to give a damn about the product. I own both and I like HD-DVD better due to the fact that both the player and the movies themselves are less expensive, as far as technology is concern, I don’t see a significant reason I should be paying more for Blu-ray. On the other hand my favorite movies are on Blu-ray. I honestly don’t see anything that makes blu-ray superior other than its more expensive. Also, for the PS3 fanatics, Sony has made horrible decisions with that system, lets see, non upgradeable hard drive, a format that may catch on or maybe not, architecture that is difficult for developers to work with, unappealing online interface, limited game availability nearly a year after its initial launch. Microsoft’s machine is both less expensive and well thought out for the masses, they got all the right ideas and hundreds of games that are up to par or exceed the quality of Sony’s machine and the quality of the blu-ray for movies is nothing to get excited about. Bottom line Toshiba is making Sony’s Betamax mistake by keeping it exclusive. Open the flood gates and we will see what happens than and please do something about your Marketing, the presentation is boring and geared towards old people, get some Hollywood flash going on there for pete sake. Don’t think I am right, compare look at what your competition is doing to present its product and do that instead.
August 28th, 2007 at 7:26 am
Onkyo’s high-end player is due in just over a month, and LG and Samsung have gotten into the combo-player business with more inexpensive models on the way this fall. Aside from that, HP offers an HD DVD drive for their computers, and don’t forget the Xbox 360 add-on player.
I’m not sure that Toshiba has chosen not to let anybody make HD DVD drives, but more that companies have chosen what formats they want to initially make. There’s a lot of risk and expense that goes along with being among the first manufacturers for something. Panasonic and Samsung are commonly available consumer electronics brands, and Samsung faced the heat by coming out with the first BD player.
When this kind of technology comes out, it’s usually just a few companies that make the guts of the device (NEC, Lite-On, Toshiba, and I don’t know who else), and others build the rest of the machine around those guts. Factories from the China, Inc. team are gearing up to make the basic HD DVD drive mechanism, and I think we’ll see the results in the months ahead with even “off-brand” HD DVD players.
October 9th, 2007 at 2:32 am
There are two important point to consider.
WARNER and Paramount Blu-ray discs were region free.
That means that the discs played without problems in any Blu.ray player in the world. I know because I live in Europe and have a PS3. –
I think SONY would have been a bit peeved that these BIG Multimedia Giants weren’t respecting the SONY created borders!
Also if HD dies, Paramount would start producing the HD titles again in Blu-ray and sell the same titles twice to some buyers. I think this is a money- making scheme from the Board of Directors. Never Underestimate the greed of men. We consumers just want quality entertainment.