SydLexia.com - The Forums :: View topic - Paramount releasing stuff only on HD-DVD

Posted: Aug 20 2007 10:28 pm

Apparently Paramount wants to lose a ton of sales by supporting only HD-DVD in the future. Which if everyone in the world had an HD TV and an HD-DVD player, would be fine, but it seems to me like a terrible decision. So no Blades of Glory or Transformers on regular DVD for you! I can honestly say I don't really give a crap and am glad that neither Paramount nor any of their sub-companies release much of anything I care about.

From Entertainment News International (enewsi.com)

Quote:

Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc. (NYSE:VIA) (NYSE:and) (NYSE:VIA.B) and DreamWorks Animation SKG (NYSE:DWA) , each announced today that they will exclusively support the next-generation HD DVD format on a worldwide basis. The exclusive HD DVD commitment will include all movies distributed by Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Nickelodeon Movies and MTV Films, as well as movies from DreamWorks Animation, which are distributed exclusively by Paramount Home Entertainment.

The companies each said that the decision to distribute exclusively in the HD DVD format resulted from an extensive evaluation of current market offerings, which confirmed the clear benefits of HD DVD, particularly its market-ready technology and lower manufacturing costs. Paramount Home Entertainment will launch its exclusive HD DVD program with the release of the blockbuster comedy hit "Blades of Glory" on August 28th and follow with two of the biggest grossing movies of the year "Transformers" and "Shrek the Third". These three titles alone represent more than $1.5 billion in box office ticket sales worldwide.

"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," stated Brad Grey, Chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures, which is currently the leading studio in domestic box office. "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."

"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 key segment of our audience -- families," stated DreamWorks Animation CEO, Jeffrey Katzenberg. "We believe the combination of this year's low-priced HD DVD players and the commitment to release a significant number of hit titles in the fall makes HD DVD the best way to view movies at home."

With the rapid increase of HD TV screens in households, and audiences wanting to enjoy the total entertainment experience, HD DVD has emerged as the most affordable way for consumers to watch their movies in high definition. In addition to pristine quality, HD DVD also offers consumers the chance to personalize the movie-watching experience, to interact with their movies and even to connect with a community of other fans.

Paramount Home Entertainment will issue new releases day and date as well as catalog titles exclusively on HD DVD. Today's announcement does not include films directed by Steven Spielberg as his films are not exclusive to either format.

Posted: Aug 20 2007 10:31 pm

I could be wrong, but I think HD-DVD's have the regular DVD format on the other side. In other words, one side is HD-DVD while the other is DVD. I forget where I saw that though.

Posted: Aug 20 2007 10:31 pm

I think you misunderstand. The exclusivity is only in terms of nextgen forms. What they mean is that they're not going to release stuff on Blu Ray.

Posted: Aug 20 2007 10:34 pm

Wow, five minutes was all it took to make me look stupid, thanks. I thought it was a bit retarded to do such a thing, if they had mentioned something like "Paramount will be using HD instead of Blu-Ray" like anywhere in the article, it might have made more sense.

Posted: Aug 20 2007 11:19 pm

I trusted Criterion to release "Transformers" anyway. Razz

Posted: Aug 21 2007 12:34 pm

Well, Michael Bay is not happy about Paramount's decision;

From ENI again

Quote:

Michael Bay is upset over Paramount Pictures' recent announcement that "Transformers" will only be released on the HD-DVD next-generation format.

He states that he wants "people to see my movies in the best formats possible," he writes on his official website forums. "For them to deny people who have Blu-ray sucks! They were progressive by having two formats."

He is so upset over the news, that he will drop out of the "Transformers" sequel. "No Transformers 2 for me!" says Mr. Bay.

So I guess this means that Transformers 2 will either suck far less or far more depending on who replaces him.

Posted: Aug 21 2007 02:42 pm

Black Zarak wrote:

He states that he wants "people to see my movies in the best formats possible," he writes on his official website forums. "For them to deny people who have Blu-ray sucks! They were progressive by having two formats."

I wanna see this, but that "post" is nowhere to be found on his forums. Suspicious.

Posted: Aug 21 2007 02:47 pm

If that's true, I guess the question will come down to if Paramount made more money from the HD-DVD exclusive deal, or if they think they can make more money from the Transformers franchise w/ Mr Bay at the helm.

May be they can just gt Peter Jackson. He's not doing anything at the moment is he?

Posted: Aug 21 2007 03:44 pm

Bay probably noticed that Paramount's announcement does not apply to Spielberg films, and Transformers was Spielberg-produced.

Posted: Aug 21 2007 06:12 pm

Quote:

May be they can just gt Peter Jackson. He's not doing anything at the moment is he?

Word on the street is he might be getting tapped to direct The Hobbit movie.

Posted: Aug 21 2007 06:19 pm

username wrote:

Word on the street is he might be getting tapped to direct The Hobbit movie.

What's the street's name? 2005 Avenue? Incredibly Old News Boulevard?

Posted: Aug 21 2007 06:28 pm

Living Under a Rock ln

Posted: Aug 21 2007 11:05 pm

Good, I'd kind of like HD DVD to win so whatever helps is good.

Posted: Aug 21 2007 11:32 pm

I don't have either, but would prefer that Blu-Ray wins.

Mainly just for the higher storage space when used with PCs. 50 GB a disc would help me big-time in backing up all the crap on my computer.

Also, apparently game designers are starting to get pissed that Microsoft didn't pick a next-gen format. As Epic as stated that they can't fit all of Unreal Tournament onto a DVD for X360, so the PS3 version will have more levels and features. Also, the guys making the new Forza were bitching that they went to press their first complete built and then realized that they were 4 Gb over the size limit and had to remove a bunch a features and try to compress more of the files.

Posted: Aug 21 2007 11:38 pm

Yeah, unfortunatly DVD-9 is starting to get full. But with UT3, it's mostly just maps, and they can make those a download. It will suck when stuff get's really huge though.

Blu Ray's size is nice, but there are a lot of Blu Ray movies still using MPEG 2 I think. I know a lot of early ones did. Like Silent Hill on DVD looks the same as the blu ray one almost because of that.

Posted: Aug 22 2007 01:02 am

Aaaaand he's recanted...

Quote:

After his much-talked-about rant that we reported on earlier today, ENewsI reports that "Transformers" Director Michael Bay has apologized for his angry post via his website. He says that "I over reacted," and explains that he saw firsthand how upset Blu-Ray users were over Paramount Pictures' recent decision, which prompted his writing at 1:30 A.M. Mr. Bay regrets that decision saying, "nothing good ever comes out of early am posts." And the "Transformers 2" comment? He recants that, too. "I think I might be back on to do Transformers 2!"

Posted: Aug 22 2007 02:31 am

lol. Michael Bay has a little bit of Kobe Bryant in him

Posted: Aug 22 2007 03:04 am

I am just as guilty at making late night rant tirade posts. Embarrassed

Posted: Aug 22 2007 06:55 pm

Update:

THE NEW YORK TIMES thinks it has found evidence that Paramount Studios was bribed more than $150 million to dump Blu-ray in favor of HD-DVD formats.
Paramount and the publicly held Dreamworks Animation announced that they would exclusively back the HD DVD format for the release of high-definition movies including "Transformers" and "Shrek the Third."

According to the Times, Viacom, which owns Paramount and Dreamworks Animation will receive about $150 million for the deal.

Apparently the cash will not come in the form of used banknotes stuffed into a Swiss bank account. It seems that hardware makers will provide cash and promotional guarantees. Toshiba plans to use the release of “Shrek the Third” as part of an HD DVD marketing campaign.

Microsoft is one of the bigger supporters of HD-DVD, but it confirms that it "wrote no cheques" to get Paramount and Dreamworks to change its mind.

The deal is limited to 18 months which means that Paramount is off the hook if it all goes pear-shaped. If Blu-ray becomes the accepted standard in the meantime then Paramount has had its profits all nicely guaranteed during the tricky period where no-one knows who will win. It is a bit like betting on a horse and having your winnings guaranteed even if you lose.

Posted: Aug 22 2007 07:06 pm

Why the fuck would Microsoft claim they "wrote no cheques"?

Cheques? CHEQUES!? Who the fuck is their spokesman, William Regal?

Posted: Aug 22 2007 07:49 pm

No, Microsofts spokesman is the ghost of Lord Alfred Hayes.

Posted: Aug 22 2007 08:32 pm

Microsoft wrote Chex.

Chex quest is awesome.

Posted: Aug 23 2007 03:29 am

"Microsoft Chex" made me think of Chex the cereal... so I google search, and come up with this:

WTF? "The taste of Jesus in every bite"... a little cannibalistic I thought!

Posted: Aug 23 2007 03:31 am

Yeah, Microsoft uses Chex was suppose to be a reference to the cereal. Wink

Posted: Aug 23 2007 09:16 pm

I really want a Jesus whistle now.