An interesting change from this major studio.
By Thomas Arnold at the Hollywood Reporter.
In a dramatic turn, Paramount Home Entertainment and DreamWorks
Animation on Monday vowed exclusive support of HD DVD, a year after
declaring they would release movies and other programming in both next
generation disc formats.
The companies said the decision to no longer release titles in the
Blu-ray Disc format came after an “extensive evaluation of current
market offerings, which confirmed the clear benefits of HD DVD,
particularly its market ready technology and lower manufacturing costs.”
The first next generation release slated for HD DVD only will be “Blades
of Glory,” coming Aug. 28, followed later in the fourth quarter with two
other blockbusters, “Transformers” and “Shrek the Third.”
“We have tremendous momentum, because we have the most popular movies
coming into the market at the same time as low price players, so it’s a
great combination,” said Kelley Avery, worldwide president of home
entertainment for Paramount Pictures. “The thing we have to remember is
what is the right decision for the long haul. If you look at the market,
today, only 3 million units have actually been sold in high definition,
versus billions of units for DVD. We are in a nascent period now, and we
think the time is right to get behind one format and we want to put all
our resources and creative talents behind one single format.”
The exclusive HD DVD commitment applies to 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. Paramount
will issue new releases in HD DVD on the same day as the DVD, in
addition to catalog titles.
Also not included are films directed by Steven Spielberg. The first
Spielberg film to be released on high definition disc, “Close Encounters
of the Third Kind,” is being released on Blu-ray Disc only by Sony
Pictures Home Entertainment. Spielberg supports Blu-ray, although his
films are not exclusive to either format.
Still, the move represents a formidable chunk of product coming to HD
DVD, and not Blu-ray.
“This isn’t about rival technologies,” Avery said. “It’s about the best
option for consumers. We have to jump start the business, and we think
HD DVD is the best choice, the best proposition for consumers.”
Brad Grey, chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures, called HD DVD “not
only the affordable high quality choice for consumers, but also the
smart choice for Paramount.” DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffry Katzenberg,
citing the lower cost of HD DVD players ($299 for an entry-level Toshiba
model, $200 cheaper than the most inexpensive Blu-ray player), said HD
DVD “is the best format to bring high quality home entertainment to a
key segment of our audience, families.”
The move doesn’t quite level the playing field with the heavily favored
Blu-ray Disc, but it certainly boosts HD DVD’s field position in the
battle for one unified high definition disc that will one day succeed
standard DVD.
“To me it is a validation of a strategic stance we have taken, and I am
so pleased that Paramount and DreamWorks have done as thorough an
evaluation as they have done and come to the same exactly conclusion
that we did long ago, which is that with HD DVD we have a format that
offers the best and most affordable consumer experience,” said Craig
Kornblau, president of Universal Studios Home Entertainment. Universal
was the only studio to exclusively support HD DVD.
Paramount and Warner Home Video supported HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc, while
20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Walt Disney Studios
Home Entertainment and Lionsgate are exclusively in the Blu-ray camp.
Home entertainment analyst Tom Adams said the Paramount decision to go
exclusively with HD DVD “is understandable from a cost savings point of
view.”
“I think the fact that both formats are backwards compatible makes going
single format less of a fateful decision than in previous format
battles,” Adams said. “Consumers with a Blu-ray player can still watch
Paramount movies on standard DVD.”
“In any case,” Adams added, “it makes it clear the format war is far
from over.”
Blu-ray Disc Assn. spokesman Andy Parsons said the Paramount decision
“certainly doesn’t make sense from a business standpoint when you
consider all the momentum Blu-ray has had, particularly in the last 60
days.”
He cites the exclusive retail arrangements for Blu-ray software at
Blockbuster and Blu-ray hardware at Target Stores, as well as “the fact
that Blu-ray Disc is outselling HD DVD by a factor of two-to-one on
media sales.”