AfterDawn: News

Movie studios announce increased Blu-ray releases

Although 20th Century Fox and MGM were slow to release many titles in high definition, both seem ready to make up for lost time now.

Between the two studios there will be nearly 30 hi-def releases by the end of this year including "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" and "Live Free or Die Hard".



Fox has promised six movies to be released simultaneously as regular DVDs and in Blu-ray format, and MGM will do the same with four titles.

Additional titles will be from each studios library of past releases, including Fox films "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" and "The Fly."

Following the recent completion of BD+, an advanced form of copy protection, Fox and other studios were expected to ramp-up their Blu-ray title output.

Interestingly, the increase in Blu-ray output comes at the same time Paramount has announced they're putting all their support behind rival HD DVD.

Source: Video Business

Written by: Rich Fiscus @ 20 Aug 2007 20:39

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• 16 comments

• albino92

  Slightly old news

  20.8.2007 21:10 #1

• Pop_Smith

  Quote:Following the recent completion of BD+, an advanced form of copy protection, Fox and other studios were expected to ramp-up their Blu-ray title output. Well well, once they complete there super anti-consumer DRM aka BD+ Fox and some other joes plan on increasing there Blu-Ray numbers? Wonder what this will do for the Blu-Ray camp.

  20.8.2007 21:13 #2

• PeaInAPod

  Quote:The Fly.Great movie, if you haven't seen it your must.

  20.8.2007 21:55 #3

• Unfocused

  Only 29 new releases for this year? And they wonder why sales are slow. I'll bet at least 200 new titles are coming on on regular old DVD. When are they going to open the vaults and release everything?
  
  They (the studios) have already invested in this new technology, when are they going to stand behind it?

  20.8.2007 23:22 #4

• nobrainer

  So this is the counter spin to the recent news of Paramount and DreamWorks dropping Blu-Ray and both going Hd-Dvd exclusive. So long shrek 3 and Transformers.
  
  http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/10783.cfm
  
  bd+ has to be the most anti consumer DRM ever created, and its no wonder fox with their pro bush agenda is wanting to use this system that reports usage back to the studios including your unique serial number and location and films watched!
  

  Track What Companies Have Edited Wiki http://wikiscanner.virgil.gr/ (very heavy load atm)

  20.8.2007 23:45 #5

• ChromeMud

  @ nobrainer
  
  I agree with you that BD+ is anti-consumer and it's just one of the reasons that Blu-Ray has going against it.Just as music is being freed from DRM to appeal to the consumer I see the same happening with movies and HD-DVD is the better choice for this reason.
  I hope Blu-Ray becomes another expensive mistake just like Betamax.

  21.8.2007 05:08 #6

• c1c

  Can't we all just get along? I hope Bluray wins this war so I don't have to put it next to my Laser Disc and Mini Disc collection.

  21.8.2007 12:21 #7

• NexGen76

  Blu-ray support
  Warner Bros.
  Disney (Buena Vista)
  Fox
  Lionsgate
  MGM
  Sony Pictures
  
  HD-DVD support
  Paramount
  Warner Bros.
  Universal Studios
  
  Blu-Ray studio support still looks better to me.

  21.8.2007 13:49 #8

• nobrainer

  Originally posted by NexGen76: Blu-ray support
  Warner Bros.
  Disney (Buena Vista)
  Fox
  Lionsgate
  MGM
  Sony Pictures
  
  HD-DVD support
  Paramount
  Warner Bros.
  Universal Studios
  
  Blu-Ray studio support still looks better to me.you are a complete sony tool dude.
  
  it matters not if blu-ray have more backers as the general public don't give a dam about hd players, as the sales of hi-def media shows, its less that 3% of media total sales.
  
  all blu-ray is is a drm lockdown just like vista.
  
  these are the companies pushing drm's
  
  MPAA:
  
  Sony Pictures, Buena Vista (The Walt Disney Company), Paramount Pictures (Viacom -- which bought DreamWorks in February 2006), 20th Century Fox , Universal Studios , and Warner Bros. (Time Warner)
  
  AACS LA:
  
  Sony, Disney, Intel, Microsoft, Matsushita (Panasonic), Warner Brothers, IBM and Toshiba.
  
  RIAA:
  
  Sony BMG Music Entertainment, EMI, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group.
  
  Blu-ray Disc Association:
  
  Sony, Matsushita, Pioneer, Philips, Thomson, LG Electronics, Hitachi, Sharp and Samsung.
  
  
  cross reference the list to see who the main drm backers are!
  
  then take a look using the wiki scanner (my sig) to see sony's great editing of the blu-ray page, reducing the drm info 5fold to just one line. Originally posted by sony: The specifications of the BD+ virtual machine are only available to licensed device manufacturers.
  

  Track What Companies Have Edited Wiki http://wikiscanner.virgil.gr/ (very heavy load atm)

  22.8.2007 01:09 #9

• russwhit

  Look what i found:
  
  "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!" Bay wrote in a forum posting on his "Shoot for the Edit" Web site. The response highlights the frustration that both directors and consumers are experiencing with competing high-definition formats.
  
  They are releasing INdie Jones in both formats, so think this is just markerting to boost sales. There is no way they will restrict the market for such a hugh film.

  22.8.2007 05:19 #10

• nobrainer

  Originally posted by russwhit: Look what i found:
  
  "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!" Bay wrote in a forum posting on his "Shoot for the Edit" Web site. The response highlights the frustration that both directors and consumers are experiencing with competing high-definition formats.
  
  They are releasing INdie Jones in both formats, so think this is just markerting to boost sales. There is no way they will restrict the market for such a hugh film.but that's exactly what sony and the pro drm wanted with blu-ray! to restrict ppl to 1 format and kill competition by starving it to death, there is a later announcement by Michael Bay saying he was very upset and was willing to make a transformers 2 for hd-dvd, obviously the film studio told him to "shut it"! and apolagise!
  
  there is more than just paramount you know thats jumping ship!
  
  DreamWorks Animation, DreamWorks Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies, MTV Films, Paramount Vantage and Paramount Pictures.
  
  Originally posted by telegraph:
  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jh.../bcnpara121.xml
  
  Jeffrey Katzenberg, chief executive of DreamWorks Animation, said: "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."Originally posted by betanews:
  http://www.betanews.com/article/Michael_...s_It/1187794085
  
  
  
  A day after protesting a decision by Paramount to only support HD DVD and threatening not to make a second "Transformers" movie, Michael Bay has apparently had a change of heart after seeing the format in action. He apologized in a forum post Tuesday evening for drinking the Blu-ray "kool aid."
  
  "I heard where Paramount is coming from and the future of HD and players that will be close to the $200 mark which is the magic number. I like what I heard," Bay wrote. "As a director, I'm all about people seeing films in the best quality possible, and I saw and heard firsthand people upset about a corporate decision. So today I saw 300 on HD, it rocks! So I think I might be back on to do Transformers 2!"
  
  
  

  Track What Companies Have Edited Wiki http://wikiscanner.virgil.gr/ (very heavy load atm)

  22.8.2007 09:16 #11

• Ryu77

  Is BD+ really anti consumer or should we really term it anti pirate?
  
  I mean, come on. I will be the first to admit that I have copied DVD's but at the end of the day I still know that the studios have the right to protect thier own content. With all the piracy that is happening, I guess I can't blame the studios for endorsing such a strong DRM to thier titles.
  
  Can I ask, what inconvenience would BD+ give to a consumer that wants to play genuine copies of blu-ray titles?

  22.8.2007 19:09 #12

• borhan9

  This is nothing surprising.

  22.8.2007 22:22 #13

• dblbogey7

  Originally posted by Ryu77: Is BD+ really anti consumer or should we really term it anti pirate?
  
  I mean, come on. I will be the first to admit that I have copied DVD's but at the end of the day I still know that the studios have the right to protect thier own content. With all the piracy that is happening, I guess I can't blame the studios for endorsing such a strong DRM to thier titles.
  
  Can I ask, what inconvenience would BD+ give to a consumer that wants to play genuine copies of blu-ray titles?Your post makes perfect sense and to answer you question: except maybe for the need to update firmware for some players - there should be no inconvenience for anyone who plays legitimate discs and refrains from modifying his player.

  23.8.2007 04:35 #14

• NexGen76

  Originally posted by Ryu77: Is BD+ really anti consumer or should we really term it anti pirate?
  
  I mean, come on. I will be the first to admit that I have copied DVD's but at the end of the day I still know that the studios have the right to protect thier own content. With all the piracy that is happening, I guess I can't blame the studios for endorsing such a strong DRM to thier titles.
  
  Can I ask, what inconvenience would BD+ give to a consumer that wants to play genuine copies of blu-ray titles?Amen & god bless you this what i been saying for a while about BD+ before you have someone ranting & raving the same ish about how its anti-consumer.I make back-ups of my DVD's but movie studio have the right to protect there investment but i know its going to get cracked so why even worry about it.

  23.8.2007 13:30 #15

• nobrainer

  and the pro drm lobby hit afterdawn with the usual line of "if you're not doing anything illegal there is nothing to worry about"
  
  what about making iso to watch on your notebook, or backups of your fav child's disks that inevitably get scratched or importing discs that are either not available in your country or are on time release.
  
  the you get to privacy issues with your film player sending statistical data back to the studios including unique serial and ip of origin and if any mods such as a region code so the Chinese man now living in New York can watch his films in his own language from his country of birth, his player sends back hardware profiles and because of the modification his player is permanently disabled because its deemed bad by the studios as they want to continue to be able to fix world media prices!
  
  then you have hdcp which tells ppl they have to throw out all their old equipment and purchase new gear because they want to block the analogue hole, even though much of today's equipment IS compatible with hi-def the studios DRM thinks otherwise and blocks all data.
  
  with companies like "Cryptography Research Inc" working on BD+ you know its bad and about making consumers pay as much as possible and having as little control with what they do with the media.
  
  http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/200...cartridges.html
  
  Quote:The razor blade magnate King C. Gillette was alleged to have said that he would give away the razors for free if he was guaranteed to sell replacement blades. Manufacturers of inkjet printers have been operating on this model for many years now, selling printers at very low cost while raking in profits on the sale of replacement cartridges, some of which cost nearly as much as the printer itself. Now San Francisco-based Cryptography Research Inc. (CRI) is developing chip technology that can be included in inkjet printers to prevent owners from using third-party ink cartridges.
  

  Track What Companies Have Edited Wiki http://wikiscanner.virgil.gr/ (very heavy load atm)

  30.8.2007 00:19 #16