All Eyes on Paramount

[jed]

just posted:
http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/1489

Though it's widely believed that Paramount will ultimately follow Warner and Universal to Blu-ray, the studio's silence today in the wake of Toshiba's announcement has tongues wagging.

Of course, Paramount is no stranger to the Blu-ray camp, having famously abandoned the format last August to go HD DVD exclusive. Although the studio was reported to have received $150 million in incentives to make the move, at the time studio execs praised HD DVD as the more stable of the two next-gen platforms.

Whether or not those public statements and/or any fees received by Paramount to make the switch are complicating negotiations with the BDA this time around is unknown, but as the only major HD DVD-supporting studio yet to make its future high-def plans known, speculation among industry observers reached a fever pitch Tuesday afternoon.

[tolitzpogi]

I'm sure they'll be making an announcement before the week is over... more likely tonight or tomorrow... but they WILL make that inevitable announcement

- T

[LastSonOfKrypton]

I'm hoping that they're putting together a small release schedule for us. I'm glad Universal made the announcement but I would've prefered an estimated time to convert over. I'm hoping P/DW is at least gonna give us a time frame.

[cnyreject]

It's just a matter of time!

[unfiltered]

If it was true that Paramount was paid the kind of money the rumor states, I bet they just waited out Toshiba before bailing. That way, they didn't break their agreement and stayed "loyal" to the format.

Originally Posted by LastSonOfKrypton

I'm hoping that they're putting together a small release schedule for us. I'm glad Universal made the announcement but I would've prefered an estimated time to convert over. I'm hoping P/DW is at least gonna give us a time frame.

As do I. It's not like they haven't planned this for some time. Even if you only go back to this year's CES, that should allow them time to generate a call list of some kind.

Heck, Paramount has Blu-ray titles sitting in their warehouses somewhere. Anywho. Bring on that Blu-ray Blades of Glory you've been dying to release!

[illegalprelude]

im sure their just getting their press release together. There is no point in supporting HD DVD. They can very well choose not to support Blu-ray but they wont continue to support HD DVD

[Nightfury82]

Is Paramount shy and embarassed? Afterall, they ditched Blu-ray and accepted a payoff. Maybe they want a BDA payoff! lol

[TruBlu]

Originally Posted by Nightfury82

Is Paramount shy and embarassed? Afterall, they ditched Blu-ray and accepted a payoff. Maybe they want a BDA payoff! lol

I'm sure they are not embarassed! They are the big winners once the dust settles. $150mil for 5 months of exclusive HD-DVD support!

[cnyreject]

Originally Posted by Nightfury82

Is Paramount shy and embarassed? Afterall, they ditched Blu-ray and accepted a payoff. Maybe they want a BDA payoff! lol

LOL.. not as embarassed as Toshiba is

[baggani]

It won't take Paramount/Dreamworks any time at all to get back in the BD market. I bet all of their BD production systems are still in place. I hope they get it together soon and release SWEENEY TODD on BD.

[Stranger Danger]

Whether or not those public statements and/or any fees received by Paramount to make the switch are complicating negotiations with the BDA this time around is unknown

Interesting, so they are either to embarrassed or locked in still. That would be funny if they were stuck making hd-dvd because of the contract as Universal the biggest backer of hd-dvd smiled and waved.

[pirates]

I really think Universal got some incentives for releasing on Blu-ray. Paramount may have waited too late and they might not be getting as much as Universal. Who knows? They could be just taking their time. The BDA needs Paramount and they know it. This is just speculation though. It's also possible that they've been prepping their movies for Blu-ray for a while. There's no real rush. They can take their time. It's not like there's another format that's going to pop up out of nowhere.

[Solstice X]

I wouldn't be surprised if we hear from Para/DW soon, but it is pretty sad when Uni, a staunch supporter of HD-DVD announces that they will back blu first. Looks like someones head is going to roll over the whole payoff fiasco.

[falk aspargs]

I am fine with Paramount going Blu as long as Bee Movie, The Jack Ryan Collection, Sweeney Todd, There Will Be Blood, Cloverfield, and No Country For Old Men are released on HD DVD. If they are released on HD DVD, then I won't need a Blu Ray player for quite some time. If they turn out to be Blu Ray only, then I would probably get a Blu Ray player soon.

[Htown-D]

Maybe they're working to get what titles they have on blu now (Transformers/Blades of Glory) shipped into retail asap so when they announce, you'll be able to go buy product then.

ex: Paramount would like to announce that we are supporting the bluray format now and as a result have available for immediate release...yada yada...

just a thought