Paramount chooses HD DVD exclusively
In perhaps the most shocking development of the format war so far, Paramount Pictures has announced this morning that they will be supporting HD DVD exclusively. This includes all releases by Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Nickelodeon Movies, MTV Films and DreamWorks Animation. The agreement excludes all Steven Speilberg movies on DreamWorks. Paramount said his films are not exclusive to either format.
Paramount was originally an HD DVD exclusive studio but in October 2005 they surprised the world by announcing they would support both competing formats. This latest announcement is especially shocking considering the reports from late last week that Blu-ray has been consistently out-selling HD DVD by over 2:1 this year.
Paramount cites HD DVD’s lower-cost players and lower manufacturing costs as the determining factors. Currently the lowest priced HD DVD player is Toshiba’s HD-A2 at $299 MSRP.
The first HD DVD exclusive Paramount release should be Blades of Glory on August 28. The summer blockbusters Transformers and Shrek the Third are also scheduled to be exclusive.
This is a stunning development that nobody could have predicted. The implications are broad as it seemed all the positive news for Blu-ray pointed to a swift decision in this war, if not this holiday season perhaps the next. Paramount’s exclusive agreement will certainly prolong this war.
We will certainly be watching this closely and will let you know any new developments as soon as they arrive.
Edit: Read the press release from Viacom here: Paramount and DreamWorks Animation Each Declare Exclusive Support for HD DVD
Wow… just wow. This came out of nowhere. Great news for the HD DVD format.
yet they still appear to be a part of the Blu-ray alliance….
Does anyone have a link to the actual press release direct from paramount themselves?
i’ve seen a copy of it sent around various news sites, but none of which show proof of the source…
not saying that it isn’t true… but i would have thought that viacom/paramount would have a copy of it on their website somewhere!
Caelum, the link to Viacom’s press release is on the last line of the article I posted.
A bad choice by Paramount….:(
Blu-Ray is far better than HD-DVD.