Friday 4 January 2008

Warner Bros. Do Blu Only

The news Blu-ray supporters have been waiting for! Reuters confirms that Warner Bros. is to back the Blu-ray format exclusively!

"The window of opportunity for high-definition DVD could be missed if format confusion continues to linger. We believe that exclusively distributing in Blu-ray will further the potential for mass market success and ultimately benefit retailers, producers, and most importantly, consumers," Warner Bros. Chairman and Chief Executive Barry Meyer said in a statement.

From Michael Bay on Blu-ray/HD DVD and Transformers

Director Michael Bay posted this message on the Official Michael Bay Forums:

"Well another studio down. Maybe I was right? Blu-ray is just better. HD will die a slow death. It's what I predicted a year ago. Now with Warner's down for the count with Blu-ray. That makes it easier for Wal-Mart to push Blu-ray. And whatever Wal-Mart pushes - wins. HD better start giving out those $120 million dollars checks to stay alive. Maybe they can give me some so I can give it to my Make-A-Wish charity, just to shut me up. Have faith people Transformers will come out in Blu-ray one day..."

Personally, I can't wait for Batman Begins, The Lord of the Rings and The Matrix trilogies! Where Warner Bros. leads, other studios will, ultimately, follow! Warner Bros. will continue supporting HD DVD until May 2008. However, after that time, the studio will be exclusively Blu. To read the full article, please click here.

Incidentally, whilst on the subject of Blu-ray and Reuters. Reuters has republished a post of mine, via BlogBurst, here.

If the Blu-ray Macworld rumours are correct, this will be a great month to go Blu!

4 comments:

  1. Hmm. Warner Bros has a history of not caring much about the video-buying public - remember all those lazy vanilla releases of their films? - and has only recently started bringing out bumper editions of some of their best movies.

    And don't forget that when the blu ray disks have to be replaced, Warners will make more cash. Since blu ray is a fragile format that won't last as long as HD-DVD (it scratches too easily), Warners are probably thinking more about long term profits than pleasing DVD fans.

    Nick

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  2. Nick,

    Always a pleasure to have you drop in and add compelling commentary to the mix!

    I've gone Blu, but am always careful with optical media due to its inherent lack of robustness! Shame Sony didn't keep the outer shells a la MiniDisc!

    Happy New Year to you my friend.

    John

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  3. Happy new year yourself mate,

    And thanks for letting me play devil's advocate.

    Nick

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  4. Nick,

    No problem! And this post has been picked up by Reuters too!

    John

    ReplyDelete

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