New Line Cinema Backs Blu-ray

[admin]

As expected, New Line Cinema has confirmed it will follow Warner Bros. lead in becoming Blu-ray only this year. New Line Cinema is a sister company to Warner and had indicated earlier that it would follow whatever lead Warner took in the format war. At this point in time that makes for a dramatically one-sided picture in the high-definition DVD format skirmish.

Discuss "New Line Cinema Backs Blu-ray" here. Read the article.

 

[Bluesmoke]

LOTR set like the Blade Runner? 2 50gb discs for EE, 1 50gb for Theatrical and 1 25gb for extras? Here's hoping.

Can't wait!

 

[mouettus]

"but, much like a good wildlife show, it's almost impossible to get yours eyes off the action"

well said there.



.... well... time to go to bestbuy to get myself a PS3!

 

[D.R. Payne]

I think the EEs would fit on one BD-50 with very high bitrates and lossless audio, but I'd have to sit down and do some theorhetical math. One BD-50 for the feature and one BD-25 for extra features, like Disney did for the POTC movies, sounds about right.

 

[mike c]

if they release LOTR on BD exclusively, that's just one more nail in the HD DVD coffin

 

[D.R. Payne]

Well, it's going to happen, I wonder if we'll see it on 2008 though. It's certainly possible, compared to DVD we are getting A-list titles fairly early on Blu-Ray. Now that Peter Jackson has meded the relationship with New Line they've just got to decide to do it, and for him to find time to approve the release in between his busy filming schedules.

 

[mike c]

If they want to kill HD DVD soon, they'd better release the EE versions within the 1st two quarters! otherwise, momentum could swing back.

 

[D.R. Payne]

Without a BD studio going neutral or some other bizarre happening, momentum is not going to swing back, certainly not because this or that catalog title is not yet out.

 

[Addy]

I'm sooo excited for lotr on blu-ray. i was a little concerned that one of, if not my favorite movie was going hd-dvd

 

[terror_beast]

This really should (and needs to) end the format "war". Granted, Universal and Paramount/Dreamworks could theoretically keep HD-DVD afloat and prolong this needless battle, but I sincerely hope that they won't!

The HD-DVD camp needs to release Paramount from its contract, concede defeat and end this thing as quickly and neatly as possible. Of course, you've got Microsoft backing HD-DVD and who knows what they'll do

 

[acacia987]

anyway you put it, blue ray has to make it stand alone players cheaper.i feel a large majority of consumers(not early adopter) dont wanna buy a game console to play movies.

 

[j_garcia]

anyway you put it, blue ray has to make it stand alone players cheaper.i feel a large majority of consumers(not early adopter) dont wanna buy a game console to play movies.

Cheaper than what? They are already within ~$50 of HD DVD players. You can't go on "super sale" and Black Friday prices.

 

[acacia987]

Cheaper than what? They are already within ~$50 of HD DVD players. You can't go on "super sale" and Black Friday prices.

you can get the A-3 for 180. the cheapest blue-ray i found was 360..... (based on a quick amazon searches)

 

[GlocksRock]

I still don't forsee blu ray outselling dvd anytime soon, stand alone player prices will still have to drop in order for the average consumer to want one. Most people still don't see what the big deal is, and don't claim to see that much of a difference in picture quality, nor do they have sound systems that will take full advantage of the higher quality audio blu ray has to offer. Not to mention the discs themselves cost more, and the selection at the local video rental stores for blu ray is extremely limited. I still don't see blu ray taking off big time anytime soon, even though I would love to see it happen. But just like everything else, in time the players will reach a price point where people would be willing to get one, my parents for example would never dream of paying two or three hundred for a player, but they are willing to spend $100 on one.

 

[j_garcia]

If the war ends, player prices will drop because the next hurdle will be to combat SD DVD - that seems like a larger task to me unless studios stop producing them.

Blu-ray is already outselling HD DVD, even with theoretically less players in consumer hands.

The A3 is not comparable to the lowest price BD players. Take a look at the specs. The A35 is the lowest comparable model and it is $247. The lowest cost BD player I just saw on Amazon was $337, though it was selling for under $300 previously. A number of companies are introducing lower cost BD players as well, announced at CES; at least one is expected to be below $300 street price. Phillips is also showing a $349 BD player

 

[Soundman]

If the war ends, player prices will drop because the next hurdle will be to combat SD DVD - that seems like a larger task to me unless studios stop producing them.

Blu-ray is already outselling HD DVD, even with theoretically less players in consumer hands.

The A3 is not comparable to the lowest price BD players. Take a look at the specs. The A35 is the lowest comparable model and it is $247. The lowest cost BD player I just saw on Amazon was $337, though it was selling for under $300 previously. A number of companies are introducing lower cost BD players as well, announced at CES; at least one is expected to be below $300 street price. Phillips is also showing a $349 BD player

All of these prices are still too high for the average consumer to buy into it. I think standard DVD's are going to outsell both of the HD formats for a while. Untill they can make HD players in the sub-$100 price range, Average Joe is going to say, "Thanks, but no thanks. I'll just keep the player I have and keep buying my $5 DVD's on sale at my local Best Buy."

 

[j_garcia]

I agree, the late adopters will be waiting for $100 players, as they have been spoiled by the current ~$100 DVD players and because they will claim not to see much difference. That is their loss. Likely half or more of that crowd don't even have an HDTV, but with the changeover happening this year that should mostly change.

 

[Soundman]

I agree, the late adopters will be waiting for $100 players, as they have been spoiled by the current ~$100 DVD players and because they will claim not to see much difference. That is their loss. Likely half or more of that crowd don't even have an HDTV, but with the changeover happening this year that should mostly change.

Yes, as far as TV's go, that is true, but I wonder how long it will take for the new HD format to overtake standard DVD's. I see it taking a long time.

 

[aberkowitz]

If the war ends, player prices will drop because the next hurdle will be to combat SD DVD - that seems like a larger task to me unless studios stop producing them.

Blu-ray is already outselling HD DVD, even with theoretically less players in consumer hands.

The A3 is not comparable to the lowest price BD players. Take a look at the specs. The A35 is the lowest comparable model and it is $247. The lowest cost BD player I just saw on Amazon was $337, though it was selling for under $300 previously. A number of companies are introducing lower cost BD players as well, announced at CES; at least one is expected to be below $300 street price. Phillips is also showing a $349 BD player

Plus, the A35 has been dropped in price since the announcement on Friday/Saturday. I'm pretty sure that as of last Thursday it was selling for at or just above $300. Comparing prices now, after the Warner/New Line announcements, is silly.

 

[aberkowitz]

Yes, as far as TV's go, that is true, but I wonder how long it will take for the new HD format to overtake standard DVD's. I see it taking a long time.

It took over 3 years for DVD players to drop below the $100 mark, and almost 4 years for them to surpass VHS as the standard. I posted most of these details in another thread so I'll see if I can find it. But anyway, Blu Ray was released in May 2006- 5 months after HD DVD was released- and after just about 18 months you can find players for around $300 and content that costs only 40% more than SD counterparts (I used a couple of new releases to get that number). Where do you think DVDs were after 18 months against VHS? Plus, from a rental perspective things are much different than they used to be. I remember DVDs costs more to rent than VHS under the old brick and mortar Blockbuster model- now you can rent from Netflix and costs are the same.

I don't think Blu Ray, or even HD DVD for that matter, has followed a path much different than when DVD was initially released. The format battle hasn't helped, but I see the format moving out of just early adopters and starting to pander to the "wait and see" crowd- and should get a lot more sales.