Paramount Drops Blu-ray Support; Does Not Include Spielberg Movies

Despite selling more movies on the Blu-ray format, Paramount has announced today that they will begin supporting HD DVD exclusively. This move, rumored to be driven by a $150M exclusivity deal with the HD DVD group, comes after Paramount began favoring Blu-ray releases with higher quality video encodings and more HD features. The deal covers all of Paramount's properties excluding those directed by Steven Spielberg. The move will inevitably lengthen a format war which should never have been. Consumers will unfortunately suffer the most, as they will be forced to support a format which is being supported by corporations instead of consumers. No word was given as to how long the exclusivity agreement is for, but rumors indicate through 2008. High definition enthusiasts can now only hope that a DVD-A/SACD situation hasn't been initiated by this decision.
Source: Press Release | Permalink	Relevant for:

CptGreedle  » Aug 20, 2007
WHY!??? WTF?

ottscay  » Aug 20, 2007
I...really...can't believe this.

BTBuck1  » Aug 20, 2007
Is this a joke?

Starkiller  » Aug 20, 2007
So is Top Gun now a no-show?

Amel  » Aug 20, 2007
wow thats some extreme shit great news for HDDVD supporters this is getting interesting!

calgarymarc  » Aug 20, 2007
Did someone just hack the Blu-ray.com website? I don't think this is true at all. WTF is going on here?

Mote  » Aug 20, 2007
There are politics behind this that of which none of us will ever understand. See ya when the war is over, Paramount.

SamInNorthCakalakey  » Aug 20, 2007
MASSIVE news!!!!

gamma626  » Aug 20, 2007
so Transformers will be an exclusive title eh? I knew it. That was why they did not announce anything.

buckshot  » Aug 20, 2007
I must admit that this stings. didn't paramount just say last month that hd dvd didn't have the space needed to put an hd picture, uncompressed audio, and special features on their discs? I swear I read that somewhere. well it hurts. but i'm not sure how many of their movies I have already. they started as hd dvd exclusive didn't they? then neutral, now exclusive again. very odd.

Jim L  » Aug 20, 2007
I guess those those suitcases full of cash and "models" from Exotic Escorts worked. Good going Microsoft! Now this HD optical media situation is one big f#*king mess! (And that's exactly what they wanted by the way.)

goku3  » Aug 20, 2007
I was really looking forward to watching Transformers in blu-ray

w_tanoto  » Aug 20, 2007
is this article is properly worded? I thought it is limited exclusivity (applies to 3-4 dreamworks title)??

E-Dogg  » Aug 20, 2007
This is the worst possible news I could have heard today, wow. Extremely disappointing.

drwatson1234  » Aug 20, 2007
What the hell? This means two things: The format war will needlessly continue longer and Paramount hates money. Awesome...

gamma626  » Aug 20, 2007
Boycott Paramount!

BlueOx2k4  » Aug 20, 2007
Bye- Bye Transformers and Indiana Jones! Grrrrrrrrrrr

calgarymarc  » Aug 20, 2007
Is this an actual press release from the studio? Or just news news...?

wsciv123  » Aug 20, 2007
This announcement does not appear on the HD DVD website. I don't believe it. Some yahoo on yahoo must have posted this crap...

wsciv123  » Aug 20, 2007
Doesn't fit with what Spielberg wants either...

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