Confirming earlier reports (see Blu-ray.com, May 23), HollywoodinHidef.com has it from a "well-placed source" that a 3D Blu-ray release of Avatar 3D will be released on December 1, but it will be exclusively available with the purchase of Panasonic 3D TVs and Blu-ray players. In turn, a 3D BD of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland 3D will be bundled with Sony 3D hardware.
In February, Avatar director James Cameron had said to the Wall Street Journal that a 3D Blu-ray of the movie would come out in November (see Blu-ray.com, February 18). That was promptly denied by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with a note that said verbatim: "3D is in the conceptual stage and Avatar will not be out on 3D Blu-ray in November" (see Blu-ray.com, February 19).
The exclusivity period hasn't been specified for either title, but is said to be "unusually long" for Avatar.
The (2D) Collector's Edition Blu-ray of Avatar will be released in November.
I don't care what anyone says, this 3D exclusivity bs is either gonna kill 3D all together or severely hinder it's adoption. Also, gotta love how they are releasing Avatar in 3D on December 1st. A whole one day after November so Fox can say they told the truth when they said "3D is in the conceptual stage and Avatar will not be out on 3D Blu-ray in November".
3D IS DEAD! Exclusivity for a movie will not sell an expensive 3D TV/Blu Ray player package....whoever thought up this strategy by studios/manufacturers is an EPIC FAIL!
Man what are you going to view on that new LG 3D projector? dust? They better bundle some serious videos with that in order to justify, what will most likely be, a heft price tag.
The cinema chains are behind this most likely. They finally have people coming to watch movies on the big screen. The last thing they want is for people to say "I won't bother, I'll be able to watch it in 3-D in my living room in 6 months".
3-D is such a bad idea anyway. The novely has already worn off for me!
Are these HD 3Dtvs hdmi 1.4 compliant? If not you would have to upgrade your £2000 3D TV anyway so why waste the money on these 3d tvs in the first place.
I’m going to wait until a standard technology has settled in before I commit to anything.
I am kinda against all things Cameron after the comments he recently made. I liked him better when he pop up once in awhile (Like every 5 years or so).
This is going to kill the sales of Avatar 3D, because people aren't just going to go out and buy a new TV/player just to get the film. Will be a nice way for people to make a profit on ebay though for those that do buy and don't want to keep the film
So Cameron wants every movie that comes out to be in 3D, yet it's not going to grow because of all these bundled exlusives! The best thing to help 3D would be to sell the biggest 3D film of all time ALONE.
I'm just wondering how this will impact customers who already bought the 3D tv's. Is Panasonic going to send free discs to people who already purchased the TV's?
Panasonic authored the disc, so it's no wonder they got exclusivity on this disc.
I don't understand why people would bitch about having to upgrade their 1 year old 2D system in order to get this movie, because if you don't have a 3D set-up already why would you want the 3D version of Avatar? Makes no sense. If you want a 3D set-up seems like you'd want to choose the set with the best 3D performance and that will land you Avatar, haha. A $2.6 billion movie is perfectly capable of moving hardware, that much is assured compared to Monsters/Aliens, Alice in Wonderland, etc.
It still stinks though.
I am sure by 2012 once there is a lot more content on the market you won't see any exclusivity deals on 3D items, would be foolish - it's the retailer exclusive 2D Blu-ray discs that grind my gears. 3D is irrelevant to me for the next 24 months or so.
Is Panasonic going to send free discs to people who already purchased the TV's?
- Highly unlikely. Just look at what happened to one of the site reviewers: he bought a 50VT20 in March. Two months later, Ice Age 3 and Coraline were offered to buyers of the VT25, and he didn't get any.
I hope Panasonic shows the love for those of us who already bought their VT25's...at least give us a mail-in coupon or something. It doesn't have to be free like Coraline & Ice Age. I'll gladly pay for Avatar 3D for $30-$40....not $3000-$4000
I hate 3D....HATE! Don't get me wrong Avatar in 3D was pretty cool in the theater. But I have no interest in having 3D at home. I love going to Best Buy and telling the workers how stupid it is.
Here is a good lesson on how to kill a technology. Why buy a 3D television if you are unable to get 3D content? I was going to buy one today, but not know. My Samsung DLP is still working great, so i'll wait until the corporate idiots get their acts together. Assuming they even know how.
Wondering if Panasonic and sony will package the titles with the glasses. If they do that I'll just buy the glasses and movies, and then sell the glasses on eBay. I've got a 3D TV but this exclusive needs to stop.
lol, what a recockulous idea this is. "Hey lets's screw all the early adoptors, the people that supported us from the beginning and not allow them to buy the biggest movie of all time!" I mean I can see offering it for free to peolpe that buy the TV, but making it only available if you buy the TV, WHAT!@!@!@!??
Yeah I don't see the point of buying into 3D until the media is readily available. What's the point of having a new player and tv that I can't go buy any disks to watch on them? I agree with those who have said these companies should offer certain disks for free with purchase but not lock them down and keep everyone else from being able to obtain a copy. Surely that's not good business to keep the public from being able to spend money on something they wanted. Especially in this economy. One would think a sale would be a good thing!
Panasonic's not obligated to send free discs to anyone that already bought the sets anymore than Vanns or Amazon would offer refunds to everyone who purchased a set at price x when it hits price x-$1000 4 months later. However it certainly wouldn't hurt to badger them about getting a copy through Facebook and/or CS to see where it gets you. If I'd already plonked down a couple grand for a VT25 and BD-player I'd be on the phone.
In addition this says "and Blu-ray players" and I'm pretty sure Panasonic's 3D Blu-ray players don't cost $3,000. Or does it specifically state "TV's only" or "TV+player combos"?
There's going to be a 3D Blu-ray version for retail that will likely see full package of extras, then a 3D version with additional content, then a 3D Unobtanium collections super deluxe edition, then even more footage will be found and it will start all over again.
Exclusivity sucks, but 3D is dead because Avatar 3D will see a limited release window exclusivity with hardware? Pshaw, that's just sensationalism. How many sales are they realistically leaving on the floor right now by not releasing it to retail this Christmas? According to Display Search roughly 1% of sets sold will be 3D in 2010 and by 2013 only 27% of sets 40" or larger will be 3D. A $2.6 billion film can push hardware, but keep it in perspective.
3D's not going anywhere, but it's extremely early days, like Blu-ray in late 2006 when studios were boasting about selling 20,000 copies of a title combined (HD DVD + Blu-ray, MI:3, Paramount). Avatar on 3D Blu-ray will be here before you know it. Plus Panny will be announcing all their new models at CES 2011 so the VT25 may not be quite as attractive once we hear about what will be coming out a few months later.
Waaaaaa, "Epic Fail", "3D is Dead", blah blah blah. People CAN'T WAIT to Slam the film and/or Cameron any time some "New" info on the 3D version comes out. There ARE many people who LOVE this film, and moreso, in 3D, who WILL buy the Panasonic (not "PanOsonic", as some people spelled it incorrectly). I'd love to myself but can't afford it right now, but that's fine. As Mick sang, "Time Is On My Side. Yes It Is..."
I was planning on getting a 3d panasonic this december, now with this news it will be like living the dream, getting avatar without giving any money to mr. cameron.
the 3d exclusivity is a game of prisoner's dilemma, they would both benefit by co-operating (not having exclusives) but if one company did do an exclusive they'd win big and the rest lose big. so by have having exclusives they are just making sure that they (1) win big if others don't have them and (2) take only a slight loss when everyone has exclusive since it obviously hinders the market. this is a standard business tactic of just f-ing everyone as much as possible to avoid big losses and steal big at every moment possible, and just shows that "entertainment" has nothing really to do with the benefits or interests of people
arrgh! Why didn't they just wait for a little while after the Collector's set comes out in Nov.!!!??? Oh well, hopefully they'll have a 3D feature-packed release eventually.
"was planning on getting a 3d panasonic this december, now with this news it will be like living the dream, getting avatar without giving any money to mr. cameron. "
You don't think James Cameron is making any money off this exclusive deal? Are you kidding me!?
lol. The studios running this bullshit 3D business are absolutely retarded. Here's hoping the exclusivity deals really put a nail in the coffin for 3D!
i think it's best to wait 3d our for another 2 years. it's a cool tech to be sure -- i've sampled both video games on the ps3 and have seen a couple 3d movies now.
but as much as i want it in my home, it needs some maturity, price drops, and an end to this kind of exclusive nonsense.
James Cameron = George Lucas in so far as double and triple dipping.
Avatar version 1, the first release.
Version 2, the Collectors Edition.
Version 3, the 3D version.
The 4th and perhaps not the final, a 3D extended Collectors Version.
Just my thoughts of what will come down the pipe in the next year. Come on Jim prove me wrong!
Damn this is just so silly, I guess they all miss the good old format wars. So why not just do some exclusives for shits and giggles ey?
For Panasonic it's a superb move, but for 3D as a format, it's a near death blow. If they don't get their act together, they'll be sitting on their shiny new and expensive TV sets. 3D offer is already almost non existent and if you can't even buy THE biggest movie to date in your shop of choice...
i can't believe companies are really putting 3-d out already i just dont see consumers buying into it with the economy the way it is. And many of us just upgrading to blu-ray and hdtv!
I think Blu-ray 3D will already have a hard enough time to find its place in the market. Now, if on top of that they will limit consumers by making one exclusive deal after another, it'll make things even harder and slow down adoptation even further.
I'm so tired of this! Exclusive versions, extended versions, super ultimate editions, the list goes on. I'm just going to buy my movies once they've dropped in price and not care for what version it is. If I keep up with what they're throwing at me I'll never be happy!
If the geniuses that run these companies keep going this way they're guaranteed to destroy any chance of Bly-Ray 3d taking off. Most people aren't buying 3D gear because there's not a lot of 3D content out there. I'm sorry but very few peolpe are going to spend $1000.00 plus, so they can watch the one movie bundled with the purchase. Unless more companies start releasing retail 3D content, the technology will fail. How stupid can these peolpe be? You can't tell me they're not loosing money. Blu-Ray 3D is very cool, and they're destroying it!
No no no no no and no, studios executives are really stupid, At least give a chance to those who won't by Panasonic or Sony. Why do they have to give exclusive? Okay it is there to exclude of course. Like I said I have nothing againts giving something as an incentive but it is done the wrong way. We should also be able to buy any other 3D blu-ray that we want no matter wich set we buy. Another like this and it will be official 3D Blu-ray will be a dead format in the near future because no materials is availaible in 3D for Blu-ray. I would suggest that you do like me wait, wait, wait some more until they release 3D movies to buy. Hey what's the use of spending thousands of dollar if you can't only watch one or three movies at most for now?
How about something to brighten your friday morning. This is a quote from Bill Hunt at the Digital bits:
In news today, there's good reason to believe that Fox is going to finally be releasing James Cameron's Avatar as a Blu-ray 3D release on 12/1... but it will be available ONLY as part of an exclusive deal with Panasonic, packaged in one of their Blu-ray 3D Home Theatre systems. And that exclusive arrangement could be as long as a year or more. Why so long? Well, the simple fact is, there just aren't enough Blu-ray 3D players and 3D-ready HD displays selling right now to make a widespread release financially practical. (Which is pretty much exactly how I've always expected Blu-ray and HDTV 3D hardware to sell for the first few years in the middle of a recession - VERY slowly.) Blu-ray 3D titles are more expensive to author and prepare, and it doesn't really make sense to release your biggest film in 3D when so few people can actually watch it. So instead, the studios have decided to use these titles as incentives to help encourage sales of the hardware for now, and then release them more widely to consumers when the installed base is higher. How do you like them apples?
Batty, don't you think people would be more apt to buy 3D sets if they were promised more than a couple of titles to watch. I can't see the "installed base" of 3D gear getting any higher, without any media. Most people don't buy things on a promise of things-to-come. I just hope their prudent planning doesn't kill the platform.
Hey Look: I agree with you completely, I do not agree with the statement that i posted. I just put it out there to show people that this is the business plan that seems to unfortunately have been adopted, regarding blu-ray 3D
content. I feel that tying up what is arguably the biggest, and most important 3D title, namely avatar, for a year
is disgusting, I personally have not invested in a 3D lcd tv yet. But if I had, I would be upset I could not purchase this title as i would any other movie.
