Dreamworks jumps into HD DVD & Blu-ray

[CochiseGuy]

DreamWorks Finally Throws Hat Into Next-Gen Ring with 'Dreamgirls'
Sun Mar 04, 2007 at 03:12 PM ET

The last major studio to announce next-gen support, DreamWorks will bring its first title to Blu-ray and HD DVD with a spring release of its blockbuster musical 'Dreamgirls.'

The title, which will be distributed by Dreamworks' parent Paramount Home Entertainment, will hit Blu-ray and HD DVD on May 1, day-and-date with the standard DVD release.

A $100 million-grossing hit, 'Dreamgirls' also scored eight Oscar nominations and won two, including a Best Supporting Actress trophy for breakout star Jennifer Hudson.

Paramount has not yet issued any specs or supplement details for 'Dreamgirls,' only a $39.95 list price for each version.

The only studio to have remained outside of the next-gen fray since the launch of Blu-ray and HD DVD last year, when and how DreamWorks would finally jump into the high-def arena has continued to be a source of rumor. In any case, it's exciting news, though whether or not 'Dreamgirls' will be a one-shot deal, or finally kick off a continued commitment from DreamWorks to bring the rest of its library to Blu-ray and HD DVD -- including such Oscar winners as 'Saving Private Ryan' and 'American Beauty' -- remains to be seen.

"The last major studio to announce next-gen support" is going 'format neutral' by releasing in both HD DVD and Blu-ray. Great news! :up

 

[vurbano]

it is good news.

 

[CochiseGuy]

it is good news.

Yep. More good news:

Dreamworks is also releasing "Flags of our Fathers" May 22 in both formats.

Paramount is releasing "Failure to Launch" April 24, and "Mission Impossible 1 & 2" May 22 (previously available only a "Collectors Set with MI: 3). And then "a double dose of Eddie Murphy" - "Coming to America" & "Trading Places" June 5. All in both formats.

And then Universal has 18 titles releasing in the next few months, but only on HD DVD, of course.

 

[BobMurdoch]

THIS is how you do it. Let the market decide. Bravo Dreamworks!

 

[JoeSp]

Finally, Dreamworks enters the frey. Hey Bob, I like to bet Cokes with my employees. It is fun and I buy as many Cokes and Dr. Peppers as they do. How about you and me on a wager on which format sells the most 'Flags of Our Fathers'. I like Dr. Pepper and we both know which formats we will be supporting! You can set the time limit (One day, week, month, etc)

 

[BobMurdoch]

The problem is where do we get accurate sales figures...?

Not against the idea...... Just want to make sure we agree on whose figures play referee....

 

[JoeSp]

How about Nielson -- do they give individual title sales information? Or how about Amazon.COM? Is there any info providers who will give you individual title sales info over say a 4 week period of time?

 

[BobMurdoch]

Right now we've got competing figures... DVDEmpire's HD DVD spike can well be explained if word got around that Amazon.com had them for sale at a substantial discount (we're still dealing with fairly small numbers as 10,000 getting the word can be enough to skew the numbers).

I'm not comfortable betting on any outcomes until an independent entity is stating objective numbers and not influencing figures with discounts on one format but not the other.

Well, at least I solved the mystery as to why DVDEmpire was having HD DVD surging ahead.....

 

[John Kotches]

Since Dreamworks is owned by Paramount these days, why is anyone surprised they are going format neutral as the parent company has done?

Cheers,