New Line Cinema Drops HD DVD

[gkarris]

The fat lady is singing!!!

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/s...s/New_Line_Details_Transition_to_Blu-ray/1351

New Line Details Transition to Blu-ray
Tue Jan 08, 2008 at 05:06 PM ET
Tags: Industry Trends, New Line (all tags)

Confirming earlier reports that it would follow Warner to Blu-ray exclusivity, New Line says its first HD DVD title ('Pan's Labryinth') will also be its last.

Though it was widely assumed that New Line (whose parent company is Time-Warner) would follow Warner Home Video's lead and continue to release on HD DVD through May 2008, a company rep tells us that New Line's move will go into immediate effect, with all of the studio's planned HD DVD releases now cancelled (including the HD DVD versions of current Blu-ray releases 'Hairspray' and 'Rush Hour 3,' which had previously been planned for HD DVD release sometime in early 2008).

As for 'Pan's Labryinth,' which hit stores late last year as the first (and only) New Line HD DVD release, the studio says that once current retail supplies are depleted, the title will be discontinued -- making it an instant collector's item.

New Line says it's not planning to issue an official press release trumpeting the move, ending its short-lived HD DVD support with a relative whimper.

The studio also tells us they won't be revealing any new Blu-ray titles at CES, though they do plan to continue to support the format throughout 2008 with a variety of new release and catalog titles to be announced in the future.

As always, we'll keep you posted...

 

[72930]

Not that I'm going to have a player for either (unless I buy a PS3) or that I think this will really affect me, its a relief to see this war really is over(-ish). Its gotten so tedious, and when BD sales still don't rocket due to digital downloads, I'll have a right laugh at Sony.

 

[gkarris]

Not that I'm going to have a player for either (unless I buy a PS3) or that I think this will really affect me, its a relief to see this war really is over(-ish). Its gotten so tedious, and when BD sales still don't rocket due to digital downloads, I'll have a right laugh at Sony.

On to the next format war!

DVD vs. Blu-ray vs. Digital Delivery

 

[neoserver]

Not that I'm going to have a player for either (unless I buy a PS3) or that I think this will really affect me, its a relief to see this war really is over(-ish). Its gotten so tedious, and when BD sales still don't rocket due to digital downloads, I'll have a right laugh at Sony.

I disagree, I think BR will succeed, as there are plenty of people still around that don't have a capable internet connection for downloading Hi-Def movies. While I have cable internet, its only 5Mbps, so I can't say downloading will be a viable option for me. And then theres the people still stuck on dial-up who want to enjoy Hi-Def.

 

[CWallace]

It's good to have a standard, even if that doesn't guarantee success for the winning format.