Hi-Def News: Paramount (finally) commits to Blu-Ray

Late Wednesday, as one media outlet put it, "the last domino fell."

Paramount, the last of the major Hollywood studios backing HD-DVD, had been notably silent in the two days following Toshiba calling it quits and Universal switching sides to Blu-Ray. On Wednesday, in a statement issued through The Hollywood Reporter, Paramount Home Entertainment finally (and quietly) caved and announced their commitment to once again release their catalog and upcoming features in Blu-Ray.

"We are pleased that the industry is moving to a single high-definition format, as we believe it is in the best interest of the consumer ... As we look to (begin) releasing our titles on Blu-ray, we will monitor consumer adoption and determine our release plans accordingly." No further details were provided.

Now, as I've noted in earlier entries, Paramount SHOULD be in great shape to start releasing catalog and new features in blu-ray right away--after all, they WERE format neutral (releasing in both formats) until August of last year. They've got everything they need, or so you'd think.

But you have to wonder what must be going through the heads of the execs over there right now. They made that move to HD-DVD exclusivity last summer amidst MUCH hoopla and fanfare (and controversy, considering the rumors that Microsoft paid them HUGE to make the move), they alienated many blu-ray enthusiasts by not following through with catalog released they'd made available for pre-order months before, of which "Top Gun" was the most notable, they released their summer megahit, Transformers in the single format and boasted huge first week sales numbers (those numbers turned out to be VERY inflated, as several media sources noted almost immediately), and they spent the rest of the year and the holiday season watching HD-DVD lose more and more ground in terms of sales and market share. Is it even possible to imagine how much more they would've made on the release of Transformers alone, not to mention all the other titles that hit shelves in the back half of 2007, had they simply stayed format neutral? Now yes, if they did get money from Microsoft, that might've offset the loss somewhat, but still ... what a colossal blunder.

Oh well, all water under the bridge now. Us blu-ray enthusiasts will happily forgive Paramount (and Dreamworks once they make their announcement) once we can get our hands on high-definition versions of stuff like Gladiator and Star Trek.

Now if only I could spend my tax rebate JUST on blu-ray movies ...