I just received an email from DVDEMPIRE indicating that these titles were discontinued and were being cancelled from my order. Does anyone have information on what is going on with these two titles? These were two of the ones I was looking forward to the most.

Unlike other titles that had been announced previously these are nowhere to be found on the website's future release list. There is a section where they moved "Crouching Tiger" to after the date changed and so forth, but these did not go there. Looks like the studios must have competely pulled these.

Yep, I got those as well as Commando, Hannibal and Turistas. Looks like a) they're adding BD+ to these not-yet-pressed discs and/or b) retooling these with AVC/BD-50/extras. Note the AVC encoded, BD50's and extra filled Mr. & Mrs. Smith and From Hell have not been postponed.

If they wind up better, nothing wrong with a delay!

:)

That's true. After all we do have plenty of other juicy titles coming soon. Unlike the other folks waiting an eternity for similiar titles on HD-DVD. :p

If they wind up better, nothing wrong with a delay!

:)

Agreed. I am very anxious for SOTL though.

jAnyway, that doesn't mean we don't have some news for you. First up this afternoon, a Blu-ray Disc update. There have been a few reports today that Fox and MGM have cancelled a bunch of their upcoming Blu-ray Disc titles. I spoke with a senior Fox rep a short time ago, and this is completely untrue. What's happening is that they're moving some dates around. Nothing is being cancelled per se. Some titles are moving up, some are being pushed back. There's just a bit of fluidity to the schedule due to authoring and replication issues, and it should all settle down again soon. I'm sure there are those hyping this as "the end of Blu-ray" online, but the reality is far from it. We'll post more details on the revised street dates when they're available.
http://www.thedigitalbits.com/

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/

Glad to hear!

There may be just too many titles coming out. Those weeks were seeing 10+ releases every Tuesday. And maybe they wante dto get some breathing room from Casino Royale, Night At The Museum, Rocky Balboa, etc.

There may be just too many titles coming out. Those weeks were seeing 10+ releases every Tuesday. And maybe they wante dto get some breathing room from Casino Royale, Night At The Museum, Rocky Balboa, etc.

That may be your opinion or the opinion of the studios but I don't see the new release schedule as overcrowded at the moment. I see this as "shock and awe." I say keep 'em coming! :)

Hey I wasn't complaining! The more the merrier in my book.

Hey I wasn't complaining! The more the merrier in my book.
Exactly! I hope this year brings dozens of hot sellers and this format war is officially over very soon.

Keep in mind that Sony promised to provide BD-50 copies of "Casino Royale" to the first 500,000 PS-3 buyers in Europe where the PS3 goes on sale in late March. Surely a volume like that will affect both BD-50 production and disc pressing capacities.

I see this as "shock and awe." I say keep 'em coming! :)

++

This man speaks the truth! :D

One of the, if not THE primary reason I've become much more excited about BD is the agressive release pace. Don't start shutting off the faucet now guys! ;) :D

Dances with Wolves was previously avaiable for pre-order on Amazon ... just went to order it, and got the "this title not available" message. Hopefully just a short delay!

hmmm, i smell something fishy. these cancellations are starting to mount up. was that list at CES all smoke and mirrors ? was this release schedule never actually achievable ? did they just want people to get interested in blu-ray ?

and yes, not happy about this announcement at all. a few titles on that list that helped in my decision to switch. that's quite a chunk of titles to loose ... nice that they offered a "go away we're not telling you anything" reason.

curious minds would like to know.

hmmm, i smell something fishy. these cancellations are starting to mount up. was that list at CES all smoke and mirrors ? was this release schedule never actually achievable ? did they just want people to get interested in blu-ray ?
I think the real danger when you announce such a massive line-up all at once is that you've basically blown your wad already. In the short term, it does well to attract interest, but it doesn't look good when, for the next six months, the only real announcements you have left to make, beyond perhaps refining specs, are delays. I'm sure these titles will surface before too long, but I am curious to see just how many of the mass of titles announced at CES are actually going to be released as originally scheduled.

Maybe Fox see's HD-DVD total lack of commitment and think hell, we can ease off the pedal a bit. Who knows with less titles and more time for each transfer maybe PQ will benifit.

Well....they are postponed and I'm not going to try and spin it like the other forum.

That said, I am glad the heavy hitter releases are still on schedule.

There may be just too many titles coming out. Those weeks were seeing 10+ releases every Tuesday. And maybe they wante dto get some breathing room from Casino Royale, Night At The Museum, Rocky Balboa, etc.
How is it possible for too many titles to be released too quickly? :)

larry

How is it possible for too many titles to be released too quickly? :)

larry

Over-saturate the market and have Blu-ray's sitting on shelfs. This makes it look as if demand for BR was low. In addition, an uncontrolled release calendar could lead to weeks with no new BR releases.

Maybe Fox see's HD-DVD total lack of commitment and think hell, we can ease off the pedal a bit.

Don't say this. That's like the "Tortoise and the Hare" (http://childhoodreading.com/Arthur_Rackham/Tortoise_and_the_Hare.html).

My Amazon preorder of Dances With Wolves has not been cancelled but it has been pushed back to an estimated shipping date of April 19.

On an even worse note, my preorder of Dodgeball has been cancelled all together!

According to highdefdigest the following have all been postponed:

1. Commando
2. Dances with Wolves
3. Dodgeball, Ice Age
4. The Thomas Crown Affair
5. Dude, Where's My Car?
6. The Fly
7. Hannibal
8. The Silence of the Lambs
9. Tristan & Isolde
10. Turistas

I think the release dates are being moved around (maybe for higher priority movies) and nothing so far has been cancelled.

We can only hope that they will use this delay to change their minds and give us the extended version of "Dances With Wolves." That's the only way I'm buying it.

We can only hope that they will use this delay to change their minds and give us the extended version of "Dances With Wolves." That's the only way I'm buying it.

As much as I would like to hope for this also, I seriously doubt the delay is due to them wanting to give us the extended version. They will hold back on that version for a double dip down the road unfortunately. Who knows...maybe they will surprise us and show the consumer they are more worried about doing it right the first time as oppose to releasing the same movie five times over five years with special edition releases....extra special editions...and extra extra special special editions. :cool:

Personally I would like to think that they've pulled some of these titles off the schedule temporarily so they can include the bonus features from their standard definition counterparts. $40 for what are essentially bare-bones releases of Hannibal and The Silence of the Lambs (the two from the list of postponed titles that I was going to buy) is just not fair.

Damn. Dances with Wolves and Glory were the two movies I was most looking forward to and both have been delayed. :(

Who said anything about Glory?

Who said anything about Glory?

Glory had been announced for a Feb. release, then yanked off the schedule. Much like Marie Antoinette and Winged Migration.

Amazon cancelled my preorder for Ice Age. :( Waiting for SOTL to get cancelled too.