I'm baffled by the releases

not all to fustrated. And this does not surprise me at all with the current releases. I'm actually impressed by the releases so far. I was expecing a lot less.

Perhaps they're waiting for the hackers to find all the easy software cracks and plug them before they release the real crown jewels into the field. Since the AACS philosophy is essentially, "You may have cracked this disk, but we'll fix it for later disks", it behooves a content provider to not let their high-popularity, high-volume titles be in the first wave.

There's also the fact that the studios feel they can sell more with a coordinated campaign when the player volume is high than at a trickle over the years when player volume is just growing.

Right now the Studios are releasing titles based on past catalog sales history. Certain titles have been known to sell well over a long period of time. So releasing them early in the stage of things isn't a bad decision. Meanwhile other titles are known to sell their majority upon release so they want a larger base before releasing.

A prime example is Blazing Saddles. It sells extremely well for a catalog title and always has decent sales strength. It sold very well on DVD as one of the first releases. So it's an early NextGen release.

2007 will see the release of a few Spielberg titles as well as other extremely popular releases. These will hopefully help push next gen.

As it right now, NextGen is looking a lot like LD.

I want Top Gun now.

same here. I've been thrilled with whats been released since September. Particularly happy to see so many films from decades besides the 90s and '00s, especially with the 50s, 60's and 70s well represented.
I would love nothing better than to see these trends continue but i have a feeling that demographics more in line with the OPs will be served more in 2007.

It has slowed terribly IMO but the mix thus far has been great for me. If they keep it up similarly, I will be a happy camper.

Art

Well it copy cat the DVD a lot, i mean during the first 3 years it was almost only poor title, with more and more day to date being released. In fact a lot of Warner title were release this year on HD DVD and BR were the same that was released on DVD in 1997.. and around the same time too (Christmas Vacation is a good example)

Im not frustrated. I mean sure I want Star Wars and Spiderman and other monster titles but I never expected to have them right away. In fact Im not even expecting Star Wars for at least a few years. Any earlier would still be great. But there are still about 15 or more BD releases in January I plan on picking up. Not to mention I Still have plenty of Christmas movies to watch so I should be able to keep busy and wait patiently for the big guns to be released.

I wonder that myself. Maybe they have discovered that the masters for a lot of their catalog titles are going to require a lot of $$ to get a good HD release and just aren't ready to go full tilt into getting the releases done. In any event I don't think J6P is going to rush out and spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars on the HD equipment needed just to see the current level of titles any time soon.

I agree... "its the content stupid!"

b2b

It's about marketing. The video market is heavily geared towards new releases (including new re-releases) and big marketing efforts. If they release big titles now, they just sit there and people don't notice them as much. If they wait, they can promote them heavily and sell a ton of copies when the time comes.

It's a delicate balancing act of releasing titles that are just strong enough to create interest, but not too big to lose out on potentially bigger profits later.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Spiderman and Spiderman 2 in a few months, preceding the release of Spiderman 3 in the theatres. Either that, or else they would be released when Spiderman 3 is released to home video.

Similarly, I wouldn't be surprised to see Battlestar Galactica released on HD DVD near when the Season 2.5 DVDs are released.

Agreed. That makes sense. You ride on the marketing efforts of another product. The spidey series will be big for Blu-ray. I'm interested in BG myself as I haven't watched the series thus far so that's of interest.

We're simply not going to see the heavies come with not even a million dedicated players out in the marketplace.

they know you're going to buy all those AAA titles, so in the meantime, they're throwing turds out there...they know you'll probably buy these too, because it's the only thing available -- switch things around, and this wouldn't be the case.

sadly, I agree. Too bad for them though. Because until I see some titles that I am interested in, I will wait until buying into either format.

I am not surprised at all that we have not seen A-list titles so far EXCEPT for Sony.

It seemed to me that Sony Pictures had a vested interest in supporting Blu-ray that would over-ride the normal thinking about waiting with A-list titles. I therefore expected Sony corporate to instruct Sony Pictures Home Entertainment to pull out all stops to get quality titles out ASAP.

Perhaps we will still see this after the first of the year, but last year's efforts from SPHE were a big surprise to me. This is not to mention the quality issues with the launch titles, which was inconceivable, but they appear to have fixed that.

Do you not consider V for Vendetta, Superman Returns, Superman, King Kong, Batman Begins, Casablanca, and the Mission Impossible series, to name a few, to be A-list titles?

As far as home video sales go....

None of the Above would be considered A list with the exception of Casablanca.

The "A List titles," would be Titanic, Shrek, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Spiderman 1 &2, LotR, Matrix, Back to the Future, Indiana Jones, James Bond, JAWS, Die Hard, ET, Jurrassic Park, Finding Nemo, Lion King, Forrest Gump, Independence Day, Pirates of the Carribean.... not to mention pretty much all Disney & Pixar animated films which sell massive numbers in home video sales (Incredibles was top selling DVD of 2005 over Episode I for instance).

Those would be A List titles. What you listed are all pretty much good B list titles.

As far as I know the only A list title currently out on either format is Harry Potter IV and it's only available in Europe (but you can buy it and watch it on american players) on HD-DVD. The Matrix is ready to go waiting on the other two Matrix titles possibly as a Box set just so they can sell the other two Matrix titles.

I've heard that JAWS, Titanic, Shrek, the Spidermans, James Bond, and DIE Hards are all in the works for possible 2007 releases. With JAWS being the only HD-DVD exclusive, and the Spidermans, Die Hards, and Bonds BD exclusives.

King Kong made over half a billion dollars at the box office.

It must be tough getting on the A list these days...

I consider it a really nice title. But if you are going to go by worldwide gross, then "Ice Age 2" actually made more than "King Kong". As far as whether it is A-list or not, I really don't know.

--Darin

Yes these are A list titles.

Most of these are Warners, and they have been doing a good job in general. But consider that Warners has the LOTR trilogy for subsidiary New Line and the Matrix trilogy and has not released them despite dozens of plaintive posts on this forum.

I was also annoyed that Batman Begins was already on HBO-HD before it came out on HD DVD, and King Kong (from Universal) took months to be released on HD DVD despite being used in the launch advertising for Toshiba's player!

Most studios are holding back on their most important titles, understandably. Disney didn't release Cars or Pirates but gave us Dinosaur. Sony withheld Spiderman and Da Vinci as well as Lawrence but gave us Click as their first 50GB title. Fox withheld the Alien trilogy and, of course, SW.

The real point of my post was that I am surprised about this strategy from Sony, although I understand it from other studios.

Warner may be New Line's parent company, but that's ultimately New Line's call for LOTR. I can't hold that against Warner.

"I want it NOW!"

Thanks for reminding me how happy I am that Willy Wonka made it out this early

Actually, although the newest and greatest aren't out know, I think there's been a good mix. Better than I expected anyway.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=715977

Yea I agree I can't imagine these not being considered A list.

Art

I'm actually a little disappointed about releases - I think they should release ALL significant new movies day & date. One good pointer would be how many of the top 50 dvd releases of 2006 are on the new formats ?

I have too much time on my hands. The third group is the one I believe you're most interested in, and many of those titles predate day/date support by these studios.

On HD DVD and/or Blu-ray (22 titles; 12 Blu-ray exclusive; 6 HD DVD exclusive; 4 available on both formats)

3. X-Men: The Last Stand (Blu-ray)
5. Superman Returns (Both)
6. Ice Age: The Meltdown (Blu-ray)
10. Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (Blu-ray)
11. Click (Blu-ray)
12. Mission: Impossible III (Both)
14. The Devil Wears Prada (Blu-ray)
16. The Break-Up (HD DVD)
19. Scary Movie 4 (HD DVD)
25. Eight Below (Blu-ray)
27. Nacho Libre (Both)
28. You, Me and Dupree (HD DVD)
29. Monster House (Blu-ray)
32. RV (Blu-ray)
33. V for Vendetta (HD DVD)
34. World Trade Center (Both)
37. Miami Vice (HD DVD)
39. The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (HD DVD)
40. Underworld: Evolution (Blu-ray)
47. Little Man (Blu-ray)
48. Invincible (Blu-ray)
49. The Benchwarmers (Blu-ray)

Announced but not yet released on HD DVD and/or Blu-ray (4 titles; 2 Blu-ray exclusive; 2 potentially available on both with 1 currently an HD DVD exclusive)

20. Failure to Launch (Both)
22. Open Season (Blu-ray)
26. Saw III (Blu-ray)
44. Poseidon (HD DVD, at least for now)

Currently available on DVD; not available in high-def (14 titles; 9 Blu-ray exclusive; 2 HD DVD exclusive; 3 potentially available on both)

1. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (Blu-ray)
2. Cars (Blu-ray)
4. The Da Vinci Code (Blu-ray)
8. Over the Hedge (Both)
21. Inside Man (HD DVD)
24. The Pink Panther (Blu-ray)
30. Jackass: Number Two (Both)
35. Big Momma's House 2 (Blu-ray)
36. Step Up (Blu-ray)
31. Barnyard: The Original Party Animals (Both)
38. Tyler Perry's Madea's Family Reunion (Blu-ray)
43. The Shaggy Dog (Blu-ray)
45. Little Miss Sunshine (Blu-ray)
46. Curious George (HD DVD)

Not yet released on home video; not officially announced for either format (10 titles; 7 Blu-ray exclusive; 0 HD DVD exclusive; 3 potentially available on both)

7. Happy Feet (Both)
9. Casino Royale (Blu-ray)
13. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (Blu-ray)
15. The Departed (Both)
17. Night at the Museum (Blu-ray)
18. The Pursuit of Happyness (Blu-ray)
23. The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (Blu-ray)
41. Flushed Away (Both)
42. Deja Vu (Blu-ray)
50. Eragon (Blu-ray)

Wow, when you put it like that, Blu-ray would definitely have a propaganda coup if they could release that third category.

If Blu-ray really wanted a knock-out blow, they should have a coordinated deluge. Sony would release Spiderman 1,2 . Fox could certainly throw in the Aliens series and Disney has all of their animated movies, of course. Add Bond in as well as that would be a very severe blow that HD-DVD would find difficult, if not impossible to counter on the PR side.

Star Wars would likely be Blu-ray since it's always IIRC been distrubted by Fox, though given Lucas' DVD history don't expect it before 2010.

Matrix & Lord of the Rings series should be a wash since they're Warner/New Line (neutral).

It could cost the BDA studios a lot of money, of course, but if that won the format war, shouldn't they be able to catch up on the back end anyway? From the Insiders thread, it sounds like the reaction to TFE made certain studios want to triple check and ensure they are using good quality masters/transfers, but all they're doing now is letting HD-DVD go to ground and consolidate their position. I can certainly see Disney lacking any incentive to lose money at this point, but the consequences of HD-DVD winning should outweigh any short term loss concerns though, at least for Sony & Fox.

I'm currently at 8 & 8 for HD-DVD and Blu-ray releases, though I've been holding back to see what I'd get over the holidays. Probably time to unleash and see what's out there. Off the top of my head, there's not a whole lot that interests me without an immediate surge, but I've definitely bought everything I consider a "must" at this point except Batman Begins (I'm waiting to see what the Blu-ray offers, though will most likely be getting the HD-DVD) & Troy.

Barring some huge announcements at CES (which probably is more likely than not), January definitely looks to favor Blu-ray heavily, though.

Thanks for this. Though what I meant was top 50 DVD releases, so the 4th group won't be there.

I wonder how many were day & date. When we start getting nearly 100% day & date I think people will take notice ...

I really wish both sides would offer HD first, either earlier or more likely delaying standard DVD release for at least 2-4 weeks. I'm much more willing to pay in the 20-30 range if I'm getting it first.