Bill Hunt Reports "Executive Upheaval" With Universal Right Now  

Welcome to the spin zone

The column was called "Apocalypto and a BIG Universal DVD & HD-DVD update"

Don't hold your breath. If Universal releases all those titles exclusively on HD-DVD by September as rumored, it means they're in this to win.

Sounds more like wishful thinking from Bill BluRay Hunt.

Over all decent Universal titles slated through the summer. I am curious to the motivation of the tipping your hat, sort of speak, a full six months out. I am not surprised about the "executive upheaval" with all of the changes made at the studio recently. I wonder if the opening price point Sony Blu Ray player was a studio concession (meaning lower retail price point players in the market, before studio support)? Sony did do a fast 180 in a very short period of time regarding price erosion.

Universal slate posted in HD DVD forum: 4:09 PM
Beatboy's message about Universal going neutral: 4:59 PM

You're getting slow.

I predict good things for this thread.

Does anyone think their will be a big blu-ray update now that Universal has announced these titles for HD DVD? Don't get me wrong, I am extremely pleased with the Blu-ray news as of late.

The HD-DVD people don't want to admit it, but if you take the list as gospel (and many are doing just that, even though a lot of titles don't actually even have any actual release dates like Blu-ray), then you need to take a LONG look at that paragraph.

I think the prospect that all major studios will be in Blu-ray is looking much brighter at this point since this confirms our musings that Universal will undergo some about-face this year.

Universal is in an interesting position: they are the ONLY participant that can do something that is apparently to their complete benefit which will also end the format war.

In multi-person game theory, such a player is thought to be under tremendous pressure to do the move that will end the game.

Of course, if I were planning on going neutral, I would make sure that I was not going to annoy customers who were counting on me. One way to do that would be to make it clear that they are getting a lot as well and are not being left in the cold.

I also find it interesting that the list ends in the summer.

Hey we got a mathematician in the lot!

As to the listing, do Blu-ray studios have listings that go beyond summer?

"All those titles"

It's only 59 titles I think, Sony alone plans on releasing more than that. Comeon now.

I think everyone is overanalyzing this list. I don't think anyone but the most feaithful Blu-ray supporter would consider Universal to be switching gears. They must have had plans for months in advance, and it would take a complete collapse on the part of HD-DVD for them to derail their own plans, especially as they are probably bound by signed contracts to do some of this production already.

Will they go neutral toward the end of the year? I doubt it. Will it matter? I have no idea, but again, I doubt it as far as the outcome of the format war.

My read on the situation on the ground is that Universal + Weinstein cannot counter Sony + Disney + MGM + Fox, and nothing has changed on that score. They can play a holding action to try and help buy time for Toshiba gain ground in the hardware race, but they cannot gain a title advantage.

What many in the HD-DVD camp (and even here in AVS land, the gamer demographic is underrepresented) does not realize is that while HD-DVD only has movies to support its sales, the PlayStation 3 will continue to gain momentum throughout the year as more and more games are released. Sure, most of these people buying the system will not buy movies in large numbers, but with the sheer number of units being sold, it doesn't take much.

Can Toshiba (and any CEs who can keep up with their pricing and jump into the HD-DVD market) keep up? I don't know. This will prove to be a very interesting year.

EDIT: The question now is what effects will the March numbers have on the format war. HD-DVD looks like it's going to be way behind on sales by end of March, and this list of titles will not stop the hemorrhaging.

Are these titles in addition to the 600 titles HD DVD is supposed to get worldwide? The HD DVD promotional at CES said something like "by the holidays, we'll have more than 600 movies available globally". But Universal did not have its entire release slate or even the number of 2007 releases at that time.

I'm struggling to see were the big hitters are.

I can see a couple of nice comedies and the odd cult hit, but beyond that.......

Hey, I say good for the HD DVD guys...they're starving for new releases. Personally, there are a few titles i would get if I had an HD DVD player, but since I expect Universal will be releasing on BD in the next 12 months, it's certainly nothing I cannot wait for.

This is in the wrong forum BB. You should have posted it in HDTV Software Media.

Yeah, what happened to Oshodi?

Put it this way, other than Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead, they're the kind of movies I can wait to hit the bargain bin.

I applaud you posting it here, b. It's a statement from Bill Hunt, after all.

Sometimes you just can't win, eh b?

Bravo, beatboy77!! Your marketing skills are clearly improving...

Only beatboy77 could spin this as good news for Blu-ray. It's not even news, but based off some B.S. speculation from the most famous Blu-ray shill of them all, Bill Hunt. I don't think anyone else could do Bill's job as well as he does...it is an extraordinary skill to so seamlessly interject one's own opinion into an otherwise hard news story. It would take Bill to write it and beatboy77 to hype it... ...what a team!

In case anyone missed the "upheaval" release earlier this month, there was a particular paragraph that must have been written in blue (otherwise you would have been able to read it behind your Blu-Ray Bans... ):


http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Enterta...-100521-1557r/

In fact, this paragraph was set aside by itself which makes it all that more prominent. One wonders why it is so frequently ignored... I can only assume because it doesn't serve your cause...

I definitely want some exciting Blu-ray news. Keep us updated beatboy77.

Yes, HdGameDb is my website. I'm glad you enjoy it. It seems a few do!

I always enjoy your posts even if we don't see eye to eye... I know there's one or two on the Universal list you'll get on HD DVD...

The "leak" about Universal HD DVD releases suggests a number of possibilities.

One that I have been contemplating is that this is Universal's way of saying something supportive to HD DVD supporters in anticipation of going neutral.

A story: a number of years ago (too many!), TV Guide had an ad campaign where they said "still only 15 cents" for their publication. A few months later, the price went up. Obviously, the ad campaign was to convince people that TV Guide was a bargain to pave the way for a price increase.

Could listing all of these titles just be a way of saying "we love you" to HD DVD supporters, in preparation for going neutral?

I have no reason to think that this is the case but it is an interesting thought just in terms of PR psychology.

If I were universal, i would stick with HD-DVD to the end, and then sell everybody the same movies again on blu-ray. Why sell one copy when you can sell two and not be demonized for it.