January 04, 2006

Blu-Ray releases announced

BluRayDVD.jpgFour Studios have announced their titles list for the launch of Blu-Ray, with the date still to be announced. Sony Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Lionsgate and Paramount have all revealed the titles they intend to release.

From Reuters through Yahoo come the news of some of the top titles on those lists.

Sony are to release twenty titles initially including such names as Hitch, The Fifth Element, Legends of the Fall, House of Flying Daggers, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Desperado, For a Few Dollars More, The Guns of Navarone, A Knight's Tale, Kung Fu Hustle, The Last Waltz, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Robocop, Sense and Sensibility, Stealth, Species, SWAT and XXX...

...its initial slate will be released on single-layer, 25GB Blu-ray Disc with the exception of "Black Hawk Down" and "The Bridge on the River Kwai," both of which will be issued on 50GB dual-layer discs in the summer.

Fox are going for twenty titles too, Fantastic Four, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Behind Enemy Lines, Kiss of the Dragon and Ice Age are a few.

Lionsgate are up for ten, Lord of War, The Punisher, The Devil's Rejects, Saw, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Reservoir Dogs, Total Recall, Dune and Rambo: First Blood are mentioned.

The Paramount list includes Four Brothers, Sahara, Aeon Flux, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, The Italian Job, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, U2: Rattle and Hum, Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow, We Were Soldiers and The Manchurian Candidate..

...and will include, in 2006, "Mission: Impossible 3" alongside "Mission: Impossible" and "Mission: Impossible 2."

Sensibly though, not everyone is just dumping the existing customer base...

Mike Dunn, president worldwide for 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, said Fox plans simultaneous releases of its films on Blu-ray and DVD as the format takes hold with consumers and deepens its household penetration...

...Lionsgate's upcoming May theatrical horror release "See No Evil,"...will be the company's first title released simultaneously on DVD and Blu-ray

Wise move indeed, there will be a lot of us wise ones holding back purchasing...or perhaps leaping into it guessing which format will win through, eager for new technology...yup, I will probably be the latter, my apologies all.

What about these title releases though? For me there's not a lot that really grabs me, a couple of titles but nothing that would make me go wow. How about you?


Posted by at January 4, 2006 10:20 AM