HD-DVD: What's up with the lack of future releases ??
 

I recently picked up the HD add-on for the 360 and so far I'm fairly pleased with the unit (aside from the audio issues which are supposed to be fixed soon).

After reading the thread in this forum and checking for future releases on various on-line retail sites, I have to say I'm pretty underwhelmed by the number of upcoming HD releases. Is it just me, or does it seem like Bluray has a bunch of announced titles, while HD-DVD has very few ??

You'll see a lot more from both camps in early January at CES. I agree that Warner's reluctance to announce anything on HD DVD is frustrating, and Universal's been a lot quieter than usual too. Since pretty much everything on the format is from those two studios, limited releases from them means limited releases for HD DVD.

I don't think the lack of announcements bodes poorly for HD DVD -- just that Warner and Universal are keeping their cards absurdly close to their chests.

Paramount will be much more aggressive in 2007. I believe they will put alot of focus on day & date titles, but will still offer several catalog releases. And once the cautious New Line finally steps up to the plate and starts releasing product, there should be plenty of movies to go around next year. I think part of the flurry of announcements from the BD studios is marketing. It's also a good way to tell all the new PS3 owners that they will have a great opportunity to use their new BD capable player in the coming months.

These studios really need to step up the quality HD releases.

Here is my HD wishlist for catalog titles from WB, Universal, and Paramount:

Apocalypse Now
Assassins
Back to the Future Trilogy
Batman
Batman Returns
Ben-Hur
Beverly Hills Cop
Brotherhood of the Wolf
Citizen Kane
Gladiator
Godfather Trilogy
Heat
Hitchcock
Indiana Jones Trilogy
Interview with the Vampire
Jurassic Park
King Kong (1933)
The Matrix Trilogy
Meet Joe Black
Ocean's Eleven
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Peter Pan
Rebel Without a Cause
Saving Private Ryan
Scarface
Sleepers
The Shining
Top Gun
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
True Romance
Universal Horror
The Wizard of Oz

Announcements are nothing. Worry about shipments.

They're probably waiting for CES. Hopefully in a few more weeks, we'll hear about some new titles.

Bingo.

I have to admit, I am also disappointed with the announced release schedule for HDs. Hopefully more are coming in the near future.

On a side note, JHosk, not sure you are checking your regular email or not, but FS is having buy two, get one free on HDs (and BDs) over Boxing Day in store only, so if you are still looking to get Fearless, it might be a good time to pick it up.

What is FS?

Future Shop in Canada.

Cool. Thanks for the tip MK. I was in FS the other day, and there were no copies of fearless. I'll still probably take advantage of that deal though, as I'm sure there are at least two discs I am interested in.

Spiky...this is probably a total noob question, but what did you mean by worry about the shipments ??

I'm new to HD...what's "CES?"

Consumer Electronics Show. It's a massive trade show in January.

I got that Future Shop email as well and am jumping all over this...will probably pick up 6 hd's... (whatever I don't get off my xmas list!)

Just browse through the last few pages of Amazon. They haven't been officially announced yet, but just look at a few possible titles we might be seeing in HD-DVD next year. For example, Amazon has these listed:

The Matrix Trilogy
Friends
Batman
40 Year Old Virgin
Braveheart
Harry Potter (all 3 of them)
The Goonies
The Shining
Band of Brothers
Twister
Seven
The Green Mile
Ocean's Eleven
Ocean's Twelve
Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Natural Born Killers
Wizard of Oz
The Shawshank Redemption

Like I said, not official, but I will definitely sink my teeth into quite a few of these if they ever see the light of day. Seven, and Braveheart are almost guarenteed to come out next year, and don't be surprised to see the Matrix Trilogy either.

All of these, except one, were mentioned at CES last year and/or showed up on the "WB leaked list" or Toshiba's website after last years show as well. Many have had Amazon placeholders for at least 10-12 months as a result.

Afaik, The 40 Year Virgin is the only Universal title that was shown at CES last year that has not been released by them yet.

How is that when Amazon just added 2 pages of HD-DVD's over the past week or so? I've been browsing Amazon about every day for about a week or so trying to decide which HD-DVD's to get for the 10% off discount, and a lot of those just got added. Some that come to mind are The Shawshank Redemption, Seven, Twister, The Goonies, Wizard of Oz, Singin in the Rain, Batman just to name a few.

But, they could have had a few titles taken down for a few days.

Amazon's had placeholder listings for titles that haven't been released for months. Heck, they had a placeholder for Star Wars years in advance. It doesn't mean anything.

Pay attention to shipping titles, not announced titles. Many things don't get announced til they ship, others are announced months in advance and do absolutely nothing for you. Same goes for hardware, ship dates get changed all the time, waiting is painful.

Worry about those that you can actually buy. Right now.

Maybe you should re-read what I wrote?

But with AskMen.com already reviewing Seven, and Braveheart in HD, like I said, there is a very good chance for those.

Also, if you don't mind imports, or spending money on imports, check out xploitedcinema.com There is a possibility that a few Blu-ray exclusive titles get released in other countries on HD-DVD. The guy that runs the site, Tony, also takes requests.

BTW, if you liked Running Scared, I would highly recommend you pick up the HD-DVD version of it.

I was just reading the post I responded to. Glossed over the earlier one.

Ah, no biggie.

Also keep a look out on High Def Digest's Release Dates: http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/releasedates.html

I am considering HD now over Blu Ray. How long after a studio releases a standard edition until it comes to HD, or for the most part is it the same/depends on the title? Do most Warner Brothers titles get HD? What are the odds something like a Pan's Labyrinth will come to HD since Warner Brothers is part of that film?

My somewhat-correct way of knowing what HD format something will make it to:
Example: Pan's Labyrinth

1. Go to the movie's IMDB Page.
2. Click on Company Credits on the left-hand side.
3. Go to Wikipedia's page for the movie.

You're correct that it is a WB film. However, it looks like Picturehouse is some sort of joint venture between New Line and HBO, both TW companies. We've seen (and/or will see) some WB and HBO releases but New Line hasn't announced anything and probably won't until Jan 2007 (my guess).

I would be delighted to see if this movie day and dates on HD DVD but I'm not holding my breath.