jceperley

Okay, it was recently announced that New Line will be supporting both Blu-ray and HD DVD by the end of the year (I think the first is suppose to be a day & date with Hairspray), which I'm excitied about (just thinking of movies like Lord of the Rings on Blu-ray is mind-blowing) but I came to a scary relization. Here in Canada, New Line films are released (both in theatres and on DVD) by Alliance Atlantis, which is part of Universal. And as we all know, Universal is the one standing in the way of a Blu-ray victory. So, what's gonna happen here in Canada? Is New Line gonna break off from Alliance Atlantis/ Universal and give us both? or will the dark side gonna consume them and turn them to HD DVD only (meaning I have to import their films on Blu-ray from the States)?

fitprod

jceperley,

Please make sure the subject line is changed to reflect "in Canada" since this does not apply to the US.

fitprod

Th0r S1mpson

the dark side will gonna consume them

bunkaroo

I would think it wouldn't be much of an issue since Canada should be the same region on Blu-Ray as the US, and seeing as the Canadian dollar is strong against the US dollar, you could just buy those discs from Amazon US if need be.

J.J.A. Sabadoz

I buy most of my dvds from america anyways. And besides, hd discs don't get much of a discount in retail stores, so you should probably buy them online.

I wonder if it'd be economically feasable to master an hd dvd solely for canada? We might just get niether in canada.

Coral

I think we'll still get those titles untouched.

So far of all the HD-DVD and Blu-Ray releases, have any of them had bilingual covers? Is the Alliance-Atlantis stamp on any titles? I dont remember seeing AA touch any of the releases from both formats - I don't think they have the resources or just don't think it's worth the effort for something that has extremely small sales.

Adam Tyner

He can't make that change, but I can and have.

mdc3000

Uh yeah. Sony, Fox and more recently Universal discs have bilingual covers for the HD versions. However, I don't think that Alliance Atlantis will bother doing this themselves...they'll probably just import the blu/hd discs and slap an 'AA' sticker on them... but I don't really care much either way because Amazon.com is still the cheapest way to buy movies up here...

cultshock

This isn't true. Universal Home Video's Canadian division distributes Alliance Atlantis' home video releases in Canada, but they are two completely separate companies. They are not related, one just has a contract with the other.

That is more than likely what will be happening for the near future at least (AA might eventually start to print their own sleeves, and just import the discs, but I doubt they will be pressing their own HD discs anytime soon).

At any rate, regardless of what Universal's current feelings towards Blu-ray are, if New Line's distribution contract with Alliance includes distributing their future HD releases in Canada, I doubt if Universal's contract with Alliance would allow them to cherry pick releases, ie. they couldn't say "We'll distribute New Line's HD DVDs for you, but not their Blu-Ray discs". (especially since their contract was written long before this whole format war even began).