astemerman

found some interesting petitions...

Univeral Studios on Blu-Ray Disc Petition
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/BD1/petition.html

Jericho

Seems pretty pointless at this point (and possibly an old petition anyway)

astemerman

Yeah, i know. but there is another one trying to save HD-DVD as well. a bunch of people bitching about they just bought hd-dvd and now may have lost money. Probably why i waited to make sure which format was gonna win.

Gizmo

This petition is useless. If Universal wants to go Blu, they will. If they don't want to, they may hold out for months/years to see if the format is even viable. Universal has a lot of bad blood towards Sony, so they much just pack up their toys and go home. Paramount will go Blu, as they already have all the equipment ready.

RoboDad

This is kind what I've been thinking as well.

I wonder, though, if they will be perceived as being silly for doing so, considering that they will be the only studio not "going blu" (once Paramount shifts back).

tonymontana313

Who gives a shit about bad blood and feelings when there's potential money to be made? No company would be stupid to leave money on the table.

Gizmo

Well, one could argue what money from HDM. Right now 100k of a title sold in a week is "HUGE" on HDM while a lackluster DVD selling 2.5 million in a week is ignored. There may not be enough sales right to justify switching over to Blu-ray. Universal was more recently burned by Sony in the UMD field.

IIG

As much as I want American Gangster in the Blu-ray format, I won't be a part of this petition.

Supermallet

I think there's a reasonable expectation that Universal will release on Blu-ray once the final dust settles. In the end, it's all business. Universal gave it their shot and they didn't come out on top. But even Sony released on VHS, and they had much more at stake with Beta than Universal does with HD DVD.

pro-bassoonist

No worries. The market will take care of any past issues. Universal will be releasing on Blu-Ray.

Pro-B

Adam Tyner

I think there'd be more pressure to release on Blu-ray just because that's what everyone else is doing than because of any short-term financial gain. I'm hoping that same motivation will also get The Weinstein Company releasing once again.

Universal has borderline-nothing in the pipeline even for DVD, so I could see them sitting it out for a while; they may not even have a choice, unless they've been preparing for this eventuality for a while. (Honestly, it'd be pretty silly if they haven't braced themselves for this.)

Petitions are a waste of time. A more effective way to make your voice heard is with your wallet -- buy the Blu-ray discs you want and encourage your friends to do the same.

jiggawhat

Exactly. The shareholders aren't going to let them hold out for very long anyway.

QuePaso

The blu-ray insiders on the BD forum have been telling us to NOT be mad at Ken Graffeo, the face of the HD DVD PRG and the guy who takes care of business for Universal Movies for HD DVD. They have been hinting that talks are done and that we'll see something from Universal on Blu-Ray quite soon. These are the same insiders who let us know that Warner was going blu-ray exclusive WAY before anyone else, they clued us into the Target news WAY ahead, and much more. They are always 100% accurate and there is 0 reason to doubt them now.

So, end result, Blu-Ray movies from Universal Pictures will be here very soon. Just hang tight.

Qui Gon Jim

Good point. I would assume that soon after Toshiba announces, freeing other parties from their contracts, we'll see Universal step up. Paramount will be first, and their press release will probably follow minutes after Toshiba's.

Gizmo

I love the Blu-ray insiders. Hinting that Universal is going Blu? Well, we know HD DVD is dead, so its a given, eventually. Warner going Blu-ray exclusive? A coin flip of information. They were going Red right until a certain studio pulled out. Target information? What, 1 day before it happened? Anyone that works at Target would have gotten the plan-o-gram a week earlier and knew what was going on. The insiders over there really are a joke unless they work directly with the BDA, which many do not.

Just be patient. If Universal wants to release on Blu-ray, they will. However with all the posts about sub-par HD DVD releases in PQ/AQ, why would the Pro-Blu people even want Universal? If their HD DVD releases are so poor, what makes you think putting them on a different disc will do?

Supermallet

Gizmo, what, exactly are you trying to accomplish in this thread? First you say that Universal won't release on BD for a long time, now you're saying BD shouldn't even want Universal. We know you're upset about this turn of events, but come on, man, you're really reaching.

Besides, they're still better than Fox.

Qui Gon Jim

I do think there is a degree of hypocrisy. These people that come out from the BD forum to spread the word have long derided Universal's releases as being sub-par. Now their membership is being urged to be nice to Universal's president. Please.

These guys give themselves way to much credit for "influencing" things. If there is money to be made in releasing in BD, Universal will do it.

I totally agree that this is another grandstanding "soothsayer" post when a blind dog could see this result happening. Ridiculous.

Had things turned the other way, we wouldn't be hearing from 99% of these shilling assholes (not referring to any poster in particular, but the BD shill force in general). mod note: "In general" or not, that's still uncalled for. -namja

Gizmo

Bingo. That was my original thoughts on Universal going Blu.
So many people hated Universal and their sub-par releases, but are now clamoring to get Cat People and Time Cop.

Paramount announcement will be this week with Sweeny Todd being their last release (Maybe There will be Blood), and Universal will pull out with Fletch being the last title, and coming back to Blu-ray in mid-late August.

Just a guess.

Supermallet

I'd like to think Universal won't sit out the majority of the summer, but then again, Fox did just that last year, so who knows.

namja

Absolutely. And that ("final dust settles") may even be tomorrow.

dsa_shea

Where can I sign for some Universal releases on Blu-Ray?

tonymontana313

I assure you that I am not clamoring for Cat People or Timecop.

tonymontana313

I love BD as much as the next guy but I do not trust the main insiders of Bluray.com with the exception of paidgeek, kjack, talkstr8t, and Bill Hunt. Most of the insider talk centers around Penton Man and maxpower, the ones I distrust the most.
Both of these guys make super vague statements which could go either way and Penton's thread is filled with so much shit it makes me wonder what exactly the mods are doing over there.

FusionX

I would love to see Universal on Blu-Ray, but their HD-DVDs were so hit & miss with video quality.

PopcornTreeCt

I didn't think Universal was hit or miss. Everything that I have from them looks great. IMO, they were the best studio releasing discs on both sides.

I'm sure Universal will go Blu and I hope they do soon to appease the O' Mighty One that we may soon get Jaws released.