BEE MOVIE HD cancelled - will some make it to retail?
 

well, we all know Dreamworks cancelled the HD release of BEE MOVIE... but they just cancelled it last week... only 12 days before street date...

my thought is they have to be finished - and probably many of them have already shipped to retailers and are awaiting 03-11 to be put out on the shelf... unless of course they get sent back...

where would be the best place to try and get one?

I had good luck with a couple of online retailers when the Led Zeppelin HD and BLU RAY dvds were recalled back in December, but both of those weren't recalled until the actual street date and not 12 days before as with Bee Movie...

would anyone care to offer suggestions where I might try to obtain one?

also - starting on 03-11 - would anyone please care to post if they see them out in stores?

thanks

This is what gets me... I used to work in a DVD manufacturing plant and these titles are prepared 6 months in advance. If they've gone through the trouble of already paying to have them manufactured then why not just release them? There are a good amount of people who will buy them regardless of whether the war is over...

I was at movie stop last night, and they had a sign stating that it will be out on DVD and HD-DVD.....my Columbia House pre-order is still active as well. I don't see this not shipping out.

^They did the same thing with the Blades of Glory BD last year a week before release and apparently only 3 or 4 copies managed to sneak onto shelves or into a warehouse workers jacket (some guy at blu-ray.com just got one of Ebay for $200 LOL).

I'm not sure Dreamworks Animation officially cancelled anything. The whole thing is littered with misinformation and confusion with Dreamworks SKG. That being said, one only has to ask in any review copies went out. That should give an idea as to what is actually out there in the marketplace.

As to Blades of Glory, I'm not sure any ever got out. Supposedly some guy in Canada kept buying copies at some small store. Everything about the copies seemed legit, but it just seemed odd that they only copies in existence kept showing up at the same small store and kept being bought by the same guy. It may have happened, but then again there's enough doubt to make me think it didn't.

No reviewers have received Bee Movie on HD DVD.

You are correct. Dreamworks Animation (not dictated by Dreamworks SKG and Paramount's actions) has not issued any cancellation on Bee Movie. They even still have the HD DVD with all features listed on the official Bee movie website. Just a lot of speculation on HD owners and a initial rumor on a blog site. Even if they did officially cancel it at the eleventh hour, I bet there will be numerous stores who don't get the message. Remember Ed Wood? I bet these have already been pressed and are sitting in the stock rooms of many a stores.

Not exactly. Paramount is still distributor for both sides of Dreamworks, and Paramount has cut off HD DVD screeners. They didn't send out review copies of Into the Wild or Things We Lost in the Fire, both of which were released to retail this week.

If Bee Movie is still on track for release (I personally expect that it will be officially cancelled soon), reviewers wouldn't get screener copies in any case.

Bee Movie HAS been official cancelled by Dreamworks on HD DVD. No copies were shipped to retailers. If any copies "got out" they would be by sneaky employees only. :)

Wonder why Amazon still has it listed while they pulled off "There Will Be Blood" and others?

Depends on the studio... A title being pressed six month in advanced is not the normal procedure for most major studio product.

I've been around the QC end, and aside from old catalog titles, I never saw a DVD release be approved for the final glass master more than 1 or 2 months in advance.

Hell, I worked on one title where I had to personally fly with the DLT to Alabama, so I could do the final QC at the plant. (I know they're doing their jobs, but it was quite interesting trying to inform the security guards that you could not put the DLT tape through the x-ray machine...)

fitprod

Deep Discount still has it listed for pre-order. Wether or not it will actually ship is another thing alltogether.

I notice it's now missing from bestbuy.com and amazon.com - I had one preordered from there as well - but it's now disappeared...

It's still showing up as pre-ordered in my account history on Columbia House, but when I searched their inventory, it's no longer there.

Will they contact me about doing a swap on this pre-order (since it was part of the BOGO), do I contact them, or will they send me the damn standard version!

I've never experienced this with Columbia House and want to know what my best option is. Thanks,

Oddly enough, this week's Future Shop flyer is saying "Also available on HD DVD" under its listing for the Bee Movie DVD. However, the HD DVD is not listed online.

I was under the impression that DreamWorks and Paramount DID cancel any upcoming HD-DVDs while DreamWorks Animation was still contracted under Toshiba to put out HD-DVDs until said otherwise?

Well, sort of. Both Paramount/Dreamworks and Dreamworks Animation were getting paid something (either cash or subsidies or whatever) to be HD DVD exclusive. I believe Dreamworks Animation was more interested in continuing that contract than Paramount/Dreamworks.

Now, I don't know the terms of the contract. Never saw them, have no clue what's in them. But I'd be shocked if Toshiba didn't have some sort of out clause to terminate the deal prematurely. They're an enormous corporate entity and have a good sized legal team. It would almost be malpractice not to include something like that in there.

Basically, Dreamworks Animation's intent was to continue to fulfill their obligations under the deal. The deal was beneficial to them and there was no reason to cancel a good thing. Their public statements only helped reinforce their position and avoid any possible thought or idea that they would breach or terminate the contract themselves. Paramount/Dreamworks, for whatever reason, decided not to continue with the contract. Made their benefits weren't as good, but they seemed to work something out with Toshiba, either by terminating the deal or reaching a settlement.

In the end, I suspect Dreamworks Animation reached a similar settlement or Toshiba was able to exercise some sort of termination clause or something. I don't think Dreamworks Animation would cancel their release until they knew their position was secured. Basically it was all about bargaining as much as anything.

Now, there is one point that you bring up that Josh Z also mentioned. And it's something I glossed over a bit in my earlier post. Paramount/Dreamworks cancelled all their future releases. Dreamworks Animation is not Paramount/Dreamworks, but a separate entity. But Dreamworks Animation IS distributed by Paramount/Dreamworks. And if they are distibuted by Paramount/Dreamworks, then when Paramount/Dreamworks announced that they where cancelling all their titles, where they speaking only about films they own or were they talking about the wider pool of films that they distribute? Don't know and its open to interpretation.

I suspect that the negotitating between Dreamworks Animation and Toshiba was settled, and that agreement allowed Dreamworks Animation to stop whatever production they had done on Bee Movie. Yeah, Dreamworks Animation would gladly still support HD DVD if Toshiba paid them. But if they get paid another way (or Toshiba was otherwise able to terminate their contract), then they probably don't care about releasing on HD DVD.

I have the same situation with Columbia House, and since they have no way of reaching them by phone, you have to e-mail them through the website. I had e-mailed them once about it and their response made no sense, they just listed my order and said which one's have shipped.

Then I went to the CH site and suddenly under the "Items you've pre-ordered" section on the right, Bee Movie was missing and it was replaced with Sweeney Todd 2-dsc SE Standard Def version. Which I did not pre-order at all.

So I e-mailed them a second time explaining all of this, and requested a replacement selection. They replied saying that Bee Movie has not been cancelled and is scheduled to ship on 03/11/2008 and that they show no signs of Sweeney Todd being ordered on my account. Unfortunately their e-mail interface prevents me from adding a screen cap of the site that clearly shows Sweeney Todd listed as an item I've pre-ordered.

This is upsetting me because I pre-ordered Bee Movie as part of the BOGO Hi-def promo they had a few weeks ago and this was a free selection. I want to be able to get a replacement selection of my own choosing once these geniuses figure out that this title has been cancelled.

Some are out there
 

One of my local video stores said they have Bee Movie HD in stock he said they recieved them this morning but not sure if they will hit the shelves come tuesday or not if so im buying for sure

^^ Interesting. Hope this is the case.

well, it's now no longer available to order from Deep Discount... I thought I might have one on the way from Tower.com... they've already charged my credit card... then I went to their FAQ section and found out they actually charge your card in full when you place the order - not when it ships... so I see a credit coming back to me (hopefully) at some point... still hoping to find one this tuesday somehow...

I've got it ordered from three different locations (Amazon, FYE, and I placed a reserve for it at Hastings the other night) and so far they are still pending. Really want a copy of this. I liked the film and it will undoubtedly look amazing in HD.

I too have it ordered from FYE & Amazon... but if you'll notice it's no longer listed on amazon's site (even though my order is still pending)...

Hastings is the local place i was talking about above where the guy said they have them in stock but arent sure if they will be releasing them tuesday or not.

Isn't this illegal now? I thought it wasn't just a policy that stores don't charge until shipment, but a law.

Either way, fuck Tower. I don't give corporations interest-free loans.