Warner Bros. to remain neutral for 2007
- Posted September 13th, 2007 at 03:30 EDT by
- 14 Comments
With the recent announcement of Paramount becoming HD-DVD exclusive, everyone has turned his or her attention to Warner Bros. The last major studio to remain HD neutral, WB is in a unique position to sway the media format war in one direction or another.
During the last few weeks, several events have occurred, including rumored Microsoft and HD-DVD payoffs to Paramount and Dreamworks in exchange for an exclusivity agreement. This, coupled with HD-DVD's recently announced 51 GB disc, and even more rumors of money being put on the table, has created quite the buzz around the net as to whether Warner Bros. are currently being courted into a similar deal.
TWICE Magazine recently had the opportunity to speak with Ron Sanders, President of Warner Home Video, and clarified just what is going on right now inside the company and what outside influences there are.
In response to a report by the Los Angeles Times, which speculated that Warner had received a tempting offer to back only the HD-DVD format, Sanders had the following to say:
"We're talking to both sides and it’s crazy right now. We’ll see how the fourth quarter plays out. The consumer is still kind of divided, and we still believe that we should offer the content in both formats. Now, we will watch the marketplace very closely, and see how it plays out, but for now we are supporting both."
While this comment in no way confirms or denies the offers in question, it does however, mean that at least for this holiday season, WB will remain neutral. Also, from the sound of things, Sony and the Blu-ray Disc Association have also been in contact with Warner Bros. regarding a possible deal as well.
With Warner remaining neutral, both the BDA and the HD-DVD camp are in an even fiercer battle this holiday season, as it is likely that a combination of highest bid and best sales numbers is the key to claiming one more major studio. Be sure to check back for more updates on this, and all Blu-ray news here at PSU.
Source: Twice.com
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Comments
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gksamsgolf
- 10:42pm EDT - September 12th, 2007
- 1
put out batman begins and watch the blu-RAYS fly off the shelves
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Sniperwithacause |
Sniperwithacause- 10:54pm EDT - September 12th, 2007
- 2
All the batmans in a box set would be even sweeter
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Tha_Last_Romeo
- 4:46am EDT - September 13th, 2007
- 7
If Blu-Ray wins, microsoft will have to make a deal to use blu-ray, and that mean the XBox will have to retire... Everything runs on blu-ray. If Microsoft has to support blu-ray because all the consumers has it, there will be no HD-DVD Xbox to compete with the PS3. Blu-Ray Vs. Blu-Ray.... WOW... WB needs to go with Blu-Ray to end this damn thing. If they go to HD-DVD it will go on forever.
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kidkotic2001
- 6:02am EDT - September 13th, 2007
- 8
All the batmans in box set even the one with clooney will sell in blu ray. They will fly out of the shelves
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The Cleaner
- 12:53am EDT - September 14th, 2007
- 14
In the end, Fox dont care about Bluray or HD-DVD for the same reason. Fox is owned by NewsCorp which has massive cable bandwidth delivery systems around the world. They have long stated that digital delivery is their future and they have invested in this heavily. DVD & HD media is according to them - a transitional phase.
As for media distribution today - Fox likes DVD because its cheap, it's popular and it's accepted everywhere. They joined the Bluray camp on the promise of fool proof DRM but at the same time the Fox business doesnt like Sony because they are competing film studio's - They will only support it as long as its profitable. If Warner goes to HD-DVD then Fox will walk the very next day. Fox is also very keen on the Chinese market and the recent announcement that a HD-DVD compatible standard was selected exclusively for the region might also temp News to move across to HD-DVD anyway...
Warner Bros or Fox will probably decide the fate of Bluray as a movie standard. But Sony will always have the ability to prove Bluray as a gaming media for Playstation. All they need to do is release some good games...
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