StudioCanal to support Blu-ray?
After Paramount unceremoniously dropped Blu-ray from its HD plans, at least for a while, we've been waiting for the other shoe to drop. While this might not affect things in the U.S., European distributor -- and so far HD DVD only -- StudioCanal has apparently released Blu-ray box art for its upcoming series of Les Bronzes films. With the third largest film library in the world this is a pretty major shake up...if true. It seems DVDRama has posted StudioCanal-to-Blu-ray info in the past and the promised discs never followed, so we'll keep this one on "rumor" status pending an official announcement out of IFA before preparing our import PS3s for Brotherhood of the Wolf.[Via Blu-ray.com, thanks Dominic & ag23]
Read -Les bronzes en hd-dvd et blu-ray! - DVDRama
Read - HDM Rumor Thread - AVSForum
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Nfinity @ Aug 31st 2007 9:14AM
No Studio Canal is not going Blu-Ray..it's not sure if it's a mistake or not on that site..but when the information indeed comes out and this FUD again gets proven wrong, I'm sure you won't update your post.
Xyzzy @ Aug 31st 2007 9:17AM
Woah, hang on a second. Why the hell is this posted here? I didn't think EngadgetBD believed in import titles? You can't just go down to the store and buy a Studio Canal title, so why is it listed here? That's what I've been constantly told by the BD fanboys (Ben - I'm looking at you!) as to why nobody has made a SINGLE mention of the fact that you can import HD DVD titles from overseas that are BD-exclusive in the States.
"before preparing our import PS3s for Brotherhood of the Wolf."
Or you could buy an HD DVD player anywhere in the world and import any HD DVD disk you want in the entire world (including Brotherhood).
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=855923
Oh yeah, sorry, I've been told that there is no BD bias here. My mistake.
Richard Lawler @ Aug 31st 2007 9:25AM
Xyzzy,
Actually, we have talked about that.
http://www.engadgethd.com/2006/07/19/studiocanal-hd-dvd-releases-encoded-at-1080p-24p-easy-imports/
Thanks.
anthony @ Aug 31st 2007 9:24AM
Ohhhh third largest library in the world.
I guess HD-DVD has put a new target price point...$100.Seeing this staggering news.Other than universal and VIAflop who supports HD-DVD?There all flipping like pancakes.
LOL
zargon @ Aug 31st 2007 10:14AM
How is this staggering news when it has been proven they are not going Blu-ray exclusive? Nevermind it is for Europe, good luck importing if Blu-ray companies keep the region lock.
Xyzzy @ Aug 31st 2007 9:35AM
That must've been before I started reading this site -- how things have changed around here in 13 months. Thanks for pointing that out though!
I'm mainly referring to the fact that each time someone mentions the fact that HD DVD is region-free, we get the same "Who cares, those titles are expensive" rhetoric, with Ben even saying that they don't count because you can't go buy them at Best Buy or Blockbuster, followed by other BD fanboys saying, "This is the US, we don't care about the rest of the world." Now this post shows that maybe that's not entirely true afterall - there actually IS interest in imports? The horror.
Kenzo @ Aug 31st 2007 9:27AM
Even if true, this does not mean Bluray exclusivity. This means "NEUTRALITY"...something very different...and something your post conveniently leaves out.
domerdel @ Aug 31st 2007 11:04AM
Kenzo: actually, it mentions it, just not literally. It's stating it was HD-DVD only for awhile until the new box art is surfacing... going from exclusive to neutral is a big deal... definitely not as big as going the other way, but still a big deal
borland502 @ Aug 31st 2007 10:16AM
"there actually IS interest in imports?"
There is always interest in imports, but it is a minority interest in the US. Love it or hate it, we produce most of the blockbusters that garner international attention. And big International films, like the excellent "The Lives of Others", get released here.
We are free to import if we choose at the moment. BD has region encoding, but thus far it hasn't been enforced. And out of curiosity, has any US BD exclusive been released recently on HD DVD in Europe? Or are all the titles you cite from when HD DVD was the only game in town?
I'm not sure why you get so worked up here. Even if EngadgetHD turns out to bleed blu blood, you seem cocky enough to believe that HD DVD will win. Therefore, you should be rehearsing your victory dance on the moderators instead of complaining. Won't this perceived bias be all the more sweeter later?
Xyzzy @ Aug 31st 2007 10:24AM
@borland502:
I don't know that HD DVD will win. I hope it does, but that's not the point. The point is that this is supposed to be a generic HD site, but most of the posts are heavily leaning towards the Blu side. I'd expect that on EngadgetBD, and if they change their name to that I will stop posting. But if it's supposed to be a generic HD site, then the coverage shouldn't be slanted towards one side.
As for released titles, just look at the link I posted. We're not talking films from other countries, we're talking about films like Reign of Fire, Harry Potter (neutral studio, but not released here yet), Underworld: Evolution, Mr. and Mrs. Smith (not even released here, but it's a BD exclusive by Fox), etc.
Region Free HD @ Aug 31st 2007 10:20AM
You know, with all the HDM anti-trust stuff going on in Europe, maybe ALL European studios/distributors will go NEUTRAL. Fine by me!
FATALI-, uuuhhhhhhh, NEUTRALITY!
Region Free HD @ Aug 31st 2007 10:21AM
You know, with all the HDM anti-trust stuff going on in Europe, maybe ALL European studios/distributors will go NEUTRAL. Fine by me!
FATALI-, uuuhhhhhhh, NEUTRALITY!
SimbaDogg @ Aug 31st 2007 12:40PM
@Xyxxy
i really dont get your point about importing foreign films. yeah, its great that you can do that, but thats really not news, thats more a feature of the format. once it has been discussed once, should it ever be discussed again? Why report the same news more than once: "Aug 11th, president bush underwent colonoscopy procedure. Aug 24th, bush has colonoscopy prodecure performed two weeks ago. Sep 1st, did everyone know that bush had a colonoscopy done?" Sure its a bad analogy, i admit it, but news can only be NEW once.
but i do think this is a big deal, in the same way that paramount switching over was a big deal here in the us. As American-centric as a lot of people are, they forget that Europe is comprised of a lot of countries, and lot of consumers, and a VERY large dvd watching fan base. If one of the largest studios goes from being exclusive to being big, its really a big deal.
Dave @ Aug 31st 2007 1:04PM
I think it's inaccurate to compare this announcement to Paramount--considering Paramount has gone exclusively HD-DVD, whereas StudioCanal is merely adding Blu-Ray support. That's a significant difference.
Xyzzy @ Aug 31st 2007 1:18PM
@Simba: "Why report the same news more than once:"
Oh, I agree 100%! But it's never been reported here, not even once...
SimbaDogg @ Aug 31st 2007 1:29PM
@Dave
By your logic, i'm guessing if Universal added blu ray support, that wouldn't be a big deal? No...it would, you know it, and everyone else knows it. This is the Euro equivalent of that. Nothing more, nothing less. So yes, a BIG studio going from exclusive to neutral, well...its like ron burgundy...kinda a bid deal.
@Xyzzy
Ok, you have a point there, its never been posted. Discussed, but not posted. But i just dont think something like that is news worth, i mean, i wouldn't expect engadget to post something saying ps3 games are region free (which they i dont think they ever have). Its more of a feature of the format than news about it.
Xyzzy @ Aug 31st 2007 2:03PM
@Simba: The reason I've been told that it hasn't been reported is because nobody cares -- the US is the center of the universe and they don't care about imports. I don't agree with that statement (especially since some people who have seen my posts and didn't know about importing were pretty excited by the news, but that's what I was told as to why this site doesn't make mention of imports.
Fast forward to today -- and voila, a pro-BD *RUMOR* that doesn't affect the US and is about imports. Yet another double standard (which really has been my recurring complaint).
Andrew @ Aug 31st 2007 2:52PM
"And out of curiosity, has any US BD exclusive been released recently on HD DVD in Europe?"
http://forums.highdefdigest.com/showthread.php?t=10696
SimbaDogg @ Aug 31st 2007 9:46PM
@Xyzzy
"@Simba: The reason I've been told that it hasn't been reported is because nobody cares -- the US is the center of the universe and they don't care about imports. I don't agree with that statement (especially since some people who have seen my posts and didn't know about importing were pretty excited by the news, but that's what I was told as to why this site doesn't make mention of imports.
Fast forward to today -- and voila, a pro-BD *RUMOR* that doesn't affect the US and is about imports. Yet another double standard (which really has been my recurring complaint)."
eh...like i said before, a lot of people in America are America-centric. Thats why so many countries around the world dont like the US, and hate American tourists (except for their money). The point of this post was to show that studio canal, a totally separate entity from the US has decided to go blu . Not like we're going to be importing their movies, because they can't play over here, so there isn't really any "import" news about it.
Eddie @ Sep 6th 2007 7:44PM
We're not talking imported overseas titles, we're talking importing American made films *back* here in HD DVD. And I too have seen the immediate shooting down of any mention that HD DVD titles that can't be, won't be, or haven't been released on HD DVD here can be easily had from overseas. Yet here we can very easily see StudioCanal going BD overseas, yet no one is shooting down the impact this will have in BD's favor.
At this point, I'm not sure anyone is asking you guys to change, just admit it so we don't feel so crazy when we notice such disparity between the coverage given to the dueling formats.