Before you rush off to theaters to catch Quantum of Solace this November, MGM and Fox are planning to keep you squarely planted on the couch for at least a few days in October. Announced today, the two studios have agreed to push out a half dozen Bond classics on Blu-ray this October (20th internationally; 21st in North America), each of which will be "restored and re-mastered." The films in question are Dr. No, Die Another Day, Live and Let Die, For Your Eyes Only, From Russia With Love and Thunderball. There's no mention of a price just yet, but judging by how extraordinarily well Casino Royale did, we're sure these will do just fine.

[Image courtesy of OriginalProp]

Comcast subscribers will soon get a taste of MGM HD's 4,100-movie deep library, as the channel just inked a deal with the cable giant for both its linear channel and VOD service. Of course, the question of how much, if at all, extra it will cost to get the channel and when it will be squeezing onto QAMs near you have yet to be answered, but for now we're inclined to give more HD "choices" a glass half-full lean.

Don't worry about Showtime, the network insists the threat of a Viacom-MGM-Paramount-Lionsgate premium movie channel is not going to hurt it, and in fact it's "in a better position as a free agent", according to VP Stu Zakim. Multichannel News has word from the corporate PR exec that only two movies ranked among the 20 top rated programs on the network in 2007, and considering the license fees the studios asked, it was better served investing in series development and marketing. We can expect fresh movies on Showtime through 2010-11, but after that it'll be up to remaining partner CBS Films to keep serving up the flicks, but for lovers of Weeds, Californication and Dexter there should be plenty more where that came from.

Hope you like your movies served fresh on-demand, as Viacom, Paramount, Lionsgate and MGM have just announced plans for a new "premium" channel launching fall 2009. Other than having access to Paramount and Paramount Vintage titles released to theaters on or after January 1, 2008, and MGM, United Artist and Lionsgate flicks released after January 1, 2009, the service plans a "robust" VOD component. According to Variety, the big loser here is Showtime, which loses access to several theaters it's depended on for content, and also faces competition for shows like Weeds and Dexter. We're sure no premium movie channel would launch in this day and age without an HD offering, so tell your provider to keep a slot open for this latest addition.

Israel's leading DTH satellite provider (YES) has decided to give subscribers yearning for HD one more reason to choose it over the competition by inking a deal that will bring MGM HD to its lineup. Originally launched over in Poland, the channel is already available in Israel in SD, but it'll be making its HD debut soon enough as it begins simulcasting with the more pixelated version. Interestingly, there's no word of any other Israeli provider picking the HD flavor up, but Bruce Tuchman, MGM Networks' executive VP has stated that the company plans to "continue to aggressively expand its HD presence internationally."

As promised, those MGM flicks have hit Xbox Live Marketplace, satisfying our deep seated need for downloadable HD Rocky and James Bond flicks. Disney's releases popped up on the service last week, however since High School Musical 2 was a TV movie, its available only for purchase, at a cost of 1920 MS points ($23.99), the same as the Blu-ray version on Amazon. Its hard to make the argument the Xbox 360 doesn't need a Blu-ray add-on if HD movies cost the same amount for a lower quality (and more restrictively DRM'd) edition, not that we were really looking forward to downloading all 720p's of Zac Efron or n e thing.

[Via Gamerscore Blog]

Moving one closer to the promised 100 HD channels, RCN has added MGM HD in Chicago. Previously noted as coming to DirecTV and FiOS, we're still waiting to see MGM's 4,100 movie-based channel and VOD platform on a few other providers, but ACE Communications, Antietam Cable and Armstrong Communications subscribers should have it soon. Meanwhile, RCN customers can feel comfort knowing that at least a small piece of the date-TBD 100 HD channel future, is now.

Looking for all that ABC and MGM HD content on Xbox Live? You won't have to wait long, with the first three seasons of Lost up now plus the just-aired season 4 premiere (Hurley was all ZOMG!, and Benry was like Bu-bu-but...) available for purchase at 12:01 a.m. PST for 240 MS points ($3 U.S.) per episode -- just barely missing the original "later this month" promise. Due later on in February are hits like the High School Musical series and other content from the Disney Channel, and MGM's releases hit on the 18th. Mr. Brooks, the Rocky series, The Usual Suspects, Saw IV, and Michael Clayton are all coming soon in HD (if you want to call it that). Looks like someone's gearing up to take on the Apple TV, how about a price cut, or loosening up on the DRM?

Some 14 months after Poland curiously became the first locale to lock down MGM HD, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios is finally announcing a deal to get its channel on Verizon's own fiber-based television service. Starting sometime in "late 2008," FiOS TV subscribers in California, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas and Virginia (that's all of 'em, by the way) will be able to enjoy the channel in 1080i. Aside from rafts of movies, viewers can also expect "exclusive behind the scenes coverage of red carpet events, sneak peeks at new films in production, seasonal promotions and world premieres of newly re-mastered hits from the MGM library." Now, just how "late" are we talking, exactly?

[Via AVSForum]

Feeling as if Starz's offerings are a bit stale of late? Apparently, so did its management team, as it went out and landed deals with five major studios with the sole purpose of bulking up its movie lineup. Reportedly, the network inked "exclusive first run output deals with Sony Pictures Television and Disney-ABC Domestic Television" that are set to last "well into the next decade," and just in case that wasn't enough to keep your clicker on the counter, it also picked up a number of library acquisitions from Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution, MGM Worldwide Television Group and Universal Pictures. More specifically, Starz should receive some 1,200 top movie titles and TV series from the latter three's film vaults, and the content can be distributed across Starz HD, Starz On Demand and even Vongo. For more details and a glimpse at what's on the horizon, hit up the read link below.

[Via MultiChannel News]

Continuing the trend of high-class hotels having a thing for high-definition is The Water Club, a signature hotel by Borgata which is set to open its doors this summer in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The $600 million master plan development will feature 800 rooms and suites, each of which will have access to free-to-guest IPTV with HD service. Additionally, patrons can look forward to an unspecified allotment of HD VOD, and if you're curious as to what they'll be enjoying said content on, a 40-inch Sony LCD TV is the answer. The 100-percent digital Guest-Tek OneView Media HD system will reportedly utilize a set-top-box that supports MPEG2, MPEG4-AVC and VC-1, and while this all sounds mighty delightful, we've no clue how many Benjamins you'll be laying down (per night) to experience this yourself. A look inside is waiting after the jump.

While HD DVD and Blu-ray have both lost key supporters recently, Microsoft's Xbox Live Marketplace seems to just keep adding new content providers, this time bringing MGM and Disney-ABC Television Group to the fold. Conspicuous in that both are exclusive Blu-ray supporters, Xbox 360 owners will -- later this month -- have access to ABC hits like Lost, Grey's Anatomy and Desperate Housewives in HD the day after they air. So far, MGM's announced just classic and catalog flicks like the Rocky series and The Usual Suspects, with "most" available in HD. Still looking for a Blu-ray add-on or built in HD DVD?

MGM's release schedule for the holiday season is getting thinner and thinner. 'Ronin' and 'Red Dawn' are the latest casualties, with both being put on indefinite delay for "marketing reasons." That brings the list of MGM Q4 vaporware announcements to five: 'Battle of Britain' and 'A Bridge Too Far' were pulled last week, and 'The Amityville Horror' was yanked back in October. So what's left? Well, 'Rescue Dawn' now has the dubious distinction as the sole MGM Blu-ray release left for 2007. MGM's been on team blue from day one, and since they're signed up with Fox for home distribution that's not going to change. But with friends like these, who needs enemies?

Everyone knows that the outcome of the Blu-ray / HD DVD format war has huge financial stakes. Reporters, then, take the "Follow the money" approach. At Europe's IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin this week, attempts to do so turned up no solid evidence to clarify things. Onstage execs from Warner Bros., Fox, MGM and Sony all denied that they received payola from the BDA. The response from Stephen Foulser, Disney's European Marketing VP, was only slightly more illuminating -- "no comment." This comes on the heels of reports that Paramount and DreamWorks picked up a $150 million check for their 18-month HD DVD exclusivity. The mystery and intrigue in this format war are fitting for a movie, but which format would it be released on?

Call us crazy, but the response time between camps seems to be growing increasingly shorter with each and every blow. Merely hours after Paramount and Dreamworks chose HD DVD (or were they "persuaded?") as their one true love, Fox and MGM (Blu-ray backers from the start, mind you) have struck back with a few fightin' words of their own. Most notably, Mike Dunn, President Worldwide, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, proclaimed: "Given that Blu-ray has consistently outsold HD DVD all year, we believe that the time is right for us to accelerate our activities and help convert the nearly 60 million high-definition households worldwide into Blu-ray households." In order to do so, the release also lays out details for a whopping 29 titles that are slated to hit BD in the not-too-distant future. Of course, the timing here is especially noteworthy considering Fox's unexplained absence of late, and the two made quite clear that BD-J / BD-Live components won't be skimped on in the upcoming releases. Though not confirmed, you can also likely count on facing BD+ when picking up any of these forthcoming discs, but with choices like Ronin, Master & Commander, and A Bridge Too Far, Blu-ray fans should have plenty to keep them occupied in the coming months.

Read - Fox, MGM Blu-ray plans
Read - Were Paramount / DreamWorks paid to commit?