C'mon, you know you've asked yourself this. After all, aren't we all tense with anticipation just waiting to see what titles studios are planning to re-release on BD, only to kvetch mightily after our favorite flicks get pushed aside for films that "no one will watch?" Thankfully, Sound & Vision has taken at least some of the mystery out and has revealed five shortcuts to getting a film released on Blu-ray. Essentially, studios are looking for titles that will enable BD setups to shine, and if the movie has proven popular in the past, there's a decent shot the demand will be there for a BD release. Additionally, studios love re-releasing originals when a sequel is in theaters, and of course, if it can stop long enough to hear fans clamoring for a specific title, that too could urge them to crank out a 1080p edition. Be sure and give the read link a visit for the full rundown.

In a move not totally shocking considering Ken Graffeo's sentiments shared just days ago, Universal Pictures Australasia has come forward and announced that it will continue backing HD DVD by promising some 20 titles on the format in 2008. According to the release, consumers in Australia and New Zealand can look forward to picking up Atonement, The Kingdom, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, American Gangster and Charlie Wilson's War on HD DVD later this year. Unfortunately, none of the other flicks making up the previously mentioned "20" were detailed, so it looks as if we'll be waiting in tense anticipation for release dates and titles for the majority of the bunch.

[Via iTWire, thanks Anthony B.]

Let's face it: there's a high probability that you (or someone you know) will be frantically searching for a stocking stuffer at the last minute next month, so it's mighty convenient that Universal Studios is unleashing The Bourne Ultimatum a fortnight before Christmas. The DVD / HD DVD combo disc will include a number of deleted scenes, feature commentary with director Paul Greengrass / actor Matt Damon and several bonus clips titled Man on the Move, New York Chase, Planning the Punches, Rooftop Pursuit and Driving School. Oh, and just in case you're too big a fan to only drop $39.98 (MSRP) on this, you can opt for the four-disc "The Jason Bourne Collection" -- which we can only assume will also be released on HD DVD at this point -- when it lands in a snazzy "safe deposit box" package with a Jason Bourne passport (huzzah!).

[Image courtesy of DVDTalk]

Those already saving up their $34.99 for Disney's Cars may now be inclined to pinch those pennies a bit harder, as it looks like Ratatouille will be landing on store shelves the very same day. Sure, this seems like a shameless attempt to get early-bird holiday shoppers (and grown-ups with youngsters in tow) to pick up twice the amount of Blu-ray films they were initially planning to come November 6th, but we won't be surprised if the scheme works out quite well. No word just yet on what kinds of rat-infested extras we'll see on the BD release, but we're keepin' our ears, er, nose to the ground.

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?

While it was only a matter of time before Walt Disney brought one of its famed animated classics to BD, today the company has finally revealed what that first title will be: Sleeping Beauty. The disc will include a "virtual castle and multi-player activities," both of which utilize BD-Live technology, and if that wasn't enough, the studio also announced that it would be bringing Finding Nemo and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe to Blu-ray next year. Finally, National Treasure will be the outfit's "first BD-Live" title to hit the market when it lands next summer, sandwiched between Narnia in the spring and Finding Nemo / Sleeping Beauty in the fall.

[Via MovieWeb]

Just in case a dedicated tracking site wasn't proactive enough for you, Sony has just unleashed its own Blu-ray disc releases iCalendar, which as you may expect, automatically updates your calendar of choice with the most recent details regarding future BD release dates. The free application incorporates data from Buena Vista, Disney, EIV, Entertainment UK, and Fox, and will be supported by iCal, Google Calendar, Windows Calendar, Outlook 2007, Lotus Notes 6+, Mozilla Sunbird & Lighting, and Entourage. So if you're interested in cramming one more reminder in that overloaded planner of yours, go on and hit the read link to get your download on.

Break out the party hats and streamers folks, as according to the well-compiled statistics over at HD DVD Stats.com, Universal has cranked out 104 high-definition titles to date. Of course, the number in and of itself is essentially meaningless, but when you consider just how critical the studio is to the HD DVD camp, one could easily envision the format war shifting should the firm eventually decide to support Blu-ray. Unfortunately, it still seems that we're quite a ways from seeing that come to fruition.

Alright, so these "charts" and "sales figures" that make their way out every so often are decent indicators of which format is on top at any given moment, but if you've ever wanted to delve deeper into the statistics behind Blu-ray, your wish has come true. While we can't imagine how much effort went into creating it, a new website has been launched that details nearly every aspect of Blu-ray imaginable, right down to how much each film grossed at the box office and what percentage of discs sport lossless audio tracks. 'Course, as great as this site is, only one obvious question remains unanswered: who's up for creating an HD DVD counterpart?

At last count, the Blu-ray camp was holding a marginal 260 to 241 lead in the likely frivolous release race, but those numbers haven't always been that close. Taking a look at Q1 of this year, the gap was noticeably larger, but thanks primarily to Universal Studios releasing 33 HD DVD titles on its own of late, HD DVD seems to be making a comeback. Reportedly, 70 new HD DVD flicks claimed shelf shape from April 1st to June 30th, whereas 63 Blu-ray films were released in the same period. Sure, a gap so diminutive may not mean much when looked at statically, but it's been quite awhile since HD DVD held the momentary crown in terms of releases at all. Still, the latest VideoScan numbers are once again showing Blu-ray sales as the strongest of the two, but all the drastic price cuts in the rival camp could potentially alter that in the coming months.

Warner has just released its 2007 plans for Blu-ray releases during the BDA press conference here at CES and... they look an awful lot like Warner's 2007 plans for HD DVD. Actually, they are the same. Almost everything is the same, sans HD DVD/DVD combo releases, Warner notes it has put out 33 Blu-ray discs so far, with Superman Returns leading sales for 2006. Still, we're sure that Blu-ray fans are happy to hear they won't be missing out on Martin Scorsese's The Departed, The Matrix, Harry Potter or even a few titles that have already been released on HD DVD like Enter the Dragon. Blu-ray will also be getting Ultimate Collector's Edition discs, but we have a funny feeling that all this parity is somehow related to Warner's recently announced Total HD combo disc.

More news from the Blu-ray studios about the release dates and titles for more movies on that "other" high-definition format, with Sony announcing details about the Blu-ray edition of Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, and Paramount revealing the dates for The Manchurian Candidate (2004) and We Were Soldiers. Not much detail about the latter two except for their street date of January 23, 2007, although we expect them to have similar extras to the other Paramount releases, which has only these two titles unreleased in their catalog of movies released for both Blu-ray and HD DVD.

Talladega Nights, on the other hand, will be a day-and-date release with the standard-def DVD and UMD formats, and will be in 2.40:1 widescreen and with a PCM 5.1 soundtrack. There will be an extra 13 minutes in the unrated edition for DVD and Blu-ray, with some additional commercials, commentary, and interviews with the cast. Those fans of Borat Ali G Sacha Cohen will be pleased to note he also has some special features devoted to his character in the movie.

All in all, good news for next-gen fans, as the studios continue to release titles for both formats, and the spread between title counts continues to... erm, stay about the same. As always, check out the Google Calendars for continuing updates on releases and titles:

Blu-ray Release Calendar


HD DVD Release Calendar

If you have been waiting for more titles to make the plunged into either HD DVD or Blu-ray, this might just be your week. This is by far the most number of titles released in one day. Warner is the resounding star with 12 titles between the two formats. Blu-ray still can't seem to catch up to HD DVD, when they add 11, HD DVD adds 12. When looking at the totals keep in mind that two of the titles from BCI last week never made it to the shelves, but Blu-ray is going to need more than 2 movies to catch up if they want to pass HD DVD by the end of the year. Love them or not, the Fast and the Furious trio are the big ones this week, but our personal favorite is Dazed and Confused, "You know what I like about high school girls?

This brings the total to HD DVD 81 vs Blu-ray 56.

Blu-ray

• Tim Burton's Corpse Bride (Warner)
• Four Brothers (Paramount)
• The Fugitive (Warner)
• House of Wax (2005) (Warner)
• The Lake House (Warner)
• Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (Paramount)
• Lethal Weapon 2 (Warner)
• Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (Paramount)
• Sleepy Hollow (Paramount)
• Space Cowboys (Warner)
• Swordfish (Warner)

HD DVD

• The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) (Warner)
• Dazed & Confused (Universal)
• The Dirty Dozen (Warner)
• End of Days (Universal)
• Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas (Universal)
• The Fast and the Furious (Universal)
• 2 Fast 2 Furious (Universal)
• The Fast and the Furious: Toyko Drift (Universal)
• Grand Prix (Warner)
• The Lake House (Warner)
• Land of the Dead (Universal)
• Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (Warner)

You can also check out our Google Calendars for all the dates.
HD DVD release schedule


Blu-ray release schedule