Former HD DVD supporter turned Blu-ray fan Craig Kornblau of Universal has jumped wholeheartedly onto the dark side - he couldn't even wait for the new movie Wanted to hit theaters before exclaiming that "What The Matrix did for DVD, this could do for Blu-ray". Assuming he's talking more about an impressive package of never before-seen special features plus a loving audio/video transfer of a groundbreaking action movie and less about U-control zooms on Angelina Jolie's tattoos over a cheesy PG-13 snoozefest, there's a chance that could happen. Please pardon our skepticism, we seem to have spilled it all over this area.

When Universal releases The Mummy Returns July 22 on Blu-ray, expect a return of the studio's U-control features with exclusive content not seen on the previous HD DVD release. Accompanying all the previously seen extras, Blu-ray viewers get a special picture-in-picture track with behind the scenes footage and filmmaker interviews.The 50GB disc will also have a DTS-HD Lossless Master Audio track, whether or not any of this makes it a better movie this go-round remains to be seen.

We won't have to wait long to find out Universal's plans for Blu-ray, Reuters just noted that later today the studio will announce plans to release about 40 movies on the format in the second half of the year, including Doomsday. The only studio to support solely HD DVD from the beginning will come out with all three of its Mummy films: The Mummy, The Mummy Returns, and The Scorpion King July 22 (sounds like someone's bitter about HD DVD and taking it out on Blu-ray owners to us), with catalog releases jumping over from red like Miami Vice, Knocked Up, American Gangster and others before the year is out. Keep an eye out for specifics later on, like whether those U-Control and community features from the HD DVD versions will make the jump intact

Looks like Universal heard our plea for a little sweetener in its November 14th HD DVD lineup, announcing that King Kong will feature the same U-control features seen in Fast and the Furious 3: Tokyo Drift and Miami Vice. Using HD DVD's HDi interactivity layer, viewers can watch behind the scenes footage and cast interviews while the movie plays in the background, and a "My Scenes" bookmarking feature to easily come back to favorite scenes later. Kong will also be a pack-in with the Xbox 360 HD DVD player, which will be the first place buyers can get a copy. We're still holding out hope for more -- like a TrueHD soundtrack maybe? -- but its obvious that Universal sees it will need more than just excellent 1080p picture quality to convince customers to choose HD DVD this holiday season.

The HD DVD tour isn't spending all its time in New York hanging out at the Today Show's new HD studios, its pulled up to Digital Life 2006 at the Javits Center. In a press release issued by the North American HD DVD Promotional Group there were also new details about the upcoming December 5th release of Miami Vice on HD DVD; like Fast and the Furious 3: Tokyo Drift and Accepted, it will include U-control special features. Viewers can check out specs on cars and boats featured in the movie, track car chases through Miami streets via GPS, or look at production photos and cast details while the movie continues to play. Firing off more shots in the format war, the group also announced statistics from AC Nielsen showing HD DVD owners have already purchased an average of 8.4 titles each, and Nielsen Videoscan numbers indicating HD DVD outsold "competing formats" -- we're pretty sure they don't mean VMD -- by nearly 3:1 in August. The best defense is a good offense, and the HD DVD camp is taking the big Blu-ray holiday push head-on, showcasing not just new movies but also new hardware like the Xbox 360 HD DVD player and upcoming Toshiba HD-XA2.

Those of us waiting for the next fully featured HD DVD release after Fast and the Furious 3: Tokyo Drift now have Accepted to look forward to, on November 14th. Universal is pulling out all the stops on this summer comedy about a guy who opens his own university with a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack, U-control interactive features and 1080p bonus footage on the HD DVD side of the combo disc. The typical $39.98 MSRP for a combo disc applies, HD DVD owners have been waiting for more extras and it certainly appears that Universal is equipped to deliver them on every new release now. Accepted vs. Black Hawk Down...decisions, decisions.