Next week, and just in time for Father's Day (Sunday, June 15th), Wal-Mart is making it much easier to afford a high-definition Blu-ray player!The original standard DVD format went on sale in the United States back in 1997, and consumers quickly shifted over to the new format from VHS. But in 1998, HDTVs went on sale, and every year since then the high definition sets have gained in popularity. But something was missing...hi-def on home video!While DVD was noticeably better than VHS, it was noticeably not-as-good as the hi-def broadcasts of TV shows and films that people could get from cable, satellite and over-the-air HD. Folks clamored for an HD home video format, and by February 2008 the Sony-developed Blu-ray Disc ("BD") format had just won a bitter hi-def format war. But at the time, prices of a BD player started at $400, and typically ran quite a bit higher.Beginning this coming Sunday, June 8th, Wal-Mart is kicking off their newly remodeled electronics departments in their st...
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HBO has joined the parade to Blu-ray after Warner Bros, its distributor, announced on Friday that they were dropping HD-DVD in May 2008. The Warner Bros announcement could be the event that ends the war between high-definition formats. HD-DVD has the exclusive support of Universal and Paramount/DreamWorks, while Blu-ray has Fox/MGM, Warner Bros, Disney, Sony and Lionsgate. Warner Bros, which holds about 20 percent of the market, was a huge win for the Blu-ray group, and leaves Blu-ray with roughly 75 percent of the HD market. The Warner Bros decision has influenced New Line, along with HBO, to make the switch to Blu-ray, but BBC Home Video is bucking the trend and "will evaluate the marketplace before committing to one format" (according to the studio); the studio has four high-definition releases planned for 2008, available on both formats, and has sold more copies of Planet Earth on HD-DVD. Recent notable Blu-ray releases include The Simpsons (Fox), Pirates of the Caribbean: At Wo...
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Maximus plus Batman equals success. The Russell Crowe- and Christian Bale-fronted Western 3:10 to Yuma topped the weekend box office, taking in $14.1 million in its debut. Last week's chart-topper, Rob Zombie's Halloween ($10 million), slipped to the No. 2 spot.Rounding out the top five were Superbad ($8 million), Balls of Fury ($5.7 mil) and The Bourne Ultimatum ($5.48 mil).Clive Owen's Shoot 'Em Up opened at No. 6 with $5.45 mil, barely half of its studio's anticipated gross.
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