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...
read more
Ratatouille topped last week's DVD sales chart, while I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry was the No. 1 rental pick. My sons checked out the Rat last week, but weren't wowed by it. "Too many damn frogs in this film," scoffed Jared, who with Jacob turned 5 on Tuesday.Elsewhere, DVD releases have been set for The Bourne Ultimatum (Dec. 11), Resident Evil: Extinction (Jan. 1), Barney & Friends: Celebrating Around the World (Jan. 29, 2008) and Perfect Strangers: The Complete First and Second Season (Feb. 28) — and yes, I shall be ridiculous, thank you.
read more
Zombies stormed the Cineplex this weekend as the not-screened-for-critics Resident Evil: Extinction topped the box office with a lively $24 million opening. Rounding out the top five were Good Luck Chuck (debuting with $14 million), The Brave One ($7.4 mil), 3:10 to Yuma ($6.35 mil) and Eastern Promises ($5.7 mil).Amanda Bynes' modern-day fairy tale Sydney White opened at No. 6 with $5.3 mil, while Sean Penn's Into the Wild and Brad Pitt's The Assassination of Jesse James...[/i] opened strongly in limited release, averaging $51,649 and $28,800 per theater, respectively.
read more
