Audio Video News

Paramount Studios made it official today. It is going Blu. Because HD DVD has about as much future as a snowball in hell, Paramount has dropped its exclusive support of the HD DVD format, and will start releasing flicks in the Blu-ray format. That comes as absolutely no surprise to anyone. The only question is why it took so long. After Warner defected to Blu-ray just prior to the Consumer Electronics Show in January, it was obvious that the format war was over. I guess it just took a few extra weeks to get all the corporate finger-pointing over with, not to mention the beheadings. In any case, Paramount isn't wasting any more time. It has announced a full slate of excellently cinematic Blu-ray releases.

Paramount's Blu-ray future officially begins on May 20 with the release of Bee Movie, Face/Off and Next.  Then things get even better on June 3, with There Will Be Blood and Cloverfield.  That is followed up on June 24 with The Spiderwick Chronicles.

Will Blu-ray players start flying off the shelves? Will DVD players become as uncool as portable CD players? Will the owners of all the orphaned HD DVD players and discs file a class-action lawsuit against format inventor Toshiba? The answers are Yes, Yes, and No, but not necessarily in that order. -Ken C. Pohlmann

Paramount