Paramount bulks up Blu-ray catalog
By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 5/27/2008
MAY 27 | Paramount Home Entertainment has quietly brought more than 20 of its previously released Blu-ray Disc titles back into circulation.
Titles including Sleepy Hollow, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and Mission: Impossible III were originally released on Blu-ray between 2006 and the first half of 2007, when Paramount was producing high-definition titles in both the Blu-ray and HD DVD formats. But when Paramount threw its support behind HD DVD exclusively last August, it stopped producing Blu-ray inventory.
From August through January of this year, Paramount was committed to solely releasing titles in HD DVD. The studio switched again, to support Blu-ray exclusively, shortly following Toshiba’s decision to stop supporting its HD DVD players.
Retailers are again merchandising Paramount’s earlier Blu-ray titles and have been placing orders on the titles for the past several weeks, confirmed a Paramount spokeswoman. Best Buy began making the older titles available on May 27, Amazon.com and Newbury Comics will have them on June 3.
Other Paramount BD back catalog titles hitting retail include World Trade Center, U2: Rattle & Hum, Mission Impossible I & 2, Nacho Libre, We Were Soldiers, The Manchurian Candidate, Coming to America, Failure to Launch, Disturbia, Shooter and The Warriors: Ultimate Director’s Cut.
Paramount is releasing these older films on BD as it streets some of its recent box office hits in the format for the first time. The studio’s debut BD release day and date with standard DVD since dropping HD DVD is June 24’s The Spiderwick Chronicles. Paramount also launches There Will Be Blood and Cloverfield, both already available in standard definition, on Blu-ray on June 3.
“It’s nice to have a bigger Blu-ray selection,” said Newbury buyer Ian Leshin. “Once all the studios are fully involved and dedicated to it, more people will come together to buy.”
After the studio turned HD DVD only, consumers could occasionally get their hands on the originally issued Paramount Blu-ray titles, usually as used product.
