Paramount Resumes Blu Releases
By Mark Fleischmann April 30, 2008 — Remember the HD DVD release of Bee Movie, the one that never happened? Well, Jerry Seinfeld's animated comedy will instead make its high-def debut on Blu-ray on May 20, one of several titles in Paramount's interrupted but now resumed Blu program.

Also coming on the same date, according to The Hollywood Reporter, will be Face/Off and Next. On June 3, look for Cloverfield and There Will Be Blood. Coming June 24 are The Spiderwick Chronicles. Many of these titles will also hit the international market in July.

The re-entry of Paramount into Blu-ray is a good sign for the format's health. The studio started out as a fence straddler, supporting both Blu-ray and HD DVD. Then it dropped Blu-ray in an exclusivity deal with HD DVD. Now that HD DVD is gone, Paramount is free to resume its former state of Blu-ness. The initial slate includes DreamWorks titles distributed by Paramount.

Even so, "the Blu-ray player and optical drive markets must undergo further evolution before reaching their full potential," according to ABI Research. Here's what the research firm's latest press release has to say:

"BD player prices remain high, and supplies are limited," says ABI Research principal analyst Steve Wilson. "This is good for the market because most current players do not support all the functions that studios place on the discs. Lacking support for—or upgradability to—BD Live! or Bonus View (picture in picture), consumers cannot utilize all the available options. Manufacturers would rather sell more fully-featured models."

It will be 12 to 18 months before this market kicks into gear. Consumer electronics manufacturers need to introduce full-featured players and then get prices down to the $200 level. Until then, non-HDTV owners will certainly favor standard definition DVD players. A depressed economy in the United States could also lead HDTV and prospective HDTV owners to opt for upconverting standard players as they delay buying higher-ticket CE items. In addition, Blu-ray packaged media comes at a heavy premium over standard DVDs, although studios have brought prices down to the low $20-range for some titles.