Well it looks as if Blu-Ray may be gaining another supporter in the format war. Paramount Pictures announced they are dropping HD DVD, effectively tearing up their contract in order to sign Blu-Ray with an exclusive rights deal.
“However, Paramount, which is owned by Viacom, is understood to have a clause in its contract with the HD DVD camp that would allow it to switch sides in the event of Warner Bros backing Blu-ray, according to people familiar with the situation.Paramount is set to have a bumper 2008 with several likely blockbusters, including the latest instalment in the Indiana Jones franchise.Paramount joining the Blu-ray camp would leave HD DVD likely to suffer the same fate as Sony’s now obsolete Betamax video technology, which lost out to VHS in a similar format war in the 1980s.”
Last week Warner chose the Sony developed Bly-Ray format which could be seen as a major set back to Toshiba’s HD DVD as Warner holds 70 percent of Hollywood’s output.
The question now is where does Dreamworks Entertainment sit? They presently hold a contract with HD DVD and its unclear weather or not they have a similar clause in their contract allowing them to dump the format. Paramount currently distributes DreamWorks animated films and with the recent move to Blu-Ray, DreamWorks may be looking for an out rather soon.
Source: FT.com
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