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Forums - General Discussion - NY Times says that Paramount and Dreamworks received $150 million.

akuma587 on 21 August 2007

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/21/technology/21disney.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

 Here some interesting quotes from the article.

 "But money talks: Paramount and DreamWorks Animation together will receive about $150 million in financial incentives for their commitment to HD DVD, according to two Viacom executives with knowledge of the deal but who asked not to be identified."

 "The two studios may have left themselves wiggle room, however. Paramount’s agreement to use only HD DVD is limited to only 18 months. And Paramount noted that no films directed by Steven Spielberg were included in the deal “as his films are not exclusive to either format.” Mr. Spielberg is a co-founder of DreamWorks SKG, a unit of Paramount."

 So the agreement is for 18 months.  HD-DVD "gains" nothing from this agreement because it had Paramount pictures to begin with, so its net gain of studios is none.  Blu-Ray does "lose" something though.  But as the article said, "Fox announced plans to flood the market with 29 new Blu-ray releases" just after this announcement from Paramount.  That is as many movies as Paramount has published on either HD-DVD or Blu-Ray since the INCEPTION of both formats.   You can check the historical schedule at highdefdigest.com if you don't believe me: http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/releasedates_historical.html



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It is hard to shed anything but crocodile tears over White House speechwriter Patrick Buchanan's tragic analysis of the Nixon debacle. "It's like Sisyphus," he said. "We rolled the rock all the way up the mountain...and it rolled right back down on us...."  Neither Sisyphus nor the commander of the Light Brigade nor Pat Buchanan had the time or any real inclination to question what they were doing...a martyr, to the bitter end, to a "flawed" cause and a narrow, atavistic concept of conservative politics that has done more damage to itself and the country in less than six years than its liberal enemies could have done in two or three decades. -Hunter S. Thompson

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mjorge11 on 21 August 2007

Like Michael Bay said everything about this dicision sucks.



Diomedes1976 on 21 August 2007

It was clear they had been bought .If they were selling much more in BR canning all their projects in BR to commit to the dying format hadnt any logic .They must have calculated how much they would make with those releases in BR and Toshiba or MS or whoever has paid them that amount to keep them exclusive .

Interesting the 18 month thing .At least it shows Paramount isnt as stupid as it seemed .

But here HD-DVD owners dont gain anything ,they were already getting the movies .The ones that lose are the BR owners .So ,150 M have been spent fucking the BR owners and with the sole winner of Toshiba ....and we will have to see if even that is true if they cant shift more HD-DVD units .



Delusional on 21 August 2007

hd dvd gains better IME because all the effort from paramount will go in making it for hd dvd. if they have to support the ime and java in both hd dvd and bluray, im sure the speed of releases for movies with these extras will be slower.

im sure target was given incentive too. but hd dvd group probably didn't bother digging up the info since they don't care. but i guess the news that paramount gets paid, bda really wants to tell everyone that.

this is business. there are always incentives. heck, if i get paid a mil, i'd support bluray all the way.



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dallas on 21 August 2007

Paramount got 50 million, Dreamworks got $100 million.

I just read that Paramount CANCELLED its fall blu-ray lineup. Apparantly, they were banking on blu-ray selling pretty well for them, but now, the cash from MS has persuaded them to not even do that.



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mitsuhide on 21 August 2007

So Paramont switch and Universal is thinking of going Blu-ray oh well.

Link to IGNPS3 podcast on Universal might be going Blu-ray.
http://www.n4g.com/industrynews/News-60901.aspx



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akuma587 on 21 August 2007

That would be pretty funny if Universal went neutral right after Paramount backed HD-DVD exclusively. It is not out of the realm of possibility.



We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half full of cocaine, a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers…Also a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of beer, a pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls.  The only thing that really worried me was the ether.  There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge. –Raoul Duke

It is hard to shed anything but crocodile tears over White House speechwriter Patrick Buchanan's tragic analysis of the Nixon debacle. "It's like Sisyphus," he said. "We rolled the rock all the way up the mountain...and it rolled right back down on us...."  Neither Sisyphus nor the commander of the Light Brigade nor Pat Buchanan had the time or any real inclination to question what they were doing...a martyr, to the bitter end, to a "flawed" cause and a narrow, atavistic concept of conservative politics that has done more damage to itself and the country in less than six years than its liberal enemies could have done in two or three decades. -Hunter S. Thompson

Hus on 21 August 2007
akuma587 said:
That would be pretty funny if Universal went neutral right after Paramount backed HD-DVD exclusively. It is not out of the realm of possibility.

 Warner is the best exemple, they are killing hd sales by supporting both formats.   Which ever one wins they dont care, they are set up either way.

 300 could break 1 million world wide in HD.



lvader on 21 August 2007

Warner have made lots of HD DVD exclusives, in fact most of their best stuff is ONLY on HD DVD. Even when they do release on both the Blu Ray version is inferior (only 25GB)



shams on 21 August 2007
akuma587 said:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/21/technology/21disney.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

Here some interesting quotes from the article.

"But money talks: Paramount and DreamWorks Animation together will receive about $150 million in financial incentives for their commitment to HD DVD, according to two Viacom executives with knowledge of the deal but who asked not to be identified."

...

Umm... financial incentives is NOT the same as $150m in cash. For instance, they could be allowed to manufacture discs at half the normal production cost.

18 months is long enough - this mess should be sorted out by then. But until then - Transformers going HD-DVD alone is going to cause a lot of headaches.

The big hits matter a lot more here than quantity - as they push a heap more units.

If Toshiba can put out a deal where a HD-DVD player + Shrek + Transformers is available (as a pack) for $199 - that is going to push a hell of a lot of units. Even more if they can reach $149 or lower.

I still think which ever player reaches $99 first will win (and has enough hardware on the shelves).

 

 



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