Four studios have announced slates of titles to be ready for the soon-to-be-launched Blu-ray Disc high-definition format reports Reuters. Sony Pictures, 20th Century Fox and Lionsgate, all of which have lent their support exclusively to Blu-ray, announced their plans Tuesday, a day before supporters of the next-generation, high-definition optical disc format stage a formal unveiling at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
Meanwhile Paramount Pictures, which has said it would support both Blu-ray and format competitor HD-DVD with disc releases, also unveiled titles it will have ready for both formats at launch. More studios are expected to announce their high-definition launch slates this week. The debut of Blu-ray hardware in North America, Japan and Europe is slated for sometime in the early part of 2006, the same time as Toshiba's less technologically impressive but cheaper to manufacture rival HD-DVD format. Blu-ray is expected to have the lead due to more studio co-operation and quicker penetration into homes thanks to the upcoming launch of the Playstation 3.
Sony's offering includes The Fifth Element, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Desperado, For a Few Dollars More, The Guns of Navarone, Hitch, House of Flying Daggers, A Knight's Tale, Kung Fu Hustle, The Last Waltz, Legends of the Fall, Resident Evil 2, RoboCop, Sense and Sensibility, Stealth, Species, SWAT and XXX. Dual-layer Blu-ray discs with Black Hawk Down and and Bridge on the River Kwai will debut in the Summer, as will the first season of "Stargate: Atlantis".
From Summer Sony will start debutting four catalog titles per month rising up to ten by year's end, and will street titles from its 2006 slate day-and-date with their regular DVD debuts.
Fox's first wave has twenty major releases including Fantastic Four, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Behind Enemy Lines, Kiss of the Dragon and Ice Age. The rest will be announced shortly.
Lionsgate's lineup includes Lord of War, The Punisher, The Devil's Rejects, Saw, T2: Judgment Day, Reservoir Dogs, Total Recall, Dune and Rambo: First Blood.
Paramount's launch slate will have releases such as Four Brothers, Sahara, Aeon Flux, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, The Italian Job, Tomb Raider, U2: Rattle and Hum, Sleepy Hollow, We Were Soldiers and The Manchurian Candidate. It will continue its roll out of Blu-ray titles throughout 2006 and beyond, most notably bringing out such titles as the "Mission: Impossible" film series late in the year.
