English Entertainment
Warner, Microsoft collaborate on HD DVD films
MUMBAI: It may be the first major push by two big giants to deliver high-definition content on optical media. Warner Bros and Microsoft announced their plans to collaborate on the release of a broad range of next-generation HD DVD discs at the National Association of Broadcasters (Nab 2005) convention in Las Vegas.
This will be done by using Windows Media Video 9, Microsoft’s implementation of VC-1, the proposed Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) standard approved by the DVD Forum for HD DVD. Warner Home Video plans to release titles in the fourth quarter of the year.
The companies state that HD DVD represents the first major push to deliver HD content to consumers on optical media in the US. Warner states that the collaboration signifies its continued commitment to provide new digital entertainment experiences for consumers using the best digital media solutions available. Microsoft will collaborate with Warner Bros. to ensure that the video quality of HD DVD titles is unmatched, enabling true home theatre experiences.
Warner Bros. Entertainment CTO Chris Cookson says, “Warner Bros. has evaluated the video quality of VC-1 and found it to be outstanding, making it an ideal format for the delivery of high-definition content. By releasing a wide range of titles in VC-1, we are creating great new opportunities to bring high-definition video to consumers.”
Warner Bros library has over 6,500 feature films, 40,000 TV episodes and 14,000 animated titles (including more than 1,500 classic animated shorts). The library includes franchises like Superman, Batman, Friends, E.R. and The West Wing.
English Entertainment
Ellison takes his Paramount-Warner Bros case straight to theater owners
The Skydance chief goes to CinemaCon with promises and a skeptical crowd waiting
CALIFORNIA: David Ellison strode into a room packed with thousands of cinema owners and executives at CinemaCon in Las Vegas on Thursday and did something rather bold: he looked them in the eye and asked them to trust him.
The chief executive of Paramount Skydance vowed that his company would release a minimum of 30 films a year if regulators greenlight its proposed $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, a deal that has made theater owners deeply, and loudly, nervous.
“I wanted to look every single one of you in the eye and give you my word,” Ellison told the crowd. “Once we combine with Warner Bros, we are going to make a minimum of 30 films annually across both studios.”
It was a confident pitch. Whether it landed is another matter. Cinema operators have already called on regulators to block the deal, and scepticism in the room was hardly concealed.
Ellison pushed back by pointing to recent form. Paramount, born from the merger of Paramount Global and Skydance Media last August, plans to release 15 films this year, nearly double the eight it put out in 2025. Progress, he argued, was already underway.
He also threw theater owners a bone they have long been chasing: all films, he pledged, would run exclusively in cinemas for a minimum of 45 days, drawing applause from a crowd that has spent years fighting for exactly that commitment across the industry.
“People can speculate all they want,” Ellison said, “but I am standing here today telling you personally that you can count on our complete commitment. And we’ll show you we mean it.”
Fine words. The regulators, however, will have the last one.
