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Steven Spielberg is Pro Blu-ray

August 22, 2007 | Author: play-beyond | Filed under: Blu-Ray

A noticeable stipulation in the Paramount deal yesterday was that films directed by Steven Spielberg would not be HD DVD exclusive, and could be distributed on either or both formats. At the time, it was not apparent if this meant the famous director was a fan of Blu-ray, but clarification received by High Def Digest suggests that the only Spielberg film coming out in high definition will be the recently announced ‘Encounters of the Third Kind’ and only on Blu-ray.The drama started earlier this year when the HD DVD promo group listed a few high profile Spielberg titles as “coming soon” to the format. Shortly there after, the group was forced to issue a public apology to Mr. Spielberg, and retracted the titles from the release schedule. Apparently, he was contacted before the decision was made to release his movies in high definition.

Over the last few months, things have been heating up at the Spielberg camp. News from inside sources indicated that Spielberg was unhappy with Paramount for taking credit on Dreamworks films and for their firing of longtime friend Tom Cruise. There was some discussion that Spielberg would leave Paramount, taking his property with him.

Then, two Spielberg properties were announced for high definition release: ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’ via Sony and ‘Poltergeist’ via Warner. CE3K was completely approved by Spielberg and includes a brand new introduction by the director. ‘Poltergeist’ was canceled.

After the Paramount announcement, High Def Digest contacted long-time Spielberg spokesman Marvin Levy regarding the announcement. He said the following:

“It was important to Steven that if any of his films were to be released [first] on high-definition, that it would be a classic. Steven is big supporter of Blu-ray, and chose ‘Close Encounters’ to be the first of his films on either format.”

He also confirmed that CE3K was the only Spielberg movie in the high definition pipeline, and the only Spielberg film which would be released in high definition this year. While Spielberg has yet to issue the same war cry as Michael Bay did earlier today, from his choices with regards to high definition releases clearly show him favoring Blu-ray.

Source: Blu-ray.com

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 22nd, 2007 and is filed under Blu-Ray. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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