Paramount Announces Blu-ray Plans

Paramount announced its decision to switch from HD DVD to Blu-ray a while ago, but hadn’t released much of a schedule until now. In the meantime movies people have been left complaining about their desire for high definition movies like Cloverfield and the inevitable double dips. Well, that inevitable time has come.

Paramount’s first “date-and-day” release (headed for both Blu-ray and DVD) will be The Spiderwick Chronicles on June 24th. That’s actually not a bad pick for Paramount to kick things off with. It’s the kind of movie I’d like to get in high definition, but wouldn’t waste money on both a DVD and Blu-ray versions of the film.

Unfortunately, Spiderwick is the only announced date-and-day release, with the rest of the current Blu-ray slate being movies previously released on DVD.

May 20th will bring Blu-ray editions of John Woo’s Face/Off, which stars Nicolas Cage and John Travolta in a new spin on the switched identity plot. Also featuring Cage is last year’s Next, which will also hit Blu-ray on May 20th, along with Jerry Seinfeld’s Bee Movie. I hope this doesn’t give Jerry an excuse for another PR blitz.

There’s actually quite a slew of May 20th releases, some previously available on HD DVD, incluing: Aeon Flux, Babel, Black Snake Moan, Blades of Glory, Coming to America, Disturbia, Dreamgirls, Sky Commmander and the World of Tomorrow, Sleepy Hollow, The Untouchables, The Warriors, Trading Places, We Were Soldiers, and World Trade Center

June 3rd will bring two more notable titles from the past year. Cloverfield will finally be available on Blu-ray, as will major Oscar contender There Will Be Blood.