HD DVDs Dropping Like Bees

Come Tuesday, the list of to-be-released HD DVDs will be considerably shorter. Perhaps HD DVD player owners should consider shopping for a stylish vase to put on that empty shelf reserved for HD copies of  Paramount's There Will be Blood, Sweeney Todd, the Jack Ryan films, Cloverfield, and subsidiary DreamWorks' animated Bee Movie.

Paramount's production of HD DVD's ends March 4, the company said last week, with the lackluster final releases of Into the Wild, and Things We Lost In The Fire. The company has pledged support for the Blu-ray format, making it the final major studio to do so, though it hasn't said when the canceled HD DVD films will be pressed into Blu-ray discs.

And while Universal has already said it will cease production of new HD DVDs, its list of remaining new releases could be truncated as well. Atonement, due March 18 could be its last one, according to Gizmodo, meaning Charlie Wilson's War won't make it to living rooms either.

A vase doesn't fit with your media shelving decor? Consider stocking up on previously released HD DVDs from Universal, which will slash prices on the discs Tuesday from $29.98 to $19.98. Maybe you'd enjoy American Gangster -  lots of other people did. The Denzel Washington heroin-smuggling flick managed to outsell all other Blu-ray and HD DVD films by a wide margin during the week ending Feb. 23, according to Nielsen VideoScan. Let's consider it HD DVD's last hurrah.-Rachel Rosmarin

Video Business

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