DreamWorks is still planning to release “Bee Movie” on HD DVD. Photo: © 2007 DreamWorks Animation
DreamWorks apparently wants a supernatural sign from Toshiba in regards to HD DVD. The company’s recent announcement that they would abandon the HD DVD format next month wasn’t enough for the studio; they are still sitting tight, honoring their exclusivity agreement.
“We have a partnership with Toshiba and have an obligation to see this through,” DreamWorks Chief Executive Jeffrey Katzenberg said on Tuesday (via Reuters).
Maybe he didn’t read the fine print; maybe there was no fine print.
Katzenberg went on to say he was waiting to see “what the next step will be,” meaning the studio was waiting to hear from Toshiba.
As of now, DreamWorks is still planning to release the Jerry Seinfield animated hit “Bee Movie” next month, on HD DVD. They might lose out on Blu-ray revenue, but the $150 million they received for their exclusivity deal could cushion the blow.
Katzenberg is just hoping things will be cleared up by the holiday season.
Paramount and DreamWorks received a combined sum for siding with HD DVD. The only other backer, Universal Pictures, announced earlier this month that they would be switching support to the Blu-ray format.
Bee Movie and Sweeney Todd HD DVD versions have now been canceled. There will be no more Dreamworks HD DVD movies produced.
Sorry, HD DVD early adopters.
Here’s one for the search engines… Jeffrey Katzenberg is a moron! Does Dreamworks still put movies out on VHS as well? Maybe Jeffrey Katzenberg is hoping for a nice severance package.
It’s a scumbag move for any company that extends this format war any longer. I don’t care if they have a boat load of HD-DVD content on its way from China, that boat should either be sunk in the Pacific or the discs sold as coasters or frisbees upon arrival in the US. Kill the format and lets move!
Good for the HD-DVD people. Looks like they’ll continue to have something to watch after all. Not much, but something.
Dead is HD DVD.
Name:
Email:
Remember my personal information
Notify me of follow-up comments?
Please answer the question below:
Type the first letter of the word "stereo":
Electronic House is now available in a digital edition. Learn more.
This is nice and clean. Simple design but with elegance.
Stay up-to-date with home electronics. 
Weekly email offers tips, info and product news.
Get the content that's important to you.
all you people saying espousing negative comments about hd-dvd releases are morons, if you do not own the players
then stop moaning you halfwits, as for blu-ray its also still born, are you dimwits not aware of IBM’s announcement of super wide bandwith and super speed downloads coming!, all you have to do is go and plug in your flash card
and download FULL 1080P CONTENT in a few seconds
or download direct from broadband, all this WILL happen
within 6 years, who needs BLU-RAY!