Hollywood studios set launch date for Blu-ray

Hollywood Studios including Sony Pictures and Liongate have announced the launch date for Blu-ray movies in America

28 February 2006 10:57 GMT / By Stuart Miles

Hollywood Studios including Sony Pictures and Liongate have announced the launch date for Blu-ray movies in America to coincide with the launch of the first player from Samsung.

Both Lionsgate and Sony Pictures have said that they will make a number of Blu-ray discs available on the 23 May 2006.

Lionsgate plans to release 10 titles on the next-generation High-definition Blu-ray Disc format including Crash and Lord of War, priced at a $39.99 and The Punisher, Saw and Terminator 2: Judgment Day priced at $29.99.

The second wave with five additional titles will follow shortly thereafter with a June/July date still to be determined. These BD titles include Reservoir Dogs, Total Recall, Stargate and Dune priced at $29.99, while The Devil's Rejects will be available at a $39.99 SRP.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and MGM Home Entertainment will first release eight Blu-ray titles, followed by another eight in mid-June. The first movie titles include 50 First Dates, The Fifth Element, Hitch and House of Flying Daggers.

Sony's pricing is expected to be similar to Liongate's.

Getting High Definition in your house isn't going to be cheap however. Samsung's first player - the BD-1000 is expected to cost $1000, however it will come with HDMI output as standard and backwards compatibility with most of today's standard DVD formats (DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, DVD-R, DVD RW, and DVD R).

We will keep you posted.