Blu-ray disc launch delayed

4 May 2006 11:20 GMT / By Stuart Miles

Movie fans hoping to get their hands on the latest high definition Blu-ray discs at the end of this month will most likely have to wait even longer as rumours are surfacing that the format has been pushed back by a month until June 20.

According to an article on Reuters, the new agency says that "Sony Pictures Home Entertainment president Benjamin Feingold said his studio's first batch of Blu-ray releases will be ready May 23, as planned".

The decision to hold back the launch of the disks is so that they coincide with the launch of the first Blu-ray player from Samsung due on 25 June.

"The majority of our retail base and hardware partners have requested that we reconsider this date to better coincide with the first commercially available Blu-ray-compatible hardware", Feingold said.

The Sony Blu-ray Disc titles that are now slated to arrive in stores June 20 are "Underworld Evolution", "50 First Dates", "The Fifth Element", "Hitch", "House of Flying Daggers", "A Knight's Tale", "The Last Waltz", "Resident Evil Apocalypse" and "XXX".

Meanwhile Toshiba's HD-DVD format has already been launched in the US, with reports that the first batch of players has already sold out.

Via reuters.com

Full tags

Home Cinema, Blu-ray, Sony