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Warner prices first HD DVD titles at $29

04:23 - Friday 17 March 2006 by THG Reporting Team - source: Tom's Hardware

Burbank (CA) - Warner Home Video (WHV) announced late Thursday that it will release its first three movies on HD DVD on April 18. The launch will miss the introduction date of the first two HD DVD players later this month by at least three weeks. But Warner indicated that high definition movies on HD DVD may be priced slightly lower than movies on the competing Blu-ray format.

It’s not quite the splash movie enthusiasts would have expected. Warner Home Video, which claims that it distributes the largest film library of any studio, will introduce a total of three movies not on the launch date of HD DVD, but several weeks later. The trio consists of Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby, The Last Samurai and Joel Schumacher’s The Phantom of the Opera.

While the lineup isn’t impressive, the news of the announcement is the price of WHV’s movies. The company said that the movies will be carry a suggested retail price of $28.99, which is expected to be less than the rumored $35 price target of some Blu-ray movies. According to a report published on 7 February by Video Business Online, Blu-ray titles will carry catalog and wholesale prices of $17.95 and $23.45, respectively, and ring up at the cash register at $29.95 and $34.95.

The price range represents a premium of up to 30% when compared to DVD movies sold today, but is about in line with the price tags of the first DVD movies that appeared back in 1997.

However a launch of three HD DVD movies is certainly less than buyers of a $500 or $800 HD DVD player might expect. But Ron Sanders, president of WHV, claimed in a statement that "Warner is uniquely positioned at the forefront of the industry to meet the market’s demands." He promised that 17 more titles, including Batman Begins, Constantine, Training Day and The Matrix.

Interestingly, Sanders said that Warner is "thrilled to be the first studio to deliver movies on high definition discs," which, if accurate, effectively would mean that there won’t be any HD DVD movies when the first HD DVD players will hit retail stores later this month. Realistically, it is extremely unlikely that Toshiba will risk a product launch without movies, but it appears to be certain that the initial HD DVD lineup will be very limited.

Sony recently announced that Blu-ray will be introduced on 23 May. There will be only one Blu-ray player model available for purchase that day ; the initial movie lineup will include consist of eight movies - 50 First Dates, The Fifth Element, Hitch, House of Flying Daggers, A Knight’s Tale, The Last Waltz, Resident Evil Apocalypse and XXX. Seven more titles will be following on 13 June, including Kung Fu Hustle, Legends of the Fall, Robocop, Stealth, Species, SWAT and Terminator. Underworld Evolution will debut in "early summer."