Blu-ray to Shine In May

According to Red Herring, Sony plans to release the first batch of high-definition movies on its Blu-ray format in retail stores on May 23, meaning the rival HD-DVD format will have a head start of about two months when it launches in late March.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment’s movie title releases will coincide with the introduction of the first Blu-ray disc player from Samsung, the company said late Monday. Soon after, Blu-ray disc players will be released by Sony and Pioneer. Sony will also release a Blu-ray compatible personal computer.

Toshiba, which backs the HD-DVD standard, is scheduled to start selling the first HD-DVD players at end of March along with about 40 movie titles.

The first titles will be released by Sony Pictures and MGM Home Entertainment and will include 50 First Dates, The Fifth Element, Hitch, House of Flying Daggers, A Knight’s Tale, and XXX. The second batch of movies will come out June 13 and will include Legends of the Fall, Robocop, Stealth, SWAT, and Terminator.

Independent film studio Lions Gate also announced that it will release 10 movie titles on May 23 that will include Crash and Lord of War, priced at $39.99, and The Punisher, Saw, and Terminator 2: Judgment Day at $29.99. The next batch of releases will in either June or July, the studio said.

Source: Red Herring