While all six major Hollywood studios have officially thrown their weight behind the Blu-ray format, the situation with smaller studios has been a bit more troubling. It's no secret that the entry price to put a title on Blu is higher than for DVD, while the potential revenue is currently lower. However, as many consumers, especially home theatre afficionados, have started buying their titles on Blu-ray disc exclusively, there is still a good amount of additional revenue to be earned from a Blu-ray transfer.
This, of course, leaves smaller distributors in a fairly awkward position. They want to make the move into Blu-ray, in order to start building a customer base among those who have already made the transition, but they don't want to pay the mastering costs for a title that will not sell.
With the format war over, though, many of the smaller distributors are starting to make the plunge. Over the last week, both Kino International (an independent and foreign film distributor) and Genius Products (distributor of Weinstien Co films on video) have announced their intentions to support the Blu-ray format. Kino intends to bring "Fallen Angels" out as their inaugural title, while Genius has oddly decided to launch into the Blu-ray format with "Lonesome Dove." Some may remember that initially Genius/Weinstien Co. were HD DVD backers though they haven't released any titles on that format in close to a year. Perhaps even more exciting, at least for those who enjoy classic and avant garde films, The Criterion Collection has also announced their plans for the Blu-ray format. Criterion first made a name for themselves by essentially creating the "special edition" laserdisc... and is often credited with the "invention" of director's commentaries, director/D.P.-approved transfers, and many other features that became commonplace on DVD years later. While Criterion was able to release a number of high profile titles as Special Edition laserdiscs, their access to major films has deteriorated somewhat over the years as studios saw more revenue potential in releasing special edition DVDs themselves. While Criterion does still have agreements to release selected major studio fare, the majority of their releases now are special editions of mainly smaller films that they deem important. While Criterion's DVD releases almost always have an MSRP of at least $39.99 due to the extreme amount of bonus materials and costs involved in the remastering process, Criterion has surprised everyone by stating that their upcoming Blu-ray releases will be released at identical prices to their DVD counterparts! The initial slate of Criterion Blu-ray discs is due to hit stores in October. The scheduled titles are:
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