More HD speculation: Universal supporting Blu-ray?

Simon Brew

And yet more HD DVD/Blu-ray speculation, as the the spotlight now turns on Universal. Would they really consider switching sides?

Published on Aug 22, 2007

Accepting that we’re a website based in Blighty, thousands of miles away from the nerve centre of Hollywood, there’s naturally a whole pinch of salt thing to take here.

But we’ve heard whispers through one or two of our sister titles that, in the latest twist to the format war, the biggest supporter of HD DVD to date is being pressured into switching sides.

Universal, up until this week the sole major studio to exclusively support the HD DVD format, has been rumoured for some time to be under pressure to support Blu-ray, a move which last week would have sunk the HD DVD format in one swoop.

But these rumours, even after the Paramount announcement of HD DVD exclusivity earlier this week, simply won’t go away.

One theory now is that the move to secure Paramount on the HD DVD format was a pre-emptive strike of sorts, in advance of Universal announcing format neutrality. It’s not a theory without legs, and would explain some of the trading of blows that has happened this week.

What is clear is that before the year is out there are going to be plenty more hefty blows traded in the battle for control of the high definition optical disc market. Could the Blu-ray camp pull off a coup and get Universal product – along with the likes of The Bourne Ultimatum – on their format for Christmas?

We’d wager we’ve not got long until we find out…