Just recently both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD have seen the release of some very big titles on their respective formats.
With Blu-Ray seeing the release of both Pirates of the Carribean The Curse of the Black Pearl and Dead Man's Chest. While HD-DVD saw the whole Matrix Trilogy brought into glorious 1080p through 2 different box sets.
Pirates ended up selling about 47,000 units where as Matrix saw only about 13,000 units sold.
That's a pretty big win for Blu-Ray and while the hype from recently released PoTC: At Worlds End definitely helped Blu-Ray's sales and the fact that the Matrix Trilogy sets also retailed for quite a bit more, this is still a big win for Blu-Ray.
In both units sold and dollars earned Blu-Ray came out on top this week.
Last week's sales estimates are in, and in terms of sheer unit sales, Disney's Blu-ray-only release of the first two "Pirates of the Caribbean" flicks handily beat Warner's HD DVD-only release of the two "Matrix" box sets.
According to market research estimates from Home Media Magazine, the two "Pirates" films sold a combined total of a little less than 47,000 units, while the "Matrix" sets sold about 13,900 units.
Since the "Matrix" sets sold at an cost of nearly three times that of the "Pirates" flicks, there's slighly more parity in terms of gross sales, but even there (as Blu-ray supporters have been quick to point out), "Pirates" gets the edge.
In comments first published in The Hollywood Reporter, Bob Chapek, worldwide president of Buena Vista Home Entertainment, called the week's win by "Pirates" a "strong and significant trend toward consumer preference for the Blu-ray Disc format."
"We are thrilled by the critical and industry response to 'Pirates' on Blu-ray disc," Chapek said. "But more importantly, the consumer has spoken loud and clear. This is only the beginning, but it was certainly a significant and explosive indicator of things to come."
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The war now boils down to content, and Blu-Ray has a distinct advantage due to the number of studios that are releasing content exclusively to Blu-Ray. I'd like to see a "true" war where more studios would release their movies in more than one camp.
This is a true shame since HD-DVD players are so much cheaper. Of course I'm biased in this war since I have an HD-DVD drive and some of my friends have Toshiba players
Honestly though, if you think about, I'm willing to bet that the Matrix Trilogy would sell better even at the higher retail value simply because more people have Blu-Ray players.
I know I would snatch up the Matrix Trilogy Super-Fantastic-Ultimate Edition when it comes out on Blu-Ray.
I'm pretty sure both Pirates and the Matrix Trilogy are coming out on both formats eventually. This was just a limited-time exclusive deal.
Constantine would've stood a better chance, seeing as "Reloaded" and "Revolutions" weren't acclaimed to be as epic as the first movie.
If Blu-ray wins, which it will, we're safe for at least 10.