So it is looking like May 20 may not be such a huge week after all.

A quick check of the Amazon Pre-order page shows that all of the pre-order dates for the Paramount re-issues have changed from May 20 to June 3rd.

Also, I guess Mr Hunt at Digital Bits had it right and Cloverfield and There Will Be Blood will also be June 3rd as originally announced. It looks like Bee Movie may also have been moved back to June 3rd.

In any case, June 3rd is going to be a big day, with releases like Dirty Harry Ultimate Collector’s Edition, Semi-Pro, Signs, Weeds - Season Three and Meet The Spartans also being released that day.

Things are shaping up well! … albeit a couple of weeks later than expected.

Checking at Amazon today we see that (almost) all of the Paramount and DreamWorks titles are back - available for pre-order with a release date of May 20! This makes May 20 a super big day for releases…

The exceptions are Trading Places and Freedom Writers, which don’t appear to have been relisted yet.

So if you have been hanging out for these Paramount releases, you have a fresh shot at them now…

The title list:

(more…)

Amazon.com has added yet another title from Viacom to the pre-order list.

Blades of Glory has been listed with no retail price or release date, though the price at Amazon is only $20.95 and the expected release date is May 20th, 2008 - yeah, next week!

Actually May 20 looks to be a huge week for Blu-ray releases, with not only the fresh Viacom releases like Bee Movie, but other studio titles like National Treasure, National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets (or the combo National Treasure / National Treasure 2 - Book of Secrets), V for Vendetta, Short Circuit and Anger Management. Not to mention the first WWE title - WWE - Wrestlemania 24.

Additionally it appears that Paramount has bumped Cloverfield and There Will Be Blood to May 20th from their previous release date of June 3rd, making next week a pretty huge week for Blu-ray releases.

Update: Bill Hunt is reporting that the retailers are wrong and that the June 3rd date will be upheld for Cloverfield and There Will Be Blood.

DreamWorks Animation has Bee Movie coming to Blu-ray on May 20th, 2008.

The animated feature voiced by Jerry Seinfeld did $126M at the US Box Office.

This also marks the first title to be released on Blu-ray by the Animation arm of DreamWorks.

The title was announced for HD DVD but was never released.

The Blu-ray is expected to be packed with features including a picture in picture storyboard reel that runs for the whole film, additional online content and lossless audio.

The retail price is $39.99, you can pre-order it at Amazon for only$27.95.

We see that there is fresh stock of Mission: Impossible and Mission: Impossible II at Amazon today.

While we have seen limited stock of various titles come and go at Amazon, in the case of the Mission: Impossible titles there is no indication that there is only a tiny number available.

You can get Mission: Impossible for $19.95 and Mission: Impossible II for $20.95.

We will continue to keep watch and let you know if there is fresh stock of any other Paramount or DreamWorks titles moving forward.

In today’s Paramount watch we see a return of stock for Disturbia, though once again it appears that it is in limited quantities and there is no sign of truly replenished stocks. Though if you hurry you may nab a copy!

One has to wonder where these discs are coming from…

In an interesting move, Amazon has discounted three of the theoretically discontinued Paramount/DreamWorks titles by 63%, selling them for only $14.95 down from $39.99. The titles are World Trade Center, Dreamgirls and Reds. Currently 13 of the discontinued Paramout/DreamWorks titles remain available at Amazon.

One has to wonder why they would heavily discount what must be a limited quantity of discs - perhaps they are clearing the way for new versions of these titles? The silence with respect to future plans from Paramount regarding their future has only caused an increase in rumour and speculation. Hopefully they will help settle things with format announcements of their plans soon.

We are seeing more Paramount titles available at Amazon today, though apparently in very small quantities.

Lara Croft - Tomb Raider [Blu-ray] is showing up as in stock today - though if you want it you better act fast since they say there is only one copy. It appears that a limited supply of Disturbia [Blu-ray] was also available earlier today.

To reiterate, it is not clear where these discs are coming from - given the very limited quantities, I doubt that these are freshly pressed discs, rather more likely some that were ‘lost in the channel’ somewhere or dug out of a landfill?

Apparently removing any doubt of compensation paid from Toshiba to DreamWorks Animation (and we might assume Paramount also), Jeffrey Katzenberg said that DreamWorks is waiting for word from Toshiba before moving forward with Blu-ray

“We have a partnership with Toshiba and have an obligation to see this through,” DreamWorks Chief Executive Jeffrey Katzenberg said on Tuesday.

“As you know, we have been well-compensated for our support. It really is in their court at this point to really declare what the next step will be. We’re poised either way to jump into the marketplace when the conditions are right to do so,” he said

DreamWorks plans to release the DVD version of “Bee Movie” next month and is waiting to hear back from Toshiba on how to proceed. “We said, we have a release coming up on ‘Bee Movie.’ What would you like us to do?,” Katzenberg told Reuters in an interview.

JP Morgan analyst Barton Crockett said he expected DreamWorks would like to have the issue settled by the 2008 holiday season.

Via Format War Central

Today we made a large Region Code update to the main database. Now we have Region code information for almost 90% of the US domestic releases. With any luck we will manage to keep it somewhat maintained at this level.

Interestingly enough we get a better indication of the percentages for Region Coding. We see that roughly 2/3 of the titles are coded for all regions, though the different studios have different approaches to Region Codes.

Warner as well as Paramount / Dreamworks are all region free. Sony has 2/3 of their titles coded for all regions, Lionsgate is closer to 60% unrestricted releases. Disney only has 1/3 of titles region free and Fox is the Region Coding king with no discs coded for all regions in the USA. It should be noted however that some Fox titles in other regions are not restricted. The general policy for Sony, Disney and Lionsgate appears to be that day and date releases are region coded where catalog releases are not.

While New Line falls under the Warner umbrella, only one of their titles is coded all regions, which coincidentally is the one title that was released on HD DVD before New Line ceased HD DVD support. With their DTS Master Audio usage, you have to wonder if New Line is in fact Fox in disguise!

It will be interesting to see what Universal does when they release Blu-ray titles. We will be sure to report any apparent change in Region Code policy we see it moving forward.

Please feel free to provide region code information for titles in this thread on the forum.