Paramount Home Entertainment is re-entering the Blu-ray Disc market, an announcement that’s not exactly unexpected in light of HD-DVD’s marketplace failure. What is surprising is just how soon Paramount will get back into the Blu-ray game: May 20.
On May 20, Paramount will release Face/Off, Next and Bee Movie on Blu-ray Disc, the latter of which was scheduled to ship as an HD-DVD in March. Those plans never materialized.
On June 3, Paramount will roll out Cloverfield and There Will Be Blood on Blu-ray, followed a couple of weeks later by The Spiderwick Chronicles (on June 24). The Spiderwick Chronicles will be the first movie Paramount releases on Blu-ray Disc the same day it releases the DVD.
An article on The Hollywood Reporter suggests No Country for Old Men will release on Blu-ray in August, with more Paramount titles heading to Blu-ray Disc later in the year.
Paramount originally released its movies on both Blu-ray and HD-DVD, much like Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. Just before the home release of Transformers, though, Paramount declared it would support HD-DVD exclusively.