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"For them to deny people who have Blu-ray sucks!"  (Source: michaelbay.com)
"I miss you more than Michael Bay missed the mark, When he made Pearl Harbor."

Yesterday, Paramount and DreamWorks made an announcement that shook the tech community -- just when everyone was getting used to the idea that Blu-ray was gaining considerable traction in the high definition format war. The two companies decided to reverse their support for both HD DVD and Blu-ray in exchange for exclusive support for the former.

The news sparked quite a stir from both sides of the aisle. Supporters of the HD DVD standard declared that the move meant that the war is still on. Blu-ray supporters on the other hand saw the move as nothing more than a multi-million dollar payoff for Paramount and DreamWorks.

One high-profile member of the film community decided to make his feeling known about the decision to go HD DVD only. Michael Bay -- known for action blockbusters like "Bad Boys" and "The Rock" as well as critical disappointments like "Pearl Harbor" and "The Island" -- expressed outrage after hearing that "Transformers" would become an HD DVD exclusive title upon its release for high definition players.

"I want people to see my movies in the best formats possible. For them to deny people who have Blu-ray sucks! They were progressive by having two formats. No Transformers 2 for me," exclaimed Bay on his official site.

“Transformers” has racked up nearly $303 million USD in ticket sales in the U.S. alone since its July release. The release of the DVD and HD DVD versions of the movie this fall are sure to bring in considerable dollars to Paramount.

The question remains, however, if Bay has enough clout to reverse Paramount's decision on an HD DVD exclusive HD release for "Transformers" or risk Bay bolting altogether for "Transformers 2."

Updated 8/21/2007:
Thanks to Dane for letting us know that Michael Bay has cooled off a bit following his earlier statement. Bay made the following post this evening on his official site:
Last night at dinner I was having dinner with three blu-ray owners, they were pissed about no Transformers Blu-ray and I drank the kool aid hook line and sinker. So at 1:30 in the morning I posted - nothing good ever comes out of early am posts mind you - I over reacted. I heard where Paramount is coming from and the future of HD and players that will be close to the $200 mark which is the magic number. I like what I heard.

As a director, I'm all about people seeing films in the best quality possible, and I saw and heard firsthand people upset about a corporate decision.

So today I saw 300 on HD, it rocks!

So I think I might be back on to do Transformers 2!

Michael Bay

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the island
By siberus on 8/21/2007 9:00:18 AM , Rating: 5
I kind of liked the island. *blushes*




RE: the island
By Brandon Hill (blog) on 8/21/2007 9:03:56 AM , Rating: 3
Even Scarlett Johansson couldn't save that flick... ;-)


RE: the island
By Spivonious on 8/21/2007 9:31:31 AM , Rating: 2
But she sure made it more entertaining :P


RE: the island
By togaman5000 on 8/22/2007 7:16:04 AM , Rating: 2
i fully agree with ya there buddy!


RE: the island
By retrospooty on 8/21/2007 9:36:50 AM , Rating: 4
"Even Scarlett Johansson couldn't save that flick... ;-)"

But her tight white jumpsuit did :D


RE: the island
By deeznuts on 8/21/2007 12:54:35 PM , Rating: 2
Well. That means I must finally watch my copy then shoot white jumpsuit don't have to tell me twice.


RE: the island
By leidegre on 8/22/2007 3:21:47 AM , Rating: 2
I thought The Island was great (didn't think Pearl Harbor was bad either). And obviously Scarlett makes anything worth watching better. She just so damn pretty.

I do think however, that it's a matter of opinion more than anything else, because if you don't like the type of movies Michael Bay directs you’re not going to like any of the movies he's been involved with. I am a big fan, and love nothing more than to see big explosions and mutli-million action.

Also, if Bay won't return for Transformers 2, I'm going to cry, because I loved the first one, and I'm going to love the second and third, just because (but only if Michael is there to direct).

My point is this, why do you expect a movie to contain depth and story from a directory whom primarily makes action? It's like, buying vanilla instead of chocolate even though you prefer chocolate.


RE: the island
By Pitbull0669 on 8/21/07, Rating: 0
RE: the island
By Moishe on 8/21/2007 9:44:19 AM , Rating: 5
quote:
No Transformers 2 for me," exclaimed Bay on his official site.

I bet if they ask him in 3 years to do another Transformers movie and promise another fat paycheck he'll do it without a second thought.

I agree with the concept of not limiting the market for the movie, but I also don't think he cares at all about which format wins. He just wants it to sell well (and who can blame him).


RE: the island
By tallguywithglasseson on 8/21/2007 10:26:06 AM , Rating: 5
"No Transformers 2 for me"

Please please please please please let him keep his word on that.

Give someone else a shot at a Transformers movie.

I've gotta say though, unfortunately it's a virtual lock that he's going to go back on that statement.


RE: the island
By erikejw on 8/21/07, Rating: 0
RE: the island
By omnicronx on 8/21/2007 10:42:08 AM , Rating: 5
quote:
He probably gets percentage of what how the movie sells.
I'm no mathematician but do the math, 2/3 of 1% is not a reason to publicly disagree against the company that hired you. DVD's are still where the sales are at, he will make most of the money off of that. I think he just knows that transformers is a movie made for HD, just like 300, and the BD people will truly miss out on a great release. Either that or hes just trying to be the good guy like Steven Spielberg, then again, he may think he is Steven Spielburg, has anyone told him hes not yet?


RE: the island
By cyclingco on 8/21/07, Rating: 0
RE: the island
By Shadowmaster625 on 8/21/2007 2:24:56 PM , Rating: 2
most will buy the dvd anyway


RE: the island
By omnicronx on 8/21/2007 2:51:05 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
either way I'm right...

Yawn, i really doubt mr Bay is doing this out of the goodness of his heart so that people will appreciate his movies. People appreciate movies because they are good, not because they are available on a certain format, or because a certain director says so.

As for you whole money theory, it does not make sense either, HD-DVD/BD is not DVD, there was an immidiate step up in technology no matter what your system is from VHS to DVD. HighDef movies require an HDTV as you probably know, and with maybe 15% of the market having hdtvs, no highdef movie is going to make the impact the matrix did when the DVD was first introduced.
quote:
and then you're talking millions more for bay
How do you figure, being very nice if you believe transformers will sell 30 million copies whether it be HD-DVD/BD or DVD, with only 1% of those copies being of the high def format, that leaves you with 300,000 high def movies sold. So lets do some math, 300k x 25$ per movie = 7.5 million.

Now how much of that do you think goes to the director? Even if he were to receive 10% (and thats being very generous, as i have no idea what the real number would be) he would only receive 750,000 dollars. Now lets take off 1/3 because he would already be receiving HD-DVD sales as its an exclusive, which leave you with 500k over what he would have got if it was just an HD-DVD release.
So to think Mr Bay made all of this fuss over 500k is ridiculous, he obviously has interior motives in mind, whether it to pretend he is Spielberg, or if he just wants the publicity, either way it has nothing to do with either of your reasons.

Of course all of these numbers are really pure B.S, I just wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt so i inflated all the numbers to benefit what you are saying.. sorry it just does not fit.

so..
either way, your wrong...


RE: the island
By The Sword 88 on 8/22/2007 9:06:59 AM , Rating: 2
I'd be pissed about 500K. I dont make that in 10 years


RE: the island
By bldckstark on 8/24/07, Rating: 0
RE: the island
By JonnyDough on 8/21/07, Rating: 0
RE: the island
By Oregonian2 on 8/21/2007 3:31:54 PM , Rating: 2
Not hardly. HD + BluRay probably total 0.1% of the total sales. Big deal. Now if they were to drop VHS copies, THAT might be significant!

Keep in mind the vast majority of sales (recorded version sales, which doesn't include TV Network or cable network or theater ticket sales) will be plain-DVD. BluRay (or HD) will be a tiny percentage of total sales, so saying that they're losing 66% of sales isn't anywhere near the truth. They lose 66% of a microspec subset of total sales, and even then probably not the full percentage because folk will go out and buy an HD player along with an HD copy of the movie -- HD players are cheap (although I'm waiting for 'em to get under $100 first, maybe next spring).