Contact: Brenda Ciccone
Paramount Home Entertainment
(323) 956-8091, brenda_ciccone@paramount.com
PARAMOUNT PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCES DEBUT LINE-UP FOR BLU-RAY DISC FORMAT
Studio Selects Ten Launch Titles to Introduce Paramount HD Content
LOS ANGELES (January 4, 2006) — Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment announced today its upcoming slate of “Paramount High Definition” titles for the launch of the new
Blu-ray Disc format.
Among the titles to be released in conjunction with the Blu-ray hardware delivery to retail stores are recent hits such as Four Brothers and Sahara, sci-fi thrillers Aeon Flux and Sky Captain & the World of Tomorrow, action-adventures The Italian Job and Tomb Raider, the renowned music documentary U2: Rattle and Hum and Tim Burton’s
Sleepy Hollow. The ten title launch slate also includes We Were Soldiers and Manchurian Candidate starring Academy Award winners Mel Gibson and
Denzel Washington respectively.
Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment will continue its roll out of Blu-ray titles throughout 2006 and beyond, including the highly anticipated release of
Mission Impossible 3 alongside Mission Impossible and Mission Impossible 2.
“Paramount is pleased to demonstrate its support for Blu-ray with these launch titles,” said Thomas Lesinski, President, Paramount Pictures, Worldwide Home Entertainment. “We feel confident that the breadth and quality of the ‘Paramount High Definition’
line-up will provide consumers with a compelling home entertainment experience for years to come.”
About Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is the next-generation optical disc format being developed for
high-definition video and high-capacity software applications. A single-layer Blu-ray Disc will hold up to 25 gigabytes of data and a double-layer Blu-ray Disc will hold up to 50 gigabytes of data. This greater storage capacity enables the Blu-ray Disc to store up to five times the amount of content than is possible with current DVDs, and is particularly well suited for high definition feature films with extended levels of additional bonus and interactive material.
Blu-ray Discs offer 1920x1080p HD master quality for high definition audio and video quality. Consumers will benefit from Blu-ray Disc’s improvements over current DVD technology including enhanced menu navigation, increased capacity for bonus features and new interactive capabilities.
Blu-ray Disc can deliver entertainment content in full high-definition (HD), under a secure environment made possible through advanced copyright protection technology. Blu-ray Disc playback products are expected to be backward compatible with the current DVDs, allowing continued enjoyment of existing DVD collections.
About Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment
Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment is part of Paramount Pictures, a division of Viacom Inc., and is responsible for the worldwide sales, marketing, and distribution of home entertainment for Viacom including: Paramount Pictures, Paramount Television, Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central and CBS. Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment is part of the entertainment operations of the new Viacom Inc., which also owns MTV Networks (MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, Comedy Central, CMT: Country Music Television, Spike TV, TV Land and many other networks around the world), BET, Paramount Pictures and Famous Music.
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