International HD DVD Releases (Updated - Dec 17)

With the impending European & Australian launch this December, all the titles from major studios that debut for the HD DVD launch in North America will be making their rounds again in Australia and in the European continent. So is there anything new that can be expected?

[Spain] On December 20, El Hundimiento (Downfall), El pianista (The Pianist) & El secreto de los hermanos Grimm (The Brothers Grimm) will be released on HD DVD.

The main feature on each of these HD DVDs will be presented in 1080p High Definition Widescreen OAR. All three will have Dolby Digital-Plus 5.1 (Spanish) audio tracks and Dolby Digital-Plus 5.1 (English) audio is available only on El pianista (The Pianist) and El secreto de los hermanos Grimm (The Brothers Grimm) HD DVDs.

They will also not be barebones release, most if not all of the bonus materials present in the respective titles' DVD releases will be ported over to this new HD DVD release. Spanish subtitles are provided for all three titles.

[Germany] Rides Volumes 1 - 3 (10 episodes / 3 discs) HD DVD is currently available for sale in Germany. Volumes 1 - 3 are available for sale as seperate discs (HD-30) or as a bundle. The main feature of all 3 discs is presented in 1080p/24fps High Definiton video encoded using VC-1 and DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (English).

[France] Studio Canal has earlier announced the availability of the following titles on HD DVD in France, starting Nov 20:

• Basic Instinct
• Elephant Man
• Fog
• La Haine
• The Pianist
• King Kong (1976)
• Rambo I - III
• Total Recall

The next wave for titles due for HD DVD and on the local VOD High Definition service simultaneously in France, starting March 2007:

• Arizona Dream
• Voyage Au Bout De L'enfer
• La Grande Vadrouille
• L'arme Des Ombres
• Le Laureat
• Le Pacte De Loups
• Leaving Las Vegas
• Million Dollar Baby
• Mulholland Drive
• Ran
• Serpico
• Terminator II
• Traffic
• We Were Soldiers

You may want to refer to the below blogpost for specs and cover artwork of all the above-mentioned titles from Studio Canal.

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[Japan] Paramount's Black Rain (2-disc HD DVD) and Universal Pictures' King Kong (2005) will now due for retail on Feb 23 and Jan 12. The same fate goes for Universal Pictures' Fast & The Furious movie franchise which was suppose to be released on HD DVD this Dec 22. A new release date is yet to be confirmed.

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[Australia] The first HD DVDs will be available at retail starting Dec 29. I guess that's because it is expected that the HD-E1s, HD-A2 and the HD-XF2 will be ready for retail by late December. The first titles due on Dec 29 are all from Universal Pictures (Australia), they are Apollo 13, Bourne Supremacy, Doom Unrated Extended Edition, Jarhead, King Kong (2005) & Serenity. Universal Pictures (Australia) will also be distributing the following titles on HD DVD, Rambo I - III and Total Recall in Australia, even though they are distributed on HD DVD in Europe by Studio Canal.

For future waves of HD DVD releases, one can expect Batman Begins, Fast and the Furious, Superman Returns, V for Vendetta...