'Harry Potter,' 'Batman Begins' to Lead Warner's Fall HD DVD Charge

Viewing the first few months of HD DVD availability as a "preliminary" launch window, Warner Home Video will finally begin to roll out its A-list titles ahead of the fourth quarter holiday shopping season, studio representatives announced yesterday.

Speaking to the trade publication Video Business from the Video Software Dealers Association (VSDA) convention in Las Vegas, Warner senior VP of marketing management Steve Nickerson revealed that the studio will release such tentpole titles as 'Batman Begins' and 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire' on HD DVD in time for the holiday buying season.

The studio had indicated earlier this year at January's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) that 'Potter' and 'Batman' might be among the studios initial slate of HD DVD launch titles, and they have remained some of the most eagerly-awaited HD DVD releases among early adopters.

"We have said that the period between March and September is a preliminary [launch]," Nickerson said. "It's really about the fourth quarter. Despite anybody's concerns of [whether] we are doing the right thing, we are doing what we think is the right way" to effectively rollout HD DVD.

Other A-list catalog titles Warner plans to release on HD DVD by the end of the year include the 'Matrix' trilogy, 'The Shawshank Redemption,' 'Twister' -- and through subsidiary New Line Home Entertainment, all three Oscar-winning 'Lord of the Rings' films.