Is Warner Near Announcing First Blu-ray Titles?

Warner Home Video is running ads in this week's trades that indicate the studio may soon be announcing titles for its initial slate of Blu-ray disc releases.

The studio, which has already released over a dozen titles in the HD DVD format, announced their intention to support both high-def disc formats last fall, but has been tight-lipped about specifics since then.

The ad (an image of which you can view here) is geared towards retailers nationwide and promotes the studio's support of both the HD DVD and Blu-ray formats. The ad also includes pictures of Blu-ray editions of '16 Blocks,' 'Firewall,' 'Million Dollar Baby,' 'The Perfect Storm' and 'Swordfish.' (All five titles have already been released by Warner on HD DVD.)

The full text of the ad reads:

The revolution is here: HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc have arrived. Now we're planning to bring millions of High Def TV owners hundreds of our movies, from new release to classics, in both HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc. Consumers will line up behind both formats, so to make the most of this new opportunity, we offer them both... and so should you.

Let's team up for the revolution... and prepare for a big, new world of business."

Warner's promotional effort, currently running in such industry trades as Video Business and Variety, has also been timed to coincide with this week's Video Software Dealers Association (VSDA) conference in Las Vegas. This has fueled speculation that the studio may announce its first Blu-ray titles as soon as this week, though Warner representatives declined to comment at presstime to High Def Digest on the timing of the ad campaign.

Watch this space for all the latest developments from this week's VSDA.