Jordan O'BrienDespite 4K Ultra HD Blu-rays only going on sale in the UK last week, by the end of 2016 there could be hundreds of them available on the market. That’s because companies like Universal Pictures plan to release in excess of 100 of them before the end of the year alone.
Warner Bros. says that it plans to release 35 4K Blu-ray movies this year, but Universal’s ambitions are much higher – with the company saying that it will release more than 100 of its movies, both old and new, on the format.
The upcoming Jason Bourne and Warcraft movies will be among the first Universal films released in the format, which will then be followed by older movies such as Everest, Lucy and Lone Survivor. Those titles won’t be solely available in 4K Blu-rays however, with Universal Pictures also revealing that each of its high-resolution titles will also be available in digital form.
Films from Universal Pictures will begin arriving this Summer, although the company has yet to specify what day or even month users can expect to start picking the movies up. There’s also no word on price either, although expect them to retail at around the same rate as current 4K Blu-rays.
Universal is not alone with planning its 4K content for the upcoming year, Paramount is also planning a special edition version of Star Trek and Stark Trek: Into Darkness to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the series. Lionsgate meanwhile has already released a number of 4K Blu-rays, including Sicario, The Last Witch Hunter, Ender’s Game and The Expendables 3.
Installers wanting to upgrade their clients to 4K Blu-ray technology can now do so with ease, as two Blu-ray players are now on the market. Samsung’s UBD-K8500 4K Blu-ray player officially went on sale on April 20, while Pansonic’s DMPUB900 has been available since March.
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