Warner Bros. To Support Blu-Ray and HD-DVD

Warner Brothers Entertainment says it is likely to release its movies in both high definition DVD and the rival Blu-ray format.

Another Hollywood giant, Paramount Pictures Corp., made a similar decision earlier this month.

The two companies’ decisions could give the Blu-ray camp a strong grip on most Hollywood studios, the Asahi Shimbun reported Friday.

HD-DVD, developed by Toshiba and NEC, is fighting Blu-ray, developed by Sony, for supremacy as the next-generation video format.

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp., The Walt Disney Co., Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. and other U.S. studios already support the Blu-ray format. It is unclear if they also plan to release their movies in the HD-DVD format.

Universal Studios still officially backs HD-DVD, but industry experts speculate the company will probably follow the moves of Paramount and Warner Brothers and also release its movies for Blu-ray formatted DVD players.

However, HD-DVD gained momentum last month when it received strong support from two information technology giants, Microsoft Corp. and Intel Corp.