"Pirates" director and Digital Playground founder Joone told XBIZ that Sony forced the adult industry to embrace the HD-DVD format over competitor Blu-ray.
"I started contacting [replicators] and they told me 'Sorry, we can’t do adult, or Sony will cancel our Blu-ray license,'" Joone told XBIZ from the AEE floor.
But Marty Gordon, vice chair of the Blu-ray Disc Association, said that any movies would be allowed on the format.
"There is not a prohibition against adult content," Gordon said. "The [Blu-ray Disc Association] is an open organization that welcomes the participation of all companies interested in using and supporting the format, including those that represent the full spectrum of genres in the content industry."
Further clouding the picture is Vivid's decision to release at least one title on both formats. "Debbie Does Dallas ... Again" will arrive on both HD-DVD and Blu-ray, and although Vivid declined to say where they're getting their Blu-ray disks reproduced, there are options, according to Jeff Fravala, owner of S and J CD Reproductions.
Only a handful of companies are equipped to mass-produce Blu-ray disks — including Technicolor, Sony, Sonopress and Cinram — but there are also smaller machines available for $9,000-$20,000.
Would that matter, though? "Corruption" director Bo Kenney said it wouldn't.
"As soon as we heard that we would have to get a license from Sony to produce Blu-ray disks, we said, 'Forget about it,'" Kenney told XBIZ.