Paramount pledges support for UMD format

Paramount Pictures has followed in the footsteps of fellow entertainment companies Buena Vista and Lions Gate by signing up to release its first batch of titles for the UMD format.

From this August, North American PSP owners will be able to choose from a range of ten Paramount titles, including hit film Sahara and popular comedy series South Park.

Movies Team America, Coach Carter, SpongeBob SquarePants and Without a Paddle will also get a UMD release, along with Viva La Bam, a documentary about pro-skateboarder Bam Margera.

Paramount has also teamed up with Comedy Central and Nickelodeon to release episodes of Ren and Stimpy, SpongeBob SquarePants and Chapelle's Show on UMD. More titles are planned for the coming months.

"[We are] distinctly positioned to provide a wide variety of content for this new portable multimedia platform given our unique assets which reach the key demographics for PSP," said Thomas Lesinski, president of Paramount's home entertainment division.

"Our 2005 release schedule demonstrates our commitment to PSP with a great slate of titles ideally suited for this handheld system."