March 7^th, 2005 (4:56pm) - Lions Gate Entertainment has announced that it will release twelve movies on Universal Media Discs (UMD) so that they can be played on Sony’s PlayStation Portable handheld entertainment system. Lions Gate is the first company to support the PSP with UMD films other than Sony Pictures.

Amongst the official lineup of movies announced include new releases such as "Saw," "Open Water," and the "The Punisher," and action classics such as "Total Recall" and "Rambo: First Blood."

"When we first saw the machine and started talking to Sony, we immediately decided it was going to be a winner, both from the gaming perspective and from the perspective of people watching movies on the go," Lions Gate Entertainment president Steve Beeks said.

Lions Gate has been known to support new technologies in the film industry. The PSP’s UMD discs are, of course, one of the newest technologies to make its debut in the industry. A single UMD disc, which is 60mm in diameter, has a capacity of up to 1.8 GB of digital data. This format will be used for both PSP movies and videogame titles.

"The typical buyer of the machine -- a young male gamer -- also happens to be the core demographic to whom our films generally appeal, so it dovetails nicely not only with out past and current theatrical releasing but also with our library, where we have a lot of action/special effects films," Beeks said. "These are films that have done very well with each new evolutionary step. For us, it was a natural."

Other genres will be added as the format gains popularity in the marketplace, he said.

The pricing for Lion Gate’s UMD movies will be similar to the pricing of their DVDs. This means that new releases will retail for $20-$30 while films from an older library will retail for $10-$20. Sony Pictures has stated a similar price point for their lineup of films.

"We actually believe people who buy the UMD would not have bought it on DVD," he said. "There are people who will want UMD because of the portability. Maybe they’re already taking the games with them out of the house, and they’re bigger gamers than they are movie watchers."

Unfortunately, Lions Gate Entertainment has not announced when we will see their first movies on retail in UMD format.

The PSP launches in North America on March 24th and will be available in a value pack for the cost of $249.99.