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MPAA has waited till the last moment to start trying to block film betting despite being notified for over a year.

While you will get to see Tim Tebow during the Super Bowl commercials, you'll be missing out on several studios' blockbuster ads.Commercials were cheaper this year, but the $3 million price tag did not attract many movie studios.

"Movie tie-in games are tough to pull off, especially if you stick too closely to the story of the movie (hello, spoilers). \nHowever, Toy Story 3 hopes to pull it off with an open world mode that stays true to the movie while still giving players something entertaining (and non-spoilerific) to do. Disney Interactive Studios announced a Toy Story 3 tie-in game Wednesday that's coming out for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, and the iPhone/iPod Touch. No surprises there; but we were glad to hear there's an \nopen world mode in the game that adds a touch of originality to the game called Toy Box."

"RealNetworks Inc. said it will pay $4.5 million and drop its appeal of a court order barring sales of its DVD-copying software to settle a lawsuit by Walt Disney Co. and other Hollywood movie studios claiming the technology violates copyright-protection laws. RealNetworks also will refund about 2,700 customers who bought RealDVD, a $30 software program that allows users to save one backup copy of a movie to a computer hard drive."

"The scheduling change is among the first examples of an informal new agreement U.S. theater owners are discussing with the six major Hollywood studios: The exhibitors would let the studios experiment more with DVD release dates. As a result, studios could each release one or two movies a year on DVD a month or so sooner than they usually do, according to people familiar with the matter. The seemingly minor move could portend a big shift in the movie business down the road. The nascent arrangement, which has been under discussion for several months, highlights the growing pressure on the longstanding backbone of Hollywood's business model, an elaborate system known as "release windows." By separating a movie's release in theaters from the time window of when it is released on DVD or cable TV, studios were able to maximize revenue. DVD sales, for example, didn't eat into a movie's take at the box office."

The movie Avatar has been pulled from Chinese movie screens at the urging of propaganda officials.

Youtube to big screen

Walt Disney Co. is asking theater operators to agree to a shorter time between movie debuts and DVD releases, specifically starting with Alice in Wonderland, in an effort to boost home video sales. The move comes as studios try to find ideas to speed the release times of DVDs to fight slumping DVD revenues.

"Walt Disney Co.'s fourth-quarter results should cheer media investors fretting about whether legacy businesses can thrive postrecession. The Burbank, Calif. company just about matched its profit for the last three months of 2008 thanks to strong performances by its cable channels and movie studios. Theme parks, however, stalled in the bad economy as families cut back on luxuries."

The guys behind Lionsgate Entertainment's GAMER, which just launched on Blu-ray Disc and DVD, have a videogame history beyond the Crank films.

Disney has created iPhone apps that act as tie-ins with movies, among them an app that allows users to play as Alice and solve puzzles in Wonderland.

CBS launches movie slate. Aims for genres big studios have abandoned.

"The Los Angeles Times' critic may have panned the film, but that didn't stop Disney from paying top dollar to turn the newspaper's front page into a special advertisement for the new movie, "Alice in Wonderland." The ad, believed to be the first of its kind among America's leading big-city dailies, dismayed some readers and was lamented by media scholars as the latest troubling sign of difficult times at the newspaper and for journalism generally. Hollywood blogger Sharon Waxman cited one "media buyer insider" as saying the Walt Disney Co, the studio behind the film, paid $700,000 for the space.

More from the MPAA on film futures. They ask for an extension to gather more support from labor organizations against the creation of an exchange.

Robinov changes WB strategy to fewer but more ambitious movies and integration w DC comics.

Explains why television remakes of TV series always fail whereas movie adaptations of TV shows have a better track record. Nevertheless remakes of Rockford Files, Charlie's Angels, and Hawaii Five-O are forthcoming.

Exclusive output deals between HBO and three major Hollywood studios stand as major obstacles to a robust movie-dowload business, holding back a potentially lucrative distribution channel and creating conflict between the powerhouse divisions of TimeWarner -- HBO and Warner Bros. -- who for once find their interests at odds.

In the first case of its kind, an Australian court has ruled that an internet service provider cannot be responsible for illegal downloading. iiNet, Australia's third largest ISP, was taken to court by a group of 34 movie production houses. The group included the Australian divisions of Universal Pictures, Warner Brothers and 20th Century Fox. They claimed that iiNet was guilty of copyright infringement for not preventing illegal downloads of films.

Hollywood studios lost a landmark copyright court case against an Australia internet provider on Thursday, when a court ruled iiNet could not be held responsible for unauthorized downloads of movies using its service.