Hollywood’s focus on big-budget films and 3-D effects that command higher ticket prices will likely drive box-office sales to a record $11 billion this year even as some fans shun the rising cost of a night at the movies.
A surcharge for 3-D movies may push revenue past last year’s $10.6 billion, Paul Dergarabedian, president of Hollywood.com [...]

The entertainment industry can be a legal minefield.  And while the legal issues that face documentary filmmakers may not be unique, documentarians — who typically work on shoestring budgets, rely heavily on preexisting copyrighted materials, and often say things that moneyed and powerful interests don’t want to hear — are uniquely [...]

Everywhere you look in the entertainment world these days, you see more and more people crossing the digital divide, using a staggering array of new devices to read books, watch TV shows, listen to music and, yes, even read the newspaper. Amazon recently announced that it now sells more e-books than [...]

In an era when outside movie capital is tough to come by, David Ellison, the 27-year-old son of Oracle founder and Chief Executive Larry Ellison, has raised $350 million to co-finance movies with his studio partner Paramount Pictures.
The funds — $150 million in equity and a four-year, $200-million revolving credit facility led by JPMorgan Chase – will enable [...]

Hollywood’s obsession with comic books led to media giant Walt Disney Co.’s $4.3-billion acquisition of Marvel Entertainment and Warner Bros.’ decision to revamp its DC Entertainment unit.
But it’s also transforming even the smallest comic book players.
Oni Press of Portland, Ore., which has nine employees and publishes three to five comics or trade paperbacks each month, is behind a big [...]

For its new gangster series “Boardwalk Empire,” HBO built a $5 million, 300-foot-long boardwalk on the Brooklyn waterfront to recreate Atlantic City circa 1920. The set required 150 tons of steel and includes historical elements like the Baby Incubator, an actual nursery where tourists could gawk at tiny, premature infants.
The 12 episodes produced for the [...]

The culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, today confirmed plans to abolish the UK Film Council.
A Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) statement confirmed the proposal, rumours of which first emerged on the Deadline London blog.
The move is part of a raft of DCMS cost-cutting measures that involve the merger, abolition or streamlining of 16 public bodies.
Hunt answered questions in [...]

In April, Jeffrey Katzenberg, the chief executive of DreamWorks Animation, voiced public fury at Warner Brothers for having abruptly converted its “Clash of the Titans” into 3-D and releasing it a week after his company’s 3-D film, “How to Train Your Dragon.”

Mr. Katzenberg may have had more on his mind than [...]

Redbox, which became the fastest- growing U.S. video retailer with DVD kiosks and a $1-a-day rental price stores couldn’t match, is developing an online strategy to stay competitive with larger rival Netflix Inc.
The company, the biggest division of Coinstar Inc., may use a Web service to expand its library beyond the [...]

Divas populate the walls of Leah Weil’s office in the Thalberg building on the Sony lot: Patti LuPone, Alicia Keys, Bette Midler and Barbra Streisand. But a decade into her run as the studio’s top lawyer, Weil presides over perhaps the most drama-free operation in town. The senior executive vp and general counsel of Sony [...]