Warren Beatty Sued Over Dick Tracy

Actor Warren Beatty is being sued by Tribune Media Services over the film and television rights to the character of Dick Tracy, Reuters is reporting. The Academy-award winning actor directed and starred in a hit 1990 movie named after and based on the comic strip character. Tracy was originally created by cartoonist Chester Gould in 1931.
According to court papers, Beatty bought the film and TV rights to the character in 1985 and he claims to retain them. However, Tribune Media Services is arguing that the rights have reverted to them because Beatty has "made no productive use" of them for over a decade.
Beatty and Tribune have been battling over Dick Tracy for several years and this is not the first suit to be filed over the film and TV rights. According to the BBC, Beatty began legal action in 2005 in which he claimed to have given the rights to Disney to produce the 1990 Dick Tracy film. Disney subsequently returned them to him. He was also arguing that Tribune attempted to recover the rights illegally.
In November 2008 Beatty again filed a lawsuit against Tribune claiming that work he was doing on a television special connected with Dick Tracy entitled him to retain the rights. In the current lawsuit Tribune is said to be arguing that Beatty is producing the special only so that he can keep control of the rights.
Tribune Media Services is a unit of the bankrupt newspaper published Tribune Company and apparently believes that it could reap a large financial reward from the rights to Dick Tracy.

Sony to Make and Release 4K Digital Films

Sony Pictures Entertainment will use 4K digital technology in the making of most of its filmed productions, Sony Electronics has announced.
"With the industry moving rapidly to embrace the improvement in quality that digital cinema can offer, we believe that 4K resolution gives audiences the best seat in the house," said Gary Martin, president of Production Administration and Studio Operations for Sony Pictures Entertainment. "That's why we will be making more of our filmed productions at full 4K resolution, scanning at 4K, using a 4K workflow process, and releasing a 4K DCP to theaters. The crisp and vibrant images provided by 4K are the only way to ensure that audiences both today and in the future will really be able to see the full range of what we can capture on film."
Sony Pictures has already released the summer blockbuster Hancock in 4K, with the motion picture grossing more than $600 million at the worldwide box office to date. Movies released in 4K can play in theaters with either 4K or 2K projectors. Among the next motion pictures to be digitally imaged in 4K by Sony Pictures, and available for 4K distribution, are expected to be 2012, Salt, and The Green Hornet, with more titles to be announced.
"This commitment from Sony Pictures continues the momentum that is building behind 4K," said Gary Johns, vice president, Digital Cinema Systems Division at Sony Electronics. "Exhibitors are realizing that 4K is a reality now, for enhancing their customers' experiences, and studio support is a critical element to take advantage of the superior resolution of Sony's 4K projection system. The growing number of 4K-equipped theaters will now have even more 4K content potentially available to offer their customers."

Big Screen, Big Problem?

If you are thinking of buying a big screen TV, you might think again on the basis of new work performed by a team of researchers at Scripps Institute of Oceanography at U.C. San Diego. Their study tried to estimate how much nitrogen trifluoride — a powerful greenhouse gas that is used in the manufacture of flat screen TVs — is in the atmosphere. The researchers’ findings indicate that it is at least four times more prevalent than previously estimated, according to a press release issued by the Institution.
Concerns were raised about nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) earlier this year in an article that was published in 'New Scientist' magazine. The article referred to work done by Professor Michael Prather from the University of California at Irvine. NF3 is considered to be 17,000 times more potent as a global warming agent than carbon dioxide on a molecule-for-molecule basis. It also survives in the atmosphere about five times longer than CO2. Don't panic if you ordered that 46-inch screen today, though. It is estimated that NF3 emissions currently contribute only about 0.04 percent of the total global warming effect contributed by current human-produced carbon dioxide emissions.
Of more concern is an increase in the production of NF3 to serve the consumer electronics market, including LCD TVs. Ironically news of the Scripps study was released on the same day as the announcement of a predicted increase in the market for NF3. A press release issued by Global Industry Analysts, Inc., a market research firm, says that the world nitrogen trifluoride market "is projected to reach 19.5 thousand metric tons by the year 2012." One of the main factors cited for this increase is a growing demand for LCD applications.
"Semiconductors end-use market represents the largest and the most mature application area for nitrogen trifluoride, accounting for over 45% share estimated in 2008," the release says. "Demand for nitrogen trifluoride from the LCDs end-use market, is forecast to display robust growth at a projected CAGR of 13.8% over the period 2011-2015 and surpass semiconductor industry demand by 2012."
Recent statements coming out of Panasonic, the world's largest consumer-electronics maker, are indicative of the strength of the market for flat-screen TVs. Sales of these products won't be hurt by the slowing economy because consumers tend to give them priority over other purchases, a spokesman for the company is quoted as saying on Bloomberg.com. According to that same site, sales of flat-screen TVs have helped Panasonic increase profits 86% in the first quarter of the year and the company is planning to open new flat-screen factories in the next two years in a bid to increase U.S. sales. However, sales growth of products such as flat-screen televisions is expected to be slower this year than last, according to Steve Baker, an industry analyst for NPD Group. In another article on Bloomberg.com, Baker is cited as saying that sales will rise by about three percent, compared with a rise of around 4.5 percent a year ago.
Previously it was thought that the amount of NF3 in the atmosphere in 2006 was less than 1,200 metric tons. The Scripps researchers estimate that the actual amount present two years ago was closer to 4,200 metric tons. The research also indicates that the amount of NF3 in the atmosphere this year is about 5,400, which is about 28.6% percent higher than the amount estimated for 2006. According to the news release, the quantity of NF3 in the atmosphere is increasing at about 11 percent per year.
The Scripps team analyzed air samples gathered over the past 30 years, working in association with the NASA-funded Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment (AGAGE) network of ground-based atmosphere stations. The researchers found that concentrations of the gas rose from about 0.02 parts per trillion in 1978 to 0.454 parts per trillion in 2008. The samples also showed significantly higher concentrations of NF3 in the Northern Hemisphere than in the Southern Hemisphere, which the researchers said is consistent with its use predominantly in Northern Hemisphere countries. The current observed rate of increase of NF3 in the atmosphere corresponds to emissions of about 16 percent of the amount of the gas produced globally.
NF3 is not currently covered under the Kyoto Protocol because information has been lacking on its potential impact on global warming. Scientists are now recommending that it be added to the list of greenhouse gases regulated by Kyoto.The complete press release from the Scripps Institution can be found here.The complete press release from Global Industry Analysts, Inc. is here.

‘Avatar’ Prequel Story Being Penned by James Cameron

Producer Jon Landau has told MTV that James Cameron is presently hard at work penning the prequel to Avatar. But this story isn't intended for the big screen.
"Jim is going to write a novel himself," said Landau."Not a novelization. A novelization basically retells the story of the movie. Jim wants to write a novel that is a big, epic story that fills in a lot of things [we] won't have time to do in the movie, or maybe in sequels. [So the novel will] give a foundation for the world."
"It would be something that would lead up to telling the story of the movie," Landau added, "but it would go into much more depth about all the stories that we didn't have time to deal with—like the schoolhouse and Sigourney [Weaver's character] teaching at the schoolhouse; Jake on Earth and his backstory and how he came here; [the death of] Tommy, Jake's brother; and Colonel Quaritch, how he ended up there and all that."
Landau says that he hopes Cameron will be able to finish the novel in time to see it published by the end of this year.
To the best of our knowledge, this will mark the writer/director's first published work of fiction.
Just when you thought Cameron couldn't possibly be busy enough with other projects, not to mention prepping the Avatar sequel. Are you looking forward to this tome, or do you think the writer/director would have been better handing this off to an established novelist and focusing instead on the next movie?

When Disney Meets Osama bin Laden

Two days after an elite US special forces team broke into Osama bin Laden’s Pakistan compound on May 1 and killed the al-Qaeda leader, Media Bistro reports the Walt Disney Company trademarked the term ‘Seal Team 6′, the name of the actual team of operatives who conducted the operation.
Seal Team 6 is regarded as the most highly trained of all Navy Seals; the best of the best.
(As an aside, the book, “SEAL Team Six: Memoirs of an Elite Navy SEAL Sniper”, is being rushed into stores this week ahead of its originally scheduled May 24 publication date.)
According to the US trademark service, Disney’s move covers, and we quote:
“Entertainment and education services, toys, games and play things; gymnastic and sporting articles (except clothing); hand-held units for playing electronic games other than those adapted for use with an external display screen or monitor; Christmas stockings; Christmas tree ornaments and decorations; snow globes, clothing, footwear and headwear.”
It’s perhaps the ultimate indignity for the man who claimed he despised Western Capitalism (though, notably, kept a collection of porn in his compound room), now that his death is feeding that very capitalistic machine.
How Disney plans to leverage the trademark is unknown. Though we expect that a movie about Seal Team 6 could be a possibility, toys and paraphernalia for kids is even more likely in the near future.
As we’ve previously reported, filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow is already hard at work on a movie about the assassination of the al Qaeda leader, Kill Bin Laden.

loses equivalent of one Olsen Twin

Kirstie Alley, 60, long the butt of fat jokes, has finally shut up her critics. The “Dancing with the Stars” contestant has lost a jaw-dropping 100 lbs.
“I feel like I’m back in my element,” Alley told Entertainment Tonight. “I honestly didn’t even realize what I looked like.”
PHOTOS: Kirstie’s Weight Ups and Downs.
The former “Fat Actress” said she now fits into a teeny-tiny size 4. “Before ‘Dancing with the Stars,’ I bought these dresses from size 14 to 4,” she explained. “(They were) all the same dress, and I said, ‘You know what I really want? I really wanna be in this dress in a 4!’”
The now-skinny star even sashayed down the catwalk for designer Zang Toi during New York’s Fashion Week on Tuesday.
“I’ve known Zang since 1993,” Alley explained. “He just has the most beautiful clothes, period.”
While Alley lost the equivalent of one Olsen Twin, she’s not planning on going under the knife to remove any excess skin.
PHOTOS: Weight Yo-Yo Stars.
“I haven’t had plastic surgery,” said Allley. “Here’s the reason: People do plastic surgery to make you look younger. I don’t think it makes you look younger. I like it can make you look weirder.”

Even though she has a face and figure women half her age would envy, Alley says she isn’t looking for Mr. Right — she’s looking for Mr. Right Now. “This is what I think about sex,” Alley declared. “I think its fun to hookup every night for six months… Then it’s time to move on!”