Businessweekreports that Sony plans to launch a store that will compete with iTunes. Like iTunes, Sony's store will sell music, movies, books and downloadable apps for smartphones and other mobile devices. The tentative name for the online store is Sony Online Service.
On Nov. 19, Sony said it plans to launch an online store selling music, movies, and books as well as other downloadable applications for mobile products. Sony's top executives didn't specify when the Internet store, tentatively called Sony Online Service, would go live or what it would look like. But the online storefront, announced at a management strategy meeting in Tokyo, is likely to bear some similarities to Apple's iTunes store and would be Sony's most ambitious attempt to link its products to its own vast library of digital content.
The article says Sony wants its store to differ from iTunes. One difference is that Sony members will be apple to have accounts they can upload videos and other content to.
Sony will try to differentiate its service from iTunes. One example: Users will be able to upload videos shot on camcorders, save photos taken with digital cameras, and post other digital content to their personal online accounts. That's how Google's suite of Net-based services (such as YouTube video-sharing and Picasa photo site) works.
Internet Retailersays the new Sony store will be based on the Sony PlayStation Network's infrastructure, billing and log-in systems.
Entertainment Weekly is reporting that New Moon is breaking pre-sale ticket records at Fandango, AMC and MovieTickets.com. Fandango says several thousand New Moon showtimes have already sold out.
According to Fandango, who notes that their numbers are increasing every second, several thousand New Moon showtimes have sold out, making it the most the company has ever sold prior to a film's release date. (And, yes, that means the film has even topped The Dark Knight, and movies from both the Harry Potter and Star Wars franchises.) AMC and MovieTickets.com report the same information. Both the movie chain and the online ticket buying service have said the film has broken records set by Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. (New Moon even nabbed the No. 1 spot on MovieTickets.com’s list of top 10 advance ticket sellers of all time, breaking a nearly five-year-old record set by Star Wars: Episode III—Revenge of the Sith. The service is also reporting over 2,150 sellouts for the film, with over 200 in Los Angeles and New York.)
It is pretty clear that the box office for New Moon is going to be very big. New Moon arrives in theatres Fridas, November 20th.
Robert Pattinson appeared on The Today Show to chat with Matt Lauer about all the New Moon madness. Matt said he would give Rob a chance to bat down all the wild tabloid rumors about him. So he would read a tabloid headline and Rob would say True or False.
But Rob, who has a wicked sense of humor, said that every crazy headline was absolutely true, from his dating a co-star whose name rhymes with Tristan Blewart ("there was a Liston Hewitt last year. That would be true, yes") to a drug overdose, dating "nonstop" and his suffering some kind of derriere injury. It's pretty funny. Take a look:
Zac Efron met screaming fans at the premiere of his new film, Me and Orson Welles. The new film is a much more serious role for Zac Efron who has starred in 17 Again and three High School Musical films. Zac says the movie was a "whole different challenge" and it "took him out of his element." Christian McKay (Orson Welles) and Claire Daines (Sonja Jones) also star in the film with Zac Efron. Take a look:
Robert Pattinson is still good-naturedly making the press rounds for New Moon, answering the same questions a thousand times. He sits down with Ryan Seacrest for a radio interview and it starts off well enough. If you pay attention you will see Rob's publicist circling in the background like a shark on patrol. She's unobtrusive and appears not to be paying attention, but trust us she is listening to every word.
A relaxed Rob talked about how he really doesn't want to let any of the fans down, especially those who have been waiting in line for so long to see him. But then Ryan ventured into the No Fly Zone: he asked Rob about whether he is dating Kristen. Rob laughs and shoots just one look -- just one look -- at the publicist which she clearly translated as "I thought you said personal questions were off limits. Now what?" She (perhaps overreacting a bit) immediately springs into action and ends the interview, much to Ryan's consternation. Ryan knows that topic was off limits, but he gambled --- and lost. Ah, well. That publicist really knows her job -- all it took was a raised eyebrow from Rob and she issued the smackdown. It's pretty funny. Take a look:
Taylor Lautner, Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson will appear on The Jimmy Kimmel show this Friday night. The session has already been taped. In this clip, Taylor talks about how he gained weight to play Jacob Black in New Moon. Jacob talks about his work out and having to eat all the time to put on weight. Rob and Kristen seem to find it hilarious to watch Taylor get grilled instead of them. The show will air on ABC at midnight eastern time Friday night. Take a look:
The day New Moon takes over the box office is fast approaching. The world premiere of New Moon was held last night in Los Angeles. A beaming Robert Pattinson said it has been "unbelievable" in every city they have been to. All the stars seem blown away by the response to the film. Taylor Lautner said "We continue to be surprised. This amount of passion from fans is not normal." He's right. It's not normal. Take a look:
Another trailer for the film, Nine, has been released. Kate Hudson sings
Mauray Yeston's entertaining song "Cinema Italiano" in this trailer. We saw just a teaser of Hudson's performance earlier. Nine also a website now at nine-movie.com. This is the second trailer that has been released. If you missed the first trailer you can watch it here.
John Cusack and Roland Emmerich's mega disaster movie, 2012, easily won the weekend box office taking in $65 million. The film has made a very impressive $225 million worldwide over the past five days. Roland Emmerich likes big projects and this time it really paid off for him - Deadline Hollywood Dailysays Emmerich's deal gives him 25% off the film's gross profits. Jim Carrey's A Christmas Carol had a very strong second week adding another $22 million to its total. This should silence critics who said the film wouldn't make much money. A Christmas Carol should linger in theatres with Christmas still weeks away.
The Men Who Stare at Goats came in third and made $6.2 million. Precious performed incredibly well considering it was in under 200 theaters. The film made over $6 million at an average rate of $35,000 per theatre. The box office strength should only help the film's Oscar buzz. The other major release this weekend, Pirate Radio, did not fare well. It only made $2.8 million despite opening in nearly 900 theatres.
2012 will need to savor its big box office victory while it lasts because New Moon will be next weekend's number one film. The only remaining question is just how big the box office will be.
Entertainment Tonight has a sneak peek of Kate Hudson singing "Cinema Italiano" in the film version of the musical Nine. Kate looks so much like her mom Goldie Hawn in her go-go dancing days on Laugh-In: she looks fabulous. Take a look:
Warner Home Video staged the World's Largest Virginia Reel on Friday to celebrate the 70th Anniversary of Gone With the Wind. 70 couples danced
in the historic Marietta Georgia Town Square. Four original cast members alsoattended: Ann Rutherford ("Carreen O'Hara"), Mickey Kuhn ("Beau Wilkes" at age 7), Patrick Curtis ("Baby Beau Wilkes") and Greg Geise (infant "Bonnie Blue Butler" & infant "Beau Wilkes"), along with Gina Miller who was an extra. Bill Dunaway, the Mayor of Marietta, hosted the event with special guest Robert Osborne, Turner Classic Movies' primetime host.
Warner Home Video is releasing the Gone with the Wind 70th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition on November 17th. You can buy it on Amazon.com (DVD, Blu-ray). Turner Classic Movies is also screen the film on December 15th, the actual anniversary of the film's original premiere in Atlanta.
We just love Gabby Sidibe, the star of Precious. Gabby is just so full of energy and life: she is a scream. In this interview with Conan O'Brien, Gabby admits that as a teenager she was just obsessed with the boy band 'N Sync. She knew all the guy's birthdays and went to 23 of their concerts. Take a look:
Taylor Lautner is a doll. Mattel has created a Jacob Black doll as part of its Twilight series. The Jacob doll has six pack abs and appears to have forgotten to put on a shirt. Unfortunately, the Jacob doll isn't available until March 1, 2010; it will be released at the same time as the DVD of New Moon. You can pre-order the doll at
Amazon.com.
Mario Lopez joins the wolfpack from New Moon in this doctored photo. Mario actually looks like he is in even better shape than the other wolves. Chaske Spencer, Alex Meraz, Kiowa Gordon and Bronson Pelletier are the other wolves in the photo. You can see the original poster image here.
ViewSonic has launched the MovieBook VPD400, a thin, pock-sized device that can play HD movies. VPD400 has a 4.3" screen. You can also listen to music, view photo albums, read digital books and record voice memos with the device. MovieBook VPD400 can also connect to a TV to broadcast your movies on a larger screen. The VPD400 promises up to 12 hours of battery life. It has 8GB of internal memory with an extendable Micro SD storage slot. The retail price is $129.99.
Businessweek 
