Tag Archives: Warner Brothers
Warner Bros. Acquires Flixster, Gaining Ownership Of Rotten Tomatoes In The Process
Time Warner subsidiary Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. has acquired Flixster. Flixster is a social network that is centered around movies. Through the acquisition, Warner Bros. also gains possession of the valuable Rotten Tomatoes brand. News Corp. sold Rotten Tomatoes to Flixster in exchange for cash and equity last year.
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Warner Bros. Adding Digital Movie Rental On Facebook, Starting With The Dark Knight
The Warner Bros. movie studio is adding digital movie rentals on Facebook. The first movie being offered for rent is The Dark Knight. You can rent the movie using Facebook Credits from The Dark Knight fan page. The cost per rental is 30 Facebook Credits ($3). After renting the movie, the Facebook user will have less than 48 hours to watch the movie. The movie can be watched in full screen.
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Categories Facebook, The Dark Knight, Warner Bros., Warner Brothers
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Warner Bros. CEO Reveals Why They Did Not Join $0.99 iTunes Rentals
Warner Brothers Entertainment, Inc. CEO Barry Meyer said that his company decided not to join Apple for the 99 cents iTunes TV show rentals deal because they believed the price was too low and “would have hurt sales of full seasons.”
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Categories Barry Meyer, Warner Bros., Warner Brothers
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Warner Brothers Acquires MMO Gaming Company Turbine
Warner Brothers has acquired MMO gaming studio Turbine, Inc. Turbine is the largest privately-held online gaming studio in North America. Turbine was founded in 1994 and operates in Boston, Massachusetts. Some of Turbine’s most popular games include Dungeons & Dragons: Eberron Unlimited and The Lord of the Rings Online.
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Blockbuster Signs Deal With Fox and Sony
Blockbuster has signed deals with Fox and Sony. The deal is very similar to a deal that Blockbuster already has signed with Warner. Blockbuster’s deal with Fox, Sony, and Warner ensures that they will be able to rent new titles on the day they are released along with mail orders.
Blockbuster will also get favorable payment terms from the studios. Blockbuster has a plan to lower operating costs by about $200 million too. The movie studios made deals with Redbox and Netflix to allow new movies only after 28 days from the release date. [TechCrunch]
Categories Blockbuster, Blockbuster Inc., FOX, Netflix, Redbox, Sony Corporation, Warner, Warner Bros., Warner Brothers
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Warner Brothers Home Entertainment Buys Majority Stake In Rocksteady Studios
Warner Brothers Home Entertainment has bought a majority ownership in Rocksteady Studios. Rocksteady is the developer of the video game “Batman: Arkham Asylum.” Rockstead was founded in 2004 and is rumored to have sold 68% of the overall company to Warner Brothers. Warner Brothers bought another gaming company called TT Games in 2007. TT Games was known for developing video games involving LEGOs, such as “LEGO Star Wars.” Warner Brothers also owns Snowblind Studios, the creator the of “The Lord of the Rings” video games. Midway Games’ assets were purchased by Warner Brothers recently too. [Variety]
Categories Rocksteady Studios, Warner Bros., Warner Brothers
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LEGO Rock Band To Be Released On November 3 [Trailer Video]
Lego Rock Band is a music video game that is being put together through a partnership between Harmonix Music Systems, MTV Games, EA, and Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment. This game will be released on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and the Wii on November 3.
Party Like A LEGO Star: LEGO Rock Band
LEGOs have been used to make an oversized Nintendo DSi and now it is being used in rock and roll video games. The new game is a collaboration between Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, TT Games, Harmonix, and MTV Games.
Some of the songs included in the LEGO version of Rock Band will include Song 2 (Blur), Kung Fu Fighting (Carl Douglas), Boys and Girls (Good Charlotte), and So What (Pink).
“Players will be able to create their own Lego Rock Band style as they customize their minifigure avatars, band and entourage, including roadies, managers and crew,” stated the companies in a press release. The LEGO Rock Band game will work with music controllers and Rock Band instruments.
Categories Harmonix, LEGO, MTV Games, Rock Band, TT Games, Warner Bros., Warner Brothers
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Six Hollywood Movie Studios Suing RealNetworks Over RealDVD Software
RealNetworks, Inc. (NASDAQ:RNWK) should have saw this coming when they release their new controversial RealDVD software. While RealPlayer already allows you to download any video from YouTube or powered by Flash, RealDVD allows you to rip DVDs and make back up copies. RealDVD was officially launched today. Six major studios announced that they are suing the software company over the software.
These studios believe that many of Netflix and Blockbuster’s customers would just burn the movies that they rent with the RealDVD software, thus causing them to lose out on a great deal of money. The lawsuit was filed at the U.S. District Court in L.A.
“The incentive for the consumer is obvious and all but overwhelming,” stated a request by the movie studios. The request was for a temporary restraining order. “‘Why,’ he or she may ask, ‘should I pay $18.50 to purchase a DVD when I can rent it for $3.25 and make a permanent copy?’”
RealNetworks defends their software by saying it is legal. RealDVD is sold for $30 per consumer at $20 for up to four licenses after that. The software copy is locked into the original owner’s hard drive and does not alter the encryption technology used by movie studios already. Copying one’s own personal copies of a DVD is “fair use” by law.
The movie studios stated that RealDVD violates the Digital Millenium Copyright Act to bypass technologies that prevent the copying of a DVD without permission of the copyright owners. The movie studios that are suing RealNetworks includes Viacom, Inc. (NYSE:VIA)’s Paramount Pictures, Sony Corporation (NYSE:SNE)’s Sony Pictures, News Corporation (NYSE:NWS.A)’s 20th Century Fox, General Electric (NYSE:GE)’s Universal, The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) studio, and Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX) Warner Bros.
TheWB.com To Launch On August 27 With Full Episodes Of All Of Us, Roswell, Everwood, Blue Water High, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dangerous, Friends, Gilmore Girls, One Tree Hill, Smallville, The Wayans Bros., The OC and Veronica Mars
TheWB.com is currently in Beta and is geared to launch on August 27. Upon launch, TheWB.com will have full episodes of All Of Us, Roswell, Everwood, Blue Water High, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dangerous, Friends, Gilmore Girls, One Tree Hill, Smallville, The Wayans Bros., The OC and Veronica Mars. TV producers, McG and Josh Schwartz will be releasing a couple of new shows on TheWB.com such as Sorority Fever.
McG is the director and producer of Terminator 4, Supernatural, and the Charlie’s Angels movies. Schwartz is the writer and producer of Gossip Girl, Chuck, and The O.C.
“The launch of TheWB.com represents a natural progression of the Warner Bros. Television Group’s digital strategy and complements our core business, which is based upon episodic storytelling, first-class distribution and providing value to partners through advertising in a premium environment,” stated Bruce Rosenblum, President of Warner Bros. Television Group (WBTVG).
TheWB set-up a Facebook application and a Facebook fan page as part of the launch.
“These hit shows still have an incredible amount of equity with their audiences, who grew up with these characters and went through significant events in their lives just as some of the characters did on the programs,” stated Brent Poer, General Manager of TheWB.com. “And now, through TheWB.com, users will be able to take an unprecedented level of control over their own entertainment experience by easily editing, remixing, and literally ‘playing’ with their favorite shows. We’re giving the users final cut.”
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) signed on as the charter sponsor for TheWB.com. TheWB.com is a subsidiary of Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX).
Related Links:
1. TheWB Beta
2. WB Press Release
Categories Time Warner, Warner Bros., Warner Brothers
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