So what did happen with that Terrence Howard/Don Cheadle/"Iron Man" thing? Before we get into that, a staggering note: Nicole Sperling says Howard was the highest-paid actor in "Iron Man." (Hollywood math: Post-"Hustle and Flow" Terrence Howard > pre-"Iron Man" Robert Downey, Jr.?) And, says Sperling, Howard exhibited "difficult behavior on the set" and gave a performance that director Jon Favreau didn't like much, anyway. So as Favreau worked to minimize the Col. Jim Rhodes storyline in the sequel, Marvel went to Howard's agents with a a 50%-80% pay cut. This was dismaying, especially since "multiple sources say that Marvel execs never told Howard's reps that they had issues with the star's on-set conduct." Oy. [EW]

You know the "Kerrang!" of a guitar chord that launches "A Hard Day's Night"? Turns out it was a mystery that needed solving. Writes Eliot Van Buskirk, "Guitarists have puzzled over the riddle of how this chord is played for decades because it contains a note that would be impossible for the Beatles' two guitarists and bassist to play in one take, and experts have concluded that no multitracking was involved in this part of the song." However, mathematics professor Jason Brown from Nova Scotia's Dalhousie University cracked the code by "disassembling the sampled amplitudes into the original frequencies using Fourier transforms." If you say so. Bottom line: the Kerrang includes five piano notes played by George Martin. Somehow, I feel I can sleep better now. However, one mystery still remains: How will MTV handle the chord in the Beatles videogame? [Listening Post]

Hollywood's dreams of a post-election Sarah Palin as a right-wing Oprah? May be illegal. Hillel Italie and Anne Sutton report that Alaska has an ethics act that "restricts outside employment" and applies specifically to the state's executive branch. Namely, "The head of a principal executive department of the state may not accept employment for compensation outside the agency that the executive head serves." David Jones, Alaska's senior assistant attorney general, said the act "likely applies to the governor but it's not clear what constitutes 'employment.' " Presumably, creation of something like "Straight Talk! with Sarah Palin" would fall "outside the agency." [AP]

• Sony and Paramount in talks to cofinance "Tintin" [NYT]
• Recession shelves plans for Ireland's tallest building, U2 Tower [AP]
• Prof. Xavier and Magneto as Vladimir and Estragon [BBC]
• I knew Prop. 8 would come to this: Man wants to marry a comic-book character [news.com.au]
• MTV plans to announce layoffs Election Day, hopes no one will notice [DHD]

Does EMI want out of the U.S.? Multiple sources tell Devin Leonard that the U.K. music label is talking to Warner Music, SonyBMG and Universal Music Group about taking over its distribution, sales and marketing operations in America, as well as licensing its jazz and classical division. (An EMI spokeswoman "strongly denied" the latter.) Writes Leonard, "A source familiar with the industry said all EMI wanted to do in the United States was outsource its CD distribution to retailers like Wal-Mart and Best Buy." Making such a deal could save EMI $300 million a year; the company lost $415 million in its fiscal year ending in March 2008. [Fortune]

Remember the "South Park" oh-my-gawd episode with "Indiana Jones"? Right. Well, not only did George Lucas show the good sense not to complain about or comment on it, he seems to be in even better form in regards to "Zack & Miri Make a Porno." That film's titular porno (as it were) is "Star Whores." And while Lucasfilm PR rep Lynne Hale tells me that "Kevin Smith hasn't sought permission" for the satire, Lucas doesn't seem to be in any rush to do anything about it. Says Hale, "Almost all of his movies have something poking fun at 'Star Wars.' " And according to Smith, Lucas told Ben Affleck that he thought the "Star Wars" riffs in "Clerks" were very funny. Go figure. [Hat tip to TBS]

Steve McQueen's IRA prison drama "Hunger" has received near-universal acclaim since its Cannes premiere; now it's hearing criticism closer to home. Conservative Parliament member David Davies says Welsh taxpayers affected by IRA terrorism would be "horrified" to learn that £120,000 of their monies went into the film's budget via the Wales Creative IP Fund. Said Davies, "Anyone who has served in the armed forces or has been caught up in the IRA's terror campaign will be horrified that the Welsh Assembly Government is using taxpayers' money, at a time we're facing a huge recession, to support a film which is sympathetic to the IRA." The filmmakers spent the funding on post-production work in Wales. [BBC]

Would you pay $162 a year (£100) to download all the music you want? That's sort of the opportunity now available (to U.K. residents) through the just-launched Datz.com, a "music lounge" that lets you download unencrypted playable-anywhere MP3s. That said, Datz currently offers only "a wide (read: incomplete) selection of new music released in 2009" from two big labels, EMI and Warner Music. "But play along," Peter Kafka writes. "Say Datz does does end up getting most of the majors’ catalogs. And say Datz is still able to keep the price point about the same Could that work, from both a consumer and industry perspective? Yes. It could.... $162 a year is much, much more than most people were ever spending on CDs, even during the format’s boom years. And those, obviously, are long gone. Today the industry would be pleased if the average consumer spent $20 a year on music, no matter what format it’s in." Note: The Datz fee would come to $13.50 per month. [MediaMemo]

The MPAA has raunchy dreams of Steven Spielberg:

To read the full interview, click here.

RELATED:

• Joan Graves on "Zack & Miri:" "Why does it have to be so raunchy, Kevin?" [TBS]
• Unhappy 40th: Forty films in which the MPAA got it wrong [Defamer]

"Slumdog Millionaire" director Danny Boyle told Jack Malvern and Ben Hoyle that he engaged in "product displacement" -- removing the logos of Mercedes-Benz and "a well-known soft drinks company" (read: Coca-Cola) from a scene in his film "because they did not want to be associated with a Bombay slum." Says Boyle: “There is a scene where the kids are on a rubbish dump and they get offered these bottles of, er, popular fizzy drink. Not only were we not allowed to use their name, basically we had to paint over the label on the bottle as well. So we ended up paying tens of thousands of pounds painting out these symbols, which are meant to unite the world, aren’t they? I’d better not say any more about that or I’ll get in trouble.” Mercedes proved itself more reasonable, as the auto manufacturer was perfectly happy for its logo to appear in "Slumdog" when the film's action was set in a mansion. [The Times]

If Hollywood directors made John McCain's attack ads... we wouldn't notice, since they'd be every bit as ineffectual as his campaign. Partisanship! Sorry; wasn't looking for a cheap shot so much as an excuse to post these videos, which contain this cubic zirconia of "Juno" dialogue: BRISTOL PALIN: "Look Levi, remember how we thought that my uterine wall was a nonstick surface and we threw your baby paste up at it? I've got a bun in the Easy-Bake with your screen name on it."  [Cinematical]

Hollywood's hard times have hit Patina Restaurant Group, with Joachim Splichal closing his latest restaurant, the not-quite-year-old Paperfish on Maple Drive; the adjacent Market Cafe will follow suit November 14. It would be unfair to point entirely to the economy for its demise --  Paperfish was socked by a half-star review from the Los Angeles Times and the restaurant changed chefs shortly thereafter -- but consider this: PRG oversees 34 restaurants on both coasts but hasn't overseen a closing since its St. Helena, Calif. outpost, Pinot Blanc, folded in 2006.

George Clooney and Grant Heslov's Smoke House Prods. released its latest film today, through... Liberty Mutual? As in, insurance? Yep. Heslov wrote and directed the 13-minute short as as part of the agency's online Responsibility Project, a marketing campaign that previously commissioned works from Laurence Dunmore ("The Libertine") and Sir Ridley and Tony Scott's RSA Films, among others. Starring Tate Donovan, "Tony" is based on a story that Heslov heard on "This American Life" in which a dad goes to extraordinary lengths to recover a teddy bear.

Hulu turned a year old today, streamed 142 million videos last month [TechCrunch]

Next month, Netflix subscribers with Xbox 360s can watch HD movies instantly [SAI]

MPAA continues to win cases against illegal movie websites [Threat Level]

This is not paid political announcement: Producer Ted Hope ("American Splendor," "The Savages") launched a blog this month, Truly Free Film, which breaks down film-festival advice to its most essential elements and delves into hardcore topics such as copyrights and branding. It's a fantastic resource if you're interested in how you're supposed to produce, distribute and market independent films in the 21st century. Which, as John Horn pointed out, should account for an increasingly large group of people.

RELATED
> Self distribution? But you seem so nice! [LAT]

The Museum of Modern Art is exhibiting movie posters hand painted for George Eastman's theater between 1924-1928. They were rescued from the garbage by the artist, Batiste Madalena. [NYP]

Penny-stock company Envit Capital Group has a "tentative" agreement with National Lampoon to fund a slate of "approved" projects, including "moderate budget feature films, P&A financing, video productions, and possible television development and production." Envit CEO Edward M. Laborio would like to point out that 80% of the entertainment industry's revenue comes from box office and rentals, that the U.S. has a 43% market share and that National Lampoon movies are DVD staples; HAL would like to point out that this press release sounds as if it was written in 2003. [BusinessWire]

RELATED
> Moody's downgrades Paramount's Melrose I funding to "speculative" [THR]
> Indie producer: "Some of my usual Wall Street investors laughed at me when I called" [iW]

And this one's better, if only to hear Justin Timberlake tell Steven Spielberg, "I can do anything. I was in a f... boy band, OK?"

For those considering a purchase of the Blu-ray edition of the Wilco doc "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart," the band has a word of advice: DON'T. Todd Martens notes this message at the end of a Wilco email: "Without consulting us, the DVD company (not WB/Nonesuch) that released "I am trying to break your heart" is about to issue a Blu-Ray Edition which, no surprise, costs considerably more (nearly 2x) than the standard DVD. We're unsure as to the rationale for the release, given that the film was shot in beautiful grainy B&W and has a stereo-only audio track... there is, in our opinion, not much to be gained by spending the extra cash. It's your money... and in this case you should probably hang onto it." Word. UPDATED: Distributor Plexifilm has changed its mind for now. From an announcement on the distributor's website: "We don’t feel comfortable releasing a version of the film that Wilco might have reservations about. So here’s what we’re doing: we’re postponing the Blu-ray release, to give us an opportunity to show the band the differences between the HD and standard definition versions."[Pop & Hiss, pt. 1, pt. 2]

Self distribution has become the tattoo parlor of the film world: Where it once housed only the dregs, today you'll see the nicest people. John Horn points out the "nice" movies going the DIY route, including "Bottle Shock" and "Nobel Son" from director Randall Miller, "Adam Resurrected" starring Jeff Goldblum and Willem Dafoe, Lance Hammer's "Ballast" and Justin Dillion's documentary "Call + Response." Says Miller, "It's not at all what I thought I'd be doing. But the system is broken. So what else are you going to do?" However, Hammer doesn't seem worry about it getting fixed; the Sundance Grand Jury prize-winner says he now plans to distribute his next film and he hasn't even made it yet. [LAT]

The Beatles have licensed songs to MTV Networks' "Rock Band" videogame, Ethan Smith, Nick Wingfield and Sam Schechner report, calling the deal "a coup" in its battle with rival Activision's "Guitar Hero." The deal is expected to be announced tomorrow. "The Beatles represent by far the biggest prize to date in the category," they write. "Not only do they have the best-selling album catalog of any band, they have not yet licensed their music for sale by download services such as Apple Inc.'s iTunes Store." [WSJ]

UPDATED TO ADD: Even the Wall Street Journal is capable of jumping the gun. While the rights to the Beatles' music was acquired by Harmonix/MTV Games, which publishes the "Rock Band" franchise, the Beatles' music will not be part of "Rock Band." Instead, it will be used in the creation of an entirely separate interactive performance videogame that will also be published by Harmonix/MTV Games. Variety's coverage here; press release here.

"We are excited to announce the addition of Joe 'The Plumber' Wurzelbacher to The Press Office roster for exclusive public relations representation!" Yes, very exciting! Also repped by the Press Office: the Gatlin Bros., aspiring NASCAR racer Chase Mattioli and John "the 'Welcome Back Kotter' theme guy" Sebastian.

Among them: Advise readers well ("This does not involve informing them, 'You'll love this!' "), keep track of your praise ("If you call a movie 'one of the greatest movies ever made,' you are honor-bound to include it in your annual Top Ten list"), don't make challenges you can't back up ("When Gene Siskel predicted that 'Hakuna Matada' from 'The Lion King' would become a national catch-phrase, he later gracefully acknowledged he was wrong") and beware of both trailers ("have nothing to do with them") and freebies, a rule that Ebert admits "was a hard one for me to acknowledge." [Roger Ebert's Journal]

Iggy Pop, 1972. Bid estimate: $1,500-$2,000

Christie's punk auction includes Sex Pistols' fliers, photos of Iggy Pop, Lou Reed [AP]

"Bosses should embrace Facebook," study says [BBC News]

MySpace most-cited internet source of movie information, says Nielsen [BusinessWire]

Joaquin Phoenix: "I'm not doing films anymore." [Extra, via CHUD]

"Blu-ray is in a death spiral," writes Robin Harris, who says the format is heading straight for niche ignominy. She points to its tiny market share, the coming onslaught of HD downloads and consumers who "don’t care about Blu-ray’s theoretical advantages. Especially during a world-wide recession." And the Blu-ray Disc Association didn't help matters; it "hoped for a massive cash bonanza as millions of consumers discovered that standard DVDs looked awful on HDTV. To cash in they loaded Blu-ray licenses with costly fees... That’s why you don’t see quirky indie flicks on Blu-ray. Small producers can’t afford it - even though they shoot in HDV and HD." Harris does have a few recommendations, though: Recognize that consumers don't need Blu-ray and price accordingly, keep disc margin prices low and take action now. She closes with a line from "The Matrix:" "Like Agent Smith delivering the bad news to a complacent cop: 'No, Lieutenant, your men are already dead.'" [Storage Bits]

Maryland man camcords and pirates movies, gets 21 months [Threat Level]

Judge to RIAA: You can sue people, but you can't bankrupt them [Slashdot]

Posited: Porn stars can change the mainstream. Discuss. [Film School Rejects]

Much as filmmakers like Spike Lee and Steven Soderbergh embraced the low-budget ethos 20 years ago, Laura Sydell reports that game developers are leaving bigger companies for the creative freedom found in smaller shops. "We have an idea for a feature. I go talk to a couple guys in here at their desk and — bang — the feature's done," says Glen Egan, a developer who left Activision to found Sanzaru Games. And while there's not a gamer's Sundance (yet), there are indie-game publishers like Gamecock. Its CEO, Mike Wilson, even sounds a little like the Harvey Weinstein of yore: "Most entertainment industries now are run by people who have very little affinity for… what they actually are building," he says. "It's people that play golf, not video games." [NPR]

Are Lionsgate execs looking for a showrunner to replace "Mad Men" creator Matthew Weiner? With or without Weiner, Lionsgate has already made a deal with AMC for the third season of "Mad Men," which has a small audience, rabid fans and enough cultural zeitgeist for a small planet. However, Nikki Finke writes: "I hear CAA wants a multi-year deal that pays Weiner $10 million a year. Plus he wants control over promotion and advertising... it's way, way rich for Lionsgate, which is telling CAA it can't and won't pay that." [DHD]

RELATED:
"...absolutely 'not looking to replace him. He IS the show.' " [Defamer]

Last night, the Hollywood Film Festival Awards began its annual, baffling inauguration of the Oscar season. The HFFAs are renowned for honoring movies before they've even been released; Pete Hammond noted the confusion among those that accepted the semi-dubious honor. "Twilight" star Robert Pattinson probably gave the only awards speech in history that acknowledged, "It's all hype," while "Doubt" writer-director Patrick Shanley said, "It's gratifying and stupefying to receive an award for a movie no one has seen yet." And "Tropic Thunder" star Ben Stiller turned to the audience for help: "What IS this award? Can anyone tell me?" Finally, the actor answered his own question: "I guess this award is dedicated to the actor who through their work has indicated a willingness to show up and accept this." [Notes on a Season]

Like Madonna, MTV is struggling to re-redefine itself. This may explain why MTV went to the trouble to launch a site that, according to Peter Kafka, is "not really supposed to be something that regular Web surfers are meant to use." MTV.com spokesman Tom Biro says mtvmusic.com is supposed to be a sort of music video repository that anyone, pro or amateur, can use to build other video sites. That would also explain why the site has such a nice clean, look: Writes Kafka, "There aren’t any ads there, because MTV isn’t selling it as a destination site." So, let me get this straight: If a site has a design that makes us want to visit, odds are we aren't really supposed to hang around? [MediaMemo]

Unlike its "Brokeback Mountain," Focus Features is going for a stealth marketing strategy with "Milk," the biopic in which Gus Van Sant directs Sean Penn as Harvey Milk, California’s first openly gay politician. Although the film premieres tonight in San Francisco, Focus has kept it out of the fall festival circuit and has restricted media screenings. One person involved with the film tells Steven Zeitchik, "The best way to help this film win over a mainstream audience is to avoid partisanship, and the best way to avoid partisanship is to let people find out about the film from the film itself." At stake are reactions like those witnessed by Focus production chief John Lyons at a recent Las Vegas test screening, in which "several senior citizens tried to leave after a gay love scene in the early moments but couldn't because they were trapped in the middle of a row... The seniors eventually said they were happy that they stayed." The film opens November 26. [THR]

RELATED
James Schamus responds: "Slow news day, eh?" [eugonline]

Justice: Budweiser can't do a thing about that "Wassup?" Obama ad [Brand New Day]
Pointless: Led Zeppelin to record, tour w/out Robert Plant [BBC]
Tragic: Sean Connery says, "Am I retired? Oh, yes." [MTV News]
Inevitable?: "Lara Croft" developer opens door to Time Warner acquisition [FT]

Renegotiating that $1.6 billion in National Amusements debt? Not Easy. The first $800 million, due in December, isn't so bad since only half of the banks that made the loan have to sign off. But the second $800 million is a private placement made up of 55 institutions -- and they all have to give the OK. Says a Peter Lauria source (drily, one presumes), "Do you know how difficult it is to get 55 people to agree on anything?" Of note: Neither Sumner Redstone nor Phillipe Dauman are involved in the negotiations, since they're both directors at NA and at Viacom. Instead, there's a committee comprised of board directors George Abrams, David Andelman -- and Shari Redstone, who has not been getting on very well with her father of late. Question: Does anyone have the option yet on the inevitable Bryan Burroughs Vanity Fair article? [NY Post]

Wanna see how EMI lost $1.17 billion in 12 months? [MediaMemo]
Retailers slash Blu-ray prices in hopes that consumers take the hint [WSJ]
MTV goes old school, launches MTVmusic.com [Silicon Alley Insider]
Why did Lionsgate stock plunge 9% today? [The Business Sheet]
Scott Lambert, agent to Keifer Sutherland, Scarlett Johansson, leaving WMA, agency biz [DHD]

Facebook has launched Payback Time, an application that lets users unleash on the movies they hated. The snarky rants receive user votes; the bile with the most votes win "refunds" in the form of ticket vouchers. Payback Time is a spinoff of Spill.com, a site that uses animated film critics and uses the tagline, "If it's crap, we'll tell you." [Underwire]

You might say, as Richard Siklos points out, that NBC Entertainment co-chairman Ben Silverman is "equal measures Ferris Bueller and Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs," "undisciplined" or even "the Paris Hilton of NBC." But he sure knows his way around a product placement! "For the first few weeks of the new TV season, NBC was stuck in third place and had no entertainment programs ranked in the top 20 most-watched shows," Siklos writes. "In the week ended Oct. 12, though, measured by shows with the most product placements, it had four of the top ten spots." However, "The Office" exec producer Greg Daniels says product placement bogged down the creative process and his show no longer does them; Marc Graboff, Silverman's fellow NBC Entertainment co-chairman, tells Siklos that "product placements may yet be back on the show." [Fortune]

Will this be the year major studios make a triumphant return to Oscar glory? Among the campaigns now being mounted are those for Warner Bros.' "The Dark Knight," Walt Disney/Pixar's "Wall-E" and Paramount Pictures' "Iron Man" -- bona fide blockbusters all. Notes Michael Cieply and Brooks Barnes, the timing is excellent since the Academy is aching to give the show "a more commercially popular flavor. In part the academy’s producers will do that by including glimpses of the year’s box office favorites, whether or not they are nominated for prizes." Last year’s show was the least watched on record, with about 32 million viewers in the United States. The highest rating was 55.3 million in 1998, when the highest grossing movie of all time, "Titanic," swept the awards. [NYT]

RELATED
Why are the Oscars a comedy-free zone? [The Big Picture]

Gerard Damiano, best known as the writer and director of "Deep Throat," died over the weekend in Fort Myers, Fla. from complications following a stroke. Film critic Richard Corliss writes an obituary: "Every once in a while, an artist gets an inspiration that changes pop culture... ["Deep Throat"] was the 'Citizen Kane' of porn." Damiano went on to direct "The Devil in Miss Jones," in which "the hardcore porno feature approaches an art form, one that critics may have a tough time ignoring in the future," according to its 1973 review in Daily Variety. Harry Reems, star of both films, told Damiano, "Gerry, ["Devil in Miss Jones'] is a steal. This is 'No Exit' in its thinnest disguise." Damiano replied, "Well, what do you expect? I wrote it in a weekend." [Time]

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Review: "Lovelace a Rock Opera" doesn't have "a shred of poetry or point of view" [Variety]

"My host, known as Abu Halaf, rolls his food in the palm of one hand while checking his Blackberry with the other," writes Sharon Waxman of her lunch with His Excellency Mahomed Khalaf al Mazrouei, otherwise known as chairman of the Abu Dhabi Media Corp. and creator of the $1 billion film fund that has already benefited Participant Media and National Geographic Films. Halaf tells Waxman that he expects his country to see a revolution in education, training and infrastructure. Halaf says he doesn't fear being criticized as he pushes Abu Dhabi into the modern age, quoting an Arabic saying that his spokesman translated as "The train has left the station." Writes Waxman, "Abu Halaf corrected him: 'No,' he said. 'It’s more like – 'The caravan is going to leave, while the dogs are still barking.' " [WaxWord]

Every day brings another article head-gazing/navel-scratching around the theme Will Hollywood Flail or Thrive in the Depression? However, there is a small, flickering light at the end of the tunnel: Eric Savitz points out that Stifel Nicolaus analyst Scott Devitt has "upped his rating on Netflix (NFLX) to Buy from Hold, setting a $25 target price." Writes Devitt, “In the current economy, Netflix value-oriented offering stands out to us as a compelling alternative to more expensive entertainment alternatives. Due to its relative value, we believe the Netflix existing subscriber base may remain more stable in the downturn and new subscribers could improve once the initial shock of the past few months subsides.” Yay? Netflix stock has nonetheless been in decline all day; at this writing it's down 3.6%, to $18.27. [Barron's]

RELATED
Laid-off librarian cancels Netflix subscription [AP]
In tough times, what will you pay for an hour of fun? [Time]
Will Microsoft buy Netflix? [Wired I Epicenter]

Michael Bay isn't on the "Transformers" ride that Universal Studios announced last week. Although the press release quotes Universal Parks & Resorts chairman/CEO Tom Williams as "thrilled to be collaborating" with Bay, Peter Sciretta points us toward a statement on the director's website that claims he has yet to approve the concept. "I don’t support it - I’m not involved and not sure the story of the ride works, and I know Optimus is not going to just show up to be directed by some new people that have never worked with him. I hate when people bullshit a quote from me that I never said. I’ll keep you informed. Maybe the guy making the rides at Universal will direct Transformers 3????" Is that a veiled threat to make "Transformer 3" negotiations difficult? It does suck when other people presume to speak for you. However, I'll wager that Optimus will do as he's told since, um, he's not real. [michaelbay.com, via slashfilm]

Struggles in digital: No one can figure out how to turn on "Che" subtitles [Thompson on Hollywood]

Struggles w/ reality, p. 1: No honorary doctorate for Phil Spector; he can't understand why [The Set List]

Struggles w/ reality, p. 2: "Confessions of a Shopaholic" looks unfunnier all the time [AdAge]

You remember "Wassup?!" The Budweiser ad? Of course you do. Did you realize that was eight years ago? Yeah, me either. Now that I've made embrace your mortality just a little more tightly (happy Friday!), please enjoy this modern-day look at the Wassup?! guys brought to you by the same team, including its director and star, Charles Stone III ("Drumline"). Drumroll, please:

"Little House on the Prairie" prod'n co. sues the "Little House on the Prairie" museum [NPR]

Jeeziz, people! Clint Eastwood already touted as best actor for "Gran Torino"? [In Contention]

Internet flocked with rumors of George Clooney starring in "The Birds" remake [Bloody-Disgusting]

Radar magazine closes, again; website will rise once more as AMI's answer to TMZ [NYO]

Although Walt Disney Pictures' "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" has provided the movie industry with a much-needed hit, theater chains are complaining that Disney has attached a six-minute trailer for the 3-D animated movie "Bolt." This violates "a long-standing agreement about where trailers can be placed and how long they can run," John Horn reports. However, Disney says it's a "featurette," one "not unlike the award-winning animated shorts that Disney and Pixar put ahead of their animated features." It was even submitted to the MPAA for rating; like "Bolt" the full-length feature, it received a PG. [Los Angeles Times]

The (ailing? flailing? need a new word for "miserable, migrane-inducing mess") economy will likely delay plans for an industry-wide $1 billion digital upgrade by Digital Cinema Implementation Partners. In a third-quarter earnings call, Regal Entertainment Group CEO Mike Campbell said, "We believe, and JP Morgan believes, that it will get financed once the market returns to something that is reasonably normal. We're going to continue to put together the pieces behind the scenes to be in a position to react."  [Knoxville News-Sentinel, via CinemaTech]

The MPAA gave Danny Boyle's "Slumdog Millionaire" a R rating this week for "some violence, disturbing images and language." Boyle tells Erik Davis that he was "very disappointed" by the decision and more than a little baffled, since he'd promised his financiers that he'd deliver, at most, a PG-13. "And so I shot the film very deliberately to achieve that certificate, and I'm very disappointed because there's very little actual violence in the film at all. But the response was that the journey of the film was too intense -- and then you think, but that's the job! What's wrong with somebody wanting to watch an intense journey?"  [Cinematical]

Me-ow, Patrick Goldstein: "It's gotten to the point where if you have a movie with the Weinstein Co., you need to have your agent phoning Exhibitor Relations every morning to see if your film's still coming out." And to Harvey Weinstein's credit, he got on the phone with Goldstein and did the rundown on his delayed slate: "Fanboys" is waiting for a January tie-in with Comcast... "Crossing Over" is now in January because "the market is just too crowded... Spring is much better"... "Killshot" will be a few weeks before the Oscars because "that way we can capitalize on all the heat that's going to be around Mickey (Rourke)"... "Shanghai" (pic above) was pushed off Christmas because it "just couldn't be ready in time." Now. We get it; times are tough. But January? Is not spring. [The Big Picture]

If America won't come to Bollywood, Bollywood may come to America. Reports Randeep Ramesh, "Bollywood's latest movies are beginning to speak to a new audience in a new language — English." The latest is evidence is "The Last Lear," an all-India production shot entirely in English. As a drama that stars 66-year-old Amitabh Bachchan as a Shakespearean actor who wants to stage a final performance as King Lear, it's not a typical Bollywood movie; Ramesh points out that "there are no songs, no pelvic-crunching disco dances and no tearful family reunions." However, "The Last Lear" producer Arindam Chaudhur says, "We talk, think and dream in English. That's why we wanted to do the film. What's changed in India is the audience." [The Guardian]

RELATED:

>> Disney releases its first Bollywood animated movie, "Roadside Romeo" [AP]