Studio

Redbox continued its battle with Hollywood studios, suing 20th Century Fox over its attempts to keep the vending machine operator from offering newly released DVDs for $1 a night. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in federal court in Delaware, accuses Fox of using its power to "unlawfully coerce" distributors of its DVDs to withhold the release of new titles for 30 days from the initial release date. The suit alleges that such actions constitute an abuse of Fox's copyright and "naked restraint of trade."

Re "Studio Plan Is Risky Business but Not Mission Impossible for NoHo," July 29. There are a few details that should be considered before any agreement is reached or the go-ahead is given: Greenbelt setbacks from all walled enclosures that surround the studio proper. These greenbelts should be designed and constructed [to make] the areas attractive to those who drive, walk or live nearby. Landscaping should also assist in soundproofing the adjacent neighborhood. If the developer is serious about building shops, entertainment complexes, retail space, restaurants and / or hotel facilities, these facilities must have major parking structures for complete off-street parking.

Sixteen years after Notorious B.I.G.'s life and career were cut short in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles, his children will pay homage to their iconic father with a new animated series. "House of Wallace" is anchored around the slain rapper's two children, 16-year-old C.J. Wallace -- who he had with his wife, R&B singer Faith Evans -- and 19-year-old T'yanna Wallace, as they fight to maintain his New York City recording studio and preserve his legacy, Ossian Media has announced.

The lobbies of most Hollywood offices are decorated with movie posters and Academy Awards. But on the sixth floor of a building on Warner Bros.' Burbank lot, the lobby is decorated with patents - 24 of them, for things such as "a method and apparatus for providing lossless data compression" and "motion picture anti-piracy coding. " This might be a sneak peek at the future of the modern studio, where the digitization of delivery systems and the power of social media mean that making great movies and television shows is no longer enough to succeed.

Smoke from a compressor fire filled the studios of WSLS-TV two minutes before the 6 p.m. news, but anchorwoman Laurie Penco stayed on the air reading the day's events. "I couldn't really see the TelePrompTer," Penco said today of Sunday's fire. "We ought to put a fog light on it." Firefighters tried to get the smoke out of the studio with a noisy fan. "They brought a huge fan in and it was really loud," Penco said. "He tried to turn it on, but I made him turn it off."

In a season filled with sequels, this is one plot twist that everyone saw coming. Within an hour of the first U.S. showing of Sony Pictures' "Spider-Man 3," police arrested a man videotaping the film inside New York's AMC Loews Lincoln Square theater shortly after the Thursday midnight screening, the studio said Friday. The suspect was spotted by theater employees, who summoned the police. Police made similar arrests in Malaysia and Argentina.

As production on the comedy "21 and Over" was getting underway in Seattle this summer, the cast and filmmakers received surprising news from producer Ryan Kavanaugh. Although the movie is about a group of students out for a night of partying in a U.S. college town, additional scenes would have to be shot, and set, in China. Why? Kavanaugh's Relativity Media could grab significant new money by making "21 and Over" a Chinese co-production, said a person close to the movie who requested anonymity because the discussions were private.

Bad news travels fast. And there's a growing tendency in Hollywood to protect certain films . . . especially those that the critics are likely to bludgeon. To avoid the bloodshed, studios won't even schedule advance looks for the reviewers. "To be honest, nine out of 10 times, the screening ban doesn't work anyway," said one studio exec. "If a picture's a dog, it'll go barking everywhere." The current example is "Shanghai Surprise," the new Sean Penn and Madonna film.

LAS VEGAS -- Rebel Wilson is having a good week. First, the comedian hosted the MTV Movie Awards, and now Universal Pictures has announced it is planning a sequel to the film that helped cement her star status: “Pitch Perfect.” Though there had been rumblings that the 2012 a capella comedy would have a second installment -- after all, the cast reunited to perform at the MTV telecast over the weekend -- Universal made the news official at...

Is Hollywood having a blowout year or a dismal one? The confounding answer: both. This weekend, "The Dark Knight Rises"is expected to dominate the box office, joining "The Avengers"and "The Hunger Games"in a small, elite group of high-profit 2012 blockbusters. Buoyed by strong reviews and an eager fan base, director Christopher Nolan's final Batman movie will probably debut with around $190 million in ticket sales, and has a shot at surpassing the three-day "Avengers" record of $207 million.