Warner Brothers Entertainment

Warner Bros. has become the second studio to support both high-definition DVD formats, a move that could shift the advantage to the Blu-ray format backed by a group led by Sony Corp. Warner Bros. Entertainment said it would join the board of the Blu-ray Disc Assn. and release its films on both the Blu-ray and the rival HD DVD format, which is backed by a group led by Toshiba Corp. This month, Paramount Pictures, another supporter of HD DVD, said it would release films in both formats.

Warner Bros. Entertainment is eliminating 800 jobs, or about 10% of its global workforce, becoming the latest media company to take drastic cost-cutting measures amid a deepening recession. About 600 people will be laid off across all divisions of the studio's operations, and 200 cuts will come from open positions not being filled. Warner's studio headquarters in Burbank will take the brunt of the job losses, with about 450 people being terminated and 150 open positions being shed.

Warner Bros. has consolidated its movie production, marketing and distribution operations into a single entity and promoted Jeff Robinov to be president of the newly formed group, effective Jan. 1. Robinov, who joined the Burbank-based studio in 1997 and has served as production president for the last five years, will oversee the heads of domestic and international marketing and distribution. They had previously reported to Robinov's boss, Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. has consolidated its movie production, marketing and distribution operations into a single entity and promoted Jeff Robinov to be president of the newly formed group, effective Jan. 1. Robinov, who joined the Burbank-based studio in 1997 and has served as production president for the last five years, will oversee the heads of domestic and international marketing and distribution. They had previously reported to Robinov's boss, Warner Bros.

In another effort to stem rampant movie piracy in China, Warner Bros. Entertainment plans to release "Superman Returns" there Wednesday, two months ahead of its home video debut in the rest of the world. The release, announced by the studio Thursday, coincides with the Chinese government's 100-Day Campaign Against Piracy, which has been going on since July.

Warner Bros. Entertainment is eliminating 800 jobs, or about 10% of its global workforce, becoming the latest media company to take drastic cost-cutting measures amid a deepening recession. About 600 people will be laid off across all divisions of the studio's operations, and 200 cuts will come from open positions not being filled. Warner's studio headquarters in Burbank will take the brunt of the job losses, with about 450 people being terminated and 150 open positions being shed.

An affiliate of Time Warner Inc. has agreed to lease an entire office building under construction in Burbank in a 15-year deal valued at more than $100 million. Warner Bros. Entertainment will move out of 150,000 square feet of space that the movie and television company leases in Glendale and owns at its crowded Burbank studio into the second phase of the Pinnacle, a 235,000-square-foot project being built at 3300 W. Olive Ave. Construction is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

His hair is blond, his chin is stubbled, his eyes are wild. And whenever he looks at his parents, he becomes an Oedipal wreck. As Mel Gibson plays him, Shakespeare's Hamlet, a Gloom-and-Doom Dane, is an Elizabethan Lethal Weapon whipped on by vicious hatred of his licentious stepfather, giggly Claudius (Alan Bates), flayed by ambiguous yearnings for his statuesque blonde mother, ice-queen Gertrude (Glenn Close).

His hair is blond, his chin is stubbled, his eyes are wild. And, whenever he looks at his parents, he becomes an Oedipal wreck. As Mel Gibson plays him, Shakespeare's Hamlet, a gloom-and-doom Dane, is an Elizabethan lethal weapon whipped on by vicious hatred of his licentious stepfather, giggly Claudius (Alan Bates), flayed by ambiguous yearnings for his statuesque blond mother, ice-queen Gertrude (Glenn Close).

In another effort to stem rampant movie piracy in China, Warner Bros. Entertainment plans to release "Superman Returns" there Wednesday, two months ahead of its home video debut in the rest of the world. The release, announced by the studio Thursday, coincides with the Chinese government's 100-Day Campaign Against Piracy, which has been going on since July.

Warner Bros. has become the second studio to support both high-definition DVD formats, a move that could shift the advantage to the Blu-ray format backed by a group led by Sony Corp. Warner Bros. Entertainment said it would join the board of the Blu-ray Disc Assn. and release its films on both the Blu-ray and the rival HD DVD format, which is backed by a group led by Toshiba Corp. This month, Paramount Pictures, another supporter of HD DVD, said it would release films in both formats.

An affiliate of Time Warner Inc. has agreed to lease an entire office building under construction in Burbank in a 15-year deal valued at more than $100 million. Warner Bros. Entertainment will move out of 150,000 square feet of space that the movie and television company leases in Glendale and owns at its crowded Burbank studio into the second phase of the Pinnacle, a 235,000-square-foot project being built at 3300 W. Olive Ave. Construction is expected to be completed by the end of the year.