Warner Bros. to Rent Movies Digitally on Facebook, Starting With 'Dark Knight'

The studio, which says it is the first to offer movies directly on the social media site, aims to roll out additional titles over the coming months.

Warner Bros. is turning to Facebook, where it hopes to find an electronic audience interested in digitally rentingThe Dark Knight.

Warners said Monday that it is the first Hollywood studio to offer movies directly on Facebook. Friends ofChristopher Nolan's Knight, the second of his two Batman movies, can rent the film by going to its official Facebook page and clicking a "rent" icon to apply Facebook Credits. The cost per rental is 30 Facebook Credits, or $3.

Viewers will have 48 hours from the purchase to watch the movie, which can be viewed full screen and also paused and resumed within that period. While watching the movie, consumers will also have full Facebook functionality, including the ability to post comments, interact with friends and update their status.

"Facebook has become a daily destination for hundreds of millions of people," said Thomas Gewecke, president of Warner Bros. Digital Distribution. "Making our films available through Facebook is a natural extension of our digital distribution efforts. It gives consumers a simple, convenient way to access and enjoy our films through the world's largest social network."

While the Knight offering is described as a test, Warners also said that additional titles for both rental and purchase will be rolled out over the coming months.

Source: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/warner-bros-rent-movies-digitally-165218

Oscars Nixing Montages, Elaborate Nominee Tributes From Telecast (Exclusive)

Producers Bruce Cohen and Don Mischer have booted a number of familiar elements from the Feb 27 show.

As preparations for the 83rd annual Academy Awards move into high gear, producers Bruce Cohen and Don Mischer have booted a number of familiar elements from the Feb 27 show.

Gone will be the movie montages -- like last year’s salute to horror movies -- that often contribute to the broadcast’s unwieldy running time. While there will be film clips from the ten best picture nominees and brief filmed introductions to different segments of the show, “Within the body of the show, we are not doing any film montage sequences,” Cohen tells The Hollywood Reporter in an interview. 

Gone too will be the relatively new tradition, established just two years ago, of using five presenters to offer tribute testimonials about each of the best actor and actress nominees. “We’re not going to do that this year,” Cohen says. “What we did love about it was that it was a moment where each of the nominees really gets their due. [But] we found a version of that, without using the five people on stage, from the 1970 Oscars, and we stole it.”

The producers also have enlisted the nominees’ mothers to participate in promotion and pre-show activities, and some of them will be in the audience for the telecast. 

This year’s producing team is restoring individual performances of the four nominated songs, which were eliminated last year. Producers were upset that Cher, a major audience draw, was not nominated for her Burlesque ballad, “You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me.”

“We were surprised, and we were disappointed,” Cohen says when of the song, which won its composer and lyricist Diane Warren a Golden Globe but failed to earn an Academy nom.

They have lined up most of the other names associated with the songs that were nominated, though: Randy Newman will perform his “We Belong Together” from Toy Story 3; Mandy Moore and Zachary Levy, who sang the duet “I See The Light” on the Tangled soundtrack will reteam with composer Alan Menkin; and Gwyneth Paltrow, who sings “Coming Home” in Country Strong will reprise that tune on the broadcast.

Because Dido, who was nominated along with Rollo Armstrong and A.R. Rahman for the song “If I Rise,” from 127 Hours was not available, the producers have drafted Florence Welch from Florence and the Machine to appear with Rahman.

Source:-http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/oscars-nixing-montages-nominee-tributes-101609