London - Sony Entertainment and Universal Pictures have partnered to stock vending machines in the U.K. with PlayStation 3 games and Blu-ray disc movies, Bit-Tech reports. The touch-screen kiosks will reportedly also feature slots for downloading content to different types of storage media.

Los Angeles - Electronic Arts (NASD: ERTS) is courting four Hollywood movie studios all bidding on the big screen rights to an as-yet-unannounced new title from the video game publisher, Variety reports.

Redwood City, Calif. - Electronic Arts (NASD: ERTS) said on Friday that it has struck a deal with Universal Pictures to bring its "Army of Two" game to the big screen. Scott Stuber, through Stuber Productions, will produce the film along with EA, and screenwriter Scott Burns, who recently co-wrote "The Bourne Ultimatum," will adapt the game for the screen. Production is set to begin in 2009. Army of Two has grossed over $100 million in sales since its release in March.

Los Angeles - Five of Hollywood's major movie studios on Wednesday pledged to support a $1 billion effort to equip 20,000 U.S. movie theater screens with digital cinema projection systems. Digital Cinema Implementation Partners (DCIP), a joint venture that represents theater owners AMC Entertainment, Cinemark and Regal Cinemas signed the pact with Disney (NYSE: DIS), Fox (NYSE: NWS), Lionsgate, Paramount (NYSE: VIA) and Universal (NYSE: GE), which calls for the studios to pay a "virtual print" fee of about $1,000 per screen to help offset costs, the Associated Press reported.

Los Angeles - Japanese video game publisher D3Publisher said on Monday that it has signed deals to publish games based on Universal/Focus Features' forthcoming stop-motion animated HD feature "Coraline," as well as Aardman Animation's TV series "Shaun the Sheep." Console versions of "Coraline," based on the Neil Gaiman novel, will be developed by Papaya Studios, while handheld versions are being created by ART -- which will also create the Nintendo DS version of "Shaun the Sheep."

New York - Take Two Interactive's (NASD: TTWO) 2K Games label announced on Friday that it has signed a deal with Universal Pictures to develop a movie based on its "BioShock" game, to be directed and produced by Gore Verbinski ("Pirates of the Caribbean"). Financial terms of the deal, or a timeline for the project, were not disclosed.

Morristown, N.J. - Access Integrated Technologies (Access IT) (NASD: AIXD), a provider of digital cinema projection systems for movie theaters, announced on Tuesday a massive deal with four major movies studios, to provide movies to up to 10,000 digital cinema systems in the U.S. and Canada.

London - Universal Pictures said on Thursday that it has hired Minick, a provider of wireless infrastructure and interactive applications, to build and manage its mobile film portals on a global basis. The sites and partner portals will provide consumers with information about Universal's films and DVDs, as well as the ability to download promotional and premium mobile content, and participate in affinity programs.

New York - Digital marketing technology and services firm DoubleClick on Tuesday introduced a new online ad format, the "Teaser," that features short flashes of video. Universal Pictures is the first to utilize the format, in connection with advertising for its upcoming film, "The Bourne Ultimatum." When the Flash video ad is rolled over, three links appear that drive users to the film's trailer, an online game, and Internet ticket sales.

New York - Universal Pictures has partnered with Google and marketing firm Big Spaceship on a promotional online game for its "Bourne Ultimatum" movie, in which players will have to utilize Google's search engine, maps, images and YouTube. Players will assume the identity of a former CIA agent, and "search" for rogue agent Jason Bourne, as well as the chance to win a 2008 Volkswagen Toureg 2, modeled after the one used in the film.

Berlin - Universal Pictures International Entertainment and NBC Universal International Television Distribution have signed a deal with German telco T-Com to distribute download-to-own media content in Germany, Variety reported. The company will be the first in Germany to offer the ability to download Hollywood films and burn them to DVD, with most offered day-and-date with their DVD releases. T-Com will offer Universal and NBC content via its T-Home IPTV and T-Online video-on-demand services.

Burbank, Calif. - Hollywood movie studios Warner Bros. and Universal Pictures announced on Tuesday that they have partnered with a number of theater owners on a joint venture that will deploy a digital cinema delivery system.

Los Angeles - Vivendi Games' Sierra Entertainment said on Friday that it will publish a version of "Scarface: The World Is Yours," based on the classic Universal Pictures gangster film, for the Nintendo Wii this summer. The company said it has already sold 1.5 million units of the title worldwide on other platforms.