New York - Studio 3 Networks, the pay-TV movie channel joint venture between MGM, Paramount Pictures (NYSE: VIA) and Lionsgate, will first launch the service as a subscription-only website in May before coming to TV systems in October, The Wall Street Journal reported. The Epix service, which has not yet secured any carriage agreements with cable or satellite TV service providers, will debut with over 15,000 titles.

New York - Media conglomerate Viacom (NYSE: VIA), which owns Paramount Pictures and a range of cable channels under MTV Networks, announced on Thursday that it will cut 850 jobs across all sections of the company, or about 7% of its total workforce, citing evolving economic conditions. "We are moving rapidly to adapt to the challenges presented by the current economic environment," said Viacom president and CEO Philippe Dauman.

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.

Culver City, Calif. - Sony (NYSE: SNE) announced this week that it has signed agreements with three Hollywood movie studios to help support the rollout of Sony digital cinema projection systems in movie theaters.

Hollywood - Viacom's (NYSE: VIA) Paramount Pictures has announced a partnership with Eastman Kodak (NYSE: EK) to equip U.S. movie theaters for digital cinema. The deal is separate from the one announced between Paramount, four other studios and a theater owner joint venture called Digital Cinema Implementation Partners (DCIP). Under the deal with Kodak, Paramount will pay a "virtual print" fee estimated at $1,000 each time one of its films is projected using Kodak's digital cinema systems.

San Mateo, Calif. - Jaman.com, an online video-on-demand service, announced on Tuesday that it has signed a deal with Paramount Digital Entertainment, to make a range of films from the Viacom-owned (NYSE: VIA) studio available for rental or purchase from Jaman. Titles covered under the agreement include "Cloverfield," "There Will Be Blood," "Sweeney Todd" and "Into the Wild."

Los Angeles - Anthony Puzo, son of "The Godfather" author Mario Puzo, has filed suit against Paramount Pictures (NYSE: VIA) over alleged unpaid revenues from Electronic Arts' (NASD: ERTS) video game based on the films, Reuters reported.

Portland, Ore. - The top-grossing films of 2006-2007 in the U.S., when including box office sales, DVD and VHS sales and rental estimates, and video-on-demand viewing, were "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" (Disney), "Transformers" (Paramount) and "Cars" (Disney), according to data compiled by Rentrak. The only R-rated film to crack the top 20 was Warner Bros.' "300," while the majority were either action or family films rated PG-13. Rentak tracks data from 51 million set-top boxes, more than 10,000 retail and 12,000 home video locations, and 35,000 movie screens across North America and other countries around the world.

Los Angeles - News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) 20th Century Fox and Viacom's (NYSE: VIA) Paramount Pictures have joined Disney in the practice of offering films for purchase and download from Apple's (NASD: AAPL) iTunes Store on the same day they are released on DVD, with Fox adding "Juno" to the retailer's offering on Tuesday, Variety reported.

Los Angeles - Viacom's (NYSE: VIA) Paramount Pictures has formed a new division in its interactive department to fund the development of video games based on its films, Variety reports.

Los Angeles - Universal and Paramount (NYSE: VIA) have become the last of the major Hollywood movie studios to pledge support for Sony's (NYSE: SNE) Blu-ray next-generation DVD format, after Toshiba decided earlier this week to abandon its rival HD DVD format, ending a costly battle between the two companies to establish their respective format as the standard. "We are pleased that the industry is moving to a single high-definition format, as we believe it is in the best interest of the consumer," Paramount Home Entertainment told The Hollywood Reporter.

Hollywood, Calif. - Viacom's (NYSE: VIA) Paramount Pictures on Monday launched a new mobile entertainment unit under its digital division, which will focus on developing mobile entertainment and alternative distribution models for the studio. Paramount Mobile Entertainment's management team will include Madeline Herdrich, VP of Mobile, North America; Pradeep Mittur, VP of Mobile, Asia Pacific; and Giovanni Maruca, Director of Mobile, EMEA.

Los Angeles - Vivendi Games' Sierra Entertainment studio on Tuesday released its "The Spiderwick Chronicles" game, based on the upcoming Paramount Pictures film and popular books. The title was developed by Stormfront Studios for Xbox 360, Wii, PlayStation 2, DS, PC and mobile phones.