Sony Pictures

Sony to Offer "Meatballs" on Web TV Before DVD Release

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 10, 2009 - 11:35am.
Los Angeles - Sony (NYSE: SNE) plans to make its animated film "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" available via Internet-connected televisions and Blu-ray players ahead of its physical DVD release date, The New York Times reports. The price tag for the advanced screening, available from Dec. 8 through Jan. 4, is $24.95, which Sony told The Times was "high enough not to alienate retailers."

Sweden's Voddler Introduces Video-on-Demand Site

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 28, 2009 - 11:49am.
Stockholm, Sweden - Voddler on Wednesday debuted its online video-on-demand service in Sweden, which features movies, TV episodes and music from partners including Paramount and Disney, Variety reported. The service, which is expected to launch across all Nordic countries in a year's time, is also reportedly close to signing a deal with Sony Pictures.

WSJ: YouTube in Talks with Studios on Web Movie Rentals

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 2, 2009 - 11:11am.
San Bruno, Calif. - YouTube, the popular online video site owned by Google (NASD: GOOG), is in talks with movie studios Lionsgate, Sony (NYSE: SNE) and Warner Bros. (NYSE: TWX) about the possibility of streaming movies that site visitors could view for a fee, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

Studios License DivX, Film Fresh for Download-to-Own Movies

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 26, 2009 - 1:19pm.
San Diego - DivX (NASD: DIVX), a developer of video compression technology, announced on Wednesday that Hollywood movie studios Lionsgate, Paramount, Sony Pictures and Warner Bros. have licensed their films for distribution and download-to-own in the DivX format via Film Fresh's distribution service. The downloaded films may then be burned to DVD, or ported via USB for viewing on a television, or streamed over a home network to DivX-enabled devices, made by firms including LG, Philips and Toshiba.

Sony Posts $391M Q1 Loss; Games, TV Sales Fall

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 30, 2009 - 9:48am.
Tokyo - Sony (NYSE: SNE) reported a loss of $391 million for its fiscal first quarter, hampered by a weak economy and a strong yen that both cuts into overseas revenue and increases production costs in Japan, The New York Times reported. Sales were down 19.2% from the same period a year ago, to $16.8 billion.

Studios Sue Pirate Bay, Demand Shutdown of File-Sharing Hub

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 28, 2009 - 10:01am.
Stockholm, Sweden - A coalition of Hollywood movie studios, including Disney (NYSE: DIS), Universal, Warner Bros. (NYSE: TWX), Columbia, Sony (NYSE: SNE), NBC (NYSE: GE) and Viacom's (NYSE: VIA) Paramount, have filed suit in Sweden, asking a court to shutter file-sharing hub The Pirate Bay. The four operators of The Pirate Bay have already been found guilty of copyright infringement and sentenced to jail time and fines; that ruling has been appealed.

Sony to Rent DVDs via Redbox Kiosks

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 21, 2009 - 11:50am.
Culver City, Calif. - Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (NYSE: SNE) on Tuesday announced a multi-year deal to provide its films to Redbox, the operator of a network of 17,000 automated DVD rental kiosks. A unit of Coinstar, Redbox offers DVD rentals for $1 per night through its kiosks, which can be found at grocery stores, McDonald's, Wal-Mart and Walgreens locations in select markets.

Sony to Produce Movie Based on "Shadow of the Colossus" Game

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 8, 2009 - 11:41am.
Los Angeles - Sony (NYSE: SNE) Pictures is working on a big-screen adaptation of sister company Sony Computer Entertainment's "Shadow of the Colossus" game franchise, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The film is being produced by Kevin Misher, with Justin Marks ("20,000 Leagues Under the Sea") attached to write the script.

 

CNET: YouTube in Talks to Add Full-Length Sony Movies

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 6, 2009 - 9:15am.
San Francisco - Google's (NASD: GOOG) YouTube is in talks to license full-length Sony Pictures (NYSE: SNE) films for streaming on the site, CNET News.com reported, citing sources familiar with the negotiations.

LAT: Sony Pictures to Lay Off 300; 4% of Workforce

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 4, 2009 - 9:45am.
Los Angeles - Sony Corp.'s (NYSE: SNE) Sony Pictures Entertainment studio is set to lay off about 300 employees, or around 4% of its total staff, a person familiar with the situation told the Los Angeles Times. The layoffs follow cuts at fellow studios Warner Bros., Universal and Paramount, and belt-tightening at Sony such as reduced expense accounts and overtime pay.

MySpace Touts Advertiser Support for New Music Service

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 15, 2008 - 9:16am.

Los Angeles - News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) MySpace announced on Monday that McDonald's, Sony (NYSE: SNE) Pictures, State Farm, and Toyota have signed on as charter advertisers for its forthcoming MySpace Music service, and will sponsor free album downloads, playlists and other new features. The service is expected to offer MySpace's 120 million users unlimited music streaming, as well as the ability to add an entire playlist of songs to their profiles -- instead of the current single song -- and provide links to purchase DRM-free tracks from Amazon MP3.

Movie Studios Add Day-and-Date DVD Releases to iTunes Store

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 1, 2008 - 8:54am.

Cupertino, Calif. - Apple (NASD: AAPL) on Thursday announced that new release movies from the major Hollywood studios will now be made available for purchase and download from the iTunes Store on the same day as their DVD releases, and will be priced at $14.99. Participating studios include 20th Century Fox (NYSE: NWS), The Walt Disney Studios (NYSE: DIS), Warner Bros. (NYSE: TWX), Paramount Pictures (NYSE: VIA), Universal Studios Home Entertainment (NYSE: GE), Sony Pictures Entertainment (NYSE: SNE), Lionsgate, Image Entertainment and First Look Studios.

Sony First Major Studio to License HP DVD on Demand Service

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 24, 2008 - 1:21pm.

Palo Alto, Calif. - Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) (NYSE: SNE) has signed on to be the first major studio to authorize older titles from its library to be manufactured and distributed through HP's DVD on-demand service. "We know there is strong consumer demand for these titles, and by working with HP we can monetize our deep product library and help give retailers the means to bring a wider offering of Sony Pictures product to consumers without a significant investment in inventory," said SPHE president David Bishop. Among the 5,000 or so titles currently available through HP's year-old service are classic TV shows not available yet on DVD; foreign and independent films; and specialty cable TV programming.

tags: TV | Movies | Sony Pictures | DVD | HP |

Sony's Crackle Debuts Unscripted Web Series from Penn Jilette

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 10, 2008 - 12:43pm.

Sausalito, Calif. - Sony Pictures Entertainment's (NYSE: SNE) Crackle video entertainment site on Thursday announced the premiere of "Penn Says," an unscripted Web series created by magician and pundit Penn Jillette, of Penn & Teller fame. Four one-to-three minute videos will be added weekly, featuring Jilette's rants on politics, celebrities, current events and other topics.

Vivendi Games, Sony Pictures Partner on "Ghostbusters" Game

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 15, 2007 - 1:18pm.

Los Angeles - Vivendi Games and Sony Pictures have announced plans to produce a series of games based on the "Ghostbusters" movie franchise, which will feature the voices and likenesses of original stars from the movies including Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, Annie Potts and William Atherton, Variety reports. Aykroyd and Ramis will also create an original story for the game. The companies tapped Terminal Reality to develop to create version for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and the PC, and Red Fly Studio to develop the title for PlayStation 2, Wii and DS.

Capcom, Sony Pictures Team on "Resident Evil" CG Animated Film

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 30, 2007 - 11:45am.

Los Angeles - Japanese video game developer Capcom has partnered with Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan to create a 3D animated film based on its "Resident Evil" game franchise, which to date has sold 33 million units worldwide. "Biohazard: Degeneration" is scheduled for release in the second half of 2008. A trio of live-action movies based on "Resident Evil" have already been released; "Resident Evil: Extinction" has so far earned $50 million at the U.S. box office since its release on Sept. 21, Variety reports.

Nokia N95 8GB Phone Ships Pre-loaded With "Spider-Man 3"

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 15, 2007 - 1:23pm.

Espoo, Finland - Nokia on Monday shipped its new Nokia N95, a mobile phone with 8GB of internal memory that comes pre-loaded with Sony Pictures Entertainment's full-length feature, "Spider-Man 3." The $761 device, which is initially available in Europe and certain countries in the Middle East and Africa, sports a 2.8-inch display and 5-megapixel camera, and includes features such as Wi-Fi and GPS.

Sony Adds Content to Web Video Service for Bravia HDTVs

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 9, 2007 - 12:49pm.

San Diego - Sony Electronics said on Tuesday that it has added content from CondeNet, Sports Illustrated, Blip.tv and Sony Pictures to the Bravia Internet Video Link service available for owners of its Bravia high-definition televisions. The $300 Internet Video Link device hooks into the back of a Bravia TV, and delivers Internet video programming over an existing broadband connection without the need for a computer. Content from Yahoo, AOL and Crackle has been available on the service since it launched in August.

Nokia Licenses Video From CNN, Others for Mobile Devices

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 2, 2007 - 12:47pm.

Espoo, Finland - Nokia announced on Tuesday that it has signed deals with CNN and six other video producers to provide content for distribution on its mobile devices. Joining existing partners YouTube and Reuters in providing content to the Nokia Video Center are CNN, IBN News, Jamba, Sony Pictures, RooftopComedy, ROK and Versaly Entertainment. The video will be compatible with Nokia's Nseries devices, including the Nokia N95.

Analysis: Sony Goes Online for Offline Talent?

Authored by Jay Baage on July 16, 2007 - 5:34am.
The online video site formerly known as Grouper — the one purchased by Sony for $65 million last August — is being rebranded as Crackle - a Sony Pictures-backed online talent studio. It seems like just about everyone else is doing something similar these days – from Metacafe and Funny or Die to 60 Frames – so what is the winning original concept going to be in this space?