When is success a disappointment?

The opening weekend of "Bruno" exemplified how one film can be both in Hollywood. Universal's outrageous R-rated comedy starring Sacha Baron Cohen opened to a studio-estimated $30.4 million in the U.S. and Canada and $25 million overseas ($5 million of which came from territories owned by other distributors).

Universal paid financier Media Rights Capital $42.5 million to distribute the movie domestically and in eight key foreign countries and negotiated a hefty distribution fee of 25% -- money it takes off the top for its services. The studio is thus well on its way to earning a healthy profit on the project. MRC is also in a good position, having sold rights to the movie for a bigger sum than it costs to produce, and will make even more from its cut of the revenue.

But those totals mask a worrisome trend for the picture: After a strong start on Friday, domestic ticket sales for "Bruno" declined 39% on Saturday. Such a huge drop is rare and almost always a harbinger of bad buzz and a short box office run for a film. The odds of "Bruno" earning a total of even $100 million, let alone the $128.5 million worth of tickets that "Borat" sold in the U.S. and Canada, are very low.

The reason is simple: Many people just didn't like "Bruno." The film's Cinema Score -- an average grade given by a sample of those who see the picture -- was C, very low given what easy graders moviegoers generally are. It's impossible to know for sure what audiences disliked, but the envelope-pushing amount of male nudity no doubt played a major role.

Results this weekend were mixed in a different way for Universal's "Public Enemies." Second weekend performance is key for R-rated adult dramas, since they usually don't have a huge opening. The Michael Mann-directed film starring Johnny Depp declined 44%, a figure that was slightly deflated since Saturday, July 4, was a dead day at the box office last week.

With decent -- but not great -- ticket sales of $14.1 million, the film now stands at $66.5 million and is heading toward a final domestic gross just north of $100 million. Foreign earnings in the 17 countries where it has opened are a similarly so-so $16.7 million after two weeks. Given the movie's production budget of a little over $100 million, that's hardly as bad as other adult dramas like "State of Play" and "Duplicity" have done this year, but not a big success either.

Fox's "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" continued the trend of animated features holding on strong at the box office, declining only 32%. The third movie in the series from Blue Sky Studios earned $28.5 million this weekend. After a mixed start last week, however, it has grossed $120.6 million, about the same as the first 12 days of "Ice Age: The Meltdown" in 2006 despite ticket price inflation and surcharges at the over 1,600 theaters where it is playing in 3-D.

International markets continue to be phenomenal for "Dawn of the Dinosaurs," however. It earned $98 million overseas this weekend, bringing its foreign total to a hefty $327.1 million.

"Ice Age" will likely lose a lot of its box office momentum this Wednesday when Warner Bros. opens "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" worldwide.

Fox opened its low-budget romantic comedy "I Love You, Beth Cooper" and, as expected, earned a dismal $5 million.

In limited release, Magnolia opened Sundance Film Festival favorite "Humpday" at two theaters and earned a decent $29,000.

Summit Entertainment expanded "The Hurt Locker" from nine theaters to 59. Combined with a single theater in Canada controlled by a different distributor, the Iraq War drama earned a healthy $623,000, or $10,383 per location. Its total ticket sales are $1.1 million.

Samuel Goldwyn Films debuted "Blood: The Last Vampire," based on a popular Japanese anime feature, to a not-so-hot $103,000 at 20 theaters, giving it an average take of only $5,150.

Here are the top 10 films at the domestic box office, based on studio reported estimates and data from Hollywood.com:

1. "Bruno" (Universal/Media Right Capital): $30.4 million on its opening weekend.

2. "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" (Fox): Declined only 32% on its second weekend to $28.5 million, bringing its total after 12 days to $120.6 million.

3. "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" (Paramount): $24.2 million, a 43% drop on its third weekend, bringing the Michael Bay-directed event picture to a domestic total of $339.2 million.

4. "Public Enemies" (Universal/Relativity): $14.1 million, a decent decline of 44% on its second weekend. Domestic total: $66.5 million.

5. "The Proposal" (Disney): Dropped only 18% on its fourth weekend to $10.5 million. Total ticket sales in the U.S. and Canada: $113.7 million.

6. "The Hangover" (Warner Bros./Legendary): A stunningly small drop of 12% on its sixth weekend, the R-rated comedy grossed $9.9 million. Domestic total is now $222.4 million.

7. "I Love You, Beth Cooper" (Fox): Opened to a weak $5 million, in line with expectations.

8. "Up" (Disney/Pixar): $4.7 million on its seventh weekend, a 29% drop. Total domestic gross: $273.8 million.

9. "My Sister's Keeper" (Warner Bros./New Line): $4.2 million, down 28% on its third weekend. Total in the U.S. and Canada is $35.8 million.

10. "The Taking of Pelham 123" (Sony/Relativity): $1.6 million, down 37% on its fifth weekend. Close to finishing its run with so-so domestic ticket sales of $61.5 million.

-- Ben Fritz

Photo (top): Sacha Baron Cohen at the Hollywood premiere of "Bruno." Credit: Chris Pizzello / Associated Press

Photo (bottom): Johnny Depp in "Public Enemies." Credit: Peter Mountain / Universal Pictures

The second feature comedy featuring a Sacha Baron Cohen character interacting with real people sold a solid studio-estimated $30.4 million worth of tickets over its first three days. That's a very healthy performance given that Universal paid $42.5 million to distribute the film domestically and in key foreign territories and is receiving an unusually high distribution fee.

It's shockingly low, however, given that "Bruno" grossed $14.4 million on Friday. Based on the performance of "Borat," Baron Cohen's first film, and other R-rated comedies, it looked like the film would gross close to $40 million after that.

But  "Bruno" lost a lot of momentum on Saturday, earning only $8.8 million. "Borat," by contrast, earned more on its first Saturday than Friday. The big 39% drop forced Universal to estimate that the movie will gross $30.4 million, less than it and other studios were expecting on Friday.

It's a strong sign that while there was significant initial demand to see the movie on its first day, word-of-mouth may not be so strong and it won't go on to earn anything close to the $128.5 million "Borat" ultimately made in the U.S. and Canada.

"Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs," had a very strong second weekend, helped by the fact that last weekend was a bit slower than normal due to July 4 falling on a Saturday. Fox's animated feature declined only 32%, grossing $28.5 million and bringing the total domestic gross to $120.6 million. That's almost exactly what "Ice Age: the Meltdown" earned in its first 12 days, a somewhat disappointing figure given that ticket prices have risen over three years and the new film is playing in more 1,600 theaters with one or more 3-D screens, where there is an extra surcharge.

In good news for Universal's pricey crime drama, "Public Enemies" also experienced a relatively modest drop of 44%. That's better than director Michael Mann's last film, "Miami Vice," but not as good as his 2004 picture "Collateral," and indicates the period picture starring Johnny Depp will have a decent but not fantastic run at the box office. It sold $14.1 million worth of tickets this weekend, bringing its total to $66.5 million.

As expected, Fox's low-budget comedy "I Love You, Beth Cooper" had a dismal weekend, earning only $5 million from a primarily young female audience.

"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" remains strong on its third weekend. It dropped 43% to $24.2 million, bringing its domestic total to a spectacular $339.4 million.

-- Ben Fritz

Update (12:30 PM): For more on why "Bruno" stumbled on Saturday, as well as the huge overseas ticket sales for "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs," see our updated box office story.

Photo: Sacha Baron Cohen in "Bruno." Credit: Universal Pictures

Universal's Sacha Baron Cohen comedy sold a studio-estimated $14.2 million worth of tickets Friday, making it likely that the film will gross close to, and possibly even exceed, $40 million by Sunday.

Given that the studio paid financier Media Rights Capital $42.5 million for rights to distribute the film, and that it will likely earn about the same amount overseas, that's a very strong start. In fact, it could be one of the biggest debuts ever for an R-rated comedy, behind only "Sex and the City," "American Pie 2," "Scary Movie" and June's "The Hangover."

It was tough to tell from Friday grosses how several films already in the marketplace will hold on for the weekend. Comparisons are difficult because last Friday was an extraordinarily strong day at the box office with most people off of work, but Saturday was extraordinarily slow because it was July 4.

Ticket sales for "Public Enemies" dropped 57% Friday to $4.4 million, a big decline for a drama that needs to last a long time to succeed given its $100-million-plus budget and $40.1 million start in its first five days. But if today's decline is very modest, which is likely given how slow last Saturday was, it could end up dropping less than 50%. As of Friday, it has grossed $56.8 million.

The same goes for Fox's "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs." It declined 51% on Friday to $8.35 million. Given how strong Saturdays usually are for family films, its ultimate drop could be less than 40%. The animated feature has grossed a total of $100.4 million.

One thing that was very evident on Friday, however, is that Fox's "I Love You, Beth Cooper" is barely registering at the box office, even among its core audience of teenage girls. The low-budget, romantic comedy sold $2.1 million worth of tickets on its first day, putting it on track to gross around $5 million for the weekend.

-- Ben Fritz

Update (Sunday 9:20 AM): "Bruno" earned a studio-estimated $30.4 million for the weekend. Details are here.

Photo: Sacha Baron Cohen in "Bruno." Credit: Mark Schwartzbard / Associated Press

After all, star Sacha Baron Cohen was an untested talent on the big screen: His first U.S. theatrical release, "Borat," based on a character from his "Da Ali G Show," hadn't even opened yet. Moreover, the pre-release audience polls were less than enthusiastic, making the film's box-office prospects highly uncertain.

And "Borat," which 20th Century Fox distributed, cost only $18 million to produce. By shelling out more than twice that for rights to the follow-up, Universal seemed to be grossly overpaying, even by Hollywood's profligate standards.

As it turns out, Universal executives might not have been as crazy as they looked at the time. That's because the studio negotiated a highly favorable deal point that helped justify the big upfront payment it made to the film's financier, Media Rights Capital.

According to two people familiar with the terms, the studio's distribution fee for releasing "Bruno" is 25%, which is at least twice the current industry standard. DreamWorks Animation and Marvel Studios, for instance, each pay an 8% distribution fee to Paramount Pictures to release such films as "Shrek 3" and "Iron Man."

A person close to MRC disputed that the "Bruno" fee is 25%, contending the figure was lower. 

Distribution fees are based on a percentage of revenues studios receive from releasing movies in theaters, on DVD and in other media. Typically, those fees do not exceed 15%, and are often much lower.

Universal gets to collect its distribution fee and recoup the $42.5 million and the tens of millions it spends to market the movie before it must pay MRC any cut of potential profits. MRC, which declined to say how much it spent to make "Bruno," will then divvy up its share with Baron Cohen and other profit participants.

Of course, now that "Bruno" is projected to sell more than $30 million worth of tickets this weekend in its U.S. debut and match or exceed that overseas, it's likely everyone involved in the film will profit quite handsomely.

"Bruno" grossed $1.7 million from Thursday midnight shows and has had strong matinees today across the country. It has also done well in overseas markets, including Australia, where it has generated $4.6 million since opening Tuesday.

"We're overjoyed that all the partners are going to make a lot of money," said MRC co-chairman Modi Wiczyk.

It's still not clear, however, whether "Bruno" will ultimately do as well as "Borat," a surprise hit that grossed $128.5 million at the domestic box office, $133.1 million from international markets, and sold more than an estimated 5.5 million video units in the U.S.

-- Claudia Eller and Ben Fritz

Picture: Sacha Baron Cohen at the Hollywood premiere of "Bruno." Credit: Frazer Harrison, Getty Images.

Roberta Reardon, president of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, said that she supported the concept of merging with the Screen Actors Guild, but not if it means AFTRA jettisoning its non-actor members as some have suggested.

"I welcome the discussion, but it's all of us or none of us," Reardon said during a media briefing at the union's headquarters on Wilshire Boulevard. "We're not holding a yard sale on AFTRA's membership.''

AFTRA supported two previous attempts to merge the unions, but both efforts failed amid heavy opposition from some SAG members in Hollywood, in part because of concerns that they would have little in common with those AFTRA members who aren't actors. The union has more than 70,000 members, who include not only actors, but also broadcasters and recording artists.

The unions last year suspended their longstanding joint bargaining partnership after a bitter dispute over bargaining strategy and jurisdiction. The feud severely weakened SAG's leverage at the bargaining table and deeply divided the union, which is now dominated by a group of actors who favor a merger. SAG's President Alan Rosenberg and his supporters, staunch critics of AFTRA, have fiercely opposed the idea.

Reardon left open the possibility that the two unions might revive their bargaining partnership for the next round of film and TV negotiations, but said no discussions had been scheduled. Don't expect anything to happen until after elections this fall, however, when Rosenberg's term expires.

"They need to figure this out,'' Reardon said.

-- Richard Verrier

Photo of Roberta Reardon by Dan Z. Johnson/AFTRA

Disney will invest about $448 million in the construction and swap its outstanding loans totaling about $353 million into additional equity in a joint venture company, Hong Kong International Theme Parks. The Hong Kong government will retain the majority ownership in the venture, however.

The deal would expand the park by increasing the number of theme areas to seven from four over the next five years, tackling criticism that the world's smallest Disneyland did not offer enough attractions. Two themed areas — Grizzly Trail and Mystic Point — will be exclusive to Hong Kong, and a third, Toy Story Land, will be the only attraction of its kind in Asia for the first five years after its opening.

"This substantial investment represents our continued commitment to and confidence in Hong Kong Disneyland and solidifies our partnership with the Hong Kong government, helping assure the resort's long-term success," said Jay Rasulo, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts.

The announcement comes at a time when Hong Kong Disneyland could soon face a major competitor in Shanghai, which is still in negotiations with Burbank-based Disney to open a much larger $3.59-billion theme park as early as 2014.

— Dawn C. Chmielewski

Photo: Mickey Mouse wears a Chinese New Year costume and hits the drum during a parade at Hong Kong Disneyland. Credit: Ym Yik / EPA

Twitter may be catching fire everywhere, but don't look your favorite NFL football players to be sending out tweets during the game.

That's the word from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, when asked whether the league would institute a ban on players using Twitter while on the football field.

Goodell, who is attending the Allen & Co. conference in Sun Valley, said in a brief interview that while the league has not said anything official about Twitter, he expects it will soon. He thought the league's current policy about the use of electronic devices during the game would need to be updated for Twitter. Although the intent of the rules are clear, Goodell feels that the more specific you can be with the teams the better.

Among the issues besides tweeting during the game are whether players should be allowed to tweet just before and after games and during halftime.

Many athletes have built huge followings on Twitter and some see it as a way to communicate without the filter of the press. Of course, Goodell isn't saying that players can't tweet, he just doesn't want them doing it when they should be worried about what play the team is running.

But it will be interesting to see how sports leagues adjust to players using social networks. Teams often like to keep a tight lid on players with regards to the press and public. Whether the NFL, which some have dubbed the "No Fun League" for its restrictions on players celebrating and hot-dogging on the firled, will see a backlash from some of the more out-sized personalities in the game remains to be seen. Guess we'll just have to see if there is a response on Twitter.

-- Joe Flint

Photo: Roger Goodell at Sun Valley by Matthew Staver/Bloomberg News

Tarnished Gold. Comcast and the United States Olympic Committee's plans to launch a cable network has hit snags and irritated the International Olympic Committee and NBC Universal, the long-time rights holders to the games in the U.S. The inside dirt from The Los Angeles Times and The New York Times.

Play ball? Sony's ill-fated "Moneyball" may get another at bat. The movie about the economics of the national pastime starring Brad Pitt that the studio pulled the plug on last month, is getting a rewrite from Aaron Sorkin, says Variety. The New York Times adds that producer Scott Rudin may come aboard as well.

Beefing up. Lions Gate nominated its biggest shareholder -- Mark Rachesky -- to its board of directors. The move, says The Los Angeles Times, is an effort by Lions Gate to stave off activist shareholder Carl Icahn's efforts to overhaul management at the studio. Rachesky, who used to work with Icahn, is supportive of Lions Gate brass.

Does `Harry Potter' need fangs? The Wall Street Journal says the latest Harry Potter will have to attract teens who may now be bitten by "Twilight," the vampire saga. Warner Bros. is not worried.

Seacrest in! American Idol host and Simon Cowell foil is near a rich new deal to stay with the show and develop content for the show's co-producer 19 Entertainment, says The Hollywood Reporter.

Tweet this. Movie studios adjust to a Twitter and Facebook world and what it means to marketing. Used to be word-of-mouth took a few days to spread, now it's a few hours and that's changing the game, reports The Wrap.

Mogul beat. The view from Google and other nuggets and gossip out of the Allen & Co. conference in Sun Valley from The Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal and New York Post.

Inside the Los Angeles Times: Billy Mays keeps working even after death.

--Joe Flint

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Continuing a recent tradition, Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt held court with the press at the Allen & Co. conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, where he called the current economy "the new normal."

Companies need to "figure out how to be happy and get our lives together in this new configuration," Schmidt said, adding, "You can't waste money; credit is tight."

Schmidt, who was joined by Google co-founder Larry Page, spoke on a variety of topics ranging from Apple CEO Steve Jobs' health and concerns about Google's power to whether Twitter and Facebook are hurting Google. Schmidt, who is on the board of Apple, said he was "well informed" about Jobs' condition. He declined to comment on whether Apple should have been more forthcoming about Jobs, who underwent a liver transplant.

As for worries about Google's size on the part of regulators here and abroad, Schmidt said competitors were trying to stir things up. "We now expect governments to look at what we're doing ... we respect their role."

Schmidt still believes in MySpace, the struggling social networking site owned by News Corp. with which Google struck a $900-million advertising deal several years ago. "We like MySpace a lot," Schmidt said, although he declined to say whether the company would renew its ad deal with the site when it expires next year.

Schmidt expressed admiration for Hulu, the video site whose owners include News Corp. and NBC Universal, and said he hoped to get more professional content on YouTube. Asked when YouTube, for which Google paid $1.65 billion, would turn a profit, Schmidt said he wouldn't make predictions while Page said a timeline for YouTube to make a buck was "just not that important."

The tone of the conference on Day 3 was still somber. On a panel about global management, General Electric Co. CEO Jeff Immelt lamented the state of education in the U.S.,, complaining that his company has to go outside the U.S. for the best people. As for the economy, Martin Sorrell, chief executive of WPP Group, a huge advertising conglomerate, told reporters, "we don't see things improving."

News Corp.'s Rupert Murdoch was also bearish, telling his Fox Business Network, “I’m shocked at the business mood, which is talking about either that we’re at the bottom or going lower, but that it’s going to take years and years, like five years at least before we see any real growth coming out of this.”

The conference was not without its lighter moments. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates was walking out to lunch past a gantlet of reporters who were asking about Google's plans to launch an operating system to rival Windows when a voice behind him said, "Better if you not comment." It belonged to Google's Schmidt.

Sony Corp. CEO Howard Stringer may have had the best quip of the day. Asked about the success of Twitter and other social networking sites, Stringer said, "A lot of people are doing very well at making very little money. It's not a club I'm looking to join."

-- Joe Flint

Photo: Larry Page and Eric Schmidt by Peter Foley / European Pressphoto Agency

Weeks of calculated PR by Sacha Baron Cohen and a marketing campaign that has closely tied the film to "Borat" looks like it will pay off for Universal, as "Bruno" is on track to open to more than $30 million in ticket sales this weekend in the U.S. and Canada.

That should prove a big win for the studio, which bought rights to the distribute the picture domestically and in eight foreign countries from financier Media Rights Capital for $42.5 million.

According to people who have seen pre-release audience polling, "Bruno" is tracking very strongly among young males and is generating interest from older males and younger women. Adult women, however, seem turned off by the movie based on Cohen's flamboyantly gay character.

Comparing "Bruno" to previous openings is difficult, because Cohen's last film based on his TV series "Da Ali G Show," "Borat," opened at only 837 theaters in 2006, while "Bruno" is debuting at 2,756. "Borat" earned a stunning $26.5 million on its first weekend. Despite playing more than three times as many locations, "Bruno" will likely earn only a little more.

But while it may not prove quite as much of a money-minting machine for Universal as "Borat," which ultimately grossed $128.5 million domestically, was for Fox, "Bruno" could still be profitable. After recouping its acquisition fee along with its costs for distribution and marketing, the studio will provide a portion of the film's revenue to MRC and keep the rest.

International markets will likely prove as or more lucrative for Universal than the U.S. and Canada. "Borat" sold $133.1 million worth of tickets overseas.

The studio opened "Bruno" on Wednesday in Australia, Belgium and New Zealand. The film grossed more than "Borat" in all three countries for a total of $1.6 million. Universal premieres it in Germany and the Netherlands today and in the United Kingdom and South Africa on Friday.

Also today and Friday, Sony Pictures is opening the film in Portugal and Greece, while local distributors are launching it in several other foreign countries, including Finland, Hungary, and Norway. It rolls out to other international markets throughout the summer and fall.

The only other picture opening Friday is Fox's low-budget comedy "I Love You, Beth Cooper," which is generating limited interest from teenage girls and will probably gross under $10 million.

More interesting will be how several films already in theaters hold up this weekend at the box office, most notably "Public Enemies." Universal needs the Michael Mann-directed drama, which cost a little over $100 million to produce, to see a relatively small decline this weekend after its $40.1 million five-day opening if it's going to end up a success. Grosses Monday through Wednesday were a solid $9.8 million, indicating audience interest may be holding up, in which case the studio will be looking for a weekend drop of under 50%.

-- Ben Fritz

Photo: Sacha Baron Cohen in "Bruno." Credit: Frank Ockenfels, Universal Pictures.

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch has done a pretty good job avoiding the ink-stained-wretches-turned-tweeters at the Allen & Co. conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, by mumbling one- or two-word answers to their questions.

Wednesday, when asked whether he'd want to buy Twitter, he said no. Asked about selling MySpace, he said "hell no." Asked by this reporter whether he would buy the Los Angeles Times, he said "too difficult."

But he knows to take care of his own. The News Corp. chairman sat down today with his latest creation -- Fox Business Network -- for an interview here and during which he said the mood of the conference was "bearish."

“I’m shocked at the business mood, which is talking about either that we’re at the bottom or going lower, but that it’s going to take years and years, like five years at least before we see any real growth coming out of this," Murdoch said.

As for the newspaper industry, which Murdoch may be one of the last believers in, he said News Corp. would lead the way for a working pay model for newspapers, but offered no details.

"We have a lot of plans I’m not ready to disclose yet, to really lead the newspaper industry into monetizing what it has," he said.

There are advantages to talking to media outlets you control. One reason Murdoch has been dodging the media here is because of a controversy brewing at his London tabloid papers The Sun and News of the World, which have been accused of using wiretaps to get dirt for their stories.

But Murdoch didn't have to sweat the questions from Fox Business Network. Interviewer Stuart Varney tried to ask him about it and Murdoch said "I'm not talking about that issue today." Varney was more than happy to let it slide.

"No worries, Mr. Chairman," Varney said, adding "that's fine with me."

In fairness to Murdoch, NBC Universal Chief Executive Jeff Zucker also found time to squeeze in an interview with CNBC today, but otherwise has been hard to find. Last report was he's on the links.

-- Joe Flint

Photo: Rupert Murdoch, left, talks with Univision Chairman Haim Saban and Thomas Staggs, chief financial officer of Walt Disney Co. Credit: Matthew Staver / Bloomberg News

A controversy over the U.S. committee's plans to launch its own cable channel intensified today when the International Olympic Committee, the worldwide organization that organizes the games, jumped into the fray. The IOC said in a statement that it doesn't want the U.S. group's proposed new cable channel to interfere in dealings with its powerful television partner, NBC Universal.

"The proposed channel raises complex legal and contractual issues and could have a negative impact [on] our relationships with other Olympic broadcasters and sponsors, including our U.S. TV partner, NBC," the IOC said.

NBC Universal's parent company, General Electric, has committed $2.2 billion to broadcast the 2010 and 2012 Olympic Games and owns a minority stake in a start-up venture, Universal Sports. That new cable channel, available in 45 million homes, is designed to shine a spotlight on off-season events, lower-profile Olympic sports and other "lifestyle sports" programming.

But if the U.S. Olympic Committee succeeds in launching its own channel, then Universal Sports might find itself without some of the key Olympics programming that it is banking on. NBC Universal owns the venture along with InterMedia Partners, a private equity firm.

Another concern for the IOC is whether the U.S. committee's efforts will become an unwanted wrinkle in the bidding for the next round of television rights for the 2014 Olympics and beyond. Already, NBC Universal, Disney's ESPN and News Corp.'s Fox Sports have expressed an interest in bidding on the Games.

The flap exposes more friction between the IOC and the U.S. Olympic Committee, which have had an ongoing feud over their revenue sharing plan. 

"The IOC's cooperation with USOC includes working together on Olympic sponsorship and broadcasting agreements within the United States,'' The IOC said in its statement. "We were aware that the USOC had been considering a new 'Olympic broadcast network,' but we have never been presented with a plan, and we had assumed that we would have an opportunity to discuss unresolved questions together before the project moved forward. It is for this reason that the IOC is disappointed that USOC acted unilaterally and, in our view, in haste by announcing their plans before we had had a chance to consider together the ramifications."

-- Meg James

Some members of the L.A. City Council are balking at the LAPD's plans to ban retired officers from wearing police uniforms and badges when they work on movie sets.

Police Chief William J. Bratton recently announced that his department would soon require that ex-officers shed their blues to more clearly distinguished themselves from active-duty officers. Instead of wearing the dark blue uniform made famous in episodes of "Dragnet" and "Adam-12," the former officers would be required to wear black pants, a white shirt and a fluorescent yellow reflective vest.

The department, citing liability concerns and control over its image, says it doesn't want the public to confuse active-duty LAPD officers with retired ones.

But location managers and retired police officers have been aggressively lobbying City Council members, saying that forcing them to wear something different would undermine their authority and their ability to provide security on sets -- which also would give filmmakers even less reason to shoot locally.

Echoing those concerns, council members Tom LaBonge and Greg Smith introduced a motion on Wednesday demanding that the LAPD, the city attorney and the city administrative officer bring their recommendations to the City Council before taking action.

"Recent discussion relative to prohibiting the wearing of police uniforms by retired police officers at motion picture and television production locations have raised a significant amount of concern over the continued effectiveness of the City's efforts to assist and nurture the motion picture, television production and entertainment industry," the motion read.

No word from the LAPD on the motion, which hasn't yet been voted on by the full council.

Update: LAPD Assisant Chief Jim McDonnell said the department would be "happy" to discuss its plans with the City Council. "I'm confident that once the Council hears our rationale for moving in this direction, they will concur with us that this is in the best interests of city," he said. "The industry will still be able to hire the people they have long-term relationships with under the same conditions. The only difference is the uniform."

-- Richard Verrier

Photo: Hal DeJong, a retired police officer, directs traffic on a film set near downtown L.A. Credit: Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times

"Consumer behavior is going to change dramatically," predicted NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

At one of the panels here, Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger noted that Warner Bros. movie "The Hangover" wasn't a huge hit just because the studio did a smart marketing job. Social networks such as Facebook and Twitter fueled interest in the comedy, he said. IAC Chairman and Chief Executive Barry Diller noted that people want to know what their peers are saying, not critics and experts. The success of Paramount's "Transformers" sequel may be proof of that. Reviews were dreadful for the action film, yet it has grossed more than $300 million in the U.S. alone since its June 24 release.

One media executive noted that programmers have to realize that "dollars spent convincing people" to watch a show or see a movie won't work. "We need to focus on what they do like," the executive said.

-- Joe Flint

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Unlike Icahn, Rachesky, whose New York based MHR Fund Management LLC owns 19.8% of the company’s common stock, has been a strong supporter of Lionsgate management. Icahn, on the other hand, has been highly critical of the studio’s executives team. Icahn is Lionsgate’s second largest shareholder with holdings of about 17%.

The billionaire investor, who has been steadily increasing his stake in Lionsgate over the past year, had been in talks earlier this year about gaining several board seats. But those discussions fell apart over issues that included management’s refusal to give him assurances that a standstill agreement would also be applied to other shareholders seeking board seats. This past March, Rachesky changed his investor status to “active” from “passive” and said in a regulatory filing that he may seek a board seat.

Now that Rachesky has been nominated, it would seem likely that Icahn would move swiftly to put up his own slate of directors before Lionsgate’s annual shareholders meeting in September. Lionsgate said it will announce the remainder of its board slate in the coming weeks.

Rachesky had worked as a chief investment strategist for Icahn from 1990 to 1996 before leaving to form his own investment firm. According to Rachesky’s bio on Loral Space & Communications, a satellite company on which he serves as a non-executive chairman, MHR specializes in “distressed and deeply undervalued middle-market companies.” Rachesky has been a major shareholder in Lionsgate for more than five years.

In a prepared statement, the press-shy Rachesky said, "I look forward to joining the Lionsgate Board of Directors and assisting management in its mission to continue building shareholder value.”

He also said that MHR will support management's slate of Board of Directors nominees at the upcoming annual shareholders meeting.

"Dr. Rachesky is an investor who shares our vision for continued growth and diversification," said Lionsgate co-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jon Feltheimer and Vice Chairman Michael Burns. "He brings a strong independent voice to our board as well as leadership in the wireless and digital media space that will be invaluable to our continuing evolution as a next generation studio."

-- Claudia Eller

Going for the cable gold. The United States Olympic Committee is partnering with cable giant Comcast Corp. to a launch a new Olympic-themed network. The channel will likely debut sometime after the 2010 winter games in Vancouver. The Los Angeles Times.

Twitter, MySpace and LeBron on ice. Wrap ups on Wednesday's action at the Allen & Co. conference from the The Los Angeles Times, The Financial Times and The New York Post, which speculates on whether John Malone could be a white knight for Harvey Weinstein's film company. 

Who cares what Malone and Diller think. TechCrunch's Michael Arrington takes issue with John Malone and Barry Diller's bleak assessment of Twitter.

Ad recession hitting social networks. Advertising on social networks such as MySpace and Facebook is going to decline in 2009, says a new study from research firm eMarketer. The firm says ad spending in the U.S. will drop 3% to $1.1 billion. That prediction is a sharp reduction from last December when the firm anticipated growth in that arena of more than 10%. The Wall Street Journal.

NBC selling cable. While its broadcast upfront is still in limbo, NBC Universal is briskly selling inventory in its cable networks including USA and Bravo, reports Advertising Age.

Action Jackson. Over 31 million viewers watched the Michael Jackson memorial coverage on Tuesday. The Hollywood Reporter. 

TiVo and Best Buy align. TiVo is going to create a special version of its recorder specifically for retailer Best Buy that will allow the chain to advertise to TiVo subscribers. Best Buy will also promote TiVo gear in its 1100 stores, according to The New York Times.

Inside the Los Angeles Times: A closer look at Google's plans to challenge Microsoft. John Horn on the slowdown of the summer movie season.

-- Joe Flint

Follow Joe on Twitter

Last year, the heirs of Superman co-creator Jerome Siegel claimed that Warner Bros. and DC Comics, both owned by Time Warner Inc., had struck a "sweetheart deal" that deprived them of their fair share of royalties. A federal judge last year awarded the Siegel heirs -- his widow and daughter -- half of the copyright to the Superman material published in the comic book Action Comics No. 1. What hadn't been decided was whether the license agreements between the Burbank studio and DC Comics from 1999 to 2002 represented "fair-market value."

The judge's decision was a plus for Warner Bros., which has been in a long-running legal battle with the heirs of the comic's co-creator who last year won a stake in the U.S. copyright to the character.

In late April, a federal judge in Riverside held a 10-day bench trial to determine the matter. After considering "hundreds of exhibits, hours of testimony from several witnesses and several hours of closing arguments," the court ruled in favor of Warner Bros. and DC Comics.

"The decision validates what DC and Warner Bros. have maintained from the beginning," the companies said in a joint statement, "which is that when they do business with each other, they always strive for --and achieve -- fair-market value in their transactions."

An accounting phase of the trial will be held Dec. 1 to determine how much money the Siegel heirs are owed for their exploitations of Superman.

The Siegels' attorney, Marc Toberoff, said he did not expect to appeal today's decision. "My guess is we would not separately appeal this. This is part of a multi-faceted accounting case."

In response to the decision, Toberoff released a statement saying "the entire accounting action pales in camparison to the fact that in 2013, the Siegels, along with the estate of [co-creator] Joe Shuster, will own the entire original copyright to Superman and neither DC Comics nor Warner Bros. will be able to exploit any new Superman works without a licencse from the Siegels and Shusters."

He also pointed out that the court ruled that if Warner Bros. does not start production on a new Superman sequel by 2011, the Siegels could sue to recover their damages.

At the present time, Warner Bros. is not close to greenlighting another Superman movie. The last Superman movie it released was "Superman Returns" in 2006, which grossed $391 million in worldwide box-office sales. 

-- Claudia Eller

Photo: The first issue of Superman (c) DC Comics

These so-called "news games" have become a unique specialty of AddictingGames, a website that Nick's parent company Viacom acquired as part of its purchase of Atom Entertainment in 2006. The site was historically a home for user-created games -- call it a YouTube for video games.

But in the last few years, AddictingGames has started producing some of its own exclusive games. Among the most popular early on in the effort: Cheney's Fury, which played off the former veep's accidental shooting of a friend on a hunting trip, and Zidane Headbutt, which put players in the cleats of the French soccer star who was ejected from the 2006 World Cup. Online video games that tie into the most talked about topics on the Web, in other words, get a lot of love.

The success of those titles spurred AddictingGames to build 19 news games in the last year. They're not necessarily the biggest moneymakers, as they're often embedded on blogs and Facebook pages, instead of being played on the AddictingGames.com site where they're surrounded by advertising. But they do generate huge amounts of online buzz for the brand, making the less than $10,000 it costs to make each game a worthwhile investment.

AddictingGames now attempts to release one news game per month. Last week, The Times attended a brainstorming session and development session at the AddictingGames office in San Francisco where they were working on their 20th, titled Where's the Naughty Governor? It plays off of South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford's recent adultery-related disappearance and features levels with other poorly behaved politicians like John Edwards, Eliot Spitzer, Jim McGreevey and, in a last-minute addition, Sarah Palin.

Read the story from tomorrow's L.A. Times about the development of Where's the Naughty Governor? and AddictingGames' news games strategy here.

And give the game a try below. Don't worry if you're not a gamer. Anyone who has ever read a "Where's Waldo?" book will pick it up very fast.

--Ben Fritz

Photo: A scene from Where's the Naughty Governor? Credit: AddictingGames.

Related

- Web games ripped from the headlines

- Photos: Where's the Naughty Governor?

Box office data for “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs,” which opened last Wednesday, shows that theaters with at least one screen playing the film in 3-D generated on average, 1.4x  as much in ticket sales as those that only showed the picture the old fashioned 2-D way. (A breakdown by individual screens within multiplexes was not available.)

The higher gross represents a mix of ticket price surcharges, which are typically $2 to $3 for digital 3-D, and higher attendance.

The ratio of grosses in theaters with 3-D screens to those that are 2-D only has declined significantly and fairly consistently since “My Bloody Valentine,” the first film this year to play on a mix of both, suggesting audience interest in the new format is waning.

Here’s how much higher ticket sales were for theaters with 3-D screens compared with theaters with only 2-D screens on the opening weekends for the five major releases so far this year (the numbers are based on studio estimates, as reported by The Times, Boxofficemojo.com and Variety):

• “My Bloody Valentine 3-D”: 6.4x
• “Coraline”: 3x
• “Monsters vs Aliens”: 2.1x
• “Up”: 2.2x
• “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs”: 1.4x

Those figures, of course, don't fully represent the financial advantage of 3-D screens compared with 2-D screens, because many theaters feature both;  1,620 of "Ice Age's" 4,099 U.S. and Canadian locations played the film in 3-D, but 1,205 of those also played it in 2-D. Average grosses within those 1,205 probably were dragged down somewhat by their 2-D screens.

Nonetheless, as an apples-to-apples comparison, the decline in 3-D's advantage is significant and curious. It's partially due, no doubt, to the rising number of theaters equipped with 3-D screens. January's "My Bloody Valentine" was in 1,033 of them. By the time "Monsters vs. Aliens" came out in March, there were 1,550. "Ice Age" was on 1,620.

The more theaters with 3-D screens there are in a given region, the more they may split audiences interested in the technology and thus lower their average gross.

It's also possible that as 3-D releases increase in frequency -- "Up" came out four and a half weeks before "Ice Age," "G-Force" follows just three weeks later -- audiences become a little less enchanted by what they get for their extra money. Other upcoming releases using the technology include August's "The Final Destination," September's "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs," October's re-release of "Toy Story" and "Toy Story 2," November's "A Christmas Carol" and December's "Avatar."

There's certainly no sure evidence that films are consistently doing better as a result of 3-D. While many factors affected the movie's performance, including the Fourth of July falling on a Saturday, it's notable that "Dawn of the Dinosaurs" earned less domestically in its first five days than the 2-D "Ice Age: the Meltdown," grossed its first three days in March of 2006.

-- Ben Fritz

Photo: "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" star Ray Romano at a 3-D screening of the film with elementary school students in the Bronx.

 Credit: Dave Allocca / Associated Press 

How much would you pay a month to look at YouTube?

Apparently, billionaire investor Warren Buffett is willing to shell out five bucks for the pleasure of seeing dogs skateboard, kids making their own videos and the occasional piece of unlicensed material. At least that's what he told Liberty Media Chairman Corp. John Malone at the Allen & Co. conference in Sun Valley, Idaho.

Malone shared that tidbit with reporters today after the morning sessions here. He was responding to one reporter's comment that Facebook probably could get away with charging a small fee to its users. Malone, who sits on the board of cable programming giant Discovery Communications, thinks eventually people are going to have to adjust to coughing up some cash for online content.

"People will get addicted and be willing to pay for it," Malone said.

Though Malone and other old-time media moguls think their content is worth something, they are not so sure about Twitter. The social networking site that has exploded this year has been the hot topic at Sun Valley. Everyone seems to love it, but no one is sure how to make money off of it.

Malone and IAC Chief Executive Barry Diller both expressed doubts about the site's prospects as a cash machine during a panel moderated by the New Yorker's Ken Auletta that also featured Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Bob Iger.

Twitter co-founder and Chief Executive Evan Williams was in the audience but stayed quiet, according to Auletta. Williams also dodged reporters after the session.

News Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch also made the rounds today. He doesn't seem to be in a buying mood. He said he wasn't interested in Twitter and when later asked about buying the Los Angeles Times, whose Chicago-based parent Tribune Co. is in bankruptcy, he wistfully said that it would be "too difficult."

Murdoch declined to elaborate on whether it would be too difficult to persuade his board to buy another paper or whether dealing with Tribune's Chapter 11 situation would be the hassle. As for speculation that he might want to sell MySpace, the social network site that has lost some luster to Facebook, he said "hell no."

The conference opened with a bleak panel on the economy that was moderated by CNBC's Erin Burnett and featured investor Wilbur Ross, American Express Chief Executive Kenneth Chenault and MIT Professor Simon Johnson. Panel attendees said that Ross was particularly gloomy. Looking for a bright spot, Malone noted that though Ross was being "realistic," the billionaire investor also said he was still willing to consider investments in the U.S. "Maybe he thinks it's reached a bottom," Malone said.

In between sessions, attendees did the usual hide-and-seek with the media. Ken Auletta was more than happy to chat with reporters about the panel he moderated despite Allen & Co.'s desire that its participants treat the media like zoo animals. You can look, but please don't feed them.

The most anticipated guest of the conference, basketball star LeBron James, arrived late in the afternoon in time for the banquet dinner. He carefully walked across the ice skating rink. No doubt James' handlers and coach wouldn't be happy if he suddenly decided to put on some skates and do a few figure eights. Asked how he felt to be the big star at the conference, he coolly replied, "I'm the small guy."

-- Joe Flint

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Photo: Warren Buffet arrives at Sun Valley. Credit: Matthew Staver / Bloomberg News