Time Warner Chairman and CEO Richard Parsons on Tuesday forecast that his company will see improved results in all of its divisions save one -- motion pictures, and that only because the enormous success of one of its studios, New Line, "is having such a blow out year in 2003 that it's impossible to repeat going forward." New Line was responsible for this year's hit The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and the holiday sleeper Elf. Parsons expressed great hopes in 2004 for the company's other studio, Warner Brothers, which, he noted will be releasing the third Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and also Catwoman, starring Halle Berry.

A spokesman for Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane has confirmed a Daily Variety report that the two stars of the Broadway version of The Producers will star in a new movie adaptation that will go before the cameras early next year. Simon Wells, the spokesman for Lane and Broderick, told today's (Wednesday) New York Times that the film will be shot in New York, with Mel Brooks producing and writing the screenplay with Thomas Meehan (who also collaborated with Brooks on the Broadway book). Wells also indicated that the movie will be directed by Susan Stroman, who directed the stage version.

American Wedding has surprisingly become the most successful new comedy release on DVD in history, after selling 3 million copies in just three days following its Jan. 2 release, according to Universal Studios Home Video. The DVD reportedly features an additional 25 minutes of footage that was either shot exclusively for the home video release, or was excised from the theatrical release because it was deemed too risqué.

Michael Eisner and Roy Disney continued to spar verbally with one another Tuesday, with the Walt Disney Co. chairman telling the Smith Barney media conference in Phoenix that he is "extremely pleased with the momentum we commenced over the past year." However, Roy Disney quickly issued a statement saying, "Management has consistently not met its plans. Just one year ago, the Company projected 25 percent to 35 percent earnings growth for FY 2003, but actual growth was only 10 percent."

Writers Guild of America West President Victoria Riskin has resigned following a report by an independent investigator that concluded that she was ineligible to hold office because she had not recently earned enough income as a writer to qualify for active membership in the guild. She was immediately replace by WGA Vice President Charles Holland. In a statement, Riskin observed that the controversy over her eligibility came at a time when the guild was preparing to open contract negotiations with Hollywood film and TV producers. The current contract expires on May 2. "My election as president of the Writers Guild is a trust I hold sacred," Riskin said in her statement. "However, I know we cannot proceed into negotiations with these charges hanging over us."

The deadline for the motion picture industry to appeal a decision by Norwegian court in favor of Jon Johansen, the developer of the DeCSS program has passed without action by the industry, the BBC observed Tuesday. The MPAA had previously indicated that it would appeal the decision, maintaining that the DeCSS program enabled pirates to break the industry's DVD copy-protection code. Johansen had claimed that he had written the program in order to watch DVDs on PCs running the Linux operating system. In reporting the final outcome of the case, the BBC observed that it "was widely seen as a test of the film industry's ability to police what happens to its products."

Natalie Portman, who stars as Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequels, has disclosed that the upcoming Episode III will include "a pretty amazing fight scene" between Ewan McGregor, who plays Obi Wan Kenobi in the prequels, and Hayden Christensen, who portrays Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader in them. In an interview with MTV.com, Portman also disclosed that the two actors perform the scene without the aid of stuntmen and that "it's pretty sick." She did not elaborate. The film is set to open on May 25, 2005, the 28th anniversary of the original's premiere.

Countering accusations that Mel Gibson's forthcoming film The Passion of the Christ depicts Jews as being responsible for the death of Christ, some Internet fan sites are indicating that the film actually reveals that Gibson himself is responsible. As reported by MSNBC.com's Jeannette Walls, Gibson's hand is seen in the movie putting the nail into Christ's palm during the crucifixion.

Tom Cruise attracted front-page coverage in Britain Tuesday after spending some 2 1/2 hours mingling with fans at the London premiere of The Last Samurai. Cruise signed autographs, spoke on dozens of cell phones to parents and friends of the fans, and chatted with the fans themselves. He told the Empire magazine's website: "I love talking to people. I love meeting people. ... I've had a few marriage proposals, some congratulations and spoken to people from different pats of the country. ... It's been really fun."

ABC started the new year off with an end run around its rivals and scoring a rare ratings win for the week (its first since last March's Oscar telecast) -- thanks primarily to end-of-the-season football. Eight of the top 14 shows on the Nielsen list were football-related -- and all but one was carried by ABC, lifting the network's average rating to an 8.6 with a 14 share for the week. CBS, which has become the dominant TV network this season, had to settle for second place, as it averaged a 7.0/12. NBC, which has shunned football as unjustifiably expensive, landed in third place with an average 5.8/10, followed by Fox with a 3.9/6. Incidentally, CBS, which had found itself attacked from all sides over its handling of the Michael Jackson special Number Ones, not only saw the special beaten by ABC's coverage of the Fiesta Bowl but also by a regular edition of NBC's Dateline.

The top ten shows of the week according to Nielsen Research: 1. AFC/NFC Showcase Game 2, ABC, 16.0/28; 2. NFL Playoff: Dallas at Carolina, ABC, 15.4/25; 3. Sugar Bowl: Oklahoma vs. LSU, ABC, 14.8/23; 4. AFC Wildcard Postgame Show, CBS, 12.4/21; 5. 60 Minutes, CBS, 10.6/16; 6. Rose Bowl Postgame Show, ABC, 10.5/17; 7. Sugar Bowl Pre-Game, ABC, 10.4/16; 8. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Special(S), CBS, 10.1/16; 9. CSI: Miami, CBS, 9.8/16; 10. CSI: Miami (Sunday), CBS, 9.7/15.

Princell Hair, CNN's newly appointed general manager, said Tuesday that he has no plans to shake up the cable news channel to enable it to overcome the ratings lead in news viewers currently held by Fox News. Speaking at the Cable Press Tour in Hollywood, Hair declared: "I'm a firm believer that if it ain't broke, don't fix it. ... There are no major on-air changes planned for CNN ... 2004 will be a year of stability at CNN." Asked about how much time the network intends to devote to the upcoming trials of Kobe Bryant, Michael Jackson and Scott Peterson, Hair replied: "We are not planning gavel-to-gavel coverage of any of those trials. ... There are too many other things going on in the world.

Sony has developed a new type of mini disc that can hold 40 hours of CD-quality audio, the Japanese business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported today (Wednesday). The newspaper also indicated that the mini disc could also be used for recording video, but it did not elaborate. The new mini disc players would presumably initially compete against digital music players like Apple's iPod but could also form the basis for miniature personal video recorders and players. Meanwhile, today's Wall Street Journal reported that a French company, Archos SA, has developed a small hand-held device that can record 320 hours of DVD-quality TV shows and movies. The newspaper said that the company has sold 100,000 units at $500 to $900 during the past six months.

Turner Broadcasting said Tuesday that it plans to launch an all-HDTV cable channel, with many of its programs simulcast with those carried by its basic-cable channel, TNT. Turner Entertainment President Mark Lazarus told the Smith Barney Citigroup media conference in Phoenix, "We'll get this one up, learn from it how we do it, and then think about others."