The cost of making "artistic" movies just became a lot more expensive. According to a report released by the Motion Picture Association of America on Wednesday, the cost of producing a movie by a specialty unit of a major studio increased 60 percent from the previous year to $49.2 million. Add $25.7 million more for marketing, distribution, and advertising, and the total cost rises to $74.9 million per movie. By comparison, the average studio film cost a total of $106.6 million to produce and market, up only 6.3 percent from the previous year. Nevertheless, the MPAA reported, the worldwide box office set a record for the year -- $26.7 billion in ticket sales; domestic sales reached $9.6 billion, also a record. In a statement, Both records were achieved not as a result of increased attendance -- which remained flat -- but by an average 5 percent increase in ticket prices. MPAA chief Dan Glickman gave the industry a pat on the back. "From the threat and eventual reality of a writers strike to the global impact of film theft to concerns over the economy," he said, "the film industry faced significant challenges in 2007. But, ultimately, we got our Hollywood ending."

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles has released a list of possible witnesses who may testify in the trial of former private investigator Anthony Pellicano. They include such celebrities as Keith Carradine, Farrah Fawcett, Chris Rock, Garry Shandling, and Sylvester Stallone. Also on the list are former Los Angeles Times reporter Anita Busch, attorney-to-the-stars Bert Fields, Paramount chief Brad Grey, director John McTiernan, Universal President/COO Ron Meyer, former CAA Chairman and Disney President Michael Ovitz, Craig Stevens, the former Beverly Hills cop who allegedly performed wiretapping services for Pellicano, and former New York Times reporter Bernard Weinraub. Although 127 names were included on the government's list, Judge Dale Fischer remarked at one point Wednesday that she couldn't imagine that all of them would be called to testify. Jury selection was quickly completed by Wednesday afternoon, and the prosecution was due to present its opening argument this morning (Thursday).

Paramount Home Entertainment's Beowulf took over the lead on both the DVD sales charts and rental charts last week, dropping last week's winner, Universal's American Gangster, to second place on each of the charts. The film earned $10.9 million in rentals, according to Home Media magazine. Several of last year's animated films returned to the sales charts, including Disney/Pixar's Ratatouille, which came in at No. 3; DreamWorks Animation's Shrek the Third at No. 7; and Fox's The Simpsons Movie, at No. 8. Home Media attributed the surge in sales for the animated fare to the "looming Easter gift-giving season."

Sony Electronics President and COO Stan Glasgow says that the victory of his company's Blu-ray format over Toshiba's HD DVD represents barely a first step toward convincing consumers to upgrade to high-definition video players. At a New York press briefing reported in today's (Thursday) online edition of Broadcasting & Cable, Glasgow acknowledged that many consumers recognize that their standard DVDs look a lot better on HDTV sets than they did on their old analog sets. The real challenge, he said, will be convincing them that the additional resolution of Blu-ray is worth the hundreds of dollars they will have to spend on a new player and the significantly higher prices for movies released on Blu-ray discs. "The battle really begins now," Glasgow said. Meanwhile, the website High-Def Disc News reported Wednesday that Circuit City is offering to let customers who bought HD DVD players within the past 90 days trade them in and apply the original price toward a Blu-ray player. The deal applies only to the players, not to movies released in the HD DVD format.

Continued downsizing at the Los Angeles Times will have a drastic effect on the newspaper's "Calendar" section, which reports on the arts in Southern California. Reports emerged Wednesday that Robert Welkos and Gina Piccalo, who cover the movie industry for the Times, along with reviewer Kevin Crust, have been forced to take buyout packages. The newspaper's dance critic, Lewis Siegel, is also being cut, although in a note to colleagues he indicated that he may be allowed to do some freelance work for the paper in the future.

NBC is planning to bring Kathie Lee Gifford back to morning TV, the Florida-based TV news website FTVLive reported today (Thursday), citing an unnamed NBC source. According to the report, Gifford, who became one of morning television's biggest stars during her 15-year stint as co-host of the syndicated Live With Regis and Kathie Lee beginning in 1985, will be added to the fourth hour of the Today show, according to the FTVLive story. An official announcement is expected to be made within the next two weeks, the report said.

Continuing to fuel rumors that Shelley Ross is about to be forced to step down as producer of The Early Show, CBS's long-struggling morning show, the website TVNewser reported Wednesday that Ross failed to show up for work on Tuesday or Wednesday. Although TVNewser said that Ross held what a source described as a "constructive" staff meeting on Monday to discuss the newspaper reports, the New York Post's "Page Six" column said today (Thursday) that she is not expected to return to the show. The column cited sources as saying that following the meeting, Early Show co-anchors told CBS executives, "Either Shelley goes or we go." The New York Times and the Post reported last week that Ross's hard-driving approach had created a morale problem on the program. A CBS News spokeswoman declined to comment on the reports.

Fans of Fox's 24 who were miffed at the decision to delay the show's return until next January learned Wednesday that the network is developing a two-hour movie to air in the fall that will bridge the sixth and seventh seasons of the show. Fox had produced eight episodes of the seventh season when production was shut down last November by the writers' strike, causing the network to pull the show off its schedule entirely rather than air a partial season. Each episode follows Kiefer Sutherland's character Jack Bauer, a government agent, during each hour of a single day.

It's almost unnecessary to report that American Idol once again dominated the ratings Wednesday night. The unstoppable talent contest scored a 16.0 rating and a 25 share at 8:00 p.m. -- once again exceeding all of the other broadcast networks combined. The show also served as strong coattails for Fox's 9:00 p.m. reality series, The Moment of Truth, which dominated the hour with a 9.0/14. As Fox went off the air at 10:00 p.m., NBC's Law & Order took over the lead with a 6.5/11.

American Idol judge Simon Cowell has signed a deal with Paramount to produce a film based on the life of Paul Potts, a nondescript former cell-phone salesman whose operatic performances earned him the top prize on Britain's Got Talent, the U.K. version of America's Got Talent, last year. His first CD, One More Chance, has since sold over three million copies. Clips of Pott's performances on Britain's Got Talent were posted on YouTube and reportedly caught the eye of Paramount executives, smoothing the way for Cowell to pitch the biopic to them. "This company got that it's another Billy Elliot, a story anyone in the world can understand."

The quickly deflating American dollar overseas has put a crimp in Lachlan Murdoch's plans with James Packer to take the giant Australian media company Consolidate Media Holdings private, published reports said today (Thursday). Trading in CMH shares were halted on the Australian stock exchange following reports that the San Francisco-based private equity firm SPO Partners had decided not to back the deal because of the plunge of the American dollar against the Australian dollar. SPO Partners was one of Murdoch and Packer's principal equity sources. Murdoch has reportedly asked the CMH board for an additional four weeks to find alternative backing.