Benedict Cumberbatch, left, and Chris Pine in "Star Trek Into Darkness," which enjoyed a solid opening Thursday.

Dolby hoping 'Star Trek Into Darkness' will take it to a new galaxy

Paramount Pictures isn't the only company that stands to get a lift from "Star Trek's" anticipated box office success this weekend.

San Francisco-based Dolby Laboratories is hoping "Star Trek into Darkness" will propel its newest sound system, Dolby Atmos, to a new frontier. 

Introduced a year ago, Dolby Atmos is billed as the next generation in sound in cinema, giving sound experts the ability to easily place or move specific sounds, such as a rain drop or a gust of wind, anywhere in the theater.

More than 40 titles have been mixed with Dolby Atmos, which has been used by such filmmakers as...

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Gwyneth Paltrow and Robert Downey Jr. star in "Iron Man 3," which crossed the $1 billion milestone at the worldwide box office on Thursday.

'Iron Man 3' makes $1 billion worldwide, $300 million domestically

Iron Man performed a superheroic feat at the box office this week, and now Superman and Wolverine may be trembling in their boots.

The first of the summer superhero films to hit the multiplex, "Iron Man 3" on Thursday crossed the $1 billion milestone after 23 days at the global box office, according to distributor Walt Disney Studios. The film starring Robert Downey Jr. becomes the 16th movie ever to join the elite $1 billion club -- six of which were released by Disney.

PHOTO GALLERY: The Billion Dollar Box Office Club

The Marvel Studios-produced film also passed an important mark...

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Zachary Quinto, left, and Chris Pine in "Star Trek Into Darkness," which enjoyed a solid opening Thursday.

'Star Trek Into Darkness' prospers at box office on Thursday bow

“Star Trek Into Darkness” grossed $13.5 million during its first day in U.S. theaters Thursday, putting it on track to approach $100 million at the domestic box office by the end of this weekend, according to studio estimates. The take includes $3.5 million from Thursday midnight screenings and late-night IMAX shows on Wednesday. The movie, budgeted at an estimated $190 million, opened on 3,762 screens, 336 of them IMAX 3D.

Paramount Pictures expects "Into Darkness" to surpass J.J. Abrams’ 2009 "Star Trek" reboot, particularly overseas, where the film franchise, which now...

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Rupert Murdoch at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills.

Rupert Murdoch warns about Facebook, sees echo of 'crappy' Myspace

Today marks the one-year anniversary of Facebook's initial public offering, a milestone that often prompts reflection and introspection.

And in the case of Rupert Murdoch, the occasion provided an opportunity for a nanny-nanny-nah-nah tweet:

"Look out Facebook! Hours spent participating per member dropping seriously. First really bad sign as seen by crappy MySpace years ago," Murdoch wrote on his Twitter account late Thursday night.

VIDEO: Fall 2013 TV trailers

Of course, Murdoch was famously burned after jumping in and snatching Myspace for $580 million in 2005, thwarting competing media...

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The cast of the online "One Life to Live." Prospect Park said it would scale back the number of episodes released.

Online soap producers fight a bubble binge

Prospect Park, the Century City-based entertainment company, in just two weeks has learned a valuable lesson in online viewing behavior.

The production company launched Internet versions of the former ABC soap operas "All My Children" and "One Life to Live" on April 29, figuring loyal fans of the long-running dramas would show up in droves and become addicted once again.

Viewers showed up all right, but they didn't watch the soaps in the manner that Prospect Park had hoped.

PHOTOS: Celebrities by The Times

"We are posting too many episodes and making it far too challenging for viewers to keep...

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"Star Trek Into Darkness" is expected to knock off "Iron Man 3" at the box office.

'Star Trek' to hit warp speed. ESPN takes U.S. Open. CW upfront.

After the coffee. Before the flight back to Los Angeles.

The Skinny: Finally heading home after a week and a half in New York. Hope my cats remember me and didn't tear our place up. Friday's headlines include the weekend box-office preview, some thoughts on the network upfronts and ESPN's deal for the U.S. Open. And don't forget, if you are interested in receiving an email alert when the Morning Fix is live, please send me a note.

Daily Dose:The producers of Thursday's final episode of "The Office" must have wanted to make sure there wasn't any loose change left in the show's budget. Pricey...

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MGM Holdings Inc., the parent of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., posted strong first quarter financial results on Thursday.

MGM posts strong first quarter results on "Skyfall," "Hobbit"

Buoyed by the billion-dollar box-office blockbusters “Skyfall” and “The Hobbit:  An Unexpected Journey,” MGM Holdings Inc., the parent of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., posted first-quarter net income of $57.4 million.

That was more than double than the $23.3-million net income figure the Beverly Hills-based company reported a year earlier.

The privately held film and television company said in a filing on its website that it had posted revenue of $481.7 million for the three-month period that ended March 31 — a sizable increase over the $179.5 million taken in during...

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Director Guillermo del Toro speaks to advertising executives at the AMC Loews Lincoln Square movie theater in New York.

Guillermo del Toro praises the cinema as a 'temple of images'

Director Guillermo del Toro crowed about the enduring value of movie theaters this week, reminding television advertising executives gathered in New York that there is no substitute for the big screen.

Speaking to a standing-room only crowd of more than 700 advertising and media professionals at the AMC Loews Lincoln Square on Wednesday, Del Toro presented footage from his upcoming science fiction film "Pacific Rim" and shared childhood memories about going to the cinema.

“I think that it is very important for us to remember why we go to the theater — what makes the experience...

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ESPN will be the television home for U.S. Open tennis beginning in 2015. Here, Maria Sharapova participates in the 2012 U.S. Open in New York.

ESPN to take over U.S. Open tennis rights from CBS in 2015

After holding serve for 45 years, CBS has lost the rights to the nation's premier tennis tournament.

ESPN on Thursday said it has clinched an 11-year deal with the United States Tennis Assn. for the exclusive TV rights, beginning in 2015, for the annual U.S. Open tennis tournament. ESPN declined to comment on speculation that it shelled out close to $75 million annually for the rights, a steep increase from what the USTA had been getting in its previous contract. 

The U.S. Open is one of the sport's four Grand Slam tournaments and a celebrated event that unfolds over two weeks in late summer...

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Zachary Quinto, left, and Chris Pine in "Star Trek Into Darkness," which is expected to be No. 1 at the box office this weekend.

'Star Trek' sequel to knock 'Iron Man' out of top box-office spot

The "Star Trek" movie series has lived long at the box office. But is it time for Captain Kirk and Spock to really prosper?

"Star Trek Into Darkness," the second J.J. Abrams-directed installment in the science-fiction franchise, debuted in a handful of theaters late Wednesday evening and has since collected $3.3 million, according to an estimate from distributor Paramount Pictures. The movie launched at 8 p.m. in 336 IMAX locations, because 30 minutes of the film was shot on IMAX cameras.

The picture is expected to rake in about $20 million by the end of Thursday. By Sunday, those who have...

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Fox's "Almost Human" was a little too violent for analyst Todd Juenger.

2013 TV Upfronts: Media analyst on network presentations: 'Meh'

A sense of "meh."

That's the takeaway of one top media analyst after sitting through programming presentations to advertisers from ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC this past week.

"Our overwhelming impression is this: the more we see of the broadcast lineups, the more excited we get -- about the cable lineups," said Todd Juenger of Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. 

Of particular concern to Juenger was Fox's schedule, which he called "disappointing." The new dramas -- which include J.J. Abrams' "Almost Human" -- "struck us as shockingly and uniformly violent." The comedy trailers Fox showed "didn't evoke a...

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NBC's "Animal Practice," starring Justin Kirk, was one of the many casualties of the 2012-13 TV season.

2013 TV Upfronts: This season was one to forget

As the broadcast networks wrap up a week of touting new shows to advertisers in the hopes of persuading them to spend billions on commercials, it seems like a good time to review how last year's new shows did.

It's not a pretty picture.

In the 2012-13 TV season, 42 television shows premiered on ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and the CW. Of those 42, so far only 11 are coming back for a second season. The casualties include "Made in Jersey," "Do No Harm," "Partners" and "Animal Practice."

No wonder only CBS and the CW were up in viewers and all were down in the coveted 18-49 demographic.

Of the five...

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"The Crazy Ones," starring Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar, gives McDonald's a lot of love in its pilot episode.

CBS bets that less is more. Warner Bros. TV shakes up its ranks.

After the coffee. Before my last day of upfront presentations. Phew!

The Skinny: I love New York but it seems to have gotten even more crowded since I left years ago. I can't deal! Thursday's headlines include CBS's new fall schedule and a restructuring at the Warner Bros. TV Group. Also, a cable company is the latest to sniff around Hulu. If you are interested in receiving an email alert when the Morning Fix is live please send me a note.

Daily Dose:The pilot episode for the new CBS sitcom "The Crazy Ones" starring Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar as a father-daughter advertising...

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Chris Yerga, engineering director for Android, described Google's new service as “radio without rules.”
“This is as lean-back as you want or as interactive as you want,” he said.

Google Play marks subscription music service for internet giant

Google Inc. upended the Internet with its search engine.

It launched its own email service, made roads and highways easier to navigate, developed the world's most popular operating system for mobile devices and took a shot at Apple Inc.'s iTunes with its own Google Play store.

Now the technology giant is cranking up the volume with the debut of a subscription music service that provides access to millions of songs for a monthly fee, taking on the likes of Spotify and Pandora and going after the next big wave in digital music: streaming on mobile devices.

PHOTOS: Hollywood Backlot moments

Analy...

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An artist rendering of the new Cinemark theater.

Cinemark to build 14-screen movie theater at Carson mall

Cinemark Holdings Inc., the nation's third-largest theater chain, is bulking up in Los Angeles County with plans to open a multiplex at the SouthBay Pavilion shopping mall in Carson.

Vintage Real Estate, which owns and manages SouthBay Pavilion, said it had recently signed a lease with Cinemark to bring a 14-screen theater to the mall.

Set to open in December 2014, the multiplex will be among the highest-profile locations for Cinemark in the Los Angeles region.

PHOTOS: Celebrities by The Times

The Plano, Texas, circuit, which has 5,259 movie screens in the U.S. and Latin America, already has a...

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Robert Rodriguez attends the 2013 Univision upfront presentation.

Univision, Telemundo hope rising Latino influence attracts ads

NEW YORK — The two major Spanish-language television companies delivered an unusual pitch to advertisers: Our viewers watch our programs live. They don't digitally record them to fast-forward through the commercials.

Both Univision Communications and Telemundo on Tuesday sought to reinforce a message that Spanish-language television is a better value for advertisers. The major networks, including Fox, NBC and ABC, have been bleeding viewers, but the audiences have been growing on Spanish-language channels.

The two companies touted their new season lineups to advertisers in separate...

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News Corp. has hired D.C. insider Toni Cook Bush.

News Corp. hires Toni Cook Bush to oversee lobbying after split

News Corp. has hired a D.C. heavyweight to handle its lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill after it becomes primarily a newspaper publishing company.

Antoniette "Toni" Cook Bush will join News Corp. next month as its executive vice president and global head of government affairs. Her hiring is in anticipation of the split of News Corp. into two separate companies. The entertainment assets are being spun off into a new entity called 21st Century Fox while the print operations will remain in News Corp.

PHOTOS: Celebrities by The Times

A veteran Beltway insider, Bush has spent much of the last two...

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MPAA launches website to promote legal access to movies, TV shows

Hollywood studios are employing a new tool in their efforts to fight piracy: persuasion.

After waging an unsuccessful effort last year to introduce legislation that would crack down on websites offering illegal copies of movies and TV shows, studios are taking a different approach.

The Motion Picture Assn. of America, the trade group for the major studios, on Wednesday announced the launch of a new website that will serve as a one-stop shop for audiences looking for legal ways to watch movies and TV shows over the Internet.

The website, at www.WheretoWatch.org, lists various services such as...

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Kevin Tsujihara, the recently installed Warner Bros. CEO, named his management team on Wednesday.

Warner Bros.' Tsujihara begins changes; six executives promoted

Warner Bros. Chief Executive Kevin Tsujihara has begun building his own team at the Burbank entertainment company, distributing power among a handful of key executives who have long toiled in the trenches.

On Wednesday, Tsujihara announced a new management structure for the company's television, home entertainment and video games unit.

"This is all about redesigning the company and how we do what we do," Tsujihara said in an interview with The Times. "One of the key goals we want to accomplish is running this company as one. We all work for Warner Bros."

PHOTOS: Hollywood Backlot moments

Tsuji...

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Bruce Rosenblum

Bruce Rosenblum exiting Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. Television Group Chief Executive Bruce Rosenblum is resigning less than six months after being passed over for the top job at the movie and television production giant.

"Bruce has been a vital member of the Warner Bros. family and a good friend to so many of us, and he will be missed," new Warner Bros. Chief Executive Kevin Tsujihara and former CEO Barry Meyer said in an email to the studio's staff.

Rosenblum's departure had been expected after Jeff Bewkes, the chief executive of Warner Bros. parent Time Warner Inc., chose Tsujihara, who had headed the studio's home entertainment...

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Under Turner Broadcasting's plan, viewers will be able to watch TNT shows such as "Rizzoli & Isles" live online.

2013 TV upfronts: Turner to offer online streams of TNT, TBS

NEW YORK -- Time Warner's TNT and TBS are joining the parade of networks offering a live linear feed of their channels online for viewers on the go.

"Starting this summer, subscribers will be able to watch TBS and TNT live -- anytime, anywhere, on multiple devices," Steve Koonin, president of Turner Entertainment Networks, said at the Turner Broadcasting upfront presentation to advertisers.

VIDEO: New fall TV shows

Earlier this week, Walt Disney Co.'s ABC also said it would roll out a live stream of its channel this summer, and News Corp.'s Fox is said to have similar plans in the works.

For...

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Robert Downey Jr. stars in "Iron Man 3," which is about to cross the $1-billion milestone at the box office.

'Iron Man 3' to pass the $1-billion milestone

Iron Man is already part of an elite crew of superheroes, but now he is set to join a rarefied group at the box office.

"Iron Man 3," the third film in the franchise starring Robert Downey Jr., will pass the $1-billion milestone, possibly by Wednesday night. As of Tuesday morning, Walt Disney Studios said the Shane Black-directed movie had collected $962.2 million worldwide and was still selling tickets in territories worldwide.

The well-reviewed picture will become only the 16th film to gross over $1 billion globally, and the first in Marvel Studios' Tony Stark trilogy to cross the impressive...

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