Yahoo offers free movies in India

LONDON -- Yahoo India released Movieplex, a totally free video when needed service, on Tuesday. Yahoo is dealing with Indian galleries to create a lot more than 1,000 Bollywood films towards the service, which is funded by advertising. Films available these days include ''Rock On,'' ''Rann'' and ''Dil To Baccha Hai Ji.'' Yahoo India controlling director Arun Tadanki stated: ''With the growing interest in movie, both customers and content companies are searching for any reliable destination where quality content could be consumed inside a piracy-free atmosphere at their leisure.'' Indians are actually spoiled for choice since YouTube India released an identical online for free movie funnel in June, and galleries like Rajshri Productions and Shemaroo Entertainment offer the majority of their libraries online totally free. Some $ 30 million Indians spend 9.1 billion minutes watching 1.7 billion videos every month, based on a study launched by digital business experts ComScore in March. Contact Variety Staff at news@variety.com

Demme to shoot Stephen King's JFK novel

DemmeKennedyHelmer Jonathan Demme has optioned the feature privileges to Stephen King's approaching novel "11/22/63" and it is set to create, direct and convey the variation through his Clinica Estetico banner. Book follows Mike Epping, a 35-year-old senior high school British teacher from Maine who travels in time to try and prevent Leader John F. Kennedy's murder. Ilona Herzberg ("Rachel MarriageInch) will produce the sci-fi project, while King will professional produce. Project has yet to land a distributor, though Demme is striving to begin shooting in fall 2012. Demme has already established lots of success getting popular authors' books towards the bigscreen, getting helmed adaptations of Richard Condon's "The Manchurian Candidate," Toni Morrison's "Beloved" and, most particularly, Thomas Harris' "The Silence from the Lamb," that Demme won an Oscar. Demme's last feature film was 2008's arthouse hit "Rachel Marriage,Inch while other recent projects include a set of Neil Youthful concert photos and also the 2007 docu "Jimmy Carter Guy From Flatlands." Ron Howard's adaptation of King's "Dark Tower" series lately fell apart at Universal, though Warner Bros.' adaptation of "The Stand" seems to become warming up. King is repped by CAA. Scribner will release "11/22/63" on November. 8. Demme lately left ICM, his agency of seven years, to sign with WME. Contact Shaun Sneider at shaun.sneider@variety.com

Judge: HFPA case to trial

A federal judge ruled that the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn.'s case against Dick Clark Prods. should go to trial, deciding that there were "numerous genuine disputes of material fact" over the rights to the Golden Globes.U.S. District Judge Valerie Baker Fairbank's ruling, issued on Tuesday, was not a complete surprise given the competing interpretations of a 1993 amendment to an earlier agreement that appeared to give DCP perpetual rights to produce the telecast as long as they could land a broadcast deal with NBC.The HFPA sued DCP in November, claiming that it did not have the right to forge a new long term pact with NBC last October without its consent. The agreement was to start next year and run through 2018.The trial is scheduled to start on Aug. 30.The case is expected to center on whether the parties in 1993 "validly entered into a contract term for unlimited, unilateral extensions," as Fairbank wrote in her opinion.A trial will undoubtedly highlight past friction between HFPA and its longtime producer, but it also stands to bring to the fore past disputes between the press org's members.The HFPA claims its then-President, Mirjana Van Blaricom, did not have the authority to sign an agreement with such a clause. They claim that a rep for DCP back then, Frances La Maina, represented to the members at a 1993 meeting that the contract had a finite number of options. Van Blaricom, who started her own rival press association in the mid-1990s, has said that she had authority to sign the agreement.But Fairbank also noted that the parties "genuinely dispute" whether the HFPA followed its bylaws in executing contracts.Fairbank also wrote that the interpretation of the contract will require "assessing the credibility of numerous pieces of conflicting evidence," including whether Van Blaricom and La Maina discussed the disputed provision and "the parties' intent in advance of executing the contract."Also up for consideration is what DCP's exercise of options in 2001 said about the interpretation of the 1993 contract. But there's also question as to whether the HFPA's board and membership approved the2001 NBC deal. Contact Ted Johnson at ted.johnson@variety.com

Utilizing Peacocks

The gorgeous Hebe continues to be cast out by her family following a teenage pregnancy to some masked stranger throughout a fiesta in Italia. She makes finishes meet and will pay for her son's school costs by cooking for old as well as sleeping having a small syndicate of adoring males (the "peacocks" from the title - from Greek mythology). The storyline involves Hebe, her "clients" as well as their families, and hang against a backdrop of village existence in South-West England. There's a sub-theme from the antiques trade which attracts a few of the figures together, and ultimately resolves the mystery of Hebe's masked lover.

Report: Rapidly declining Disc Sales Depress Home Video Business in 1H 2011

A spokesperson for DEG: Digital Entertainment Group states the trade organization did not deliberately select a Friday mid-day release a its dreary new report about consumer investing on home theatre within the first 1 / 2 of 2011. Butfrom a PR perspective it most likely does not hurt to bury news that shows VOD and electronic distribution still can't replace with the collapse in sales of Dvd disks.The headline number is the fact that consumer investing on all types of home video -- including DVD and Blu-ray disc sales and rental fees, VOD, an internet-based -- fell 5.1% versus the very first 1 / 2 of 2010 to $8.3B. This past year investing fell3.3% within the first 1 / 2 of 2010.DEG states the 2010 drop is not so bad becauselast year incorporated Avatar. (It appears the blockbuster was sufficiently good to includelastyear if this made sales look strong, but should be treated being an anomaly since celebrate evaluations look weak.) Still,there is no making your way around the steep decline for Dvd disks. Customers bought nearly $3.9B price of DVD and Blu-ray content, lower 18.3% versus the very first 1 / 2 of 2010. At this time around this past year disc sales were off 7.1% versus. 2009. Dvd disks would be the reason: Although DEG only reviews figures for "packed goods," it notes that Blu-ray sales are up a lot more than 10%. Meanwhile the rental business saw a couple of key events in 2Q as sales at bricks-and-mortar rental stores like Blockbuster -- which Dish Network lately bought from personal bankruptcy -- dropped 29% to $393M: The very first time customers spent more at subscription services for example Netflix ($808.1M, up 24.4%), kiosks including Redbox ($403.7M, up 36.7%) and VOD ($455.9M, up .3%). DEG handled to locate some causes of cheer. The trade group's release notes that total home theatre investing only fell 3.6% in 2Q, a noticable difference in the 6.4% decline in 1Q. Additionally, it states the industry "is very positive concerning the other half of the seasonInch when home video companies will offer you Paramount's Transformers: Dark From The Moon, Warner Bros' Harry Potter And Also The Deathly Hallows Part 2, and Disney's Pirates From The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

Helgenberger to exit 'CSI' after twelfth season

Marg Helgenberger is departing "CSI." The actress, that has starred within the Eye's procedural since its beginning in 2000, stated Wednesday the approaching twelfth season from the show could be her last. She'd made the decision to depart after the newest season, but was convinced to come back for just one more year. Helgenberger's character is demoted this season as latest cast member Ted Danson has become aboard and responsible for the CSI unit. "CSI" has gone through numerous cast changes previously couple of years since Helgenberger's original co-star, William Petersen, ankled four seasons ago. His alternative, Laurence Fishburne, left in the close of last season. Contact Stuart Levine at stuart.levine@variety.com

Supernova - Wenn die Sonne explodiert

A scientific possibility becomes a terrifying reality when the most powerful force in the universe threatens to hurtle home. An astrophysicist Christopher Richardson who discovers that the sun is about to explode, and take the Earth with it, unless he can find a way to prevent it. Tia Carrere, Peter Fonda, Emma Samms, and Lance Henriksen round out the game cast.