The Wrap has reported that a man named Robert Henderson has been sentenced for illegally trafficking counterfeit DVD’s of “The Dark Knight”. Henderson, who is from Grandview, Missouri, recorded the film on a digital camcorder in the summer of 2008 and as a result, has been given 2 years in federal prison as well as a whopping $24,738 in fines…AND…3 years probation.
According to the Family Entertainment and Copyright Act, passed in 2005, new penalties were established for pirating films not yet released commercially. The penalty for first-time violators? 3-5 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000. Suddenly, that movie ticket doesn’t sound so expensive, does it?
Moral of the story? Don’t mess with The Dark Knight because he will certainly bring vengeance on your ass.
Huge news here – Disney has acquired Marvel Entertainment for a whopping $4 billion! The agreement not only gives the studio the rights to over Marvel’s 5,000+ characters, but control over its licensing, publishing, and film production capabilities. This will be one of the largest acquisitions in Disney’s history following its 2006 acquisition of Pixar for $7.4 billion.
Well, we can surely say that this will definitely bring a massive shockwave to the entertainment industry in the coming years ahead. While it’s been announced that the deals for movies on characters from Marvel (Spiderman, X-Men, Iron Man, etc.) will stay in place under the terms set by Marvel, Disney does intend to self-distribute down the line.
Check out the press release:
Building on its strategy of delivering quality branded content to people around the world, The Walt Disney Company has agreed to acquire Marvel Entertainment, Inc. in a stock and cash transaction, the companies announced today.
Under the terms of the agreement and based on the closing price of Disney on August 28, 2009, Marvel shareholders would receive a total of $30 per share in cash plus approximately 0.745 Disney shares for each Marvel share they own. At closing, the amount of cash and stock will be adjusted if necessary so that the total value of the Disney stock issued as merger consideration based on its trading value at that time is not less than 40% of the total merger consideration.
Based on the closing price of Disney stock on Friday, August 28, the transaction value is $50 per Marvel share or approximately $4 billion.
“This transaction combines Marvel’s strong global brand and world-renowned library of characters including Iron Man, Spider-Man, X-Men, Captain America, Fantastic Four and Thor with Disney’s creative skills, unparalleled global portfolio of entertainment properties, and a business structure that maximizes the value of creative properties across multiple platforms and territories,” said Robert A. Iger, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company. “Ike Perlmutter and his team have done an impressive job of nurturing these properties and have created significant value. We are pleased to bring this talent and these great assets to Disney.”
“We believe that adding Marvel to Disney’s unique portfolio of brands provides significant opportunities for long-term growth and value creation,” Iger said.
“Disney is the perfect home for Marvel’s fantastic library of characters given its proven ability to expand content creation and licensing businesses,” said Ike Perlmutter, Marvel’s Chief Executive Officer. “This is an unparalleled opportunity for Marvel to build upon its vibrant brand and character properties by accessing Disney’s tremendous global organization and infrastructure around the world.”
Under the deal, Disney will acquire ownership of Marvel including its more than 5,000 Marvel characters. Mr. Perlmutter will oversee the Marvel properties, and will work directly with Disney’s global lines of business to build and further integrate Marvel’s properties.
The Boards of Directors of Disney and Marvel have each approved the transaction, which is subject to clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act, certain non-United States merger control regulations, effectiveness of a registration statement with respect to Disney shares issued in the transaction and other customary closing conditions. The agreement will require the approval of Marvel shareholders. Marvel was advised on the transaction by BofA Merrill Lynch.
An enormous, highly detailed Gundam replica, which moves and lights up, has been recently built in Tokyo, Japan as an unofficial landmark. Now why can’t we spend millions of dollars on a giant robot like this, huh?
More pics can be found here. Check out the video of the Gundam statue in action.
This past Wednesday night, millions of viewers witnessed one of the most surprising outcomes that has ever happened on “American Idol”. With constantly mesmerizing performances by neo-goth rocker Adam Lambert and continuous veneration by the judges, it came with little doubt that the singer would crush conservative, boy-next-door charmer Kris Allen. This was far from the case as host Ryan Seacrest announced Allen as the ultimate winner of this year’s competition. Was Allen surprised at the results? Possibly and possibly not, as he immediately stated with a tone of mild emptiness and discretion after the announcement, “Adam deserves this”. Between Adam Lambert’s jaw-dropping, seemingly limitless vocals and Kris Allen’s hit-or-miss coffee lounge timbre, it was blatantly clear who was the dominator of the two. However, there was far more to the suspicious result than what was disclosed in the finale.
Several weeks ago, photographs had leaked across the web of Adam Lambert at a “Burning Man” festival kissing another guy. When questioned about his sexual orientation, Lambert simply responded “I know who I am.” You might recall that around that time, Lambert ended up in the bottom 3 with fellow contestants Danny Gokey and Allison Iraheta. Could the photographs have possibly played a part in this? While we can’t say for sure, we can likely consider the detrimental effect they had for Lambert in the finale. As judge Paula Abdul mentioned, where do the votes go after the third contestant is voted off – the third being clean-cut and cordial Danny Gokey? With several fans favoring Gokey’s warm, uplifting style as opposed to Lambert’s wildly brazen stage presence, it would come as no surprise who those votes would head off to in the finale. Days earlier, Kris Allen had urged fans not to make the “Christian vote” and that this was a singing competition alone. Did America listen? Apparently, a significant enough portion played deaf, sending Kris Allen to close off the season as the winner. As Seacrest made the announcement, judge Simon Cowell was seen initially remaining in his seat in silent protest, while giving dismayed looks at the other judges, who expressed surprise as well. Eventually, they all stood up in good spirits and applauded the “dark horse” seconds before he ironically sang the Kara Dioguardi-written song “No Boundaries”, as Adam Lambert awkwardly stepped aside and applauded Allen.
The controversy behind this result also brings up the question of whether Season 2 runner-up, Clay Aiken, may have been voted off for similar suspicions on his sexuality. Regardless, Aiken still soared miles further than winner Ruben Studdard, with the release of a few hit albums, numerous guest performances, and a leading Broadway role in Monty Python’s “Spamalot”. This simply shows that in the end, it really doesn’t matter which of the two finalists win “American Idol”, but more of what they do with their jumpstarted career afterwards. Kris Allen and Adam Lambert made this apparent as they sang the final song of the night, “We Are The Champions” together with legendary rock band “Queen”.
So tell me this, readers. With Lambert’s disappointing, yet conspiratorial loss, is America really ready for “Change” or have we rather revealed the hypocritical side in a large number of us? Could there have been even more to this end result than what we at AngryWeb have perceived here? Tell us what you guys think in the comments below!
Have you always wanted to be Robocop your entire life? Now you can for the low, low price of $2,000!
An auction item for a Robocop suit of armor has been posted on eBay for a while with the seller stating that it is 1 of 5 production-made suits used by promotional companies after the release of “Robocop 3″. Here’s the link:
Have you ever had the urge to dust off those old NES games and start playing them again? Well what if I told you that you could…anywhere you wanted to.
A new product on one of my favorite sites, Think Geek, will allow you to do just that. The “Retro Mini” is a handheld gaming device that will let you to play your original NES games any where you want.
“Simply pop in 4 AA batteries and jack in your favorite original NES cartridge. The built in hi-res LCD screen looks a hell of a lot better than your old crappy TV, plus the Retro Mini comes with AV out cables to connect with your newfangled flatscreen if you so desire.”
The Wrap has reported that a man named Robert Henderson has been sentenced for illegally trafficking counterfeit DVD’s of “The Dark Knight”. Henderson, who is from Grandview, Missouri, recorded the film on a digital camcorder in the summer of 2008 and as a result, has been given 2 years in federal prison as well as a whopping $24,738 in fines…AND…3 years probation.
