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DreamWorks Animation said Tuesday that it netted $24 million during the second quarter on revenue of $158.1 million from domestic and international sales for How to Train Your Dragon and Shrek Forever After. While the profit figure is down 6.2 percent from the same period a year ago, CEO Jeff Katzenberg observed during a conference call that the studio still has another release in the wings for 2010 — Megamind, which will debut on November 5. "We are on track to make 2010 not only DreamWorks Animation's single biggest year at the box office, but also the biggest year ever for any CG animation studio," he said, presumably referring to rival Pixar, which is owned by Katzenberg's previous employer, Disney. During a conference call, Katzenberg, a leading booster of 3D in theaters, was asked about the prospects for 3D home video. "The horizons are longer," he replied — noting that it probably won't come into its own until it can be shown without glasses. When that happens, he said, "You're looking at a much, much, much greater mass market." Some analysts don't expect glasses-free 3D TV to become a reality until 2015-2020.

Veteran media analyst Larry Gerbrandt has predicted that adoption of 3D TV could be accelerated via video games and 3D camcorders. Writing in today's (Wednesday) Hollywood Reporter, Gerbrandt noted that there are barely a handful of 3D movies available via Netflix and Amazon, but that increasingly studios are shooting their tentpole movie releases in 3D and television producers are now shooting in 3D even if their shows aren't shown on 3D — yet. "As equipment costs come down and behind-the-camera expertise goes up, it is likely more TV shows will be at least mastered in 3D to enhance syndication longevity and value," Gerbrandt wrote.

Sweden's Pirate Party, which currently hosts the Pirate Bay, the BitTorrent site that has repeatedly clashed with the movie and record industries and government authorities over alleged copyright infringement, has offered to give the controversial WikiLeaks.com a safe harbor. The offer came after WikiLeaks released more than 90,000 secret U.S. government documents about the war in Afghanistan, thereby inviting a government investigation and much official wrath. Until now, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has managed to keep his operations dispersed, but U.S. authorities could set up a task force to go after numerous Internet Service Providers who have spread the leaks internationally (a counterpart to Richard Nixon's infamous "plumbers" group). Chief among WikiLeaks' web hosts reportedly is Swedish-based Prq. TorrentFreak.com on Tuesday quoted Anna Troberg of the Pirate Party as saying, "Given that Wikileaks' activities strike at the very heart of American power, it's probably just a matter of time before they [the Swedish government] act."

The Canadian subsidiary of Blockbuster on Tuesday announced that it is rolling out a $9.99-a-month "Favorites Pass" subscription plan that will allow users to rent an unlimited number of DVDs — one at a time each month. "If you rent and return 15 movies in one month, each would cost just over 50 cents per rental," Blockbuster Canada said in a statement. To do so, however, a subscriber would have to watch a movie before the last postal pickup in order to get it back to Blockbuster's receiving point by the next day. Netflix, which offers a similar subscription service in the U.S., has said that it plans to develop a Canadian movie-rental program based on online streaming only — no discs through the mail.

Carl Icahn stepped up his battle against the management of Lions Gate Entertainment Monday as he filed a lawsuit in Canada against the company alleging that it acted illegally in a $100-million debt-for-equity exchange that increased Mark Rachesky's stake in the company and diluted the holdings of all other Lions Gate shareholders, including Icahn's. Icahn called the move "an improper defensive tactic and abusive of the rights of all other shareholders of Lions Gate." Icahn said he planned to file a separate lawsuit in New York as well. He is asking both courts — Lions Gate has separate offices in Vancouver and Santa Monica — to issue an injunction barring the three-way transaction involving Lions Gate, Kornitzer Capital Management, and Rachesky. In a statement, he vowed to press on with his battle. "I will spare no expense in holding the culpable parties responsible for their behavior," he said in a statement. In a related matter, Lionsgate Home Entertainment said that it had acquired rights to distribute several of Francis Ford Coppola's movies on TV, Blu-ray Disc, electronic sell-through and video-on-demand. Terms were not disclosed. Among the films is Coppola's 1979 Vietnam War film, Apocalypse Now, which will be released as a nine-hour special edition, including Apocalypse Now, Apocalypse Now Redux, and Heart of Darkness, an award-winning documentary about the production of the original movies.

With questions still up in the air over whether a group headed by construction magnate Ron Tutor will actually be able to come up with the $675-700 million that it reportedly has offered the Walt Disney Co. to buy Miramax, Disney has demanded that the group make a nonrefundable $40-million down-payment on the deal by Wednesday. Otherwise, it indicated, it will end its exclusive negotiations with Tutor and reopen the bidding to other suitors. At this point the only other suitor on the horizon is a group headed by investor Ron Burkle, who is tied to Miramax founders Bob and Harvey Weinstein. That group had previously bid $600 million but lowered it to $565 million after reevaluating the Miramax library. Asked by the New York Times whether his group intends to make the $40-million deposit, Tutor replied, "You'll know by Wednesday." If it does, it should resolve the question of whether the group will be able to lock up the funds needed to buy Miramax. "Nobody's going to put up that kind of money if there's any doubt," Tutor told the Times.

There were so many family-film hits in theaters during the second quarter of this year that the average ticket price slid to $7.88 from $7.95 in the first quarter — a reflection of discounts for kids, the National Association of Theater Owners reported on Monday. The decline occurred despite a proliferation of 3D films commanding premiums of as much as $5.00. They appeared to be no match for Avatar and Alice in Wonderland, which dominated the box office in the first quarter. "Prices fluctuate throughout the year, depending on what kind of product is in the marketplace," Patrick Corcoran, director of media and research for Nato, told today's (Tuesday) Daily Variety. "Last year, we had a big jump from first quarter to second quarter, then it went down slightly in the third. So it really depends on what's out there. On average over four decades, we've managed to keep our price increases lower than the rate of inflation … because theater owners know that their market is the family and that people are price sensitive."

Virtually all current films performed slightly below studio estimates on Sunday. Nevertheless, the box office overall was up nearly 10 percent from a year ago, continuing a recovery following an early summer slump. It is the fourth consecutive "up" weekend. According to BoxOfficeMojo.com, the top 12 films earned $155,046,153 vs. $141,528,932 a year ago. For the year, revenue is up 4.5 percent as a result of generally higher ticket prices resulting mostly from 3D surcharges. Attendance is down 2 percent.

Delayed openings of Toy Story 3 in several European countries because of the World Cup pushed the Disney/Pixar film back to No. 1 at the overseas box office. According to trade accounts, the movie drew $52 million in ticket sales from 43 countries, putting its overseas gross at $351 million and its worldwide tally at $710.5 million. Some $30.6 million — or 49 percent — of the overseas weekend total came from the U.K., where it represented the highest-grossing debut for an animated film in that country's history. Opening in 38 countries, Warner Bros.' Inception placed second with $56.7 million. Coming in third was last week's champ, DreamWorks Animation's Shrek Forever After, with $33 million. Its total gross now stands at $361 million.

Fortress Investments has forcefully denied a New York Post report that it has cut its ties with Bob and Harvey Weinstein and is pulling out of the deal to buy Miramax from Disney. In a statement issued on Saturday, a day after the Post‘s article appeared (but dated Friday), Fortress called the report "patently false" and said that it "remains committed" to the deal. It also maintained that its relationship with the Weinsteins, contrary to the Post‘s report, "remains strong and constructive, and the group has ample financial backing to successfully pursue an acquisition of Miramax." Reporting on the Fortress denial, Sharon Waxman of TheWrap.com speculated that the Post story may have been planted by someone close to rival Miramax suitor Ron Tutor, who is backed in his bid by Colony Capital. Waxman, citing reports that "have been seeping out" to her, said that the Colony's reported $675-million bid may hinge on whether it can come up with $300 million in debt financing from banks. Meanwhile, actor Rob Lowe has denied claims by Tutor that he is not part of Tutor's group. Lowe told the TV website Zap2it.com, "We are right now in very heavy negotiating with Disney. … I think it's going to close, and it's going to be really, really exciting."