It seems fairly certain that Hancock will do decent business when it hits theaters this week, if only because Will Smith rarely stars in a dud these days -- especially when it's his face selling the movie before all else. Whether or not the film has staying power after opening weekend, however, remains to be seen, but Sony Pictures clearly has a lot of faith in its potential: Last week, the studio revealed its intentions of releasing the film online sometime after its theatrical run and before its DVD release, but only to users with Sony Bravia TV sets. It's a bold maneuver, one that assumes its core base of consumers actually have an interest in Hancock -- but the movie will make a profit either way, so it's a reasonable choice for this intriguing experiment.

Left in the dust by Apple's iPod, Sony continues to struggle in its search for a piece of the digital revolution. Company head Howard Stringer recently told the New York Times that the strategy for releasing Hancock "vanishes the memory of the failures of the Sony Walkman." Well, maybe. While on-demand technology has changed the way audiences consume their media, they don't like paying more money than necessary. Asking your audiences to buy a special device in order to access what, at this point, amounts to one movie -- well, that's asking a lot. But it's still a step in the right direction.

What do you think?

If you thought leading a revolution was easy, try filming one. In The Huffington Post, Jeffrey Wells of Hollywood Elsewhere discusses Steven Soderbergh's two-part Che Guevara biopic, comprised of The Argentine and Guerilla. Despite earlier rumors to the contrary, it appears that both movies will definitely screen next month at the Cannes Film Festival, where Soderbergh was warmly welcomed last year for the premiere of Ocean's Thirteen. The reception of his latest project could be even more positive, but its distribution prospects are another story: As Wells explains, Soderbergh's project guarantees to offend some people for its apparent exclusion of Che's stint as the overlord at La Cabana fortress, where he ordered the execution of over 600 political prisoners. Add to that the heavy amount of Spanish dialog and the director's insistence that the two movies should be enjoyed as a four hour-plus package, and you've got enough red flags to send even the bravest U.S. distributors packing.

Wells, who read both scripts, analogizes the project to Lawrence of Arabia. "Hey, how about presenting the two films as a single, gargantuan Lawrence of Arabia-styled deal with an intermission, running between four or four and a half hours?" he suggests, perhaps somewhat tongue-in-cheek.

Jon Stewart had it right during the Oscars this year when he ironically geeked out over Lawrence of Arabia on an iPod. If most audiences can't appreciate that movie on the big screen now, why would they turn up for something like this?

Come Tuesday, if Santa pulls through, I'll have my first real iPod (I don't count that Shuffle marked with my old employer's logo, which I got for free). It isn't that I couldn't afford one before; it's more that I'm finally caving in. But at least I'm caving in at a good time. There's talk that iTunes movie rentals could finally be arriving in early 2008, and if they are somehow allowed to be transferred to iPods, then I'll be a very happy subway rider. Sure, we've been hearing about the possibility of iTunes rentals all year, and back in September, Engadget even pointed out an error made by Apple that was evidence that it was coming soon. Three months later, Video Business is passing along the rumor that Apple may announce the service at MacWorld next month. Apparently the developments have been slow going because Apple has been trying to get more of Hollywood's studios on board (currently iTunes only offers movies for purchase from Disney, MGM, Lionsgate and Paramount). We can expect to hear about new additional distribution partners at MacWorld, too.

According to Video Business, the iTunes rentals are likely to only be watched on a PC or via Apple TV, for which Apple is to introduce a software update that will allow rentals to be downloaded directly to the machine (making it like a DVR, sort of). However, considering the new iPod Touch (this is the one that made me cave in) features the iTunes store and can directly download movies from the web via Wi-Fi, I don't see why it wouldn't be able to play movie rentals, as well. If Apple does it right, this could be the new Netflix -- of course, iTunes would have to have some kind of monthly plan, which I doubt they'd do, at least not at first. Last summer it was reported the prices for rentals would be $2.99 each. That's still a whole lot better than the $14.99 for new release purchases. Santa, if you read Cinematical, please don't fail me. And if you happen to know Steve Jobs, tell him not to fail me either.

You're a budding short film maker, that is to say a maker of film shorts, and not a height-challenged director, but you have a problem ... where do you submit your films for consideration? Besides the Sundance Film Festival and a slew of other places to put your films (YouTube, iFilm, your own blog, etc), none of them really takes much advantage of the short film format and puts it somewhere that allows you take the film with you.

Enter The Flux and their 2007 iPod Film Festival. They're looking for a few good films under ten minutes in length, and you can win prizes that include iPods (of course) and a Mac Mini. Plus, there will be the glitz and glamor that comes along with your newfound celebrity status to deal with. It's free to enter, they have several different categories and they want you.

With so many cameras available on the cheap, (your cell phone might even have a built in video feature, check it out Spielberg) it's high time you unleashed your creativity and made 2007 the year that you finally start making your own movies. After all, Time Magazine named You the person of the year, so you have a lot to live up to. Get rolling and make some magic.

Recently, several companies, including Microsoft, Apple and others have started offering content via online download to be watched on your television, iPod or other devices. And this week, Sony announced it was getting into the online content business with downloads for its PSP gaming/media device. Finally, according to The New York Times, Comcast, the nations largest cable operator, will soon begin an experimental program that will make programming available both on-demand via its cable service the same time the programming hits the shelves on DVD.

The program, being tested in Pittsburgh and Denver at the moment, is a bold move that seeks to tap into the burgeoning market for alternatively distributed content -- especially now that overall DVD sales have slowed. Plus, Comcast is already offering over 8000 titles with its video-on-demand service so this new program seems like a logical progression from that service. During the test, users will be able to pay $4 to see a movie the same day they could buy it for $25 at a local store or pay about the same price to rent a DVD from their local Blockbuster.

So, you pay four bucks to watch a movie once via on-demand or you go out and rent the DVD and watch it as many times as you want during the rental period? Or, you buy the DVD and watch it as many times as you like until you get sick of it and sell it on Ebay? Or, you subscribe to Netflix, get DVDs sent to your home, watch them and then send them back to get your next pick. And for that, all you have to do is go to your mailbox -- something you probably already do anyway.

Plus, if you're particularly enterprising, you could, in theory, make a "backup" of the DVDs you get from Netflix and watch them again later -- not that you would or should do that. Sorry Comcast, but I think Netflix is still the way to go -- at least until someone gets a download service going with everything in HD that I can watch as many times as I want as long as I don't try to copy it. That's what I'm waiting for and I think its coming -- maybe not tomorrow, but soon enough. Whatever company finally gets that kind of service going can count on getting my money for sure. Until then, I'll stick with Netflix. But I am curious -- so if you happen to be a Comcast customer participating in this program, let us know how it is.

Two of the most important stories in movie news this year have been the push for movie downloads and the related focus on portable viewing. Apple came in a bit late with its attention to both trends, but it quickly became the major front runner of interest with its iTunes movie store and its promotion of iPods that play movies. But there are many download services out there and many other portable devices, much of which can play downloaded films.

Sony's PSP is primarily a video game player, but it can also be used as a video player. It used to have its own hard-copy video format, the UMD, but due to poor sales Sony appeared to have killed them in favor of simple MemoryStick movies (UMDs are still made and are supposedly popular in Japan, at a new discounted price). As an alternative, there have been ways to convert DVDs to PSP-capable files and also ways to download movies for viewing on the device, but nothing officially promoted by Sony. Until now. The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that third-party sites are in negotiations to offer downloads for the PSP -- though Sony hasn't yet issued any statements confirming this -- and another site is in the works for direct-to-PSP downloading.

According to the numbers provided by THR, sales of PSPs have been on a downward slope since their debut in early 2005, so making movies more available to the device may be Sony's hope for boosting public demand. Living in a metropolis, I see a good amount of PSPs on the subway, but I see more iPods, and I rarely see anyone watching videos on either machine.

Is portable movie watching something that you are interested in?

Ok you, put down that X-Men: The Last Stand DVD and back away. From now on, you will absolutely not be able to take movies you get on DVD and rip them for viewing on your iPod. That is, if you bother to listen to the U.S. Copyright office. Which, of course, you should (the Cinematical legal department made me say that). According to a recent piece in The Hollywood Reporter, the copyright office this week rejected an exemption that would have allowed owners of DVDs to legally copy movies for viewing on iPods and other media players. So that means no more taking videos you rent from Netflix, ripping them to you computer and watching them on your iPod. Sorry. Don't blame me, it's the government trying to keep you down. Personally, I think not being able to make a copy of a movie you paid good money for is a little ridiculous. But then again, I'm a Democrat, so what do I know?

However, if you happen to be a film professor (a legitimate film professor at a real school) you do have the right to copy small parts of a DVD for educational use -- which is one of the exemptions to the no-ripping rule announced by the copyright office. Other exemptions approved this week include one for cell phone owners that will allow them to break software locks on phones in order to use them with other providers, one for researchers who test CD copy-protection technologies for security flaws or vulnerabilities, an exemption for the blind allowing them to use read copyright protected books with assistive viewing devices and two others covering computer obsolescence.

I was just reading this column on Macworld about how it has been two months since Apple debuted movie downloads via iTunes, and how it has been too long and too much a success for other studios besides Disney to not join in. Even though I'm aware of a major reason for the slow migration by Hollywood to iTunes, I decided to do a little search in order to find any other stories on the status. Turns out, I completely missed this news on our own Apple Weblog. Looks like Fox may be the first non-Disney studio to offer its movies through iTunes, though a deal is still only in the negotiation stages. You guys know what that could mean, right? Star Wars available to download. Actually, I have a good feeling that Lucas wouldn't be into that idea.

Anyway, Fox has been in talks with Apple before, so we can't get our hopes up just yet. One thing I wonder is why Paramount and Warner Bros. haven't shown interest. Is it because they are going exclusive with XBox? However, nobody knows what that service will be like or how successful it will be. But, we do know that Disney has so far sold over half a million movies through iTunes (and earned $1 million in the first week alone), so I would think all the studios would be more interested in Apple's service.

What I also want to know is, what happened to Lionsgate in all of this?

Ok, I made up the part about the puppy because hey, who doesn't love puppies? I know I do. Besides, I'm not above pandering to the audience to increase site traffic -- so sue me. (ok, not really -- AOL wouldn't like it). But enough of this, we've got some important Casino Royale business to take care of -- so let's get to it!

If you're one of the teeming masses who simply cannot wait for the movie Casino Royale to open, the producers of the film and Apple have come up with something just for you -- a little taste to whet your appetite for all-things-Bond. Beginning Tuesday, November 14, hardcore James Bond fanboys (and girls) will be able to download the entire score of the film via Apple's iTunes music store.

The complete soundtrack, by composer David Arnold, will be available exclusively at the iTunes store -- along with 13 bonus tracks, a CD booklet and accompanying artwork -- which makes it the most comprehensive release of a James Bond score ever. You hear that people -- ever! So what are you waiting for, get your iPods ready and start downloading! Well, actually you can start on November 14. Until then, you're just going to have to be patient like the rest of us. And remember, there are no puppies -- so don't ask.

[Via IGN]

As of today, it's official: Apple unveiled a whole bunch of new products and features at the "It's Showtime" event in Los Angeles. The new iTunes 7 store features movie downloads from Disney, Miramax, Touchstone and Pixar, just as I had reported it would (no sign of Lionsgate titles just yet). Of course, it wasn't expected that these movies would be immediately available, but apparently they are. The new iTunes video resolution quality has been raised, also, to make it more attractive for TV and movie consumers. Other advances that will help out with this new capability are the new iPods, which don't feature the anticipated wider screen but do have a much brighter one, and iTV, which is a box that connects your computer or iPod to your TV so that viewing the new iTunes movies will be better suited to home viewing.

Though the pricing of the movies is still an issue, today could mark a revolutionary moment for the business of movie downloads. For more on all of Apple's announcements, head over to our sister blog, TUAW (The Unofficial Apple Weblog).