New 'Indiana Jones' trailer gets a widget
NEW YORK -- When a second trailer for "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" premieres online, it should spread as fast as the first thanks to a widget.
While Paramount plans to launch the widget this week, the studio declined to state when the new trailer will debut.
Paramount is counting on the small, portable applications that can be posted on blogs and social networks to maximize the exposure for its trailers. The first "Skull" trailer, released in March, has racked up millions of views.
Paramount turned to widget provider Clearspring for "Skull," which will include a contest with the release of the second trailer. The two fans who manage to distribute their "Skull" widgets most will win trips to the world premiere of the movie and the chance to be red-carpet correspondents in footage that will be streamed onto the "Skull" widgets following the premiere.
"I think the reason that studios are excited about widgets is that word-of-mouth and buzz is what Hollywood is after all the time," said Peggy Fry, senior vp sales and client services at Clearspring. "If you think about it, what a widget is, it's a digital version of word-of-mouth."
Clearspring also is creating widgets for Paramount's Mike Myers comedy "The Love Guru," which will include exclusive viral videos of Myers in character. The widgets, which launched Tuesday, will live on Myers' Guru Pitka MySpace page, where his character will blog about love advice, as well as on Facebook, YouTube and other social networking sites.
Amy Powell, senior vp interactive marketing at Paramount, credited Clearspring with sophisticated backend technology that allows the studio to track its widgets wherever they lived so it wouldn't have to limit its promotions to a single platform such as MySpace or Facebook.
"We pushed Clearspring to create new technological advances for us to fit our long list of requests for our out-of-the-box thinking," Powell said.
Every week Paramount will add a new viral video to the widget, for a total of about eight to 10 videos. The widgets also will include other exclusive content including a "Love Guru" trailer, clips and behind-the-scenes footage.
Paramount's first foray into the widget space with Clearspring was with J.J. Abrams' "Cloverfield," which benefited at the boxoffice from a successful online and widget campaign. The studio also has worked with Clearspring on a daily fortune cookie widget for DreamWorks Animation's upcoming "Kung Fu Panda" and a "Bee Movie" widget.
Other studios that have worked with Clearspring to promote their movies are Warner Bros. for "10,000 BC" and "Fred Claus," Sony for "Superbad," Universal for its upcoming "Leatherheads" and Fox for "Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!"
Coldplay Reveals Album Title, Release Date
Coldplay's fourth album, "Viva la Vida," will arrive June 17 in North America via Capitol and a day earlier internationally, according to the band's spokesperson.
"Viva la Vida" was produced by the band with Brian Eno and Markus Dravs. Coldplay manager Dave Holmes previously told Billboard.com the album "definitely takes them in some different directions. I'm not a music critic, but it's certainly a progression, with some really great songwriting."
The band is finalizing the track list today (March 19), according to its Web site. "Viva la Vida" is the follow-up to 2005's "X&Y," which topped The Billboard 200.
So far, Coldplay's lone confirmed live dates are at the first Pemberton Festival in British Columbia on July 27 and Japan's Summer Sonic Festival on Aug. 9-10.
Led Zeppelin tour details revealed?
Velvet Revolver bassist Duff McKagan has claimed that his band have bagged tour support slots on a supposed future tour with Led Zeppelin.
Although McKagan was not forthcoming with any specific dates or plans for such a tour, he said that his band "have it" in terms of the support slot.
Speaking to BBC 6Music, he said: "I understand that we have it, although I imagine there will be plenty of bands prepared to kick and punch us out of the way for the privilege."
James Bond film to land in Britain one week early
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The movie studio behind the upcoming James Bond film, "Quantum of Solace," has moved the British release date forward by one week to October 31, a spokesman for Columbia Pictures said on Wednesday.
The movie, which stars Daniel Craig as British agent 007, remains scheduled to open in North America and much of the rest of the world on November 7.
"Quantum of Solace" is the 22nd film in the long-running movie franchise based on the books by author Ian Fleming about a secret agent who saves the world from villains and almost always gets the girl in the end.
The most recent Bond flick, 2006's "Casino Royale," marked the first time British actor Craig took on the role of Bond. It sold $594 million in tickets worldwide.
Apple mulling 'unlimited' iTunes plan: report
Apple Inc. is reportedly in talks with major music companies to offer customers free access to its entire iTunes music library in exchange for paying a premium for its iPod and iPhone handheld devices.
According to a report in the Financial Times, the "all you can eat" model would be similar to the "Comes with Music" deal Nokia made with Universal Music last December, which allows users to buy a pre-programmed Nokia device with a year's unlimited access to a subscription service featuring music from Universal's catalogue.
The Financial Times said the discussions between the Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple and the major music companies hinges on how much Apple would offer its partners in exchange for access to their music libraries.
The report states that while Nokia is said to be offering $80 per handset to industry partners, Apple has so far only offered $20 per device.
For consumers, the cost of the music could either be bundled with the cost of the player or as part of a monthly subscription, although only the iPhone device already comes with a subscription.
The reported discussions, currently in the preliminary stages, would mark a major change in philosophy for Apple, which has previously maintained tight control over the prices and format of individual music or video downloads.
Apple has more than 80 per cent of the global digital music market. Its online iTunes stores are the second-largest retailer of music in the United States, trailing only Wal-Mart, according to a February study from consumer tracking firm NPD Group.
But major music companies have chafed at Apple's success, becoming more vocal about wanting their share of profits from the sale of devices they say are built on their music catalogues.
While music downloads have increased, the same NPD Group study found the increase could not offset the continuing decline in physical CD sales, leading to an overall 10 per cent decrease in music spending — to $40 US per capita from $44 US per capita among internet users.
As a result, record labels have been exploring other means of selling their music libraries.
Last fall, online retailer Amazon.com Inc. launched its own music store, reaching agreements with Universal Music Group, EMI Music Group PLC and later Warner Music to offer millions of songs without copy-protection technology.