DISNEY TO ACQUIRE MARVEL ENTERTAINMENT

Worldwide leader in family entertainment agrees to acquire Marvel and its portfolio of over 5,000 characters. Acquisition highlights Disney’s strategic focus on quality branded content, technological innovation and international expansion to build long-term shareholder value

Burbank, CA and New York, NY, August 31, 2009 —Building on its strategy of delivering quality branded content to people around the world, The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) has agreed to acquire Marvel Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:MVL) in a stock and cash transaction, the companies announced today…

“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.”

Wow. Just when it seemed that Paramount pretty much had the lock on a distribution deal for all the in-house superhero movies made by Marvel Entertainment, Disney swoops in and buys Marvel whole hog, to the tune of $4 billion.

In a company press release that you can find at MarketWatch, Marvel CEO Ike Perlmutter said

"Disney is the perfect home for Marvel's fantastic library of characters given its proven ability to expand content creation and licensing businesses. 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."

In other words, just in case you were wondering, this is all about money. Disney has the better action figure manufacturing companies, apparently.

I have no idea what this means for the approximately 800 Marvel movies currently in development-- I had just assumed they would all be Paramount films, but I'm not sure how many of them Paramount actually has signed deals for. There's also the question of what it means for the characters themselves, given how beloved Disney figures like Cinderella or Simba have been put through the wringer thanks to direct-to-DVD sequels and toys that should embarrass anyone.

No matter what happens, it likely means big changes for all fans of the Marvel movies, and even more comic book overload in an already crowded market. We'll be holding our breath to see how this turns out.

UPDATE: Over at CHUD, Devin Faraci is on a conference call with the Disney-Marvel folks getting some key updates, such as the fact that current Marvel distribution deals will stay in place (Spider-Man stays at Sony, Iron Man at Paramount) until they expire, AND John Lasseter has met with the Marvel folks. Expect some crazy Pixar/Marvel hybrids that might make this whole deal worth it alone.

Sources: Cinematical and CinemaBlend

It's official; Supernatural will come to a conclusion at the end of its fifth season, as creator Eric Kripke has often hinted... but that doesn't mean that the series itself will necessarily end. Confused? Kripke explains his plan.

Talking to Entertainment Weekly, Kripke said,

I did set out [to] tell a five-season storyline... Quite frankly, I never expected [the show] to make it to five years. But now that we're in our fifth year, I have every intention of ending the story with a bang and not drawing it out or watering it down... That having been said, I'm looking at this season as the last chapter in this particular story. That doesn't mean there can't be a new story. Buffy did it. The X-Files did it. You close a chapter on a big mythology storyline and then you begin a new one.

According to the creator, who says that he hasn't decided whether or not he'll return for a potential sixth season, he'd like to 'answer a bunch of questions this season and then pose some new ones next season.' Does no-one remember that the post-Mulder and Scully X-Files was no good?

Sources: Entertainment Weekly and io9

Silver members on XBL, good news! Kinda. Facebook and Twitter will be accessible to you all. The 'kinda' part in this news: it's only for a limited time only.
Microsoft told VG247:

Facebook and Twitter on Xbox LIVE will be free to Gold members, with a free trial period also available for Silver members (emphasis ours). Facebook and Twitter on Xbox LIVE will offer a truly one-of-a-kind social experience, completely optimized for the TV and seamlessly integrated onto your console. Add to that exclusive access to Last.fm, Netflix instant streaming, demos, trailers and discounts, plus the best multiplayer gaming network on the planet, and we re confident Xbox LIVE Gold memberships is hands-down the best value in home entertainment. We re committed to adding new features and value for our Gold members, and will continue to do so.

There you go.

With how the internet is these days, this sounds reasonable. Very funny stuff.

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The NEWEST TV I've seen and have FALLEN in LOVE with are Fringe and Warehouse 13.

Fringe is just enough drama vs. Sci-Fi. All about conspiracy surrounding Massive Dynamic and the awesome ever so clairvoyant agent that links it all together. Every episode adds an almost world destroying tangent. No one knows whats coming next, spiny mutant humans that feed on, what else, spinal fluid, or interdenominational travelers. No aliens as of yet, thank goodness. I would classify this as cookie cutter TV; but its awesome to watch. The characters of course all have their own drama, but who wouldn't love the cute bubbly lab assistant, the handsome tech savvy guy, the quirky genius father, and the steadfast hard core agent. The minor characters are fun also: the boss that after a season realizes his agent is ALWAYS right, the corporate half robotic "you still might not want to trust her" gal, the always "in the wrong spot" co-agent, and tall bald guy who randomly is in the background of EVERY episode. It's a thriller and I CAN NOT wait till next season!

Warehouse 13 started out really well. Two agents, one stuffy and the other lighthearted, are recruited for an underground agency that is responsible for collecting artifacts that are increasingly being activated and causing havoc. Again cookie cutter TV, they have an issue, they see a possible solution, it fails, try again, fail, BIG problems arise, then all of a sudden the answer is derived and crisis averted. Although its interesting to watch, the characters have that after school special made for TV feel.

Other shows I've been delightfully surprised with:
Dexter, House, Burn Notice, Lie To Me, Numbers, Rescue Me, Weeds

So I spent the weekend working on this new look, and ive spent the past year thinking about it. What do you think about the new look? what is it lacking? What has gone wrong, and what do you miss from the old page? Let us know in the comments.

Also, we have a new staff member here at SykoNews, We welcome CJ AKA ItsTheGirl into the fold and look forward to hearing her take on new and old television, movies, video games, and technology.

Stay Syko!

Before I move the new layout over, I need to get some feedback. let me know if you find any problems here! Ignore the Images, they are for testing, though this one is pretty funny. It's a tech support cheat sheet.

Rob Zombie, whose Halloween II opens today, will write, direct and produce a remake of the 1958 horror classic The Blob , which starred Steve McQueen.

In the original, an object from space crashes into a field, containing a red blob-like substance that absorbs the humans it contacts and grows exponentially.

'My intention is not to have a big red blobby thing -- that's the first thing I want to change,' Zombie told the trade. 'That gigantic Jello-looking thing might have been scary to audiences in the 1950s, but people would laugh now.'

Zombie will produce with Genre Co.'s Richard Saperstein and Brian Witten; original 'Blob' producer Jack H. Harris; and Judith Parker Harris of Worldwide Entertainment Corp. and Andy Gould.

They are developing the project as an R-rated film that will cost around $30 million to make.

Production will begin next spring.

via ComingSoon

Hugh Pickens writes 'Scientific American reports that a new device called 'BrainPort' aims to restore the experience of vision for the blind and visually impaired by relying on the nerves on the tongue's surface to send light signals to the brain. BrainPort collects visual data through a small digital video camera and converts the signal into electrical pulses sent to the tongue via a 'lollipop' that sits directly on the tongue, where densely packed nerves receive the incoming electrical signals. White pixels yield a strong electrical pulse and the electrodes spatially correlate with the pixels, so that if the camera detects light fixtures in the middle of a dark hallway, electrical stimulations will occur along the center of the tongue. Within 15 minutes of using the device, blind people can begin interpreting spatial information. 'At first, I was amazed at what the device could do,' says research director William Seiple. 'One guy started to cry when he saw his first letter.'' There is some indication that the signals from the tongue are processed by the visual cortex. The company developing the BrainPort will submit it to the FDA for approval later this month, and it could be on sale (for around $10,000) by the end of the year.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Also, more here at spectrum. Image via spectrum.

Weird Al's new single from the "Internet Leaks" collection. Video directed by Josh Faure-Brac and Dustin McLean from Current TV's "SuperNews."

"Ringtone," along with the rest of "Internet Leaks," will be available starting Tuesday, August 25th on:

iTunes!
Amazon!
Rhapsody!
Napster!
Zune!
Walmart!

...and everywhere else that mp3s are sold!

And the video will be available on iTunes too!

And you'll even be able to get the RINGTONE of Ringtone!

Weird Al's new single from the "Internet Leaks" collection. Video directed by JibJab.

"CNR" is available RIGHT NOW on:

iTunes!
http://tinyurl.com/nhlfbm

Amazon!
http://tinyurl.com/nfm64f

...and everywhere else that mp3s are sold!

And the video is available on iTunes too!
http://tinyurl.com/mwzeup