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Star Wars Rebels comes to an unexpected, but massively rewarding end. The finale saw the decisive Battle for Lothal, then opened intriguing new doors into the Star Wars universe. The ninety-minute, three episode story arc drew on characters and creatures from the very beginning. One group was instrumental and completely out of left field, while the fate of Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) was exactly as described by Bendu in “Zero Hour”....

BOX OFFICE: COOL WITH THUNDER Paramount/DreamWorks’ Tropic Thunderwas no big shakes at the box office over the weekend, but its estimated $16.1-million take was enough to land it in first place for a second week, as it held off Sony’s debuting The House Bunnywith $15.1 million and UA’s Death Race, which opened with $12.9 million. Another new film, MGM/The Weinstein Co.’s The Longshots, fumbled with just $4.3 million. Warner Bros.’ The Dark Knightdrew closer to the $500-million mark, dropping just 37 percent to $10....

HOT STREAK CONTINUES AT BOX OFFICE Following a week in which several media conglomerates reported dismal quarterly earnings, the box office performed as if happy days were here again. The Warner Bros./New Line romantic comedy He’s Just Not That Into You led with $27.5 million, 80 percent of that amount from female ticket buyers. “Women continue to drive box office in a big way,” Media by Numbers President Paul Dergarabedian told today’s (Monday) Los Angeles Times....

A KNIGHT TO REMEMBER The Dark Knightbrought a bright day to Warner Bros. today (Monday) as the studio began a final tally of weekend box-office receipts that it estimated on Sunday would reach a record of $155.3 million. If that figure holds up, the movie would exceed the previous record of $151.1 million for a three-day opening set by Spider-Man 3 last year. The movie also set a record for the biggest single-day gross for a movie ($67....

MOUNTAIN HIGH; BOX OFFICE LOW For once, the box-office prognosticators were right. After often defying predictions by showing a steep rise in revenue and attendance every week this year, ticket sales fell sharply over the weekend, with last week’s winner, Watchmen, dropping a whopping 67 percent to $18 million, according to studio estimates. Replacing it at the top was the Disney family film Race to Witch Mountain with about $25 million, a figure that was at the high end of forecasts....

SAG MOVES CLOSER TO A STRIKE Apparently convinced that members of the Screen Actors Guild who support the union leaders’ demands for increased benefits for new media productions will vote for strike authorization – and those who do not will refrain from voting – the union’s negotiating committee recommended Wednesday that the national board take a strike vote among members. Last month, in a poll of union members, 87 percent of voters, in effect, gave SAG leaders a vote of confidence....

BOX OFFICE PLUMMETS 26 PERCENT The box office experienced a horrific weekend in more ways than one. Not only did a horror movie that its studio declined to show to critics lead all others, but it earned just $9 million – the first time in three years that the top film had made less than $10 million. Moreover, the total for all films was lower than any weekend of the year and down 26 percent from the comparable weekend a year ago to just $54....

SUNDAY WAS SUPER FOR RUPERT, TOO Super Bowl Sunday, News Corp Chairman Rupert Murdoch said Monday, was “the greatest day ever in the history of the [Fox television] network. We took in over $250 million in revenue. And it was a great game.” Appearing on Your World With Neil Cavuto, which airs on Murdoch’s Fox News Channel, Murdoch said that he believed the game was watched by “very much more” than the 97....

NO SALE AT NETWORK UPFRONTS SO FAR Advertisers are balking at price increases being demanded by the broadcast networks this season and may “sit out” the upfront marketplace this year, Advertising Ageobserved Wednesday, noting that while in previous years 80 percent of the networks’ ad inventory would have been sold by now, “buyers and networks remain at an impasse over price.” The trade publication observed that ad buyers might very well elect to make most of their buys during the so-called “scatter market” season, when spots are purchased weeks, or sometimes even days, before the ads are broadcast....

i>HOUSEWIVES DOWN BUT NOT DESPERATE Ratings for ABC’s Desperate Housewivesmay be down somewhat this season, but Sunday’s season finale handily beat everything else in sight. The show averaged a 12.3 rating and an 18 share, the highest-rated show of the night. Nevertheless, the numbers were 24 percent below last year’s finale, which registered a 16.1/24. At 10:00 p.m., ABC’s critically praised Brothers & Ssters, which has been making steady improvements in the ratings (and, some critics say, in its scripts as well), wound up in first place with a 9....

Sundance Selects, the new theatrical and video-on-demand film label, today announced an unprecedented collaboration with the not-for-profit Sundance Institute for the 2010 Sundance Film Festival (January 21st - 31st, Park City, UT). As part of the “Direct from the Sundance Film Festival” initiative, three films being screened at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival will simultaneously be available nationwide, on-demand, through Sundance Selects. The films in the collaboration represent the broad range of cinematic expression found in this year’s festival, from a highly anticipated documentary to a thrilling Park City at Midnight title, to a critically-acclaimed American independent film....

IMAX Corporation today announced an agreement with Paramount Pictures to release four of the studio’s tentpole releases in 2011 – Super 8, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol and The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn. Each film will open day-and-date in IMAX(R) theatres worldwide. Sony Pictures Entertainment is co-production partner on The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn and Sony Pictures Releasing International (SPRI) will handle distribution and marketing in most key territories overseas....

The Good A solid show that fleshes out the urban legends we have known all our lives. The Bad At 41 minutes per episode this show is too short. Sam and Dean Winchester are back in Supernatural: The Complete Second Season. This second season begins with the boys losing their father and having to come to terms with the fact that they are all they have now. Sadly for them there isn’t a moment to really reflect as there’s a lot of hauntings going on and it’s up these brothers to meet these foes head on....

Actors from Supernatural and its Internet spin-off, Ghostfacers, discuss the new series at the show’s premiere party in Hollywood Fans of the Ghostfacers, the breakout characters from the CW’s hit series Supernatural, can now rejoice because starting tonight they’ll be able to follow the all-new adventures of these bumbling “Ghostbusters” on their very own Internet spin-off series. The show, Ghostfacers, premieres tonight, April 15th, on www.CWTV.com immediately following the 100th episode of Supernatural on the CW....

Teens of the 1990s will have fond memories of the TV adaptation of Francine Pascal’s Sweet Valley High, the series that ran for four seasons between 1994 and 1997 and starred Brittany Daniel, Cynthia Daniel, Amy Danles and Ryan Bittle among others. Now it appears that the series is about to get the reboot treatment by The CW, who are continuing their numerous revivals with a brand new take on the original series of 181 novels, with a series that is simply titled Sweet Valley....

Actress Jeri Ryan is no stranger to the sci-fi realm, playing Seven of Nine on the hit series Star Trek: Voyager. She returns to the genre with the Syfy series Helix, portraying Constance Sutton, a fixer for the Alaria corporation brought in when Hatake (Hiroyuki Sanada) “goes off the rails.” The character makes her first appearance in a multi-episode arc starting with tonight’s episode “Survivor Zero”, airing at 10 PM ET....

Starring in the drama opposite Meg Ryan and Kristen Stewart Adam Brody has moved on from The O.C.; after four years on the hit Fox drama, he’s taking his career to the big screen. His newest is the drama, In the Land of Women. After his girlfriend breaks up with him, he decides to take a little break from Los Angeles and move to Michigan to spend time with his grandmother (Olympia Dukakis)....

Character actress Zelda Rubinstein talks about the Poltergeist phenomenon and the iconic character she created Zelda Rubinstein has appeared in almost 50 movies but it is her work as Tangina Barrons in the Poltergeist films that really has made this lady the icon that she is. As a woman who helps a family deal with the fact that their house has been haunted by evil spirits, this 4 foot 3 inch actress darn near steals every scene she has in the film franchise....

Art The Clown is a name that’s currently being thrown around the horror fandom like wildfire. The hauntingly silent clown, who became an instant icon with the release of the violent and twisted Terrifier, and more so its latest sequel, Terrifier 2. Terrifier 2 premiered at Fantastic Fest and Fright Fest in late August, with reports quickly surfacing of audiences throwing up and passing out at the film due to its incredibly violent nature....

The soundtrack of a film can either make or break it. Music in general can change your mood entirely, so if you’re watching a great movie and the perfect song for that scene starts to play, you’re more inclined to remember it. Sometimes for big movies, one artist has control over the entire soundtrack, such as Kendrick Lamar with the first Black Panther film. Other times, several different songs from all different genres are picked and added to the roster of songs to make the movie great, giving those moments to the audience that are appreciative and memorable....