The Canadian government is prepping new legislation that would allow it to pull tax credits from film and TV projects that have too much sex and/or violence.

Critics say the proposed law, which has already been approved by all three parties in the House of Commons and is seeking final approval in the Senate, amounts to […]

The colorful 40-year run of New Line is coming to an abrupt end, costing the jobs of most of the company’s 600 staffers. The company will be folded into Warner Bros. as a small genre arm, but its two toppers, Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne, will not be part of the package. No exact numbers have been divulged in terms of how many of New Line’s staffers will remain, but the surviving entity will be a shell of its former self, refocusing on the horror, comedy and urban genre pics that helped put it on the map decades ago.

Jay Leno has nearly two years left on the clock at “The Tonight Show” on NBC, but rival networks and at least one TV studio are said to be quietly, unofficially courting the comedian with offers to keep him on the late-night circuit. The New York Times reported on Wednesday that ABC and Fox had both discreetly let Leno know they were eager to formally engage him in talks about moving to their networks once the negotiating window in his NBC contract opens in late 2009.

The writer’s strike may be over, but the town is still in gridlock mode. While many studio execs are cautiously optimistic that an actors’ walkout won’t happen, Hollywood majors are refusing to schedule new start dates on films that can’t complete shooting by June 30. That puts the onus on SAG leaders and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers to get down to bargaining so that the town can truly get back to work. The uncertainty has prompted Steven Spielberg to halt an April production start on the Aaron Sorkin-scripted DreamWorks drama “The Trial of the Chicago Seven.

Looking to get out of the way of 3-D competition, DreamWorks Animation is pushing back the release date of “How to Train Your Dragon” from November 2009 to March 2010. News came as DreamWorks Animation reported a $94.1 million fourth quarter profit on revenue of $290.2 million, due primarily to “Shrek the Third” DVD sales.

The Nightingale Company has wrapped production on the feature film The Last New Year with writer/director Garfield Lindsay Miller. The film shot in downtown Toronto over the month of February.

The Last New Year features an ensemble cast including Kris Holden-Ried (Touch of Pink, The Tudors), Mayko Ngyen (Rent a Goalie, ReGenises) Kate Hewlett (Stargate Atlantis, 11 […]

Sony decided on Monday to invest more than $933 million in a state-of-the-art LCD (liquid crystal display) factory being built by Sharp. The deal, which is due to be announced on this afternoon, is being pursued to ensure a steady supply of LCD panels for television sets.

The 80th anniversary edition of the Academy Awards, dominated by European stars and films that played poorly at the box office, averaged 32 million viewers, entering the record books on Monday as the least watched Oscar telecast ever. The three-hour-plus telecast on Sunday was down about 1 million viewers from the previous record low, set in 2003 when the Oscars were presented just after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq had begun.

One of the final acts in the WGA strike passed quietly Monday night, as fewer than 20 members showed up for a brief contract ratification meeting at the WGA Theater in Beverly Hills. Terms of the new deal will go into effect immediately, and the contract will run to May 1, 2011.

FilmTotalVANTAGE POINT, SONY$22,874,936THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES, PARAMOUNT$13,100,192JUMPER, FOX$12,708,768STEP UP 2, DISNEY$9,605,703FOOL’S GOLD, WARNER BROS.$6,554,284DEFINITELY MAYBE, UNIVERSAL$5,217,775WELCOME HOME ROSCOE JENKINS, UNIVERSAL$4,158,700JUNO, FOX SEARCHLIGHT$4,154,502BE KIND REWIND, NEW LINE$4,050,655THERE WILL BE BLOOD, PARAMOUNT$2,687,229