disney

Two surprises for "Star Wars" aficionados today: George Lucas has sold off LucasFilm to the Walt Disney Company for $4.05 billion, and a new "Star Wars" movie, Episode VII, is in early development.

Disney CFO Jay Rasulo said during a conference call this afternoon that "Star Wars" episode 7 will "take the place of our tent pole [film] in 2015."… Read more

In a shocking announcement linking two of the best-known names in the movie business, Disney said today that it is buying Lucasfilm, maker of the "Star Wars" films, for $4.05 billion. … Read more

Big changes may be on the horizon for Hulu. According to an internal memo that entertainment news source Variety got its hands on, CEO Jason Kilar's jig may be up.

The three-page memo, dated from July, lists several possible changes for the streaming service, according to Variety. Of the most striking are the top two bullet points, which say this: "Outline transition plan for new CEO" and "Discuss potential candidates and process."

Kilar has had an up-and-down relationship with backers for the last couple of years. He initiated a rift with Hulu's parent company … Read more

I often write about action games in my collections, and it's no secret I'm a fan of the racing-game genre as well. But another genre I like to play while on my commute is mind-twisting puzzle games. A new game was released a few days ago that has jumped to the top of the charts at iTunes App Store and it has all the bells and whistles to remain a hit.

Though puzzle games come in a lot of different forms, one of my favorite types is those that use realistic physics. Some of the best I have come across use liquid physics and require you to experiment in order to solve each puzzle.… Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Ray Bradbury may soon be honored online with "451" error code for Internet censorship.

- Time Warner Cable grabs patent to prevent DVRs from skipping commercials.

- Twitter to grant Web sites extra characters with "expansive tweets."

- Select audiences at Disney-Pixar's "Brave" will be treated to Dolby's new Atmos sound system.… Read more

As people, we understand instinctively what flowing hair looks like. Or the way layers of clothes move on someone's body, or how water would splash when a bear runs through it. If it looks unnatural, our brains know -- and get distracted by it.

These are some of the technical challenges Pixar faced when making the studio's 13th feature, "Brave," which was directed by Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman, and which opens June 22: If the technology behind its animation doesn't ring true, the audience may lose focus on the most important thing of all: … Read more

If you were hoping to catch "Friday Night Lights" star Taylor Kitsch with his shirt off in Walt Disney's "John Carter," you may have to wait a few more days.

Disney has begun delaying select title releases to rental companies and Netflix by 28 days, which means the studio has held back on the June 5 release of Kitsch's "John Carter" to places like Redbox, Blockbuster, and Netflix, according to Home Media Magazine.

Disney is the last of the major studios to begin embargoing its DVD releases, a practice it started with … Read more

PALOS VERDES, Calif. -- Ed Catmull, president of Pixar Animation Studios and president of Walt Disney Animation Studios, said at the D10 conference today that technology can lead to better art.

He was quick to say, "Technology is not a goal. It really is to make a great movie."

But the point he was making is that adapting new tools forces artists to rethink everything about their work; that getting people out of their comfort zones leads to better art.

Referring to the first animated film, "Bertie the Dinosaur," he says, "Years later, we don'… Read more

This Friday, 25 bars and restaurants around the San Francisco Bay Area will adopt Scenetap, a social analytics app that uses facial recognition technology to gather real-time data on customer relations and crowd sizes. Don't worry, the cameras only analyze facial features to determine approximate age and gender of clients entering the bars, and the restaurants swear that they won't upload videos of patrons stumbling out and doing whatever people do outside of bars at 4 a.m.… Read more