Business - Entertainment/Media

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - An insurgent faction within the Screen Actors Guild has launched a campaign to wrest control of the powerful union from leaders they blame for stalemated contract talks with major Hollywood studios.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - News Corp's Twentieth Century Fox has reached an agreement in principle with a group of theater chains, paving the way for a long-delayed $1.1 billion digital cinema upgrade that Hollywood hopes will boost attendance and cut costs, sources familiar with the deal said on Thursday.

PARIS (Reuters) - France's first lady, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, shot to the top of the pop charts with her latest album in its first full week on sale, a music industry body reported.

SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - It was a veritable Geek Pride Day on Thursday as the 39th annual Comic-Con opened its doors to 125,000 comic book fans, many outfitted in superhero regalia, from masks and capes to Batman-themed yarmulkes.

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Writer-director-producer James Gunn, actress Shawnee Smith and acting coach John Homa will serve as judges on VH1's upcoming reality competition series "Scream Queens."

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Two former members of the Smashing Pumpkins sued Virgin Records on Thursday, saying the label shut them out of profits after signing a deal with the rock band's frontman Billy Corgan.

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Paramount Pictures and its art-house division Paramount Vantage will cut about 60 staffers as part of a consolidation announced last month, officials said Thursday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A musical publishing company that owns the rights to the Rolling Stones' song "Play With Fire" sued U.S. rapper Lil Wayne on Thursday, saying he released an altered version of the song without permission.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Tribune Co on Wednesday narrowed the potential list of bidders for the storied Chicago Cubs baseball team to three to five groups bidding $1 billion or more, according to sources briefed on the matter.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Regal Entertainment Group, the largest U.S. movie theater owner, posted sharply lower quarterly profit on Thursday and said improvement might not come until the fourth quarter.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Commissioners at the Federal Communications Commission have reached an agreement to approve Sirius Satellite Radio Inc's purchase of XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Tyler Perry has signed a three-year, first-look deal with Lionsgate, the studio that released his 2005 breakthrough debut feature, "Diary of a Mad Black Woman" and his subsequent films.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Lawyers for Brad Pitt on Thursday threatened legal action against anyone publishing recent photographs they say were taken by paparazzi of the actor and his newly enlarged family at their French estate.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Protesters gathered on Wednesday outside Fox News Channel to denounce what they claim is its racist campaign coverage, including a pundit who called Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama a terrorist.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Tribune Co has no plans to sell other newspapers in 2008 after agreeing to sell Newsday to Cablevision Systems Corp, Chief Executive Sam Zell told employees on a conference call.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - NBC and Fox News Channel sued video-sharing service Redlasso for copyright infringement on Wednesday, accusing the website of showing programs like "The Tonight Show" and "The Fox Report with Shepard Smith" without permission.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Clear Channel Communications Inc said on Wednesday it settled lawsuits against Tribune Co and several former Clear Channel employees lured away by the newspaper publisher and broadcaster.

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - In a move that could have a big impact on indie film sales and distribution, online film rental service Netflix is shuttering its film financing and acquisition arm Red Envelope Entertainment.

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - ABC is developing an American version of the Argentinean sibling crime drama "Brothers & Detectives."