'THE HOBBIT' FINALLY GETS A TRAILER

Fans of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films have reason to cheer today as there is finally a trailer of the upcoming movie, “The Hobbit.” The first of a two-movie production, “The Hobbit” tells J.R.R. Tolkien’s prequel tale of Bilbo Baggins journeying with Gandalf (for the first time) to help reclaim Erebor for its rightful dwarven owners. The first installment will focus on the earlier part of the group’s adventures, including the finding of the One Ring by Bilbo in Gollum’s cave.

The trailer shows that the film is being produced with the same look and feel as his first three LotR movies. Indeed if you didn’t know you were watching the trailer for the Hobbit you might think you were seeing clips from the trilogy. This is due in large part to Jackson being able to retain the original actors who played Gandalf and Galadriel, a welcome sight for fans who demand consistency across production.

AUSTIN MOVIE THEATER MAKES EXAMPLE OF TEXTER; USES VOICEMAIL AS PSA

We’ve all been to the movies and seen the message beforehand telling us to turn off our cell phones. It’s basically common sense at this point, but some people need to be reminded. Recently, a woman visited the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, Texas, and chose to send texts during the movie. The theater, which has a strict no-texting policy, did not take kindly to the text-happy woman and decided to make an example of her.

The woman was asked to stop texting twice during the movie but was kicked out when she refused. For some reason, the irate woman decided to leave the Drafthouse a voicemail giving them a piece of her mind. The Drafthouse in turn decided to make the woman’s embarrassing voicemail into a video that it now plays before films start.

The video transcribes the entire call in a rather comical way. The very angry woman is a little hard to understand at times, but, thanks to the transcription, it’s clear that she calls the U.S. the “Magnited States of America,” and pronounces the word “regular” as “reglear.”

In the voicemail, the woman said she has texted in “all the other theaters in Austin,” and that no one cared when she did that. She obviously has a warped perception of things, as I’m pretty sure fellow movie goers would be a little bothered by the light of her phone.

THEATER OWNERS READY TO FIGHT STUDIOS OVER $30 PREMIUM VOD PLANS

While we're not exactly in a hurry to spend $30 each on 60-day delayed movie rentals, theater owners are quite upset by the whole premium video-on-demand plan apparently being pushed by Warner, Sony, Fox and Universal. The most active objector so far appears to be AMC Theaters, which announced yesterday it would notify studios that it plans to "adapt its economic model" regarding movies bound for p-VOD. What it wants is likely a bigger slice of the revenue and also a heads up on which movies will be getting the earlier releases. Rival theater chains Regal and Cinemark have already expressed plans to cut promotion and screens for movies headed to p-VOD, but without any official announcement it's still not clear which movies those will be. Of course, cutting down promo and screens cuts into the theater's own revenue, so we'll consider this one another waiting game and wait to see who blinks first.

PIRACY NOT AFFECTING BOX OFFICE RECEIPTS

While the industry certainly has its share of piracy problems, they aren't affecting box office receipts. The movie business has—yet again—run up record numbers at the box office. In 2010, theaters around the world reported a combined total revenue of $31.8 billion, up 8 percent from 2009. In the US and Canadian markets, the total number of tickets sold fell by 5 percent last year, but theater owners made up for the decline by raising prices an average of 39¢.

While most of the growth last year came from international movie screens, the US and Canadian market has learned that 3D projection can be lucrative. A full 21 percent of US/Canada revenue in 2010 came from 3D films.

January Jones to star in X-Men: First Class

January Jones, best known for her role of  Betty Francis on Mad Men, has been cast as Emma Frost in the upcoming X-Men: First Class movie.  Emma Frost, aka the White Queen, is the gorgeous mutant with telepathic powers.

January joins cast mates Zoe Kravitz (Angel), Jason Flemying (Azazel), Bill Millner (young Magneto) and Jennifer Lawrence (Mystique).

Production starts August 23rd in London