Thursday marked the end of an important era in motion picture history, with Disney shuttering the New York and Los Angeles offices of Miramax Films and the division's president, Daniel Battsek, along with about 80 Miramax employees, departing.

The 31-year-old Miramax label will be retained by Disney and applied to about three movies a year going forward, according to studio officials.

But managed by Disney's main Burbank, Calif. management team -- and lacking any dedicated employees of its own -- the groundbreaking indie studio founded by brothers Bob and Harvey Weinstein in 1979 is essentially finished.

Sony has selected '500 Days of Summer' director Marc Webb to helm its upcoming 'Spider-Man' reboot.

The fourth 'Spider-Man' movie will return the web-spinning hero, previously played by Toby Maguire, to high school, where he'll deal with issues related to the convergence of adolescent angst and super-human powers.

The screenplay will be written by 'Zodiac' screenwriter James Vanderbilt, and the film will retain producers Avi Arad and Laura Ziskin from the first three films.

Reviews don't get much harsher than the ones so far rendered for Jackie Chan's latest film, the family-targeted 'Spy Next Door.'

In fact, the Lionsgate-distributed movie, which premieres Friday, registered a rather inauspicious "0%" score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Take a look at these reviews and tell us what you think.

Taking in $48.5 million over the weekend at the North American box office, James Cameron's 'Avatar' has become the first major motion-picture release in film history to be driven almost entirely by 3-D ticket sales.

Indeed, in the U.S. and Canada this weekend, 80 percent of theatrical revenue for the film came from 3-D ticket sales. And, according to estimates from Fox, a staggering $340 million of the film's $429 million domestic tally has come from 3-D engagements.

Jennifer Aniston, Mickey Rourke and Julia Roberts have signed on as presenters to the upcoming Golden Globe Awards.

The well-known trio will join previously announced enlistees Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio, who will present the Cecil B. DeMille Award for career achievement to Martin Scorsese.

Eager to capitalize on the 3D hype surrounding 'Avatar,' Paramount on Saturday announced an Oct. 15, 2010 release date for 'Jackass 3D.'

"We're going to take the same 3D technology James Cameron used on 'Avatar' and stick it up Steve O's butt," said 'Jackass' franchise star and producer Johnnny Knoxville. "We're taking stupid to a whole new dimension."

Prolific horror/sci-fi screenwriter Dan O'Bannon, the creative force behind the enduring 'Alien' franchise, has died at the age of 63 in Los Angeles after a short illness.

Before teaming with writer Ronald Shusett on the script behind Ridley Scott's groundbreaking 1979 hit 'Alien' (originally titled 'Star Beast'), O'Bannon broke into the film business in 1974 by penning 'Dark Star' for former USC classmate John Carpenter. O'Bannon also edited and co-starred in that low-budget effort.