Relativity Says a Netflix "Smear Campaign" Put It Out of Business

A new lawsuit lays bare the ugly details of a Hollywood studio's relationship with Netflix, as Relativity accuses the streaming service of conducting a "smear campaign" designed to "destroy Relativity completely." The complaint lays out the numbers behind the licensing agreement Netflix signed with Relativity back in 2010, and alleges that Netflix later tried to force changes to those terms, eventually claiming publicly that it had the right to stream certain Relativity titles before their theatrical release — which the studio asserts would have nearly zeroed out its revenue from those titles. Relativity says Netflix's claims resulted in "industry players" refusing to deal with the studio. [The Hollywood Reporter]

How Box-Office Business Advantages Brought Amblin and Alibaba Together

As the Chinese market becomes critical to Hollywood's international box-office success — and the Chinese government strictly limits the number of foreign films that can be exhibited — Chinese-American co-productions are becoming more and more attractive to studios. The Los Angeles Times examines the motivations behind a new production and financing agreement between Steven Spielberg's Amblin Partners and Chinese business tycoon Jack Ma's Alibaba Pictures.  [Variety]

Michael Moore Finishes Editing, Announces and Publicly Screens New Film — All in One 24-Hour Period

TrumpLand

Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker and professional political gadfly Michael Moore pulled a Beyoncé Monday night, when he surprise-announced a new film and set a first screening at New York City's IFC Center later that evening. Reporting from the theater last night, The Guardian says the premiere of Michael Moore in TrumpLand, which advocates for the election of Hillary Clinton, generated a "carnival atmosphere."  [The Guardian] 

Movie Ticket Prices Grow 3.2% Year on Year

Movie ticket prices crept up 3.2% in the third quarter compared to the same period last year, according to figures from the National Association of Theatre Owners. The number ebbs and flows according to the types of movies drawing ticket-buyers; the Q3 average of $8.51 was actually down from Q2, when titles including Captain America: Civil War and Finding Dory drove ticket prices to an all-time high of $8.73. [The Wrap]

We're in a Clown Movie Boom

Intrepid film-data researcher Stephen Follows has an amazing data dump on movies featuring clowns, starting with 1916's The New Clown and proceeding through to the modern day. Among his findings: 54 percent of all clown-based movies were released in 2000 or later, but most movies featuring clowns are not horror movies, even in the Big Clown era of the 2010s. [Stephen Follows]

New Macs Are Coming for the Holidays

Apple is (finally!) expected to update its Mac line-up later this month, announcing the first new systems running Mac OS Sierra at an October 27 event. Probably not coincidentally, the Apple news should come a day after a scheduled Windows hardware announcement from Microsoft. [Recode]