Variety has the scoop on the Weinstein Company’s new deal with Blockbuster: Basically, for four years, Blockbuster will be the only renter to distribute flicks from the production company. In return, Weinstein films will get a heavy push from Blockbuster and the chain is also guaranteeing payments “that amount to a certain percentage of the box office.”

This looks like panic on the part of Blockbuster. Faced with a declining market share of a potentially-soon-to-be-obsolete market, Blockbuster is making a bid for relevance. And if they had lassoed a major studio, say Disney or Sony, then it would have been a strong move. But when an industry leader tries to throw its weight around and all it gets is the Weinstein Company–that’s weakness.

Here’s a list of the projects they’ve got lines up:

The Brothers Bloom (2008)
Escape from Planet Earth (2008)
The Great Debaters (2008)
Hellraiser (2008)
Inglorious Bastards (2008)
Knight Rider (2008)
The Meerkats (2008)
Outspoken (2008)
Scary Movie 5 (2008)
Untitled Kevin Smith Horror Project (2008)
Tropa de Elite (2007)
My Blueberry Nights (2007)
Sin City 2 (2007)
Grindhouse (2007)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2007)
Chasing Temptation (2007)
Hannibal Rising (2007)
Fanboys (2007)
The Last Legion (2007)
Awake (2007)
The Equalizer (2007)
Fletch Won (2007)
Four Knights (2007)
Hua Mulan (2007)
Igor (2007)
Journey Into the Unknown (2007)
Kung Fu High School (2007)
My Enemy’s Enemy (2007)
The Nanny Diaries (2007)
Outlander (2007)
Spring Break in Bosnia (2007)
Toyer (2007)
Factory Girl (2006)
Fast Track (2006/I)
Miss Potter (2006)
Arthur and the Minimoys (2006
Unknown (2006)
La Citadelle assiégée (2006)
Fade to Black (2006/I)
Train Wreck! (2006) (V)
School for Scoundrels (2006)
Breaking and Entering (2006)
Shut Up & Sing (2006
Black Sheep (2006/I)
All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (2006)
Penelope (2006)
Wild West Comedy Show: 30 Days & 30 Nights – Hollywood to the Heartland (2006)
DOA: Dead or Alive (2006)
Bobby (2006)

See a lot of sure-fire winners in there? A lot of movies that Blockbuster should be paying up-front for?

I always thought that Blockbuster’s lame and much delayed response to Netflix was a sign of really poor management. If you needed any further proof, this is it. Don’t be surprised if Blockbuster doesn’t even exist ten years from now.

If you leafed through the ad circulars in your Sunday paper, you probably saw big ads for the new PS3 being run by the big box electronics stores. They were pretty funny.

What’s so funny, you ask? Remember, Sony admitted in September that they would only have 2 million PS3 units total for Japan and the U.S. before the end of 2006. And that they would only have 400,000 PS3’s in the U.S. for launch. So let’s do some quick math.

There are roughly 750 Best Buy stores, 630 Circuit City stores, and depending on what you believe from Wikipedia, somewhere between 2,200 and 3,300 Wal-Marts. If these three retailers were the only people selling the PS3, that means that each store would have (on average) between 85 and 111 PS3 units on hand when it goes on sale this week. And even if somehow Sony actually hit its 2 million target (which they’ve already admitted they might not), and gave none of these consoles to Japan, American retailers could expect, at most another 555 units to come in between now and New Year’s Day.

The reality, of course, is that most stores will get nowhere near that many units to sell because there are lots of other electronics and game retailers who will get stock and Japan will suck up a good bit of the available supply. So the average retailer is likely to have many, many fewer than 500 units to sell for the rest of the year.

And if you want a clue as to how low that number could be, the fine print in the Circuit City circular promised that each store would have a minimum of 15 PS3s at launch.

Meanwhile, the PS3 has already launched in Japan, where the full supply of 80,000 units sold out in a couple of hours. Many of these were speculators who are re-selling the PS3 for up to 4x sticker price. For the most depressing stat, see Last Boss, which notes how few games were actually bought.

Update: Galley Brother B.J. suggests that since the total number of games sold in Japan seems to be less than the total number of PS3s sold, either: (a) The PS3 is so expensive that consumers can’t afford to own both the system and games, or (b) Many of the PS3s were bought not by consumers, but by speculators.

If the answer is (b), isn’t this how bubbles are blown?

Update: Forget all of that math up top. Reports are now that Sony will have closer to 750,000 units in the U.S. total beforee the end of the year.

And this site lets you check inventories in your area. Around me, most Best Buys are claiming that they’ll have between 26 and 60 unites; Wal-Marts 10-25; EB Games/Game Stop 5-20; Targets will have between 5 and 15 units.

Thanks to Galley friend P.L. for sending the realtor’s link to Troy Aikman’s home in Plano, Texas, which is up for sale. The pricetag is $4.9 million (does that include closing costs?). Hefty in this market, sure, but it does come with a six-car garage, six fireplaces, and, if you click on to the photo gallery, a lovely entertainment room complete with pool table and a glass case to fit all your Super Bowl trophies.

On the heels of the runaway success of Borat, Sacha Baron Cohen has signed on to the Tim Burton-directed Sweeney Todd–as Pirelli.

Not since Phantom of the Opera came to the big screen has there been such great news.

Can we get over SBC already? Please? Or do we all have to pretend that he’s the greatest comic genius in the history of the world for another couple of years before his schtick gets old? Because eventually, he’s going to come back to earth and settle somewhere in the firmament between Chevy Chase and Robin Williams.

Looks like White Power Bill has dirty ears!

Against my better judgment, I’m going to predict that Let’s Go To Prison is more Arrested Development than Up Periscope. Because it’s got a topless Chai McBride and the line, “I ain’t gonna lie to you, this next part is gonna feel like someone’s parking a Greyhound bus . . .”

Bonus: Where, oh where, is Warden Gentles? Also, I let my fists do the fisting.

The John Basedow myspace page. Oh, and turn your speakers up, because the theme song may or may not be the work of The Hasselhoff.

So here’s what pisses me off: ESPN is running a caption this morning saying, “Think Jersey was pumped Thursday night? The Empire State Building glowed Scarlet red and unbeaten Rutgers rocked third-ranked Louisville 28-25, ruining a Big East national title darling.”

So how is it that Rutgers, which is undefeated, has ruined the national title hopes of another undefeated team from the same fucking conference!?!

If you don’t love this Rutgers team, then there’s something wrong with you. For sobbing out loud, their kicker, Jeremy Ito, is nicknamed “The Judge.”

No, I have not dropped off the face of the planet. Nor have I sunk into a postelection depression. But I have been mired in an iTunes dilemma: A few months ago, I finally left America Online. But while I had an AOL account, I purchased 77 songs from the iTunes store. Now that I no longer have this account, those 77 songs have been “deauthorized.” They cannot be played on my computer or on my iPod. If I click on the track, a message tells me as much and says I need to enter the password for my AOL account. Which I no longer have. So I enter the old password and, big surprise, it is treated as invalid. Please don’t tell me I have to repurchase those songs? (Okay, so maybe I won’t get Dan Hartman’s “Instant Replay” this time around.)

Just consider the above a public service in the event you are about to switch accounts. And if anyone knows a way out of this mess, let me know.