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When I heard that Rupert Murdoch’s fourth marriage was not going to last long enough to get to the seven-year itch, it brought back vivid and somewhat unsettling memories of his previous marital split from the remarkable Wendi Deng.

Why I would ever have anything to do with Rupert Murdoch’s marital problems is a valid question and one I asked myself at the time.

Murdoch had married Deng, more than 30 years his junior, in June 1999. In June 2013, when the world learned that the marriage had foundered, The Hollywood Reporter had not picked up the news with the speed that our editor at the time deemed sufficient. As she gazed at the editorial staff gathered around a conference table that morning, her displeasure seemed to lower the temperature in the room by at least 15 degrees. “How can we advance this story?” she asked.

Mobile games company Jam City revealed on Wednesday that it has acquired Canadian game development studio Ludia for $165 million.

Ludia is led by co-founder and CEO Alex Thabet and known for original mobile games based on internationally recognized franchises, such as Jurassic World: The Game, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, DreamWorks Dragons: Titan Uprising and more.

“The synergy between Ludia’s imagination, polish and innovative game mechanics with Jam City’s data science platform creates the perfect marriage between our two companies and adds significant value to their deep, rich entertainment experiences,” said Chris DeWolfe, co-founder and CEO of Jam City....

The best game design school in the country, alma mater for some of the folks behind ThatGameCompany, Oculus Vr, “The Stanley Parable,” “Threes,” and “Walden, a Game,” is kicking off its own video game expo in May, the University of Southern California told Variety.

The inaugural USC Games Expo, which takes place on May 9, doesn’t just highlight a slew of student-created games, but the rising importance of mobile games and the need for more game developers. The event is being presented by mobile game developer and publisher Jam City and will feature about 50 games from USC Games, a collaboration between the university’s School of Cinematic Arts and the Viterbi School of Engineering. While USC Games has for years held a demo day for its Advanced Games Projects program, this is the first time the university is demonstrating games from across all elements of the Games’ program.

“This is...

Jam City and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced today that six actors from the Harry Potter franchise will return to reprise their roles in the upcoming mobile game Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery. Dame Maggie Smith will return as Professor McGonagall, along with Michael Gambon as Professor Dumbledore and Warwick Davis as Professor Flitwick. Jam City and Warner Bros. also debuted new images of these actors, alongside their avatars representing how their characters will be seen in the game. Here's what Dame Maggie Smith had to say in a brief statement.

"If I could attend Hogwarts as a student, I would be most excited to attend the potions class taught by Severus because it is the most exotic."

Other Harry Potter stars returning for this game are Sally Mortemore (Madam Irma Pince), Gemma Jones (Madam Pomfrey) and Zoe Wanamaker (Madam Hooch). Jam City and Warner Bros. also confirmed that the global...

"The choices you make will define your Hogwarts story."

If you're a big Harry Potter fan, there's a new role-playing mobile game coming that you're gonna want to get in on! It's called Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, and we have a trailer for you that provides a detailed look at what the experience will be like for players.

The game comes from Jam City and the story is set in the 1980s. "In the time between Harry Potter’s birth and his enrollment at Hogwarts, when Nymphadora Tonks and Bill Weasley were students. The avatar customization system allows you to continually upgrade your avatar as you gain new expertise and magical skills – you can even choose your own pet. You will join one of the four Houses before progressing through your years at Hogwarts, participating in magical classes and activities such as Potions and Transfiguration. Building your skills will come...

Today, Jam City, a Los Angeles based mobile games studio, in partnership with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, revealed new details for Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, including the game's first teaser trailer. Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery is the first game in which players can create their own character and experience life as a Hogwarts student. In the roleplaying game, players will create a personalized student avatar, attend classes, learn magical skills, form friendships or rivalries with other students, and make pivotal decisions that will influence their character's story arc as they traverse their years at Hogwarts and grow as a witch or wizard. The game will launch under Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment's Portkey Games, a label dedicated to creating gaming experiences inspired by the magic and adventures of J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World.

Before launching this spring, the title will be introduced to fans at the upcoming A Celebration of Harry...

Michael Lynton, Sarah Barnett, Van Toffler and David Nevins are among featured speakers at TheWrap’s annual media leadership conference TheGrill. Acclaimed photographers Joel Bernstein (left) and Neal Preston (right) with filmmaker Cameron Crowe (center). Photographed by Emma McIntyre at TheWrap. Sharon Waxman, CEO & Editor-in-Chief, TheWrap Photographed by Emma McIntyre at TheWrap YouTube star and professional gamer Adande “sWooZie” Thorne Photographed by Emma McIntyre at TheWrap. Nonny de la Peña, co-founder & CEO, Emblematic Group Photographed by Emma McIntyre at TheWrap Chris DeWolfe, co-founder & CEO, Jam City Photographed by Emma McIntyre at TheWrap. Vince Cacace, founder & CEO, Vertebrae Photographed by Emma McIntyre at TheWrap Tim Molloy,...

TheWrap’s seventh annual media, tech and entertainment conference TheGrill kicks off at the Montage Beverly Hills. TheWrap’s Sharon Waxman introduces TheGrill 2016. Redef CEO Jason Hirschhorn speaks to TheWrap’s Sharon Waxman. Redef CEO Jason Hirschhorn speaks on stage at the Montage Beverly Hills. Jam City CEO Chris DeWolfe and Niantic Cto Phil Keslin discuss the wild success of “Pokemon Go.” YouTuber and professional gamer Adande Thorne, a.k.a. sWooZie, discusses gaming at TheGrill. DeWolfe, Keslin, Thorne speak to TheWrap’s Tim Molloy. Pwc’s Derek Smith presents exclusive research on the rise of Hispanic media consumption. Virtual reality execs Peter Girardi,...

One of the biggest companies in mobile is changing its name — Sgn is out, and Jam City is in. Sgn, which was short for Social Gaming Network, is rebranding because its name was a “corporate acronym that lacked the spirit of our products,” CEO Chris DeWolfe said in a statement. The new, punchier name for the 500-person company harnesses “the success of our games — particularly, our ‘Jam’ game franchise — to animate our studio’s identity.” The newly minted Jam City has been responsible for several major mobile successes, including licensed titles like “Marvel Avengers Academy” and “Family Guy: The Quest.

Former MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe’s Los Angeles-based gaming company Sgn has acquired the mobile game maker TinyCo, the company announced on Tuesday. TinyCo, the Andreessen Horowitz­-backed San Francisco studio is led by CEO Suli Ali, and is the company behind mobile games such as “Marvel Avengers Academy” and “Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff.” Ali will remain the leader of TinyCo’s 125-person staff, growing Sgn to a size of 400 employees. “Suli and TinyCo realized early on the enormous potential of mobile in this industry, and they foresaw the massive opportunities for gaming in entertainment,” DeWolfe said in a statement.

"Million Dollar Listing" star Josh Flagg just made $1 million off his Beverly Hills fixer-upper without so much as laying down a single nail, and he has MySpace to thank for it.  Flagg sold the joint to the social networking site's co-founder Chris DeWolfe -- not the Tom guy -- for just under $6 million. Flagg bought the house 4 months ago for around $5 mil with intentions of flipping it, but he quietly put the word out he'd...

Considering how big a part social networking platforms play in internet users’ everyday lives, it would seem a reasonable proposition to say that tailored Free2Play gaming represents a major opportunity for developers to engage with massive static audiences.

Unfortunately, anyone releasing Facebook games are invariably faced with the stigma of how a good deal of users view Farmville (still a great game though) or those goddawful recruitment based games that lead only to endlessly banal updates polluting your feed. Amazingly, not everyone cares about what crops your growing in your imaginary world there, friend: maybe keep the updates to yourself.

But, there are games available on Facebook that are genuinely entertaining, and which offer an alternative to staring blankly at your feed until someone updates about what their cat had for tea. Or how incredible it is to be a parent…

10. Adventure World

The first Zynga game to feature...

Congratulations, you've bought MySpace and its 77 million users. Now what do you do with it? That depends greatly on whether you're advertising network Specific Media, private equity firm Golden Gate Capital, or MySpace co-founders Chris DeWolfe or Tom Anderson, each of whom is putting together a group of bidders for the failed social network. News Corp. is expected to make the deal by Wednesday morning for  $35 million, making the price per user some 45 cents. Also read: MySpace Expected to Sell for $35M By Wednesday  That 77 million users is quite a large...

(Updated, 5:44 p.m.) News Corp. is expected to close a deal to sell MySpace for $35 million by Wednesday morning, an individual with knowledge of the discussions told TheWrap. Negotiations for the troubled social media site accelerated on Tuesday among four bidders, the individual said.  Among those in the hunt for the troubled social media company are MySpace co-founders Chris DeWolfe and Tom Anderson. They may submit separate bids with private equity partners contributing backing. Bidders for the company also include Specific Media, an advertising network, and Golden Gate Capital, a private equity firm. News...

By Christopher Stipp

The Archives, Right Here

I was able to sit down for a couple of years and pump out a book. It’s got little to do with movies. Download and read “Thank You, Goodnight” right Here for free.

Check out my new column, This Week In Trailers, at SlashFilm.com and follow me on Twitter under the name: Stipp

We Live In Public - DVD Review

There’s a moment in We Live In Public (Now out on DVD) in which Josh Harris, an Internet wunderkind who saw the convergence of our online and everyday lives meshing long before any of us delighted in the joy of broadband service, makes an underground lair. Now, as founder of Pseudo.com, one of the very first sites to ever make video on the Internet available in the late 90’s, he wanted to push the sociological and psychological boundaries of what we would consider voyeuristic.

Award-winning director Ondi Timoner's latest documentary is a captivating look at our growing dependence on the Internet.

When you got up this morning, did you immediately update your Twitter account? How many pictures of you are tagged on Facebook? When was the last time you posted a video on YouTube? If you answered "yes, a lot, and recently," you're not alone. So here's one more question: As we continue to display our lives to the eyes of the World Wide Web, are we chipping away at our very notion of and right to privacy?

We Live in Public is a voyeuristic and captivating look at our growing dependence on the Internet, through the bizarre world of Internet entrepreneur Josh Harris as he rides the rise and fall of the 1990s dot-com boom and bust. A successful businessman-artist, Harris was one of the most eccentric characters of Silicon Alley, carrying...