With only two months left in a rough year, Warner Bros. may have caught some good fortune with "The Departed," Martin Scorsese's bloody film about the mob in Boston. The film has brought in $91.1 million in the U.S., and is likely to do well overseas and when it is released on DVD later. Critics loved the film.

It has been a comparatively long time since Warner's last big successes like "Harry Potter" and "The Matrix." Both movies came out with sequels as well, giving them "legs," as they say in L.A.. It's true that "Superman Returns" has brought in almost $200 million this year, but it was also very expensive to make, weighing in at $270 million.

Warner Bros. may be coming to the conclusion that smaller is better. Pictures like "Superman Returns" and "Poseidon" are so costly that getting a decent return may be nearly impossible.

If Warner stays away from very expensive films and has a few modest successes over the next couple of quarters, the management at the studio may avoid being the departed themselves.

Douglas McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.

Good news, owners of TWX stock! Not only are you going to enjoy the benefits of more reality television, more syndicated re-runs and more pithy "commentary" from observers like myself, you're also going to be getting a nickel.

That's right, yesterday, the Board of Directors of Time Warner declared that owners of Common Stock will receive $0.05 a share, in cash, on June 15, 2006.

Huzzah!

So, the big question is, how many shares of stock would I have to own (which I don't---I don't own any TWX) in order to take advantage of the following Warner entertainment options:

As the summer movie season (4 months) kicks off on May 5 with Mission Impossible III, Hollywood studios are likely waiting with baited breath to guage the summer box-office potential.

To qualify the importance of the summer box-office season.  The four months from roughly May to August contribute up to 40% of the annual ticket sales.  Annual ticket sales being in the neighborhood of $3.6 billion (2005), $3.9 billion  (2004).

Studios are hoping for a record year, as year-to-date box-office revenues are already up 6.7% at $2.6 billion.  With many of the major studios putting out at least one blockbuster ($200 million ) hope for the summer season, Hollywood could see a crowning year even before we enter the Winter Season.

The line-up looks like this: Movie : Studio : Company : Opening Date

M:I:III : Paramount   :  Viacom (VIAb) : May 5
Poisedon : Warner Bros : Time Warner (TWX) : May 12
Da Vinci Code : Sony Pictures : Sony (SNE) : May 19
Over the Hedge : Dreamworks SKG : Viacom (VIAb) : May 19
X-Men: The Last Stand : FFE : News Corp (News) : May 26
The Break Up : Universal : General Electric : June 2