John Pearson's "Painfully Rich: The Outrageous Fortune and Misfortunes of the Heirs of J. Paul Getty" will be adapted for the screen by Robin Shushan, with Peter Berg (The Kingdom) set to direct.

The 1995 nonfiction book has a broader scope than the film, which will focus on the kidnapping of J. Paul Getty III, the oil billionaire's grandson.

The 16-year-old was abducted in July of 1973; his Calabrian kidnappers demanded $17 million in ransom. When October rolled around and the Getty patriarch still hadn't coughed up the cash, the kidnappers sliced off the teen's ear. That didn't sway Grandpa either, so the kidnappers reduced the ransom to a more palatable $3.2 million, which Getty reluctantly paid.  The boy was finally released in December.

 Diana B. Henriques' "New York Times" review called the Getty fortune "a dynasty founded on the seven deadly sins" (I see evidence mostly of greed and lust), and faulted the book for its "purple prose and unconvincing pop psychology."

Pearson has also written biographies of the literary Sitwell family, Winston Churchill, Edward VII and, um, James Bond.

The DreamWorks Tintin trilogy, due out in 2009, will be scripted by British television writer Steven Moffat (Jekyll, Dr. Who, Coupling).

Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg are each slated to direct a film in the trilogy; a third director has yet to be announced.

The beloved comic series on which the new films will be based, "The Adventures of Tintin," was created by Belgian artist Herge (real name: Georges Remi) and debuted in the newspaper "Le Vingtieme Siecle" on January 10th, 1929.

Tintin is an investigative reporter who travels to exotic locales like Tibet, Peru and even the moon, always  accompanied by his dog, Snowy. Joined by a gang of colorful supporting characters, the 23 complete stories have been adapted into films, television shows and video games several times over.

The Tintin trilogy will employ performance-capture technology, which will be familiar to viewers of Monster House and The Polar Express.

MGM is marshaling the forces of YouTube and Google to publicize Lions for Lambs, which opens November 9th and stars Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep and Robert Redford, who directed.

In the tradition of 'make your own commercials' (for everything from ketchup to cars) and 'ask the candidates a question' (your turn, Republicans), MGM has launched a "What Do You Stand For?" contest, calling for 90 second videos on the social issues people care most about.  So far, you can watch impassioned pleas to adopt a shelter animal, recycle, preserve wildlife, and allow same-sex marriage.

Visitors to the site can upload submissions and vote for their favorite entries. The most popular video will be announced on the film's opening day, with $25,000 going to the winner's charity of choice.

MGM's senior vice president of theatrical marketing, Amy Elkins, told Variety, "We really wanted to bring out the themes of the movie and tell a story in a relevant way. To do that, we wanted to look at the widest platform we could and build a community around the film’s message, namely 'What do you stand for?'"

In addition to building a community, MGM would probably also like to sell some tickets.