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The Morning Fix: ‘Dragon Tattoo’ roaring! FCC considers new rules.

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After the coffee. Before trying to mail it in for the last two days of the week.

The Skinny: I’m debating whether to get my own dragon tattoo. Send me your thoughts. Thursday’s headlines include a look at the coming weekend box office, more developments in the investigation of the activities of News Corp.’s now-closed News of the World tabloid and the FCC may issue some new rules for the media industry.

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Comic Relief?
At a screening I hit a few days ago of the new ‘Mission: Impossible’ movie, a trailer for next summer’s ‘G.I. Joe: Retaliation’ was met with oohs and ahs from the audience in response to some of the amazing stunt work. However, that awe turned to amusement when the face of Bruce Willis popped up and guffaws started to ring out in the theater. Who knows, maybe Paramount’s sitting on a sleeper comedy instead of a tent-pole action flick.

Making its mark. ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ got high marks from viewers who flocked to its opening earlier this week. The David Fincher-directed movie, which opened on 2,700 screens, took in a decent $1.6 million at the box office. The performance is giving Sony hopes that it may be more competitive with Warner Bros.’ latest ‘Sherlock Holmes’ movie than had been anticipated. However, the big winner this holiday weekend is expected to be Tom Cruise’s latest ‘Mission: Impossible.’ More from the Los Angeles Times.

The plot thickens. The Wall Street Journal reports that the police in London arrested one of their own Wednesday as part of their probe into whether law enforcement officials accepted bribes from News of the World operatives in return for scoops. Former News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks previously told Parliament that the paper had paid the police for information. Here’s a clip of that for your viewing pleasure.

Regis who? Kelly Ripa and an assortment of guest co-hosts are having no problem keeping ratings up for ‘Live with Kelly’ in the weeks following Regis Philbin’s departure from the morning chat show. According to the New York Times, compared with a year ago, ‘Live’ is up 12% among all viewers and up 14% among women 25 to 54 years old.

New rules coming. Broadcasting & Cable says the Federal Communications Commission is expected to announce it has voted on new media ownership rules. Among the expected changes is a relaxation of the rule prohibiting a company from owning a TV station and newspaper in the same market.

What’s ahead in 2012. Variety looks at some of the big legal fights that may reach a conclusion in 2012. Among the battles which could reach a conclusion is Viacom vs. YouTube and The Hollywood Foreign Press Association and Dick Clark Productions over who has TV rights to the Golden Globe Awards.

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Inside the Los Angeles Times: Lions Gate and Saban Capital are teaming up with Celestial Partners on a new venture to create pay-TV channels in Asia. A look at the top-rated cable networks of the year.

-- Joe Flint

Follow me on Twitter. I just passed the 10,000-tweet mark and at least 9,000 of them were funny. Twitter.com/JBFlint

The Morning Fix will take Friday and Monday off but will return Tuesday. Happy holidays.

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