Still reeling from a flurry of bad press on its PlayStation 3 gaming console, Sony isn't eager to claim this honor. A studio spokesman angrily rejects the $350 million estimate as a "complete fabrication," insisting that production costs didn't exceed $270 million. One of the film's producers, Laura Ziskin, also disputes the higher total, albeit in a less forceful manner. "I refuse to say the [real] number because it makes me choke," she tells Radar. Spider-Man 3 was a super-expensive movie—the most expensive film we've ever made. But there's no way you can get to $300 million."

Reports of Sony's record-breaking gamble have created a stir among entertainment insiders, seeming to evoke some combination of schadenfreude and envy. "Those are crazy numbers," remarks one leading industry figure.

Unfortunately, Ziskin was prevented from disclosing the actual number and enjoying a heady moment of publicly owning the coveted title of Producer Of The Most! Expensive! Movie! Ever! Made! (upon hearing the news, Jerry Bruckheimer will undoubtedly command his Pirates 3 crew to fire $100 million out of a cannon and into the churning sea, putting the competition safely out of reach), when studio head Amy Pascal sensed a disturbance in the Moviemaking Force, and with a pantomimed pinching of her profligate minion's throat, constricted Ziskin's trachea from afar, releasing the breath-stealing clench only when she was satisfied Sony's budgetary shame would go undisclosed to the meddling reporter.

• The Most Expensive Movie Ever Made [Radar]

They may seem calm now, but Oscar telecast producer Laura Ziskin made a threat. Setting a piece of paper on fire, she paraphrased humorist Will Rogers, who said it takes three weeks to write a good off-the-cuff speech, adding, "If you bring paper onstage at the Oscars, you'll be playing with fire."

Ziskin continued to read from the flaming paper, further demonstrating how each additional name thanked from a winner's already burning list would result in a seat-filler being dragged onto the stage and publicly set aflame. But after the charred bodies of a handful of cater waiters standing in for the awards night victims began to clutter the dais and emit an appetite-hampering odor, the producer knew that her point about the Academy's commitment to keeping this year's speeches brief had been effectively delivered.

• Oscar luncheon: A high-voltage, low-key affair [USA Today]