· Lionsgate did what it could Thursday to usurp a little off-site luster from Comic-Con, announcing a greenlight for Saw VII. And it's a family affair: The franchise's production designer and fifth-installment director David Hackl will retake the reins, while Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton -- who wrote the three most recent Saw entries -- will return to contribute the screenplay. [Variety]
Dexter gets animated, another American Idol fortune is made, and more Hollywood Ink after the jump.
· Showtime hosted a Dexter panel yesterday in San Diego, where attendees learned that an animated prequel will accompany the upcoming season of the serial-killer hit. Michael C. Hall will provide the voice for Dexter's origin story, split into 12 parts on the series' Web site. And as a bonus for those of you anticipating John Lithgow's arc as "the Trinity Killer," the season-four trailer is available now. [The Live Feed]
· Showrunner Ken Warwick is the latest American Idol principal to cash in this summer, finalizing a three-year extension worth a reported eight figures -- coincidentally or not, one figure for each of its 2009 Emmy nominations. [Variety]
· It's nice to see things are getting back to dysfunctional basics at SAG, where Thursday's filing deadline for next month's election came and went with only one presidential candidate making an official bid. And it wasn't Alan Rosenberg. [THR]
· If it hadn't been for Owen Moody -- the San Diego man who pleaded guilty to uploading Slumdog Millionaire onto Pirate Bay and now faces three years' prison time and a $250,000 fine -- just think of how profitable and successful that film would have been worldwide. Wait. What? Oh. Well, whatever. Rot in hell, Moody. [THR, Esq.]