May The Ringtone Be With You

“Once limited to song samples and hip-hop clips, mobile phone ringers increasingly are featuring memorable movie quotes, including dialogue from titles as varied as “Napoleon Dynamite,” “Office Space,” “Without a Paddle” and “Meet the Fockers.” Although the new trend may make customized cellphone ringers even more annoying than ever, they hold the promise of delivering new profits to the studios. Ring tones, as the personal ringers are called, have become a $3-billion worldwide boon for record labels, and Hollywood’s studios and labor unions are now trying to figure out if the movie ring tone market is anywhere near that large.”