LOS ANGELES - A judge approved an agreement calling for Sony Pictures Entertainment to pay $1.5 million to settle a class-action lawsuit accusing the studio of citing a fake movie critic in ads for several films, an attorney said Tuesday.

Well, I guess that's one way to generate buzz about your movie. In reality, though, shouldn't the fact that the movie producers had to fabricate positive reviews from fictional critics tell them that maybe the movie itself wasn't all that good?

And people wonder why Hollywood box office earnings are down. Not that anyone puts a whole of stock in those "Fantastic" and "Funniest movie of the year" slugs that seem to be omnipresent in movie advertising.

Apparently, because of this lawsuit, Sony has to give everybody who saw one of the movies in question in the theater is entitled to $5.00 from the settlement.

Moviegoers who saw the films "Vertical Limit," "A Knight's Tale," "The Animal," "Hollow Man" or "The Patriot" during their original theater runs must file a claim to be eligible for a $5 per ticket reimbursement, said lawyer Norman Blumenthal, who represented a group of filmgoers who sued Sony Pictures in 2001.

Any funds remaining after claims are satisfied would go to charity, he said.

Sony Pictures declined comment. The studio did not admit any liability under terms of the settlement.

If you're one of these people I suppose you could file a claim (if its worth your time to collect on that $5.00). I believe this is the law firm that handled the case. You could probably contact them to learn how to file a claim.

Update by likwidshoe: Big payday for lawyers - the attorneys got $458,909, $250,000 went to administrative fees and to alerting people that they were "victims", and $494,915 was donated to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation and the Women's Care Cottage in Los Angeles. Only $5,085 went to the "victims".