Yes, I'm continuing to post about women and the movie biz, a topic that right now is red hot in Hollywood. Today, Salon presents a fuller version of the chat in the new Elle magazine (the same issue that interviews me) that touches on the very issues raised by my Robinov story. Moderated by Lynda Obst, the power panelists were Universal president of production Donna Langley as well as a bevy of female producers, writers and/or directors: Nora Ephron, Laura Ziskin, Callie Khouri, Patty Jenkins, Cathy Konrad, Kimberly Piece, Andrea Berloff, and Margaret Nagle. Some of my favorite lines from their panel discussion:

Khouri: And yet, still, the good news is that whenever the annual meeting at the Directors Guild takes place, there's never a line for the women's bathroom. 
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Nagle: I'll never forget, I was working with this producer, and his kid would have an ear infection and he'd leave the meeting, and everybody would go, "Oh, God, he's so great." And I went, "If I took that call and left this meeting because my kid had an ear infection, I'd be fucking vilified." It would be over. There would be a call to my agent. I remember just thinking, "You're probably going to see your mistress. You're not going to the kid with the ear infection." 
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Ephron: Every so often when I speak at film schools, and I'm at a table with a group of almost entirely timid women. I ask them what they want to do, and they timidly tell me that they want to be directors. And the one thing I know is that if you want to direct a movie, you have to be possessed. You have to be insane. And that's to direct your first movie. You have to be out of your mind to get the second or the third or the fourth. And it doesn't get any easier for anybody but Steven Spielberg.
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Ziskin: I want to say one thing. What is extraordinary is that the movies are arguably the most powerful medium ever in history so far. And there are so many of us that you could get a quorum at this table. You don't have to have the intention of influencing your work by your gender, but you're going to. That's a really good thing. It's really good for the culture that women are a real voice more and more, even though we're not the final say, like those guys who really control all the media in the world. We're still influencing. We can take the Spider-Man movies as an example. Kirsten [Dunst] and I used to joke about it, but as the women in the mix we really influenced the content of lots of things in that movie because we were in there saying, "Wait a minute." [Had we not been there], it would still have been as successful, but it would have been different.

Normally, I wouldn't bother to delve into this. But I feel it's important for my readers to know that Warner president of production Jeff Robinov had many opportunities to deny my Friday posting that he'd articulated a new decree to three different producers that "We are no longer doing movies with women in the lead", that a male has to be the lead of every pic made, and that he doesn't even want to see a script with a woman in the primary position. I stand by my story, Warner's Robinov Bitchslaps Film Women. Now here's what happened behind the scenes. (more...)

SUNDAY AM: The Game Plan scored another touchdown for Disney this weekend as The Heartbreak Kid opened to only $14 million from 3,299 theaters. I hear the exit polls were "awful" and the pic received only "C's"' from Cinemascore. No wonder Ben Stiller's R-rated comedy mustered only $4.7 million Friday and $5.5 million Saturday. That's way less than the $20 mil hoped for by Paramount / DreamWorks. "If it's less than $17 million, it's a disappointment," an insider told me before the weekend. Not helping box office, the remake also received lousy reviews (only 34% positive according to Rotten Tomatoes). But what elevated the 1972 original was the intriguing Jewish guy-shiksa goddess subtext, and now it's just slapstick crapola from the Farrelly brothers who didn't strike a There's Something About Mary chord with audiences. Never a good sign when people are way more excited about seeing DreamWorks' Sweeney Todd trailer that's paired with the film. How humiliating for the pic to fall to No. 2 by Sunday since Disney's family fare The Game Plan picked up momentum at the Saturday kiddie matinees for a $16.3 mil weekend. It made $4.4 million Friday and $7.3 million Saturday from 3,205 dates and fell only 29.1% its second weekend out for a new cume of $42.8 mil. Just for the record, The Game Plan was one of only six films this year to get a pure "A" rating from Cinemascore. It also scored well on the college circuit since The Rock is a fave.

In 3rd place, Universal's war thriller The Kingdom fell the normal 45% its second weekend in release, earning $9.3 mil from 2,802 runs. Its new cume is only $31.3 after a disappointing opening of $17.1 mil since the studio had been hoping for at least $20 mil. But now Uni execs acknowledge that it may be too difficult selling war-themed movies this season. (Warner Indie's In The Valley Of Elah is really struggling to find an audience.) One problem was that The Kingdom scored best with older males -- exit polling showed 64% of moviegoers were over 30 -- and not enough young people wanted to see the film. Some think that Jamie Foxx may still not be a serious enough actor to carry this kind of film, Oscar notwithstanding. "He's more Cuba Gooding Jr than Denzel Washington," one insider told me.

Screen Gems / Sony's Resident Evil 3 came in 4th place, taking in $4.3 mil from 2,848 plays for a new cume starting its 3rd week in release of $43.4 mil.

Two newcomers broke into the Top 10. TriStar / Sony's "reggaeton" music and dancing pic Feel The Noise from producer Jennifer Lopez made $3.4 mil Friday from only 1,015 theaters. I'm not at all sure why this movie opened in such a limited release except for the lousy reviews; I think it could have gone wide this weekend because of its very catchy ad campaign. And Fox Walden's The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising is a flop, earning a disastrous $3.7 mil from 3,141 venues. So much for Walden's attempt at a fantasy franchise based on a five-book series Susan Cooper started in the 1960s. (This is the second volume. Walden bought the books and produced the pic, Fox co-financed and distributed it.) Guess Fox has four more books of the beloved series left to get it right.

Meanwhile, George Clooney's legal thriller Michael Clayton opened in limited release. Playing in 15 theaters, it earned $700K for the weekend, with the best per screen average Saturday of $19,136.

Overall, box office was down 26% compared to last year's. Here's the Top 10 chart:

1. 1. The Game Plan $4.4M Fri, $7.3M Sat, and est $4.6M Sun. (cume $42.8M)
2. 2. Heartbreak Kid $4.7M Fri, $5.5M Sat, and est $3.4M Sun. ($14M)
3. 3. The Kingdom $2.9M Fri, $3.9M Sat, and est $2.5M Sun. ($31.3M)
4. 4. Resident Evil 3 $1.2M Fri, $1.8M Sat, and est $1.2M Sun. ($43.4M)
5. 5. The Seeker $1.1M Fri, $1.5M Sat, and est $1M Sun. ($3.7M)
6. 6. Good Luck Chuck $1.1M Fri, $1.4 Sat and est $950K Sun. ($29M)
7. 7. Feel The Noise $1.1M Fri, $1.3M Sat and est $925K Sun. ($3.4M)
8. 8. 3:10 To Yuma $900K Fri, $1.3M Sat, and est $815K Sun. ($48.6M)
9. 9. The Brave One $650K Fri, $1M Sat, and est $550K Sun. ($34.2M)
10. 10. Mr. Woodcock $650K Fri, $925K Sat, and est $475K Sun. ($22.3M)

The Band's Visit has just swept Israel's Ophir Awards (the equivalent to that country's Oscars) so this means it should be Israel's submission for the Academy Award's Best Foreign Language Film. But even with the Kodak Theater ceremony still 5 months away, there's already controversy in this category. Rivals are claiming that the political movie, about an Egyptian police band that mistakenly ends up stranded overnight in a small Israeli town, has more than 50% English dialogue and therefore must be ruled ineligible for the nomination. Israeli film critic Yair Raveh has been following the scandal on his blog (alas, in Hebrew) and reports that The Band's Visit producers, backed by Sony Pictures Classics (who bought the Cannes award winning film's foreign rights) insist the English dialogue is less than 50%. The Israeli motion picture academy says it's the producers' call, not theirs. That has infuriated rivals who are calling on the local academy to check into the matter before the film is officially submitted. Sony Classics may also enter the pic's Israeli writer and director Eran Kolirin in the Best Original Screenplay category. The Band's Visit, of course, just had its North American premiere at Telluride and Toronto. "As someone who's been following Israeli cinema for the past 15 years," Raveh emails me, "I've yet to see a local film getting such glowing international reviews." If it does become one of Oscar's Foreign Language nominees this year, it will be the first Israeli film to do so since 1984's Beyond the Walls. To date, six Israeli films have been Oscar nominees, but an Israeli movie has yet to win. Interestingly, The Band's Visit will participate in the Middle East International Film Festival held in October in Abu Dhabi.

I'm told there are two tough Hollywood business pieces in the works: the Los Angeles Times is looking at The Weinstein Co, and The New York Times is working on an MGM article. Interesting how every weekend MGM gripes not-so-privately about having to distribute Harvey & Bob's box office crap -- except for hits 1408 and Halloween, of course. And also fascinating how Harvey recently chose one of his lap dog media outlets, the New York Post, to keep reassuring Wall Street and Hollywood that his company isn't in the serious trouble many people think it is. Meanwhile, TWC isn't helping Harv's "counter the negativity" campaign by seeming to dump rather than distribute those losers which the indie movie company is contractually on the hook to release on its own. (Examples of this keep coming to me by email... Oy vey.) But eerie how the problems of the two companies are so similar: both releasing way too much bad product, both caught in the credit crunch, both unable to recapture the magic that made them legendary. 

SUNDAY AM: It's been gals, gals, gals galore at the box office this weekend. The third film in Sony/Screen Gems' franchise, Resident Evil: Extinction, did even better than expected as the highest debuting gross of the franchise, showing that America still loves this R rated scifi series and its star Milla Jovovich. The No. 1 pic opened to $9.6 mil Friday and $8.6 mil Saturday in 2,828 theaters for a $24 mil weekend -- more than  the $20 mil my box office gurus were hoping for. This weekend was the battle of the glamour girls. As for Jessica Alba's Good Luck Chuck, the jury is still out whether she's a bonafide movie star. (We already know Dane Cook isn't. Remember his flop, Employee Of The Month?) The No. 2 Lionsgate laugher debuted to $5.1 Friday and $5.2 mil Saturday from 2,612 venues, with its weekend total a softer $13.8 mil. Sometimes the sexy actress whose poster is on every young guy's wall just can't make it on the big screen, and that may be Alba's problem. As well as the fact this was her first comedy. On the other hand, proven leading lady Jodie Foster's feminist chick flick The Brave One hung on for 3rd place for its 2nd weekend in release, making $7.4 mil from 2,755 dates. That's a decent drop of 45% and new cume of $25 mil. 

In 4th place, Lionsgate holdover 3:10 To Yuma, starring Christian Bale and Russell Crowe, made $6.1 mil in 2,902 theaters for a new cume of $37.6 mil. Focus Features' Eastern Promises with Viggo Mortensen and Naomi Watts opened wide in 2,902 plays after platforming last weekend: it was #5 with a $5.6 mil weekend from 1,404 venues. No. 6 was Amanda Bynes' tween/teen comedy Sydney White from Universal. It debuted very weakly with just $5.3 mil from 2,104 venues.

New Line's unfunny Mr. Woodcock only went down 43% its second weekend in release and made $5 mil from 2,237 runs; it has a new cume of $15.7 mil. Sony's hit Superbad, the low-cost coming of age comedy from Judd Apatow, hangs in after six weeks in release for #8, earning $3.1 mil from 2,305 theaters for a new cume of $116.1 mil. At No. 9, Universal's The Bourne Ultimatum has a giant new cume of $220.3 mil after making $3 mil from 2,009 plays. Finishing out the Top 10, Freestyle's holdover Dragon Wars squeezed out $2.5 mil this weekend from 2,246 runs.

Among newcomers, Warner Bros platformed Brad Pitt's Oscar-touted The Assassination of Jesse James in five theaters; with an excellent per screen average of as much as $11,844 on Saturday, it debuted to $142K. But the Sean Penn written and directed Into The Wild based on a true story and book played in only 4 theaters (NY and LA) and outgrossed Brad’s pic 2-to-1 with $206K and enjoyed a tremendous per screen average of 21,084 Saturday, the highest ever for Sean. This, and the R rated Paramount Vantage pic's positive reviews, should increase its Oscar chatter. Continuing the slow slide of the chick flick, Sony Classics' The Jane Austen Book Club opened in 25 venues and eked out only $141K with a lousy per screen average of at most $2,538 Saturday.   

New Info Throughout: It's always an event when she comes out with a film, since she's one of the few Hollywood actresses still consistently able to open a pic these days. But can Jodie Foster do it again with The Brave One which received only mixed reviews? Problem is, this is a dark R-rated morality tale / revenge pic and not the wider appeal PG-13 thriller Flightplan was. I say The Brave One's box office prospects are more on the order of Foster's similarly feminist themed The Accused from 1988. Worse is the way The Brave One has been promoted: producer Joel Silver has taken to calling it a “muscular chick flick” which I think is a huge mistake. Not only are chick flicks failing at the box office, unless they're of the lite variety like The Devil Wears Prada, Warner Bros still can't market anything except big bloated blockbusters. All of the above is why my box office gurus expect The Brave One to finish the weekend No. 1, but, while some see a $20 mil domestic gross from 2,755 theaters, others expect only high teens ($17 mil). That's still enough to put Foster head and shoulders above that other Oscarwinner Nicole Kidman box office-wise. The analysts say Lionsgate's 3:10 To Yuma in 2,667 dates should keep a good -40% hold on its audience for #2. In the third spot should sit yet another new bomb from New Line, the PG-13 horribly reviewed Mr. Woodcock with Billy Bob Thornton, lucky to reach $10 mil from 2,231 venues though one of my analysts thinks it won't get past $6 mil. "This is a huge disaster since I udnerstand that the film had major reshoots and ended up costing around $45 million," he told me. "Given the genre and cast it won't do anything in foreign so it's a big writedown for New Line." (And, I have to ask, why in the world is Oscarwinner Susan Sarandon in this piece of crap?) Sony's Superbad should take 4th place starting its 5th week in release in fewer dates, only 2,910. But it could have competition from Dragon Wars optimistically projected to make $4.5 mil in 2,269 venues.

Promising newcomers whose performance is worth watching are Focus Features' well-received Eastern Promises starring Naomi Watts and Viggo Mortensen under the direction of David Cronenberg playing in only 14 theaters, and Paul Haggis' Oscar touted In The Valley Of Elah, starring Tommy Lee Jones and Charlize Theron, which Warner Independent is platforming in 9 runs. Meanwhile, there's the expected mixed reception to Julie Taymor's Across The Universe romantic musical told through Beatles songs (since Sony controls that catalogue) which opens in 23 theaters this weekend. Much was made of the pre-release brawling between Taymor, producer Joe Roth of Revolution Studios, and distributor Sony over the length and content of the pic. (See my own story about it, Across An Alternate Universe.) As one insider told me, "She only cut four minutes. So everybody lost." Finally, The Hunting Party starring Richard Gere is only widening to 40 theatres this weekend. I'm told it was supposed to go to 600 "but given last week's opening it appears that The Weinstein Co is dumping the film," an analyst tells me.

Summer TV is usually a seemingly endless wasteland of network repeats and reality shows. But Summer 2007 gave us some of the best scripted series ever on cable with the return of TNT's The Closer, TBS' The Boys, even USA Network's Monk and Psych. I know newcomers TNT's State Of Grace, Lifetime's Army Wives, Side Order Of Life and State Of Mind have their admirers, but I'm not one of them -- although each of these series is still above average. Instead, like everyone, I jumped on AMC's Mad Men bandwagon for all the obvious reasons: quality production, quality scripts, quality cast. Not only is Jon Hamm mesmerizing as a cross between Clive Owen and Bruce Willis, but Vincent Kartheiser is surprising as Topher Grace's evil twin. Just seeing recurring themes like sexism, anti-Semitism and homophobia from that specific time and place, plus attitudes about adultery, alcohol, smoking and therapy, is a valuable history lesson in how the hell we got into the societal mess we're in today. Funny how inconsequential the actual business of advertising is to the heart of this drama by Sopranos producer Matthew Weiner, but that can rectified during the second season. And there must be a third and fourth sooner rather than later.

My other favorite summer scripted series is USA Networks' Burn Notice which gifts us again with a new and improved Jeffrey Donovan (since he was unwatchable in 2004's Touching Evil) born to play a disaffected spy. Any character written to preen, with a sniper aiming at him, "How Do I Look? Good, right?" and then proffer his jacket's Armani label, is my kind of hero. And, for once, the girlfriend role is not just scribbled in as an afterthought: Gabrielle Anwar -- who knew she could act? -- plays tougher than the guys. Granted the show is an espionage version of Magnum P.I. set in Miami, but it's been the right relief for the summer TV blahs. Since it's also better than anything on NBC's fall schedule except Heroes, I suggest that when Bionic Woman fails, and it will, replace it with Burn Notice. Or Psych. Dead air would even be better.  

MONDAY AM: Overall, the top films for the Labor Day weekend made $141.6 mil, which smashed 2003's previous record of $132.2 mil and did 15% better than 2006's $123 mil. That's going to cause Hollywood to take a fresh look at releasing a lot more new product during this 4-day holiday which studios have traditionally shunned. The holiday was in keeping with what I've already reported: that Summer 2007's over-heated overall domestic gross set a new all-time record (though not adjusted for inflation or ticket prices). Media By Numbers puts the May 1st through September 3rd figure at $4.180 billion -- compared to $3.850 billion for 2006 and $3.95 billion for 2004. Revenue is up 8.57% and attendance up 3.82% over last year. Not only was this Hollywood's first $4 billion summer, but it crossed 600 million tickets sold for the first time since 2004 (though not close to the 653 million tickets sold during the Summer of 2002).

Moviegoers flocked to the three decades old Michael Myers horror franchise as the reimagined Halloween debuted to $11.1 mil on Friday and $8.6 million on Saturday and $6.9 million on Sunday at 3,472 theaters. The R-rated pic directed by Rob Zombie and based on the chilling 1978 original made a better than expected $26.7 mil for the 3-day weekend and should climb to $33.3 mil for the 4-day Friday through Labor Day. It's the biggest pure horror or thriller opening of the year, ahead of Disturbia and TWC's own 1408. That's also a new record for biggest Labor Day holiday 3- and 4-day domestic gross as well as biggest Friday gross for a Labor Day holiday (previous best Labor Day weekend opening was Transporter 2 with $20.1 mil, non-opening was Sixth Sense with $29.1 mil). As I'd predicted, the so-called ninequel did collapse 23% Saturday once audiences got wind of the terrible buzz. Still, it's a rare and welcome Dimension Film hit for embattled The Weinstein Co and distributor MGM, which is sick of getting fleas from TWC's many dogs.) No. 2 was Sony's low-cost coming of age comedy Superbad, falling out of the top spot for the first time since its release three weeks ago. The Judd Apatow-produced laugher made $3.4 mil Friday and $4.2 mil Saturday and $4.7 mil Sunday from an expanded run of 3,002 for a $12.3 mil 3-day weekend. Its 4-day holiday is $15.6 mil and its cume surged past $92.1 mil.

Rogue Pictures / Focus Features' Balls Of Fury, with a marketing campaign unfunny to the extreme despite the presence of Christopher Walken, limped into 3rd place with an opening of $3.4 mil Friday and $4.1 mil Saturday (up 20%) and $4.7 mil Sunday from 3,052 dates for a new 3-day weekend gross of $11.3 mil and 4-day holiday of $13.8 mil. The other newcomer to crack the Top 10 was 20th Century Fox's Death Sentence starring Kevin Bacon: it debuted in 8th place for the 3-day weekend of $4.2 mil from 1,822 theaters, but fell to 9th for the 4-day holiday of $5.2 mil.

No. 4 went to Universal's The Bourne Ultimatum with a hefty new cume of $202.6 mil after squeezing out another $10.3 mil for the 3-day weekend and $13.1 mil for the 4-day holiday from 3,290 venues. Overseas, the Matt Damon strarrer stayed strong for an estimated $15.1 mil at 2,404 dates in 31 territories and a new international total of $75 mil. It had No. 1 openings in 6 territories including Australia where it is dominating the market with 60% market share. But it was DreamWorks Animation's Shrek the Third that ruled at the international box office in the final summer weekend with $17.2 million. Brett Ratner's Rush Hour 3 from New Line has made $122.5 mil after its $8.5 mil 3-day weekend and $10.4 mil 4-day holiday from 3,008 plays -- good enough for #5.

In 6th place sits Rowan Atkinson's Mr. Bean's Holiday after the Universal laugher eked out $5.9 mil for the 3-day weekend and $8.1 mil for the 4-day holiday from 1,765 venues for a new cume of $21.1 mil. The 7th spot went to The Weinstein Co's slacker The Nanny Diaries with Scarlett Johannson. After a paltry $5.2 mil 3-day weekend and $6.7 mil 4-day holiday from 2,636 dates, this MGM-distributed pic's new cume is a disastrous $16.8 mil. War from Lionsgate starring Jet Li dropped a whopping 71% at the box office Friday compared to its opening a week ago: its new cume is a disappointing $18.1 mil after finishing the 3-day weekend in #9 with $4.2 mil and moving up to #8 for the 4-day holiday with $5.3 mil. Finishing the Top 10, Paramount's romantic fantasy Stardust hung in for a 3-day weekend of $3 mil and a predicted 4-day holiday of $3.9 mil from 1,766 runs; but its new cume starting four weeks in release is just $31.9 mil, thus cementing its status as a flop. 

Halloween is arriving awfully early this year, but moviegoers have flocked to this franchise ever since 1978 when Michael Myers first began causing havoc. (I doubt they'll care that this weekend is the wrong holiday.) My box office gurus expect the R-rated Halloween 9, directed by the aptly named Rob Zombie, to treat more than trick the box office over Labor Day weekend with $20+ million from 3,472 theaters. Finally, The Weinstein Co's long drought hit-wise should ease modestly thanks to this reimagined horror pic from its Dimension Films. (What a relief to distributor MGM.) Sony's low-cost coming of age laugher Superbad from mogul Judd Apatow's comedy wheel expands into 3,002 venues (+54%) and should finish in 2nd place; its cume is already $75.1 mil going into its third weekend in release. My analysts expect Rogue Pictures' extreme sports spoof Balls Of Fury opening in 3,052 runs to occupy 3rd despite some of the unfunniest ads I've ever seen. Universal's The Bourne Ultimatum and New Line's Rush Hour 3 should place 4th and 5th respectively.

Reminder: DHD will be posting box office this holiday weekend but little else.

So you're a mogul, and you and the wife have split. She stays in the big Brentwood or Beverly Hills home with the kids. You could bunk at the Malibu manse but that's an awfully long commute from Broad Beach or Point Dume. So if you're Paramount boss Brad Grey, United Talent Agency chairman Jim Berkus, actor / writer Larry David, music producer David Foster, and manager / producer on hiatus Brian Medavoy, you move into Santa Monica's Pad-O-Moguls, better known as The Hollywood Halfway House. That white building on Ocean Avenue right near Wilshire Blvd -- I'm withholding the exact address -- is an apartment house specializing in short-term rentals. Short-term because these guys are recently separated or divorced and have put off buying a new house. "It's just a bunch of rich guys walking around a very expensive, well-run place right on the ocean," one of them tells me. "We don't hang out. I wish I could say we even do a lot of business together, but I don't see a lot of them. I go in and up the elevator straight to my apartment." There aren't wild and crazy parties even though NBC Universal Entertainment co-chairman Ben Silverman, who's famously single, also lives there. "I must not live next door to Ben. I don't hear the water gurgling from his bong," one of them told me. Meanwhile, I'm told that when Larry David moved in after splitting with his environmental activist wife Laurie, "he went to all the rooms and turned on all the lights."

I can tell you that David Geffen is denying a throwaway line inside a Wall Street Journal article today about big ticket homes for sale claiming that he "has quietly shopped his historic 9.4-acre Los Angeles estate for $100 million, according to a broker who has shown the property". Indeed, sources tell me that Geffen turns down offers, including those in excess of $100 mil, all the time for the famed Beverly Hills mansion that was formerly owned by Hollywood mogul Jack Warner in the 1930s. Geffen purchased it for $47.5 mil and spent another $45 million renovating it, including $20 million on landscaping. (As one journalist wrote, "He may be the only mogul who has ever made Xanadu smaller.) Since Geffen has owned it, the house has played a pivotal role in the charitable and political life of Los Angeles: the mansion that Bill Clinton stayed in has most recently been used for Barack Obama's fundraising.

I just heard that Universal won the negotiations and acquired (not just optioned) The New York Times No. 1 non-fiction bestseller Lone Survivor and Navy Seal author Marcus Luttrell's underlying life rights for seven figures. (I hear $2 million upfront, plus 5% against adjusted gross, as well as other payments.) This follows a frenzied Hollywood bidding war that included Sony, Warner and DreamWorks (which really wanted the book for Steven Spielberg and Michael Bay). I'm told that Barry Spikings brought the project to Akiva Goldsman, who in turn took it to Pete Berg. Putting Spikings and Goldsman on as producers, Uni bought the book for Berg who'll be writing and directing this as his next project for his Film 44 production company. He, of course, is the director of the upcoming The Kingdom about a team of U.S. government agents sent to investigate the bombing of an American facility in the Middle East. Uni made that pic as well as United 93; that helmer Paul Greengrass is adapting Rajiv Chandrasekaran’s book about the Green Zone in Baghdad, Imperial Life in the Emerald City, for the studio as well. How interesting that liberal Hollywood was so hot for this latest patriotic tell-all by a proud conservative. Book agent Ed Victor and Hollywood lawyer Alan U. Schwartz of Greenberg Traurig brokered the Lone Survivor deal. This seems to be another in what is a growing trend in the movie business to bring events about post-9/11, Iraq/Afghanistan and the troops into the plots of its pics. See my previous: Patriotic War Book Heats Up Hollywood

Sony's Superbad had a better than expected Sunday so the official weekend total is now $33 mil, not just $31 mil. "We had an exceptional hold, one of the best I have ever seen, and it looks like we will be only down about 2% off of Saturday's number." See my previous: 'Superbad' Trounces Competition & Helps Summer 2007 For Record

 

SUNDAY AM: It was the 6th "up" weekend in a row in overall summer box office which looks increasingly likely to set a new record for 2007. Summer to date's domestic box office revenues of $3.82 billion (Media By Numbers) this year already have passed 2006. So the all-time record for May 1st through Labor Day is certain to go down since 2004 was the precedent setter with $3.95 billion. Sony's Superbad helped by doing supergood at the domestic box office this weekend as the studio told me Judd Apatow's low-cost coming of age comedy opened with a surprisingly big $31.2 million from 2,948 theaters. "It trounced all expectations," a studio source explained. This is the only time a summer movie released after August 15th has gone over $30M. The breakdown of moviegoers seeing Superbad was 52% male and 48% female, with 60% of the debut weekend audience between the ages of 18-30. Once again, the comedy wheel from the fertile mind of mogul-in-the-making Apatow and his buddies produced another sweet but raunchy laugher that both young and older moviegoers want to see after months of bloated blockbusters. Instead of hundreds of millions, Superbad cost only $20M. For weeks the pic's awareness level tracked lower than had been hoped, but great reviews made the difference for $12.3 mil Friday and $10.4 mil Saturday and a projected $8.4 mil Sunday. Here's the rest of the updated box office: Sick Of Bloated Blockbusters, Filmgoers Flock To Small Teen Comedy 'Superbad'