Simpson: Cash Helped Murder Acquittal

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- O.J. Simpson says that without the money to pay for a "dream team" of lawyers, he would not have been acquitted of murder charges.

In an interview with Playboy magazine nine years after his trial, Simpson repeatedly vowed he was innocent of killing his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ronald Goldman.

"I didn't commit the crime. That is why I got off," he said. "I feel in my heart that I got off because I was innocent. But I don't know if I could have proven my innocence if I didn't have the money. And that's a shame. Yes, it is a shame that in this country it costs so much to get good representation."

In the wide-ranging interview published in the current issue of the magazine, Simpson also disclosed that after his acquittal he smoked marijuana in order to get to sleep.

"My drug of choice now is Vioxx," said Simpson, who suffers from arthritis. "When I got out of jail, I kind of appreciated pot more than I ever had in my life."

Simpson was acquitted of murder charges in the 1994 slayings of his ex-wife and Goldman. A civil jury later held Simpson liable for the killings and ordered him to pay the victims' survivors $33.5 million.

BLOCKBUSTERS & BUSTS

This has been the wacky summer that Hollywood slept with the fishes, and pirates plundered the box-office gold.

It isn't just that bottom-feeders Albert Brooks and Ellen DeGeneres - in the animated smash "Finding Nemo" - turned out to be a hotter team than Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez in the megabomb "Gigli," which disproved the adage that there's no such thing as bad publicity.

Who would have thought Johnny Depp - a critics' fave but never hugely popular - in something called "Pirates of the Caribbean" would outdraw everyone from Jim Carrey to Harrison Ford, even giving Keanu Reeves' Neo and the much-hyped "The Matrix: Reloaded" a run for the money?

Some of the summer's other notable winners and losers:

WINNERS

* IF YOU FILM IT, THEY WILL COME: Kevin Costner came back from the dead by giving Robert Duvall top billing - and most of the dialogue - in "Open Range," an old-fashioned western that abandoned the New Agey-schmaltz that had turned off even Kevin's remaining fans.

* HASTA LA VISTA, BABY: "Terminator 3" gave the waning Arnold Schwarzenegger his biggest paycheck ($30 million) and biggest opening in a decade - so he decides to run for governor. Well, that's California for you.

* MAYBE NOW HUBBY CHRISTOPHER GUEST WILL HIRE HER: Jamie Lee Curtis, relegated of late to cameos in "Halloween" sequels, scored a critical and box-office success stepping into "Freaky Friday" when Annette Bening bowed out during shooting.

* MOVIEGOERS WITH HORSE SENSE: "Seabiscuit" turned out to have some of the season's longest legs at the box office - dispelling nagging doubts that moviegoers don't have the patience for well-told stories.

* NOT IN THE MOOD FOR "BAD BOYS II"?: Audiences disgusted with vile mainstream schlock flocked to art-house hits like "28 Days Later," "Capturing the Friedmans," "Whale Rider," "Swimming Pool," "Dirty Pretty Things," "Camp" and "The Secret Lives of Dentists."

LOSERS

* THERE'S ALWAYS ASHTON: Demi Moore tried to parlay a barely-legal romance into a comeback, but "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" tanked despite, or maybe due to, her tabloid notoriety.

* ODE TO BILLY BOB: Angelina Jolie attempted to hype the sequel "Lara Croft: The Cradle of Life" by trashing her husband and the first movie, as well as turning U.N. ambassador. Didn't work, didn't work, didn't work.

* JULIA ROBERTS CAN RELAX: The disappointing numbers for "Legally Blonde 2" proved we might have been too quick to crown Reese Witherspoon the new queen of romantic comedy.

* JULIA ROBERTS CAN RELAX (II & III): Ditto for Kate Hudson, who did even worse with "Alex and Emma," which also extended the once-hot Rob Reiner's losing streak as a director. Don't even mention Renée Zellweger and "Down With Love" to the folks at Fox.

* LET'S HAVE THE INDIANA JONES SEQUEL SOON: Harrison Ford stumbled badly with "Hollywood Homicide," while one-time screen dad Sean Connery didn't fare much better with the extraordinarily awful "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen."

* DON'T GIVE UP YOUR DAY JOB: Bob Dylan resorted to the pseudonym Sergei Petrov for the screenplay of the appalling "Masked & Anonymous." He should have tried the witness protection program.

Seinfeld Hits the CURB

Jerry Seinfeld has filmed a guest appearance on HBO's CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM. Seinfeld's appearance will occur in the season finale of next season; it will air sometime in 2004. "[Seinfeld] stopped by the set to visit," says an HBO spokeswoman, "and they decided to put him in the audience." In the episode, Larry David is making is Broadway debut.

Sting Takes 'Sacred Love' To Paris

Sting will unveil the material from his new A&M album, "Sacred Love," during a Sept. 22 concert at Paris' L'Olympia. The show will be open only to members of Sting's fan club, although the general public can register for tickets and membership for a limited time. "Sacred Love" arrives Sept. 23 internationally and Sept. 30 in North America.

Additional details have come to light about the set's companion DVD, to be released Oct. 6 internationally and a day later in North America. "Inside the Songs of Sacred Love" was taped in mid-May at Los Angeles' Mayan Theatre in front of invited guests and contest winners. As she does on "Sacred Love," Mary J. Blige joined Sting for the duet "Whenever I Say Your Name."

Material filmed at the Mayan will also be shown on the special "Sting: Sacred Love," airing in October on A&E. The video for the first single from the new album, "Send Your Love," premiered earlier this week on VH1.

Jones, Lang, Grant, McBride And Others On 'Remembering Patsy Cline'

Norah Jones, K.D. Lang, Amy Grant, Martina McBride, and Michelle Branch are just a few of the artists appearing on the upcoming tribute album Remembering Patsy Cline. The 12-track collection comes out September 9, one day after what would have been Cline's seventh-first birthday. Other artists appearing on the effort include Natalie Cole, Diana Krall, and Lee Ann Womack.

Cline died in a plane crash in 1963, at the age of 30.

Tracklisting for Remembering Patsy Cline:

Natalie Cole - "I Fall To Pieces"
Norah Jones - "Why Can't He Be You"
Amy Grant - "Back In My Baby's Arms"
Diana Krall - "Crazy"
Michelle Branch - "Strange"
Lee Ann Womack - "She's Got You"
K.D. Lang - "Leavin' On Your Mind"
Terri Clark - "Walking After Midnight"
Rebecca Lynn Howard - "You're Stronger Than Me"
Patty Griffin - "Faded Love"
Jessie Alexander - "So Wrong"
Martina McBride - "Sweet Dreams (Of You)"

No ID4 2 for Smith?

Dean Devlin and Rolan Emmerich's plans to resurrect ID4 for a sequel may hit a slight problem in the absence of the film's star. Will Smith insists that talks for a sequel to the 1996 film have fallen through and are unlikely to be resurrected. "I think that will never happen," he told Radio One. "It's Hollywood so you never know, you can never say never, but I'm pretty doggone sure that will never happen." Similarly pessimistic about sequel possibilities is Ashton Kutcher, who seems to think that Dude, Where's My Car follow up Seriously Dude, Where's My Car isn't high on his schedule. "Well, if Seann's in it, I'd do it," he said. "And Brad Pitt. And Meryl Streep, Robert De Niro and Tom Cruise - and then only if it's directed by Martin Scorsese and Cameron Crowe." That'll be a 'no' then will it?

IN CASE YOU FORGOT

New Line rereleasing extended editions of The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers two weeks before the December 17 release of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King to refresh filmgoers' memories, reports Variety.

'Freddy Vs. Jason' Remains No. 1 Flick

LOS ANGELES - A weak batch of new movies made easy prey for "Freddy vs. Jason," which took in $13.45 million to remain the No. 1 weekend flick, according to studio estimates Sunday.

"Freddy vs. Jason," a blood feud between the villains of "A Nightmare on Elm Street" and "Friday the 13th," was the first movie to retain the top spot for two straight weekends since "X2: X-Men United" in early May.

Years ago, big hits could linger at the top of the box office for weeks, but studios today focus on marketing blitzes to guarantee huge opening weekends before crowds drift on to the next blockbuster.

"This summer in particular we saw weekend after weekend with a new No. 1 film," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations. "That really speaks to the transitory nature of the business and audience habits. The shelf life of a movie is very short."

The year's top-grossing movie, "Finding Nemo," debuted at No. 1 in late May, slipped to second place the next weekend, then regained the top box-office spot in its third weekend.

"Finding Nemo" took in $1 million this past weekend, pushing its total domestic gross to $329.8 million. It has surpassed "The Lion King" ($328.5 million) as the top-grossing animated movie ever.

The weekend haul for "Freddy vs. Jason" raised its 10-day total to $61.5 million.

The best debut among new movies was for Jackie Chan's action comedy "The Medallion," which opened in fifth place with $8.2 million. Ashton Kutcher's romantic comedy "My Boss's Daughter" opened in 10th place with $5 million.

Executives of "The Medallion" distributor Sony and of "My Boss's Daughter" distributor Dimension Films said the movies were cheap enough that they still will turn small profits.

The Lisa Kudrow-Damon Wayans comedy "Marci X," which sat for more than a year on Paramount's shelves, opened with a dismal $865,000. The studio dumped it into a modest 1,200 theaters to boost its eventual home-video prospects.

Even with the weak slate of new movies, overall revenues were up sharply. The top 12 movies took in $86.2 million, up 33 percent from the same weekend last year, when box-office receipts petered out in a late-summer swoon.

This summer has closed with a surge of hits such as "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," "Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over," "Seabiscuit," "American Wedding," "S.W.A.T." and "Freaky Friday."

Revenues this year from early May through Labor Day should wind up squeaking past Hollywood's record $3.8 billion haul in summer 2002, Dergarabedian said. But that reflects higher ticket prices and actual admissions this summer will be 3 to 4 percent lower, he said.

Here are the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at North American theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Freddy vs. Jason," $13.45 million.
2. "S.W.A.T." $10.8 million.
3 (tie). "Freaky Friday," $9.4 million.
3 (tie). "Open Range," $9.4 million.
5. "The Medallion," $8.2 million.
6. "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," $7.3 million.
7. "Seabiscuit," $6.3 million.
8. "Uptown Girls," $5.6 million
9. "American Wedding," $5.58 million.
10. "My Boss's Daughter," $5 million.

Cult Band Ween Tries Indie Route with 'Quebec'

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Ween spent most of the previous decade as one of the strangest bands on a major-label roster, recording a series of unclassifiable records for Elektra that included elements of country, rock, psychedelia and classic pop.

But while the duo of Aaron "Gene Ween" Freeman and Mickey "Dean Ween" Melchiondo has achieved cult status around the world, its Elektra tenure came and went without a major commercial breakthrough.

If you ask Ween's members, that's just fine. "We held up our end of that dysfunctional relationship," Melchiondo says. "We never contacted them, and we never kissed anybody's ass. We probably could have done better if we had, but it's just not our style."

Band and label mutually parted ways after the 2000 release of Ween's fifth studio album for the label, "White Pepper," which reached No. 2 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart and sold 77,000 copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan. Ween's best seller for Elektra, 1994's "Chocolate and Cheese," sold 203,000 copies.

Lifelong friends Freeman and Melchiondo spent more than two years writing the material that would make up their new album, "Quebec."

Ween considered several label options, including releasing the disc on its own Chocodog imprint, but ultimately inked a worldwide deal with Sanctuary, which released "Quebec" Aug. 5. The album debuted last issue at a career high of No. 81 on the Billboard 200.

"At this point, we don't need a major-label push," Freeman says. "We just need a company that is going to stick around, and if something does get big, they can handle it."

The group is using its newly independent status to develop its own proprietary software, WeenAmp, which will allow fans one-click access to a streaming radio station, chat and message boards and a peer-to-peer service for trading live concerts. Ween manager Greg Frey says WeenAmp will be available as a free download from ween.com.

"It will be everything in one little icon, just constantly updated," Freeman enthuses. "One day, there may be a message from us with a free demo. Or, if we want to sell something, we can do that."

As a teaser to this new world of possibilities, Ween played an all-request live Webcast July 22 via weenradio.com, after having taken submissions from its online fan community. "Quebec" was streamed on that site Aug. 1 and again the day the album went on sale.

"They wanted to keep it all about the fans," Sanctuary senior director of marketing Meg Harkins says. "They know their fan base better than anyone, and it's a pleasure to work with a group with such a strong artistic vision."

On "Quebec," that vision manifests itself as a tour through Ween's multiple musical personalities. Working with longtime producer Andrew Weiss for the first time since 1997's nautical-themed "The Mollusk," the group pushed itself "to be more experimental," Melchiondo says.

"The last record we did with a band, so we were a little bit more organized. On this one, it's just about trying things out, because it's mostly Aaron and I playing all the instruments," he adds.

Although the set opens with the speed-rock assault "It's Gonna Be a Long Night," a number of tunes spotlight the more serious, tender side of Ween, including the wistful "Chocolate Town" and "I Don't Want It." Elsewhere, the group returns to its signature psychedelic sound on "The Argus," "Among His Tribe" and the pitch-modulated "Tried and True."

A seven-inch single with "Tried and True" and the B-side "Mountains and Buffalo" was shipped to independent retailers July 28.

Ween traditionally takes things to the extreme onstage, as evidenced by its two Chocodog-released live albums and an avid fan-taping community. It's common for the band to extend a tune's length in a live setting, as well as to incorporate infrequently performed songs in its set lists.

The group began a North American tour July 25 in Pittsburgh and will be on the road in the U.S. through November. European dates are on tap for later this year, followed by visits to Australia, New Zealand and Japan in early 2004.

Reflecting on this new chapter in the band's history, Freeman says he's proud that Ween recorded "Quebec" on its own terms. "We pulled some money together and worked on this record knowing we weren't on Elektra. Now, we're signed with Sanctuary, and we just gave them a full, completed album. That is a good thing."

'Reloaded' Hits $730 Million Worldwide

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "The Matrix Reloaded," the second installment in the mind-bending Keanu Reeves trilogy, has hit $730 million at the worldwide box office.

The tally for the Wachowski brothers' film consists of $450 million in ticket sales overseas and $280 million domestically, Warner Bros. said Friday.

The film, which rolled out in nearly all foreign territories, except for Japan and Russia, in May following a gala screening at Cannes on May 15, currently ranks 13th on the all-time worldwide box office chart, according to the Internet Movie Database. With its international rollout nearly completed, it is lodged between 1982's "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial," in 12th place with $757 million, and 1994's "Forrest Gump," in 14th with $679 million.

The film's 1999 predecessor, "The Matrix," did $456 million worldwide. The final installment, "The Matrix: Revolutions," opens domestically on Nov. 5.

"Reloaded" was the first film in history to gross more than $100 million in a single weekend internationally. It is also the biggest-grossing R-rated movie on both the domestic and international charts.

Among 2003 releases, its nearest competitor is the Jim Carrey comedy "Bruce Almighty," whose worldwide take stands at $427 million. Among all-time champs, "Reloaded" falls far below top-ranked "Titanic," which earned $1.8 billion worldwide following its Dec. 1997 release.