Jerry Lewis telethon raises record $61M
LAS VEGAS - Jerry Lewis' annual Labor Day telethon raised a record $61 million to fight muscular dystrophy, bolstered by a huge donation from a group of firefighters and the lack of a major hurricane before the show.
"We did good," said Lewis, 80, looking choked up as the final figure, $61,013,855, flashed across the tote board Monday. "I can only thank you from the bottom of my heart for so many little people that can't thank you, can't show their appreciation in any way."
Leading the contributors was the International Association of Fire Fighters, which donated a record $23.5 million.
The previous record for the telecast, which has raised $1.4 billion to fight the disease since 1966, was set in 2003. That year, supporters gave $60.5 million.
The following years were marred by hurricanes, including last year, when Katrina knocked out television stations along the Gulf Coast and donors focused on hurricane support. The telethon raised $54.9 million to battle muscular dystrophy last year.
"I think there was a great sense of relief that there weren't any storms," said Bob Mackle, Muscular Dystrophy Association spokesman.
The broadcast, which returned to Las Vegas this year after 11 years in Los Angeles, began Sunday evening and was carried on 190 stations in the United States and Canada.
'Invincible' repeats as No. 1 movie
LOS ANGELES - Mark Wahlberg remained invincible at the box office over the long Labor Day weekend. Disney's "Invincible," with Wahlberg as a pro football rookie who makes the team in open tryouts, was the No. 1 movie for the second straight weekend, taking in $15.2 million from Friday through Monday, according to studio estimates. The movie lifted its 11-day total to $37.8 million.
Lionsgate's action tale "Crank," with Jason Statham as a hitman out for revenge while racing to find an antidote after he's poisoned, opened at No. 2 with $13 million.
Nicolas Cage's "The Wicker Man," a Warner Bros. remake of a 1973 thriller about a cop tracking a missing child on an eerie island, took in $11.7 million to debut in third place.
The weekend's other new wide release, Sony's basketball tale "Crossover," opened outside the top 10 with $4.5 million.
Two acclaimed films continued to expand to more theaters and scored again with audiences. Fox Searchlight's road-trip comedy "Little Miss Sunshine," starring Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette and Steve Carell, was No. 4 with $9.7 million.
Yari Film Group's "The Illusionist," starring Edward Norton and Paul Giamatti in a drama about a mysterious magician in early 1900s Vienna, expanded into wide release and broke into the top 10 with $8 million.
After gradually rolling out following debuts in a handful of theaters, the two films maintained the best per-theater averages among the top-10 movies. Playing in 1,602 locations, "Little Miss Sunshine" averaged $6,071 a cinema, while "The Illusionist" did $8,261 in 971 theaters.
In limited release, IFC Films' documentary "This Film Is Not Yet Rated" opened strongly with $41,664 in two theaters for a $20,832 average. The film, a harsh critique of Hollywood's movie ratings system, expands to more theaters through September.
Hollywood closed the summer with a solid Labor Day weekend, typically a slow time at movie theaters as students prepare to head back to school and families squeeze in last-minute barbecues and other outdoor activities. The top 12 movies took in $98.7 million, up slightly from the same weekend last year.
After domestic revenues went into a tailspin in 2005, Hollywood has rebounded with a sturdy year, with movie attendance rising about 3 percent compared to last summer.
"This was a summer that I think reflected the fact that people still want to go to the movies," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations. "We didn't break any records, but the box office is alive and well."
Here are the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Monday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures will be released Tuesday.
1. "Invincible," $15.2 million.
2. "Crank," $13 million.
3. "The Wicker Man," $11.7 million.
4. "Little Miss Sunshine," $9.7 million.
5. "The Illusionist," $8 million.
6. "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby," $7.7 million.
7. "Barnyard: The Original Party Animals," $6.4 million.
8. "Accepted," $5.9 million.
9. "World Trade Center," $5.8 million.
10. "Step Up," $5.5 million.
Stingray kills 'Crocodile Hunter' Irwin
CAIRNS, Australia - Steve Irwin, the hugely popular Australian television personality and conservationist known as the "Crocodile Hunter," was killed Monday by a stingray while filming off the Great Barrier Reef. He was 44.
Irwin was at Batt Reef, off the remote coast of northeastern Queensland state, shooting a segment for a series called "Ocean's Deadliest" when he swam too close to one of the animals, which have a poisonous barb on their tails, his friend and colleague John Stainton said.
"He came on top of the stingray and the stingray's barb went up and into his chest and put a hole into his heart," said Stainton, who was on board Irwin's boat at the time.
Crew members aboard the boat, Croc One, called emergency services in the nearest city, Cairns, and administered CPR as they rushed the boat to nearby Low Isle to meet a rescue helicopter. Medical staff pronounced Irwin dead when they arrived a short time later, Stainton said.
Irwin was famous for his enthusiasm for wildlife and his catchword "Crikey!" in his television program "Crocodile Hunter." First broadcast in Australia in 1992, the program was picked up by the Discovery network, catapulting Irwin to international celebrity.
He rode his image into a feature film, 2002's "The Crocodile Hunters: Collision Course" and developed the wildlife park that his parents opened, Australia Zoo, into a major tourist attraction.
"The world has lost a great wildlife icon, a passionate conservationist and one of the proudest dads on the planet," Stainton told reporters in Cairns. "He died doing what he loved best and left this world in a happy and peaceful state of mind. He would have said, 'Crocs Rule!'"
Prime Minister John Howard, who hand-picked Irwin to attend a gala barbecue to honor President Bush when he visited in 2003, said he was "shocked and distressed at Steve Irwin's sudden, untimely and freakish death."
"It's a huge loss to Australia," Howard told reporters. "He was a wonderful character. He was a passionate environmentalist. He brought joy and entertainment and excitement to millions of people."
Irwin, who made a trademark of hovering dangerously close to untethered crocodiles and leaping on their backs, spoke in rapid-fire bursts with a thick Australian accent and was almost never seen without his uniform of khaki shorts and shirt and heavy boots.
Wild animal expert Jack Hanna, who frequently appears on TV with his subjects, offered praise for Irwin.
"Steve was one of these guys, we thought of him as invincible," Hanna, director emeritus of the Columbus (Ohio) Zoo and Aquarium, told ABC's "Good Morning America" Monday.
"The guy was incredible. His knowledge was incredible," Hanna said. "Some people that are doing this stuff are actors and that type of thing, but Steve was truly a zoologist, so to speak, a person who knew what he was doing. Yes, he did things a lot of people wouldn't do. I think he knew what he was doing."
Irwin's ebullience was infectious and Australian officials sought him out for photo opportunities and to promote Australia internationally.
His public image was dented, however, in 2004 when he caused an uproar by holding his infant son in one arm while feeding large crocodiles inside a zoo pen. Irwin claimed at the time there was no danger to the child, and authorities declined to charge Irwin with violating safety regulations.
Later that year, he was accused of getting too close to penguins, a seal and humpback whales in Antarctica while making a documentary. Irwin denied any wrongdoing, and an Australian Environment Department investigation recommended no action be taken against him.
Stingrays have a serrated, toxin-loaded barb, or spine, on the top of their tail. The barb, which can be up to 10 inches long, flexes if a ray is frightened. Stings usually occur to people when they step on or swim too close to a ray and can be excruciatingly painful but are rarely fatal, said University of Queensland marine neuroscientist Shaun Collin.
Collin said he suspected Irwin died because the barb pierced under his ribcage and directly into his heart.
"It was extraordinarily bad luck. It's not easy to get spined by a stingray and to be killed by one is very rare," Collin said.
News of Irwin's death spread quickly, and tributes flowed from all quarters of society.
At Australia Zoo at Beerwah, south Queensland, floral tributes were dropped at the entrance, where a huge fake crocodile gapes. Drivers honked their horns as they passed.
"Steve, from all God's creatures, thank you. Rest in peace," was written on a card with a bouquet of native flowers.
"We're all very shocked. I don't know what the zoo will do without him. He's done so much for us, the environment and it's a big loss," said Paula Kelly, a local resident and volunteer at the zoo, after dropping off a wreath at the gate.
Stainton said Irwin's American-born wife Terri, from Eugene, Ore., had been informed of his death, and had told their daughter Bindi Sue, 8, and son Bob, who will turn 3 in December.
The couple met when she went on vacation in Australia in 1991 and visited Irwin's Australia Zoo; they were married six months later. Sometimes referred to as the "Crocodile Huntress," she costarred on her husband's television show and in his 2002 movie.
Some stations want cursing out of '9/11'
NEW YORK - Broadcasters say the hesitancy of some CBS affiliates to air a powerful Sept. 11 documentary next week proves there's been a chilling effect on the First Amendment since federal regulators boosted penalties for television obscenities after Janet Jackson's breast was exposed at a Super Bowl halftime show.
"This is example No. 1," said Martin Franks, executive vice president of CBS Corp., of the decision by two dozen CBS affiliates to replace or delay "9/11" — which has already aired twice without controversy — over concerns about some of the language used by the firefighters in it.
"We don't think it's appropriate to sanitize the reality of the hell of Sept. 11th," Franks said. "It shows the incredible stress that these heroes were under. To sanitize it in some way robs it of the horror they faced."
Actor Robert De Niro hosts the award-winning documentary, which began as a quest to follow a rookie firefighter on an ordinary day but resulted in the only known video of the first plane striking the World Trade Center and horrific and inspiring scenes of rescue, escape and death. CBS will show it on Sept. 10 from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. EDT, profanity intact.
Carter G. Phillips, a lawyer for Fox Television Stations Inc., cited the decision by several CBS affiliates to replace the documentary or show it after 10 p.m., the time at which the Federal Communications Commission loosens restrictions, when he spoke last week to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan.
Phillips addressed the court as part of a hearing on whether the FCC rushed to judgment in concluding that "NYPD Blue" and three other programs violated decency rules.
Saying the FCC was chilling free speech rights, Phillips mentioned the documentary to show the court how timid broadcast companies had become since the FCC toughened its position toward profanities after the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show on CBS, in which Jackson's breast was briefly bared.
Congress recently boosted the maximum fines the FCC can impose for indecency from $32,500 to $325,000.
So far, about a dozen CBS affiliates have indicated they won't show the documentary, another dozen say they will delay it until later at night and two dozen others are considering what to do.
On Friday, Sinclair Broadcasting became the latest company to say it was delaying the broadcast until after 10 p.m. on its stations in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Portland, Maine, saying it was concerned it could face fines.
The announcement came as the Tupelo, Miss.-based American Family Association readied its 3 million members to flood the FCC and CBS with complaints after the documentary airs.
"This isn't an issue of censorship. It's an issue of responsibility to the public," said Randy Sharp, director of special projects for the group, which describes itself as a 29-year-old organization that promotes the biblical ethic of decency.
The documentary first aired on the six-month and one-year anniversaries of the Sept. 11 attacks on the trade center and the Pentagon. This latest showing, on the eve of the five-year anniversary, includes new interviews with many of the firefighters featured in the original, describing how their lives have changed.
Franks said it was an easy decision not to edit the language in the documentary, especially since it has won a George Foster Peabody Award, among others. "It was a much more difficult decision five years ago when the emotions were much more raw and fresh," he said.
Franks said it seemed "dishonest somehow" for the network to cover up the real language five years later because of the current regulatory environment.
However, he said he understood the difficulties of small stations that fear the huge FCC fines. "We're not twisting arms," he said.
FCC spokeswoman Tamara Lipper said the commission routinely takes context into account in any decency analysis.
"We don't police the airwaves. We respond to viewer complaints," Lipper said. "We haven't seen the broadcast in question. It's up to individual stations to decide what they should air or not air."
She noted that "the historical context of 9/11 is important to the context of the broadcast" but said she could not predict how the commission might view the show if it receives complaints.
Sharp promised on Friday that his organization would flood the FCC with complaints, saying nearly 198,000 people already had told the FCC they want the agency to "enforce the law should CBS decide to break it."
CBS is feeling the heat. "Even if all 206 stations decide between now and the 10th to air the program live, what we have gone through for the past two or three weeks is overwhelming evidence of the chill facing broadcasters," Franks said.
"Invincible" leads U.S. holiday box office
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Walt Disney Pictures' feel-good football movie "Invincible" led the North American holiday box office for a second weekend, ahead of new releases "Crank" and "Wicker Man," according to studio estimates issued on Sunday.
Because of the Labour Day holiday, data were sketchy. The studios will issue a fuller picture on Monday, and final ticket sales on Tuesday.
"Invincible," starring Mark Wahlberg in a true-life story about an underdog football player, sold about $11.9 million worth of tickets in the three days beginning Friday, said Disney. Its 10-day total stands at $34.5 million.
"Crank," starring English actor Jason Statham as a professional killer in a fight for survival, opened at No. 2, according to some rival studios, although figures were not available from the film's distributor, Lionsgate.
Warner Bros. Pictures' remake of the cult British thriller "The Wicker Man," this time starring Nicolas Cage as a cop investigating a girl's disappearance in a mysterious community, opened at No. 3 with $9.6 million.
Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin killed
BRISBANE, Australia - Steve Irwin, the Australian television personality and environmentalist known as the Crocodile Hunter, was killed Monday by a stingray barb during a diving expedition, Australian media reported. He was 44.
The accident happened while Irwin was filming an underwater documentary on the Great Barrier Reef in northeastern Queensland state, Sydney's The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported on its Web site.
The paper and other Australian media reporting the death cited police or state government sources.
Telephone calls to Australia Zoo, Irwin's zoo in southern Queensland, were not immediately answered.