Spice Girls reunite for world tour

LONDON - The Spice Girls wannabe stars again.

Following a calculated publicity buildup, the original Girl Power group of the 1990s announced Thursday they had agreed to get together for 11 concerts around the world in December and January.

The shows will be their first concerts since breaking up in 2001, and the first with all five of the original group since Geri "Ginger Spice" Halliwell quit to pursue a solo career in 1998.

"Imagine you got divorced and you've got back together with your ex-husband," Halliwell said, explaining how she felt about the reunion.

"She just appreciates the fact we've let her back in," joked Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham.

The group said the shows would be in Los Angeles on Dec. 7; Las Vegas on Dec. 8; New York on Dec. 11; London on Dec. 15; Cologne, Germany, on Dec. 20; Madrid, Spain, on Dec. 23; Beijing on Jan. 10; Hong Kong on Jan. 12; Sydney, Australia, on Jan. 17; Cape Town, South Africa, on Jan. 20; and Buenos Aires, Argentina on Jan. 24.

Halliwell and Beckham joined with Melanie "Sporty Spice" Chisholm, Emma "Baby Spice" Bunton and Melanie "Scary Spice" Brown to pose for photos and announce tour plans.

"We wanted to say thank you to our fans. It just feels very right for us," Chisholm said.

"Obviously it's nostalgic. But equally, if new fans want to come along, that's fantastic," Halliwell said. "I like to think our songs are universal and they are timeless."

Fans stood outside the news conference, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Spice Girls.

"We found out about this going on and we decided to take a trip," said Nicola Seodon, 21, a shop worker, who traveled the 20 miles from Dartford to London.

"I was a big Spice Girls fan when I was 10 years old. I'll definitely buy their album and I never got to see a concert when they were still around, so this will be a great chance," she said.

The Spice Girls' first single, "Wannabe," was released in 1996 and topped charts in 31 countries. They went on to sell more than 55 million records.

But their last album, "Forever," released in 2000 and without Halliwell, fared poorly.

You could now call them the Spice Mums. Beckham said the tour would be designed to accommodate the band members' seven children. And Bunton is now pregnant with her first child.

"Our priority is going to be our families. We want to have fun," said Beckham, who has three sons with her husband, soccer star David Beckham. "That's one of the many reasons for this, for our children to see what we used to do. And I may be the cool one in the family for once."

EMI said it plans to release the first Spice Girls greatest-hits album in November. The group also plans to make their first official documentary for TV broadcast.

"It's going to be the most honest story that you've ever heard," Halliwell said. "You get to see the dark side of the Spice Girls, the gritty side, the tears."

'Evan Almighty' debuts with $32 million

LOS ANGELES - Steve Carell proved not nearly as all-powerful as Jim Carrey. "Evan Almighty," with Carell taking over for Carrey in a follow-up to the comedy smash "Bruce Almighty," debuted a solid No. 1 with $32.1 million, though that was less than half the $68 million opening of its predecessor, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Released by Universal, "Evan Almighty" has Carell as a new congressman instructed by God (Morgan Freeman) to build an ark for a coming flood.

Carrey's "Bruce Almighty" was an adult comedy, while the PG-rated "Evan Almighty" was aimed at a family crowd, which could give it longer shelf life, said Nikki Rocco, head of distribution at Universal.

"Family films have an incredible ability to just play and play," Rocco said. "I'm very optimistic about it playing out over the course of the summer."

"Evan Almighty" needs to hold up well in subsequent weeks to make good on its $175 million budget, an enormous sum for a comedy, resulting largely from costly visual effects.

If it can hold on in theaters and then score well overseas, on television and in home video, "Evan Almighty" could earn its money back, said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers.

"Opening weekend no longer is the only barometer by which you can determine whether or not a film can turn a profit," Dergarabedian said. "If it finds life in the foreign marketplace, on home video, all those revenue streams are really important. It just has to do well in the long term, then have life after its theatrical distribution."

The Stephen King adaptation "1408," a Weinstein Co. horror tale with John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson in the story of a man trapped in a hotel room with malevolent spirits, debuted in second place with $20.175 million.

Paramount Vantage's "A Mighty Heart," starring Angelina Jolie as the wife of kidnapped and slain journalist Daniel Pearl, had a so-so debut, coming in at No. 10 with $4 million.

Michael Moore's health care documentary "Sicko" got a head start on its nationwide debut Friday with an early opening at one New York City theater, where it took in $70,000 for the weekend.

"Sicko" also had sold-out sneak previews Saturday night at 43 other theaters around the country, where tickets were so in demand they were being scalped for as much as $40 each, said Harvey Weinstein, co-chairman of the Weinstein Co., which is releasing "Sicko" along with Lionsgate.

The early screenings were intended to get interest focused on the movie itself, rather than publicity over a U.S. Treasury Department investigation of Moore's trip to Cuba for the film to get medical care for ailing Sept. 11 rescue workers.

When notified of the investigation in May, the filmmakers worried the government might try to seize the film or impede its release.

"It's trying to get people talking about the movie, rather than the idea of the government trying to shut down the movie," Weinstein said. "It's saying to the government, 'Hey, this movie is out there being appreciated by people. Think twice before you try to confiscate or take any legal action.'"

The previous weekend's No. 1 movie, the 20th Century Fox sequel "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer," finished just behind "1408" with $20.15 million, raising its 10-day total to $97.6 million.

Like last month's "Spider-Man," "Shrek" and "Pirates of the Caribbean" sequels that opened big then took huge drops in subsequent weekends, revenues for "Fantastic Four" fell a steep 65 percent in the movie's second weekend.

Universal's comedy "Knocked Up" maintained strong word of mouth among audiences, pulling in $10.6 million, down just 24 percent from a weekend earlier. Ranking No. 5, "Knocked Up" raised its four-week total to $109 million.

Here are the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Evan Almighty," $32.1 million.
2. "1408," $20.175 million.
3. "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer," $20.15 million.
4. "Ocean's Thirteen," $11.3 million.
5. "Knocked Up," $10.6 million.
6. "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," $7.2 million.
7. "Surf's Up," $6.7 million. 8. "Shrek the Third," $5.8 million.
9. "Nancy Drew," $4.5 million.
10. "A Mighty Heart," $4 million.

AFI again rates 'Kane' as top movie

LOS ANGELES - The years have been kind to "Citizen Kane," including the last decade. The 1941 Orson Welles classic — the story of a wealthy young idealist transformed by scandal and vice into a regretful old recluse — was again rated the best movie ever Wednesday by the American Film Institute.

In the CBS special "AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Movies — 10th Anniversary Edition," "Citizen Kane" held the same No. 1 billing it earned in the institute's first top-100 ranking in 1998.

There were notable changes elsewhere, though, with Martin Scorsese's 1980 masterpiece "Raging Bull" bounding upward from No. 24 in 1998 to No. 4 on the new list and Alfred Hitchcock's 1958 thriller "Vertigo" hurtling from No. 61 to No. 9 this time.

Charles Chaplin's 1931 silent gem "City Lights" jumped from No. 76 to No. 11, while the 1956 John Ford-John Wayne Western "The Searchers" took the biggest leap, from No. 96 all the way to No. 12.

"The ones that made the huge jumps are really, really fascinating," said Jean Picker Firstenberg, chief executive at AFI, which has done top-10 lists every year since 1998 showcasing best comedies, thrillers, love stories and other highlights in American cinema.

"I'd like to think this entire series has had a real influence on what people think about a film like `City Lights,' `The Searchers,' `Vertigo.' Gotten them talking about these films and going back to watch them again, and if they've never seen them, to go watch them for the first time."

Francis Ford Coppola's 1972 epic "The Godfather" ranked No. 2, up one notch from 1998, switching places with Michael Curtiz's 1942 favorite "Casablanca," which dipped from second-place to third.

Both 1967's "The Graduate" and 1954's "On the Waterfront," which ranked Nos. 7 and 8 respectively in 1998, fell out of the top 10, "The Graduate" coming in at No. 17 and "On the Waterfront" finishing at No. 19.

The other five films in the new top 10 also were among the original 10 best, though they shuffled positions: 1952's "Singin' in the Rain (No. 5 now, No. 10 in 1998), 1939's "Gone With the Wind" (No. 6 now, No. 4 in 1998), 1962's "Lawrence of Arabia" (No. 7 now, No. 5 in 1998), 1993's "Schindler's List" (No. 8 now, No. 9 in 1998) and 1939's "The Wizard of Oz" (No. 10 now, No. 6 in 1998).

The top-100 were chosen from ballots sent to 1,500 filmmakers, actors, writers, critics and others in Hollywood from a list of 400 nominated movies, 43 of which came from the decade since the first list was compiled.

Of those newer films, only four made the top-100: 2001's "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" (No. 50), 1998's "Saving Private Ryan" (No. 71), 1997's "Titanic" (No. 83) and 1999's "The Sixth Sense" (No. 89).

Older films that did not make the cut on the 1998 list broke into the top-100 this time, led by Buster Keaton's 1927 silent comedy "The General" at No. 18. Others included 1916's "Intolerance" (No. 49), 1975's "Nashville" (No. 59), 1960's "Spartacus" (No. 81), 1989's "Do the Right Thing" (No. 96) and 1995's "Toy Story" (No. 99).

Some silent-era classics and other old films may have fared better this time because they are more readily available in good quality restorations in today's DVD age as opposed to the VHS days.

Films that dropped out of the top-100 this time included 1965's "Doctor Zhivago," which had been No. 39 on the 1998 list; 1984's "Amadeus," which had been No. 53; 1977's "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," which had been No. 64; 1990's "Dances With Wolves," which had been No. 75; and 1927's "The Jazz Singer," which had been No. 90.

"Close Encounters" director Steven Spielberg had the most films on the list with five, while Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick and Billy Wilder each had four. James Stewart and Robert De Niro were the most-represented actors with five films apiece.

In interviews for Wednesday's special, filmmakers and others in Hollywood told AFI they loved the behind-the-scenes story of "Citizen Kane" as much as the film itself, said Bob Gazzale, who produced the AFI show.

It was the first movie by Welles, who bucked studio and storytelling conventions to craft a landmark film about the rise and fall of a William Randolph Hearst-like newspaper publisher.

The film was ahead of its time, a dark tale whose brooding design, murky lighting, overlapping dialogue and ripped-from-true-life Hearst connection created an unnerving sense of realism.

"No one disputes it's a great American film, but what you hear from the great artists of our day is the love they have for this ideal of a young maverick making a movie like this, that a 25-year-old Orson Welles changed the fabric of cinema, and that that ideal still holds today of this jewel everybody reaches for," Gazzale said.

"It's not only the movie, but the embodiment of the man who broke all the rules to tell his story."

While AFI officials have not decided if they will continue the annual lists in coming years, Firstenberg said the institute will do a new list of all-time best American films every 10 years as a guide to changing tastes in future decades.

"With this new list, it became clearer the value of this program was to have five lists to chart rather than one 50-year-old list," Gazzale said. "It's not only celebrating the films again and driving people to see them again, but we get to see what's gone up, what's gone down."

Pumpkins lead summer CD releases

Two things we can't get enough of in summer: Good weather and good music.

We can't do much about the former but we can help with the latter.

Here are 20 CDs to add to your playlist between now and Labour Day. For those who want to check them out now, we've included links to online tracks.

Enjoy. But bear in mind, all of this info can change faster than the weather.

Kelly Rowland - Ms. Kelly

The Destiny's Child alum is supposedly so obsessed with her shoes she talks to them. Sadly, that's not the kind of soul we're looking for in her second album. July 3

Three 6 Mafia - Last 2 Walk

Is it hard out there for an Oscar-winning pimp-rap posse? We'll find out when the Mafia put out their first disc since their Hustle & Flow victory. (July 3)

Velvet Revolver - Libertad

Guns 'N Pilots fire off round No. 2. We hope the rest of it is better than the so-so leadoff single She Builds Quick Machines. (July 3)

Bad Religion - New Maps of Hell

Singer Greg Graffin says album No. 14 finds the SoCal punks "exploring new material -- musically and topically." And rockin' like a mutha, if the 85-second cut Heroes & Martyrs is a sign. (July 10)

Crowded House - Time on Earth

Neil Finn and Nick Seymour enlist help from Johnny Marr, Steve Lillywhite and more for their first disc in more than a decade. (July 10)

Interpol - Our Love to Admire

The New York hipsters move to a major label with this third CD but keep their spiky, dark-hearted post-punk sound intact on new single The Heinrich Maneuver. (July 10)

Smashing Pumpkins - Zeitgeist

Okay, it's really only a reunion of cueball bandleader Billy Corgan and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. But if the rest of the disc is as energized as Tarantula, we're good with that. (July 10)

Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

A confession: We always thought these artsy Austin pop-rockers were over-rated -- until we heard tunes from this sixth album. (July 10)

The Chemical Brothers - We Are the Night

Supposedly, this disc was delayed a month by production problems with the cover. That better be some freaking awesome art. (July 17)

Peter Criss - One For All

It has been 25 years since KISS's Cat Man put out a solo album. Nope, we didn't miss him either. (July 24)

Sum 41 - Underclass Hero

"We're doin' fine," sings Deryck on the title track to Sum's fourth set of Green Day-ish pop-punk. We'll be the judge of that, Mr. Lavigne. (July 24)

Korn - Untitled

Singer Jonathan Davis claims the rockers' eighth studio disc has no title because it "has no boundaries (and) no limits." And the cheque is in the mail. (July 31)

Deborah Harry - Necessary Evil

It's the Blondie singer's first solo disc in 14 years. If that's not enough, she's written a song about Lil' Kim called Dirty and Deep. (Aug. 7)

Kula Shaker - Strangefolk

Remember these guys? They're back. And based on their new tune Great Dictator, they've added some garage-rock grit and wry wit to their psychedelic rock. (Aug. 14)

M.I.A. - Kala

Can the Sri Lankan-born, London-based hip-hop phenom possibly top her first album? We don't know -- but if the real Bird Flu were as exotically catchy as her single, we'd already be dead. (Aug. 21)

The New Pornographers - Challengers

They say the third time's the charm. But really, how much more charming can Carl Newman and his Vancouver indie-popsters get? (Aug. 21)

Sixx A.M. - The Heroin Diaries

Motley Crue's ringleader Nikki Sixx has turned his wasted years into a book -- and a soundtrack. That's one way to recoup all that money you blew on drugs. (Aug. 21)

Ben Harper - Lifeline

The blues-rocker got back to basics for this disc, recording it in one week on analog equipment. Okay, it was done in Paris -- let the guy have a little fun. (Aug. 21)

Leann Rimes - Family

Rimes does Dusty -- with a dash of Skynyrd -- on the southern-rockin' single Nothin' Better to Do. Can't wait to hear the rest of it. (Aug. 28)

Guns N' Roses - Chinese Democracy

Ha! In your dreams, pal.

'Scrubs' Actress Back from Dead

Aloma Wright's character on "Scrubs" died two-thirds of the way through last season. Her job, however, did not.

Wright, who played the sarcastic, God-fearing nurse Laverne Roberts on the NBC comedy, will return to the show for its seventh and final year -- playing Laverne's twin sister. So says Variety, which notes that "Scrubs" creator Bill Lawrence "didn't want to take work away from an actor" and thus devised the twin idea.

So why kill Laverne in the first place? Well, Lawrence figured that the 2006-07 season might be it for "Scrubs" and decided that a death among the show's regulars would be a compelling storyline. Laverne's death played out over two episodes in March and April.

Lawrence promised Roberts, though, that if the show came back for another year he'd find a way to include her. NBC did pick it up, and so Wright will be playing Laverne's sister, Shirley (yes, Laverne and Shirley) -- who will be the polar opposite of Laverne, a single alcoholic who's skeptical of religion.

"It's going to be fun developing another character after doing the same one for six years," Wright tells Variety. "I'm glad to know [Lawrence] is a man of his word and I've still got a job."

Wright's other credits include "Deliver Us from Eva" and "Johnson Family Vacation" as well as guest spots on "NCIS," "Cold Case," "NYPD Blue" and "Judging Amy."

'Fantastic Four' rides $57M wave to top

LOS ANGELES - Hollywood's superhero foursome is still fantastic at the box office. The 20th Century Fox sequel "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" debuted as the No. 1 weekend flick with $57.4 million in sales, slightly surpassing the $56.1 million opening of "Fantastic Four" two years ago, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Among other new wide releases, a favorite teen detective had trouble finding an audience as the Warner Bros. mystery "Nancy Drew" premiered with a so-so $7.1 million to finish at No. 7.

Opening in narrower release was the Weinstein Co. thriller "DOA: Dead or Alive," an adaptation of the martial-arts video game that pulled in just $232,000. Playing in 505 theaters, "DOA" averaged a paltry $460 a cinema, compared to $14,499 in 3,959 theaters for "Fantastic Four" and $2,732 in 2,612 locations for "Nancy Drew."

The previous weekend's No. 1 movie, George Clooney and Brad Pitt's "Ocean's Thirteen," fell to No. 2 with $19.1 million. The Warner Bros. casino caper raised its 10-day total to $69.8 million, putting it on track to become the franchise's third $100 million hit.

Despite the big opening for "Fantastic Four," Hollywood revenues slipped for the third straight weekend. The top 12 movies took in $138.8 million, down 4 percent from the same weekend last year, when "Cars," "Nacho Libre" and "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift" led with a combined $86 million.

The industry had a blockbuster May with "Spider-Man," "Shrek" and "Pirates of the Caribbean" sequels, but big films are not holding their audiences after huge opening weekends.

After a surge early this year, attendance has slipped to just a fraction ahead of 2006, diminishing prospects of a record summer that many analysts had predicted.

"We've seen our advantage over last year slowly being chipped away," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations. "A lot of films are doing what these big summer movies do, open big and drop off fast."

The new "Fantastic Four" reunites the quartet of astronauts-turned-mutant-superheroes, played by Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Michael Chiklis and Chris Evans. This time, the comic-book heroes join forces with archenemy Dr. Doom ( Julian McMahon) to take down the Silver Surfer, an emissary leading a planet-destroying entity to Earth.

The studio and filmmakers toned down the action so the sequel could earn a PG rating to broaden the audience to family viewers. The first "Fantastic Four" was rated PG-13.

"A lot of the superhero comic-book movies are sort of geared toward being darker and edgier. We think `Fantastic Four' is a more family friendly group of superheroes," said Chris Aronson, senior vice president for distribution at 20th Century Fox. "We wanted to make sure to cast a wide net and go after the family audience, and it worked."

Here are the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer," $57.4 million.
2. "Ocean's Thirteen," $19.1 million.
3. "Knocked Up," $14.5 million.
4. "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," $12 million.
5. "Surf's Up," $9.3 million.
6. "Shrek the Third," $9 million.
7. "Nancy Drew," $7.1 million.
8. "Hostel: Part II," $3 million.
9. "Mr. Brooks," $2.8 million.
10. "Spider-Man 3," $2.5 million.

Mel C really wants Spice Girls comeback

Former Spice Girl Mel C told the BBC on Friday that she has warmed to the idea of a reunion of the all-female band.

The singer, who went by the name Sporty Spice, said she had been opposed to getting the pop group back together, but now "there is just so much great feeling out there and I just thought, you know what, I don't want to be the person that stops it happening."

But Mel C, whose real name is Melanie Chisholm, stressed that any reunion would likely be short-lived.

"It would be a final goodbye and a thank you to all the fans all over the world," she said.

Rumours have swirled for some time about a possible Spice Girls comeback, but it was thought that Chisholm was the last member of the quintet still resisting the idea.

Originally formed in 1994, the Spice Girls also featured Ginger Spice (Geri Halliwell), Scary Spice (Melanie Brown), Baby Spice (Emma Bunton) and Posh Spice (Victoria Beckham).

The group released three studio albums and three singles, beginning with the 1996 hit Wannabe, which sold over 53 million copies.

The Spice Girls also starred in the 1997 film Spice World, which grossed over $29 million US.

Halliwell left the band the following year, and the rest of the group split in 2000, with each member taking on a solo career.

"Sopranos" rub-out theory gains credence

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Fans of "The Sopranos" are seizing on clues suggesting the controversial blackout which abruptly ended the TV mob drama meant that Tony Soprano was rubbed out, and HBO said on Thursday they may be on to something.

One clue in particular, a flashback in the penultimate episode to a conversation between Tony and his brother-in-law about death, gained credence as an HBO spokesman called it a "legitimate" hint and confirmed that series creator David Chase had a definite ending in mind.

"While he won't say to me 100 percent what it all means, he says some people who've guessed have come closer than others," HBO spokesman Quentin Schaffer told Reuters after speaking to Chase.

"There are definitely things there that he intended for people to pick up on," Schaffer said.

Chase himself suggested as much in an interview on Tuesday with The Star-Ledger newspaper of New Jersey when he said of his end to the HBO series, "Anyone who wants to watch it, it's all there."

In the final moments of Sunday's concluding episode, Tony, the conflicted mob boss who has just survived a round of gangland warfare, sits in a diner with his family munching on onion rings as the 1980s song by rock band Journey, "Don't Stop Believing," blares from a juke box.

Tension builds as a suspicious man wearing a "Members Only" jacket eyes Tony from a nearby counter before slipping into a restroom. Then, as Tony looks toward the restaurant's entrance, the screen abruptly goes blank in mid-scene -- with no picture or sound for 10 seconds -- until the credits roll silently.

Stunned viewers, many initially believing something had gone wrong with their cable TV reception, were left wondering whether Tony ended up "whacked" or whether his sordid life went on as usual.

The jarring, fill-in-the-blank finale, concluding a show widely hailed as America's greatest television drama, sparked a furious debate about whether Chase had conceived of an actual ending and whether he left the audience any clues.

The biggest hint, according to a consensus taking shape on the Web, is a scene from an earlier episode in which Tony and his brother-in-law, Bobby Bacala, muse about what it feels like to die.

"At the end, you probably don't hear anything, everything just goes black," Bobby says while they sit fishing in a small boat on a lake.

That scene is recalled briefly in a flashback played at the end of the penultimate "Sopranos" episode, as Tony is lying in the darkened room of a safehouse clutching a machine gun to his chest in the midst of a mob war.

"I think that is one of the most legitimate things to look at," Schaffer said when asked about theories that the Bobby Bacala flashback was meant to foreshadow Tony's death.

Moreover, he said the man in the "Members Only" jacket could be interpreted as a symbolic reference to membership in the mob. "Members Only" also was the title of the episode in which Tony's demented Uncle Junior shoots him in the gut.

The "Members Only" guy was played by the owner of a real-life pizza parlor, Paolo Colandrea. Schaffer denied reports that Colandrea had appeared earlier in the series as the nephew of Tony's New York gang rival, or that there ever was such a character. He also dismissed reports that Chase had filmed more than one ending to the finale.

"Die Hard" tops magazine list of best action films

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "Die Hard," starring Bruce Willis as a tough cop battling terrorists, was named the best action film ever by Entertainment Weekly magazine -- two weeks before the series' fourth installment, "Live Free or Die Hard," hits theaters.

The magazine on Thursday unveiled a list of top 25 action movies picked by its writers and editors spanning a wide range of films: from 1938's "The Adventures of Robin Hood" to director Akira Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai" in 1954 (No. 6) and the 2004 computer-animated film, "The Incredibles" (No. 25).

Space adventure "Aliens" followed "Die Hard" in the No. 2 slot with "Raiders of the Lost Ark" at No. 3 and "The Road Warrior" and "The Matrix" at No. 4 and No. 5, respectively.

But it was 1988's "Die Hard," starring Willis as tough-as-nails New York cop John McClane who battles terrorists in a Los Angeles high-rise, that blew the biggest Hollywood fireball for the magazine's staff.

Back in summer 1988, "Die Hard" was notable mostly for its gun battles and explosions, including blowing up an L.A. high-rise. The movie raked in $138 million worldwide and made Willis a major movie star.

Two sequels, "Die Hard 2: Die Harder" and "Die Hard With a Vengeance," followed in 1990 and 1995, respectively.

The fourth film, "Live Free or Die Hard," lands in theaters on June 27, and this time McClane is saving the world from a mad genius mounting a digital attack on computer networks.

An Entertainment Weekly spokeswoman said the list was picked without any regard to "Live Free's" opening date or its interview with Willis that hits newsstands on Friday.

"After we finalized the list, we asked for interviews with key players in the movies we picked," the spokeswoman said. "'Die Hard"' was going to be No. 1 anyway."

Some of the more recent films making the top 25 included "Spider-Man 2" and "Kill Bill -- Vol. 1," while older titles ranged from 1964 James Bond movie "Goldfinger" to 1973's martial arts flick "Enter the Dragon," starring Bruce Lee.

"Silver Surfer" rides sequel wave at box office

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Another weekend opening, another sequel.

"Ocean's Thirteen" had its moment at the top of the heap last weekend, and now "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" is set to take over the lead.

"Nancy Drew," a revival of the celebrated teen detective and the weekend's other new wide arrival, appears fated for a place in the middle of the pack.

The original "Fantastic Four," which bowed in July 2005 via 20th Century Fox, attracted decidedly mixed reviews but captured the top spot with sales of $56.1 million, going on to a domestic gross of $154.7 million. The sequel should also arrive in the $50 million range.

Like "Ocean's Thirteen," "Silver Surfer" reunites the principals from the original film -- director Tim Story and actors Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Michael Chiklis and Julian McMahon -- and introduces a new character, the legendary Silver Surfer, with movement by Doug Jones, voice by Laurence Fishburne and CG effects courtesy of Weta Digital. The introduction of the Silver Surfer could prove a big plus, rewarding fans for their loyalty to the franchise.

Holdovers "Ocean's Thirteen" and "Knocked Up," which have held down the first and second spots in midweek business, should shift to the second and third positions, respectively.

Meanwhile, "Nancy Drew" is aiming for tween girls and their moms, and should end in the low-teen-millions.

As a character, Nancy Drew has been around for decades: She first appeared as the central character of a long-running series of kids' books in 1930. Bonita Granville played her in four Warners movies in the late 1930s, and Pamela Sue Martin, pre-"Dynasty," played her in "The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries" series on ABC in the late '70s.

The new movie, directed by Andrew Fleming ("The Craft"), stars Emma Roberts -- or, as the media insist on identifying her, "Emma Roberts, niece of Julia Roberts and daughter of Eric Roberts." Actually, to her young fans, Roberts is better known as the star of the Nickelodeon series "Unfabulous." That should help the film, in which Nancy travels to Hollywood to unravel a mystery surrounding a dead movie star, to carve out a constituency.

Additionally, Disney will sneak Pixar's "Ratatouille" in about 800 theaters Saturday to stoke word-of-mouth for its official bow June 29.

Clarkson cancels tour over slow sales

NEW YORK - Just two days after parting ways with her manager, Kelly Clarkson has canceled her upcoming summer tour over disappointing ticket sales, yet another sign of turmoil as she prepares to release her third album, "My December."

In a statement on her Web site, Clarkson said: "In the craziness of the music business, performing is what I look forward to doing the most, so it really is disappointing for me to have to tell you that I won't be coming out to tour this summer. The fact is that touring is just too much too soon.

"But I promise you that we're going to get back out there as soon as is humanly possible to give you a show that will be even better," she added.

In a statement released by her new representative, Paul Freundlich, it acknowledged the sales for the arena tour have been slow. The tour will be on hold and the size of it will be re-evaluated, the statement said.

"The day when she will play in sold-out arenas is, no doubt, coming, but for now her fans should look forward to seeing her in a more intimate concert environment," Gregg Perloff, CEO of concert promoter Another Planet Entertainment, said in the statement. "Kelly deserves a tremendous amount of praise for her courage in not only being a part of, but in supporting, this difficult decision."

This is the latest problem to beset the Grammy-winning singer amid the release of her third album, due out on June 26, the follow-up to her multiplatinum disc "Breakway." The 2004 album was a critical success that showed her success went beyond being a former "American Idol." Clarkson helped write some of the songs on that disc, including the hit ballad "Because of You."

But this spring, reports surfaced that record mogul Clive Davis, who oversees the RCA label for which Clarkson records, was dissatisfied with the direction of the new record and had clashed with Clarkson over it.

In an interview with Associated Press Television in May, Clarkson said media reports of a feud between the two were exaggerated but acknowledged there was tension.

"There's always this battle, and it's not a bad battle to have," she explained. "I mean, you obviously don't want `yes' people around you. And, obviously, (Davis) and others at the label have been in the business far longer than I have. So you obviously take their opinions in."

In the end, though, "I always go with my gut," she said. "My gut has obviously done pretty well for me thus far, so I don't see why I shouldn't keep listening to it."

But the first single from "My December," the angry rock song "Never Again," was not a huge hit, and while it peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard chart, it quickly fell from the top 10 and is now at No. 17.

This week, she fired her manager, Jeff Kwatinetz of The Firm management group.

Clarkson's tour was expected to kick off with her performance at the Live Earth concert July 7 at East Rutherford, N.J. and end in Phoenix. Now, Clarkson's only performance is slated to be at the Live Earth concert, part of a global series of performances to raise awareness about environmental issues.

Refunds will be given for those who purchased tickets to Clarkson's tour.

McConaughey is People's hottest bachelor

NEW YORK - Matthew McConaughey — frequently photographed shirtless and exercising on the beach — is People magazine's "bachelor of the year." "I love warm weather and summertime," the 37-year-old actor says in the magazine's "Hottest Bachelors" issue, on newsstands Friday. "What better way to enjoy it than at the beach, where few people wear shirts?"

When asked how he maintains his muscular build, McConaughey says: "I don't really have a workout regimen I follow. I just live my life. My goal is to break a sweat each day."

McConaughey, whose screen credits include "We Are Marshall," "Failure to Launch" and "Sahara," has high standards when it comes to the ladies.

"What I look for in a woman is what I love to call the `two Hs' — hotness and humor," he says. "But to be honest, a woman with a good sense of humor is always hot."

The magazine also names "sexy and sizzling" bachelors such as Adrian Grenier, Zach Braff, Justin Timberlake, Ryan Reynolds, Ludacris and Apolo Ohno.

David Spade, who starred on the "Just Shoot Me!" television series, also makes the cut.

"Luckily we live in a world where women can overlook the physical and focus on things more important, like having a good personality ... or being on a TV show," the 42-year-old actor-comedian says.

Stamps honour iconic Canadian music stars

A single image of Joni Mitchell will be enough to get your letter to Fort McLeod, Alta., starting June 29.

That's when Canada Post issues four stamps featuring Canadian singers who established international reputations in the 1960s and '70s.

Mitchell, Paul Anka, Gordon Lightfoot and Anne Murray are to have their faces emblazoned on six million domestic stamps.

Canada Post says it is creating the stamps to honour the lives and achievements of these musicians, who left a lasting impression on the musical stage and paved the way for today's Canadian superstars.

It's rare for the post office to honour living artists, though Olympic athletes have been featured in earlier stamp series.

All four established careers in the 1960s and continue to perform today.

Fort McLeod-born Mitchell, inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame earlier this year, is known for songs such as Both Sides Now and Woodstock.

Anka, born in 1941 in Ottawa, was a teen idol and had hits such as Lonely Boy and Diana.

Murray, of Springhill, N.S., was the first Canadian female soloist to reach No. 1 on the U.S. charts and is known for songs such as Snowbird and You Needed Me.

Lightfoot, known as Canada's Folk Laureate, wrote songs such as Sundown and The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Apple plans iTunes video rentals

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Apple Inc. is planning to launch an online movie rental service by fall, although the company is meeting resistance from some Hollywood studios concerned about piracy, people familiar with the plan told The Associated Press on Monday.

Apple might try to launch the service sooner to coincide with the planned June 29 introduction of its iPhone, which will play video files, according to three people who requested anonymity because the talks are ongoing.

Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr said the company "does not comment on rumor and speculation."

Apple already sells films from two major studios and a number of smaller companies. But it has not entered the online rental business, which so far has not been terribly profitable for companies such as Movielink and CinemaNow.

Several studios are reluctant to license films to Apple to rent because the company will not modify its software to make it recognize pirated content and prevent it from being transferred to an iPod or iPhone, according to the people familiar with the talks.

Those same reasons, plus objections to Apple's rigid pricing, have kept several studios, including Universal Pictures, a unit of General Electric Co., Twentieth Century Fox, which is owned by News Corp., and Sony Pictures, a unit of Sony Corp. from selling its movies on iTunes.

Apple launched its online movie sales service last year with films from The Walt Disney Co.

Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs is Disney's largest shareholder and a board member. The two companies have a close relationship, with Disney being the first to sell TV shows on iTunes as well.

Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc., and a few other studios sells older titles on iTunes, as does Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.

Only Disney sells films on iTunes the same day the titles are released on DVD.

TV's 'Mr. Wizard' Don Herbert dies at 89

LOS ANGELES - Don Herbert, who as television's "Mr. Wizard" introduced generations of young viewers to the joys of science, died Tuesday. He was 89. Herbert, who had bone cancer, died at his suburban Bell Canyon home, said his son-in-law, Tom Nikosey.

"He really taught kids how to use the thinking skills of a scientist," said former colleague Steve Jacobs. He worked with Herbert on a 1980s show that echoed the original 1950s "Watch Mr. Wizard" series, which became a fond baby boomer memory.

In "Watch Mr. Wizard," which was produced from 1951 to 1964 and received a Peabody Award in 1954, Herbert turned TV into an entertaining classroom. On a simple, workshop-like set, he demonstrated experiments using household items.

"He modeled how to predict and measure and analyze. ... The show today might seem slow but it was in-depth and forced you to think along," Jacobs said. "You were learning about the forces of nature."

Herbert encouraged children to duplicate experiments at home, said Jacobs, who recounted serving as a behind-the-scenes "science sidekick" to Herbert on the '80s "Mr. Wizard's World" that aired on the Nickelodeon channel.

When Jacobs would reach for beakers and flasks, Herbert would remind him that science didn't require special tools.

"'You could use a mayonnaise jar for that,'" Jacobs recalled being chided by Herbert. "He tried to bust the image of scientists and that science wasn't just for special people and places."

Herbert's place in TV history was acknowledged by later stars. When "Late Night with David Letterman" debuted in 1982, Herbert was among the first-night guests.

Born in Waconia, Minn., Herbert was a 1940 graduate of LaCrosse State Teachers College and served as a U.S. Army Air Corps pilot during World War II. He worked as an actor, model and radio writer before starting "Watch Mr. Wizard" in Chicago on NBC.

The show moved to New York after several years.

He is survived by six children and stepchildren and by his second wife, Norma, his son-in-law said. A private funeral service was planned.

Sandra Oh to host gay-themed Go radio show

Golden Globe-winning actress Sandra Oh will host the June 23 season finale of CBC Radio One's Go, titled "The Gayest Music of All Time" in honour of Gay Pride weekend across North America.

Go, usually taped before a live audience, was pretaped to accommodate the Nepean, Ont.-born star of popular medical drama Grey's Anatomy.

"She came in with her parents and had a ball taping it," said Go producer David Carroll.

The show features a mix of fun music associated with gay culture, including Cher, Pet Shop Boys, Madonna and Judy Garland.

It's one of an infrequent series on Go featuring guests hosts taking on unusual projects. Lister Sinclair once hosted a show about the masters of disco and Canadian Opera Company artistic director Richard Bradshaw hosted one featuring popular classics of love.

Oh trained at Montreal's National Theatre School and starred on the Canadian stage and in The Diary of Evelyn Lau before being drawn to the bright lights of Hollywood.

Among her movie work, Oh had a major role in Sideways, which won a best screenplay Oscar for her former husband American filmmaker Alexander Payne.

Oh earned a Golden Globe for her role on Grey's Anatomy, where she worked with Isaiah Washington, the actor who earned a rebuke, and was eventually fired, for a slur aimed at a gay colleague.

Tool Tossing Around Ideas For 'Surreal' Movie

With Tool entrenched on the road in support of its latest effort "10,000 Days," guitarist Adam Jones tells Billboard.com the alt-metal act is tossing around ideas for a band movie.

"It has to be a collective thing as far as the band members," says Jones. "Everyone has to be very happy and it has to be done in a way where people would see integrity and hard work and not just something thrown together or home movies or some sh*tty filmed live show.

"It's a selfish thing," he continues. "There's that selfish quality of what we want versus what everyone else wants. But I think at the end of the day if we get what we want, it's reflective in what other people see in that."

Jones, who is the visionary behind many of the group's music videos, says movie discussion is nothing new to the Los Angeles-based band. If the right financial backer entered the picture, it could become a reality sooner than later.

"We all have ideas about it," Jones says. "If I had my way, it would be a narrative story in a surreal fashion with as much money and special effects we could throw at it. I think some of the other guys would like to do pockets of all of that or something that's live or we're playing. It's just talk right now."

Something more concrete and far less pleasant to the band is a lawsuit filed by visual artist Cam De Leon, whose work has been closely aligned with Tool for over a decade.

"He had done some artwork that we paid him to do in the past for our band and he came with this ridiculous lawsuit saying he's the fifth member of the band and a partner and he was head of our art department," Jones says. "There is no art department. I just feel like it's total extortion. We've been fighting it and it's been really burning a hole in my stomach. It's just been very distracting."

In the meantime, Tool is busying itself on the road. After finishing a North American tour next month, the band heads to Europe for dates in August and September. "I think the album is doing well," Jones says. "We're really happy with it, people are happy with it and I think we can keep going."

Sopranos creator: movie no sure thing

NEWARK, N.J. - "Sopranos" fans who thought the series' open-ended conclusion was a setup for a movie may be in for disappointment: creator David Chase says it isn't so.

Chase went to France before the airing of the much-debated finale of the HBO series because he wanted to avoid what he called "all the Monday morning quarterbacking." But like a true New Jersey loyalist, he granted one interview to The Star-Ledger of Newark, which posted his comment early Tuesday on its Web site.

"I don't think about (a movie) much," he told the paper. "I never say never. An idea could pop into my head where I would go, `Wow, that would make a great movie,' but I doubt it.

"I'm not being coy," he added. "If something appeared that really made a good `Sopranos' movie and you could invest in it and everybody else wanted to do it, I would do it. But I think we've kind of said it and done it."

Chase said he would leave it to fans to interpret the show's last scene for themselves. It featured the members of the Soprano family arriving for dinner as Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" plays. Others in the restaurant include a man in a Member's Only jacket who goes to the bathroom, which some fans have interpreted as a nod to the scene in "The Godfather" in which Michael Corleone retrieves a gun from the bathroom before a shooting.

As the music and tension build, the screen suddenly goes silent and dark.

"I have no interest in explaining, defending, reinterpreting, or adding to what is there," said Chase, 61, who grew up in North Caldwell.

"People get the impression that you're trying to (mess) with them, and it's not true. You're trying to entertain them," he said. "Anybody who wants to watch it, it's all there."

Another problem with a movie is that so many characters died in the last season. Chase said he has considered "going back to a day in 2006 that you didn't see, but then (Tony's children) would be older than they were then and you would know that Tony doesn't get killed. It's got problems."

Chase also elaborated on how he decided to make the Journey classic the last music played on the series.

"It didn't take much time at all to pick it, but there was a lot of conversation after the fact. I did something I'd never done before: In the location van, with the crew, I was saying, `What do you think?' When I said, `Don't Stop Believin',' people went, `What? Oh my God!'

"I said, `I know, I know, just give a listen,' and little by little, people started coming around."

New CD Releases, June 12: Traveling Wilburys, Toby Keith, Paula Cole

The Traveling Wilburys "The Traveling Wilburys"

Arguably among the greatest supergroups of all time, The Traveling Wilburys (Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne) get the full Rhino treatment here.

This two-disc set features re-mastered tracks from the band's two studio albums as well as a DVD of music videos and other footage. It also includes a 40-page booklet about the band.

* * *
Toby Keith "Big Dog Daddy"

Add another jewel to the country king's crown with this album, which marks the first time Keith has acted as sole producer on a CD.

"Big Dog Daddy," Keith's second release on his own Show Dog Nashville label, follows last year's "White Trash with Money." That previous outing became Keith's 12th career platinum album and helped him become the most-played country artist on radio for the fourth consecutive year, according to Nielsen BDS.

The cowboy is again off to a fast start with this record. The disc's lead single, "High Maintenance Woman," is already a Top 10 hit on the country charts and is the fastest-rising single of Keith's career.

Keith will support "Big Dog Daddy" with a North American tour, also featuring singer/songwriter Miranda Lambert and country band Flynnville Train, which kicks off June 21 in Birmingham, AL.

* * *
Paula Cole "Courage"

The Massachusetts-born songbird is finally back, returning with her first new studio album since 1999's "Amen." The vocalist receives help from several sources on this album, including some piano work by jazz legend Herbie Hancock.

Cole remains best known for her participation in Sarah McLachlan's epic Lilith Fair tours as well as for the mid-'90s mega-hit "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?"

* * *
Various Artists "Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur"

Musicians turn to the songbook of John Lennon to create a benefit album for the people of Darfur. The all-star set includes such pairings as U2 on "Instant Karma," Avril Lavigne on "Imagine," Green Day on "Working Class Hero" and Matisyahu on "Watching the Wheels."

* * *
Queens of the Stone Age "Era Vulgaris"

Josh Homme's hard-rocking crew returns with a follow-up to the 2005 studio recording "Lullabies to Paralyze." Contributors to the project include Strokes vocalist Julian Casablancas and Mark Lanegan.

* * *
More new releases:
Blue Scholars, "Bayani" (Massline)
Cherryholmes, "Cherryholmes II: Black & White" (Skaggs Family)
DJ Khaled, "We the Best" (Koch)
John Doe, "A Year in the Wilderness" (Yep Roc)
Fabolous, "From Nothin' to Somethin'" (Def Jam)
Fair to Midland, "Fables From a Mayfly: What I Tell You Three Times is True" (Republic)
Adam Freeland, "Mexico City"(Global Underground)
Enrique Iglesias, "Insomniac" (Interscope)
Eddie Levert Sr. & Gerald Levert, "Something to Talk About" (Atlantic)
Mark Olson, "The Salvation Blues" (Hacktone)
Enrico Pieranunzi, "Live in Japan" (Camjazz)
Mark Ronson, "Version" (Red Ink)
Sonic Youth, "Daydream Nation (Deluxe Edition)" (Geffen)
Spyro Gyra, "Good to Go-Go" (Heads Up)
Various Artists, "GU Mixed" (Global Underground)

'Big Brother 8' Plans Expanded Coverage

Starting on July 5, you'll be able to spend the rest of your summer doing nothing but watching "Big Brother."

The eighth season of CBS' reliable summer shut-in saga will launch with an hour-long episode starting at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday, July 5. The series will then inundate CBS' various online ventures. Plus, for the first time, "Big Brother" will move to CBS' corporate sibling Showtime.

CBS will air "Big Brother" on Thursday and Sunday nights at 8 p.m., as well as Tuesday night at 9 p.m.

As a result, CBS' struggling reality offering "Pirate Master" will be on the move in July. The Mark Burnett-produced series will get a special 9 p.m. Thursday airing after the "Big Brother 8" premiere, before moving to its new time slot on Tuesday nights a 10 p.m., the closest thing to a diapora on CBS' schedule.

But back to "Big Brother" and its attempts to take over the known world... For the seventh straight season, CBS will offer 24-7 streaming video from within the the house via RealNetworks and SuperPass. For the second straight year, CBS will offer special mobile phone content. CBS will also offer full-length episodes and highlight clips on its CBS Audience Network. Also, the online series "House Calls: The Big Brother Talk Show" will return for its fourth season.

This season's biggest additional twist is the appearance of "Big Brother: After Dark" on Showtime's "Shotoo" broadcast platform. Each night, Shotoo will feature a live feed from the Big Brother house airing from midnight-to-3 a.m. ET. That sounds like it might be boring, but since the "Big Brother" house is in Los Angeles, it'll actually be from 9 p.m. to midnight for the guests, so expect the potential for occasional random nudity.

Big moment for Journey at 'Sopranos' end

NEW YORK - The songwriters of Journey's power ballad "Don't Stop Believin'" were "jumping up and down" when they learned a few weeks ago it had been licensed for use in the final episode of "The Sopranos."

But even they couldn't believe how it would prove so integral to one of the most memorable final scenes in television history.

"It was better than anything I would have ever hoped for," said Jonathan Cain, Journey keyboard player, who watched at home with his wife and family.

Tony Soprano chose the song after flipping through a jukebox at a New Jersey restaurant where he dined with his family. The song played in the background as ominous characters flitted about and, right as Steve Perry was singing "don't stop," the HBO series did exactly that, for good. The ending infuriated some fans, amused others and intrigued all.

Cain, who wrote the song with Perry and Neal Schon, didn't know how it would be used when they agreed to the licensing. Cain kept the fact that it was going to be in at all a secret, then watched the episode with his family.

"I didn't want to blow it," he told The Associated Press on Monday. "Even my wife didn't know. She looked at me and said, `You knew that and you didn't tell me?'"

Journey released the song in 1981, and it reached No. 9 on the singles chart. It has taken a life of its own since then, often reflecting the attitude people had toward Journey itself. "Don't Stop Believin'" brings back fond memories for many, is unbearably cheesy for others.

It's easy to imagine Tony Soprano, back in the day, taking a young Carmella to a Journey concert.

David Chase, creator of "The Sopranos," has an eclectic musical taste. He's curated two songtrack albums for his series, and made music a key part of the stories, particularly as the ending credits rolled. It's possible "Don't Stop Believin'" was part of the elaborate inside joke he made of the final episode.

It's also possible he found the end of the last verse too hard to resist: "Some will win, some will lose," Perry sings. "Some were born to sing the blues. Oh, the movie never ends. It goes on and on and on and on ... "

"Don't Stop Believin'" has been featured in a several television and movie scenes. It crept onto an iTunes top-10 list when, during the same week, it was on Fox's "Family Guy" and in a romantic scene on MTV's "Laguna Beach."

Sports teams have adopted it, too. After the Chicago White Sox used it in 2005, Perry sang it at the parade to celebrate the team's World Series victory.

Cain, who has a 13-year-old and twins aged 11, said the songwriters are careful about how they license the song, and have resisted several advertising campaigns. They debated its use in the film "Monster" with Charlize Theron but, in the end, "she's too cute to say no to," he said.

He was a little nervous Sunday when, as he watched with his children, the mob boss Phil was shot and viewers heard his head crunched as it was run over by an SUV. But he loved the final scene.

"It was very smart writing," he said. "I always love movies where you don't see the guy whacked. You wonder whether he's going to get whacked."

It could help Journey's visibility, too, as it did for singer Nick Lowe when his song "The Beast in Me" was used over the closing credits for "The Sopranos" very first episode. There had been some speculation that Chase would return to it for the finale.

"A lot more people knew Johnny Cash's version (of `The Beast in Me') and this put Nick's version on the map," said Jake Guralnick, Lowe's American manager. "Nick's version is a lot more vulnerable."

Cain said it indicated that a wish he and Perry had — that their songs would have a long life — was coming true.

"It puts our feet in the cement," he said. "We're a staple in the American music culture. Like us or not, we're here to stay."

"Fletch" Gets New Director & Star

With Zach Braff gone, the planned 'Fletch' prequel entitled "Fletch Won" seemed to stall.

Now, the IESB reports that "Dawson's Creek" and "The Skulls" star Joshua Jackson is apparently up for the title role of Irwin Fletcher, the wise-cracking investigative reporter from the previous two Chevy Chase movies.

On top of this, they also say Steve Pink is tipped to be taking over for Bill Lawrence in the directing chair. Pink helmed last year's disappointing frat comedy "Accepted" and penned the acclaimed John Cusack comedies "Grosse Pointe Blank" and "High Fidelity".

No further word on casting, dates or budget unfortunately.

One final look at `Sopranos' characters

NEW YORK - The eruption heard across the country Sunday night at 10:03 p.m. EDT: Collective exclamations of "What?" "Are you kidding me?" and "#$&!?"

The choose-your-own-adventure ending of "The Sopranos" left endless loose ends that seemed to parody the typical audience expectations for a series finale. If you were bothered by the never-heard-from-again Russian who escaped assassination in the Pine Barrens, well, you're probably not very happy now.

Meanwhile, "Sopranos" creator David Chase was in France, unreachable to all press, according to an HBO publicist. You might call it a safe house, far away from the giant hit he just ordered on "Sopranos" watchers.

But as ambiguous as the conclusion of the HBO drama was, the 86th episode — titled "Made in America" — still left us with final, indelible images of the main characters.

TONY SOPRANO: Many expected Tony to die, but the mob boss managed to live through the episode; whether he lives much past that is a matter of subjectivity. Were the shady-looking characters hanging around the diner in the final scene there to kill Tony? Were they undercover cops? Neither? With a likely indictment hanging over his head, our last impression of Tony ( James Gandolfini) was of a relatively peaceful family man who had come to terms with many of his headaches, including Uncle Junior (whom he had disavowed after Junior shot him) and therapy (which he disavowed after Dr. Melfi ended their sessions). He showed interest in both in the finale. His kids continue to disappoint, but perhaps not too much. Any judgment of Tony's lasting mental state, though, would take pages and pages, and still leave unresolved issues.

PHIL LEOTARDO: In the battle of Tony vs. Phil, New Jersey vs. New York, Tony won. Phil (Frank Vincent) met his fate at a gas station where he was shot, and then had his skull accidentally run over for good measure. Tony was able to turn Leotardo's crew after even they acknowledged that the New York boss had gone "too far" in his war. Tony blamed the "tension" partly on Leotardo's inherited insecurity from the deceased New York boss Johnny "Sack" Sacramoni, a veiled reference to Johnny Sack's sensitivity to his wife's weight. As always, slight comments linger, even beyond the grave.

A.J. SOPRANO: Tony's son was his old self. He didn't kill himself, his dad or figure prominently in the mob war fallout. Instead, A.J. ( Robert Iler) griped about America and quoted "Yeets." He accidentally burned his SUV to a crisp, but also finally kissed his model friend Rhiannon. He decided he wanted to join the Army, but was dissuaded when his parents got him a job on a movie, which was put into production after "Danny" Baldwin passed a script to Tony. That future seemed no more likely to last for A.J. than any other, but it was he who warmed his family in the final scene by quoting Tony in wanting to "remember the times that were good."

MEADOW SOPRANO: Tony's daughter (Jamie-Lynn Sigler) mainly remained on the sidelines in the finale, as she had for much of the season. She and Patrick Parisi are headed for marriage, and he might be getting her a job at his law firm once she's completed law school. When Tony pressed her on why she wasn't still going to medical school, Meadow said she became interested in law only after seeing the police badger her family — perhaps furthering Tony's guilt. We also learned that Meadow is an absolutely terrible parallel parker.

AGENT DWIGHT HARRIS: We learned more about the FBI agent (Matt Servitto) in the final episode than in all those before it: His job is hurting his relationship, and he's having an affair with another agent. Harris also supplied Tony with the approximate location of Leotardo. Working terrorism, he clearly misses the more understandable, exciting world of the Mafia. When told of Leotardo's death, he cheered: "We're gonna win this thing!" There were, though, several reveals of FBI surveillance on Tony, including phone taps. And Carlo Gervasi was rumored to have flipped after his son was arrested for selling ecstasy.

CARMELA SOPRANO: Carmela ( Edie Falco) remained a faithful wife to Tony and was seen flipping through real estate brochures, suggesting real estate remained her devotion. She also grown tired of Tony's use of his depression as a crutch — similar to how Tony viewed Christopher Moltisanti's alcoholism. When Tony spoke to A.J.'s therapist about the hurt his mother caused, Carmela's eyes rolled.

PAULIE "WALNUTS" GUALTIERI: The Soprano soldier (Tony Sirico) proved both his allegiance to Tony and his deep distrust of felines. A cat adopted by the crew that sat and stared at a photo of Christopher particularly bugged Paulie, who thought it might signify a "jinx" following Christopher's death. Though Paulie was suspected of cooperating with the New York family, he proved loyal to Tony. When Tony offered Paulie Carlo's job, Paulie hesitated, but eventually took it. In between, he showed he was feeling his age, and was haunted by sighting of the Virgin Mary — in the Bada Bing, of all places.

SILVIO DANTE: After being shot last week on orders from Leotardo, Silvio ( Steven Van Zandt) was only shown briefly laid up unconscious in a hospital bed, his wife quietly filing his toenails. No mention was made of any recovery for Tony's second in command.

JANICE SOPRANO: Tony's sister and the wife of the late Bobby Bacala was shown in mourning, but feeling relatively resilient. Janice ( Aida Turturro) joked to Tony: "I need to watch my weight. I need to snag another husband."

CORRADO "JUNIOR" SOPRANO: Tony had long abandoned his increasingly senile uncle and former head of the family after Junior ( Dominic Chianese) accidentally shot Tony at the start of the sixth season. But Tony visited Junior at what appeared to be a state-run old-age home, to tell him to leave his money (if he can remember where he buried it) to Bacala's children. Junior didn't recognize Tony; when Tony reminded Junior that he once ran Northern New Jersey with Tony's father, Junior replied: "We did? That's nice."

DR. JENNIFER MELFI: Melfi ( Lorraine Bracco) was a no-show in the finale after her abrupt termination of therapy with Tony in the penultimate episode. Tony appeared to use A.J.'s therapist as a Melfi stand-in, divulging, "You see, I never could please my mother." You can take the mobster out of therapy, but you can't take therapy out of the mobster.

Hilton says she'll no longer `act dumb'

LOS ANGELES - Paris Hilton says she will no longer "act dumb."

The reality TV star and relentless publicity-seeker spoke with Barbara Walters by phone Sunday, a day after releasing a statement saying she hoped the media would focus on "more important things" than her 45-day jail sentence, according to ABC News' Web site.

"I used to act dumb. ... That act is no longer cute," ABC quoted Hilton as saying.

After spending three days in jail in a reckless driving case, Hilton was briefly released to home confinement Thursday for an undisclosed medical condition. An outraged judge sent her back to jail Friday. She is now housed in the medical ward of a maximum-security detention center.

According to ABC News, the call came after Hilton's mother, Kathy, phoned Walters. During the conversation, the 26-year-old socialite called her mom on another line, found out her mother was talking to Walters, and then called Walters collect. All jail inmates are required to call collect.

Hilton has been saying that she is changed by her jailhouse experience, and she repeated that theme with Walters: "Now, I would like to make a difference. ... God has given me this new chance."

Bill Murray adds spark to kid film "Ember"

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Bill Murray has signed on to star in "City of Ember," a family movie from the director of the animated horror "Monster House."

Murray will play the larger-than-life mayor of Ember, a city that flourished for generations in an amazing world of glittering lights. But Ember's once-powerful generator is failing, and the great lamps that illuminate the city are starting to flicker. Two teenagers must search Ember for clues that will unlock the ancient mystery of the city's existence and help the citizens escape before the lights go out forever.

Newcomer Saoirse Ronan will play one of the teenagers, and Toby Jones ("Infamous") will portray Barton Snode, the mayor of Ember's right-hand man.

Gil Kenan will direct the project from an adaptation of Jeanne DuPrau's book this summer in Belfast. The project is set up at Walden Media, the firm behind such adaptations as "Bridge to Terabithia" and "Holes." 20th Century Fox will release "Ember" domestically in October 2008. Kenan made his feature directing debut last year with "Monster House," which was executive produced by Robert Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg.

Murray's recent credits include "Broken Flowers" and "The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou."

No easy ending for 'The Sopranos'

NEW YORK - Tony Soprano carries on.

The much-awaited conclusion of HBO's "The Sopranos" arrived Sunday night in a frenzy of audience speculation. Would New Jersey mob boss Soprano live or be killed? Would his family die before his eyes? Would he go to jail? Be forced to enter witness protection? Would Brooklyn boss Phil Leotardo, who had ordered a hit on Tony, prevail?

In the end, the only ending that mattered was the one masterminded by "Sopranos" creator David Chase. And playing against viewer expectations, as always, Chase refused to stage a mass extermination, put the characters through any changes, or provide his viewers with comfortable closure. Or catharsis. After all, he declined to pass moral judgment on Tony — he reminded viewers all season what a thug Tony is, then gave him a pass.

But Chase was true to himself, and that's what made "The Sopranos" brilliant on Sunday night, and the 85 episodes that went before. The product of an artist with a bleak but illuminating vision, "The Sopranos" has always existed on its own terms. And it was seldom tidy.

The only neat development in the finale was that Leotardo was crushed. Otherwise it was perversely non-earthshaking — just one last visit with the characters we have followed so devoutly since 1999.

Here was the funeral for Bobby Bacala, Tony's soldier and brother-in-law, who was shot dead on Leotardo's orders last week. Here was Tony (series star James Gandolfini) paying a hospital visit to his gravely injured consigliere, Silvio Dante, also targeted by Leotardo.

Tony's ne'er-do-well son A.J. ( Robert Iler) continued to wail about the misery in the world, and voiced a fleeting urge to join the Army and go fight in Afghanistan (Tony persuaded him to get involved in filmmaking, instead). Daughter Meadow (Jamie-Lynn Sigler) harped on her plans to be a lawyer.

Tony visits his senile Uncle Junior ( Dominic Chianese) at the nursing home. "You and my dad, you two ran North Jersey," Tony prompts him.

"We did?" said Uncle Junior with no sign of recognition. "That's nice."

Despite suspicions to the contrary, neither Paulie Walnuts nor Patsy Parisi sold out Tony. And neither was whacked. Dr. Melfi, who kicked Tony out of therapy last week, made no last-minute appearance.

Sure, headaches lie ahead for Tony. The Feds are still after him. And Meadow's fiance, Patsy Jr., is a lawyer who may well be pursuing cases that intrude on Tony's business interests.

So what else is new?

The finale displayed the characters continuing, for better and worse, unaffected by the fact that the series is done. The implication was, they will go on as usual. We just won't be able to watch.

Of course, Leotardo (Frank Vincent) hit a dead end after Tony located him with the help of his favorite federal agent. The execution was a quick but classic "Sopranos" scene: Pulling up at a gas station with his wife, Leotardo made a grand show of telling his two young grandchildren in the back seat to "wave bye-bye" as he emerged from his SUV. The next moment he was on the pavement, shot in the head.

Then you heard the car roll over his head. Carunnnchh! Quick, clinical, even comical, this was the only violence during the hour.

Not that Chase (who wrote and directed this episode) didn't tease viewers with the threat of death in almost every scene.

This was never more true than in the final sequence. On the surface, it was nothing more momentous than Tony, his wife, Carmela ( Edie Falco), Meadow and A.J. meeting for dinner at a cozy family restaurant.

When he arrived, Tony dropped a coin in the jukebox and played the classic Journey power ballad "Don't Stop Believing." Meanwhile, every moment seemed to foreshadow disaster: Suspicious-looking people coming in the door or seated at a table nearby. Meadow on the street having trouble parallel parking her car, the tires squealing against the curb. With every passing second, the audience was primed for tragedy. It was a scene both warm and fuzzy yet full of dread, setting every viewer's heart racing for no clear reason.

But nothing would happen. It was just a family gathering for dinner at a restaurant.

Then, with a jingle of the bell on the front door, Tony looked up, apparently seeing Meadow make her delayed entrance. Or could he have seen something awful — something he certainly deserved — about to come down?

Probably not. Almost certainly a false alarm. But we'll never know. With that, "The Sopranos" cut to black, leaving us enriched after eight years. And flustered. And fated to always wonder what happened next.

SUPERHERO SMACKDOWN

Here's nothing comic-book fans like better than a knockdown, drag-out fight. But the most interesting superhero battle these days isn't playing out on four-color pages, it's taking place on movie screens, between two old foes who have battled and sniped at each other for going on half a century.
I
t's Marvel versus DC, and for the uninitiated (or the less geeky), the two publishers dominate the comic-book market and own every hero popular enough to show up on a bedding set. Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman (think the old "Super Friends" TV series) are all the property of DC, while Spider-Man, X-Men and Captain America are Marvel's babies.

Basically, the two companies would like to melt each other with heat vision.

"When either one of them talks about the other, no matter who it is in the company, there's tension and rivalry," says Gerry Gladstone, co-owner of Midtown Comics. "There is a rivalry almost to a childish point. It's been there since Day 1."

This battle's got everything that make comics worth reading: slugfests, superpowers (if you count making the Z-list "Ghost Rider" into a hit a superpower) and above all, high stakes. While the top-selling comic book only moves around 100,000 copies, a blockbuster movie can pull in a billion bucks.

And currently in this epic throwdown, Marvel is winning. Mightily. It's like Hulk beating up on Krypto the Wonder Dog.

This year alone, Marvel has released "Ghost Rider" (which pulled in a surprising $115 million) and "Spider-Man 3," (which broke records, or something). On Friday, Marvel's next movie, "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer," arrives, along with likely millions in box office revenue and priceless mainstream exposure for its marquee superteam.

And that's just 2007. Next summer, "Iron Man" - starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow and Terrence Howard - hits screens, along with "The Incredible Hulk," a reboot of the you-wouldn't-like-me-when-I'm-angry franchise, featuring Ed Norton as Bruce Banner.

Meanwhile DC (and Warner Bros., which, like DC, is owned by TimeWarner) hasn't come close to matching Marvel's output or success in the 21st century.

"Batman Begins" was masterfully done, but "Superman Returns" mostly fizzled with critics and audiences.

Then there was Halle Berry's "Catwoman." Moment of silence, please.

And with the exception of sequels for Supes and Bats (including next summer's much anticipated "The Dark Knight"), no other DC superheroes are guaranteed to hit the screen anytime soon. (Warner Bros. didn't make its executives available for comment.)

Perhaps trying to catch up, DC has optioned a slew of its properties recently, including an X-Men-like team of misfits called "The Doom Patrol," and "Teen Titans," a group of young superheroes that's already spawned a popular cartoon. Nervous fanboys, however, have pointed out that in both cases Akiva Goldsman - the man who wrote 1997's franchise-killing "Batman & Robin" - is attached to produce.

Another cinematic try at an A-list DC hero, Wonder Woman, recently collapsed after writer-director Joss Whedon (creator of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer") had differences with the studio regarding the film's direction. On comic-book fan site newsarama.com, Whedon called his 18 months of work a "huge waste of time."

A fan-made video called "Hi, I'm a Marvel ... and I'm a DC" posted on Youtube nicely sums up the state of the rivalry. In a parody of those Mac commercials, a Spider-Man toy needles a Superman toy about Marvel's movie dominance.

"We've got plenty of projects lined up," Superman says confidently.

"Like Wonder Woman?" Spidey asks.

"You may see that one eventually," Superman stammers.

"Flash?" Spidey asks.

"Sometime possibly soon in the next few years," Supes says. "And we just asked a few writers to think about the possibility of maybe what it might take to theoretically make a Justice League movie in the next 10 years or possibly more, perhaps."

But while DC/Warner Bros. may not have yet found the winning formula for consistently churning out superhero blockbusters, it has nicely managed to leverage its nonhero properties. "V for Vendetta," "Constantine" and "A History of Violence" were all based on its comics. The company has more movies based on similarly spandex-free fare in the works, including "Y: The Last Man," the wonderfully inventive saga of the lone survivor of a plague that kills every male on Earth.

"There's certainly a diversity among what we publish," says DC president Paul Levitz, who incidentally refused to characterize DC's relationship with Marvel as a "rivalry."

But for DC, the billion-dollar question remains: How in the world can Marvel produce a hit with a third-tier character in a critically reviled movie like "Ghost Rider," while a film starring the most well-known hero in the universe, Superman, can't even make back its budget domestically?

The answer may lie in the nature of each company's heroes. When Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko created many of Marvel's iconic heroes in the 1960s, their innovation was to give their characters great humanity along with great power.

"They took superheroes and made them more realistic," says Midtown Comics' Gladstone. "They gave their characters real traits, had them living in real cities - most in New York City. They had tremendous flaws and problems that you and I would face every day: getting to work on time, having a cold or flu, having a sick aunt."

"I do believe that what moviegoing audiences respond to is what the comic-book audience and the Marvel audience has responded to for decades. And that's relatable characters," says Kevin Feige, executive producer of "Fantastic Four" and most of the other Marvel movies. "There's a reason these characters have endured for 20, 30, 40 years. There are emotional elements that people connect with. The Marvel characters are infinitely more than their exterior design. They have an emotional core."

But Marvel hasn't always been on top. DC ruled the '70s and '80s with its initial Batman and Superman franchises, while for years Marvel years failed miserably to capitalize on its characters. The company was sometimes in financial straits (Marvel declared bankruptcy in 1996), which led to a Hollywood fire sale on many of its properties. These ill-conceived deals spawned dreck like a 1989 Punisher movie starring Dolph Lundgren, David Hasselhoff as superspy Nick Fury and most legendarily of all, a 1994 Fantastic Four movie directed by schlockmeister Roger Corman. It was never released.

Not to mention a certain Howard the Duck, who laid a lead egg for Marvel in 1986 - one of that decade's biggest box-office debacles.

Although the quality of its movies has improved, Marvel still hasn't gotten out from under those bad deals. Years ago, the company licensed characters like Spider-Man and the X-Men to Sony and Fox, respectively, and those studios are reaping most of the rewards. According to Fortune, Fox grossed a combined $2 billion on the three X-Men movies. Marvel's take: just $26 million.

Marvel, however, recently formed its own studio, which will produce (and keep the profits from) "Iron Man," "The Incredible Hulk" and the loads of other films the studio has planned. Among their contenders are: "Ant Man," directed by Edgar Wright, the man behind "Hot Fuzz "Thor "Captain America," which will be set partly during World War II and partly in the present day; and, ultimately, "The Avengers," which will unite all these characters into a superteam.

"We definitely have the stories to keep these film franchises going for a long time," says Feige, who also guaranteed an "X-Men 4." "What shapes they take and what players are involved will always shift every three to four movies."

In other words, Spider-Man will be back, even if Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst aren't. And that'll probably be OK with fans - as long as no one hires George Clooney and gives the spider-suit nipples.

Pinsent, O'Hara among new stars on Canada's Walk of Fame

The stars came out in Toronto on Saturday — Catherine O'Hara, Gordon Pinsent and Jill Hennessy among them — to have their names immortalized on Canada's Walk of Fame in a glamorous annual event meant to celebrate the country's biggest cultural success stories.

"I promised myself I wouldn't start crying," Hennessy, dressed in a gold-coloured gown and accompanied by her twin, Jacqueline, said on the red carpet as fans shouted for her autograph.

"This is so meaningful because this country's given me so much. I am lucky to have been born here … I love the generosity and the humility and the talent of everybody here, and I wouldn't be where I am today without this country."

Seven stars were inducted into the Walk of Fame this year: Hennessy, O'Hara, Pinsent, rock band Nickelback, Maple Leaf goaltending legend Johnny Bower, Rick (Man in Motion) Hansen and CTV news anchor Lloyd Robertson, the first journalist to join the ranks. Hollywood film mogul Ivan Reitman, who was inducted in 2001, was also there to join the celebrations.

All were on hand on a brilliantly sunny afternoon in downtown Toronto to walk the red carpet and be honoured at a televised gala hosted by one of O'Hara's longtime pals, fellow SCTV alum Eugene Levy. The show airs on CTV on Sunday night.

"It's out of this world — his name's going to be permanently engraved in two cities," Jason Reitman, son of Ivan Reitman, said on the red carpet, referring to his father's star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame.

When Jason Reitman, director of last year's critically acclaimed Thank You For Smoking, was told he might one day join his father on Canada's Walk of Fame, he replied: "Doubtful. But you know, my last name's down there and that's enough for generations."

The celebrities themselves were just as star-struck in the presence of their fellow inductees as the fans who were cheering them from the sidelines outside the Hummingbird Centre.

"Catherine O'Hara is someone who I've always admired. I actually went to study at Second City in Toronto partially because of her," said Hennessy, the star of Law and Order and Crossing Jordan.

"And Gordon Pinsent is, I think, one of the best working actors today, and he should be much more acknowledged on an international scale. I think he will be and I think he's going to be nominated this year for Away from Her — I have had a premonition."

Pinsent, who was handed a white rose by a fan, returned the compliment to Hennessy, saying he "loved" the actress.

"I always thought that Jill was another kind of ambition of mine, but she's got her man with her," he quipped.

Leafs' legend Bower honoured

But all of the male inductees, including Pinsent, said they were most excited to hob-nob with Bower, who helped lead the Maple Leafs to three Stanley Cup victories in the 1960s.

"Johnny Bower — he played when we had Leafs, real Leafs," Pinsent said wistfully. "Johnny was a crucial part of it all."

Reitman recalled fondly taking in those winning Leafs.

"I remember watching the Maple Leafs with my father through the '60s when he was the great goalie," Reitman said.

Hansen agreed that meeting Bower, frail at 82, was a kick.

"On an emotional level as a kid growing up, you can't help but feel close to Johnny Bower. The Leafs and the [Boston] Bruins were my team and Johnny — he was there through all those Stanley Cup years when all of us looked at Canadian hockey in a really special way. He's a class guy, he really is."

Yoko Ono tells of last night with Lennon

LONDON (AP) — John Lennon was shot and killed outside his New York City apartment after deciding he wanted to return home to see his son rather than go out for dinner, Yoko Ono said in an interview broadcast Sunday.

"We were returning from the studio, and I said: 'Should we go and have dinner before we go home?' and John was saying, 'No, lets go home because I want to see Sean before he goes to sleep.' And it was like he wasn't sure if we would get home before he (Sean) went to sleep and he was concerned about that."

Ono, 74, the wife of the late Beatle, made the comment on "Desert Island Discs," the British Broadcasting Corp. radio program that interviews famous people and plays their favorite songs.

She said Lennon uttered no dying words when he was shot and killed by deranged fan Mark Chapman outside their Dakota apartment building in Manhattan on Dec. 8, 1980.

Ono also said that when she became pregnant with Sean shortly after the couple reunited in 1975 following a two-year separation, she let Lennon decide whether she should have the baby or abort it.

"I thought that I should let John decide whether to keep it or not. We'd just got back together and I became pregnant very soon, and I didn't know if it was the right moment to have a child. I just didn't want to burden him with something he didn't want," Ono said.

The songs Ono played on Sunday's show included Lennon's "Beautiful Boy" (about Sean); "Liverpool Lou," which was written by Scaffold, a Liverpool group that included Paul McCartney's brother, and "Magic," a song composed by Sean.

'Ocean's Thirteen' banks $37.1 million

LOS ANGELES - Audiences anted up for the Warner Bros. caper "Ocean's Thirteen," the third of George Clooney and Brad Pitt's casino-heist romps, which debuted as the top flick with $37.1 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," the No. 1 movie the previous two weekends, sank to second-place with $21.3 million, raising its domestic total to $253.6 million.

Sony's "Surf's Up," an animated adventure about surfing penguins featuring the voices of Shia LaBeouf and Jeff Bridges, debuted in fourth-place with $18 million. That was less than half the $41.5 million opening weekend of last fall's animated-penguin hit "Happy Feet."

"Surf's Up" earned good reviews, but audiences may have viewed it as a retread of "Happy Feet," which finished with nearly $200 million domestically and won the Academy Award for best animated feature.

Lionsgate's gory horror sequel "Hostel: Part II," about rich people who pay to kill victims in grisly ways, opened at No. 6 with $8.75 million, less than half the $19.6 million debut of last year's "Hostel."

The newcomers fell well short of the $60.1 million opening of the animated hit "Cars" over the same weekend last year. After a big summer start, Hollywood revenues dipped for the second-straight weekend, with the top-12 movies taking in $133.6 million, down 9 percent from the same weekend last year.

The three blockbusters that debuted in May — "Pirates of the Caribbean," DreamWorks Animation's "Shrek the Third" and Sony's "Spider-Man 3" — all have trailed off with big drops in revenue after huge first weekends.

Collectively, the three movies will combine for about $1 billion in domestic receipts. But all three will finish well below the $400-million-plus haul each of their most-successful predecessors took in.

The latest installments on all three franchises earned mixed reviews, and they arrived amid arguably the most-competitive summer ever for Hollywood, with huge sequels and other big films arriving every weekend.

With "Spider-Man 3" edging toward $900 million worldwide and "At World's End" nearing $750 million, overseas revenues have far exceeded domestic receipts for both franchises. "Shrek the Third" is rolling out overseas gradually.

"It's really become an opening-weekend business, but with all the competition, in the long haul, they just don't have the legs that their predecessors did," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers. "Studios really have to rely on those worldwide grosses to make up the difference in the long run."

An exception is Universal's comedy "Knocked Up," which held up strongly in its second weekend with $20 million, coming in at No. 3 and raising its domestic total to $66.2 million. Critical praise and audience word of mouth sustained the film, which stars Katherine Heigl as a career woman who becomes pregnant from a one-night stand with a slacker (Seth Rogen).

"Ocean's Thirteen" reunites director Steven Soderbergh with Clooney, Pitt, Matt Damon and other cast members as the gang of thieves targets a casino owner ( Al Pacino) who double-crossed one of their own.

The sequel debuted slightly behind the opening weekends of 2001's "Ocean's Eleven" ($38.1 million) and 2004's "Ocean's Twelve" ($39.2 million).

Here are the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Ocean's Thirteen," $37.1 million.
2. "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," $21.3 million.
3. "Knocked Up," $20 million.
4. "Surf's Up," $18 million.
5. "Shrek the Third," $15.75 million.
6. "Hostel: Part II," $8.75 million.
7. "Mr. Brooks," $5 million.
8. "Spider-Man 3," $4.4 million.
9. "Waitress," $1.65 million.
10. "Disturbia," $550,000.

The Couch Potato Report - June 9th, 2007

This week The Couch Potato Report peels another film that was made in Saskatchewan and offers some Father's Day gift suggestions.

Since The Couch Potato Report first began in 1991, I have reviewed films on almost as many formats. There have been video cassettes, video discs, laserdiscs, VCDs, UMDs and more than a few others.

And the future of home viewing is already upon us with Blue Ray and HD-DVD gaining popularity..., but for the time being I will continue to just talk about new releases that are available on DVDs.

Including the DVD that is now in stores for the made-in-Saskatchewan horror film THE MESSENGERS.

When this film opened in theatres back in February, it became the first film made in that province to open in the number one spot on the box office charts.

In THE MESSENGERS Dylan McDermott from TV's THE PRACTICE and Penelope Ann Miller of KINDERGARTEN COP fame are a couple who have packed up their life in the city and moved to the country with their two children, including a teenage daughter who has done something terribly wrong.

The young actress Kristen Stewart from PANIC ROOM is the daughter, and soon after they arrive at their spooky old house in the middle of nowhere, she starts to see things...and hear things...and no one ...especially not her parents...believes her

During the very brisk 84 minute running time of this film, we also get to meet a banker, a few kids from the neighbouring town, and a mysterious stranger who becoimes the family's hired hand.

What we don't get is much originality.

THE MESSENGERS is a "what you see is not what you've seen" sort of film that borrows heavily from other well-known horror classics like THE AMITYVILLE HORROR, Alfred Hitchcock's THE BIRDS, THE GRUDGE and POLTERGEIST, and it is for those reasons that I can't strongly recommend it.

But, ultimately, I do recommend it.

If you enjoy horror films, and movies that have a few good scares in them, then this is a good one to watch.

On Easter Monday of this year, CBC Television covered the rededication ceremony of the war memorial in Vimy, France.

As I watched the new DVD this week featuring the highlights of the many features and stories that my CBC colleagues had produced for that broadcast of the Monument's rededication, I felt the same way as I did when I sat and watched their original airing:

Wow!!

VIMY RIDGE 90 made me proud to be a Canadian, and it also made me want to make a pilgrimage to see this spectacular tribute to the Canadians who gave their lives so we could be here today.

VIMY RIDGE 90 is three hour highlight package from an unforgettable day in Canadian history. You get to witness the Sunset Ceremony, the Lighting of the Monument, and you'll experience the newly restored memorial in all of its glory, the Freedom of the City parade; and much, much more.

It is a must see and a title that you must own.

This DVD would make a great Father's Day gift next weekend...and so would the Two-Disc Ultimate Collector's Edition of director Howard Hawks' classic western RIO BRAVO!

Simply put, RIO BRAVO is one of the top five western movies ever made.

John Wayne is Sheriff John T. Chance, Dean Martin is his sobering-up alcoholic friend Dude, and Ricky Nelson is the hotshot new kid Colorado.

They are what stands between a currupt prisoner and the growing list of people who want to break him out of jail.

There is fightin', horse ridin', heroes, villains, a saloon, a perty gal, and everything a classic western should have.

Plus, this Ultimate Collector's Edition features a remastered version of the film, a commentary, documentary, featurettes, the press book, a comic book, teh film's lobby cards and more!!

If you like Westerns, this is the package for you, and if your Dad likes them, then this would be a great gift for him next Sunday.

Okay, it is time for the next release in our FOREIGN FILM FESTIVAL ON DVD.

This summer I will be telling you about a different film each week in a foreign language.

German is the language spoken in the Austrian film ANTARES.

This movie features people who have secrets and lies

Specifically we meet a three women, whose paths cross in a large building complex.

There is a married nurse who has a lover that hardly speaks.

A cashier who is lying to her boyfriend that she is pregnant.

And a divorced woman who has problems getting rid of her ex-husband.

The destinies of the women we meet all have something to do with each other, and it is all quite engaging.

ANTARES is the type of movie where you won't understand everything that you see in it until the very end, and then it will all be clear.

I really enjoyed watching it all fall into place.

The engaging Austrian film ANTARES (an-tair-eez), the Two-Disc Ultimate Collector's Edition of director Howard Hawks' classic western RIO BRAVO, the exceptional VIMY RIDGE 90, and the made-in-Saskatchewan film THE MESSENGERS are all available now on DVD.


Coming up in the next Couch Potato Report

MISSING VICTOR PELLERIN is a Canadian film about a young star of the art scene who burns a fortune in paintings and leaves Montreal without a trace; SNOWCAKE focusses on the friendship between a high-functioning autistic woman and a man who is traumatized after a fatal car accident.

I will also talk about Season Two of the superb television series THE CLOSER; and the based-on-a-true-story spy thriller BREACH.

Also next week, our FOREIGN FILM FESTIVAL ON DVD continues with the French film TOI ET MOI. It juxtaposes real-life relationships with those of fiction and shows us how and why we sometimes get confused.

Mon dieu!!


I'm Dan Reynish. I'll have more on those, and some other releases, in seven days.

For now, that's this week's COUCH POTATO REPORT.

Enjoy the movies and I'll see you back here next time on The Couch!

Regina to host Geminis

The 22nd annual showcase for Canada's television industry will be held at Regina's Conexus Arts Centre in October.

Two television networks are teaming up for the event. CBC-TV will broadcast the Oct. 28 award ceremony while Global will cover the red-carpet event before the main show.

The awards recognize the best in television, including news, drama, sports and comedy.

The announcement was made in Regina Friday by Paul Gratton, the chair of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television.

Gratton said when he saw Regina's proposal to host the awards, he couldn't turn it down.

The province will contribute $150,000 toward the $250,000 fee for the event.

The Saskatchewan Film and Video Development Corp. [SaskFilm] and the City of Regina will each contribute $50,000.

Premier Lorne Calvert, who was on hand for the announcement, said the province's $150,000 will be money well spent.

"We'll get that back in a half an hour of sales tax revenues," he said. "The dollar here is assured. What is also assured is the profile being raised."

Saskatchewan is known as a great place for film and television, Calvert said, pointing to the success of the such TV shows as Corner Gas and Little Mosque on the Prairie.

The annual awards ceremony was held in Vancouver last year. Before that, the galas have been held in Toronto.

Spice Girls Reunion a Well-Seasoned Rumor

The Spice Girls are still oceans apart when it comes to getting together.

First, it was Live 8 in 2005, and this time it's the July 1 tribute to Princess Diana that the '90s-era British pop stars will not be performing at, sticking a fork in yet another rumor that Scary, Sporty, Baby, Ginger and Posh are ready to take the stage again.

"Despite media speculation at this time, there is no confirmation of a Spice reunion," Victoria Beckham's rep, Cheryl Maisel, told E! News.

"Victoria is moving to L.A., Emma is due to have a baby and Mel B has only recently given birth, so at this time there really is nothing to confirm."

A source told People, however, that Beckham, Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton, Melanie Brown and Melanie Chisholm could all be caroling together come Christmastime.

"It should be happening in December," the source said. "Geri [aka Ginger] and Emma [Baby] have been in the studio writing new material and they want to do a worldwide tour."

People reported that a Spice Girls greatest hits album is in the works, with sources saying it will include several new songs—"one in particular is fantastic," a recording studio insider said.

The Spice Girls, sort of the Backstreet Boys of England at the time (as in, they didn't know each other and answered an ad in the paper looking for singer-dancers], was the brainchild of American Idol mastermind Simon Fuller, who signed the group to 19 Management in 1995, soon after which the ladies inked a deal with Virgin Records.

Halliwell left the group in 1998 and the remaining four Girls' final studio album, 2000's Forever, wasn't one for the books, peaking at number 39 on the Billboard 200. After a few TV performances, including one at the MTV Europe Video Music Awards in November 2000, the Spice World stars went their separate ways.

The closest they've come to a reunion since was Bob Geldof's announcement in 2005 that they were discussing an appearance at Live 8 that July in Hyde Park. Brown reportedly had a prior commitment in Los Angeles and the deal fell through.

Another insider told People that whether or not the reunion takes place this time hinges on Simon Fuller, now that Chisholm (Sporty) is finally on board.

"It's been a long time coming and the negotiations have been going on for a while," the insider told the magazine. "Mel C. was the last one to come onboard as she has been pushing her solo career."

Chisholm started her own company, Red Girl Records, in 2004 and has released four solo albums, with her first, 1999's Northern Star, being the most successful, hitting number four on the U.K. charts.

Meanwhile, Bunton, who appeared in a multi-episode arc on the final season of Absolutely Fabulous and has been busy making commercials in Britain, is expecting her first child with longtime boyfriend Jade Jones.

Brown gave birth to a baby girl, who may or may not be Eddie Murphy's child, in April. The actor is listed as the father on Angel Iris Murphy Brown's birth certificate, but paternity has not yet been established.

Halliwell also had a baby last year, Bluebell Madonna, whose Apr. 22 baptism attracted all of her mum's group mates, minus Brown. The singer, who has released three solo albums, has also taken up writing, signing a six-book deal with Macmillan Children's Books to pen a series revolving around a heroine named Eugenia Lavender.

And, considering she's the most famous of the five—largely thanks to her tabloid-friendly marriage to U.K. soccer superstar David Beckham—it's hard to imagine that Easy V would come for free.

Beckham, whose solo recording efforts picked up little steam but who had more success on the fashion-design front, has also remained tightlipped about any plans to Spice up her life in the near future.

She told a British radio station in October that she just didn't think a reunion was going to happen.

"I think we're all just happy doing our own thing now and, obviously, having three children, I can't really see myself jumping around on the stage anymore," she said.

The petite footballer's wife is set to star in a one-hour prime-time NBC special chronicling her family's relocation to Los Angeles, where her hubby has signed a $250 million deal (including salary and endorsements) to play for the local Galaxy for the next five years.

The NBC show was originally presented as a six-episode reality series, but Victoria reportedly opted to remain in England and watch David Beckham make his return to the national team rather than fly to L.A. to shoot more footage.
Posh and Becks are expected to make the transatlantic move in mid-July.

Beastie Boys switch gears with instrumental album

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Long known for their relatively epic waits between studio releases, the Beastie Boys surprised fans this spring with the announcement that their new record would arrive a scant three years after 2004's "To the 5 Boroughs."

But the Beastie Boys are also long known for sudden stylistic left turns, and shortly thereafter, they revealed that the album would consist solely of instrumentals.

As promised, "The Mix-Up," due June 26 via Capitol, goes heavy on the groove, especially the splashing, crashing Meters-inflected funk the band has been consistently serving up since 1992's "Check Your Head." But there's not a rhyme to be found.

"If we were trying to maximize our demographic or whatever, I'm not sure we'd come with an instrumental record right now," says Michael "Mike D" Diamond, whose bad self runs things on the drum kit throughout the album. "But I think we have to give people who've been listening to us some credit. They've gone to different places with us already, in terms of the influences we bring to the music we make, so hopefully they'll be able to hang with this curveball as well."

The curveball began taking shape about a year or so after "To the 5 Boroughs" was released. "With '5 Boroughs,' we were each working on beats, sitting in front of our laptops and samplers," Diamond says. "This time, we thought, 'Let's do a 180 from that, and sit down and play some instrumentals and see what happens that way.' We just didn't really stop until we finished."

The 12 tracks on "The Mix-Up" are all new and were never seriously considered for lyrics, although Diamond concedes that the band is mulling highly tentative plans to release a second version of the record with guest vocalists. "The more we kept working on these songs, the happier with them we became, and the more confused in terms of where there was room to put vocals on them," he says.

The Beasties -- whose last instrumental record was the 1996 compilation "The In Sound From Way Out!" -- are turning their attention to getting the word out to their college-age fan base and beyond. In perhaps the most telling sign of a significant shift toward an older audience, "The Mix-Up" will be on sale at Starbucks.

Tour plans are still in the works -- including some U.S. dates that haven't been announced yet -- and some shows will be instrumental-only. (Before their recent two-night stand at the Sasquatch Festival in George, Wash., the Beasties played a surprise show for several hundred fans at Seattle's Crocodile Cafe.)

"We've got plenty more work ahead of us," Diamond says. "We kind of have a pretty broad list (of songs) to pick and choose from."

Washington out of `Grey's Anatomy'

LOS ANGELES - Isaiah Washington has lost his job on the hit ABC medical drama "Grey's Anatomy," five months after creating a furor with his use of an anti-gay slur.

Washington's contract option was not renewed for next season, series producer ABC Television Studios said Thursday.

"I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore," Washington said in a statement released through his publicist, Howard Bragman, without elaboration.

He drew fire after using the anti-gay epithet backstage at the Golden Globe Awards in January while denying he'd used it previously on the set against cast mate T.R. Knight.

Gay rights groups and cast member Katherine Heigl, who publicly denounced Washington, were among his most vocal critics.

"This is something that will have changed the scope of his life," Heigl told Entertainment Weekly last month. Washington was "sorry and embarrassed" for the mistake, she said.

Washington tried to make amends and said he was seeking therapy.

He also met with officials from the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network and the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and filmed a public service announcement in which he said "words have power" to hurt or heal.

The May finale of "Grey's Anatomy" opened the door for the departure of his character. Burke was on the verge of marrying Dr. Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh), but her doubts at first delayed and then derailed their splashy wedding.

Later, Yang found that Burke cleared out his favorite possessions from their apartment.

In May, Bragman said the actor intended to spend the summer working and not worrying about the show. Washington intended to continue his charity work in Sierra Leone, which a DNA test showed to be his ancestral home, and work on an independent movie.

'Sopranos' ends after 8 years

TORONTO (CP) - In the annals of countless "Sopranos" whackings, this one was arguably the most harrowing: Tony Soprano, his eyes hooded like a horror-film killer, slowly snuffing the life out of his once-beloved henchman, Christopher, in a gloomy drizzle.

It was a particularly cold-blooded murder in a series that's been full of them, and also perfectly symbolized this season's stunning developments: Tony's steady slide into depravity and paranoia, and his growing distrust of even those closest to him.

On Sunday night on the Movie Network/Movie Central, "Sopranos" fans will find out whether the New Jersey mob boss dies for his multitude of sins or survives the bloody turf war that's erupted between his band of thugs and their New York counterparts.

More significantly, it marks the end of a cultural phenomenon - a show that has often been lauded by critics as the best in the history of television.

The buzz is such that polls have been conducted in the U.S. on how "The Sopranos" should end its thrilling eight-year run. In one survey by a Connecticut NBC affiliate, 82 per cent of respondents said Tony, played with consistent brilliance by actor James Gandolfini, should go on to eat another Satriales capicola sandwich.

Will "Sopranos" creator David Chase end the series with the ultimate bang - the death of his tormented protagonist? Tony was last seen, after all, holed up in a deserted house, a massive automatic weapon in his arms, trying to get some sleep as his minions - minus Bobby and Silvio, both gunned down earlier in the episode - stood guard downstairs awaiting the certain arrival of New York hitmen.

Apparently Chase's own cast doesn't even know Tony's fate. Chase has reportedly filmed three different endings of the HBO series in order to ensure the outcome remains a secret.

But if Chase has proven anything in his eight years writing and producing "The Sopranos," it's this: viewers should expect the unexpected, and prepare at every turn for a sudden shift of gears. The series finale is just as likely to end ambiguously with quiet and introspective scenes of Tony and his wife and children enjoying some baked ziti as it is in a spectacularly bloody showdown that leaves no man standing.

"There'll be people who will like the finale and people who won't like it," Chase recently told Entertainment Weekly magazine. "But I think that if people look at what the show was, or could even watch the whole story again, they'll understand what the ending is."

"The Sopranos," in fact, has been a masterpiece of contradictions in its years on the air. It's been outrageously violent, suspenseful, poignant and funny - usually all in the same episode.

From the moment the show hit the airwaves, it was clear that viewers were seeing something they'd never witnessed on the small screen before - a drama populated by callous killers who frequently revealed confusingly human and compassionate elements of their sociopathic personalities. Tony, in fact, sees a psychiatrist to battle his demons, although he's often seen leaving her office to orchestrate or participate in the next whacking.

An early episode in the first season set the tone. Tony and the apple of his eye - his beloved daughter, Meadow - embark upon a sweet father-daughter tour of a leafy college campus in Maine. But Tony soon spots a made man-turned-rat who went into the witness protection program, and takes a quick break from the campus walkabout to choke the life out of his old pal before returning to Meadow.

Chase has long said that "The Sopranos," truly, is about family - both Tony's mob family, a collection of social misfits that includes one of the funniest onscreen mobsters ever, Paulie Walnuts; and his immediate family: wife Carmela, kids Meadow and A.J., sister Janice, and his manipulative and possibly psychotic mother, Livia, whose lousy parenting skills left Tony with permanent scars.

Chase apparently based the character on his own mother, and even though Livia dies early in Season 3 (actress Nancy Marchand succumbed to cancer), her presence loomed large over Tony throughout the series, particularly in light of his knowledge that she tried to have him whacked.

Chase's real gift was his ability to combine into a consistently accomplished narrative universal problems - childhood traumas, marital discord, infidelity, the difficulties dealing with teenagers and elderly relatives - with the story of the New Jersey mobsters and their fellow con men, their victims and their "goomahs," anglicized Italian slang for mistresses.

The show also had some lighter moments, most notably the episode entitled "Pine Barrens," considered a classic by "Sopranos" junkies. The episode features the dumb-and-dumber pair of Christopher and Paulie in pursuit of a Russian mobster. The duo get lost in the woods while on the hunt in a farcical bit of genius that put Chase's love of showing the sheer buffoonery of his crooked characters into the spotlight.

But this season, there have been few moments of light or laughter save for one Uncle Junior-focused show that was replete with politically incorrect Junior jokes - until that episode, too, took a dark and depressing turn.

Tony's degeneration this season has been so astonishing that even his therapist dumps him, fearful that their years of working together have only sharpened his sociopathic skills of manipulation.

It all seems to suggest Tony might deserve to be doomed. Even Gandolfini recently told The Associated Press that he's lost faith in a character he once felt affection for.

"I used to (like Tony). But it's difficult toward the end. I think the thing with Christopher might have turned the corner," said Gandolfini, who's won three Emmys for his turn as Tony. "It's kind of one thing after another. Let's just say it was a lot easier to like him before than in the last few years."

A look at some memorable 'Sopranos' whackings

"The Sopranos" ends its blood-soaked eight-year run on Sunday night. Here are some memorable whackings:

Fabian (Febby) Petrulio: It's not every father-daughter excursion to college campuses that sees Daddy take a brief break from the tour to choke the life out of an old pal. Tony garrottes Febby, a made man-turned rat, with a wire, then swiftly returns to his sweet-faced daughter's side.

Tracee, the stripper prostitute: Ralphie Cifaretto relentlessly beats the life out of his goomah in the Bada Bing parking lot, one of the show's most horrific whackings. Tracee's crime was to find herself pregnant with his child, and slapping Ralphie when he insulted her. But the whacking helped seal Ralphie's own brutal fate.

Richie Aprile: Janice scored one for Tracee and other abused "Sopranos" women when she blew her fiance away after he slugged her during an argument - first in the chest, then another bullet to the head just to ensure he would not rise to smack her around again. Tony is soon enlisted to literally clean up his sister's mess.

Sal (Big Pussy) Bonpensiero: When Tony discovers the affable Big Pussy is an FBI informant, Bonpensiero is taken out for a fishing excursion and then blown away in a hail of bullets by three assassins: Paulie, Silvio and Tony himself. His last frantic words? "Not in the face, OK? Give me that? Keep my eyes." The whacking haunts Tony, and Big Pussy frequently returns in the mob boss's dreams.

Ralph Cifaretto: After Tracee's grisly demise, this was a "Sopranos" whacking that was somewhat satisfying to watch. When Ralphie admits to burning down the stable where Tony's beloved racehorse was housed, Tony beats and strangles him in a rage. Tony enlists Christopher to help him dismember and dispose of Ralphie's body, and the scene in which Ralphie's head is passed around between the pair - and his toupee falls off - is one of the most darkly hilarious "Sopranos" moments ever.

Adriana LaCerva: The most heartbreaking whacking of the series. The sweet and guileless Adriana, a reluctant FBI informant, is driven to a remote rural area and blown away by a flinty-eyed Silvio as she crawls away and pleads for her life. Sold out by her boyfriend, Christopher, and tricked by Silvio to get into the car, Adriana's whacking had some "Sopranos" fans pondering a switch of allegiances after cheering for the New Jersey mobsters against their New York rivals. It seemed unimaginable that Johnny Sack would have stooped so low.

Vito Spatafore: Another tough one to watch since poor Vito was whacked simply for being gay. Some goons from the New York crew, upon orders from Phil Leotardo, beat him lifeless and, as an added message to any other mobsters thinking of coming out of the closet, shoved a pool cue up his rectum.

Christopher Moltisanti: Even though he'd been nothing but a liability for Tony since the first episode, watching the mob boss methodically suffocate his once-adored henchman after they were both injured in a car crash was perhaps one of the most macabre moments of the series, and indicative of the depths of Tony's depravity.

Some of the funnier malapropisms heard during the eight-year run of "The Sopranos":

"Revenge is like serving cold cuts." - Tony Soprano.

"Create a little dysentery among the ranks." - Christopher Moltisanti.

"You're at the precipice of an enormous crossroads." - Little Carmine Lupertazzi.

"There's no stigmata connected to going to a shrink." - Carmine Lupertazzi.

"I was prostate with grief." - Tony Soprano.

"A guy like that is going out with a woman, he could technically not have penissary contact with her Volvo." - Tony Soprano.

"You're very observant. The sacred and the propane." - Little Carmine.

"Quasimodo predicted all of this." - Bobby Bacala.

U2 Recording New Songs In Morocco With Eno, Lanois

U2 is in the midst of an extended songwriting and recording session in Fez, Morocco, with longtime collaborators Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois. Sources say the band has already flashed out a number of ideas, but, writing on U2.com, Bono claims it's still too early to tell whether any of them will appear on U2's next studio album.

"We have no plans for the music yet," he said. "We're just going to make it until we can't not put it out!"

Although Eno and Lanois have respectively worked with the band on some of its most classic material, they have never previously teamed with U2 in a "purely songwriting capacity," according to drummer Larry Mullen Jr. "So it's very different, quite experimental and kind of liberating because of that."

U2.com is promising an insider's look at the sessions throughout June. Meanwhile, the band recently previewed its upcoming concert film, "U23D," at the Cannes Film Festival in France.

McCoy gets a new 'Law & Order' job

LOS ANGELES - Prosecutor Jack McCoy is getting a promotion to New York district attorney on "Law & Order" but viewers could see less of Sam Waterston, the actor who plays him.

McCoy will take over from New York D.A. Arthur Branch, who was played by Fred Thompson. A former U.S. senator, Thompson asked to be released from the NBC drama as he weighs a bid for the Republican nomination for president.

Waterston will begin his 14th season as McCoy, who was an executive assistant D.A., when the show returns in midseason. In past episodes, the district attorney's character generally has been seen in brief scenes offering counsel to his staff.

"It's premature to comment on any changes to the D.A.'s role as well as any story lines affecting the transition from Branch to McCoy," Pam Gol