Media By Numbers President Paul Dergarabedian confirmed Monday that North American ticket sales for the summer had risen above the $4 billion mark for the first time in history. The gross exceeded the previous record of $3.95 billion set in 2004. However, Dergarabedian observed, the number of actual tickets sold was actually 4.8 percent below 2004's total. On average, movie fans paid 10 percent more for a ticket this year than they did three years ago, with prices rising an average of 30 cents this year alone -- the largest increase in seven years. Much of this year's success could be attributed to a slew of blockbuster "three-quels" such as Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Spider-Man 3, Shrek the Third and The Bourne Ultimatum, Dergarabedian told Bloomberg News. "Hollywood will likely put out more sequels given the success this summer," he said. "There's a comfort factor with sequels for audiences. They know what they're getting."

As is customary at the end of August, the box office lost steam over the weekend, with the top film, Superbad, hanging on to first place for the second week in a row with only $18 million, about half of what it earned the previous weekend. The fourth week of The Bourne Ultimatum took second place with $12.5 million, followed by Rush Hour 3 with $11.7 million. Of five films making their debut, only one made a solid impression. The Rowan Atkinson comedy Mr. Bean's Holiday placed fourth with $9.9 million at just 1,714 theaters -- accumulating an average per-theater gross that was only slightly below Superbad's.

The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Media by Numbers (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date): 1. Superbad, Sony, $18,044,369, 2 Wks. ($68,616,643); 2. The Bourne Ultimatum, Universal, $12,472,215, 4 Wks. ($185,253,615); 3. Rush Hour 3, New Line, $11,706,643, 3 Wks. ($108,469,646); 4. Mr. Bean's Holiday, Universal, $9,889,780, (New); 5. War, Lionsgate, $9,820,089, (New); 6 . The Nanny Diaries, MGM, $7,480,927, (New); 7 . The Simpsons Movie, 20th Century Fox, $4,317,689, 5 Wks. ($173,354,858); 8. Stardust, Paramount, $3,872,560, 3 Wks. ($26,374,432); 9. Hairspray, New Line, $3,265,384, 6 Wks. ($107,271,846); 10 . The Invasion, Warner Bros., $3,093,428, 2 Wks. ($11,468,121).

Australian actor Michael Caton says he was only making a "tongue in cheek" remark when he suggested that comedian Rob Schneider may have helped Adam Sandler plagiarize the Australian film Strange Bedfellows for Sandler's I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry. Both films are about two firefighters who pretend to be homosexuals in order to take advantage of tax benefits for gay couples. Caton, who co-starred in Bedfellows with Paul Hogan, had told a recent news conference that he had given a copy of the movie to Schneider, who appears as an Asian minister in Larry. Caton appeared with Schneider in the 2001 film The Animal. Schneider responded by taking out an ad in the Sydney Morning Herald saying, "I am very flattered that you think that I am the one who chooses the films of Adam Sandler (currently the highest paid actor in the world). ... It is true you gave me a DVD copy of Strange Bedfellows, but I must confess I've never watched it, as it is not on the same format as I have." Caton responded today (Tuesday) that he hadn't brought up the matter -- reporters had. In a statement to the Herald, Caton added that he was only kidding when he said that he had emailed Schneider a message saying that if the reports about similarities between the two films are true, "tell Adam Sandler [that he] owes me one." He added that he has not seen Chuck and Larry. Nevertheless, the Herald reported that Shana Levine, one of the Bedfellows producers, is considering filing a copyright-infringement suit against the Chuck and Larry producers.

New Canadian laws imposing greater restrictions and penalties on theater patrons camcording movies from their seats have apparently had little effect in Montreal, where much of the illegal camcording takes place, according to Bloomberg News. Theater chain owner Vince Guzzo told the wire service, "I caught four people trying to camcord Pirates of the Caribbean. ... There are two types of people doing this: One type does it for kicks, then you have the professional criminal." But Michael Geist, a University of Ottawa professor and specialist in Internet law, noted that Hollywood continues to pile up enormous profits despite the piracy. "If camcording is a problem, it's a very small problem." And even those who acknowledge downloading movies illegally insist that they avoid the camcorded versions. An employee of a Montreal DVD shop told Bloomberg News: "Anytime I've seen a downloaded movie that's a pirated copy, it's really good quality, and those can only come from within the industry. ... Most people aren't going to watch camera jobs because they're really bad quality."

Some PBS stations are planning to air an edited version of the Ken Burns WWII documentary The War, concerned over the possible reaction of the FCC to profanities uttered by soldiers in the footage, Broadcasting & Cable reported Monday. Their decision has encountered the anger of the American Civil Liberties Union, the trade publication indicated. "To impede the First Amendment rights of those who fought and died for those very rights is reprehensible," said ACLU Washington legislative director Caroline Fredrickson in a statement. "Our public broadcasters should not be afraid to air fourteen hours of an educational and fact-based documentary because of a handful of profanities. Images of the brutality of war are far more disturbing than any four letter word." The ACLU noted that the stations' decision points up the "chilling effect" that the FCC's recent rulings on indecent language have had on television writers and producers.

Keith Olbermann's Countdown will probably be counted out of contention for the pre-game slot preceding NBC's Football Night in America and Sunday Night Football, several analysts agreed Monday as overnight ratings indicated that the show attracted just 4.3 million viewers, putting it in last place among the four major networks. (The football game itself drew 10.3 million in its first half hour.) Although Olbermann had said that he did not intend to alter Countdown for its broadcast network showcase, some critics maintained that that's exactly what he did, watering down his often hard-hitting liberal commentaries.

Nielsen Media Research has decided to dump the National Hispanic People Meter panel that provides ratings of Hispanic households. Henceforth, it said, the ratings will be provided by Nielsen's National People Meter panel, the group that provides ratings for all other channels. "This will put national Spanish-language television on a level playing field with English-language television, providing a common ratings number for all national networks," Nielsen said in a statement. And, in an interview with today's (Tuesday) Los Angeles Times, Danielle Gonzales, managing director of the Chicago-based ad agency Tapestry, which specializes in Latino media, commented: "This is a turning point -- the television industry has acknowledged the strength of the Hispanic population."

Controversy over CBS's Kid Nation continues to snowball, with two prominent entertainment columnists entering the fray today (Tuesday). Barry Garron in The Hollywood Reporter urged CBS to cancel the show. "This has all gone far enough," he wrote. "It's time for CBS to cut its losses, apologize for an idea that was well-intentioned but ill-considered and pull Kid Nation from the schedule." Both Garron and Deadline Hollywood blogger Nikki Finke noted that the network seemed to go out of its way to avoid legal hassles, requiring parents to sign a 22-page contract, filming on closed sets in New Mexico, which has less restrictive laws than, say, California, and preventing parents of kids who participated in the series from speaking freely about it by threatening to enforce a non-disclosure clause. Finke concluded her column by urging a Congressional investigation of "this latest TV scandal because it involves children." On the other hand, Alex Koroknay-Palicz, executive director of the National Youth Rights Association, told Britain's Guardian newspaper, "This show is challenging a social taboo that needs to be challenged ... that kids need to be kids and need to be sheltered from life, which isn't the case at all."

Consumer electronics stores may be doing a booming business in big-screen, high-definition TV sets these days, but they are seeing profit margins drop as a result of a supply glut and intense competition from mass merchants like Wal-Mart and Costco, the New York Times reported today (Tuesday). The newspaper cited research by iSuppli indicating that the price of 42-inch HDTVs has declined 23 percent to $1,655 from $2,140 last Christmas. The newspaper noted that Best Buy recently attributed a 6-percent drop in its gross profit rate in large part to "promotional environment in home video." Still, the price of big-screen HDTV sets remains beyond the means of many consumers, and, the Times observed, there are signs that sales are slowing. Morgan Stanley analyst Greg Melich told the Times: "For the past few months, growth in the total TV market has been zero or negative, because demand is not there at these price points."

NBC Universal has confirmed that it has purchased the owner of the overseas Hallmark Channels for a reported $350 million. The owner, Sparrowhawk Media, had been acquired by an investment group just last April for $250 million. In a statement, NBC Universal President and CEO Jeff Zucker said, "This is a perfect strategic investment for NBC Universal and illustrates our commitment to growing our company internationally. It is another step, among several we will take in the next year, to transform our entire portfolio, with an eye toward high-growth areas."