Amounting to a case of being kicked while they were down, departing New Line Cinema executives learned Monday that their latest film, Semi-Pro, starring Will Ferrell, had earned just $15.3 million during its opening weekend. The figure was about half what some box-office analysts had predicted the movie would earn. Only last week Time Warner announced that it would be shutting down most of New Line's operations, incorporating them into those of its other film studio, Warner Bros., and laying off some 600 employees, including the studio's co-chairmen. Semi-Pro wasn't the only film that fouled out. In its second week, Sony's Vantage Point slipped to $12.8 million, the only other film to finish in double digits. Paramount's The Spiderwick Chronicles slid to third place in its third week with $8.7 million. Sony's The Other Boleyn Girl opened in fourth place with $8.2 million, while Fox's Jumper rounded out the top five with $7.6 million.

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. Semi-Pro, New Line, $15,075,114, (New); 2. Vantage Point, Sony/Col, $12,819,245, 2 Wks. ($40,823,745); 3. The Spiderwick Chronicles, Paramount, $8,700,378, 3 Wks. ($55,028,942); 4. The Other Boleyn Girl, Sony, $8,203,061, (New); 5. Jumper, 20th Century Fox, $7,568,462, 3 Wks. ($66,790,968); 6. Step Up 2 the Streets, Disney, $5,742,479, 3 Wks. ($48,621,711); 7. Fool's Gold, Warner Bros., $4,418,229, 4 Wks. ($58,800,790); 8. No Country for Old Men, Miramax, $4,114,994, 16 Wks. ($69,680,625); 9. Penelope, Summit Ent. $3,802,144, (New); 10. Definitely, Maybe, Universal, $3,382,005, 3 Wks. ($26,650,585).

Independent movie producers who are required by their backers to purchase completion bonds to guarantee that their films will get done have been told by insurance companies that they will not do business with them unless their movies can be finished by June 15, two weeks before the actors' contract with producers expires, the Los Angeles Times reported today (Tuesday). Producer Paul Schiff (Rushmore) told the newspaper that he was forced to shelve three movies because he couldn't finish them by the June deadline. Producer James Stern (I'm Not There) added, "Whether or not a strike happens, for our purposes it's happening. ... It's a big deal."

Apple has been unable to make good on its January 15 promise to have 1,000 movies available for rent at its iTunes Store by the end of February. According to MacWorld magazine, Apple is currently offering only 351 titles for rent on the site. In fact, the magazine said, if all of the films listed for either purchase or rent are added together, Apple has only 770 available for downloading. By contrast Netflix has 6,000 titles available. Meanwhile, Amazon has indicated that it is getting few takers for movies being offered on its Unbox service. It is asking customers to complete a survey asking what improvements would induce them to increase their use of Unbox.

It's the season for picking up movies on HD DVD at fire-sale prices. Circuit City has become the first major retailer to announce that it is closing out its stock of the now obsolete high-definition format by offering two free HD DVD titles for every three purchased at regular prices. The chain has also slashed prices of HD DVD players to just $129. The players also improve the quality of conventional DVD discs played on them. Speaking with Video Business magazine, Circuit City spokesman Jim Babb said, "We are in clearance mode, and we expect to go through the remaining inventory in the next few weeks." Meanwhile, Sony indicated that it intends to increase production and marketing of its Blu-ray players and software, taking advantage of retailers' plans to move Blu-ray product into the space it now devotes to the HD DVD.

Oscar-winning actress Marion Cotillard maintains that her comments about the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center were "taken completely out context and [have] been crafted into a story that has no merit." Appearing on the syndicated TV show Access Hollywood, Cotillard was asked about her 2007 comments in which she appeared to suggest that the attacks were staged. "At no point did I intend to contest the horrific attacks of September 11, 2001, one of the most tragic days in all of history," she said. "Nonetheless, I sincerely regret if my comments offended or hurt anyone."

First-time Canadian film director Sarah Polley was showered with awards and praise Monday night as her film Away From Her captured seven awards, including best actor (Gordon Pinsent), best actress (Julie Christie), and best director, at Canada's version of the Oscars, the Genie Awards. The awards presentations also turned out to be an effective platform for opponents of proposed Canadian legislation that would deny tax credits to any film regarded as offensive. Host Sandra Oh remarked that the bill would result in a comeback for censorship, adding: "I don't know about you, but that doesn't sound very Canadian to me."

Barbara Walters's two-hour 20/20 special on Britain's royals reigned supreme Monday night, winning every half hour between 8:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. The ABC documentary, The Royal Family, averaged a 10.4 rating and a 16 share (14.16 million viewers), peaking in the 8:30 p.m. half-hour with a 10.7/16 (14.75 million viewers). Somewhat surprisingly, October Road, the ABC drama that followed at 10:00 p.m., recorded a lowly 3.8/7 (5.3 million viewers), despite the strong lead-in from the Walters special.

Forty-eight percent of Americans now say that the Internet is their primary source of news -- up from 20 percent just a year ago, according to the latest Zogby-We Media poll. By contrast 29 percent of Americans say television is their primary source of news; 11 percent say radio is; and only 10 percent say newspapers. Among the younger (18-29) demographic, the Internet is the choice of 55 percent. (Several critics took aim at the pollsters' presumption that the Internet is a "source" of news, suggesting that in most cases it is only a platform for news from such actual sources as newspapers, radio and television networks and stations, and magazines.)

The Food Network has fired culinary star Robert Irvine after learning that the Dinner: Impossible host had padded his résumé. Irvine had claimed that he had prepared meals for Britain's Royal Family and for various U.S. presidents. Irvine apologized for the fabrications, which were first exposed by the St. Petersburg Times, saying in a written statement, "I am truly sorry for misleading people and misstating the facts." In its statement, the Food Network said, "We rely on the trust that our viewers have in the accuracy of the information we present, and Robert challenged that trust."

The editor of the Waco Tribune-Herald has condemned an ABC Primetime Live feature that employed actors and hidden cameras set up at a roadside bakery near Waco to draw attention to racist attitudes towards Muslims. The segment, said editor Carlos Sanchez, "may have been entertaining. It may have been engrossing, perhaps even a little illuminating. But it certainly wasn't journalism." Sanchez particularly objected to ABC's decision to blur the features of one of the racist locals filmed at the bakery in West. "So instead of exposing that racist for what he is, ABC protected the man. He becomes a symbol for a community. Our community." Sanchez acknowledged that there were some genuinely "heroic" moments in the feature, especially one in which a local minister stood up to the actor playing a racist clerk. "But journalism is about informing, not manipulating," he wrote. He himself apologized for a front-page story that his newspaper ran about the Primetime segment. "Had I seen the ABC segment before we ran our story, I would have challenged the play of our story."

Despite appeals by the Dutch government for him to shelve his 10-minute film Fitna, which attacks the Koran as a book that foments violence and discrimination, lawmaker Geert Wilders insisted Monday that if Dutch broadcasters refuse to air it, he will personally post it on the Internet. When a video featuring Wilders -- allegedly a clip from his film -- appeared on YouTube, it touched off efforts by Pakistan censors to shut down the site in their country. The result was that YouTube was briefly shut down worldwide. Dutch newspapers quoted Wilders as saying that the clip was not from his film and that he had no hand in posting it on YouTube.

Zhang Yimou, arguably China's leading film director, has called Steven Spielberg's decision to quit his post as an artistic adviser to the Beijing Olympics "very regrettable." Spielberg linked his decision to withdraw from the Olympics' production team to China's relationship with Sudan, whose war against dissident factions has reportedly led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands. Spielberg's decision was also criticized by Olympic gold medalist (badminton) Ge Fei, now a member of the Chinese legislature. "The Olympics is simply a sporting event," he told the official Xinhua news agency. "Political issues shouldn't be involved in it."

Jon Stewart to Hillary Clinton Monday night on the eve of primary elections that are likely to decide who the nominee of the Democratic Party will be: "This election is about judgment, and yet tomorrow is perhaps one of the most important days of your life and you've chosen to spend the night before talking to me. Senator, as a host I'm delighted. As a citizen, I'm frightened." Clinton: "It is pretty pathetic."