Ordinarily a film that collects more than $35 million over its opening weekend is considered a smash hit. Not so in the case of Warner Bros.' 10,000 B.C., which many analysts claimed had an outside chance of setting a March record, beating last year's 300. As things turned out, however, 10,000 B.C. wound up with $35.9 million, about half of 300's opening take. Nevertheless, Warner Bros. executives expressed satisfaction with the result, pointing out that it exceeded their own prediction of $30 million. Moreover, the film performed strongly in its first roll-out overseas, where it took in $25.3 million in 20 countries. The real disappointment, analysts said, was the continued dreadful performance of New Line's Semi-Pro. Opening well below expectations last weekend, the movie's ticket sales dribbled down to just $5.8 million, dropping it to fifth place in its second weekend.

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. 10,000 B.C., Warner Bros., $35,867,488, (New); 2. College Road Trip, Disney, $13,601,419, (New); 3. Vantage Point, Sony Pictures, $7,356,236, 3 Wks. ($51,536,985); 4. The Bank Job, Lionsgate, $5,935,256, (New); 5. Semi-Pro, New Line, $5,786,032, 2 Wks. ($24,721,340); 6. The Spiderwick Chronicles, Paramount, $4,712,945, 4 Wks. ($61,633,488); 7. The Other Boleyn Girl, Sony Pictures, $4,048,026, 2 Wks. ($14,660,260); 8. Jumper, Fox, $3,662,375, 4 Wks. ($72,446,523); 9. Step Up 2 the Streets, Disney, $3,062,501, 4 Wks. ($53,016,888); 10. Fool's Gold, Warner Bros., $2,782,416, 5 Wks. ($62,802,900).

During the first three weeks following the writers strike, the number of permits for location shooting in Los Angeles for theatrical movies rose 61.9 percent from the same period a year ago, according to FilmL.A., the semi-official agency that co-ordinates the issuance of permits by government agencies to producers. The boost in production was attributed not only to the writers' return to work but also the prospect that the Screen Actors Guild might call a strike at the end of June when its contract with producers ends. However, FilmLA expressed concern that television production remained below last year's levels, particularly production of TV pilots.

The motion picture industry will likely be unaffected by the growing economic downturn, the Associated Press observed today (Tuesday), citing research by the National Association of Theatre Owners showing that the box office rose in five of the past seven recession years dating to the 1960s. The article, appearing as the annual convention of the National Association of Theater Owners opens in Las Vegas, quoted MPAA chief Dan Glickman as saying. "Most people would believe that offers a very good value. It's certainly much cheaper than a psychiatrist. ... To go into a darkened room where nobody can find you for two hours is great therapy, particularly when times are bad."

The celebrity website TMZ, a unit of Time Warner, paid memorabilia dealer Tom Riccio $165,000 for an audio tape recording of the confrontation between O.J. Simpson and collectibles dealers Alfred Beardsley and Bruce Fromong in a Las Vegas hotel room last year, the website TheSmokingGun.com said today (Tuesday). According to the website, Riccio sold the tape to TMZ before handing it over to Las Vegas police. TheSmokingGun.com observed that TMZ may be the only Time Warner entity that is not barred from paying for stories. The company is also the parent of CNN and Time, Inc., which publishes Time magazine, People and Entertainment Weekly.

The award-winning French animated film Persepolis has been banned in Lebanon, a country with strong cultural ties to France. Daily Variety commented today (Tuesday) that Lebanese authorities acted in order to avoid offending pro-Iranian members of the Lebanese opposition, which includes Hezbollah. Last year the Bangkok Film Festival banned the movie, which had been scheduled to open the festival, after officials at the Iranian embassy protested. The film concerns a young girl's experiences growing up in Iran at the time of the Islamic revolution in 1979. It won the jury prize at last year's Cannes Film Festival.

MSNBC confirmed Monday that has canceled conservative commentator Tucker Carlson's talk show. David Gregory, chief White House correspondent for NBC News, will host a replacement show that will air weeknights beginning at 6:00 p.m. Carlson, meanwhile, will take on the assignment of "campaign correspondent," covering the current presidential race. Carlson had come to MSNBC from CNN, where he once was the cohost of Crossfire. NBC had evidently hoped that he would attract conservative viewers who have made Fox News Channel their preferred destination. However, Carlson's program not only failed to attract those viewers, it remained MSNBC's lowest-rated evening program.

In their rush to cover the scandal involving New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, cable news networks stumbled Monday. In an item headed "Nets Take Spitzer Announcement the Old-Fashioned Way," the website TVNewser reported that Spitzer's New York office, where he delivered a one-minute apology, turned out to be too high (38th floor) to allow TV crews to send out a live picture without rigging up additional gear. As a result, they were only able to provide live audio coverage. Their recordings were then rushed down the elevators of the building and transmitted live from the street about ten minutes later. Immediately following Spitzer's statement, Fox News's Shepard Smith summed up: "He came in, he resigned and that was it." Except that wasn't it. Spitzer made no mention of the possibility of resigning. Moments later, Smith interrupted a discussion of the scandal to say, "Excuse me, I'm now told he did not resign in his statement." Adding to the confusion, Fox News later headlined, "N.Y. Gov. Eliot Spitzer Expected to Resign Later Today." He did not. TVNewser also pointed out that earlier in the day the business channels, CNBC, Fox Business Network, and Bloomberg were all on the air with the story -- sourcing the New York Times -- before the cable news channels and the broadcast networks. The TV coverage also sent hordes of people to the New York Times website to learn more details. The site was unable to accommodate the traffic surge -- and crashed.

Although numerous analysts had predicted that the dispute between billionaire media moguls Barry Diller and John Malone would never see the light of a courtroom and would be settled early on, a Delaware chancery judge began hearing testimony in the case on Monday. Malone was the first to take the witness stand, accusing Diller -- with whom he has had a nearly 15-year business relationship -- of trying to run IAC/InterActiveCorp without answering to its shareholders, chief of whom is Malone. "I think he believed that basically it was his company," Malone said. The Liberty Media chief claims that Diller had no right to spin off four major IAC businesses on terms that would cut in half Malone's voting rights in those businesses. Malone also acknowledged that by not negotiating a settlement and having to take their dispute to court, "we both have hurt ourselves a little bit."

GE Chairman Jeffrey Immelt has declared once again that his company has no intention of selling NBC-Universal. His remarks appear in the company's annual report following numerous print and online stories that GE will ditch the fourth-place network following the Olympics, which are likely to enhance the network's balance sheet. "Should we sell NBCU?" Immelt asked in his message to shareholders. "I just don't see it happening. Not before the Olympics, not after the Olympics. It doesn't make sense." His words were echoed by Credit Suisse analyst Nicole Parent, who told today's (Tuesday) New York Times, "It's very clear to sell an asset at the bottom doesn't make sense."