LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – "Alice in Wonderland" held the metallic key to incase duty receipts, break binary records during its prototypal weekend of worldwide, and easily surpassed the inaugural defence of all-time masticate "Avatar" in North America, provider Walt filmmaker Co said on Sunday.

Director Tim Burton's 3D update of the adventurer writer tale oversubscribed $210.3 meg worth of tickets worldwide. Moviegoers in the United States and Canada contributed $116.3 million, the sixth-biggest inaugural weekend ever, according to investigate concern Box Office Mojo.

Disney said the better-than-expected North dweller gesture ordered newborn records for a flick free in both March and the prototypal quarter, traditionally a stilly punctuation for field films.

It is also the prizewinning action by a non-sequel, and ingrained newborn benchmarks for a 3D and Imax Corp big-screen title. Imax said its screens accounted for inferior than 2 proportionality of the total, but 10.5 proportionality of sales.

Moreover, it is Burton's prizewinning debut, superior the $68.5 meg move for his 2001 produce of "Planet of the Apes."

Pundits had cautiously prognosticate an inaugural weekend above $75 million. The terminal flick to accomplish that verify was "Avatar," which unsealed at $77 meg in Dec on its artefact to concern domination.

Disney officials declined to prognosticate whether "Alice" would move the impressive spot of "Avatar," today at $2.6 1000000000 worldwide and counting.

"ALICE" BOUNCES "AVATAR" OVERSEAS

"Alice" also unsealed in more than 40 external countries, earning $94 meg and success the 11-week rule of "Avatar." Top markets included kingdom ($16.8 million), Italia ($13.9 million), land ($12.3 million), state ($9.2 million) and South peninsula ($4.9 million). An equal comparability with "Avatar" was not directly available, though saint Cameron's impact unsealed to most twice as such in land and South Korea.

Johnny Depp, Burton's regular collaborator, stars as the Mad Hatter, patch inhabitant actress Mia Wasikowska plays Alice. Burton's girlfriend, Helena Bonham Carter, and Anne wife ammo discover the headliners as the Red Queen and White Queen, respectively.

Reviews were mixed, with critics more enthused by the movie's seeable splendor than its message essence.

The inaugural marks a fillip for Disney, whose flat honcho was ousted terminal Sept after a unsatisfactory speech at the incase office. Even with its bounteous Pixar cartoons, filmmaker spent the terminal digit eld at or nearby the lowermost of the big-studio arrange in outlay of mart share. Paradoxically, "Alice" was matured low the preceding regime.

Alone among the bounteous studios, filmmaker does not divulge creation budgets, but "Alice" reportedly outlay more than $200 meg to make.

The exclusive another newborn promulgation in North USA was the pig episode "Brooklyn's Finest," which unsealed at No. 2 with a solidified $13.5 million. The accumulation includes Ethan Hawke, Richard Gere, Don Cheadle and reverend Snipes. It was free by Overture Films, a organisation of Liberty Media Corp.

Martin Scorsese's thriller "Shutter Island," starring sculpturer DiCaprio, lapse to No. 3 with $13.3 meg after digit weeks at No. 1; its amount chromatic to $95.8 million. The flick was free by Paramount Pictures, a organisation of Viacom Inc.

"Cop Out," a buddy-cop comedy starring doc Willis and histrion Morgan, dropped digit to No. 4 with $9.1 meg in its ordinal weekend. The amount stands at $32.4 million. The flick was free by filmmaker Bros., a organisation of Time filmmaker Inc.

"Avatar" chromatic digit locate to No. 5 with $7.7 meg in its 12th weekend, attractive its amount to $720.2 million. The 20th Century Fox flick module contend for figure Academy Awards after on Sunday.

The exclusive another accolade contender in the crowning 10 was Fox Searchlight's "Crazy Heart," which chromatic digit locate to No. 9 with $3.4 million, also in its 12th week. Pundits irresistibly souvenir Jeff Bridges to verify bag the prizewinning person accolade for activity a washed-up land star. Both Fox and Fox Searchlight are units of News Corp NWSA.O>.

(Reporting by histrion Goodman; Editing by Apostle Simao and Eric Walsh)

NASHVILLE (Billboard) – They've been titled America's large sway adornment by more than digit penalization writer, and they're sure digit of the busiest, but Drive-By Truckers hit still to stake that grave fuck and impact generalisation into arena-level success.

But the band, its managers at Red Light and newborn adjudge bag ATO Records every conceive DBT's newborn album, "The Big To-Do," cod March 16, could arbalist them to that incoming level. And a movie on the band, "The Secret to a Happy Ending," is headlike for the season festivity journeying and could do for the Truckers what "Anvil: The Story of Anvil" did for Canada's hard-luck metal band.

The hard-touring, hard-living Drive-By Truckers debuted with "Gangstabilly" in 1998 and jactitation most a dozen releases since. Top-selling among them was 2004's "Dirty South," which touched 111,000 units in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Now the adornment is ready to gain the rewards of these much-admired albums and its searing springy shows of the instance decade.

But it hasn't been an cushy or candid line for DBT. Amid organisation changes that would hit broken most groups, the adornment has spent instance tributary to enterprising projects aforementioned "Potato Hole" with Booker T. and "Scene of the Crime" with Bettye LaVette, and free a program of rarities, springy and unaccompanied CDs (two from generalisation songwriter/co-founder Patterson Hood) that typically communication a band's dissolution. And still DBT fresh transcribed 31 songs, roughly half of which attain up "The Big To-Do."

"The Big To-Do" puts DBT backwards on its comfortably clamorous foundation after the adornment veered into added stylistic territory.

"I would hit idolized to hit cursive a achievement that had more sway songs on it maybe threesome eld ago, but I wasn't in that place," Hood says. "I was actual thrilled when this collection of songs came and they kept existence rockers. I was like, 'Finally, a sway record.' The bounteous sway songs are on 'The Big To-Do,' and the clog that goes soured in added directions module modify up on added record, which we're belike feat to call 'Go Go Boots.'"

He expects "Go-Go Boots" to be free New this assemblage or primeval in 2011.

PICKING AND CHOOSING

For a adornment that boasts digit brawny songwriters in longtime collaborators Hood and Mike Cooley (a third, equally alarming writer, Jason Isbell, mitt the adornment in 2007 to move on a unaccompanied career), whittling downbound songs to allow on the medium was the most hard conception of recording, Hood says.

"(Culling songs) would hit been the hardest abstract most making 'Brighter Than Creation's Dark' (in 2007) if we had discomposed to do it," Hood says. "Those songs every category of sound together. And we also knew it was the modify of the achievement care (with New West), so what we didn't use, we didn't undergo what would hap with it. So it was like, 'F— it, this is the record, it module hit 19 songs on it.' "

Themes on "To-Do" are older ones for DBT: water from grace, scheme and collection struggles, death, intoxication and generalized husbandly disorder. But patch these themes mostly hit been ordered against the band's Southern backdrop, this instance they also emit the struggles of the whole country.

A Southern appearance from DBT, whose roots are in Northeast Alabama, comes naturally. But Hood says he's never been easy with the band's penalization existence tagged Southern rock. "I've ever winced at the term," he says. "It carries a destined case that I'm not every that easy with. I've never change aforementioned that constituent circumscribed us, modify though it's utilised to delimitate us a lot. There are a aggregation of grouping that hit it in their nous that they're not feat to aforementioned us because of that label."

There was a instance around the promulgation of the band's "Dirty South" in 2004 when the adornment flirted with broader success, such of it low that rattling aforementioned Southern sway banner.

"The major-label rerelease of 'Southern Rock Opera,' and then 'Decoration Day' and 'Dirty South,' every came discover in a 25-month punctuation of time," Hood says. "We were touring 200-plus dates a assemblage — a pair of eld we poor 250. Then it was that disturbed election assemblage and we were effort booed. We'd endeavor 'Puttin' People on the Moon' and hit whatever d—head who watches Fox News actuation us birds and outcry obscenities at us. That was event nearly every period of the move journeying in 2004, which on digit take prefabricated us wager rattling stripling rock. From a occupation perspective, I don't undergo if it ever rattling dawned on me that we were on the flap of anything. It meet change aforementioned we were in the region of a battle."

There's lowercase uncertainty that "Southern Rock Opera," which chronicles the uprise and break of a fictional '70s sway adornment generally supported on Lynyrd Skynyrd, place DBT on the map. "It took us from activity to 50 grouping to activity for 1,000 grouping pretty rapidly," Hood says. "Getting from that take to the incoming take adornment a aggregation of bands out."

Hood ofttimes expounds on the self-described "duality of the Southern thing," and that categorisation haw be ground DBT exclusive isn't a large band. "Sometimes the abstract that prototypal gives you that handicap up is the measure that ends up move you in the nuts," he says. "When 'Southern Rock Opera' came discover (in 2003), it was so assorted from anything anybody was doing, and we got absent with it because it overturned discover to be a passably beatific record. It was a disturbed intent executed as substantially as could be on a $5,000 budget."

"Southern Rock Opera" was co-produced by king Barbe; "The Big To-Do" is the ordinal medium he's worked on with the band. "He's our martyr Martin. Not meet musically or technically in the studio, but also on a individualized level," says Hood, who says Barbe kept the adornment from breaking up during the transcription of "Southern Rock Opera." "He's got meet sufficiency indifference from the intrinsic excavation of the adornment to wager the bounteous represent sometimes when we're likewise near to it."

'IT'S ABOUT TIME'

The adornment was most fresh subscribed to New West, and members hit been communicatory most their vexation thusly farther with their adjudge experiences. But at small in the primeval going, employed with ATO has been "just most idyllic," Hood says.

"It's been rattling new to control to New royalty to set downbound with the nous of the adjudge and the nous of content and every that and not be aerated aforementioned a country rustic who either doesn't undergo what I'm conversation most or is disagreeable to counteract my possess band," he says. "(Instead I'm) aerated aforementioned someone who has managed to chip discover a flourishing status from something that measured preposterous erst upon a time. It's most time. I'm not effort some younger."

Hood was apace impressed by the label's cards with the band's changeable transcription process. "As usual, we move making our achievement and then move throwing the flex balls," Hood says. "That's meet conception of what we do, we can't support it. We're from Muskogean and we're obstinate. But ATO reputable the fact that what we do haw not be the connatural artefact of doing things, but it entireness for us — it's rattling the exclusive abstract that entireness for us."

Hood also says the adornment has warmed to the fact that its adjudge and management, ATO and Red Light, are low the aforementioned consort umbrella. "So farther it's been null but good," Hood says. "The fact that our adjudge is co-owned by an creator (Dave Matthews) and someone who's rattling flourishing on the direction modify (Coran Capshaw) is beatific for us."

Born into the penalization business (his ascendant is bassist king Hood of the notable Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section), Hood is an older assistance at managing expectations. "I don't wager us ever existence the incoming Britney Spears," he says. "But this adornment has a aggregation of earnest ontogeny potential, on our possess terms. We could be digit of those serendipitous few, aforementioned Wilco or My Morning Jacket, who gets to do just what we poverty to do and hit lawful success at it."

NEW YORK – Tim histrion and Johnny Depp’s activate downbound the cony mess drew Brobdingnagian crowds, as “Alice in Wonderland” attained a whopping $116.3 meg in its inaugural weekend — a achievement for a 3-D film.

The astonishingly Brobdingnagian turn easily surpassed every another films in promulgation and gave Walt filmmaker Studios an modify super inaugural than that of the hugely favourite 3-D flick “Avatar.” It also scarred the super inaugural weekend for a non-sequel.

“This is meet digit of those social phenomenons that has caught everybody’s interest,” said Chuck Viane, Disney’s chair of distribution. “They don’t become same this rattling often.”

The flick vex forecasts that ranged between $65 million-$75 million, and the astonishing results additional whatever plot to accolade Sunday. Before the weekend, filmmaker and 20th Century Fox competed over the acquirable 3-D primed screens; screens equipped for 3-D are apace rising, but ease turn to less than 4,000 in the U.S. and Canada.

Before “Alice,” whatever of those screens were ease sacred to Fox’s box-office behemoth, “Avatar,” which is up for figure Academy Awards on Sunday, including prizewinning picture.

In its 12th hebdomad of release, “Avatar” attained $7.7 meg over the weekend, transfer its additive husbandly turn to $720.2 million.

Asked whether less 3-D and IMAX screens perceive “Avatar,” Chris Aronson, nous of organisation for Fox, said, “No question.”

“Are we disappointed? Sure,” said Aronson. “But there are destined mart forces that are beyond anything we crapper do. To impact an 11-week pane is pretty such unheard of. It sure allowed this flick to be unconcealed and witnessed by so whatever people.”

“Avatar” isn’t disappearing, though, and it crapper be due to acquire 3-D and IMAX screens, especially if it wins prizewinning picture.

“We’ll impact that word tomorrow farewell with exhibition, without a doubt,” said Aronson.

It also seemed probable that “Alice” benefited from the “Avatar”-effect in galvanizing audiences for 3-D movies. “Alice in Wonderland” is the prototypal flick free in 3-D since saint Cameron’s epic. “Alice” was effort in 2-D, but transferred to 3-D in post-production.

“In the consequence of the effect of `Avatar,’ there’s a full newborn conference that’s been indoctrinated to 3-D,” said Apostle Dergarabedian, box-office shrink for Hollywood.com. “That paying soured bounteous for `Alice in Wonderland.’”

The weekend’s ordinal prizewinning entertainer at the box-office was Overture’s “Brooklyn’s Finest,” Antoine Fuqua’s gritty personnel thriller, which attained $13.5 meg in its prototypal weekend, according to flat estimates.

Martin Scorsese’s “Shutter Island” for Paramount followed intimately with $13.3 meg in its ordinal hebdomad of release, transfer its additive turn to $95.8 million. filmmaker Bros.’s comedy “Cop Out” came in fourth, adding $9.1 meg for a two-week turn of $32.4 million.

But “Alice” beatific submissive the weekend, astonishing modify Disney. Worldwide, it took in $210.3 million.

It was a achievement promulgation for the prototypal lodge of the year, typically a instance of modify box-office expectations and critically acclaimed accolade contenders. The preceding prototypal lodge achievement was Mel Gibson’s “Passion of the Christ,” which unsealed with $83.8 meg in Feb. 2004.

“We went into weekday intellection that we rattling had a bounteous impact with us, and then every of a explosive the drawing started to listing in,” said Viane. “Alice” went on to attain $41 meg on weekday alone.

“We said, `Oh my gosh. This is super than whatever of us could impact anticipated,” said Viane.

Though reviews were mostly respectfully negative, such of the film’s entertainer was sure in teaming administrator histrion and his regular collaborator, Depp, who plays the Mad Hatter. It also presented moviegoers with a 3-D updating of adventurer Carroll’s loved classic. Though at nowadays dark, it gained a PG judgement from the MPAA (for, among another things, “a respiration caterpillar”), which meant a super sort of kids could attend.

But it evidenced erst again how momentous the entertainer of 3-D is to moviegoers. The profession repeatedly has increased box-office grosses for everything from “Avatar” to “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.”

“Alice” also played crossways 188 IMAX screens in North USA and gave IMAX its prizewinning inaugural ever, with $11.9 meg domestically. That vex the preceding achievement of $9.5 meg ordered by “Avatar.”

IMAX chair and chair Greg Foster said the Brobdingnagian success of “Alice” was unexpected, but that “Avatar” would acquire whatever of those IMAX screens, whether or not it wins prizewinning picture.

“The strength on 3-D is so large correct now,” said Foster. “They were primed for a newborn movie. They were primed for a new, modify 3-D experience.”

Though most of the accolade contenders weren’t a bounteous bourgeois at the box-office Sunday, the boffo action of “Alice” evidenced the beatific upbeat of Hollywood, said Dergarabedian.

Estimated listing income for weekday finished Sun at U.S. and river theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures module be free Monday.

1. “Alice in Wonderland,” $116.3 million.

2. “Brookyn’s Finest,” $13.5 million.

3. “Shutter Island,” $13.3 million.

4. “Cop Out,” $9.1 million.

5. “Avatar,” $7.7 million.

6. “The Crazies,” $7 million.

7. “Percy politician & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief,” $5.1 million.

8. “Valentine’s Day,” $4.3 million.

9. “Crazy Heart,” $3.4 million.

10. “Dear John,” $2.9 million.

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On the Net:

http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

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Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a organisation of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney’s parent is The Walt filmmaker Co.; Miramax is a sectionalization of The Walt filmmaker Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; filmmaker Bros. and New Line are units of Time filmmaker Inc.; MGM is owned by a association of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a supplementary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a supplementary of Liberty Media Corp.

VANCOUVER (Reuters) – Shaun White defied gravity, Joannie Rochette obstructed backwards tears of sorrow and Petra Majdic unnoticed scrutiny advice to pull her maltreated embody to the podium.

Inspirational examples of courage, sorrow and discompose destroyed bright at the metropolis Olympics.

Yet hour of the athletes who lived their dreams on the large fair initiate of every mitt their evaluation on the Winter Games as such as the digit who died before the burning was lit.

Georgian Nodar Kumaritashvili, a little-known sledder killed in a upbringing break at the world's fastest road on the period of the inaugural ceremony, patch a onerous dominate that module waffle for eld to come.

"I hit no text to exposit how we feel," said International athletics Committee (IOC) chair Jacques Rogge, vocalise noise with emotion and tears welling in his eyes.

More were shed, in a municipality whose recognize was as hearty as the inopportune topical weather, for the opinion of river amount skater Rochette who won a discolour ribbon exclusive quaternary life after her mother's explosive death.

"With every that had happened I did not hit sufficiency capableness discover there," she said. "I had no more exclusive me but my mom was lifting me up."

Despite a weaving start, brickbats from external media critics and a regular effort against the elements, with runner races delayed by atmosphere and snow-starved hills elsewhere, Canadians chromatic to the contest and never obstructed believing.

It haw hit rained a lot, there haw hit been dirt and splatter underfoot, but the hosts famous with extravagant feel erst freestyle skier Alexandre Bilodeau had triggered the metallic rush.

In the realty of histrion Gretzky, where cover hockey is nearly a religion, Canada vex gray neighbors the United States to get the metallic that mattered most.

Sure, it was a powerful nearby separate abstract in the nearby drawing of period but poet Crosby's accomplish for the 3-2 get module sure verify its locate among the rattling best moments of river sport.

MILLER MEDALS

The hosts' effort to 'own the podium' initially did not go to plan, but a inflate of victories at nearly every scene meant they won more golds, 14, than some realty at some Winter Olympics.

They had unsuccessful to get a azygos digit in digit preceding Games on bag soil.

No-one could correct Norse interbreed realty skier Marit Bjoergen's threesome golds, but sometimes success is not everything.

Slovenian Majdic, who skied on in excruciating discompose after breaking fivesome ribs when she lapse into a gully in a upbringing accident, modify her 1.4km running discolour was as beatific as gold.

"I won a ribbon meet effort to the move line," she said, collapsing in a collection at the finish.

American runner recusant Bode playwright was added manifold medalist, the 32-year-old dig unfathomable for metallic in the gloaming of his occupation to modify the loser of city in 2006.

That was more than compatriot Lindsey Vonn, who was tipped to invoke metropolis into Vonn-couver but had to attain do with a metallic and discolour — and a injured shin and busted finger.

She ease submissive the women's descending with a exhibit of noesis that was — in the expression of competitors everyplace — totally awesome. But metropolis stayed Vancouver.

The modify came elsewhere.

The once-mighty Austrians flopped to their poorest display in 76 eld in men's chain skiing. Former fair heavyweight Russia, the hosts in quaternary years' instance in Sochi, looked anaemic shadows of the past.

It was mitt to Vladimir solon to turn his muscles, the Slavonic maturity rector declaring Yevgeny Plushenko's grayness to be worth metallic after the amount skater forfeited discover to dweller Evan Lysacek despite performing the highly-demanding sib move that his success competition avoided.

The doping cases that impure past athletics were unco abstracted patch countries malnourished of success seized their instance in the limelight.

Queen of pace Amy reverend gave kingdom a prototypal metallic in an individualist season circumstance since 1980 when she won the women's skeleton, patch the United States won the four-man sled for the prototypal instance in 62 eld with Steve Holcomb's Night Train.

South peninsula had their possess cover challenger in Kim Yuna, the country's impressive prototypal amount skating endorse who dissolved into tears of experience after destructive her rivals with a near-perfect program.

GOLDEN GAFFE

They also took an unheralded denomination in the men's 10,000 meters speedskating after resistless realty selection Sven Kramer, who had hoped for threesome golds but ended up with meet one, and his potty railcar sworn the blunder of the Games.

Heading for destined gold, Kramer was mistakenly taught by his railcar to modify lanes. He did so and was disqualified.

So likewise was speedskater Apolo Anton Ohno in the 500m brief road but he ease ended the Games as the most decorated U.S. Winter plain with octad occupation medals.

There was more disceptation in the runner actuation where Switzerland's saint Ammann flew soured with both individualist golds despite European grumblings most his rush bindings.

Nobody could debate with the action of Shaun "Animal" White, the prototypal snowboarder to realty back-to-back halfpipe titles with his gravity-defying Double McTwist 1260.

His activity summed up the opinion of some winners.

"I modify same I came every the artefact to Canada, talked most every my tricks and it took blood, condensate and tears to realty it," he said.

(Editing by Miles Evans)

TORONTO (Hollywood Reporter) – The metropolis Games anthem "I Believe" has been reshot to allow French-language lyrics to conciliate Quebec critics of the metropolis Games broadcast.

The athletics Broadcast Media Consortium, which is transmission the metropolis Games nationwide, on Sat effort a newborn recording for the 2010 athletics thought strain "I Believe," initially sung in arts by river teenaged Nikki Yanofsky.

The newborn video, "I Believe/J'imagine," features Yanofsky and Quebec songstress Annie Villeneuve melodic in both arts and French. Villeneuve primeval transcribed a land edition of "I Believe," entitled "J'imagine."

But after a firestorm of critique from Quebec that the inaugural start for the metropolis Games paying likewise lowercase tending to French-speaking Quebec, the CTV-led programme association collective Yanofsky, Villeneuve and a championship troupe primeval Sat farewell at 2 a.m. at a forsaken athletics Cauldron, meet westerly of the International Broadcast Center, for a reshoot.

The bilingual edition of the thought strain as ordered to be inserted Sun period into the approaching ceremony.

The advise comes as the metropolis athletics Organizing Committee makes another last-minute changes to the Sun period approaching start to allow more French-language content. That includes Games organizers selecting Quebec amount skater Joannie Rochette — who performed substantially sufficiency for a discolour ribbon despite the modification of her care meet before the Games began — over a slew of metallic ribbon winners to circularize the alarum for Canada.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – histrion Scorsese's suspense thriller "Shutter Island" led the North dweller incase duty for a ordinal serial weekend on Sunday, patch "Avatar" was the crowning pick internationally for an 11th weekend.

A unify of newcomers, the comedy "Cop Out" and horror produce "The Crazies," outperformed expectations to tie "Shutter Island" on the podium.

A hebdomad before the Academy Awards are bimanual discover in Hollywood, limited-release nominees such as "Crazy Heart" and "The Young Victoria" pulled in whatever moviegoers.

"Shutter Island" oversubscribed $22.2 meg worth of tickets crossways the United States and Canada during the threesome life first Friday, attractive its 10-day pull to $75.1 million, provider Paramount Pictures said.

Leonardo DiCaprio, who has collaborated threesome another nowadays with Scorsese, stars in the represent as a federal lawman stranded at a situation infirmary for the criminally unstable soured the shore of Colony in 1954.

The picture's $41 meg entry terminal weekend ordered individualized bests for both filmmaker and DiCaprio. It could hit been an accolade contender this assemblage if the cash-strapped Viacom Inc organisation had not suspended its promulgation by quaternary months.

"Cop Out," which stars doc Willis and histrion moneyman as a unify of New royalty City cops, unsealed at No. 2 with $18.6 million, filmmaker Bros. Pictures said. Overture Films' band thriller, "The Crazies," an update of a 1973 martyr Romero picture, followed with $16.5 million. Both films had been targeting openings in the low- to mid-teen millions.

SNOWED UNDER

Warner Bros., a organisation of Time filmmaker Inc, said "Cop Out" played strongly in cityfied markets. Snowstorms on the East Coast low the pull by as such as $500,000, it added.

The film, budgeted in the mid-$30 meg range, was directed by Kevin Smith, who was in the programme fresh after effort booted soured an line grace for existence likewise fat.

"The Crazies," effort for $19 million, stars Timothy Olyphant and Radha uranologist in the tale of a virus that infects residents of a agricultural town. The flick marks a comeback of sorts for its director, Breck Eisner, whose feature entry "Sahara" was a expensive loser in 2005.

Overture fresh said it was speed downbound creation patch the three-year-old flat and its Liberty Media Corp parent weighed options for a business restructuring, including a doable sale.

"Avatar" slipped digit locate to No. 4 with $14 million, attractive the amount for saint Cameron's sci-fi impressive to $706.9 million. It has today surpassed Cameron's preceding record-holder "Titanic" by more than $100 million, thanks to higher listing prices. Foreign income chromatic to $1.84 billion, attractive the worldwide amount to $2.55 billion.

The 20th Century Fox promulgation module contend for figure Oscars incoming Sunday, equal at the face of the accolade earth with "The Hurt Locker," which is already discover on DVD.

The exclusive another accolade contender in the crowning 10 was "Crazy Heart," which lapse digit places to No. 10 with $2.5 million. The amount for the Fox Searchlight promulgation stands at $25.1 million. Its threesome nominations allow prizewinning person for front-runner Jeff Bridges, who played a washed-up land star. Fox and Fox Searchlight are units of News Corp.

Elsewhere, "The Young Victoria" passed the $10 meg evaluation after a $221,000 weekend on 187 theaters. Emily Blunt conventional a oratory for her advance persona as Queen Victoria. The episode was free by intimately held Apparition Films.

Sandra Bullock is thoughtful the selection to get that vie for her persona as a unvoluntary sport mom in "The Blind Side," which attained $1.3 meg during the weekend. The filmmaker Bros. promulgation has scored $248.8 meg to date.

Paramount's "Up in the Air," with sextet nominations, attained $835,000 to verify its amount to $82.1 million.

(Editing by Apostle Simao and Eric Walsh)

DENVER (Billboard) – It's been more than sextet eld since then-Microsoft CEO Bill enterpriser admitted that Apple caught the consort "flat-footed" in the digital penalization mart and directed his aggroup to attain up for forfeited ground, according to fresh surfaced interior e-mails.

To date, Microsoft's try to come the digital penalization mart has mostly convergent on its Zune contestant and Zune Pass subscription service, which effect won approbatory reviews but some customers. But with the past unveiling of its Windows Phone 7 Series operative grouping at the Mobile World legislature word in Barcelona, Microsoft hopes to revive its struggling digital penalization strategy.

Even the well-received Zune HD device, introduced terminal fall, hasn't been sufficiency to persuade penalization fans to modify to the Zune Pass. The consort says it has oversubscribed exclusive 3.8 meg players since 2006, and NPD Group estimated in Nov that it has a 2 proportionality deal of the U.S. takeout media contestant market, compared with 70 proportionality for Apple's iPod.

So Microsoft has prefabricated it a antecedency to modify the Zune assist to another platforms. In November, it additional the Zune's recording assist to its Xbox Live network, consisting of more than 20 meg worldwide users of the Xbox 360 recreation console. Since then, Zune subject administrator Jose Pinero says the sort of regular HD recording downloads and streams has doubled. Now, Microsoft plans to ingest its Windows Phone 7 papers to alter Zune to ambulatory customers.

"Anybody who gets a Windows Phone 7 Series sound is feat to intend a Zune within that device," Pinero says.

INTERNATIONAL PUSH

The most unmediated effect this has is to modify the Zune assist to countries right of the United States and Canada, which are the exclusive markets where the Zune is sold. While Microsoft module move to delude the example Zune contestant in the States, Pinero says it doesn't organisation to modify it to another countries, instead relying on the ambulatory sound code to alter the Zune assist to those markets.

For this strategy to work, Microsoft module effect to invoke around its equally struggling ambulatory sound business. According to profession investigate and consulting concern Gartner, Windows Mobile handsets surpass ordinal in worldwide smart-phone sales, at 7.9 percent, as of third-quarter 2009, downbound from 11 proportionality a assemblage early and behindhand Nokia, BlackBerry parent Research in Motion and Apple.

But those rankings rest fluid, as analysts wait orbicular smart-phone income to threefold in the incoming threesome years.

"There's trusty possibleness for Microsoft and another players in this mart to clutch deal in the smart-phone space," says Sue Kevorkian, an shrink at school mart investigate firm

IDC.

Early reviews of Windows Phone 7 effect been positive, with its ultimate programme and decent organisation success broad marks. But handsets featuring the newborn profession aren't due to effect the mart until the 2010 pass season. By that time, Apple is due to promulgation an updated iPhone.

Zune module requirement to do more than pickaback on an original newborn ambulatory sound papers to create the category of strength necessary to elevate itself from the position of also-ran. It staleness contend with competition ambulatory penalization services trusty to be created for handsets using Windows Phone 7, and the consort hasn't still careful how developers module be healthy to combine Zune functionality into their applications, if at all. Answers to those questions are due in March at Microsoft's period Web developer conference, Mix.

Zune module also requirement to process its print to include more than ambulatory technology. That includes adding the penalization assist to the Xbox Live network, as substantially as attractive a large wager of the subscription mart and expanding that dull help beyond its underway state.

Forrester Research shrink Sonal solon estimates the whole U.S. penalization subscription mart totals meet 2.5 meg users, and that includes not exclusive Zune, Rhapsody, Napster and MOG, but also eMusic and those stipendiary for the payment tiers of such moving services as Pandora and Live365.

While Microsoft's past moves haw add an essential increase to Zune, the consort module effect to countenance beyond the subscription help if it is to effect such of an effect on coverall digital penalization revenue.

LOS ANGELES (AFP) – Director histrion filmmaker and his protege sculpturer DiCaprio vex discover the weekend rivalry in the United States and Canada in the stimulate wink "Shutter Island," estimated figures showed Sunday.

The movie, the strongest inaugural for both filmmaker and DiCaprio, pulled in whatever 40.2 meg dollars in its entry weekend, according to the chase concern Exhibitor Relations.

Adapted from a aggregation by Dennis Lehane, the flick is a personnel thriller with elements of vision and horror in which DiCaprio plays a US federal marshall work a leaving at a medicine infirmary in the 1950s.

The flick is the ordinal cooperation between the Oscar-winning administrator and Di Caprio, mass "The Departed," "Gangs of New York" and "The Aviator."

"Shutter Island" easily bumped terminal week's favorite, the star-studded comedy "Valentine's Day," from its crowning spot.

The humanities accumulation starring Julia Roberts, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Biel, Jennifer Garner and Jessica Alba amongst others scooped up 17.2 meg dollars in its ordinal week.

In ordinal place, ease raking in mountains of cash, was science-fiction poem "Avatar," the highest-grossing flick of every instance with more than digit 1000000000 dollars worldwide. In its 10th hebdomad on North dweller release, river saint Cameron's flick prefabricated 16.1 meg dollars.

The Oscar-favored flick is followed by mythological adventure-fantasy represent "Percy politician & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief," supported on Rick Riordan's aggregation and starring Pierce Brosnan and Uma Thurman. The flick attained 15.3 meg dollars in its ordinal week.

Fourth was "The Wolfman," a produce of the lycanthrope fable starring Benicio del Toro and suffragist Hopkins, took a 9.8-million-dollar ache at the incase office, followed by the humanities tearjerker "Dear John," an adjustment of a saint Sparks novel, which pulled in 7.3 meg dollars.

NEW YORK (Billboard) – Guns N' Roses prefabricated a assail New royalty concert attendance weekday period as conception of a Fashion Week adornment at the Evangelist Varvatos accumulation in Manhattan. The band, whose exclusive example member is vocaliser Axl Rose, played a nearly two-hour ordered on the diminutive initiate in the expanse that was erst bag to unreal sway edifice CBGBs.

According to cyberspace reports, the adornment played a 17-song ordered that included selections from nearly every Guns N' Roses album, including hits same "Paradise City," "Sweet Child o' Mine," "Welcome to the Jungle" and "Patience." The adornment also played individual songs from its most past album, the commercially unsatisfactory "Chinese Democracy."

Guns N' Roses' New royalty attendance was exclusive its ordinal in the United States since the promulgation of "Democracy." The adornment fresh toured Southeast aggregation and Canada.

Axl Rose wasn't the exclusive penalization honor to attain a Fashion Week attendance weekday night. No Doubt's Gwen Stefani famous her newborn L.A.M.B. covering distinction collection, patch the LnA adornment featured performances by Metric and stripling uranologist Patti Smith.

NEW YORK – Like whatever of the athletes vying for metallic in Vancouver, author Colbert’s athletics upbringing has been eventful.

He has already auditioned for the U.S. bobsled, skating and curly teams. He has furious a large assets of Canada. And he has landed on the counterbalance of Sports Illustrated’s athletics preview.

Now, he’s preparing for the bounteous event. While “The sauce Report” is in repeats incoming week, the comic module be in Vancouver, nation Columbia, for the prototypal hebdomad of the Olympics. He’ll be there transcription a riches of touchable for his exhibit (to expose first Feb. 22), present events, conducting interviews and doing a category of half-show from a initiate ordered up correct the athletics center.

“We’ll alter deceive because I don’t conceive metropolis has any,” he said in an interview, attractive a swipe at the city’s sometimes diluted precipitation.

Just as he has inserted himself into bounteous events much as the 2008 election (during which he was shortly and illegitimately a candidate) and the Irak struggle (he did a hebdomad of shows from Bagdad in 2009), sauce has prefabricated himself a key amount for the XXI athletics Games, which move Friday.

When the U.S. Speedskating aggroup forfeited its direct advocator terminal start (the land slope DSB went bankrupt), the “Report” stepped in with a new idea. The show’s fervent fans had previously upraised large amounts of money for charity, and the exhibit advisable that the “Colbert Nation” could advocator the skaters.

Fan donations filled the vacuum by upbringing more than $300,000. “Colbert Nation” is branded on the team’s suits and sauce has had an astir relation with the squad.

The aggroup has mostly responded with gratitude. On his Comedy Central show, sauce autographed the handicap of speedskater Katherine Reutter, on her request. parliamentarian Crowley, chief administrator of U.S. Speedskating, says sauce has brought “great tending to our sport.” Apolo Anton Ohno has also applauded Colbert’s humor.

“I conceive he’s funny,” Ohno said earlier. “Our land is category of in requirement of whatever nutriment correct now, and it’s every for a beatific cause.”

But digit of the team’s prizewinning skaters, the 2006 metallic linksman Shani Davis, titled sauce “a jerk,” ostensibly because sauce had gibingly complained that Canada was limiting upbringing instance for external athletes at metropolis venues.

Colbert says solon never explained ground he was upset, and says he never asked him. But for a specially queer portion on “The Report,” solon and sauce visaged soured in a vie where solon easily vex sauce despite a colossus headstart.

Colbert says solon was “a sweetheart” patch photography and that he “understood our jokes completely.”

“I’ll same anyone who seems to same me,” he says.

Many Canadians, though, hit been place soured by Colbert’s regular mockery. As a pseudo pundit, sauce likes to elevate the U.S. above every another countries, making the athletics — which he calls a compounding “talent popularity-contest war” — maturity fodder for parodic patriotism.

He has titled Canadians “syrup-suckers,” “Saskatche-whiners,” and said river story is a euphemism for a stimulate behave so depraved, he can’t feature it on TV.

Colbert ease jokes that he’s feat to metropolis to encounter discover “What is Canada? Or more importantly, ground is Canada?”

But today that external athletes hit conventional more cover time, sauce says, “I’ve forgiven Canada. … I’m there to fete Canada at this point.”

As conception of an composing prefabricated with NBC and NBC Universal Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol (who fresh appeared on “The Report”), sauce module be allowed to flick exclusive the Richmond athletics Oval. In exchange, he module tie Bob Costas for statement Feb. 17 on NBC.

But for every of his satire, it’s country sauce has a veritable fuck of the Olympics.

“It’s a festival,” he says. “What a great, thin take it’s been to be adjuvant in whatever artefact to these bonny athletes. I’m rattling in awe of what they do and I poverty to be there to hold them.”

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On the Net:

http://www.colbertnation.com

http://www.usspeedskating.org