All day. They should be ironed out by Tuesday. Thanks for your patience.

Walt Disney Pictures announced today that its Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest joined the Billion Dollar Club box office benchmark. Behind only Titanic and Lord of the Rings 3, P2 has topped the overseas box office for 9 consecutive weeks. As of Friday, P2 has grossed $415.1 million domestically and $587.5 million internationally, making it the number #1 film of the year here and overseas.
BOX OFFICE RECORDS AND STATISTICS FOR P2:
Crossed the $1 billion mark in record time (nine weeks compared to ten weeks for previous record holder, Lord of the Rings 3). 
DOMESTIC
·         Highest three-day opening in box-office history ($135.6 million)
·         First film in box office history to pass $100 million in only two days
·         Tied as fastest film in history to reach $200 million (8 days)
·         Fastest film in box office history to pass $300 million (16 days)
·         Passed the $305.4 million final gross of P1 (in 16 days)
·         Opening day gross ($55.8 mil) highest single-day gross in b.o. history
·         51st film in Buena Vista history to pass $100 mil in gross, most of any studio
·         13th film in B.V. history to pass $200 million in gross, most of any studio
·         Highest grossing film in B.V. history and 6th highest grossing film of all time
INTERNATIONAL
·         Biggest international release of 2006.
·         6th biggest film ever released internationally.
·         Most popular international release in the history of Walt Disney Studios.
·         #1 overseas for nine consecutive weekends in a row.
·         Longest consecutive weekend reign of any film this century.
·         Biggest industry opening of All Time: Greece, Russia, Spain.
·         Biggest US film of all time: Russia. 

Previous: Go Johnny Go 

SUNDAY: Lousy box office at movie theaters was the entertainment story this weekend as Sony yet again boasts the No. 1 movie. Audiences continued their lust for horror movies as The Covenant opened with $3.1 million in 2,681 theaters Friday and $3.6 mil Saturday for a $9 million weekend. (It was Sony's 9th Numero Uno debut of the year, which ties the record. The studio hopes to break it next week with The Rock's heavily hyped Gridiron Gang.) Focus Features' well-reviewed Hollywoodland, starring Ben Affleck in what was being billed as his big return to the big screen after a long absence, had a disappointing opening in second place with $1.8 million from 1,548 theaters for what was only a $6 million weekend. Critics loved Affleck's performance, and in a huge surprise he won Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival for the role. But maybe moviegoers wanted Ben The Pin-up back, since he packed on 28 pounds to play this role of old Superman TV star George Reeves. This lack of interest in "old Hollywood" mystery-themed movies doesn't bode well for next weekend's The Black Dahlia. Meanwhile, The Weinstein Company (those brothers who brought you Miramax) is still looking for a hit as their pickup The Protector earned $1.8 million from 1,451 theaters for what was only a $5 million debut weekend. Disney's Mark Wahlberg football film Invincible ended the weekend No. 3, earning $5.9 million. Lionsgate's Crank added $1.4 million for a $4.7 mil weekend. And, rounding out the Top Five, Fox Searchlight's well-reviewed Little Miss Sunshine earned another $1.2 mil for what was a $4.6 mil weekend. Meanwhile, Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest on Friday joined Titanic and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King as the only movies ever released to top $1 billion in worldwide grosses. (All weekend figures include Sunday estimates.)

There are many inexplicable facets to this huge political controversy over ABC's The Path To 9/11 mini-series. But in my view the most bewildering is the whereabouts of Disney's nonexecutive chairman George Mitchell. He's long been known as the ultimate Compromise Broker, which is what this ruckus needs. But he's Missing In Action, as far as I can see. Here’s the evidence: I just did a Nexis database search and he's NOT mentioned in a single article, news transcript, whatever, about this brouhaha. So I've got to ask: Why isn't he front-and-center? Or, at the very least, alongside Bob Iger, the president and CEO, now under fire? After all, this is a politically charged dispute, and Mitchell used to be one of the most adept politicians ever to serve in the U.S. Senate. Both as a Democrat from Maine from 1980 to 1995, and even as Senate Majority Leader from 1989 to 1995, Mitchell immediately should have been drafted to work out a compromise that would soothe Democratic leaders, from members of the Clinton administration to Congress, as well as Republicans embracing this 9/11 version. Then again, Mitchell has been such a disappointment on so many levels since arriving at Disney both as a longtime board member and, since March 2004, as chairman. There's a long list of problems associated with his Disney tenure, culminating in 24 percent of shareholders withholding votes for Mitchell's re-election to the board, an unusually high number. Politically, liberals thought he might work to even the playing field for them inside the Big Media company. For instance, Disney’s ABC radio network and its owned- and operated- radio stations still broadcast virtually 24/7 conservative talk radio 24/7. Mitchell has done nothing to change that. Meanwhile, Disney's chief lobbyist raises $$$ for GOP midterm candidates for this 2006 election cycle.

If anything, I lay the current strife at Mitchell’s feet; if he had publicly involved himself from the start of what was obviously a hot button mini-series, then ABC could, and should, have come up with a must-be-viewed docudrama that not only the network and political leaders but the whole country could have been proud of. (And, yes, I think that was possible here.) As a master of conflict resolution, Mitchell served for five years as Bill Clinton's special adviser on Northern Ireland and brokered the 1998 Easter Agreement. Then, his so-called Mitchell Commission's Road Map to Peace outlined steps by which Israelis and Palestinians might finally co-exist peacefully. And if he could make sense of those two messes, then The Path to 9/11 should be a cakewalk for him, right?

Effective January 1, Mitchell will be succeeded by John Pepper, the former CEO of Proctor & Gamble. Even so this is no time for him to be AWOL. For one thing, Mitchell is still receiving a hefty paycheck from the Disney company. Mitchell owns about $1.8 million in Disney stock and, according to the company notice of its annual meeting, receives $500,000 as an annual retainer as board chairman. It would be interesting to know just how much time Mitchell has actually been spending on Disney business this year, including physically at Disney headquarters. I hear not a lot. After all, Mitchell was chosen to head baseball's steroid investigation. Even that move was questionable because of his link to the Red Sox and his status as chairman of Disney, which owns ESPN, baseball's broadcasting partner and outlet for a series on Barry Bonds as he pursues Hank Aaron's career home run record. Which begs the question, how much is Mitchell putting Disney business first?

In light of the current controversy, I found in archives this story about Mitchell's understanding of the need for conflict resolution. In September 1992 he led a bipartisan delegation of US senators to the bloodied Balkan region where he and his colleagues passed through a small town on the border of Bosnia and Croatia. Serb militia and townspeople had evicted their Croat neighbours and burned down their homes. Later, the tide of war shifted in favour of the Croats who returned to burn out the Serbs. Mitchell said to the mayor there: "It's hard for an outsider to tell who won." Replied the mayor: "Nobody won. We will repair our buildings long before we repair our souls. It will take generations to get over the mistrust and the hatred generated by this war." Given the political polarization of this country, and how Disney's ABC this past week helped incite more animosity between the Democrats and Republicans, Mitchell needs to review this early lesson in conflict resolution.

Previous: Chief Disney Lobbyist Raises $$$ For GOP Midterm Candidates

I'm not sure why this hasn't been dwelled on during the ABC The Path to 9/11 controversy, but remember this the next time the network asserts it is even-handed politically: Disney’s chief lobbyist, Preston Padden, is one of Washington D.C.’s most well-connected Republican lobbyists. Padden, whose title is executive v-p of government relations for Disney, is also a founding member of a loose-knit group billed as “Entertaining Republicans” who raised about $100,000 for the Republican Party in 2004. Since 2005, Padden has actively coordinated with the National Republican Congressional Committee to raise money for GOP congressional candidates running in the 2006 midterm elections. (In fact, Padden's boss, Disney prez and CEO Bob Iger, was supposed to attend one National Republican Congressional Committee's $500-a-plate breakfast Washington fund-raiser which Padden helped organize that was hosted by House Speaker Dennis Hastert.) Meanwhile, Padden's new No. 2 is Bill Bailey, former communications adviser to Sen. John McCain.

Then again, ABC’s parent company Disney has a history of being close to the Bush administration since 9/11. Let’s not forget that W pleaded just days after the tragedy for Americans “to return to the kind of lives we were leading before [that], especially air travel. Get on board. Do your business around the country. Fly and enjoy America’s great destination spots. Go down to Disney World in Florida; take your families and enjoy life the way we want it to be enjoyed.” It was as close to a White House commercial for Disney as any corporation could dare hope. Then Bush followed that up weeks later with a PR visit to Orlando, Florida, where the Magic Kingdom had suffered a 25 percent drop in ticket sales. And since then, in addition to the usual tax breaks from W’s brother, Jeb, Disney World has benefited from special security measures, including extra protection and a federally declared “no flyover zone.” And let’s not forget that former chairman/CEO Michael Eisner, although he has supported Democratic candidates like Bill Bradley in the past, pulled the distribution plug on Fahrenheit 9/11 even though stockholders were starving for movie-division profits after everything else on Disney’s slate in the first half of 2004 fell flat. Obviously, Eisner didn’t care that this beleaguered company would miss out on one of the most profitable films that year if it meant angering the Bush administration being so helpful to his company.

Meanwhile, Padden, who used to work on behalf of Murdoch, was set to use all of his considerable influence in the GOP-controlled Congress and White House on Disney’s behalf when Comcast was interested in gobbling up the Mouse House. Padden intended to portray it as a David vs Goliath takeover. Now his biggest issue, besides pushing for anti-piracy legislation, is preventing congressional bills to allow so-called "à la carte" cable pricing (to let consumers pay only for the cable-TV channels they want, thus upending the traditional cable-TV bundle), which could hurt Disney's ESPN or family channels. 

So Amy Pascal today was named co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment and extended her employment contract to infinity. Well, until 2011. Wait a minute. I was told this was supposed to happen last year. In fact, right around the time Sony was having a disastrous Summer 2005 and making bombs like Bewitched and weathering all that bad press. Guess it takes a full year to be forgiven. (Hear that, Alan Horn?) No matter, this summer Sony had a swell box office. Amy, who'll continue to serve as chairman of the studio's Motion Picture Group, still has as boss Michael Lynton, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sony Pictures Entertainment. (Now I gotta ask: What next for Jeff Blake? After all, he's the best in the business. Maybe he'll get a brass plaque or a muffin basket.) The press release blathers on, pointing out that, during the past five years combined, no studio has performed better in North America than Sony Pictures Entertainment. Since January, 2002, the studio has released 37 #1 films. Sony was #1 in market share in 2002 and 2004 and was #2 in 2003. Sony is the only studio to exceed the $6 billion dollar mark in domestic box office sales between 2002 and 2006. To date this year, Sony has released 8 #1 films, including The Da Vinci Code, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Click, RV, Pink Panther, Silent Hill, Underworld: Evolution and When A Stranger Calls. The studio has exceeded more than $1 billion in North American ticket sales for five consecutive years, a record matched by only one other studio in the history of domestic box office. That was Warner Bros. And look at where they are now. Bottom-feeding.

My latest  column, Savage TV, asks the question: Are the contestants turned into psychos, or are they psychos waiting to happen? Reality TV is turning into Savage TV. First freak shows. Then, over the weekend, freak accidents. Now it's freakin' mayhem. Examined within the context of "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin's death-by-stingray are the latest seasons of CBS' Big Brother, CBS' Survivor, MTV's Laguna Beach, MTV's The Hills, Bravo's Project Runway, NBC's The Apprentice, CBS' The Amazing Race, Fox's Hell's Kitchen and MTV's Real World. Here's how it starts:

"This week marked a Reality TV milestone: Los Angeles restaurateur Mike 'Boogie' Malin threatened violence against one of the female houseguests on CBS’s Big Brother All-Stars and the show’s producers did nothing obvious to stop it. According to the live feeds of the final-four showdown pitting two 'hos' against two 'bros' (their billing, not mine), Boogie made an obscenity-laced pledge to turn into a wild animal against cocktail waitress Janelle Pierzina if she used the all-important Power of Veto against his partner-in-reality, Will 'Dr. Evil' Kirby, a Playa Vista dermatologist. 'If she votes you out,' he told his pal, 'I’ll shit in her face. I’ll piss on her face right there on the block on TV.' It was a dramatic change from five years ago when houseguest Nicole Schaffrich, pledged to 'kick ass,' 'slit wrists, horizontally, not vertically' and 'cut heads off,' leading the show’s producers to warn her about her behavior. Back then, the contestants who used threats or intimidation toward other houseguests faced expulsion from the game. Now? CBS obviously felt that having a wild animal in the house spelled wild ratings.

"For the first time in Reality TV history, not only did this season’s BB houseguests openly fret about the show’s popularity (because presumably their own 15 minutes of fame depend on it), but without any producers’ prodding they came up with skits, costumes and cravenly concocted 'showmances' -- even talk about making a BB baby -- to goose the ratings. During the week of August 21-27, three episodes of the show ended up in the Nielsen’s top 20. But Boogie’s tantrum didn’t look like shtick. With this latest untamed behavior, BB will surely climb into the top 10.

"That Reality TV has become savage TV was underscored even further this week when Discovery Channel star Steve Irwin was killed by a stingray’s barb through his heart while filming a segment for a series called Ocean’s Deadliest. Lost amid the many tributes to the quirky 'Crocodile Hunter' as an ardent conservationist were warnings that his death was a 'sobering lesson' about TV gone too 'gladiatorial.' 'He clearly took a lot of risks, and television encouraged him to do that,' survival expert Ray Mears told the Aussie media. 'The voyeurism we are seeing on television has a cost and it’s that cost Steve Irwin’s family are paying today.'

"Now CBS’ Survivor: Cook Islands is plumbing new depths with its plot twist to pit four teams of different ethnicities — black, white, Asian and Latino — against each other. That the show is so desperate for eyeballs during its 13th season is hardly a surprise. What is startling, however, is that anyone would think this isn’t a pathetic ratings ploy to bait the contestants (handpicked, no doubt, for their racial intolerance into uttering previously taboo-on-TV racial epithets. C’mon, we all know that Mark Burnett will get a hard-on when the first 'nigger' or 'spic' or 'gook' spews from a contestant’s mouth, only to be artfully bleeped so viewers can still understand the word.).

"Going from primitive to plush, Survivor’s and Big Brother’s psychic sister is MTV’s Laguna Beach, which just started its third season with young girls savaging each other from the get-go. No need to build up to name calling this time around; cruelty is exactly what viewers come for. The show euphemistically calls it 'drama,' but new bitches Kyndra and Cami are happiest when drawing blood. Laguna Beach’s summer spinoff The Hills suffered by comparison because it was too well behaved. The only reason to watch was in the vain hope that any minute L.C. would plunge a nail file into boyfriend Jason’s roaming eye.

"Bravo’s Project Runway has succumbed ... Continued here

I'm told David Geffen is telling pals he did call up Sumner Redstone this morning and did suggest that the Viacom octogenarian hire Jeffrey Katzenberg to run the whole she-bang. (Of course, Freston's fired body was barely even cold.) But that Redstone said, fuhgeddaboudit. (Really, Redstone is claiming he said "Forget it.") If you're a little slow, then you need to know that Redstone's Viacom-controlled Paramount bought Dreamworks for a ridiculously overpriced amount, which just shows how persuasive Geffen usually is. And that nothing now would make David happier than to see a Paramount takeover of Dreamworks Animation as well (but that's not happening for the time being since Paramount has a pact to distribute DreamWorks Animation movies for the next seven years). I hear Redstone even announced his AM conversation with Geffen. Jeez, ol' Sumner isn't going to be happy unless he publicly humiliates every last person in Hollywood. Personally, I think his arteries are clogged. The only other reason could be that Sumner wants to turn back control of Viacom under Freston back to Viacom under the Redstone Family. In his conference call today, Redstone noted that his daughter Shari, who's Vice Chairman, has expanded duties, most of which are board-related. "She is designated to succeed me at that far distant future, 20 or 30 years from now." What'd I tell ya: he thinks he'll live forever.

UPDATE: So then Redstone adds insult to injury by reminding Geffen, Katzenberg et al that they're already his employees (and, by implication, he can start treating them badly, too). Asked by the Hollywood Reporter's Diane Mermigas, "What about possibly going after the rest of DreamWorks Animation to bring Jeffrey Katzenberg to your overall studio operations as a creative spark?" Redstone responded, "I love Jeffrey Katzenberg, and I consider him a very able executive and a good friend. But if you recall, when we originally were presented with the DreamWorks deal, it was $1.5 billion, and I said that would not fly with me or the board. They were smart enough to find a way to make it feasible by selling the library, which we have a right to buy back in the future, and that brought the deal down to around $500 million. Having done that, I'm not going to go back and do the opposite now. In a way, Jeffrey and the other terrific executives there already are working for us because we acquired DreamWorks."

Previous: Wherefore Were Thou, Tom Freston?, The 411 On Tom Freston's Firing

I'm told that Viacom executive chairman and founder Sumner Redstone was so effin' eager to fire Tom Freston that the big boss spent the day frantically looking for his underling in order to invite him up to his Beverly Park mansion in that fancy schmancy gated community in the Hollywood Hills for a not-so-cozy chat. So it wasn't until almost nightfall when Sumner kicked Tom Two (as not Cruise) to the curb. Nice, huh. The old coot couldn't wait for the door to hit Freston in the ass after 26 years. Yet he has the nerve to tell analysts today, "Last night, when we met, we assured each other we would remain the social friends we have always been." Yeah, maybe on Mars. Back on Earth, Redstone can express all the confidence in the world that his company's stock will rise in the wake of the changes. But investors sent the share price down 5.6%, making it the day's worst S&P 500 performer.

Previous: The 411 On Tom Freston's Firing

Just ask yourself these questions: Why is Sumner Redstone the only person on the planet who doesn't believe he's mortal? Could he be a bigger rat bastard for lopping off the head of his once fair-haired boy after only 9 months running the split-off company (and a 26-year veteran of parent company Viacom Inc.)? How does this octogenarian manage to keep getting rid of everybody (Frank Biondi, Mel Karmazin) who in the eyes of Wall Street looks like a logical successor because they've got the right CEO/Chairman stuff? What happens now to Freston flunkie Brad Grey whose knees must be wobbling with fear and loathing knowing his only protection is an iron-clad contract? Why would any institutional investor or individual shareholder hold Viacom Inc. considering Redstone's increasingly erratic behavior as chairman? (They're not stupid: the news pushed the company's stock price down 5.6%, making it the worst S&P 500 performer.) Could there possibly be any happier human being today than Freston arch-enemy Les Moonves, who's been going around town badmouthing Freston for (among other things) OKing that too-rich Dreamworks deal?

Previous: Who's Crazier: Viacom or Tom Cruise?

LABOR DAY UPDATE: Nicolas Cage's career continues in freefall as his new movie, The Wicker Man, bombed badly, opening only in 3rd place. The poorly reviewed film made just $2.8 million Friday and $3.5 million Saturday for what was an anemic $11.7 mil long Labor Day weekend. (Hey, Nic, your career is on life support after this, World Trade Center, The Weather Man, Lord of War, even The Ant Bully in which you had a voiceover. It's high time to have that heart-to-heart huddle with your big deal CAA agent, Richard Lovett.) This is yet another Dead-On-Arrival pic for Warner Bros., which has had a disastrous Summer 2006. But Hollywood studios seem to endlessly tolerate failure, so there's little chance that any of the brass will get bounced. That left Lionsgate's high concept movie Crank, featuring no big stars, to open No. 2 with $3.3 mil Friday and $3.5 mil Saturday for what was a $12.4 mil long weekend. So that means Disney's football flick Invincible starring Mark Wahlberg was Numero Uno its second weekend out, adding another $3 mil Friday and $4.5 mil Saturday. The pic ended the Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon with $15.5 mil (for a total $38.1 mil). Fox Searchlight's critic fave Little Miss Sunshine did $1.8 mil Friday and $2.9 mil Saturday for what was another $9.9 mil weekend. Meanwhile, well-reviewed The Illusionist from Yari Film Group opened wider with 975 theaters, earning $1.5 mil and $2.3 mil Saturday for what was an $8.1 mil long weekend. And Sony's NASCAR spoof Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby looks to have finally run out of gas after finishing No. 1 or No. 2 for the past month. It earned $1.4 mil Friday and $2.4 mil Saturday for what was a $7.7 mil long weekend. More as it comes in...