Thousands of fans turned out to catch a glimpse of the celebrities attending the UK premiere of the blockbuster Planet of the Apes. 

There was not an ape suit in sight as leading ladies Helena Bonham Carter and Estella Warren arrived at the screening in Leicester Square, in London. 

British actress Bonham Carter, who plays a chimpanzee in the Tim Burton-directed film, wore a two-piece silver sequined Alberto Feretti gown to Tuesday's premiere. 

But her handbag kept to the monkey theme, shaped like a bunch of bananas. 

She said she had enjoyed working on the film but would be reluctant to do a sequel given the hours needed in make-up. 

"I should never say never, but I'd have to think hard and they'd have to pay me lots and lots of money. 

"I spent 240 hours of my life sitting in make-up. I'm not sure I really want to do that again." 

Crowd walkabout 

Her US co-star Mark Wahlberg went on a walkabout to the delight of the waiting crowd outside the Odeon cinema. 

Wahlberg said he was amazed by the crowd's reaction. 

"I'm just excited to be here," he said. 

Warren, who plays a slave girl, was delighted at the tender age of 22 to land such a plum role. 

"I really couldn't believe it when I got cast - it was such a great surprise because Tim Burton has such stature. 

Classic remake 

Planet of the Apes is a remake of the 1968 classic movie starring Charlton Heston and the late Roddy McDowell. 

It sees Wahlberg as an astronaut land on a strange planet inhabited by hostile talking apes. 

Bonham Carter however is a friendly chimp. 

She and a band of human rebels try to help Wahlberg evade the ape warriors and discover the secret of the enslaved humans. 

Hype high 

Enthusiasm and hype about the remake has been high in the UK months ahead of its release. 

As well as nostalgia appeal, the film boasts millions of dollars worth of the latest special effects. 

And then there is the cameo appearance by the now legendary Heston to look forward to. 

Other stars who feature in the movie include Tim Roth, Kris Kristofferson. 

And at Tuesday's star-studded screening guests included the former Hammer horror star Christopher Lee, and Big Brother contestants Josh, Amma, and runner-up Helen. 

Singer Nicole Appleton was with boyfriend Liam Gallagher of Oasis. 

Actress Winona Ryder, singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor, actor Timothy Spall and comic Vic Reeves were also at the premiere. 

The film opens on Friday (August 17) but opened in the US on 27 July to big box office success. 

When Empire Online was invited to chew the fat with Tim Burton a day before the UK premiere of The Planet of the Apes, we were frankly delighted. Now we could ask him face-to-face questions like ‘What the hell did that ending mean?’ and ‘How friendly are you now with Matt Drudge since he gave the ending away.’

Unfortunately nothing’s that easy, as today’s meeting with the director proved. When we met with the director at London’s Dorchester hotel, one of the first things we asked for was an explanation of the film’s ending. Unfortunately, Burton wasn’t in the mood to help; ‘No I’m not going to,’ he told us. ‘Because, one of the things I liked about this material is that its what I call ‘fuck you’ material. I don’t mean that negatively but…[here he went on to ponder Darwinism, fairy tales and folk legends] Basically, I’m not giving you an answer.’ 

Pretty please? ‘ No. I’ve always resented the literalisation of society, the conformity. You very early on realise that it’s all a load of crap, I mean, what’s conformity, what’s normalcy? It just diminishes people and puts them in categories and I hate that. So… yeah, I like to fuck with people’s heads.’

Okaaay. So what about a sequel? Is one in the offing? ‘I did think about it,’ he admitted, ‘but the idea of me doing any of that right now, I’d rather jump out the window. I swear to God!’ So if he’d had the chance to do this all over again, what would he change? ‘I’d have them give the fucking greenlight at the goddamned beginning so that we’re not spinning our wheels for 6 months where there is no positive work being done. That was the problem.’

Presumably his fear of all things simian didn’t help. ‘They’re the most evil fuckers in the world, those guys. If you do any research on primates, their culture, they have serial killers, murderers. Since your childhood they’ve been anthropomorphised and cutified, you look at them and they’re very cute.They’re strong as hell and they go psychotic on you. One day one’s trying to hump me the next day it’s, like spitting on me and throwing shit at me.’

Unsurprisingly, Burton won’t be doing a commentary on the film’s DVD. ‘I realise I do terrible commentary,’ he admitted. And what about extras? ‘I like a lot of extras on DVDs but I’m of the era that like to watch things again and not know everything about it. My initial experience with movies was that they were somewhat magical and even though the world has changed that way it’s still important to me. Some people like it and some people are good at it.’

Well we had to ask what happened with Superman, and the answer was short, but not sweet. ‘It was a nightmare and I’m sick of it,’ was the director’s response. What about the news that Burton's scriptwriter on Sleepy Hollow, Andrew Kevin Walker, is currently writing a movie that teams up Batman with Superman? 'I say good luck to him, I should probably call him and talk him off the ledge. That’s why I love studio execs… literal minded people in the movie industry, are the biggest joke of all. They’re in the wrong business. Making movies is like childbirth. You forget the pain of making a movie because if you retained it, you’d never do it again. So, good luck to him.' 

And what’s next? Something smallscale? ‘Yes, yes, yes. Maybe like an icecapade show or something.’ Alrighty.

Finally, asked for his reaction to Matt Drudge's shameless revelation of the film's surprise ending on his site, Burton replied in his own inimitable style. Click to hear his response. 

SYDNEY (Variety) - ``Pearl Harbor's'' record-busting premiere in China helped propel the foreign total for the WWII epic past $200 million last weekend, while ``Planet of the Apes,'' ''Jurassic Park III'' and ``A.I. Artificial Intelligence'' saw strapping, but not dazzling, debuts in other territories. 

Michael Bay's ``Pearl Harbor'' captured $2.4 million in three days in China, beating ``Titanic's'' $1.4 million record bow (although ``Pearl'' played on 227 screens vs. 177 for ``Titanic''). The sympathetic portrayal of the Chinese villagers who came to the aid of the Yanks evidently struck a chord with locals who, coincidentally, have been flocking to another war saga, ``Enemy at the Gates,'' which has earned a tidy $2.1 million to date. 

Disney's blockbuster collared $341,000 in India, in local currency the market's fifth-biggest bow. It garnered $267,000 in Hungary, for the local industry's second best entry.

All told, the Ben Affleck/Kate Beckinsale starrer hauled in $6.6 million last weekend. The international total topped $205 million, so the picture's poised to overtake the year's highest earner, ``The Mummy Returns,'' which is winding down with $213.9 million. The top markets for ``Pearl'' are Japan's $36.5 million (where it edged up by 3% in its fifth weekend as the Obon vacation started) and Germany's $26.3 million. 

Fox's ``Apes'' remake swung into Australia with $2.1 million, including sneaks, for the distributor's third-highest debut. It had similarly muscular openings in New Zealand ($358,000), Singapore ($524,000), Malaysia ($300,000) and Norway ($298,000). 

Tim Burton's sci-fier retained pole position despite heavy falls in its sophomore sessions in Mexico (earning $6.8 million to date, dropping 46%), Brazil ($3.2 million, down 39%), Argentina ($2.4 million, off 52%) and Colombia ($911,000). In all, ``Apes'' chewed on $11.6 million in 24 territories, taking its foreign total to $45.8 million. That included Japan's handy $17.8 million through its third lap, slipping just 16%. 

The latest ``Jurassic Park'' romp racked up $16.7 million from 22 markets. The foreign total hit $98 million, and the picture's set to rank as the 12th title to cross $100 million overseas this year. (''Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'' just passed that milestone, peaking at $101 million, with Japan and Italy ahead). 

The flying dinos landed in France with a sturdy but not stellar $3.3 million, but were more potent in Hong Kong ($1.3 million), Belgium ($817,000, the second best bow this year) and Denmark ($304,000). 

``Jurassic Park III'' has devoured a tasty $14.8 million in nine days in Japan (abating by 13%), second to local cartoon ''Spirited Away,'' which spiked up by 6% in its fourth weekend with $8.2 million, elevating the total to a socko $78.1 million. 

The dino pic tumbled by 50% in Germany, amassing $10.6 million in 11 days, dented by rookie ``Dr. Dolittle 2,'' which fetched a decent $2 million. The Eddie Murphy starrer reigned in Spain, bringing in a fair $863,000 as its foreign totalreached $39.3 million. 

Steven Spielberg's ``A.I.'' conjured up an estimated $1.3 million in South Korea nationally, just behind the third turn of local pic ``Weird Girl.'' The sci-fi fantasy picked up $1.5 million in Mexico (trailing ``Apes'') and ascended to $65.2 million in its seventh outing in Japan. 

``Cats & Dogs'' held sway in the U.K. after a WB record opening week, easing by a trifling 11% to feast on $15 million in 10 days. ``Rush Hour 2'' was parked at No. 2 in Blighty, making a juicy $12.3 million in the same frame. 

In its first offshore tryouts, ``The Score'' was overpowered by the competition in Germany, taking roughly $655,000, but resonated more effectively in France, scoring an estimated $370,000 in Paris and suburbs, behind the dinos. 

After we reported on this site last week, the news that Kevin Smith and Tim Burton were getting all in a tither over Burton's ending to The Planet of the Apes, Smith decided to set the record straight in a posting on his official site ViewAskew.Com.

'Lest anyone think some sort of holy jihad is brewing betwixt me and the mighty Tim, I'd like to set the record straight here,' Smith begins. 'I do not think the Planet of the Apes ending was stolen from the Jay and Silent Bob mini-series Chasing Dogma, nor am I thinking about taking anyone to court. I called the similarities (which I believe are simply coincidental) to the attention of my good friend Lou Loumenick over at the NY Post and made a few jokey comments about being pissed and litigious that seem to have been taken seriously.' 

'This story has gotten way out of hand,' Smith goes on to say. 'I'll still be there on opening day for any Tim Burton movie, and I urge you all to do the same. Because, whether he tells a coherent story or not, he's still one of the most interesting (albeit testy, apparently) directors working today. And that should always be supported.'

Empire Online is interviewing Tim Burton today (Monday 13 August) - so we'll be reporting back later on what he has, if anything, to add to this story. 

So you wanna be a rock star? Then warm up those vocal cords, because the Rock Star Tour Search is coming to town. 

The national contest is a promotion for the upcoming film "Rock Star," starring Mark Wahlberg and Jennifer Aniston. 

The grand prize: a demo deal from Priority Records and a chance to perform for the stars at the "Rock Star" premiere party. 

How to be a rock star: 

1. Go to www.vh1.com and download the prerecorded song and lyrics for "Livin' The Life," from the "Rock Star" soundtrack, along with the official entry form. 

2. Record your performance of "Livin' The Life" on VHS and drop it off at one of five Guitar Center locations before 7 p.m. Aug. 14. 

The locations: Seattle, 530 Westlake Ave. N.; Tukwila, 230 Andover Parkway; Kirkland, 12608 120th Ave. N.E.; Lynnwood, 19509 Highway 99; Tacoma, 2919 S. 38th St. For complete official rules, visit www.vh1.com or www.kisw.com. 

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Aug. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- SGI(TM) IRIX® OS-based compute power provided the Academy Award® winning artists of Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) the means to create, design, animate, photo-realistically light and render the amazing array of visual effects that enhance five of this summer's biggest blockbuster films. ILM, using proprietary software written on Silicon Graphics® O2® visual workstations as well as off-the-shelf 3D modeling and animation software, completed approximately 350 visual effects shots on The Mummy Returns, 160 shots on Pearl Harbor, 200 shots on A.I., 400 shots on Jurassic Park III and 140 shots on Planet Of The Apes. ILM, which has used SGI(TM) systems since 1988, uses more than 500 Silicon Graphics O2 visual workstations networked to an 800-processor SGI(TM) 2000 series system with 400GB of storage.

The Mummy Returns

``In The Mummy Returns, there aren't many shots that we didn't have something to do with,'' said Ed Kramer, ILM's sequence supervisor on The Mummy Returns (which has grossed more than $200 million at the box office). ``We were involved in more than 350 shots, creating everything on Silicon Graphics O2 systems backed with SGI 2000 series servers. SGI technology was an essential part of everything we created and rendered.''

Creating a living, breathing Imhotep (the mummy himself) was top priority. ``We had to create digital skin to cover the surface of the muscles, and we wrote simulation software on the O2 systems that would allow the surface skin to react to the way the muscles were moving and rippling underneath,'' explained Kramer. ``Those muscles, in turn, were reacting to how the bones were moving and supporting them.''

Director Steven Sommers wanted plenty of holes in Imhotep's body so audiences could see through to the background, proving that this was not an actor wearing a mummy suit. ``We had to systematically remove lungs or parts of his head so that we could see right into him,'' Kramer continued. ``We even had to create his brain, because there's a big chunk of his head missing, and when he moves, his brain has to slosh inside his skull. That required calculations based on the volume of a brain and the collision between the brain and the skull that it's floating in. We also had to paint an incredible number of texture maps, transparency maps, bump maps and displacement maps to create that rotted flesh.''

Other CGI challenges included a battle sequence containing more than 10,000 jackal-headed Anubis warriors, and in some scenes 40,000 warriors were needed. Digital duplication tricks weren't of much use: each warrior had to be animated and rendered individually for continuity among the shots in the sequence. ``Any time you see Imhotep, the hordes of pygmy or soldier mummies or the popular WWF wrestler, The Rock, as the Scorpion King, that's ILM's CGI, all created on SGI systems,'' said Kramer.

Pearl Harbor

ILM's visual effects work for Pearl Harbor (which has surpassed $200 million at the box office) included three main sequences: the aerial tour de force of the Battle of Britain; the devastating Pearl Harbor attack, including the all-digital ships in Battleship Row; and many shots in the Tokyo raid sequence at the movie's climax.

``In the Battle of Britain, we did all the dog-fighting shots using digital planes and explosions,'' said Michael Bauer, ILM's CG supervisor on Pearl Harbor. ``We even generated the background plates for many of those scenes, cutting together pieces of sky and ocean to complement director Michael Bay's choreography. For the Pearl Harbor battle, some shots were almost entirely computer graphics. We digitally created Battleship Row with 3D models of ships based on the original 1941 blueprints. We made all the battleships, the water that they're floating on, all the smoke plumes and the giant smoke events, digital airplanes, the tracers and the tracer smoke coming from the airplanes, and the bullet hits on the water and on the battleships. Where they filmed one or two planes coming through, we'd populate the sky with our digital planes. We also made a whole library of digital sailors to complement the stunt sailors.''

Using Silicon Graphics O2 systems, artists adapted ILM's proprietary fluid dynamics, originally written on O2 systems for last year's Academy Award nominee for visual effects, The Perfect Storm. ``We added certain modifications to the code to be able to add torpedo rings,'' explained Bauer. ``We weren't doing big wavy, choppy water like The Perfect Storm. This was mainly calm water that's being disrupted by outside elements. Oil slicks, torpedo rings and torpedoes running just below the surface with torpedo trails had to be added.'' For the smoke, ILM adapted its fluid dynamic volumetric software to generate very complex smoke plumes, which filled the battle sequences. All the procedural animation tools were written in Alias|Wavefront(TM) Maya® software, which also handled the crowd placement for the digital sailors. ILM proprietary software, written on Silicon Graphics O2 workstations, was also used for crash dynamics, lighting and rendering.

``All of our code was written in the software we developed for the O2 systems. They're great,'' added Bauer. ``They are integral to our work.''

A.I.

ILM's involvement in A.I. dates back to around the time of the first Jurassic Park, when Dennis Muren, one of the two visual effects supervisors on A.I., briefly discussed some ideas with Stanley Kubrick. ILM did not hear much more about the project until it was announced that Steven Spielberg would be taking over after the death of the legendary Kubrick. ILM's work on A.I. began well over a year ago, with the initial modeling, animation and lighting work all done on Silicon Graphics O2 workstations using SGI 2000 series systems as render servers. A fair amount of code, mostly plug-ins and shaders, was also written on the O2 systems.

``A.I. had one of the broadest ranges of visual effects that I've ever been exposed to,'' said Doug Smythe, ILM associate visual effects supervisor for A.I. ``We did literally every kind of shot you can think of, including simple wire removal, blink removal and digital creature work of all kinds; digital enhancement of live action; all the CG eyeballs and prosthetics in the Flesh Fair shantytown; complete digital environments such as the excavation; combinations of miniatures with live action and computer graphics such as Rouge City; and, of course, the furry teddy bear. ILM worked on a just under 200 shots, but they were unusually long shots, which was dictated by the style of the editing. Out of the two-hour and 15-minute film, about 45 minutes are visual effects shots running 1,000 or even 2,000-plus frames long.''

ILM artists working on A.I. used a variety of Alias|Wavefront(TM) software, relying heavily on PowerAnimator(TM) for modeling, Maya for procedural animation and Avid Softimage primarily for animation, supplemented with a large amount of ILM's proprietary software -- all running on Silicon Graphics O2 workstations. Pixar RenderMan, as well as ILM proprietary software, was used for rendering on the SGI 2000 series servers. ``We have Silicon Graphics O2 systems on our desks, and they do the job,'' Smythe added. ``We've used SGI equipment for such a long time that all of our proprietary software runs on it. The O2 systems are real workhorse machines.''

For A.I.'s on-set needs, ILM created a new system for live-action, real-time bluescreen and digital virtual environment compositing, which was used on the Rouge City bluescreen set. Dual-processor Silicon Graphics® Octane® workstations, along with custom hardware built by BBC and an Ultimatte box, performed real-time compositing, manipulation and rendering of the scenes.

Jurassic Park III

ILM's groundbreaking visual effects used in the original Jurassic Park earned the company an Academy Award in 1993. For 1997's The Lost World: Jurassic Park, ILM was again nominated for an Academy Award for visual effects. This year, Jurassic Park III, featuring ILM's dinosaurs and effects created on Silicon Graphics O2 workstations, grossed more than $50 million on its opening weekend.

Model development at ILM of Jurassic Park III began well over a year ago. ILM then completed more than 400 2D and 3D effects shots using Silicon Graphics O2 workstations, primarily running Softimage for animation. The flesh simulation application within an ILM proprietary dynamics engine, originally developed for The Mummy and written on the O2 systems, was adapted for dinosaur skin simulation. Some of the ``creatures,'' as ILM's Tim McLaughlin, creature supervisor for Jurassic Park III calls the dinosaurs, were based on the designs of the previous films while some were new or totally rebuilt. More than 60 shots featured flesh or cloth simulations (used, for example, for the pteranodon's wings).

``There were a half-dozen hero-style creatures and another five or six that were used in background shots,'' McLaughlin said. ``T-rex, which was prominently featured in both Jurassic Park and The Lost World, came back for a cameo in Jurassic Park III. We had to take a look at the dinosaur in terms of how it was structured: what its patch structure was, what its chaining rig (animation control) was, and how it needed to perform in the new movie. We knew we wanted to do flesh simulation -- flesh, bone and muscle -- on most of the featured creatures. We had to resurface the entire T-rex, using what we had originally created on SGI systems as the basis of a template, and then repainted and rerigged the creature.''

One of the many complex CGI scenes that demanded the performance of both the Silicon Graphics O2 visual workstations and ILM's array of SGI 2000 series servers for rendering is the dinosaur fight sequence, featuring the T-rex and an all-new spinosaurus. ``This scene needed two huge CGI creatures doing a Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier imitation,'' said McLaughlin. ``The chance to work on the choreography and what I call the environmental effects -- the way the skin of the animals moves, how the trees and bushes and dust around them react to their movements and making everything have the right scale and physical dynamics -- was truly an exciting challenge.''

McLaughlin, who has worked at ILM for seven years, concluded, ``SGI systems are all I've ever worked on, and they work great for what I need to do. In Jurassic Park III, the complexity of what we were dealing with on a shot-by-shot basis is just amazing to me. The dinosaur models that we worked with are three times as heavy, in a geometric sense, as they were in The Lost World, and yet we were able to accomplish the production of the shots in a shorter time period. I think that speaks volumes for both the pipeline here at ILM and the SGI hardware.''

Planet of the Apes

ILM was involved in the creation of various sequences seen throughout Planet of the Apes, including the setup of the entire initial space sequence, which featured a practical model shot of the mother spaceship The Oberon, a CG model of the space pod and the creation of a tsunami effect within the nebula that sends the pod -- and actor Mark Wahlberg -- back in time. Planet of the Apes soared to a nonholiday-weekend record of $69.6 million gross for its opening weekend.

``The tsunami was a very interesting effect because we were asked to create what director Tim Burton called 'a shockwave in space,''' said Thomas Hutchinson, CG supervisor for ILM on Planet of the Apes. ``He didn't want it to look like anything he'd ever seen before, so it couldn't be light pulses or anything like that. It was quite a challenge to come up with, and the R&D early on was very exciting. There were only about 10 shots, but it was a unique little tidbit that we did all with Maya and RenderMan on SGI systems.''

The majority of ILM's almost five-month production schedule was compositing work, augmenting numerous battle sequences with additional apes. ``They could only suit up so many actors as apes, so we did a lot of what's called tiling in compositing,'' said Hutchinson. ``They shoot a section of actors in ape costume, then move them over in the field, change their positions and then shoot them in various bits and pieces. We edit all the footage together and composite one big sequence of many apes into one shot.''

Hutchinson added that this was a relatively traditional show for ILM. ``We weren't really pushing the envelope,'' he said. ``I think we were basically helping Tim Burton to tell a story and the O2 workstations performed as well as they ever have for us. I think the software has had plenty of time to integrate, and we've worked with SGI for so long that the software -- especially our compositing software -- runs very smoothly and our shots went very efficiently.''

``Our job as manufacturers is to put the best tools in front of the creative and technical community and advance the state of the art,'' said Greg Estes, vice president of corporate marketing, SGI. ``We are extremely gratified to see ILM use top-of-the-line SGI IRIX OS-based tools to advance its state-of-the-art visual effects. All five summer blockbuster movies were in various and overlapping stages of preproduction and effects-shot production throughout the past 12 months, and ILM not only completed the visual effects on time, but wowed the film community and critics with its digital artistry and underlying propriety code, which, we are very proud to say, was entirely created using SGI technology.''

About ILM

Located in San Rafael, Calif., ILM is a division of Lucas Digital Ltd. LLC, which also includes Skywalker Sound. Formed in 1993, Lucas Digital Ltd. is dedicated to serving the digital needs of the entertainment industry for visual effects, commercial production and audio post-production.

About SGI

SGI, formerly known as Silicon Graphics, Inc., is a technology solutions provider with a broad range of high-performance computing, advanced graphics and consulting services that enable its technical and creative customers to maintain a competitive advantage in their core businesses. Whether being used to design and build safer cars and airplanes, discover new medications and oil reserves, help us to understand and better predict the weather or entertain us with thrilling movie special effects, SGI systems and expertise are empowering a world of innovation and discovery. The company, located on the Web at www.sgi.com, is headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., and has offices worldwide.

SYDNEY (Variety) - The monkeys did the business over the weekend as ``Planet of the Apes'' ruled in its Australian bow and in its sophomore sessions in Latin America, despite substantial drops.

The dinos were in the money also, as ``Jurassic Park III'' notched high-flying debuts in Hong Kong, Belgium and Denmark.

After a phenomenal run in Japan, ``A.I. Artificial Intelligence'' smashed Warner Bros.' opening record in Seoul, South Korea (news - web sites) (surpassing ``The Matrix'') but in Mexico it trailed the ``Apes'' remake (which is playing on far more screens).

Fox's ``Apes'' fetched $2.1 million in four days Down Under -- very good but not stellar -- comfortably ahead of the third round of ``Bridget Jones's Diary,'' which took $1.1 million.

Tim Burton's sci-fier minted an estimated $1.7 million Friday-Sunday in Mexico (sliding by 46%), bringing the 10-day tally to $6.8 million. The primates have raked in a roughly $2.5 million in Argentina (plunging by 51%), $3.1 million in Brazil (down 46%) and $2.8 million in Korea (off 46%).

Steven Spielberg's ``A.I.'' conjured up an estimated $742,000 in two days in Seoul, hailed by WB on Sunday as the industry's third highest opening weekend ever, behind ``Mission: Impossible 2'' and ``Star Wars: Episode 1 -- The Phantom Menace.'' Warner was projecting a nationwide score of $1.35 million.

Joe Johnston's ``Jurassic Park III'' captured an estimated $925,000 in three days in Hong Kong, $133,000 in four days in Belgium's key cities (in local currency on par with the bows of ``The Lost World: Jurassic Park'' and ``The Mummy Returns'') and $204,000 in two days in Denmark (13% below the ``Mummy'' sequel).

The raptors devoured $5 million in nine days in Japan's key cities (falling by about 30% from the first weekend, which included previews), behind local hit cartoon ``Spirited Away's'' fourth frame.

The dinopic tumbled by 45% in Germany, coining $2.2 million Thursday-Saturday and propelling the 10-day tally to $10.4 million. Remarkably, local comedy ``Der Schuh Des Manitu'' regained top spot in its fourth lap in Germany, whipping up $2.5 million in three days.

``Dr. Dolittle 2'' bowed in Germany with an estimated $2.1 million in four days. Germany also marked the first major foreign territory for ``The Score,'' which bowed at a lowly No. 4 with just $485,000 in three days (albeit on 195 screens vs. an average of 650 for each of the top three).

``Cats & Dogs'' led the pack in the U.K., easing by about 14% after a socko debut, making an estimated $3.9 million in three days, elevating the total to nearly $13.9 million. ``Rush Hour 2'' was parked at No. 2 in its sophomore session in Blighty, catching $1.4 million Friday-Saturday.

Domestic dud ``Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within'' isn't faring much better abroad, entering Mexico at No. 3 ($570,000 in two days), Taiwan at No. 2 ($100,000 in two days), French-speaking Switzerland at No. 2 ($90,000 in four days) and South Africa in third spot ($58,000 in two days).

LOCARNO, Switzerland (Variety) - Fur flew and jaws dropped during the final hours of the Locarno Film Festival on Sunday as a dubious lineup of films won the top prizes.

Juror Debra Winger walked out halfway through the awards press conference after journalists repeatedly asked the jury to explain the phrase ``not unanimously'' in the official release.

Winger proclaimed it was ``the first time, and probably the last'' she would sit on a festival jury, not wanting the experience to be tarnished by such media cross-examination.

Rumors had already begun spreading Saturday that the seven-women, one-man jury was locked in disagreement, and Daily Variety understands the final list of prizes was only agreed on close to midnight after a marathon session. Virtually none of the pictures reckoned as contenders figured in the jury's main awards.

The top prize, the Golden Leopard, went to Italian road movie ``Off to the Revolution by a 2CV,'' the sophomore feature by Maurizio Sciarra. The film garnered little critical attention during the festival, and also unexpectedly grabbed the actor prize for Andoni Gracia in a year richer than usual in strong performances by known talent.

The Silver Leopards went to Alain Gomis' Paris-set immigrant drama ``L'Afrance,'' and German helmer Peter Sehr's New York-set ``Love the Hard Way,'' starring Adrien Brody. Again, neither picture had attracted much positive critical reaction.

The actress award went to South Korea (news - web sites)'s Kim Ho-jung, for the DV-shot futuristic drama ``Butterfly,'' by Moon Seung-wook, which had radically split audiences and critics.

Rumored to be the jury's only unanimous award was Iranian Abolfazl Jalili's semi-abstract drama ``Delbaran,'' also well-liked by critics.

Reflecting divisions within the jury, many of the best-liked movies merited only Special Mentions. ``The Milk of Human Kindness,'' by France's Dominique Cabrera, and American director John Singleton's ``Baby Boy'' were noted for their ensemble acting; U.K. relationships movie ``The Lawless Heart,'' by Neil Hunter and Tom Hunsinger, was praised for its screenplay; and first-timer Emily Tang's Beijing-set drama ``Conjugation'' drew a mention for its direction.

The most surprising absentee from the list of prizes was Anne Fontaine's French family drama ``The Way I Killed My Father,'' which had been expected to nab a major award.

The eight-member jury was presided over by U.S. writer-critic Janet Maslin. Aside from Winger, the other members were Italian actress Laura Morante, New Zealand actress Kerry Fox, British producer Olivia Stewart, French director Emilie Deleuze, Swiss writer Zoe Jenny and Chilean writer-director Antonio Skarmeta. Italian-based Turkish director Ferzan Ozpetek bailed just before the fest because of a conflict of interest with one of the competing films.

Paradoxically, the last-minute controversy came after one of the festival's best-appreciated editions in several years. One notable bomb was ``Planet of the Apes,'' which was rewarded by only a polite ripple of appreciation following its public screening.

HOLLYWOOD (Zap2it.com) - Mark Wahlberg, the bad-boy hip-hopper-turned-actor, who is playing a heavy metal rocker in his upcoming film "Rock Star" tells Zap2it.com that his newfound religious beliefs and his family would keep him from doing sexually explicit films again.

Wahlberg, who has been in trouble with the law in his rowdy younger days, and was known as Marky Mark during his singing days, is now a Seventh Day Adventist [Lianne note: This sounds totally wrong as it's not a Catholic sect unless Mark converted recently Lianne Note 2: A total mistake, according to E. I sent an email to Zap2it, so hopefully it'll be fixed] along with most of his family.

He made a splash in his film career by working with newcomer director Paul Thomas Anderson in the film "Boogie Nights" where he played a rather well-endowed porn star.

"I had to go to a few porn sets, and I wasn't too thrilled about that," Wahlberg laughs. "That was a bit too much."

Talking at the Century Plaza Hotel to Zap2it.com about the Warner Bros. movie where he plays a rock singer who is part of a copycat tribute band who ends up getting caught in the wild sex-and-drugs world of a mid-1980s hard rock band. He says he's proud of his role in that film in which he co-stars with Jennifer Aniston.

"I have nine nieces and nephews I have to answer to and at this stage of the game it would be hard to make a movie like "Boogie Nights" and I would do nothing graphic," Walhberg says.

"I do care I am concerned, especially in these kids' eyes, it would be tough to do something like that again," Wahlberg says about his best role. "I'd have to do some thinking, I was trying to prove myself as an actor then and not thinking of them."

Wahlberg expects to do more dramatic roles, and will be working with director Anderson again on another movie.

Meanwhile, he's looking for a house in Los Angeles and will live there with his mother.

New Online Photo Gallery Features Exclusive Candids with Star and Behind-the-Scenes Snapshots From the Set of the Blockbuster "Planet of the Apes" and Soon-to-be-Released "Rock Star"

August 2001 (Newstream) -- Actor Mark Wahlberg, one of Hollywood's most sought after stars, will join the "You've Got Pictures" MY TOWN promotion with the unveiling of an online gallery of personal, never-before-seen photos, America Online, Inc. and Eastman Kodak Company announced August 9. Wahlberg, star of this summer's blockbuster "Planet of the Apes," will share with AOL members a behind-the-scenes look at his life through online photos taken on the set of "Planet of the Apes;" with his mother and former President Bill Clinton; and with Jennifer Aniston on the set of their upcoming film, "Rock Star," which opens September 7. Beginning today, AOL members can enjoy these photos at AOL Keyword: MY TOWN. 

To launch the new version of the "You've Got Pictures" service, which makes it even easier and more convenient for AOL's members to view, share and store photos online, AOL and Kodak partnered to create the MY TOWN national photo contest. AOL members are asked to submit photographs that demonstrate what makes their hometown special in the summertime. After the field is narrowed to six finalists, members will vote on a winner, whose hometown will win a free concert featuring '80s girl group the Bangles and teen sensation Dream. 

To help kick off the MY TOWN contest, AOL and Kodak asked top Hollywood celebrities to share a day in their lives through digital photography. By offering his personal photographs, Wahlberg joins several other stars in celebrating the "You've Got Pictures" MY TOWN promotion. Autographed versions of these photographs will be available for purchase through a special auction event on eBay beginning today, with all proceeds benefiting Wahlberg's chosen charity, the Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation.