By Kirsten Acuna

A big Hollywood blockbuster often requires a lot of cash.

While it doesn't always take a big production budget to make a break-out hit, the most successful movies are often the costliest.

We turned to IMDB and Box Office Mojo to gather the priciest films ever made, and consulted the consumer price index to adjust for inflation.?

We've also included the original reported and estimated budgets for comparison. A few franchises make the list twice.

While none of this year's movies are among the most expensive, many of the most successful films ever made cost more than $200 million.

20. "The Amazing Spider-Man" (2012): $236.7 million


Original estimated budget: $230 million
Worldwide gross: $752.2 million
Worldwide adjusted gross: $779.9 million

19. "Wild Wild West" (1999): $241.1 million


Original estimated budget: $170 million
Worldwide gross: $222.1 million
Worldwide adjusted gross: $315 million

18. "Superman Returns" (2006): $244.9 million


Original estimated budget: $209 million
Worldwide gross: $391 million
Worldwide adjusted gross: $458.3 million

17. "X-Men: The Last Stand" (2006): $246.1 million


Original estimated budget: $210 million
Worldwide gross: $459.4 million
Worldwide adjusted gross: $538.3 million

16. "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" (2008): $246.9 million


Original estimated budget: $225 million
Worldwide gross: $419.7 million
Worldwide adjusted gross: $460.5 million

15. "Spider-Man 2" (2004): $250.1 million


Original estimated budget: $200 million
Worldwide gross: $783.8 million
Worldwide adjusted gross: $980.3 million

14. "King Kong" (2005): $250.4 million


Original estimated budget: $207 million
Worldwide gross: $550.5 million
Worldwide adjusted gross: $665.9 million

13. "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines" (2003): $256.8 million


Original estimated budget: $200 million
Worldwide gross: $433.4 million
Worldwide adjusted gross: $556.5 million

11. "John Carter" (2012): $257.2 million


Original estimated budget: $250 million
Worldwide gross: $284.1 million
Worldwide adjusted gross: $292.4 million

11. "The Dark Knight Rises" (2012): $257.2 million


Original estimated budget: $250 million
Worldwide gross: $1.08 billion
Worldwide adjusted gross: $1.1 billion

10. "The Hobbit" (2012): $257.2 million


Original estimated budget: $250 million
Worldwide gross: $1.02 billion
Worldwide adjusted gross: $1.05 billion

9. "Avatar" (2009): $261 million


Original estimated budget: $237 million
Worldwide gross: $2.8 billion
Worldwide adjusted gross: $3.1 billion

8. "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" (2006): $263.7 million


Original estimated budget: $225 million
Worldwide gross: $1 billion
Worldwide adjusted gross: $1.2 billion

7. "Waterworld" (1995): $271.3 million


Original estimated budget: $175 million
Worldwide gross: $264.2 million
Worldwide adjusted gross: $409.6 million

6. "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" (2009): $275.3 million


Original estimated budget:? $250 million
Worldwide gross: $934.4 million
Worldwide adjusted gross: $1 billion

5. "Tangled" (2010): $281.7 million


Original estimated budget: $260 million
Worldwide gross: $590.7 million
Worldwide adjusted gross: $641.1 million

The film usually raises eyebrows as one of the most costly films to make since it's an animated film. The high cost for "Tangled" was due in part to the complex blend of traditional hand-drawn animation from older films ("Beauty and the Beast," "The Lion King") with CGI to give the film the distinct feeling of one of the classics in the 21st century.

4. "Spider-Man 3" (2007): $293.9 million


Original estimated budget: $258 million
Worldwide gross: $890.9 million
Worldwide adjusted gross: $1 billion

3. "Titanic" (1997): $294.3 million


Original estimated budget: $200 million
Worldwide gross: $2.2 billion
Worldwide adjusted gross: $3.2 billion*

*Includes tickets for 2012 "Titanic 3-D" re-release.

2. "Cleopatra" (1963): $339.5 million


Original estimated budget: $44 million
Gross in 1963: $57.8 million
Worldwide adjusted gross: $445.8 million

1. "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" (2007): $341.8 million


Original estimated budget: $300 million
Worldwide gross: $963.4 million
Worldwide adjusted gross: $1.1 billion

(All budget estimates have been adjusted for inflation.)

Click here for the full list.

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By Sandy Cohen, The Associated Press - The Canadian Press


LOS ANGELES, Calif. - In a summertime battle of sequels, a pair of kooky cops beat out flying dragons for the top spot at the box office.

The R-rated comedy "22 Jump Street" debuted in first place with $60 million, followed by "How to Train Your Dragon 2" which opened with $50 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.

"To have two movies that opened to 50-plus, that's really good," said Chris Aronson, head of distribution for Fox, which boasts three films in the top 10. "To have a PG-rated, animated film open against a hard R comedy, you gotta love that."

It's rare for two films to open with such big numbers on the same weekend, said Paul Dergarabedian, senior analyst for box-office tracker Rentrak. Dergarabedian notes it has happened three times before: last year when "Monsters University" opened against "World War Z"; in 2012 when "Madagascar 3" opened against "Prometheus"; and in 2008 when "WALL-E" opened against "Wanted."

The original versions of "Dragon" and "Jump Street" were springtime releases, and their strong performances then led studios to offer sequels during the hot movie-going months of summer.

"When a studio has ultimate confidence in something, they will put it in that gladiator arena that is the summer season," Dergarabedian said. "A sequel in the summer is like graduating."

Sony's "Jump Street" stars Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill as bumbling undercover officers who pose as college students to bust a campus drug dealer. Hill also lends a voice to the animated "Dragon," the Fox feature that follows Hiccup and his winged dragon Toothless on an adventure where they discover hundreds of wild dragons and a mysterious dragon master.

Disney's "Maleficent" claimed third place in its third week of release. Warner Bros.' Tom Cruise action romp "Edge of Tomorrow" took the fourth spot, followed by last week's top film, Fox's teen tear-jerker "The Fault in Our Stars."

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theatres, according to Rentrak. Final domestic figures will be released on Monday.

1. "22 Jump Street," $60 million.

2. "How to Train Your Dragon 2," $50 million.

3. "Maleficent," $19 million.

4. "Edge of Tomorrow," $16.2 million.

5. "The Fault in Our Stars," $15.7 million.

6. "X-Men: Days of Future Past," $9.5 million.

7. "Godzilla," $3.2 million.

8. "A Million Ways to Die in the West," $3.1 million.

9. "Neighbours," $2.5 million.

10. "Chef," $2.3 million.

Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by 21st Century Fox; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

Follow AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen at www.twitter.com/APSandy .

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By Brent Lang

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Julie Taymor has reached a settlement in her ongoing lawsuit against the producers of the Broadway musical "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark," the parties said Wednesday.

They did not release details of the settlement, but said that the agreement resolves all of the director's pending litigation.

"I'm pleased to have reached an agreement and hope for the continued success of Spider-Man, both on Broadway and beyond," Taymor said in a statement.

The lawsuit was technically settled for an undisclosed amount last August, but according to a report in the Hollywood Reporter, the parties had a hard time hammering out a final agreement. A trial had been scheduled for May.

Taymor, who is best known for her Broadway adaptation of "The Lion King" and iconoclastic Shakespearean film adaptations such as "The Tempest" (2011), was fired from the show over creative differences.

Getting "Spider-Man" to the stage was an ordeal, and the production inspired intense media coverage after it was beset by cost overruns and injuries to several cast members.

The budget eventually ballooned to a reported $75 million, making it one of the most expensive productions in Broadway history, although box office returns have been strong. Last week, "Spider-Man" grossed more than $1.4 million, a figure eclipsed only by mega-hits like "The Book of Mormon" and "The Lion King."

She had been seeking $1 million in back pay and royalties, arguing that her contributions to the show were not being acknowledged. She also alleged that her collaborators - a group that includes U2's Bono and the Edge - had undermined her by developing a rival script while she was ironing out production difficulties during the play's preview run.

In a statement, co-producers Michael Cohl and Jeremiah Harris of 8 Legged Productions said the resolution will allow them to concentrate on rolling out the show to other theaters and foreign markets.

"We're happy to put all this behind us," the pair said. "We are now looking forward to spreading 'Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark' in new and exciting ways around the world."

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LOS ANGELES (AP) The horror remake "Evil Dead" has opened as the top draw at theaters with a first weekend of $25.8 million.

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Hollywood.com are:

1. "Evil Dead," Sony, $25,775,847, 3,025 locations, $8,521 average, $25,775,847, one week.

2. "G.I. Joe: Retaliation," Paramount, $20,875,389, 3,734 locations, $5,591 average, $86,438,449, two weeks.

3. "The Croods," Fox, $20,651,694, 3,879 locations, $5,324 average, $125,351,896, three weeks.

4. "Jurassic Park," Universal, $18,620,145, 2,771 locations, $6,720 average, $18,620,145, one week.

5. "Olympus Has Fallen," FilmDistrict, $10,163,132, 3,059 locations, $3,322 average, $71,236,633, three weeks.

6. "Tyler Perry's Temptation," Lionsgate, $10,085,805, 2,047 locations, $4,927 average, $38,469,146, two weeks.

7. "Oz the Great and Powerful," Disney, $8,010,234, 2,905 locations, $2,757 average, $212,606,952, five weeks.

8. "The Host," Open Road Films, $5,198,615, 3,202 locations, $1,624 average, $19,624,328, two weeks.

9. "The Call," Sony, $3,500,248, 2,002 locations, $1,748 average, $45,481,341, four weeks.

10. "Admission," Focus, $1,946,048, 1,407 locations, $1,383 average, $15,265,596, three weeks.

11. "Spring Breakers," A24, $1,172,022, 1,072 locations, $1,093 average, $12,616,764, four weeks.

12. "Identity Thief," Universal, $796,705, 721 locations, $1,105 average, $131,232,335, nine weeks.

13. "The Place Beyond the Pines," Focus, $703,379, 30 locations, $23,446 average, $1,089,409, two weeks.

14. "Silver Linings Playbook," Weinstein Co., $603,470, 524 locations, $1,152 average, $129,725,117, 21 weeks.

15. "Jack the Giant Slayer," Warner Bros., $522,349, 502 locations, $1,041 average, $62,469,830, six weeks.

16. "The Incredible Burt Wonderstone," Warner Bros., $480,929, 535 locations, $899 average, $21,807,501, four weeks.

17. "Quartet," Weinstein Co., $366,786, 252 locations, $1,456 average, $17,200,546, 13 weeks.

18. "Life of Pi," Fox, $354,962, 269 locations, $1,320 average, $123,920,583, 20 weeks.

19. "The Sapphires," Weinstein Co., $292,030, 60 locations, $4,867 average, $443,982, three weeks.

20. "Safe Haven," Relativity Media, $273,674, 360 locations, $760 average, $70,327,952, eight weeks.

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Online:

http://www.hollywood.com

___

Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

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LOS ANGELES (AP) Resurrected demons and resurrected dinosaurs are helping to put some life back into the weekend box office.

The demonic horror remake "Evil Dead" debuted at No. 1 with $26 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

In a tight fight for second-place were two holdovers, the animated comedy "The Croods" and the action flick "G.I. Joe: Retaliation," both with an estimated $21.1 million. Final numbers Monday will sort out which movie comes out ahead.

Steven Spielberg's 3-D debut of his dinosaur blockbuster "Jurassic Park" came in fourth with $18.2 million. That's on top of the $357.1 million domestic haul for "Jurassic Park" in its initial run in 1993.

Released by Sony's TriStar Pictures, "Evil Dead" added $4.5 million in 21 overseas markets, giving it a worldwide start of $30.5 million. Shot on a modest budget of $17 million, the movie is well on its way to turning a profit.

The remake was produced by the 1983 original's filmmakers, director Sam Raimi and producer Rob Tapert, and its star, Bruce Campbell. The new "Evil Dead" lays the gore on thickly for the story of a group of friends terrorized and possessed by demons during a trip to a cabin in the woods.

"It's one crazy ride, that movie. I have to think Sam Raimi is so proud in remaking this film that it turned out so well," said Rory Bruer, head of distribution for Sony. "It's such a visceral ride, where you're holding on to your seat or holding on to the person next to you."

Paramount's "G.I. Joe" sequel, which had been No. 1 the previous weekend, pushed its domestic total to $86.7 million. The movie also added $40.2 million overseas for an international haul of $145.2 million and a worldwide take of $232 million.

"The Croods," a DreamWorks Animation release distributed by 20th Century Fox, raised its domestic total to $125.8 million after three weekends. Overseas, the movie did an additional $34.1 million to lift its international total to $206.8 million and its worldwide receipts to $333 million.

Universal Pictures' "Jurassic Park" reissue opened in a similar range of other recent blockbuster 3-D releases such as "Titanic" ($17.3 million) and "Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace" ($22.4 million).

None of the new movies or holdovers came close to the domestic business being done a year ago by "The Hunger Games," which led over the same weekend in 2012 with $33.1 million in its third weekend. But collectively, Hollywood had a winning lineup of movies that gave revenues a lift from last year.

Domestic receipts totaled $134 million, up 8.5 percent from the first weekend of April a year ago, according to box-office tracker Hollywood.com. That uptick comes after three-straight weekends of declining revenue and a quiet first quarter in which domestic business has totaled $2.47 billion, down 11.4 percent from the same point in 2012.

Hollywood set a record with $10.8 billion domestically last year, and 2013's releases so far have been unable to match up. Studios are counting on a strong start to the summer season as "Iron Man 3" arrives the first weekend in May and such sequels as "Star Trek: Into Darkness," ''The Hangover Part III" and "Fast & Furious 6" quickly follow.

"When you have a record box-office year like we did in 2012, every weekend in 2013 is becoming a challenge to best or even equal what we did the year before," said Hollywood.com analyst Paul Dergarabedian. "The summer movie season can't come a moment too soon. We definitely need it."

In limited release this weekend, director and star Robert Redford's "The Company You Keep" started well with $146,058 in five theaters for a healthy $29,212 average. That compares to an $8,595 average in 3,025 cinemas for "Evil Dead."

"The Company You Keep" also features Susan Sarandon and Shia LaBeouf in the story of a 1970s fugitive on the run for three decades for a robbery that left a security guard dead.

"Slumdog Millionaire" director Danny Boyle's "Trance" opened with $136,103 in four theaters for a $34,026 average. The twisting thriller features James McAvoy as an amnesiac art thief whose accomplices enlist a hypnotist (Rosario Dawson) to crack his memory.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

1. "Evil Dead," $26 million ($4.5 million international).

2 (tie). "The Croods," $21.1 million ($34.1 million international).

2 (tie). "G.I. Joe: Retaliation," $21.1 million ($40.2 million international).

4. "Jurassic Park" in 3-D," $18.2 million ($3 million international).

5. "Olympus Has Fallen," $10.04 million.

6. "Tyler Perry's Temptation," $10 million.

7. "Oz the Great and Powerful," $8.2 million ($13.6 million international).

8. "The Host," $5.2 million ($3.5 million international).

9. "The Call," $3.5 million.

10. "Admission," $2.1 million.

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Estimated weekend ticket sales at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada) for films distributed overseas by Hollywood studios, according to Rentrak:

1. "G.I. Joe: Retaliation," $40.2 million.

2. "The Croods," $34.1 million.

3. "Oz the Great and Powerful," $13.6 million.

4. "Jack the Giant Slayer," $10.9 million.

5. "Identity Thief," $6.4 million.

6. "Evil Dead," $4.5 million.

7. "Dragon Ball Z: Kami to Kami," $4.4 million.

8. "Running Man," $3.7 million.

9. "The Host," $3.5 million.

10. "Wreck-It Ralph," $3.4 million.

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Online:

http://www.hollywood.com

http://www.rentrak.com

___

Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

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BEIJING (AP) Hollywood actor Robert Downey Jr. has traveled to Beijing to promote "Iron Man 3," which was filmed partly in China and features well-known Chinese actors.

At a news conference Saturday, Downey who reprises the role of Tony Stark in the upcoming movie said he's fascinated with Chinese culture and loves Chinese movies, while urging the local audience to see the superhero film.

"Iron Man 3" was financed in part by the Chinese company DMG, which has created for the movie the role of Dr. Wu, played by the Chinese actor Wang Xueqi.

DMG chairman Xiao Wenge said introducing Chinese culture to the world is a core mission of his company. China also is a major overseas market for Hollywood movies.

"Iron Man 3" opens internationally later this month.

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LOS ANGELES (AP) Ellen DeGeneres is going fishing again with a sequel to the animated blockbuster "Finding Nemo."

Disney and its Pixar Animation unit announced Tuesday that DeGeneres will reprise her "Nemo" voice role for "Finding Dory." The sequel is due out Nov. 25, 2015, and will be directed by Andrew Stanton, who also made "Finding Nemo."

"I have waited for this day for a long, long, long, long, long, long time," DeGeneres said. "I'm not mad it took this long. I know the people at Pixar were busy creating 'Toy Story 16.' But the time they took was worth it. The script is fantastic. And it has everything I loved about the first one: It's got a lot of heart, it's really funny, and the best part is it's got a lot more Dory."

The new film picks up about a year after the action of "Finding Nemo," with DeGeneres' forgetful fish Dory on her own adventure to reunite with loved ones.

According to Disney, the film will feature new characters along with familiar ones, including Nemo and his dad, Marlin, who was voiced by Albert Brooks. There's no word yet from Disney on whether Brooks will reprise his voice role.

"Finding Nemo" was released in 2003 and took in $921 million worldwide. The movie was the first Pixar production to win the Academy Award for best animated feature after the category was added in 2001. Pixar films have gone on to dominate, winning the Oscar seven years out of 12.

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LOS ANGELES (AP) After a nine-month delay, "G.I. Joe: Retaliation" deployed to the top spot at the box office.

The action film starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Bruce Willis and Channing Tatum as the gun-toting military toys brought to life marched into the No. 1 position at the weekend box office, earning $41.2 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. "Retaliation" opened Wednesday at midnight, which helped bring its domestic total to $51.7 million.

Paramount postponed the sequel to 2009's "G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra" last May from its original June opening date to convert the film to 3-D. The last-minute switcheroo came just weeks after "Battleship," another movie based on a Hasbro toy, sank at the box office. At that time, Paramount already began its advertising campaign for "Retaliation."

"It certainly vindicates the decision," said Don Harris, the studio's head of distribution. "Any time you make those sorts of moves, people always assume the worst. The truth is I'd seen this movie a long time ago in 2-D, and the movie worked in 2-D. It's not trying to be 'Schindler's List.' This movie is intended to be enjoyed as a big, action spectacle."

Internationally, Harris said "Retaliation" earned $80.3 million, making it the biggest international opening of the year. The film opened in 53 markets outside of the U.S. and Canada, including Russia, South Korea and Mexico.

After debuting in the top spot last weekend, the 3-D animated prehistoric comedy "The Croods" from DreamWorks Animation and 20th Century Fox slipped to the No. 2 spot with $26.5 million in its second weekend. The film features the voices of Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone and Catherine Keener as a cave family on the hunt for a new home.

Among the other new films this weekend, "Tyler Perry's Temptation" starring Jurnee Smollett-Bell and Lance Gross opened above expectations at No. 3 with $22.3 million, while the sci-fi adaptation "The Host" featuring Saoirse Ronan, Max Irons, and Jake Abel as characters from the Stephenie Meyer novel landed at No. 6 in its debut weekend with a modest $11 million.

Overall, the weekend box office was on par with last year when "The Hunger Games" continued to dominate in its second weekend of release with $58.5 million. After a slow start, Hollywood's year-to-date revenues are still 12 percent behind last year, heading into next month when summer movie season unofficially kicks off with "Iron Man 3" on May 3.

"It's getting us back on track after many weekends of down trending box office," said Paul Dergarabedian, box office analyst for Hollywood.com. "Last weekend was a turning point with the strength of 'The Croods' and 'Olympus Has Fallen' doing better than expected. We're heading toward the summer movie season on solid footing. It's been a tough year so far."

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

1. "G.I. Joe: Retaliation," $41.2 million ($80.3 million international).

2. "The Croods," $26.5 million ($52.5 million international).

3. "Tyler Perry's Temptation," $22.3 million.

4. "Olympus Has Fallen," $14 million.

5. "Oz the Great and Powerful," $11.6 million ($22.2 million international).

6. "The Host," $11 million ($6 million international).

7. "The Call," $4.8 million.

8. "Admission," $3.2 million.

9. "Spring Breakers," $2.7 million.

10. "The Incredible Burt Wonderstone," $1.3 million.

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Estimated weekend ticket sales at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada) for films distributed overseas by Hollywood studios, according to Rentrak:

1. "G.I. Joe: Retaliation," $80.3 million.

2. "The Croods," $52.5 million.

3. "Jack the Giant Slayer," $25.2 million.

4. "Oz the Great and Powerful," $22.2 million.

5. "Dragon Ball Z: Kami to Kami," $7 million.

6. "The Host," $6 million.

7. "Identity Thief," $5.5 million.

8. "Wreck-It Ralph," $4 million.

9. "A Good Day to Die Hard," $3.6 million.

10. "Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters," $3.3 million.

___

Online:

http://www.hollywood.com

http://www.rentrak.com

___

Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

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Follow AP Entertainment Writer Derrik J. Lang on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/derrikjlang.

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NEW YORK (AP) From a bank of chairs in an NBC Universal control room, technician Antonella Caruso counted down as if she were anticipating a rocket booster's liftoff: "Nine, eight, seven, six ..."

It was a dress rehearsal for USA's plan to let viewers of "Psych" choose the ending of Wednesday's episode, celebrating the drama's 100th episode and culminating the network's two-year experiment at an exclusively fan-centered approach at marketing.

In the episode, Shawn (actor James Roday) and Gus (Dule Hill) try to solve a murder at a party hosted by an old rock star in a California mansion. There are five suspects: the groupie, the manager, the author, the host and, of course, the butler. During the show, the suspects are narrowed down to three and viewers are asked to vote on social media who they thought committed the crime. Three endings were filmed, each lasting three minutes, and the top vote-getter will be used.

The episode salutes the 1985 film "Clue" and features that film's actors Christopher Lloyd, Lesley Ann Warren and Martin Mull, along with guest shots from Garrett Morris and Curt Smith of Tears For Fears.

Depending on where you live, you could see a different ending. USA is conducting separate votes for the East and West coast airings of the show. (Viewers in other time zones will see the Eastern version at 10 p.m. Eastern.) They estimate tabulating 190,000 to 250,000 votes.

Viewer-selected endings aren't necessarily unique (CBS' "Hawaii Five-0" did one this year), but here fans will be updated a handful of times during the show on how the vote is going. That's where Caruso's practice came in; she was counting down to an insert of a vote tally.

"Psych" is in its seventh season, a point at which most shows are considered "mature" and are losing viewers, but it does have a relatively young, devoted audience and is USA's third most-popular original show behind "Burn Notice" and "Suits." Instead of running general advertisements encouraging viewership when its sixth season started last year, USA sought to engage fans through social media and activities, said Alexandra Shapiro, USA's executive vice president of marketing and digital.

"It's great to be loved," Shapiro said. "But you have to love back."

USA set up online games for "Psych" fans to play, with real and virtual prizes. Particularly high-scoring fans even become part of the game. There was a fan appreciation day, with some invited to meet the cast. USA encouraged social media interaction with stars and others involved with the show. A "slumber party" of viewer-chosen shows that aired from midnight to 6 a.m. on a Saturday in February resulted in some 157,000 mentions on Twitter.

One goal is to make live viewing of new episodes an event, Shapiro said. DVR viewing is fine, but networks still reliably make more money when there is a strong audience for original airings.

So far, so good. The February debut of the seventh season saw stronger ratings than the sixth season opener in 2012, with a 22 percent increase in the desirable young audience of viewers aged 18-to-34, the Nielsen company said.

"Our job is so much harder than it was 10 years ago or even five years ago," Shapiro said. "We used to be content messengers. Now you have to be content creators. You as a marketer have to create compelling content that a fan is going to engage with."

It's not necessarily an approach that works with every show, she said. But it could be a template for some with similar audiences.

For this week, the chief concern is compiling the fans' votes, and making sure technicians in New Jersey charged with making sure the correct ending of Wednesday's episode is inserted.

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EDITOR'S NOTE David Bauder can be reached at dbauder(at)ap.org or on Twitter (at)dbauder.

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By John Gaudiosi

(Reuters) - Film director James Cameron is donating the Deepsea Challenger craft he used to make a record-setting solo dive a year ago to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to speed research into the deepest parts of the world's oceans.

Cameron, who is focused now on pre-production for the sequels to his blockbuster movie "Avatar," said he hoped the donation to the non-profit research facility in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, would bring the technology he developed for the undersea craft into the mainstream.

In a telephone interview marking the one-year anniversary of his nearly 7-mile-deep (11.2-km-deep) dive in the western Pacific, the Oscar-winning director said that scientists had identified more than 60 new species, including bacteria, from material he brought back.

Cameron expects to release a long-awaited 3D movie of the dive in movie theaters in the fall of 2013.

Cameron also directed the 1997 movie "Titanic" as well as undertaking and filming several underwater expeditions exploring the wreck of the ship in the North Atlantic.

Q: What impact do you hope the Deepsea Challenger's transfer to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) will have on continued research?

A: It drives public attention to the need for new technology and funding for deep ocean work, which WHOI is the leader of in this country. It will have a very specific and immediate effect of new vehicles and new vehicle platforms, our cameras, our communications, our syntactic foam and battery systems, they'll incorporate into their future stuff. The way we solved problems is so outside the box, they're eager to bring that into their projects.

I could leave the sub in my barn, but that's not going to do anybody any good while I'm off making "Avatar" films for the next few years. I want this technology to be out there and dynamic and adaptive.

Q: What are some of the new species and findings that have come from this dive?

A: I met with Doug Bartlett out of the Scripps Institute of Oceanography (who was the chief scientist on the dive expedition) and he said there are at least 68 new species coming out of this, and that includes a number of arthropods and invertebrate animals and a lot of new bacteria.

Q: What will audiences experience when your 3D movie of this dive is released.

A: "The Deepsea Challenge" is coming out this fall. You go on the journey. It's about the team of these young guys and how they tackled the problems and overcame a lot of hurdles and set-backs. They got to see some pretty amazing stuff and got to bring back the footage in 3D. You'll feel like you've been through the whole thing, including actually diving inside the sub. I was jammed into this 42-inch (106 centimeter) sphere with all this equipment and a 3D camera with me at all time.

Q: How has filming underwater in 3D with this dive and past Titanic dives helped you as a Hollywood director?

A: There's always been a good synergy between the technology that's been developed for these expeditions and the technology that's used for the films. "Avatar" was shot with a second generation of the 3D cameras that were built for my 2001 Titanic expedition. We're constantly building and improving the technology. Some of the things that went into building the Deepsea Challenger cameras, which had to be so tiny, will probably be used in action cameras in the next "Avatar" films.

The odds are other filmmakers will use this technology before me because my company, Cameron Pace Group, supplies cameras to most of the big movies that are shooting in 3D. We develop something new, I use it on an expedition, and while I go off and write and design and fool around in pre-production, five other movies have gone out and used the cameras in the meantime. That was the case even when I had made "Avatar," a number of other films had already used those cameras.

(Reporting By John Gaudiosi in North Carolina, editing by Jill Serjeant and Cynthia Osterman)

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NEW YORK (AP) In these 500 years since Leonardo da Vinci, he has upstaged every genius multi-tasker in his wake. (OK, not you, Benjamin Franklin and James Franco.)

Da Vinci was a whiz as a painter (hint: "Mona Lisa" and "The Last Supper"), a scientist and engineer, and a futurist dead-set on fighting the gravitational pull of his own times.

He was an intellect, free thinker, vegetarian and a humanist who supported himself designing weapons of war.

He was tall, handsome and a hit with the ladies. He was great with a sword and, being ambidextrous, which hand didn't matter.

"The phrase 'Renaissance Man' was derived from him," says David S. Goyer, who has spent a lot of time studying and pondering him, and has created "Da Vinci's Demons," a sci-fi thriller set in the 1400s.

Another cool thing about da Vinci: He was a man of intrigue, ensconced in secret societies, his paternity unresolved (he was born out of wedlock), perhaps divinely inspired as he clashed with the Roman Catholic Church a man who seemed to defy the confinements of any simple narrative.

"There's a tantalizing five-year gap, stretching from when he was 27 to 32, where there's almost no record of where he was or what he was doing," says Goyer. "A gap like that is gold when you're the creator of this show."

"Da Vinci's Demons," which premieres on the Starz network on April 12, is a "historical fantasy," says Goyer, who should be up to the challenge.

Born and raised in Ann Arbor, Mich., he remembers spending half each Saturday in a comic book shop, the other half at the city's library.

Now 47, he is wiry and balding and bears a striking resemblance to the actor Stanley Tucci, whom he says he's never met but is often mistaken for.

His credits include the short-lived but ambitious sci-fi thriller "FlashForward," which prematurely fell prey to meddling by its network, ABC. He was script consultant and story developer for the video game "Call of Duty: Black Ops" and its sequel. He co-wrote the 2005 film "Batman Begins" and its two sequels, and wrote the screenplay for the upcoming Zack Snyder-directed "Man of Steel."

In Goyer's view, da Vinci was the prototype of a superhero: "I picture him as one-third Indiana Jones, one-third Sherlock Holmes, one-third Tony Stark (Iron Man) and he kind of was."

To play this extraordinary chap, Goyer chose English-born actor Tom Riley. The 31-year-old starred in the British TV medical drama "Monroe," and in 2011 performed on Broadway in the revival of Tom Stoppard's "Arcadia" alongside Billy Crudup and Raul Esparza.

Riley's da Vinci is sexy, mercurial and irrepressible. He savors life in his native Florence: "Chaos and culture are celebrated within these walls," he says lustily. "Florence only demands one thing of its people to be truly awake!"

But da Vinci suffers from being too awake. He is too driven, too full of ideas, too haunted by doubts about his life's intended mission. He is no stranger to opium, which he uses, he explains, because "I think too much. I need to dull my thoughts or I will be eviscerated by them."

At times he overreaches, stumbles and falls (though ever so dashingly). And he has an eye for a pretty face, including at high risk comely Lucrezia Donati (Laura Haddock), the mistress of Lorenzo di Medici (Elliot Cowan), da Vinci's benefactor and one of the city's most powerful figures.

He has an answer for everything, including an accuser who brands him "arrogant."

"Arrogance implies that I exaggerate my own worth," da Vinci fires back. "I don't."

Goyer says he hit upon doing a show about da Vinci only by chance. He had never done anything historical before, and when asked by Starz to create a drama focused on some towering figure from the past, he first demurred.

"I said, 'I'm not no offense interested in doing a kind of dry, BBC historical drama.' And they said, 'No, no, no. We don't want THAT!'"

A number of possible candidates were considered for what was now envisioned as a "reinvention-of-history show." There was Cleopatra and Genghis Kahn, "and also on that short list, da Vinci came up," recalls Goyer. "Then I realized, no one's ever done a show about da Vinci! That's crazy! People say he's the most recognized figure in history other than Jesus Christ!"

To prepare for the series, Goyer says he read dozens of biographies, da Vinci's journal pages and many of his letters.

He has written or co-written all eight episodes of season one (with work well under way on a second season's scripts), and directed the first two episodes of the show, which shoots in Wales.

Recapturing 15th-century Florence, not to mention the highfalutin exploits of da Vinci, demands impressive visual effects, and Goyer set the bar high: "My goal was to be at least on par with the production values of 'Game of Thrones,'" he says.

But even as it recaptures the past, the show, like da Vinci, is forward-looking.

"The central conflict is about who controls information," Goyer says. "On the one hand, you've got the Vatican Secret Archives. The Church wants to control the information. On the other hand, shortly before our show starts, Gutenberg invented the printing press.

"This is a modern-day touchstone that viewers can identify with. If da Vinci were alive today, his slogan would be, 'Information wants to be free.'"

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Online:

http://www.starz.com/originals/davincisdemons

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Frazier Moore is a national television columnist for The Associated Press. He can be reached at fmoore(at)ap.org and at http://www.twitter.com/tvfrazier

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NEW YORK (AP) The seemingly unstoppable hit "The Book of Mormon" has broken another record this time on the other side of the Atlantic.

The quirky, profane musical opened Thursday night to some critical bashing, but the next day earned the highest one-day gross in London theater history.

Between 10 a.m. and midnight Friday, 2,107,972 million pounds ($3.2 million) worth of tickets were sold at the box office, according to final figures. By comparison, the Broadway version only earned $1.5 million the day after it opened to rapturous reviews.

"London can be tough," Scott Rudin, an influential theater and film producer who has steered "The Book of Mormon," said by phone Friday night after flying back from England. "American musicals tend to get knocked in the teeth in London, by and large. It's a tougher place."

The show is now booked at the Prince of Wales Theatre until January, but Rudin predicts it may be in London for a long time to come.

The $3.2 million windfall is technically higher than the current West End and Broadway one-day record of $3.1 million that poured in the day after "The Producers" opened on Broadway in 2001, but that haul hasn't been adjusted for inflation.

"The Book of Mormon" by "South Park" creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone and "Avenue Q" composer Robert Lopez tells the story of two Mormon missionaries sent to spread the word in Uganda.

In New York, "The Book of Mormon" won nine Tony Awards in 2011, including best musical. The show also won a Grammy Award and recouped its $11.4 million capitalization after just nine months. It remains the toughest ticket to get on Broadway.

A production has opened in Chicago it set a house record for the Bank of America Theatre and has been extended three times until September and a national tour kicked off in August in Denver, where it has broken box office records as it crosses the country.

The tour is currently in Detroit where it already has broken the Fisher Theatre's house record for a standard eight-performance week through the weekend, and then goes to Pittsburgh, Boston, Toronto, Cleveland and Washington, D.C.

In London, most critics praised the production's skill and the English cast's energy, though some were left uncharmed, including the Daily Mail critic, who "tired of it after 10 minutes." The Guardian called it "mildly amusing."

Rudin said despite some grousing by London critics, the crowds have been enthusiastic, particularly the English fans of "South Park." Pent-up demand for the show has been roiling since the New York opening. And, unlike in New York, London audiences knew what to expect.

Though Rudin admits he was anxious in the days leading to the London opening, he recognized that the show's humor jokes about African dictatorships, AIDS and poverty would translate.

"The story and humor of 'The Book of Mormon' is deeply influenced by Monty Python's Flying Circus," he said. "I knew that would work over there."

The West End has just enjoyed its ninth successive year of record box office returns and attendance went up slightly in 2012 to 13.9 million. This season, in addition to "The Book of Mormon," the West End is hosting the musicals "Once" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Family" and plays with Helen Mirren and by John Logan.

Rudin, who has also produced the films "No Country for Old Men" and "The Social Network," has been busy on Broadway this season, putting on the Scarlett Johansson-led "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" revival and the upcoming "The Testament of Mary."

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Online:

http://bookofmormonthemusical.com

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Follow Mark Kennedy on Twitter at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits

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NEW YORK (AP) "Oz the Great and Powerful" continued to live up to its name, leading the weekend box office for the second week with $46.6 million.

The Halle Berry thriller "The Call" opened well above expectations, taking in $17.1 million in its debut.

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Hollywood.com are:

1. "Oz the Great and Powerful," Walt Disney, $41,252,702, 3912 locations, $10,545 average, $144,056,326, two weeks.

2. "The Call," Sony, $17,118,745, 2507 locations, $6,828 average, $17,118,745, one week.

3. "The Incredible Burt Wonderstone," Warner Bros. $10,177,257, 3160 locations, $3,221 average, $10,177,257, one week.

4. "Jack the Giant Slayer," Warner Bros., $6,314,262, 3357 locations, $1,881 average, three weeks.

5. "Identity Thief," Universal, $4,419,310, 2842 locations, $1,555 average, $123,606,175, six weeks.

6. "Snitch," Lionsgate, $3,504,618, 2353 locations, $1,489 average, $37,261,895, four weeks.

7. "21 and Over," Relativity Media, $2,669,967, 2424 locations,$1,101 average, $21,918,740, three weeks.

8. "Silver Linings Playbook," Weinstein Co., $2,525,603, 1602 locations, $1,577 average, $124,551,782, 18 weeks.

9. "Safe Haven," Relativity Media, $2,453,229, 2206 locations, $1,112, $66,911,039, five weeks.

10. "Escape From Planet Earth," Weinstein Co., $2,339,419, 2211 locations, $1,058 average, $52,178,000, five weeks.

11. "Dead Man Down," FilmDistrict, $2,126,029, 2,188 locations, $972 average, $9,373,369, two weeks.

12. "The Last Exorcism, Part II," CBS Films, $1,276,070, 1575 locations, $810 average, $14,381,174, three weeks.

13. "Life of Pi," Fox, $1,224,692, 646 locations, $1,896 average, $121,344,826, 17 weeks.

14. "A Good Day to Die Hard," Fox, $1,157,499, 1117 locations, $1,036 average, $65,471,646, five weeks.

15. "Quartet," Weinstein Co., $936,699, 688 locations, $1,361 average, $14,833,591, 10 weeks.

16. "Emperor," Roadside Attractions, $625,518, 311 locations, $2,011 average, $2,028,581, two weeks.

17. "Warm Bodies," Lionsgate, $569,290, 659 locations, $864 average, $64,580,200, seven weeks.

18. "Dark Skies," Weinstein Co., $544,605, 703 locations, $775 average, $16,647,116, four weeks.

19. "Side Effects," Open Road Films, $543,568, 402 locations, $1,352 average, $30,482,781, six weeks.

20. "Argo," Warner Bros., $509,207, 540 locations, $943 average, $135,178,251, 23 weeks.

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Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

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NEW YORK (AP) "Oz the Great and Powerful" is living up to its name at the box office.

Walt Disney's 3-D blockbuster has led all films for the second week in a row, taking in $42.2 million according to studio estimates Sunday. Sam Raimi's prequel to the L. Frank Baum classic "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" also took in $46.6 million overseas, leading to a two-week worldwide total of $281.8 million.

That makes "Oz" easily the biggest hit of 2013 so far.

Among the weekend's debuts, the Halle Berry thriller "The Call" far exceeded expectations with a $17.1 million opening for Sony. The Steve Carell magician comedy "The Incredible Burt Wonderstone" fared worse, opening with $10.3 million for Warner Bros.

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LOS ANGELES (AP) "Veronica Mars" fans just bought themselves a big-screen version of the cult favorite TV series.

A crowd-sourcing campaign on the Kickstarter website to raise $2 million for the project hit its goal in less than a day.

"Veronica Mars," which starred Kristen Bell as a young sleuth, ended its three-season run in 2007. With Bell's help, series creator Rob Thomas started the effort Wednesday to make a big-screen version.

More than 33,000 contributors had pledged $2.1 million as of Wednesday evening, and the total was still growing.

In his online pitch, Thomas promised, "The more money we raise, the cooler movie we can make."

The movie is the fastest project yet to reach $1 million on Kickstarter, hitting the mark in 4 hours, 24 minutes. It's also the most-funded film or video project to date, according to a spokesman for the site. Previous top movie fundraisers are the planned "The Goon" ($442,000) and "Charlie Kaufman's Anomalisa" ($406,000), both animated.

Thomas said "Veronica Mars" owner Warner Bros. has given the project its blessing, and Bell and other cast members are ready to begin production this summer for a 2014 release. A studio spokesman said a limited release, meaning it may not be on thousands of screens or in every city, is likely at this point.

The fundraising campaign, which was confirmed by Thomas' representative at United Talent Agency, ends April 12.

"You have banded together like the sassy little honey badgers you are and made this possibility happen," Bell said in an online message, promising the "sleuthiest, snarkiest" movie possible.

Bell is back on TV in "House of Lies," the Showtime series starring Don Cheadle.

She and several "Veronica Mars" cast members appear in a lighthearted video on Kickstarter in which they mull the prospect of reuniting.

The series averaged between 2.2 million and 2.5 million viewers in its two-year run on the now-defunct UPN and final season on the CW network. Those modest numbers are overshadowed by the intense fan devotion that has kept dreams of a movie alive.

Backers are eligible for various goodies, ranging from a PDF copy of the script to be sent on the day the film is released (for a $10 pledge) to naming rights to a character (for $8,000). An appearance in the movie, available to one $10,000 contributor, was snapped up.

Crowdsourcing has given filmmakers a new way to get always-elusive funding. At last month's Academy Awards, the short documentary "Inocente" became the first Kickstarter-funded film to win an Oscar. It received $52,000 from 300 contributors.

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AP Business Writer Ryan Nakashima contributed to this report.

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Online:

http://kck.st/Z1HJRS

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LOS ANGELES (AP) "Veronica Mars" fans eager for a movie based on the TV series have a chance to put their money where their hopes are.

Series creator Rob Thomas launched an online crowd-funding campaign Wednesday to make a big-screen version of the show. "Veronica Mars," which starred Kristen Bell as a young sleuth, ended its three-season run in 2007.

On the Kickstarter website, Thomas said the $2 million fundraiser represents "our one shot to see a 'Veronica Mars' movie happen." Within hours Wednesday, more than 23,000 backers had pledged $1.5 million and counting.

It's the fastest project yet to reach $1 million on Kickstarter in 4 hours, 24 minutes and the most-funded film or video project to date, according to a spokesman for the site. Previous top movie fundraisers are the planned "The Goon" ($442,000) and "Charlie Kaufman's Anomalisa" ($406,000), both animated.

Thomas said "Veronica Mars" owner Warner Bros. has given the project its blessing, and Bell and other cast members are ready to begin production this summer for a 2014 release. A studio spokesman said a limited release, meaning it may not be on thousands of screens or in every city, is likely at this point.

The fundraising campaign, which was confirmed by Thomas' representative at United Talent Agency, ends April 12.

"You have banded together like the sassy little honey badgers you are and made this possibility happen," Bell said in an online message, promising the "sleuthiest, snarkiest" movie possible.

Bell is back on TV in "House of Lies," the Showtime series starring Don Cheadle.

She and several "Veronica Mars" cast members appear in a lighthearted video on Kickstarter in which they mull the prospect of reuniting.

The series averaged between 2.2 million and 2.5 million viewers in its two-year run on the now-defunct UPN and final season on the CW network. Those modest numbers are overshadowed by the intense fan devotion that has kept dreams of a movie alive.

Backers are eligible for various goodies, ranging from a PDF copy of the script to be sent on the day the film is released (for a $10 pledge) to naming rights to a character (for $8,000). An appearance in the movie, available to one $10,000 contributor, was snapped up.

Crowdsourcing has given filmmakers a new way to get always-elusive funding. At last month's Academy Awards, the short documentary "Inocente" became the first Kickstarter-funded film to win an Oscar. It received $52,000 from 300 contributors.

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AP Business Writer Ryan Nakashima contributed to this report.

___

Online:

http://kck.st/Z1HJRS

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LOS ANGELES (AP) "Oz the Great and the Powerful" clicked with moviegoers.

Disney's 3-D prequel to the classic L. Frank Baum tale "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" debuted in first place and earned $80.3 million at the weekend box office in the U.S. and Canada and $69.9 million overseas, according to studio estimates Sunday.

"Oz" tells the origin of James Franco as the wizard with Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams and Rachel Weisz as the trio of witches he encounters after crashing in the mystical realm of Oz.

The updated take on "Oz," which was directed by original "Spider-Man" trilogy mastermind Sam Raimi, was a gamble that looks like it will pay off for the Walt Disney Co. The film reportedly cost $200 million and opened a week after "Jack the Giant Slayer," another big-budget 3-D extravaganza that reimagines a classic tale, flopped in its opening weekend, debuting with $28 million at the box office.

"Oz" was also golden overseas. The film conjured up $69.9 million from 46 foreign markets, including Russia and the United Kingdom. "Oz" could follow in the footsteps of Disney's "Alice in Wonderland," another costly 3-D film, which opened on the same weekend in 2010 and went on to gross over $1 billion worldwide.

"'Oz' is the shot in the arm that the industry needed," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. "We had six consecutive weekends where the box office was down. As a result, we're at a 12-and-a-half percent deficit year-to-date on box office revenues versus last year. Not a lot of movies have worked. There have been several underperformers."

In its second weekend, "Jack" stomped out second place behind "Oz" with $10 million, dropping 62 percent since its opening weekend. It earned just $4.9 million overseas. "Jack," based on the Jack and the Beanstalk fable, was directed by Bryan Singer and stars Nicholas Hoult and Ewan McGregor.

The only other new release this weekend, the FilmDistrict revenge drama "Dead Man Down" starring Colin Farrell and Noomi Rapace, opened in fourth place with $5.3 million.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday:

1. "Oz the Great and Powerful," $80.3 million. ($69.9 million international.)

2. "Jack the Giant Slayer," $10 million. ($4.9 million international.)

3. "Identity Thief," $6.3 million.

4. "Dead Man Down," $5.3 million.

5. "Snitch," $5.1 million. ($4.7 million international.)

6. "21 & Over," $5 million.

7. "Safe Haven," $3.8 million.

8. "Silver Linings Playbook," $3.7 million. ($6 million international.)

9. "Escape from Planet Earth," $3.2 million.

10. "The Last Exorcism Part II," $3.1 million.

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Estimated weekend ticket sales at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada) for films distributed overseas by Hollywood studios, according to Rentrak:

1. "Oz the Great and Powerful," $69.9 million.

2. "Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters," $11.2 million.

3. "A Good Day to Die Hard," $9.1 million.

4. "Mama," $6.3 million.

5 (tie). "Beautiful Creatures," $5.8 million.

5 (tie). "Les Miserables," $5.8 million.

6. "Silver Linings Playbook," $6 million.

7. "Jack the Giant Slayer," $4.9 million.

8. "New World," $4.8 million.

9. "Snitch," $4.7 million.

10. "Boule et Bill," $4.1 million.

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Online:

http://www.hollywood.com

http://www.rentrak.com

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Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

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Follow AP Entertainment Writer Derrik J. Lang on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/derrikjlang.

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JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) A ball. A boat. A little girl's sandal. Filmmakers are working to find and tell the stories behind some of the items that have washed up on North American shores following the deadly 2011 tsunami in Japan.

"Lost and Found" aims to reunite items discovered by beachcombers and others who feel compelled to return them to their rightful owners, co-director John Choi said.

A trailer for the film, which is still being produced, features two men affected by the items they've found. John Anderson found a volleyball on a beach in Washington state and Marcus Eriksen, head of an expedition that sailed from Japan to Hawaii to look for tsunami debris last year, found part of a boat. Neither of the items has been linked to their original owners yet.

"It was just like, Whoa, oh man! There's one of them balls with all the writing on it," Anderson says in the clip. "I'm more interested in the story behind it. You know, I would sure like to know what happened to these people. It would be nice to know that they survived or this was at home while they were away just this got washed away."

Eriksen said when his team first saw the boat, there was initial excitement, "because we had been watching the ocean for a few weeks, just wondering what's out there. But when we approached this, it quickly went from fascination and excitement to, like, the sobering reality that this was someone's property, and we were very quickly filled with compassion about, you know, who lost this boat."

"They didn't lose it," he said in the clip. "It was taken from them by natural disaster, so I feel compelled to find that individual."

Monday marks the two-year anniversary of the disaster, which devastated a long stretch of Japan's northeastern coast and killed thousands of people. The Japanese government estimated that 1.5 million tons of debris was floating in the ocean in the immediate aftermath of the tsunami, but it's not clear how much is still floating.

Tsunami debris is tough to monitor and distinguish from the everyday debris much of it from Asia that has long been a problem along the West Coast. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said just 21 items of the more than 1,500 reports of possible tsunami debris including balls, a motorcycle and boats have been firmly traced back to the tsunami. However, the agency lists scores of other items along the West Coast and across the Pacific Ocean as potentially linked.

Choi first got the idea for the documentary about 1 years ago, after hearing a news report discussing a tsunami debris field. He started thinking about what might wash ashore, and how cool it would be if there was an effort to return found items.

He connected with co-director Nicolina Lanni. At the time, he said, nothing had washed ashore. The effort took off after they met Seattle-based oceanographer Curtis Ebbesmeyer, who shared his thoughts on what might happen and encouraged them in their effort.

The Canada-based filmmakers have been filming, on and off, for about a year. They established a network of contributors, and at times have been involved in trying to track down information on items found, like the little pink-and-purple sandal. A woman they met at a recent beachcomber fair found the shoe in Hawaii. A picture of it was posted on the film's Facebook page, asking for help translating the handwriting on it.

So far, he said, the team is looking at six stories, three of which involve items already traced to their owners.

"Our film is about 3 countries, 2 continents, separated by the great vastness of the Pacific Ocean coming together to share in the memories, mourn the losses and find great joy in the reuniting of something once thought to be lost forever but has now been found," a description of the project, on the Facebook page, says.

Additional filming is planned for North America this spring and Japan this summer. The filmmakers have been raising money, to help with costs.

Choi hopes to have the documentary released by the third anniversary of the disaster.

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Online: http://www.lostandfoundthefilm.ca/the-film-2

To watch the trailer: http://www.hotdocs.ca/docignite/project/lost_found

http://www.facebook.com/lostandfoundthefilm

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SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Filmmaker George Lucas, the creator of "Star Wars," has submitted a bid to build a "storytelling museum" in San Francisco to share his vast collection of contemporary paintings, illustrations and digital art.

Lucas has offered to construct the Lucas Cultural Arts Museum on federal land, run it and stock it with hundreds of millions of dollars worth of art by the likes of Norman Rockwell and Maxfield Parrish.

"What he finds most fascinating in these artists is their ability to capture an emotion and tell an entire story in one image," Lucas spokesman David Perry told Reuters.

Lucas' proposal was one of 16 bids to create a cultural institution in a former commissary at the San Francisco Presidio, a 1,500-acre national park within the city created after the U.S. Army left the post in 1994.

Other proposals received last week by the Presidio Trust include a New Deal museum, a color museum, a global observatory, a center for the study of cities, an environmental center, a sustainability institute, an innovation center and a center for the history of the Golden Gate Bridge.

"We all know that George Lucas is a creative genius, and we're very pleased that he's one of the contenders," said Craig Middleton, executive director of the Presidio Trust.

He said the trust would examine the proposals and solicit public comment until April, when it would whittle down the competition and hold public hearings on the top bidders.

Lucas, 68, built the Letterman Digital Arts Center as the Presidio's first permanent business. The arts center is the combined home of Industrial Light & Magic, LucasArts and Lucasfilm's marketing, online, and licensing units.

Lucas sold Lucasfilm Ltd., his film-making venture founded in 1971, to The Walt Disney Co. for $4.05 billion in 2012.

Perry estimated the value of the proposed gift at $1 billion, including the artwork and more than $300 million to construct the museum at the Presidio.

STORYTELLING

The semi-retired Lucas described his proposed museum as "a dedication to cultural fantasy" in an interview with CBS This Morning.

"Part of the museum is designed to educate younger people into the idea of storytelling, into the idea of being able to paint your fantasies, which is what Star Wars' was," he said.

" Star Wars' was there to inspire young people to imagine things, to imagine going anywhere in the universe and doing anything you want to do and using your imagination to entertain yourself."

The museum would include five galleries, ranging in size from 4,500 to 8,500 square feet, a 200-seat theater and a 75-seat lecture hall. It would feature breathtaking views of the Bay, Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge.

Lucas bought his first work of art, a page from one of Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge comic books, for $25 when he was a University of Southern California film student. Since then, he has amassed a collection of 150 years of what he calls "fantastical" art.

In a letter accompanying his proposal, Lucas described a childhood trip from his home in Modesto to the de Young Museum in San Francisco as life changing.

"I was drawn in by Norman Rockwell's ability to tell a complete story in a single image," he wrote. "It was then that I began to learn the art of visual storytelling."

Perry said Lucas has spent the last two years working on the museum proposal. "This is a gift," Perry said. "We're just hoping the people to whom we offer the gift say, thank you' and unwrap it."

(Editing by Cynthia Johnston; Editing by Todd Eastham)

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LONDON (AP) Never say never again? Sam Mendes says he won't be directing the next James Bond film but may work on the series again in the future.

Mendes has been praised for his work on "Skyfall," the first Bond film to rake in more than $1 billion in revenue.

But Mendes says he has made the "very difficult decision" to focus on other projects "that need my complete focus over the next year and beyond." They include upcoming London stage productions of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and "King Lear."

In comments published Wednesday by movie magazine Empire, Mendes said he was honored to have been part of the Bond family, "and very much hope I have a chance to work with them again."

Mendes worked in theater before turning to film. He won an Academy Award in 2000 for "American Beauty."

"Skyfall," which stars Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem and Judi Dench, won two Oscars last month, including one for Adele's theme song.

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