Filmgoers were obviously not rattled by largely negative reviews for Bone Collector, The (1999) as the Denzel Washington starrer earned an estimated $17.2 million to wind up at the top of the weekend box office. Second place was a virtual toss-up with New Line estimating that it had taken in $8 million for Bachelor, The (1999) and Warner Bros. figuring that it had earned $7.8 million for last week's top grosser, House on Haunted Hill, The (1999). Analysts for the two trade papers, Variety and the Hollywood Reporter, figured that New Line may have been a bit overly optimistic in its projection.

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations:1. Bone Collector, The (1999), $17.2 million; 2. Bachelor, The (1999), $8.0 million; 3. House on Haunted Hill, The (1999), $7.8 million; 4. Insider, The (1999/I), $7.0 million; 5. Double Jeopardy (1999), $4.5 million; 6. Best Man, The (1999/I) $4.3 million; 7. American Beauty (1999), $3.3 million; 8. Sixth Sense, The (1999), $3.2 million; 9. Music of the Heart (1999), $3.0 million; 10. Fight Club (1999), $2.5 million.

Hundreds of filmgoers leaving theaters showing Disney's Insider, The (1999/I) were met by poll takers for the Brown & Williamson Tobacco Company, which said that the results of the poll will be used to help it decide whether to sue Disney for libel, Bloomberg news reported today (Monday). The financial news service said that audience members exiting theaters were handed cards asking them to dial a toll-free number to answer "a few important questions" about the movie. (Brown & Williamson figures prominently in the film, since it was the tobacco company that industry whistleblower Jeffrey Wigand the movie's central character, worked for.) However, Bloomberg observed, neither the cards nor the recorded questions on the phone line disclosed that Brown & Williamson was behind the poll. A spokesman for the tobacco company said that it did not disclose its name in order to prevent the results from becoming skewed.

Following a hotly contested campaign, William Daniels has been elected president of the Screen Actors Guild, unseating incumbent Richard Masur by a vote of 10, 008 to 8, 972. Daniels is expected to take a tougher line in upcoming negotiations with producers, especially on the issue of residuals for cable-TV commercials and foreign distribution.

Some 4000 guests were on hand for the official launch of News Corp's $290-million Fox Studios Australia today (Monday), including stars Nicole Kidman, Tom Cruise, Cate Blanchett, Val Kilmer, Ewan McGregor, Charlie Sheen, Baz Luhrmann and News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch Arriving for the festivities at the site of the former Sydney Showground, Kidman (who is Australian and is due to start filming Moulin Rouge (2000) at the new studio on Tuesday) said that while she welcomed the new studio, she hoped the Australian government would continue to support independent filmmakers. The site also features a theme park with a showpiece ride called "Titanic, The Experience."

Only months away from the start of production of Star Wars: Episode II (2002), the key role of Anakin Skywalker has still not been cast, Lucasfilm indicated on its Star Wars Web site Friday. A notice posted on the site said that the film's casting director, Robin Gurland, will begin interviewing actors for the role beginning in late January ("at the earliest"). The studio is looking for someone who can play the role of a character: "19 years old. Self-determined, extremely intelligent and forthright" who also resembles Jake Lloyd (I), the young actor who played Anakin in Episode 1. The notice said that Gurland is only accepting headshots and résumés that are submitted by accredited agents. They should be addressed to: Lucasfilm Ltd., ATTN: Robin Gurland, P.O. Box 2009, San Rafael, CA 94912.

In an interview appearing in the Australian Independent Film-makers magazine, Star Wars producer Rick McCallum has said that most of the speaking and non-speaking roles in the next two Star Wars movies are likely to go to Australians. The exceptions, he indicated, are the leads, mostly British, who are holdovers from Episode 1. McCallum also indicated that by the time Episode 3 goes into production, the crew will be 98 percent Australian. He praised Australian film crews, saying that their "flexibility" gave them an advantage above and beyond the favorable exchange rate. Dollar for dollar he said, "you can't do what you do here in the UK or Ireland." Asked about reports of friction between the Australian crew and the producers of Mission: Impossible 2 (2000), McCallum called the shoot a "disaster ... one of those films that tried to impose its will on Australian film industry culture."

Star Wars: Episode 1: The Phantom Menace opened in China on Friday. It was the final major international opening for the film. In a statement posted on the Star Wars Web site, Lucasfilm said: "This is indeed a special way to end the worldwide rollout of the movie, since relatively few American-made films are allowed into the country."

Environmentalists in Hong Kong have vowed to fight plans by the Chinese territory's government and the Walt Disney Co. to build a Disneyland on Lantau Island. Today's (Monday) South China Morning Post quotes Mei Ng Fong Siu-mei, director of Friends of the Earth, as saying that the park would destroy the island. "Lantau is the most beautiful treasure house of ecology in Hong Kong but it will be polluted if a Disney park is built." A government spokesman insisted, however, that an environmental impact study of the Disneyland project would be conducted and that the public will be consulted. Andrew Chan Wing-kit, a local expert on tourism management, said that building artificial scenic attractions was the best way to preserve the environment.

The major studios may force the producers of Access Hollywood to pull a regular segment, launched only last Friday, that featured Max Keiser founder of the Hollywood Stock Exchange Web site, predicting how films will rank at the weekend box office based on opinions of HSX players, Daily Variety reported today (Monday). The trade paper said that studios had gone as far as to threaten to deny the show access to talent interviews and footage from their new releases if they insisted on continuing to run the feature. Variety quoted unnamed HSX execs as saying that they had not been informed that Access Hollywood intends to pull the feature.

The World Wrestling Federation has posted an announcement on its Internet site that it has signed a deal with Arnold Schwarzenegger to appear on UPN's WWF Smackdown! on Thursday night. While calling it an "enormous development, " the announcement contains no information about the extent of Schwarzenegger's participation. Meanwhile, UPN's Web site headlines "Schwarzenegger Crashes WWF Smackdown! but it, too, contains no info about the episode.

Sunday night's top winner on the new round of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire took home $32, 000, with several contestants earning only piddling amounts. (One, an accountant, got the boot quickly after figuring that there are two teaspoons in a tablespoon.) Meanwhile, host Regis Philbin is expressing doubt that any contestant will go for the top prize. Noting that after the $32, 000 plateau, winnings can reach hundreds of thousands of dollars, all of which can be lost with succeeding questions, Philbin told today's (Monday) Washington Post: "Rather than risk it and only get $32, 000, they'll take what they've won and leave." Since the quiz show launched in Britain, no one has yet won $1 million. Still it may make no difference. "Like any other entertainment or art form, quiz shows appeal to something deep in the human psyche, and it's not just vast sums of money, " producer Michael Davies told the Post. "People like watching real people like them test their knowledge and make the biggest financial decisions of their lives in front of the whole country."

Just before a commercial break on the CBS Early Show Friday, Bryant Gumbel uttered the words he had spoken repeatedly nearly every day of his life for 15 years: "This is Today on NBC, " he said. He quickly caught himself and began laughing. Meanwhile, Early Show producer Steve Friedman has told USA Today that he is not discouraged that the new morning show remained well behind in third place during its first week, actually losing a significant number of viewers each day. "What we did this week was get on the playing field, " Friedman told the newspaper. "Now we have to start taking on the people on the playing field. But nobody here underestimates what a long, hard struggle it's going to be. We've got to get people to say, 'We watch CBS in the morning' -- and they haven't said that in 45 years."

RealNetworks Inc., the leader in online video "streaming" systems, reportedly plans to announce today (Monday) a new version of its software player, called RealPlayer 7, and a new Internet site where Web surfers will be able to access multimedia programming from 100 broadcast and Internet media partners including the major U.S. networks as well as the BBC.

Exotic car designer Claudio Zampolli has sued Tonight Show host Jay Leno for $150 million, claiming that Leno defamed him when he called him a crook at a classic car show in Van Nuys, CA last year. Leno allegedly made the statements privately, but an attorney for Zampolli said that, since the world of car collectors is small, repercussions from comments by a television star like Leno can be "very serious." Leno maintains a collection of 54 cars and 53 motorcycles.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation dominated the 14th Annual Gemini Awards, Canada's version of the Emmys, taking 41 of 75 trophies.