Dimension Films has managed to place Scream 3 (2000) in 3, 467 theaters (about 5, 000-6, 000 screens) -- the most for any movie opening ever, according to the Hollywood Reporter. (Successful horror movies generally open big but fall off quickly in subsequent weeks; Scream 2 (1997) earned one third of its total gross of $101.3 million in its opening weekend.) The high screen count would appear to decrease the likelihood of sold-out shows.

Critic Joe Morgenstern writes in today's (Friday) Wall Street Journal that his invitation to a screening of Scream 3 (2000) was accompanied by a note from a publicist saying, "When writing about Scream 3 (2000), we would appreciate that you keep as many (if not all) of its plot developments a secret so that the audience can enjoy them for the first time when they see the film." Comments Morgenstern: "Never have I been so willing to be restricted." The only thing worth noting about the movie, he suggests, is that "most of the women are smart and thin. Some of the men are dumb and chubby. The slashing seems endless until it ends." Tom Maurstad in the Dallas Morning News has no reluctance to reveal that the the serial killer who has left a trail of bodies through three films is finally identified at the end of the movie. "The only surprise here is how lame the surprise ending is, " he comments. Peter Howell in the Toronto Star, like other critics, is suspicious of claims that this will be the last of the Scream franchise. However, he adds: "If they're smart, they'll keep the coffin lid nailed shut. What seemed daring in December, 1996, when the original Scream was spawned, now seems an act of desperation by all concerned, or at the very least a ghoulish attempt to steal the fat wallet of a corpse." Less jaded by it all is Los Angeles Times writer Kevin Thomas who, while conceding that "the body count is horrendously high, " comments also that the movie is "genuinely scary and also highly amusing ... a razzle-dazzler that delivers the goods for horror fans." (A certain quote for the movie's ads.) And Susan Wloszczyna in USA Today writes that director Wes Craven has "done a frightfully good job of killing off and wrapping up the popular horror series. Scream 3 (2000) may not be the scariest entry in the trilogy that revived the teen slasher genre back in 1996 , but it is the funniest."

Also opening -- in limited release -- is Gun Shy (2000), starring Liam Neeson and featuring Sandra Bullock in a small part (she is also the producer). Of Neeson's role, New York Daily News critic Jack Mathews remarks that it represents "one of the most humiliating star turns since Marlon Brando wore a granny dress in Missouri Breaks." The film itself, Mathews concludes, is "beyond redemption."

Barry Diller insisted Thursday that his USA Networks is not in talks to buy Universal Studios from Seagram. In a conference call with reporters, Diller said, "We don't have it in our little gun sights." Diller did say that USA Networks, which already owns Gramercy Pictures and October Films, may expand its film business but that doesn't mean it plans to acquire any film library or major studio. Diller's comments came following a fourth quarter report showing a smaller-than-expected loss, thanks to steeply rising revenue at the company's cable networks and its Ticketmaster division (whose ticket sales rose 19 percent over the same period a year ago).

Meanwhile, the London Financial Times reported today (Friday) that Seagram Chief Edgar Bronfman Jr. is under pressure from members of his family to sell Universal Studios. The newspaper, which cited people associated with Universal Studios, said that while Seagram is understood to be seeking a buyer for the company, the price that it has in mind, estimated at between $5 billion and $6 billion, is not likely to attract a buyer. The FT quoted unnamed people in the film industry as suggesting that Bronfman may eventually do a deal that falls short of a full sale.

Steve Jobs had more cause for celebration Thursday. Only weeks after Apple Computer, one company that he heads, reported better-than-expected earnings, Pixar Animation Studios, the other company that he heads, did the same thing. Profits for Pixar's fourth quarter were in fact nine times higher than they were a year ago, thanks largely to overseas video sales of Bug's Life, A (1998) and merchandise connected with that film. The film was the first picture released under a new joint-venture deal between Pixar and Disney in which Pixar receives a greater share of the profits on movies that it produces and that Disney distributes than it did earlier. "This is the first year which really demonstrates Pixar's earnings potential from our new Disney partnership, " Jobs said in a conference call with analysts Thursday.

One day after banning the U.S. film Stigmata (1999) throughout the country, El Salvador censors, after a meeting with exhibitors, said Thursday that they would allow it to be shown -- but only to persons at least 18 years old and only during limited hours. The official Public Performances office said also that advertising must be drastically reduced. The film has been condemned in the largely Catholic country as an attack on the church.

Virtually any mention by any TV network or cable channel of drugs in negative terms have garnered credits from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, allowing the broadcasters to convert anti-drug public service announcements to commercial messages, testimony before a Senate subcommittee indicated Thursday. Alan Levitt, director of the ONDCP's Media Campaign acknowledged that, for example, VH1 received credits for running biographies about rock stars who abused drugs and that ESPN similarly received credits for seven stories about the drug problems of Yankees slugger Daryl Strawberry and five stories about University of Connecticut basketball star Khalid El-Amin. Also, in a bizarre twist, the Fox TV network was credited for an anti-drug episode of Chicago Hope, apparently because, although it airs on CBS, it is produced by 20th Century Fox TV. Under the original deal, the networks had pledged to provide one PSA for each anti-drug spot paid for by the government. But in 1998, the ONDCP agreed to give credits also for anti-drug content. By Levitt's calculations, the anti-drug material on 130 different shows was worth $21.8 million.

The producers of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire have invited Dr. Kurt Warkenthein to return to the show after acknowledging that the correct answer to a question put to Warkenthein on Jan. 25 was not included in the multiple choices that host Regis Philbin ticked off. Warkenthein told today's (Friday) New York Daily News: "I didn't think it was necessary. ... I had my 15 minutes of fame and I had a wonderful time, but producer Michael Davies and Regis were pretty insistent that we come back. They mentioned the credibility and trust of the show. So I guess I'll add a couple of extra minutes to the 15."

Facing direct competition from ABC's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire for the first time, NBC's quiz show Twenty One lost nearly half its viewers Wednesday night -- even though it handed out the largest single prize in TV history -- $1.12 million. Twenty One drew a 6.5 rating and a 10 share (representing 8.7 million viewers, versus its average audience of 16.4 million). Millionaire, however, pulled an 18.4/28 (28.5 million viewers), helping ABC win Wednesday night. Another victim of the Millionaire juggernaut was CBS's new drama City of Angels which earned only a 5.6/9 (8.1 million viewers).

After waiting nearly two hours for Madonna to show up for an interview for the Today show, Matt Lauer remarked, "To hell with this, " and walked off, the New York Post reported today (Friday), citing a member of the Today crew. Madonna's publicist, Liz Rosenberg, told the newspaper: "Basically we were backed up because it took a while to set the cameras up, and it kept getting later and later. ... Unfortunately, the Today show was going to be the finale, because we wanted to give them as much time as possible. ... Madonna's a big fan of Matt's. She was not happy to have kept him waiting."

CBS and Fox Thursday unveiled plans to promote ethnic diversity in front of and behind the cameras, including the creation of company vice presidents to oversee minority recruitment programs.

After failing to buy all of Chris-Craft's broadcasting operations, Viacom has triggered a buy-sell clause in its UPN deal, offering to buy Chris-Craft's 50 percent stake in the network for $5 million, published reports said today (Friday). Alternatively, Viacom has offered to sell Chris-Craft its stake in UPN at the same price, the reports said. Chris-Craft has 45 days to make a choice between the two offers. Relations between the two companies have deteriorated, the reports said, and Viacom is determined to end the partnership.

Steve Brill has stepped down as editor of Brill's Content, saying he wishes to devote more attention to Contentville.com, a Web site that he is backing along with CBS, NBC, magazine publisher Primedia and others. In an interview appearing in today's (Friday) Washington Post, Brill noted that he wanted to avoid an appearance of conflict of interest, explaining that it would be "cleaner" if he wasn't making "editorial decisions that could involve the same people I'm dealing with on a business level."

CORRECTION: In a hasty -- and regrettable -- lapse on Thursday, we referred to biographer-historian Stephen Ambrose's Band of Brothers as a novel. It is, of course, a best-selling and highly regarded non-fiction work about a company of paratroopers who landed in France on D-day and finally fought their way to Hitler's "Eagle's Nest."