Prospects of Mel Gibson returning to the screen in his Mad Max persona faded today (Tuesday) when Daily Variety reported that the actor is in talks with Warner Bros. to star in Under and Alone, about an ATF undercover agent who infiltrated a motorcycle gang. Gibson had originally intended to shoot Mad Max: Fury Road in the southern Africa country of Namibia in May but halted preproduction citing security concerns following the outbreak of war with Iraq. Production offices in Swakopmund were shut down, dozens of contracts and leases for homes, apartments, car rentals, and caterers were canceled, and sets built for the $100-million movie were warehoused. Gibson later plunged into post-production of his biblical film The Passion, seemingly snuffing out the fire on the back burner, where the Mad Max feature had been placed. It had been reported earlier that Gibson decided to shoot the film in Namibia because George Lucas had booked all available studio space at Fox Studios in Australia to shoot Star Wars: Episode 3. Lucas completed principal production there last week.

The shortened season for Oscar campaigns is likely to give a major boost to the American Film Institute's Los Angeles International Film Festival, set for Nov. 6-16. In an interview with the Los Angles Times, Tom Bernard, co-president of Sony Pictures Classics, remarked: "The lack of time to spend [campaigning for an Oscar nomination] has cut short the ability to persuade through the media. [AFI] is now certainly an Oscar forecaster." Numerous artistically worthy films are set for the festival, including DreamWorks' The House of Sand and Fog; Newmarket Films' Monster, Sony Pictures Classics' The Statement, and Disney/Touchstone's Calendar Girls.

The vampire flick Underworld took a big bite out of the weekend box office, taking in a greater-than-expected $21.8 million in its debut. Another new film, Secondhand Lions, took second place with $12.1 million. Yet another new film, The Fighting Temptations, premiered in third place with $11.8 million. A fourth newcomer, Cold Creek Manor, nabbed fifth place with $8.2 million. However, a fifth new contender, the Woody Allen movie Anything Else, didn't even make the top-ten list. It came in at No. 11 with just $1.7 million, the worst opening ever for an Allen film.

The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Exhibitor Relations (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date): 1. Underworld, Sony, $21,753,759, (New); 2. Secondhand Lions, New Line, $12,139,832, (New); 3. The Fighting Temptations, Paramount, $11,758,372, (New); 4. Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Sony, $11,007,367, 2 Wks. ($40,951,922); 5. Cold Creek Manor, Disney, $8,190,574, (New); 6. Matchstick Men, Warner Bros., $7,552,427, 2 Wks. ($24,233,745); 7. Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star, Paramount, $3,783,655, 3 Wks. ($17,302,664); 8. Cabin Fever, Lions Gate, $3,609,896, 2 Wks. ($14,722,225); 9. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Disney, $,3480,968, 11 Wks. ($292,495,912); 10. Lost in Translation, Focus Features, $2,622,737, 2 Wks. ($3,957,340).

Mark Cuban, who pocketed $1.3 billion when he sold his broadcast.com website during the height of the Internet bubble, then used some of his windfall to buy the Dallas Mavericks, has now bought the Landmark Theatres arthouse chain, the Hollywood Reporter reported today (Tuesday), citing sources close to the deal. The trade paper, which did not provide a purchase price, said that Cuban's business partner, Todd Wagner, will become CEO of the chain. The two also paid $25 million recently to launch HDNet, a high-definition cable channel. On his website, tvpredictions.com, Television Week columnist Phillip Swann predicted that Cuban will combine his TV and theater operations, sending high-definition films via cable to Landmark and other theaters.

Ratings for the Emmys Sunday night dropped 11 percent from last year, posting an average 10.6 rating and a 17 share. Washington Post TV columnist Lisa De Moraes observed today (Tuesday) that one of the reasons for the audience slump may have been the fact that the awards show aired this year on Fox. (Last year, the show, which rotates among the major networks each year, aired on NBC.) "The Primetime Emmy Awards show always does poorly on Fox," de Moraes noted. "Maybe this is because Fox hardly ever wins any Primetime Emmys, so the show isn't really relevant for fans of the network." (Fox won no awards during Sunday night's telecast.) In fact, de Moraes also pointed out, Fox generally makes up for its lower ratings by inserting more commercials. This year's telecast, she observed, contained more than 100 ads.

ABC Sports has assigned Monday Night Football's Al Michaels to become the play-by-play announcer for its NBA telecasts. Although Michaels has not called a basketball game since 1989, ABC Sports exec producer Mike Pearl told today's (Tuesday) New York Times, "The voice of ABC Sports is Al Michaels, and that's an important identity to bring to this." In a statement, Michaels said: "I have been fortunate over the last 27 years at ABC to have covered numerous World Series, Super Bowls and Olympic Games, and a vast array of memorable and classic events. And now, to be able to add the NBA to my Monday Night Football assignment creates a perfect combination."

Former Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke, who was sometimes described as the most visible woman in the U.S. Defense Department, will become a regular contributor to CNN's primetime Paula Zahn Now, the cable news network announced Monday. The hiring of Clarke, who left her Pentagon post in June, is the first major appointment by Jim Miller, executive director of Zahn's recently refashioned show. Meanwhile, the Hollywood Reporter reported today (Monday) that Miller is also likely to name veteran political writer Joe Klein as an on-air contributor as well. Klein, a former Newsweek columnist who confessed that he was the "Anonymous" who wrote the novel Primary Colors, a fictional account of Bill Clinton's presidential primary campaign, is currently a contributor to CNN's corporate sibling, Time magazine.

Japan's Sharp Corporation said in Osaka on Monday that is planning to market TV sets and personal computers employing a vibrating liquid crystal display (LCD) screen that will act as its own speaker. The device was developed with screen manufacturer Hosiden. Details of the device were sketchy. It was not explained, for example, how picture clarity could be maintained if the screen was vibrating.

In a vote split 3-2 along party lines, the FCC on Monday approved the $3-billion merger of Spanish-language television broadcasters Univision and radio broadcasters Hispanic Broadcasting. Univision currently owns 32 television stations; Hispanic, 68 radio stations. In a statement, FCC Chairman Michael Powell, along with Republican commissioners Kathleen Q. Abernathy and Kevin J. Martin, said that the merger: "will give Hispanic media a better opportunity to compete against big media companies, capturing more advertising revenue to allow it to expand unique language and cultural offerings to its audiences." Smaller Spanish-language broadcasters, however, had told the commission that the merger would create a media giant that they would be unable to compete with.

Confirming long-circulating rumors, News Corp-controlled BSkyB said today (Tuesday) that Tony Ball has quit as CEO. Ball, the second-highest-paid chief executive in Britain, is expected to be replaced by James Murdoch, the 30-year-old son of Rupert Murdoch, who is both the chairman of News Corp and of BSkyB. In its statement, BSkyB said that a search committee will recommend a successor to Ball. Meanwhile, several British news reports today dismissed earlier speculation that Rupert Murdoch would resign as chairman of BSkyB if his son James takes over Ball's post.

In what Britain's Guardian newspaper described as "an unprecedented move," three national newspapers printed the f-word in reports quoting a diary entry made by Alastair Campbell, the former spokesman for Prime Minister Tony Blair. Presented as evidence to the committee investigating the suicide of former weapons expert David Kelly, the diary memo said that he (Campbell) wanted to expose the fact that Kelly was the source of BBC reporter Andrew Gilligan's report that Campbell had urged an intelligence dossier be "sexed up" to help make the case for war against Iraq. Campbell's entry concluded that he wanted to "f*** Andrew Gilligan." The Guardian, Independent, and Financial Times printed the expletive in full, while the other British newspapers replaced the word with asterisks. On BBC television, an announcer referred to the word as "eff dot dot dot." ITV News simply referred to it as the "f-word."