Paramount's Failure to Launch was anything but a failure as it launched this weekend with an estimated $24.6 million in ticket sales. Results were considerably above the predictions of analysts, who apparently failed to take into account the strong popularity of the film's star, Matthew McConaughey, among women 25 years old and older, who accounted for two-thirds of the audience. Disney's The Shaggy Dog, starring Tim Allen, debuted in second place with about $16 million. Another newcomer, the horror film The Hills Have Eyes, was close behind with $15.5 million. Tyler Perry's Madea's Family Reunion, which had held the top spot during the previous two weeks, dropped to fifth place with $5.8 million, bringing the total gross of the film to $55.8 million. Overall, the box office was down 10.7 percent from the comparable weekend a year ago to $92.4 million. Lionsgate also returned Oscar winner Crash to about 150 theaters over the weekend, where it took in an insignificant $330,000. It is already out on DVD. Of the other best-picture nominees, Brokeback Mountain performed the best, taking in $1.25 million, to bring its gross to $81 million. Capote was close behind with $1.2 million.

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations: 1. Failure to Launch, $24.6 million; 2. The Shaggy Dog, $16 million; 3.The Hills Have Eyes, $15.5 million; 4. 16 Blocks, $7.3 million; 5. Tyler Perry's Madea's Family Reunion, $5.8 million; 6. Eight Below, $5.4 million; 7. Aquamarine, $3.65 million; 8 (tie). The Pink Panther, $3.6 million; 8 (tie). Ultraviolet, $3.6 million; 10. Date Movie, $2.5 million.

Maureen Stapleton, who won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for the 1982 film Reds, died early today (Monday) of chronic pulmonary disease at age 80. She had previously been nominated three times for the supporting actress honor. In her 1995 autobiography, Hell of a Life, she famously remarked: "I've been asked repeatedly what the 'key' to acting is, and as far as I'm concerned, the main thing is to keep the audience awake."

Warner Home Video, which had said in January that it planned to be the first to release movies in the high-definition HD DVD format as it set a March 28 date, has now indicated it won't be able to meet that schedule. "To be honest, the outlook is tenuous _ we're still coming out with an initial slate, but we may be a week or two later; we just don't know," division president Ron Sanders told Home Media Retailing magazine.

The Hells Angels are suing the Walt Disney Co., claiming that the forthcoming movie Wild Hogs, starring John Travolta and Tim Allen infringes on their trademark. The film has not yet begun shooting. It concerns a couple of weekend bikers who encounter a motorcycle gang, each wearing the trademarked logo of the club.

Universal Studios President Ron Meyer appears ready to install Marc Shmuger and David Linde as co-chairmen of Universal Pictures to replace Stacey Snider, according to published reports. Shmuger is currently vice chairman of the company, while Linde is the cohead of its Focus Features, the specialty film unit that produced Brokeback Mountain. Today's (Monday) Los Angeles Times indicated that Shmuger has been telling friends that he would like to have the job alone and that Linde has been saying that he would be interested in sharing it. Today's New York Times reported that Meyer is likely to make his decision known sometime this week. It suggested that while Shmuger is a sure bet for the job, he may be paired with Linde or with Bonnie Hammer, head of the Sci-Fi Channel and USA Networks.

Pixar's John Lasseter was cheered by Disney shareholders on Friday as the company held its annual meeting in Anaheim, California. Speaking of Disney's acquisition of Pixar, Lasseter told the crowd, "I was worried until I got to know Bob Iger. Ladies and gentlemen, you are led by a great man. ... We're bringing back some amazing people who have left, and we're making Disney the place you have to work again." Shareholders also voted to reinstall the current Disney board, including Chairman George Mitchell. Asked by one shareholder whether Disney would ever produce another hand-drawn animated film, Mitchell replied that creativity and innovation were top priorities at Disney, not technology, and that the studio is experimenting with ways to combine hand-drawn and computer-generated animation together more effectively than it had done in the past.

Ratings for HBO's The Sopranos return were not available early today (Monday), but it was readily apparent that they would hit record or near-record levels. ABC's Desperate Housewives, which aired opposite the mob drama, registered a lower-than-average 14.8 rating and a 21 share. In fact, ABC's Grey's Anatomy, which followed at 10:00 p.m., drew bigger numbers -- a 15.0/23. Still, ABC won the night with an average 11.5/17, leaving its rivals well behind. CBS took second place with a 7.3/11,followed by NBC with a 6.8/10, and Fox with a 5.2/8.

SPOILER ALERT: In what New York Daily News TV Editor Richard Huff called "one of the most shocking moments in recent primetime history," Tony Soprano, the character played by James Gandolfini in HBO's The Sopranos, was shot in the closing moments of Sunday night's episode -- the first new Sopranos episode in two years. In USA Today, critic Robert Bianco commented that the shooting serves a creative function: "It sends the show off in a new direction. Up to now, Tony has always been on the dishing-out side of violence. Sunday he was on the receiving end, and how he and his family deal with that will be the season's unifying theme." Several critics debated whether to reveal the surprise ending at all in their reviews, but Molly Willow commented in the Columbus Dispatch: "If you taped the season premiere of The Sopranos last night after 21 months off, you aren't a real fan and deserve to have the surprise ruined."

If Katie Couric moves to CBS to anchor the network's evening newscast, NBC is likely to replace her on the "Today" show with Meredith Vieira, moderator of ABC's The View, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported today (Monday), citing highly placed industry sources. Vieira was pitched to NBC executives by Matt Lauer, the Today show's co-host, the newspaper said. Vieira's contract with The View ends in July, two months after Couric's ends with Today. She also has two years left on her contract to host the syndicated game show, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.

News Corp's new MyNetworkTV is likely to become embroiled in a battle with the Writers Guild of America if it proceeds with plans to designate the writers of its upcoming telenovelas series as "translators," thereby making them ineligible under the WGA contract, TV Week reported today (Monday). The trade publication noted that writers on the shows not only simply translate the Spanish scripts, but also adapt storylines to fit North American settings.

NASN, a European channel specializing in American sports, has paid Major League Baseball more than $20 million to televise live baseball in Britain and the continent over the next five years. NASN CEO Amory Schwarz told today's (Monday) London Times that he hopes the telecasts will boost the number of subscribers to between seven million and ten million over the next year. Currently the channel counts 1.6 million subscribers.