Miami Vice arrested the plundering of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest over the weekend, but its $25.2-million haul was unimpressive, given reports that the movie cost Universal as much as $150 million to produce. Meanwhile, Pirates, which cost an equal amount, was by no means dead, earning an additional $20.5 million to bring its domestic gross to $358.4 million, making it the highest grossing film in the history of the Walt Disney Co., breaking the previous record set by Finding Nemo, which earned $339.7 million. In a busy weekend, the teen movie John Tucker Must Die placed third with $14 million, but Warner Bros.' The Ant Bully was squashed with just $8.1 million, despite a huge marketing campaign. (It was the second big flop for Warner Bros. in as many weeks, with Lady in the Water sinking to just $7 million this weekend.) The latest Woody Allen movie, playing on only 537 screens, failed to make the top 10 as it finished with about $3 million. In limited release, the critically praised Little Miss Sunshine shined brightly, taking in $356,863 in seven theaters.

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations: 1. Miami Vice, $25.2 million; 2. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, $20.5 million; 3. John Tucker Must Die, $14 million; 4. Monster House, $11.5 million; 5. The Ant Bully, $8.2 million; 6. Lady in the Water, $7 million; 7. You, Me and Dupree, $7 million; 8. Little Man, $5.1 million; 9. The Devil Wears Prada, $4.8 million; 10. Clerks II, $3.9 million.

The career of Mel Gibson, one of Hollywood's most bankable actors, may have been damaged irreparably over the weekend when Gibson let loose a barrage of anti-Semitic statements following his DUI arrest by Los Angeles County Sheriff's officers. He reportedly shouted out, "f***ing Jews" and "The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world" and asked the arresting deputy, who admitted to being "frightened" by Gibson, "Are you a Jew?" (His comments were first reported by the TMZ.com celebrity website.) The following day, Gibson issued a statement stating, "I acted like a person completely out of control when I was arrested, and said things that I do not believe to be true and which are despicable. I am ashamed of everything I said." He also apologized to the arresting officers for his "belligerent behavior," adding, "I disgraced myself and my family with my behavior and for that I am truly sorry. I have battled with the disease of alcoholism for all of my adult life and profoundly regret my horrific relapse." Veteran publicist Michael Levine was quoted by the MSNBC site as saying, "It's a nuclear disaster for him. ... I don't see how he can restore himself." Abraham Foxman, director of the Anti-Defamation League, who warned in 2004 that Gibson's film The Passion of the Christ, would rekindle anti-Semitism in the U.S., commented, "It's not a proper apology because it does not go to the essence of his bigotry. ... We would hope that Hollywood now would realize the bigot in their midst and that they will distance themselves from this anti-Semite." Newsday critic John Anderson rhetorically asked in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter: "How many people when they are drunk and angry start lashing out at the Jews?" Reporting on the arrest and Gibson's comments, the Los Angeles Times observed today (Monday): "Although many of the town's senior executives are Jewish and Hollywood has a long history of supporting Israel and Jewish causes, there was no widespread public condemnation of Gibson's comments over the weekend. Although some high-level executives privately expressed dismay at the statements attributed to Gibson after his arrest, none of those contacted would speak on the record."

Newsweek magazine is featuring a 3,200-word cover article by David Ansen about Oliver Stone's World Trade Center in is current (August 7) issue, in which the Newsweek critic concludes by remarking that it "celebrates the ties that bind us, the bonds that keep us going, the goodness that stands as a rebuke to the horror of that day." In short, he writes, "It feels like the 9/11 movie we need." Ansen observes that the film is devoid of the kind of political controversy that many of Stone's previous films exhibited. "The beauty of the script was that it had hope," Stone tells Ansen, who suggests that it also brought hope to Stone, who had experienced a string of failed projects, including the enormous trouncing of Alexander. "I guess I couldn't get arrested, is one way of saying it," Stone remarks.

Marking yet another significant cost-cutting move by Hollywood, Paramount is not expected to renew a $10-million-per-year deal with Tom Cruise and producing partner Paula Wagner to keep their production company on the Paramount lot, the Los Angeles Times reported today (Monday). The deal, which expires today, is expected to be supplanted by another deal worth about a quarter of the original package, the newspaper reported. Cruise's attorney, Bertram Fields, told the Times: "It is not the case that they said this is a take-it-or-leave-it offer. I don't think my friends at Paramount would ever talk that way." Cruise's most recent film for the studio was Mission: Impossible III, which has taken in $133.4 million at the domestic box office thus far.

The failure of The Ant Bully brings to mind a Woody Allen stand-up routine in the '60s when he told of being so poor that his parents couldn't get him a dog, so they gave him an ant instead. "And I didn't know any better, y'know, I thought it was a dog, I was a dumb kid. Called it 'Spot'. I trained it, y'know. Coming home late one night, Sheldon Finklestein tried to bully me. Spot was with me. And I said 'Kill!, ' and Sheldon stepped on my dog."

Magazine shows ruled the ratings Sunday night, but the usual victor, CBS's 60 Minutes, was not the top-rated show. That honor instead went to the second hour of NBC's Dateline, which recorded a 6.3 rating and an 11 share in the 8:00 p.m. hour. 60 Minutes did come out ahead in the 7:00 p.m. hour, drawing a 5.5/11, while the first hour of Dateline earned a 4.7/9. In a ratings anomaly, Fox, which came in last among overall households with a 2.5/5 for the night, came in first among the key adults 18-49 demographic group, which advertisers particularly court.

CBS on Friday paid a $550,000 fine for its airing of the Janet Jackson "wardrobe malfunction" incident at the 2004 Super Bowl and simultaneously asked a federal court to overturn the fine. The network noted that it had paid the fine for a "procedural reason" since the appeals court requires the fine to be paid before it can hear the network's petition. "Payment does not mean that CBS in any way is admitting to a violation of the FCC's indecency rules," the network said. In response, the FCC said, "CBS' continued insistence that the halftime show was not indecent demonstrates that it is out of touch with the American people. Millions of parents, as well as Congress, understand what CBS does not: Janet Jackson's 'wardrobe malfunction' was indeed indecent."

CNN's website appears to be planning to separate the material produced by its professional journalists from the contributions uploaded to the site from the public. Broadcasting and Cable reported today (Monday) that the cable news network plans to launch a new website called CNN Exchange on Tuesday that will combine its news blogs, polls and message boards and also give users the opportunity to post their own video and pictures of breaking news for a section called I-Reports. The trade publication quoted Mitch Gelman of CNN.com as saying, "What we're doing with the Exchange, and I-Reports in particular, is creating a single vehicle, a simple branded environment in which people are going to be able to more consistently and easily participate in the news."

Fox News Channel anchor Shepard Smith, who has been reporting daily from the war zone in Israel and Lebanon, has acknowledged that he is keeping an eye on the ratings of his show. In an interview Sunday with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Smith said, "We watch the numbers closely and say, 'All right, when we're very heavy on Israel, are they [viewers] paying attention, and when we're giving historical context or background and trying to put this in a place on a wider landscape, are they listening?' And if they are, which the numbers suggest they are, then I think we're serving a bigger purpose. The better the American public can understand this conflict, those who wish to, the better for everyone involved." The ratings suggest that they are watching Smith en masse. His "Fox Report" has been averaging 1.6 million viewers, more than those tuned in to CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, and Headline News combined.

ABC's Nightline, which had developed a reputation over the years for breaking more important news stories than any other nightly news program, is planning to air an exclusive interview tonight (Monday) with an American soldier who charges that his command gave orders to kill all military-aged males encountered and that U.S. military units compete with each other on "kill rates." The soldier, PFC Corey Clagett, has been charged along with three other soldiers of murdering prisoners in Iraq. He was interviewed in Kuwait by Nightline co-anchor Martin Bashir.