Films that landed Oscar nominations last week received wider releases over the weekend and, for the most part, saw a significant rise in ticket sales, but they failed to make a major impact on overall box-office earnings, which were down 8 percent from the comparable weekend a year ago. Of all the high-brow movies nominated for best picture, only Miramax's The Queen landed in the top ten (with $4 million). Warner Bros.' The Departed took in $3.4 million to place 12th, while Paramount Vantage's Babel earned $2.6 million to place 14th and Warner Bros.' Letters From Iwo Jima took in $1.9 million to place 17th. Little Miss Sunshine is already out on DVD. By contrast the low-brow Epic Movie spoof from Fox raked in $18.6 million (lower than the weekend estimate), while Universal's Smokin' Aces debuted with $14.6 million.

The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Media by Numbers (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date): 1. Epic Movie, 20th Century Fox, $18,612,544, (New); 2. Smokin' Aces, Universal, $14,638,755, (New); 3. Night at the Museum, 20th Century Fox, $9,557,664, 6 Wks. ($216,845,623); 4. Stomp the Yard, Screen Gems, $7,685,565, 3 Wks. ($50,538,842); 5. Catch and Release, Sony, $7,658,898, (New); 6. Dreamgirls, Paramount, $6,741,985, 7 Wks. ($86,775,468); 7. The Pursuit of Happyness, Sony, $4,983,325, 8 Wks. ($152,929,867); 8. Pan's Labyrinth, Picture House, $4,774,578, 5 Wks. ($16,523,021); 9. The Queen, Miramax, $4,013,052, 18 Wks. ($41,254,080); 10. The Hitcher, Focus Features, $3,632,975, 2 Wks. ($13,433,020).

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ruled Monday that Paramount Chairman Brad Grey will not receive credit for the Warner Bros. movie The Departed when it comes time to announce Oscar nominees at this year's Academy Awards ceremonies. Grey, who was originally involved in the film's development, had fought for such recognition despite the fact that he has since become the head of a rival studio. Brad Pitt, who is also listed as a producer of the film, will also not receive credit under Academy rules, leaving only Graham King to accept the Oscar if The Departed is chosen as best picture. AMPAS also narrowed the list of producers for Little Miss Sunshine to three, ruling that co-producers Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa did not fall under its guidelines for producer's credits. David T. Friendly, Peter Saraf and Marc Turtletaub will pick up the Oscar if the movie wins (and undoubtedly recognize Berger and Yerxa in their acceptance speeches).

The movie version of the hit 80s television series Dallas may be filmed in Dallas, after all, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported today, citing Janis Burklund, director of the Dallas Film Commission. The majority of the new Dallas film, which is due to go into full production next fall, is still set to take place in Louisiana, demonstrating what the newspaper described as "Texas's disadvantages in the growing competition to attract movie productions." (The state's tax incentives don't compare favorably with those of Louisiana's.) But Burklund said that "executives behind the film" are reworking some elements so that at least part of the film can be shot in Texas and that it is possible that the entire film could be shot in the state if the legislature passes a more attractive incentive bill before the fall.

Sales soared at Sony's movie, home electronics, and camera divisions during the company's third quarter, which ended Dec. 31, but enormous costs to launch its PlayStation 3 game console resulted in a 5.3 percent slide in profits versus last year, the company said today (Tuesday). The company's gaming unit, Sony Computer Entertainment, posted a $443-million operating loss. Sony's net profit for the quarter dipped to $1.3 billion from $1.4 billion a year ago. But theater-ticket sales and DVD sales rose 47 percent at Sony Films, thanks largely to the box-office success of the James Bond flick Casino Royale and strong DVD business for The Da Vinci Code. Nevertheless, despite the disappointing quarter, the company raised its forecasts for the full year, primarily as a result of the ever-increasing demand for large, flat-screen, high-definition TV sets. For the quarter, which included the Christmas holiday shopping period, Sony's core electronics unit reported a record operating profit.

Windows Vista, which Microsoft released at midnight today (Tuesday), will help enable personal computers become the multimedia hub of the future, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said Monday in New York. The company has already been negotiating deals with entertainment companies that will allow users to download music, movies and television shows to their computers more easily via Vista and thereby extend Microsoft's influence in the home-entertainment environment. "We're making the PC the place where it all comes together," Gates said during an interview taped for CNN's American Morning. However, critics, for the most part, were unimpressed, arguing that the new operating system offers little that Apple's Macintosh OS X system didn't already offer years ago and complaining that Vista amounts to little more than a shiny new user interface, despite Microsoft's spending $6 billion in development costs and employing more than 2,000 programmers to bring it to fruition. The British online technical magazine The Inquirer commented: "If this is all the billions, man-hours and years brought, what was the point?" And the London Times observed that the new Windows system is likely to sell well not because of any "wow" factor ("The wow is now," Gates said in unveiling Vista), but simply because "most of us already use it."

CBS News correspondent Kimberly Dozier returned to the network's New York newsroom on Monday for the first time since being critically sounded by a roadside bomb in Iraq eight months ago. Her camera crew as well as a U.S. soldier and an Iraqi translator were killed in the blast. "In the mornings when I wake and fight to work off the stiffness in my legs to stand, I remember it all too clearly. And then, thank God that I am here to remember it, and wish again my friends were here, too," she recently wrote. Dozier, who has already undergone numerous surgeries since the incident, told her colleagues Monday that she is preparing for what she hopes will be a "final round" next week. No date has been set for her return to the air. On her website, CBS anchor Katie Couric said that she met Dozier for the first time Monday. "She is that rare breed of smart, committed and courageous journalists, one willing to put her life on the line to get the story out. We need more like her."

Coincidentally, CBS correspondent Kimberly Dozier's return to the network's newsroom on Monday to meet with colleagues came one year to the day that ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff was critically injured by another roadside bomb in Iraq. ABC said Monday that Woodruff "has made an amazing recovery. He's working again and even driving, and he credits the quick action of the doctors in the field with his recovery." The network has scheduled a primetime telecast on Feb. 27 in which Woodruff will tell the story of the attack and his subsequent rehabilitation. Meanwhile, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday that 2006 was the deadliest year for journalists in the 25-year history of the organization. "The primary risk to journalists is not crossfire, it's murder," Joel Simon of the CPJ told ABC News.

Hollywood, which has traditionally used the Super Bowl to promote its tentpole summer releases, is virtually ignoring the big game this year, Daily Variety reported today (Tuesday). The trade paper noted that only two films, Lionsgate's Pride, starring Terrence Howard and Bernie Mac, and Disney's Wild Hogs, starring John Travolta and Tim Allen, will be featured in ads during the Chicago-Indianapolis matchup. By comparison, studios purchased ads for eight films last year. The reason for the pull-back may not be entirely financial (ads sell for around $2.5 million). One unidentified studio marketing exec told Variety: "The biggest nightmare with Super Bowl spots is telling other producers why you aren't buying ads on the game for their movies."

Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty, the center of an international uproar when she became the object of racist insults by fellow contestants on the British reality show Celebrity Big Brother, has been voted the winner of the TV contest. Jermaine Jackson, a member of the old Jackson Five, came in second.