In theaters where it was showing in digital 3D, Disney's Meet the Robinsons actually beat the weekend's No. 1 film, Blades of Glory, according to figures released Monday by Disney's Buena Vista Pictures Domestic Distribution. Chuck Viane, Disney's distribution chief, said that Robinsons took in $7.1 million in 581 theaters where it was screened in 3D, amounting to a per-screen average of $12,220. By contrast, Blades of Glory averaged $9,790 per screen. (The movie earned $33 million overall.) Although digital 3D theaters represented just 13 percent of those screening Robinsons, they accounted for 28 percent of the film's overall weekend gross of $25.1 million. In a statement, Viane said that the success of the movie "is a clear signal that 3-D is bigger and better than ever ... and Disney plans to remain a leader in this exciting and satisfying new frontier."

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. Blades of Glory, Paramount, $33,014,202, (New); 2. Meet the Robinsons, Disney, $25,123,781, (New); 3. 300, Warner Bros., $11,434,437, 4 Wks. ($179,941,919); 4. TMNT, Warner Bros., $9,232,362, 2 Wks. ($38,500,646); 5. Wild Hogs, Disney, $8,662,893, 5 Wks. ($135,628,796); 6. Shooter, Paramount, $8,364,413, 2 Wks. ($27,576,332); 7. Premonition, Sony, $5,213,264, 3 Wks. ($39,455,581); 8. The Hills Have Eyes II, Fox Atomic, $4,186,386, 2 Wks. ($16,069,995); 9. Reign Over Me, Sony, $3,835,022, 2 Wks. ($13,465,869); 10. The Last Mimzy, New Line, $3,815,600, 2 Wks. ($16,007,619).

Clifford Irving, the subject of director Lasse Hallström's The Hoax, set to open on Friday, has suggested that some scenes in the movie are just as fanciful as scenes he invented for his notorious 1971 book, The Autobiography of Howard Hughes.In an interview with today's (Tuesday) New York Daily News, Irving said that he had agreed to cooperate with Hallström and the film's writers: "They asked me a great many questions. I replied in depth. They ignored most of what I said." In one scene, the Irving character, played by Richard Gere, is seen hiring a prostitute for his collaborator, Dick Susskind, played by Alfred Molina. Hallström acknowledges that the scene amounts to "dramatic license." As for Gere's performance, Irving told the Daily News, that the actor "portrays me as a scumbag. If I were that man, I'd shoot myself."

On the 40th anniversary of his being named film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times, Roger Ebert, who was felled two years ago by an operation for cancer and subsequent complications, has written a column for the newspaper providing an update on his condition. In it he says that he is continuing rehabilitation therapy in Chicago "along with an overhaul of my general health at the Pritikin Center in Florida." His voice, he disclosed, was affected by a tracheostomy and is now "on hold until my upcoming completion surgery." Ebert notes that he is "feeling better every day" and plans to increase his writing duties gradually. "I still love writing about the movies," he concludes. "Forty years is not enough."

The Motion Picture Association of America on Monday released a list of school campuses with the greatest number of illegal movie downloads. Topping it was Columbia University in New York, whose students received 1,198 notices from the MPAA during October, November and December of 2006. Second on the list was the University of Pennsylvania (934), followed by Boston University (891), UCLA (889), and Purdue (873). MPAA spokeswoman Gayle Osterberg told the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle that the list had been compiled at the request of a congressional committee. "This is not intended to be a list of the worst campuses," she said. "This is a snapshot in time."

Announcing that it was slashing the suggested retail price of its PlayStation Portable (PSP) device to $169 from $199, Sony today (Tuesday) said that prices of movies available in the Universal Media Disc (UMD) format for the PSP have also fallen and now range from $9.99 to $19.99. The company denied that it was planning to phase out the format, saying in a statement that nine million UMD movies have been sold in North America alone. More than 450 movies are now available in the format, it observed.

The NCAA basketball championship on CBS and Dancing With the Stars on ABC scored nearly identical ratings Monday night. Dancing, which aired from 8:00-9:45 p.m., drew a 13.0 rating and a 20 share in preliminary overnight ratings, while the final March Madness contest won by the Florida Gaters over the Ohio State Buckeyes, scored an 8.2/13 during the pre-game show at 9:00, then rose to a 13.6/22 from 9:15-11:30 p.m. (The numbers, which do not take into account the early broadcasts on the West Coast, are due to be revised later today.) Ratings for the basketball championship game were up 16 percent from last year.

The president of the public-interest law firm Media Access Project forecast Monday that his and other groups that have battled against media consolidation will resist Sam Zell's deal to buy Tribune Co. with "fierce opposition." Noting that Tribune in recent years has acquired two media groups -- including the Los Angeles Times -- that have been operating newspapers and television stations in the same market under FCC waivers (or, in the case of WGN-TV in Chicago, a grandfather clause), Jay Schwartzman, who is based in Washington D.C., told the online edition of Editor & Publisher: "Seven years ago, [Tribune] bet that it could change FCC ownership rules to hold on to its co-located newspapers and TV stations in Ft. Lauderdale, Hartford, New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. It lost that gamble when citizens groups successfully opposed repeal of those policies." If Zell wants to continue to operate newspapers and TV stations in those markets, Schwartzman said, "this sale will face a long and difficult battle to obtain regulatory approval." Tribune CEO Dennis FitzSimons said Monday that there are no plans for the company to sell its TV stations (although it does plan to sell the Chicago Cubs baseball team and its 25-percent stake in Cox Communications). FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has indicated that he supports repeal of the cross-ownership rule.

Google announced Monday that it has signed an agreement with EchoStar Communications to employ Internet technology to sell commercials on EchoStar's DISH satellite TV service. Under the plan, Google will auction time to advertisers online, with the winning bidders seeing their spots aired during programming by cable networks on DISH. Advertisers would then receive a precise accounting of the number of people who watched the spots. Online auctioneer eBay is reportedly running tests to see whether it can set up a similar project.

CBS is planning a big send-off for The Price Is Right host Bob Barker, who is retiring in June. The network said that it plans a special primetime edition of the game show on May 16, hosted by Barker, in which contestants will have a shot at $1 million. On the following night, the network plans to air Bob Barker: A Celebration of 50 Years on Television that will include clips of Barker from his -- and television's -- early days to the present. The network also said that it will collect video tributes from individual Barker fans, which can be submitted via YouTube.

A woman who went on a hunger strike to protest against contestant Sanjaya Malakar's continued presence on American Idol has agreed to end her fast after 16 days upon doctor's advice. The woman, who uses only the initial J in her Internet postings, also urged others who had joined the hunger strike to give it up and instead join her in developing a voting strategy to counter those Idol mischief-makers who are attempting to sabotage the show by voting for the worst contestants.