Sony's hope of going into the coming weekend with $200 million already in the bank for Spider-Man 3 appeared dashed on Tuesday as ticket sales slowed. Nevertheless, the film had taken in an estimated $169.5 million by Tuesday, leaving open the possibility of matching Spider-Man 2's record of making it to the $200 million level on its eighth day of release (Friday). It took the original Spider-Man nine days to reach that level.

George Lucas has joined the major newspaper critics in their negative appraisal of Spider-Man 3. In an interview with FoxNews.com's Roger Friedman, Lucas said, "It's a silly movie. ... There just isn't much there. Once you take it all apart, there's not much story, is there?" Over the weekend, Spider-Man 3 surged ahead of Lucas's Star Wars' episode Revenge of the Sith to take the record for the biggest weekend box-office record. Star Wars was also criticized as being "silly," Lucas noted. "But it wasn't." He also disclosed that he is working on at least two other Star Wars movies for television. "But they won't have members of the Skywalker family as characters. They will be other people of that milieu."

McDonald's and DreamWorks have selected the unlikely character Shrek as the centerpiece of a new campaign to promote its healthy meals, including apple slices and salads. The character, who, judging from his girth, has clearly not eaten many of those items himself, will also be featured in online programs and TV public service announcements to promote physical activites involving children. The four-week campaign kicks off on May 11, a week before the release of Shrek the Third. In reporting the deal, Reuters observed Tuesday that Shrek is also being used to promote M&M's chocolates and such sugar-laden cereals as Kellogg's Froot Loops and Frosted Flakes.

News Corp said today (Wednesday) that its profit climbed 6.2 percent in its third quarter, largely due to the box-office hit Night at the Museum and a 34-percent jump in revenue at its Fox News Network. Net income increased to $871 million from $820 million during the comparable quarter a year ago as overall sales rose 21 percent to $7.51 billion. Earnings from its movies soared 82 percent as Museum earned $571 million worldwide in theaters and Borat: Cultural Learnings of America For Make Benefit of Glorious Nation Kazakhstan took in $39.5 million from domestic video sales.

Disney CEO Robert Iger threw cold water Tuesday on the disclosure by Comcast COO Steve Burke earlier in the week that he was in discussions with studios to make movies available on pay-per-view cable on the same day they were released in theaters for $30-50. Iger insisted that Disney was "not in discussions to sell movies to cable in the same window as theatrical." Iger's comments came during a telephone conference with analysts following release of the company's first-quarter report showing total revenue rising to $8.1 billion from $8 billion during the same period a year ago. Iger forecast a big second quarter but declined to predict whether the upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End would exceed the box-office take of the new record holder, Spider-Man 3. He called the new Pirates film, due to open over the Memorial Day holiday, "simply great." Asked about remaining the only major studio to release new movies on Apple's iTunes online store at prices well below those for DVDs, Iger said that Disney makes the same amount of money from an iTunes sale as it does from a DVD. Commenting on the policy of other studios to release only library titles via the Apple site, Iger indicated that only Disney's "fresh titles" are selling well on iTunes.

Charles Gibson suggests that his successful rise to the top of the ratings among the network news anchors has come as a result of doing "nothing" -- his word -- to achieve that goal. In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Gibson, whose ABC World News is now the No. 1-rated evening newscast, said that ratings are "like crack for producers. ... You get into thinking, 'OK, we did that story, it rated well, so let's do more on that subject.' I don't think you can do that." Likewise, he suggested that the content of the programs will not draw younger viewers. "People's lifestyles give them a chance to watch the 6:30 p.m. news or they don't," he said, suggesting that younger viewers are generally occupied with other matters at that time. "But in 15 years when [the kids are] off to college and you're coming home maybe in the late afternoon ... and want to find out what's gone on that day, maybe at that point you'll turn it on," he said. Gibson also suggested that he was initially jealous that NBC had received the package of videos that Virginia Tech killer Cho Seung-hui had produced on the day of his rampage. Then, "I thought, 'Boy, I'm glad he did that to them and not to us because they have got a really, really tricky decision on their hands.'" More recently Gibson says he decided not to air a report by ABC investigative reporter Brian Ross about the so-called DC Madam because other news developments demanded greater attention.

During a week that saw the ratings of all evening newscasts decline, the CBS Evening News With Katie Couric declined the most, falling to 6.05 million viewers -- the fewest ever recorded (or at least since the modern Nielsen People Meters were introduced in 1987) for the CBS newscast. At the same time ABC World News With Charles Gibson enjoyed its widest lead over NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams since the week of Peter Jennings' death in August 2005. 8.1 million viewers tuned in to the ABC newscast compared with 7.5 million for Williams's. It was the ABC newscast's ninth first-place finish in the past 13 weeks.

Despite placing three shows in Nielsen's top five, Fox came in third behind CBS and ABC in the ratings last week. The top two shows were Wednesday's American Idol results episode, which attracted 28.8 million viewers and Tuesday's performance episode, which drew 26.7 million. Fox's House placed fifth with 21.1 million viewers. But ABC also produced some strong contenders, including a two-hour Grey's Anatomy, which landed in third place, and the Monday edition of Dancing With the Stars, which followed in fourth place. Nevertheless CBS performed the most consistently, capturing an average 7.9 rating and a 13 share for the week. ABC placed second with an average 6.4/10, followed by Fox, with a 6.3/10. NBC trailed with a 5.8/9.

The top ten shows of the week according to Nielsen Research: 1. American Idol (Wednesday), Fox, 17.0/26; 2. American Idol (Tuesday), Fox, 15.7/25; 3. Grey's Anatomy, ABC, 13.4/21; 4. Dancing With the Stars (Monday), ABC, 12.6/20; 5. House, Fox, 12.5/19; 6. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CBS, 11.7/18; 7. CSI: Miami, CBS, 11.4/19; 8. Desperate Housewives, ABC, 11.1/17; 9. Dancing With the Stars (Tuesday), ABC, 10.7/16; 10. Without a Trace, CBS, 9.6/16.

Comcast has unveiled a new cable modem capable of speeds of 150 megabits per second -- some 25 times faster than standard cable modems. The device, which requires linking four cable lines together and is faster than Verizon's FiOS fiber-optic technology, was displayed at the National Cable and Telecommunications Assn. meeting in Las Vegas. Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said that he expects the system, currently dubbed DOCSIS 3.0, will become available in 2009.

It may only have hit the theaters a few days ago, but News Corp's FX Entertainment Channel has landed rights to Spider-Man 3 for what could amount to $33 million if the domestic gross exceeds $400 million. The five-year deal with Sony Films also allows the studio to sell the picture on broadcast TV for an additional $7-10 million. FX will first be allowed to air the film in December 2009.

The sale of actor John Schneider's General Lee automobile, made famous in the Dukes of Hazzard TV series, for nearly $10 million on the eBay auction site appeared to be in doubt Tuesday as the highest bidder, identified as William Fisher of Laguna Hills, failed to deliver a scheduled deposit. Ebay had said that only "qualified bidders" would be permitted to bid on the vehicle but did not indicate how it would determine the qualifications. Today's (Wednesday) Ventura County Star reported that Fisher had "backed out of the deal" and that Schneider, who played Bo Duke on the TV series, plans to take legal action against him.