Success was an equal-opportunity employer over the weekend as the wholesome High School Musical 2 set cable records as it arrived on television (see separate item) and the raunchy comedy Superbad performed beyond analysts' expectations at the box office. Judd Apatow's Superbad, a high-school comedy that -- at least officially -- could not be seen by many high-schoolers because of its R-rating, took in an estimated $31.2 million. It had cost only $20 million to produce. Apatow's last movie, Knocked Up, opened with $30.6 million just two months ago -- and has now grossed $147 million domestically. Meanwhile, Warner Bros.' The Invasion snatched few bodies into theaters, grossing just $6 million, according to estimates, to place fifth. Placing second was last week's winner, Rush Hour 3, which dropped to $21.8 million, down a steep 56 percent from its opening gross. The Bourne Ultimatum slipped to third place in its third weekend to $19 million, while The Simpsons Movie landed in fourth place with $6.7 million. After four weekends, the family family comedy has now earned $165.1 million. The only other new film, The Weinstein Co.'s The Last Legion, was still waiting for its first legion -- of moviegoers, that is. It opened out of the top ten with just $2.5 million. Although it featured an impressive cast, including Ben Kingsley and Colin Firth, it was not screened for critics, presumably because the studio feared negative reviews. They turned out to be right. Wesley Morris in the Boston Globe summed up the general critical reaction: "There's no fun to be had here," he wrote on Saturday. Also opening in four theaters was the Leonardo DiCaprio environmental documentary The 11th Hour, which earned a respectable $41,000 in just four theaters. The film received mostly favorable reviews. Kevin Crust in the Los Angeles Times called it "a harrowing account of the planet's current condition."

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Media by Numbers: 1. Superbad, $31.2 million; 2. Rush Hour 3, $21.8 million; 3. The Bourne Ultimatum, $19 million; 4. The Simpsons Movie, $6.7 million; 5. The Invasion, $6 million; 6. Stardust, $5.2 million; 7. Hairspray, $4.3 million; 8. Underdog, $3.6 million; 9. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, $3.54 million; 10. I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, $3.5 million.

Who would ever have thought that The Simpsons Movie would become a bigger smash overseas than in the U.S.? But that's what has happened. According to Daily Variety, the animated movie remained in first place overseas for the fourth straight weekend, taking in $23.4 million to bring its gross to $270 million, 64 percent above its domestic total of $165 million. The movie remained in front of The Bourne Ultimatum as it became the only movie of the summer to win four straight weekends. Not even Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End or Spider-Man 3 could do that.

Filming in Germany of the Tom Cruise movie Valkyrie has been halted after eleven extras were injured during filming Sunday night when a panel truck in which they were riding reportedly opened. The film production had already run headlong into controversy over the decision to cast Cruise as Col. Claus Graf Schenk von Stauffenberg as the leader of the so-called Generals' Plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler in World War II. Cruise himself was not present when the accident occurred.

One day after Jet Li, one of China's most successful film stars, called for a relaxation of censorship in his country, the chairman of China Film Group called for greater emphasis on patriotism in Chinese movies. In an interview appearing on the Chinese website Sina.com, Han Saping urged colleagues to extol China's economic progress. "There can't be anyone who makes fun of it. People who do either have ulterior motives or they're mentally challenged." Over the weekend, Jet Li said that his 2000 hit film Romeo Must Die was banned by Chinese censors because the characters included Chinese gangsters. If such characters were to be banned, he said, "It leaves only the ancient Chinese stories to be produced."

The Disney Channel's High School Musical 2 became the most-watched basic cable TV program in history Friday as it drew 17.2 million viewers, well above the previous record of 12.5 million who watched the 2001 premiere of Crossfire Trail on TNT. It was also the most-watched Friday-night program -- broadcast or cable -- since 2002, and the most-watched TV show of the summer. (The highest-rated broadcast network program Friday night was ABC's 20/20 with 6.9 million viewers.) Disney Channel Worldwide entertainment president Gary Marsh told today's (Monday) Daily Variety: "I think we have officially crossed the line from High School Musical the movie to High School Musical the mania." Commenting on the made-for-TV film's success, the New York Times observed today: "The success of High School Musical 2 is an indication of Disney's long-term efforts to reposition its cable channel to appeal to the underserved 9-to-14 age group and to rope in youngsters for whom Mickey Mouse seems too babyish."

American Idol host Ryan Seacrest has been selected to host this year's Emmy Awards, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences announced today (Monday). The Awards show is scheduled to air on September 16. It marks the first time in memory that an established comic was not selected to host the ceremonies. Only last week it was announced that Seacrest had also been named to host next year's Super Bowl pre-game and half-time shows.

The decision by the Hollywood Reporter and the Reuter News Agency to run an article by columnist Ray Richmond about the late Merv Griffin's alleged homosexuality on the day of his funeral -- then pull the article from their websites -- then restore it -- has touched off a storm of public and industry controversy. L.A. Weekly columnist Nikki Finke reported that the Richmond column was yanked after editor Elizabeth Guider was contacted by angry friends of Griffin. But David Ehrenstein, who writes a column for the popular liberal blog The Huntington Post, said that Richmond contacted him "fearful for his job" and he, in turn, called Michelangelo Signorile's "Sirius Out Q" radio show about the censorship. Listeners to the program, Ehrenstein writes, deluged the Hollywood Reporter with demands that the article be restored. And a few hours later it was. Finke says that Guider then dispatched an email to the Griffin camp saying that Richmond's column was not "malicious, mendacious or unfair-minded." (It quickly became the most-read item on the trade paper's website.) Griffin's friends, Finke continued, canceled a tribute ad that they had planned to run in the Reporter today (Monday). Reuters did not restore the article, saying that "it did not meet our standards for news."

Predictably, Comedy Central's Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert used the news that they would be deposed in Viacom's $1-billion copyright-infringement lawsuit against YouTube for comedy material last week. At one point Colbert pretended to subject Stewart to a mock on-air deposition. At the end of it, he remarked, "We should put this on YouTube!" It wasn't long, according to Broadcasting & Cable magazine before that actually happened. Meanwhile, Comedy Central announced over the weekend that beginning today (Monday) Stewart's The Daily Show will air a series of features from Iraq with former Marine Maj. Rob Riggle. His five day series is being titled, "Operation Silent Thunder: The Daily Show in Iraq." Viacom owns the channel.

ESPN and ESPN.com have won this year's journalism competition conducted by Military Reporters and Editors for their coverage of the friendly-fire death of former NFL player Pat Tillman in Afghanistan and its subsequent cover-up. "An Un-American Tragedy" was initially posted on ESPN's website, written and reported by ESPN.com's senior writer Mike Fish. It later became the basis for the TV documentary Tillman's Final Mission, which aired on ESPN.

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) has won a victory against Oregon-based Rockwell Billiards, which had introduced a pool cue endorsed by The Sopranos star Joseph R. Gannascoli, who played a gay character beaten to death and sodomized with a pool cue in the TV series. The cue was advertised as "A Cue to Die For." Following protests by GLAAD, Rockwell agreed to withdraw the product. In a statement, GLAAD President Neil G. Giuliano said, "Rockwell Billiards has done the right thing by no longer selling a product that many deemed offensive and insensitive."