Saw IV was not screened for critics, who had to stand in line for tickets just like everyone else last weekend. Their reviews turned out to be what the studio must have expected. "The franchise is getting long in the tooth," commented Kyle Smith in the New York Post, adding that the movie might have been called "Saw It Be-IV." Critics, unable and/or unwilling to write a conventional review of the movie, were reduced to writing recommendations like this one from Elizabeth Weitzman in the New York Daily News. "If an hour and a half of so-called 'torture porn' sounds like fun, you'll find Saw IV situated somewhere between the first in the cycle (a solid original with plenty of energy in it) and the last (a gasping copycat willing to do anything to stay alive)." But Scott Schueller in the Chicago Tribune dispensed this advice: "If you like your films disgusting, deplorable and demoralizing rather than smart, scary and suspenseful, go ahead and feed the coffers of Saw IV's makers. If you don't, please don't give the studio a reason to make Saw V. Please."

The Saw franchise committed its annual serial killing at the box office over the weekend before Halloween as Saw IV collected $31.8 million, according to final figures released Monday. Overall, the box office showed little signs of life, recording a take that was lower than last year's for the sixth straight weekend. The No. 2 film was the Steve Carell comedy Dan in Real Life, which debuted with $11.8 million. But a huge drop-off occurred after the top-two. Last weekend's vampire film, 30 Days of Night, had most of the blood drained from it as it saw ticket sales fall to $6.9 million, just ahead of the fifth week of Disney's The Game Plan which took in $6.1 million, to bring its total to $76.9 million the biggest total of the season. Rounding out the top five was Why Did I Get Married?, which brought in $5.4 million in its third week.

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. Saw IV, Lions Gate, $31,756,764, 1 Wks. (New); 2. Dan in Real Life, Disney, $11,809,445, 1 Wks. (New); 3. 30 Days of Night, Sony, $6,862,764, 2 Wks., ($27,480,907); 4. The Game Plan, Disney, $6,129,720, 5 Wks., ($76,939,167); 5. Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married?, Lions Gate, $5,643,899, 3 Wks., ($47,204,260); 6. Michael Clayton, Warner Bros., $4,924,374, 4 Wks., ($28,668,168); 7. Gone Baby Gone, Miramax, $3,817,451, 2 Wks., ($11,226,975); 8. The Nightmare Before Christmas, Disney, $3,446,012, 2 Wks., ($10,100,435); 9. We Own the Night, Sony, $3,395,012, 3 Wks., ($25,065,018); 10. The Comebacks, Fox Atomic, $3,371,708, 2 Wks., ($9,925,268).

Apparently having overcome the snide comments that greeted the announcement that he had been chosen to play James Bond for Casino Royale, Daniel Craig has signed on to play him again for four more films, according to published reports. MGM chief Harry Sloan told the Hollywood Reporter that Craig had been signed because franchises are "the basis of any studio." Meanwhile, it was reported that writer-director Paul Haggis (Crash) has delivered his screenplay for the next 007 movie to MGM, just beating out the November 1 WGA strike deadline.

Concerned about the current negative image of the American military in many countries, Paramount Pictures and Hasbro, the toy manufacturer, have decided that in their forthcoming film featuring comic-book patriot G.I. Joe, the character will become part of a multinational force, the London Daily Telegraph reported today (Tuesday). Even the character's name has become an acronym for Global Integrated Joint Operating Entity, the newspaper said. Word of the makeover is likely to anger U.S. conservatives, the Telegraph noted. The film is due to open in 2009.

Suggesting that the march to the picket lines remains unretarded, two major studios warned contract writers that they may be subject to legal action if they comply with demands by the WGA to submit to the guild all unproduced material that they have written for their companies. Universal and New Line sent out their letters individually, but it's expected that other studios that are members of the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers will follow suit. Universal said that it would regard such disclosure to the guild as "misappropriation of corporate property;" New Line, as "a breach of your writing agreement." However, a WGA attorney said Monday that the WGA instituted a similar strike rule during the 1988 WGA strike, without objection from the studios. Meanwhile, the secretary-treasurer of Hollywood Teamsters Local 399 said that while the union can not stage a sympathy strike with the WGA, individual members can legitimately choose not to cross picket lines. Local secretary-treasurer Leo Reed said in a message to members, "As for me as an individual, I will not cross any picket line whether it is sanctioned or not because I firmly believe that Teamsters do not cross picket lines."

NBC Universal President and CEO Jeff Zucker took another swipe at Apple and its iTunes Store Monday, saying that they are preventing media companies from selling online content at profitable rates. "We know that Apple has destroyed the music business - in terms of pricing -- and if we don't take control, they'll do the same thing on the video side," Zucker maintained. NBC recently pulled its shows off the iTunes store, and on Monday made most of them available on Hulu, a website it is creating with Fox. He disclosed that although NBC programs accounted for 40 percent of the video sold on the iTunes site, the company had only earned about $15 million from the service. Although Hulu received much applause from analysts and online critics Monday, Hulu's own feedback page quickly filled up with angry complaints from users. Many were upset that the site's "streaming" content could not be uploaded onto their video iPods or iPhones and similar devices. Others complained that Hulu shows and movies could not be viewed overseas. Several remarked that they now intend to download NBC shows illegally, noting that they had willingly been paying for them on iTunes in the past. "You guys are pretty stupid," one writer concluded.

NBC Universal chief Jeff Zucker attempted to knock down persistent rumors that parent General Electric is likely to sell NBC after the Summer 2008 Olympics. Zucker said that it would make little sense for GE to do so, given the company's strong growth recently and the likelihood that it would only accelerate in the months ahead. Speaking at a New York event arranged by Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Zucker also indicated that there are no changes in the network's plans to replace Jay Leno with Conan O'Brien on the Tonight show in 2009. He said that he hopes Leno will also remain with the network. "We are in those conversations now," he said, adding that he is "hopeful that Jay will be with us."

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is pushing to end exclusive contracts between cable providers and apartment-building owners. "People who live in apartment buildings deserve to have the same type of competition and choices as people who live in suburbs," Martin told today's (Tuesday) Los Angeles Times. "I'm optimistic that if you have additional competition, you'll have lower prices." But cable providers contend that they have invested millions of dollars to wire apartment buildings on the condition that they receive exclusive contracts. And the newspaper quoted representatives from some minority organizations as worrying that barring exclusive deals would result in some cable companies pulling out of low-income areas altogether.

Saying that "HD [high definition] on the Internet is not imminent: It has arrived," Akamai Technologies has launched TheHdWeb.com, to demonstrate its new system to deliver high-definition video to consumers reliably. Akamai indicated that its high-definition technology requires distribution by servers deployed within the networks of broadband providers so that the HD signal can be close to the end-user.