`Princess and the Frog’ bounds to No. 1 with $24M

LOS ANGELES – The animated musical “The Princess and the Frog” jumped to No. 1 at the box office with $24.2 million in its first weekend of nationwide release.

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Hollywood.com are:

1. “The Princess and the Frog,” Disney, $24,208,916, 3,434 locations, $7,050 average, $27,088,786, three weeks.

2. “The Blind Side,” Warner Bros., $15,055,258, 3,388 locations, $4,444 average, $149,816,797, four weeks.

3. “Invictus,” Warner Bros., $8,611,147, 2,125 locations, $4,052 average, $8,611,147, one week.

4. “The Twilight Saga: New Moon,” Summit, $7,960,394, 3,635 locations, $2,190 average, $267,320,977, four weeks.

5. “Disney’s A Christmas Carol,” Disney, $6,833,190, 2,402 locations, $2,845 average, $124,426,097, six weeks.

6. “Brothers,” Lionsgate, $5,014,426, 2,088 locations, $2,402 average, $17,416,217, two weeks.

7. “Old Dogs,” Disney, $4,409,772, 3,090 locations, $1,427 average, $39,996,273, three weeks.

8. “2012,” Sony, $4,351,565, 2,838 locations, $1,533 average, $155,288,405, five weeks.

9. “Armored,” Sony Screen Gems, $3,504,374, 1,919 locations, $1,826 average, $11,750,895, two weeks.

10. “Ninja Assassin,” Warner Bros., $2,707,470, 2,100 locations, $1,289 average, $34,304,761, three weeks.

11. “Up in the Air,” Paramount, $2,394,344, 72 locations, $33,255 average, $3,982,627, two weeks.

12. “Planet 51,” Sony, $2,267,038, 2,570 locations, $882 average, $37,142,406, four weeks.

13. “Everybody’s Fine,” Miramax, $2,194,210, 2,141 locations, $1,025 average, $7,327,877, two weeks.

14. “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” Fox, $1,396,148, 1,268 locations, $1,101 average, $16,258,464, five weeks.

15. “Precious,” Lionsgate, $1,280,550, 664 locations, $1,929 average, $38,282,489, six weeks.

16. “The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day,” Apparition, $793,393, 524 locations, $1,514 average, $8,475,017, seven weeks.

17. “The Road,” Weinstein Co., $505,878, 135 locations, $3,747 average, $4,012,327, three weeks.

18. “An Education,” Sony Pictures Classics, $314,439, 223 locations, $1,410 average, $6,752,785, 10 weeks.

19. “Couples Retreat,” Universal, $257,820, 371 locations, $695 average, $107,592,235, 10 weeks.

20. “Larger Than Life 3-D: The Dave Matthews Band,” Cinedigm Entertainment, $246,042, 509 locations, $483 average, $246,042, one week.

Facebook rolls out new privacy tool

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) – Facebook began calling on users to get a better grip on their online privacy by dictating who sees what in profiles at the world’s leading social networking service.

All of Facebook’s more than 350 million members will be required to refine settings with a new software tool that lets them specify who gets to be privy to each photo, video, update or other piece of content uploaded to the website.

“We care so much about this that we will require people to go through it to get access to the service,” Facebook vice president of global communications, marketing and public policy Elliot Schrage told AFP.

“The idea is to evolve, to give users better control of with whom they share when they share.”

Nicolas Cage’s ex-girlfriend sues for fraud

LOS ANGELES (AFP) – The former girlfriend of Oscar-winning actor Nicolas Cage is suing him and his former accountant for fraud and breach of contract, demanding 13 million dollars and a home he promised her.

Attorneys representing Christina Fulton, a former actress and the mother of Cage’s 18-year-old son Weston, told AFP she had filed a lawsuit Tuesday claiming the actor’s series of financial problems had resulted in foreclosure of the house.

Fulton, 42, is also claiming that she racked up debt owed to the US tax collection agency — the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) — due to “negligence, concealment and misrepresentation” on the part of Cage’s former business manager, Samuel Levin.

The “Leaving Las Vegas” and “Con Air” star’s agent declined to comment.

Fulton said she believed the Los Angeles home where she lived with her son was under her name, until Cage allegedly served her an eviction notice in September.

Powerful snowstorm sweeps across West

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – A large and powerful storm howled across the West with snow and strong winds Monday, snarling traffic, closing schools and threatening to spawn mudslides in wildfire-devastated Southern California.

Virtually the entire region was suffering — from subzero wind chills in Washington state to heavy snow that closed schools and government offices in Reno, Nev., and left big rigs jackknifed across highways in several states. Blizzard warnings were in effect for northern Arizona and parts of Colorado, with forecasters predicting up to 2 feet of snow around Flagstaff.

The National Weather Service said the upper elevations of the Sierra mountains could get up to 3 feet of snow, with up to 4 feet forecast for the mountains of southern Utah. Even the hills east of San Francisco Bay received a rare dusting overnight, and snow was predicted for Fresno and other communities in California’s Central Valley.

Bad weather stretched far to the east as well. The first snow of the season for much of Indiana tangled traffic and delayed schools. Crashes left one person dead.

Victoria’s Secret model chosen from online vote

NEW YORK – A new Victoria’s Secret “angel” is getting her wings after an online vote.

Kylie Bisutti of Simi Valley, California, was the winner of a reality show-style contest to choose a model for the lingerie runway show’s CBS broadcast on Tuesday.

The 19-year-old beat out another finalist from California, Jamie Lee Darley.

Ten finalists were picked from four national casting calls and whittled down to two through online votes. Both finalists walked the runway when the show was taped, but only one appeared in the Tuesday broadcast: Bisutti.

Bisutti is a newlywed who said her mother-in-law encouraged her to audition.

AREN’T WE ENJOYING ALL THIS DEATH A LITTLE TOO MUCH?

I read an article by Stephen Marche. I don’t really agree with that.Why should we enjoy a famous persons death? and I would not change the way i was thinking of a famous person If that person dies . I just stop talking about things that I didn’t like about that person and its not because i have changed the way i was thinking of  he/she it’s just because I think that person is not with us anymore and I prefer to remember good things about him/her .

Taylor Swift wins five American Music Awards

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Country crossover star Taylor Swift overshadowed the late Michael Jackson at the American Music Awards on Sunday, winning five prizes including artist of the year.
Jackson, who had been expected to enjoy a clean sweep, ended up with four awards. He and Swift went head-to-head in the artist of the year race, the ceremony’s final prize.
Other multiple winners included hip-hop acts Jay-Z and the Black Eyed Peas, with two each.

Bulls escape on set of film starring Cruise, Diaz

MADRID – Seven bulls being used on the set of a film starring Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz have broken free in Spain and slightly injured two people.

Cruise and Diaz were not at Sunday’s rehearsal. The actors are scheduled to arrive in the city of Cadiz in southwest Spain for the filming of the “Knight & Day” movie next weekend.

Two unidentified women were slightly injured by the bulls as they broke free from the downtown location and ran through streets to a nearby beach. It was not immediately clear if the women had anything to do with the film.

Movie director Jose Luis Escolar told reporters he doesn’t know how the bulls escaped

Filming in Cadiz was to begin Monday, but local government spokesman Ignacio Romani says it has now been suspended until further notice.

British actor Edward Woodward dies aged 79

LONDON (AFP) – British actor Edward Woodward, famous for film and TV roles including “The Wicker Man,” Australian feature “Breaker Morant” and US series “The Equalizer,” died in hospital Monday aged 79, his agent said.

Woodward had been suffering from various illnesses, including pneumonia, Janet Glass said in a statement.

Jackson’s sister blames doctor for Michael’s death

NEW YORK – Janet Jackson blames Dr. Conrad Murray for her brother Michael’s death.

She told ABC News in an interview to air Wednesday that Murray should no longer be allowed to practice medicine. “He was the one that was administering,” Jackson said. “I think he is responsible.”

Prosecutors in Los Angeles are weighing charges against Murray in the pop singer’s death. Murray told police he administered a powerful anesthetic to the singer shortly before Jackson died June 25.

A spokeswoman for the doctor, Miranda Sevcik, said Monday he continues to maintain he neither prescribed or administered anything to Jackson that should have killed him.

Jackson told ABC’s Robin Roberts that she was at her home in New York on June 25 when her assistant called to say Michael had been taken to the hospital. She told relatives to call her when they got to the hospital and grew concerned when she wasn’t getting any calls back.

She says that a day doesn’t go by when she doesn’t think of Michael. “It just didn’t ring true to me. It felt like a dream,” she said. “It’s still so difficult for me to believe.