TV Land has elected former president Bill Clinton to serve as a keynote speaker at the cabler's March 23 upfront. Oh, what Monica used to do up front.... Nick Jr. premieres a new episde of Dora the Explorer, "Star Mountain," on March 12.... Flushed Away unseated The Departed as the top DVD seller last week, while Babel was the No. 1 rental/OTC sleep aid.... DVD release dates have been set for Children of Men (March 27) and The Good Shepherd (April 3).
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Which film follies were not just dramatically anemic, but memorably cash-poor as well? In alphabetical order, as detailed by Variety:— All the King's Men ($7 million domestic gross versus a $55 million production budget, and despite an all-star cast)— Sharon Stone's Basic Instinct 2 ($5 million versus $70 mil)— Flushed Away ($61 mil versus $150 mil, though I cannot imagine it's any worse an animated film than Happy Feet, which my sons and I barely endured on Sunday afternoon. Subtle message that kids' film has.)— Flyboys ($13 mil versus $60 mil)— Hugh Jackman's The Fountain ($9 mil versus $53 mil)— Freedomland ($12 mil, despite a cast that included Samuel L. Jackson, Julianne Moore and Edie Falco)— Russell Crowe's A Good Year ($7 mil, hampered by misguided marketing)— Lady in the Water ($42 mil versus $75 mil and a slew of critical barbs aimed at M. Night Shyamalan)— Poseidon ($60 mil versus $160 mil)— The Wicker Man (a $23 mil take ...
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So much for worrying about how it would play in Kazakhstan. Sacha Baron Cohen's Borat topped the box office in its first weekend of release, racking up $26.4 million (or 3.52 billion Kazakhstan tenge). What's more, Borat did that business in just 837 theaters, less than one-fourth as many as runner-up The Santa Clause 3 ($20 million). Rounding out the top five were Flushed Away (debuting to $19.1 mi), Saw III ($15.5 mil) and The Departed ($8 mil).
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