'Da Vinci' dominates weekend box office
HOLLYWOOD, May 21 (UPI) -- "The Da Vinci Code" scored big in its first weekend, racking up a whopping $77 million in gross U.S. ticket receipts, boxofficemojo.com estimated.
The animated "Over the Hedge" was a big hit with $37.228 for its first weekend.
"Mission: Impossible III," after reigning over its first two weekends in release, fell to third with slightly more than $11 million.
"Poseidon," in its second weekend, was fourth with $9.2 million, while "RV" took in $5.1 million in its fourth weekend.
"See No Evil" debuted at No. 6 with a disappointing $3.46 million ($4.3 million after its early release), and "Just My Luck" was at No. 7 with $1.327 million.
"An American Haunting" was in eighth place with $1.663 million in its third weekend; "United 93," $1.4 million, fourth weekend; and "Akeelah and the Bee," $1 million, fourth weekend.
X-Men star says mom leaving drove him
LONDON, May 21 (UPI) -- Hugh Jackman, the star of the X-Men film trilogy, said feelings of abandonment when his mother left the family fueled his desire to succeed.
The 37-year-old star told the Sunday Times of London he appreciates life as a husband and father of two adopted kids.
He thinks his mother suffered from post-partum depression after having Jackman, the youngest of five children.
He said he doesn't hold any grudges for her leaving the family in Australia when he was 8 years old and moving to Britain.
"I always hoped she would come back," said Jackman.
Jackman was a stage star before getting the role in 1999's first X-Men film.
The third X-Men film hits theaters this week.
Jackman still sees his mother in her London apartment.
New Sofia Coppola film hits Cannes
CANNES, France, May 21 (UPI) -- Sofia Coppola's film using contemporary culture to tell the life of Marie Antoinette premieres at the Cannes Film Festival.
Coppola tells her version of the French queen's story, including a comparison to Princess Diana and 1970s and 80s music, the Sunday Times of London reports.
The film, which Coppola admits takes some liberties with history, also draws a link between the 18th century French monarchy and the glut of the modern-day affluence.
"I wanted the film to be credible but I was inspired more by the visual than historical facts. I want people to be transported into another era with an echo of today," Coppola said.
She does that with the music, dialogue and deluge of champagne consumption although historians say the beverage wasn't popular in France at the time.
Still, Coppola tells the story of Marie Antoinette being sent from her native Austria to France, her controversial relationship with her husband and ends in the first year of the French Revolution.
Coppola won an Oscar for her film Lost in Translation.
