UPI NewsTrack Entertainment News

'High School Musical' holds to No. 1

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- "High School Musical 3: Senior Year" stayed at the head of the class this weekend in U.S. theaters, Box Office Mojo said Sunday.

Starring Zack Efron and Vanessa Hudgens,

High School Musical" tallied another $15.04 million, giving it a two-week total of $61.75 million.

Debuting at No. 2 was the comedy "Zack and Miri Make a Porno," with $10.68 million in estimated ticket sales. Written and directed by Kevin Smith, the movie stars Elizabeth Banks and Seth Rogen.

"Saw V" slipped to No. 3 with $10.11 million in gate receipts, while Clint Eastwood's "Changeling," starring Angelina Jolie and Gattlin Griffith, rocketed up from No. 20 to No. 4 with $9.41 million in sales.

Another new movie, "The Haunting of Molly Hartley," a Halloween-timed thriller starring Haley Bennett and Jake Weber, came in at No. 5 with just over $6 million in receipts.

Filling out the Top 10 were "Beverly Hills Chihuahua," $4.75 million; "The Secret Life of Bees," $4 million; "Max Payne," $3.7 million; "Eagle Eye," $3.4 million; and "Pride & Glory," $3.3 million.

Bounced out even before Election Day was "W.," Oliver Stone's movie about President George W. Bush, and "Body of Lies."

McCain spoofs McCain on 'SNL'

NEW YORK, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- Republican U.S. presidential nominee John McCain spoofed his own campaign in a "Saturday Night Live" sketch featuring Tina Fey as Sarah Palin.

The show opened with McCain and Fey, as running mate Palin, giving their answer to Democratic nominee Barack Obama's 30-minute infomercial -- a segment on the home shopping channel QVC.

"This has been an historic campaign, so why not remember it with our line of collectible products," McCain said in the sketch. "Such as 10 commemorative plates that celebrate the 10 Town Hall debates between Senator Obama and myself. They're blank; he wouldn't agree to those debates. Too bad. They're still nice plates."

McCain also appeared on "Weekend Update," discussing last-minute campaign ploys he might use with three days left before Election Day. One joke played off his image as a "maverick," with McCain saying he might try the "Reverse Maverick" -- "where I do whatever anybody tells me."

He also said he could try "The Sad Grandpa."

"That's where I president! It's my turn! Vote for me!'"

SAG to meet with federal mediator

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- Hollywood's Screen Actors Guild said its national negotiating committee will meet with a federal mediator this week regarding a new contract.

Representatives for the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers met with the mediator last week.

SAG and AMPTP negotiating committees met for 44 days of formal negotiations and haven't yet reached a successor agreement to the TV/theatrical pact that expired June 30.

AMPTP has repeatedly said a package it presented that day was its final offer and the two parties have not met since then, aside from one sidebar session during the summer.

SAG last month asked that a federal mediator be used to help jump-start contract talks. AMPTP met with the mediator last Thursday.

SAG said in a statement on its Web site that its negotiating committee is scheduled to meet with the mediator assigned by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service Wednesday.

'Solace' breaks U.K. box-office record

LONDON, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- "Quantum of Solace," the latest installment in the James Bond movie series set a record for biggest opening day at the British box office.

The BBC said Sony reported the movie, starring Daniel Craig and Olga Kurylenko, earned about $7.9 million its first day in British theaters Friday.

The past record for a Friday opening was set by the 2005 movie "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," which earned $6.5 million its first day.

"Solace" also surpassed the first-day box-office take of the previous Bond movie, "Casino Royale," which earned about $4.7 million in tickets sales when it opened in 2006, the BBC noted.