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'Ice Age,' 'Transformers' share No. 1

LOS ANGELES, July 5 (UPI) -- "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" and "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" tied for No. 1 in U.S. movie theaters this weekend, Box Office Mojo said Sunday.

Both tallied $42.5 million in estimated gate receipts.

The third in the animated "Ice Age" series about the woolly mammoth Manny's adventures, which just opened this weekend, again has Ray Romano providing Manny's voice. Queen Latifah, John Leguizamo and Denis Leary are some of the other celebrities lending vocal support.

"Transformers," now in its second week, also had an estimated $42.5 million in sales this week and has racked up $293.46 million in total sales.

Also hitting the theaters this weekend was "Public Enemies," the Johnny Depp movie about the Depression-era Chicago gangster John Dillinger. It came in at No. 3 with $26.17 million.

Next up were "The Proposal" at No. 4 with $12.78 million and "The Hangover," still hanging in there at No. 5 in its fifth week.

Rounding out the top 10 were "Up" with an estimated $6.58 million in gross receipts, "My Sister's Keeper" with $5.26 million, "The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3" with $2.5 million and "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" at $2.1 million.

The two new movies pushed "Star Trek" and "Away We Go" out of the top tier.

Outfest broadening its film boundaries

LOS ANGELES, July 5 (UPI) -- The director of programming for Outfest says the Los Angeles festival of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender movies is broadening its boundaries.

Festival official Kim Yutani said the films being featured in the 27th year of the festival do not revolve entirely around LGBT characters, but instead offer a diverse range of cinematic stories, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday.

"Filmmakers are not necessarily only telling stories with gay characters at the center; they are interested in telling other stories too," Yutani said.

Among the movies to air at Outfest, which runs Thursday to July 19, are "La Mission," the story of a former convict struggling with his gay son, and "We Are the Mods," which tells the tale of a teenage girl exploring her sexual identity.

"Mods" director E.E. Cassidy told the Times she is concerned her work will not be accepted by general audiences since it was turned down for screenings at more mainstream festivals.

"I have to go where people want to show the film, even if I think it has a broader appeal than just the gay community," she said.

Living statues coming to London square

LONDON, July 5 (UPI) -- Participants in an upcoming public art exhibit in London say they are ready to pose as living statues in Trafalgar Square.

Participant Tom de Freston told The Sunday Telegraph he will portray the late Italian artist Michelangelo Caravaggio in artist Antony Gormley's living statue exhibit at the London square.

"Caravaggio seems a bit over the top for these days so I wanted to send it up a bit," de Freston said of his part in the exhibit, which begins Monday.

"I am going as a giant pigeon," communications student Heather Knight said. "It's not a protest about the ban on feeding pigeons in the square. I just thought it was appropriate and fun."

The Telegraph said 15,000 people applied to be in Gormley's exhibit, but only 2,400 were chosen to serve as living statues on the square's fourth plinth for an hour at a time.

Essence festival attendees honor Jackson

NEW ORLEANS, July 5 (UPI) -- Three notable attendees at the Essence Musical Festival in New Orleans say the late singer Michael Jackson should be remembered for his musical accomplishments.

USA Today reported Saturday singers Beyonce Knowles and Ne-Yo, along with comedian Steve Harvey, spoke about the late "Thriller" star during the start of the three-day festival.

Knowles used her Friday performance at the Essence Festival to show a home video clip of her as a 5-year-old excited over a Jackson performance.

"That night I saw my hero perform ... when I saw Michael Jackson hit the stage, that's when I decided who I wanted to be," Knowles told those in attendance Friday.

"I'm gonna do what I can to keep the memory alive," Ne-Yo had offered earlier that day.

Harvey, meanwhile, offered kind words for Jackson, who he credited with helping black performers find a strong place in the world of popular music, USA Today reported.

"He was the man who put black people on MTV. Without him, we would have never crossed that barrier," Harvey said of Jackson, who died June 25.