SUCCESS IS REVENGE'S REVENGE AGAINST CRITICS

Ticket sales for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallenon Sunday fell a whopping $3 million below Paramount's estimate. Nevertheless, the studio claimed that the movie earned $200.1 million over its first five days, only about 1 million below the original estimate. BoxOfficeMojo.com said that Paramount explained the apparent discrepancy by noting that it had not received complete reports from some theaters for the movie's midnight opening on Wednesday and from "institutional" IMAX locations in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. Nevertheless, the total still left Revenge of the Fallenas the second-highest-grossing movie over a five-day start, behind last year's The Dark Knight, which raked in $203.8 million. Overseas, Fallen grossed $166.1 million in 58 countries, bringing its worldwide total to $390.3 million. The success, which came despite a critical drubbing, sent shares in theater chains soaring. Carmike Cinemas, the nation's largest exhibitor, was up 10 percent, closing at $8.38. Regal Theaters was up 7 percent to $13.47, and Cinemark, up 6 percent to $11.20. In addition, Viacom, the parent of Paramount, was up 4 percent to $24.71. But today's (Tuesday) Hollywood Reporterindicated that the biggest beneficiary of the movie's success may have been IMAX, whose stock has risen 19 percent since Wednesday's opening. IMAX theaters accounted for $14.4 million of the movie's gross over the five days.

{@@@newline@@@}{@@@newline@@@}The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Box Office Mojo (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date):

1.Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Paramount/DreamWorks, $108,966,307, 1 Wks. ($200,077,255 -- From Wednesday); 2. The Proposal, Disney, $18,578,541, 2 Wks. ($69,162,471); 3. The Hangover, Warner Bros., $17,022,166, 4 Wks. ($183,054,267); 4. Up, Disney, $13,061,737, 5 Wks. ($250,234,554); 5. My Sister's Keeper, Warner Bros., $12,442,212, (New); 6. Year One, Sony, $6,022,444, 2 Wks. ($32,529,560); 7. Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, Sony, $5,451,107, 3 Wks. ($53,456,827); 8. Star Trek, Paramount, $3,711,968, 8 Wks. ($246,331,182); 9. Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, 20th Century Fox, $3,643,522, 6 Wks. ($163,391,192); 10. Away We Go, Focus, $1,709,313, 4 Wks. ($4,088,390).

JERRY LEWIS REVIVING THE NUTTY PROFESSOR ON BROADWAY

Eighty-three-year-old Jerry Lewis will join the list of Hollywood personalities bringing stage versions of their movie work to Broadway, published reports said Monday. He is expected to direct a musical version of his 1963 film The Nutty Professor,which will reportedly feature a musical score by Marvin Hamlisch and Rupert Holmes. He is not expected to appear in the production. In 1995, Lewis received rave reviews for his performance in a revival of Damn Yankees, his first and only appearance in a Broadway show.

THE PIRATE BAY LURED BY TREASURE

The Pirate Bay, whose leaders were recently convicted in Sweden of copyright infringement, has been sold to Stockholm-based Global Gaming Factory for the equivalent of $7.8 million. In a statement, Global CEO Hans Pandeya said that the company plans to introduce a new version of the BitTorrent indexer "that allows compensation to the content providers and copyright owners." It did not suggest how much it intended to compensate the copyright holders or even whether it had had discussions with them. The deal also raised suspicions among BitTorrent bloggers that the movie and record industries may have been behind the purchase. Global operates a network of Internet cafes and game centers.

BRÜNO RIDES INTO SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

Launching another publicity stunt that might have gladdened the hearts of old-time Hollywood press agents, Sasha Baron-Cohen as his character Brüno strode onto Sydney, Australia's Market Street Monday dressed in a skimpy version of a British knight's suit of armor, leading a horse outfitted in bondage gear. He was accompanied by an entourage of bikini-clad models, whose bodies were painted silver. Speaking in an Austrian accent, he told reporters ""Ich really hope my movie realizes its full global potential and doesn't peter out after a promising start like swine flu." The Australian Associated Pressreported that journalists attending a news conference for Baron-Cohen were "instructed" not to ask questions about the actor's fiancée or about the death of Michael Jackson. (A scene from the film in which Brüno talks to La Toya Jackson about her brother was deleted after Michael's death.) Appearing to counter criticism of his performance by some gay activists, Baron-Cohen (as Brüno) declared: "I want to be the gay stereotype. I want to be the gay role model. ... My first words to my mother were: 'I'm gay, get over it.'"