"Wall Street" sequel in mild rally at box office

LOS ANGELES | Sun Sep 26, 2010 10:30pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Greed is merely OK at the box office.

Oliver Stone's "Wall Street" sequel was the top stock on the big board on Sunday although it fell short of blue-chip status with modest earnings of $19 million from movie theaters across the United States and Canada.

"Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" led a field that included two weak newcomers: the 3D "Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole" at No. 2 with $16.3 million, and the Disney romantic comedy "You Again" at No. 5 with $8.3 million.

Last weekend's champion, writer/director Ben Affleck's heist thriller "The Town," slipped to No. 3 with $16 million. The high school comedy "Easy A" was down two to No. 4 with $10.7 million, also in its second weekend.

Box office observers last week had predicted "Wall Street" and "Legend of the Guardians" would each earn more than $20 million, while "You Again" was forecast to hit $10 million. None of the films did well with critics.

But distributor 20th Century Fox said the tally for its "Wall Street" release was "a terrific number." Chris Aronson, the studio's senior vice president of domestic distribution, added that he had been hoping for a three-day figure in the high-teen millions.

The News Corp unit was confident the film would hold up over the coming weeks, because it played to an older crowd -- 65 percent was aged over 30 -- which generally does not rush out to see a movie on opening weekend.

The film also earned about $9.1 million internationally after opening in 41 foreign markets. Australia contributed $1.6 million, good enough for No. 2, Fox said.

EXPENSIVE OWLS

Michael Douglas' character, financier Gordon Gekko, returns to the high-finance morality tale, 23 years after his proclamation that "greed ... is good" became a metaphor for the downside of the financial boom of the 1980s. Shia LeBeouf also stars. The film cost about $60 million to make.

The original "Wall Street" grossed about $87 million in current dollars, and won an Oscar for Douglas.

"Legend of the Guardians" was a riskier investment since the animated film cost $100 million to make before Australian subsidies brought the tab down to $80 million. Domestic distributor Warner Bros. pictures partnered on the project with Australian media firm Village Roadshow Ltd.

Warner Bros. had been hoping for an opening in the $18 million to $20 million range, said Dan Fellman, the president of domestic distribution at the Time Warner Inc unit.

But he was heartened by good exit polls, and an A-minus rating from audience-survey firm Cinemascore, indicating that word-of-mouth would sustain business in the coming weeks.

"If it had lousy exits and a B-minus, I wouldn't feel the same way," Fellman said. ("Wall Street" received a B-minus, and "You Again" a B-plus.)

The film, directed by Zack Snyder of "300" fame, was based on a children's book series revolving around a heroic young owl, and viewed as the first release in a movie franchise. The voice cast includes Helen Mirren, Anthony LaPaglia and Sam Neill.

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Unions urge "Hobbit" boycott, angering Jackson

By Jonathan Handel

Sun Sep 26, 2010 8:56pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - All is not well in Middle Earth.

The Hollywood actors guilds and several international unions have issued an alert against the big-budget adaptation of "The Hobbit," stating that their members "are advised not to accept work on this non-union production." The guilds say the producers of the MGM/New Line fantasy blockbuster, to be directed by Peter Jackson, have rebuffed organizing efforts by the New Zealand unit of an Australian actors union.

Jackson shot back in a long statement issued on Sunday, hammering Australia's Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) union, threatening to move the "Hobbit" shoot to Europe and claiming his film is being used as a political football to secure gains for the guild.

"It sure feels like we are being attacked simply because we are a big fat juicy target -- not for any wrong doing," Jackson said. "It feels as if we have a large Aussie cousin kicking sand in our eyes ... or to put it another way, opportunists exploiting our film for their own political gain."

MEAA's Simon Whipp told The Hollywood Reporter that success with "The Hobbit" might pave the way for unionizing other productions in the country, but he also said that in a secret ballot held earlier in the decade, about 80% of 800 Kiwi actors voted to have MEAA open a New Zealand branch. MEAA did so in 2006.

Whipp also expressed hope that Jackson would be "the key to unlocking a solution." That does not seem likely now.

"The Hobbit" is not officially greenlighted but Jackson, his WingNut Films and Weta Digital have been actively preparing the adaptation of the J.R.R. Tolkien novel. The "Lord of the Rings" director has been casting the two-film "Rings" prequel for an anticipated 2011 shoot, while New Line parent Warner Bros. and the financially troubled MGM work out an arrangement to finance and distribute the pictures.

The labor discord in Jackson's home country of New Zealand, where "Hobbit" will likely be shot, has simmered for several weeks. MEAA, the International Federation of Actors (FIA), and others have written to the producers objecting to the refusal to sign a union contract.

MEAA has not managed to unionize any productions in New Zealand, making the country a sore spot for actors' unions across the English-speaking world. The unions allege that productions relocate to New Zealand specifically to avoid union terms.

But Jackson, in his statement, said targeting "The Hobbit" could have the opposite effect, chasing productions from the country and "endangering" the hundreds of millions of dollars that might flow into New Zealand from back-to-back "Hobbit" films.

"Why is this endangered? Because the 'demands' of MEAA cannot be agreed to, or even considered -- by law -- and therefore the only options that remain involve closing 'The Hobbit' down, or more likely shifting the production to Europe," Jackson said in the statement. "It could so easily happen. I've been told that Disney are no longer bring movies to Australia because of their frustration with the MEAA."

Jackson and the film's producers claim that actors are independent contractors, making union representation illegal under New Zealand law. MEAA disagrees, citing a court case involving crew members, and adds that there are alternative approaches that wouldn't run afoul of the law: either issuing a non-mandatory contract that provides better terms for actors, or creating a joint venture between the production entity and the union.

The dispute ratcheted up on Friday with the member alert from actors unions in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Australia.

"The (MEAA) agreement for large-budget international studio films ... provides for residuals that are equivalent to those under the SAG (Screen Actors Guild) agreement," the member alert states. "The residuals proposed by the producers of 'The Hobbit' are less in every respect."

A New Line spokesperson declined to comment, and Jackson was careful to say his views are not necessarily those of the studio. Reps for MGM, SAG, FIA and the producers were not immediately available for comment.

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Muse a contender for world's biggest band

By Darryl Morden

Sun Sep 26, 2010 8:59pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - With U2 on tour hiatus until 2011, no other group looks more poised to take over its biggest-band-in-the-world status than Muse, and the British trio proved its mettle with a mighty performance Saturday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Muse has unofficially received that blessing anyway, opening some of U2's stadium dates last year. Right now, what other band can summon such epic prowess and passion? Coldplay? Perhaps, but that group enchants more than thunders. Muse's greatest songs -- from storm-the-heavens anthems to melodramatic ballads -- are last chances, gambles with fate, challenges to the gods.

Muse always sounded bigger than the theater-size places it first played in the U.S. while already filling much larger venues in Europe. America started to catch on a few years ago, and now the band is huge not just in sound and but in appeal. This past week's swing through southern California included three arena dates -- two weekend shows at Staples and one at the Honda Center in Anaheim -- so the group could've just played a single stadium show and surely could've pulled that off as it did just weeks ago at Wembley in London.

Employing a battery of video screens that at times looked like giant shards of glass, there were massive views of the band, provocative images that ranged from DNA helix to anti-war footage, Technicolor nature scenes and more surreal eye candy. The lighting, which included the use of lasers -- almost a nostalgic nod to the '70s -- was equally dazzling.

But those visuals never trumped the music, which always came first, a barrage of art and progressive, glam, hard rock, even heavy metal.

The band played on the large expanse of stage and also above it on risers that seemed to bring the trio of frontman guitarist-keyboardist Matthew Bellamy, bassist-keyboardist Christopher Wolstenholme and drummer Dominic Howard even closer to the full house. This is a power trio, with power in bold face, assisted by longtime tour keyboardist Morgan Nicholls.

The set led off with a big-beat boom bounce of "Uprising," followed by the racing defiance of the title track of the group's current album "The Resistance," its fifth studio set.

Bellamy's Prince-like falsetto quivered over the metallic space funk of "Supermassive Black Hole," and the group lashed one of several sonic storms for the whipping whirlwind of "Hysteria."

With Bellamy at piano, the band played the eclectic Brit card covering (as it has for several years now) the slinky Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse number "Feeling Good," dating to the 1964 musical "The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd," a truthful slice of showbiz-success commentary, followed by the group's own yearning power ballad "Guiding Light."

Still Muse's biggest hit across the board, the beaming throb of the cosmic "Starlight" brought the night's loudest sing-along, especially for the refrain of "black holes and revelations" (which surely must have Professor Stephen Hawking smiling back at Cambridge).

The band followed with another winner in the snaking riff and rock 'n' roll abandon of "Plug In Baby," then Bellamy strummed the recognizable opening for "House of the Rising Sun," and the crowd spanning several generations started singing the lyrics as the tune gave way to the pulsing desperation and clutching, crying hope of "Time Is Running Out."

The encore tunes included the overture from the group's ambitious (and perhaps over-reaching) "Exogenesis: Symphony" and the more compact galloping fantasy "Knights of Cydonia," which closed the evening.

Sure, it's easy to play the band summit game with Muse: The Who meets Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix, melded with Queen and even Emerson, Lake and Palmer for a galactic quest. True, those touchstones and others can be found in the band, but it arrived at its own distinctive sound and style during the 2000s, and some of today's newest bands have described using Muse as a reference point.

Muse has always been built to last, and its steady ascendancy to arena and stadium level has come through the years with shows that deliver much more then some pop flavor that's here today and a footnote tomorrow. It's a genuine concert experience.

At a time -- again -- when great rock doesn't show up much in mainstream radio, Muse's Staples performance was a reminder of how that potent that experience can be in concert, really more than any other: uplifting, sweeping and far greater than a hit of the season or trend of the year.

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New Mexico novel headed to big screen (AP)

SANTA FE, N.M. � A film based on New Mexico author Rudolfo Anaya's novel, "Bless Me, Ultima" will shoot in the Santa Fe area beginning in October.

The production is expected to hire 150 New Mexico residents for the cast and crew.

"Bless Me, Ultima" chronicles the coming-of-age story of Antonio, a young boy growing up in New Mexico during World War II, and his relationship with Ultima, an elderly traditional Hispanic healer, or curandera.

The novel was one of 30 books selected for The Big Read, a National Endowment for the Arts initiative designed to revitalize the role of literary reading in American popular culture. It also was selected to be included in the 2009 United States Academic Decathlon.

Gov. Bill Richardson announced the film last week.

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Buju Banton's drug trial the talk of Jamaica (AP)

KINGSTON, Jamaica � The U.S. drug trial of reggae star Buju Banton is the talk of Jamaica, where islanders are debating his guilt or innocence on street corners, in offices, in letters to the editor and on social networking websites.

Banton, a four-time Grammy nominee who rose from the slums of Kingston to success in the 1990s, was arrested on federal drug charges in December and a Florida jury is deliberating whether he conspired to buy cocaine from an undercover police officer. The 12-person panel reconvenes Monday in Tampa federal court.

In the Jamaican capital, some people are dissecting every detail of Banton's case, a few even comparing him to the late reggae legend Bob Marley.

"I've been following it close because Buju is big in Jamaica, like a Bob Marley. Way I see it, they need to free the man cause they don't have any concrete evidence against him," Charles Barrett, a resident of the capital, said Sunday.

For others the case is more of a curiosity, a media-fed sensation that distracts from weightier news.

His most ardent fans are talking of conspiracy theories � that he was framed by the U.S. government or gay activists who have protested violent, homophobic lyrics from early in Banton's career as a brash dancehall singer.

"We all know it was a government set up. Just because of your beliefs they want to imprison you," wrote a person identified as R. Johnson on a Web page titled "Free Buju Banton."

The husky-voiced Rastafarian singer has long been a star in his homeland with the brash reggae-rap hybrid of dancehall music and, more recently, a traditional reggae sound.

"He's a major, major figure here, so his trial has dominated the media and people's conversations," Jamaican musicologist and disc jockey Bunny Goodison said. "He's been extremely important through the years because he's represented Rastafari and black consciousness in a very focused way."

On Friday, a false story that Banton had been found innocent was broadcast on an island radio station. Tumultuous applause broke out at an elite prep school when the rumor was announced as fact on the public address system. People across Kingston spread the false bulletin on Facebook and Twitter.

"The best illustration of Buju's importance is the broad sympathy for him and the desire for his release," said Carolyn Cooper, a professor of literary and cultural studies at the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies.

Others are far less sympathetic to the 37-year-old entertainer, whose real name is Mark Myrie.

"No matter how the trial turns out, Mr. Myrie has already let down himself and his fans," the Jamaica Observer said in an editorial Sunday.

Banton is charged with conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine and aiding two others in possessing a firearm during the course of cocaine distribution. He faces up to life in prison.

In closing statements Thursday, Banton's attorney argued that an undercover U.S. government informant managed to connect only the two other men, but not Banton, to the conspiracy. Banton's team of lawyers has tried to prove the singer was a victim of entrapment.

The singer testified that he talked a lot about cocaine with a U.S. government informant, but said he was just trying to impress the man, who claimed to have music industry connections.

Assistant U.S. Attorney James Preston argued that Banton's conversations with the informant put the conspiracy into motion. Prosecutors said Banton was an established drug trafficker by the time he met the informant and the singer was looking for "more, new and different money through a new conspiracy he was shopping for" in addition to drug deals he had already financed.

Banton's arrest derailed plans to tour Japan after a tumultuous U.S. tour for his Grammy-nominated 2009 album, "Rasta Got Soul." Shows in several U.S. cities were canceled because of protests over his early homophobic lyrics and unapologetic anti-gay stance through the years.

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'Wall Street' leads market with $19 million debut (AP)

LOS ANGELES � Movie fans are investing in Michael Douglas and Oliver Stone's "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps," which opened as the No. 1 weekend movie with $19 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The 20th Century Fox release led a crop of so-so to weak newcomers, though the sequel to Douglas and Stone's 1987 hit "Wall Street" did not quite set off a bull market at the box office.

Its financial returns were solid but unspectacular as Hollywood experienced a typically sleepy early fall weekend, with audiences finding nothing to bring them out in huge numbers.

The "Wall Street' sequel reunites director Stone with Douglas, who reprises his role as investment shark Gordon Gekko. The movie co-stars Shia LaBeouf, Carey Mulligan and Josh Brolin in a tale set against the 2008 economic meltdown.

"I think expectations were pretty high for this movie. That's not only an iconic character of Gordon Gekko but it's also an iconic movie," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. "But then, it's about the world of high finance. That's not exactly a topic that sets the box office on fire, so I don't think younger audiences were necessarily going to rush out for something like that."

The Warner Bros. animated adventure "Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole" was No. 2 with a soft opening of $16.3 million.

It finished barely ahead of the $16 million haul for Warner's "The Town," the Ben Affleck heist drama that was the previous weekend's No. 1 release. "The Town" held up well and raised its 10-day total to $49.1 million, giving it a solid shot at hitting the $100 million mark, said Dan Fellman, head of distribution at Warner.

Sony's teen comedy "Easy A," which had been No. 2 a weekend earlier, also held up well with $10.7 million to finish at No. 4. "Easy A" lifted its 10-day total to $32.8 million.

Disney's mother-daughter comedy "You Again," starring Kristen Bell, Jamie Lee Curtis and Sigourney Weaver, debuted at No. 5 with an anemic $8.3 million.

Playing in narrower release, the Will Ferrell-produced teen comedy "The Virginity Hit" flopped with just $300,000.

The Sony release about youths aiming to lose their virginity debuted in 700 theaters, averaging a paltry $429 a cinema. That compared with $5,330 in 3,565 theaters for the "Wall Street" sequel, $4,569 in 3,575 cinemas for "Legend of the Guardians," and $3,257 in 2,548 locations for "You Again."

None of the new wide releases came close to the $8,000-a-theater average managed a year ago by "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs," which led the box-office over the same weekend in 2009 with a $25 million debut.

Even so, this year's combination of newcomers and strong holdovers lifted overall business slightly. Total movie revenues came in at about $100 million, up 3.8 percent from the same weekend last year, according to Hollywood.com.

Chris Aronson, head of distribution at 20th Century Fox, said the "Wall Street" sequel came in at the high end of the studio's expectations for opening weekend. With nearly two-thirds of the "Wall Street" audience older than 30, the studio hopes the movie will have a long run.

"If there's one thing we know about adult audiences, they don't rush out. But they do keep coming," Aronson said. "It's somewhat unique to have a character that's 22 years old to have such a great second act, and we think we have that with Gordon Gekko."

"Legend of the Guardians," based on Kathryn Lasky's children's books, follows the adventures of young owls searching for mythical winged warriors to help overcome evil forces. The animated family tale comes from director Zack Snyder, known for such violent action flicks as "300" and "Watchmen."

Warner executives had hoped the movie might debut in the $20 million range or a bit higher. Still, distribution boss Fellman said "Legend of the Guardians" drew a solid family audience that gave the movie high marks.

"There's really not a lot of family product out there for the next four to five weeks, so maybe we'll leg this out," Fellman said.

Several films debuted strongly in limited release.

Woody Allen's latest ensemble tale "You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger" opened with $163,474 in six theaters, averaging $27,246 a cinema. The Sony Pictures Classics release stars Naomi Watts, Anthony Hopkins, Josh Brolin and Freida Pinto.

Paramount's documentary "Waiting for `Superman,'" which examines the ills of America's public schools, premiered with $141,000 in four theaters for a $35,250 average. The film is directed by Davis Guggenheim, who made the Academy Award winner "An Inconvenient Truth."

Lionsgate's thriller "Buried," starring Ryan Reynolds as an American buried alive by terrorists in Iraq, opened with $104,500 in 11 theaters, averaging $9,500.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps," $19 million.

2. "Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole," $16.3 million.

3. "The Town," $16 million.

4. "Easy A," $10.7 million.

5. "You Again," $8.3 million.

6. "Devil," $6.5 million.

7. "Resident Evil: Afterlife," $4.9 million.

8. "Alpha and Omega," $4.7 million.

9. "Takers," $1.7 million.

10. "Inception," $1.2 million.

___

Online:

http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

___

Universal Pictures and Focus Features are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue Pictures is owned by Relativity Media LLC; Overture Films is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp.

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"Wall Street" sequel tops North America box office

LOS ANGELES | Sun Sep 26, 2010 12:36pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Oliver Stone's "Wall Street" sequel rallied to the top of the weekend box office in North America on Sunday, although its $19 million haul was below estimates.

"Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" led a field that included two other disappointing newcomers: the animated "Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole" at No. 2 with $16.3 million, and the Disney romantic comedy "You Again" at No. 5 with $8.3 million.

Box office observers last week had predicted "Wall Street" and "Legend of the Guardians" would each earn more than $20 million, while "You Again" was forecast to hit $10 million.

But distributor 20th Century Fox said the tally for its "Wall Street" release was "a terrific number." Chris Aronson, the studio's senior vice president of domestic distribution, added that he had been hoping for a number in the high-teen millions.

The News Corp unit was confident the film would hold up over the coming weeks, because it played to an older crowd -- 65 percent was aged over 30 -- which generally does not rush out to see a movie on opening weekend.

Michael Douglas' character, financier Gordon Gekko, returns to the high-finance morality tale, 23 years after his proclamation that "greed ... is good" became a metaphor for the downside of the financial boom of the 1980s. Shia LeBeouf also stars.

Warner Bros., the Time Warner Inc unit behind "Legend of the Guardians," was not immediately available for comment. The costly film -- coming in at about $80 million after tax credits -- was based on a children's book series and viewed as the first release in a movie franchise.

"You Again," from Walt Disney Co's Touchstone Pictures label, came in at the lower end of the studio's modest forecasts, said domestic distribution president Chuck Viane. But he also hoped the film would find support in the next few weeks. Kristen Bell stars as a woman who learns that her brother's bride was her worst enemy in high school.

(Reporting by Dean Goodman; editing by Paul Simao)

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Smith verdicts will resonate for doctors, patients (AP)

LOS ANGELES � During the past few weeks, a beautiful blonde celebrity has been making cameo appearances in a downtown courtroom.

Her image appears on a huge video screen above the heads of three of her friends whose futures are now at stake because of their relationships with her.

The woman is Anna Nicole Smith, a one-time Playboy model who died in 2007 of a drug overdose. Those on trial are her former lawyer-boyfriend and two doctors, all charged with conspiring to give her excessive prescription drugs while knowing she was an addict.

The trial's approaching outcome is sure to reverberate among doctors and pain management patients whose need for drugs is at the heart of California laws under which the defendants are charged.

Underlying the legal issues is the puzzle of Anna, the busty bombshell who sometimes slurred her words and appeared drugged. Who was she in life? Even her name was a mystery. Was she Vickie Marshall, Anna Nicole Smith, Michelle Chase, Susie Wong, Jane Brown or a number of other pseudonyms used to fill prescriptions?

Was Smith a drug addict or a woman beset by so much pain from various ailments that she sought relief in medicine bottles?

Was she a pliant victim drugged into semiconsciousness by others or a strong-willed woman who told people what to do?

The jury of six women and six men will ponder those questions when the case is submitted to them, possibly next week.

Superior Court Judge Robert Perry has harshly criticized the prosecution for "overreaching" and indicated he will bar some charges from going to the jury.

"I'm very concerned about the way this case is charged and being prosecuted," he told Deputy District Attorney Renee Rose. "If you're going to accuse someone, you should have some evidence."

On another occasion, he declared, "I would hope that a prosecutor would be intent on finding the truth, not just a conviction."

Now, Perry has presented both sides with a 15-page document he labeled "Thoughts," asking 50 different questions about the charges.

His first question was: "What evidence shows that Anna Nicole Smith took drugs to get high or obtain a euphoric state and not to relieve pain?"

The one defense witness, pain management expert Dr. Perry G. Fine, clearly impressed the judge. Fine testified that even if Smith was prescribed 1,500 pills in one month for pain, it did not mean she was an addict � that clinical factors had to be considered as well as her high tolerance for opiates and sedatives.

Perry sees this as central to the case and advised jurors: "The number of pills is not a determinative factor in this case. Please keep that in mind."

He spoke after Rose spent two hours having an investigator enumerate thousands of pills found in Smith's homes after she died. Much of the prosecution's case has been a laundry list of powerful medications, including Methadone, Dilaudid, Demarol, Valium, Xanax and Chloral Hydrate. Pharmacists testified about being shocked at the number of medications prescribed and one said he refused to fill a request that he felt was "pharmaceutical suicide."

Witnesses testified that Smith suffered from chronic pain syndrome, seizures, fractured ribs, migraine headaches, insomnia and severe back pain, as well as depression after the death of her son, Daniel.

Perry, who said he has researched the legislative intent behind the relevant laws, said he may tell jurors that to convict the defendants of prescribing to an addict they must find the prescriptions were for "non-therapeutic purposes," meaning to feed an addiction rather than treat an illness.

Loyola Law School Professor Laurie Levenson said it's unusual for a judge to do so much research on his own.

"But I can see why he is concerned," she said. "Even the (California) legislature has expressed concern that these statutes might be used in a way that would chill doctors from treating pain-management patients' needs."

Defendants Howard K. Stern, Dr. Sandeep Kapoor and Dr. Khristine Eroshevich have pleaded not guilty to an array of charges, including conspiracy to provide excessive controlled substances, prescribing to an addict, and obtaining drugs by fraud � some prescribed under false names. The three are not charged with causing Smith's death.

Their defense team � veteran lawyers Steve Sadow, Ellyn Garafalo and Brad Brunon � recently made a surprise announcement that they will call no further witnesses after the prosecution rests. They say the case against their clients has not been proven.

The three attorneys intensely cross-examined every prosecution witness and the judge said they succeeded in destroying the credibility of several, including two nannies flown in from the Bahamas. Sadow accused one of them of outright perjury.

The prosecution summoned up Smith's video images to suggest she was addicted � showing her at the American Music Awards slurring her words,

The defense answered with its own videos of Smith speaking clearly and still photos showing her smiling and engaged.

Prosecutors used photos of Smith naked in a tub with Eroshevich and pictures of Kapoor kissing Smith after riding with her in a gay parade to show that the doctors blurred the line of their professional relationship with Smith.

Perry scheduled arguments Monday on dismissal motions, but indicated some charges "will likely survive in some form."

He wants arguments to be limited to two issues: whether Smith was an addict and whether prescriptions were obtained under false names.

If false-name charges stand, he asked whether nine prosecution witnesses should be considered accomplices and jurors should be warned to treat their testimony with caution. These included pharmacists and doctors who prescribed to Smith under pseudonyms, a common practice with celebrities.

David Kettel, a former federal prosecutor of drug cases, said this case was overcharged and Perry will probably pare it down to the bare minimum he feels can be supported by law, should the jury return convictions.

"I wouldn't be surprised if it came down to as little as three charges," Kettel said.

Levenson said convictions could send a message that would inhibit doctors from prescribing pain medications and treating celebrities.

"They will feel that big brother is looking over their shoulder," she said. "And even though we do want monitoring to keep the public safe, what we don't want is witch hunts."

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New Muslim comic book superhero on the way (AP)

NEW YORK � Comic book fans will soon be getting their first glimpse at an unlikely new superhero � a Muslim boy in a wheelchair with superpowers.

The new superhero is the brainchild of a group of disabled young Americans and Syrians who were brought together last month in Damascus by the Open Hands Intiative, a non-profit organization founded by U.S. philanthropist and businessman Jay T. Snyder.

The superhero's appearance hasn't been finalized, but an early sketch shows a Muslim boy who lost his legs in a landmine accident and later becomes the Silver Scorpion after discovering he has the power to control metal with his mind.

Sharad Devarajan, co-founder and CEO of Liquid Comics whose company is now turning the young people's ideas into pictures and a story line, said the goal is to release the first comic book � launching the disabled Muslim superhero � in early November in both Arabic and English.

Snyder says he was inspired by President Barack Obama's effort to reach out to the Muslim world in his January 2009 inaugural address. Last month, Snyder flew 12 disabled Americans to Damascus to meet their Syrian peers, and one of their main goals was to come up with ideas and story lines for the new superhero.

"The only limit was the imagination these kids had � the opportunity for a great story," said Snyder, a comic book collector who heads HBJ Investments LLC. "They helped create something by their combined talents, and that becomes a gift to the world."

Devarajan found the young people's imagination to be quite amazing.

"The opening question we asked the kids was if you could have any superpower what would it be? I've asked that question in many different groups before and the typical answers are always the ones you'd expect � flying, reading minds, or being super strong," Devarajan said.

"The fascinating thing about this group was that I don't think I heard any one of those three," he said.

"Each of their ideas was so originally distinct, whether the Syrian kids or the U.S. kids," he said, adding that perhaps because of their disabilities, the young people think as individuals without being influenced by outsiders. One girl, for example, wanted to have the power to combine the energy of the moon and the sun.

Devarajan said it was noteworthy that none of the young people wanted the hero's power to be something that cured their disability.

"They were empowered by their own disabilities, and they should not be seen as a source of weakness," he said.

Initially, 50,000 Arabic-language comics will be distributed throughout Syria, and subsequent issues will be distributed elsewhere in the Middle East, Snyder said. The comic will also be available worldwide for free in digital formats through the Open Hands and Liquid Comics websites.

It will be the first in a series of comics with international superheroes, and while one will have disabilities others will not, Devarajan said. He added that almost all the characters being planned "are based on the seeds that were created by these kids together in this trip."

The dozen Americans were selected after a national call for applications by The Victor Penada Foundation, a non-profit educational organization that promotes the rights of young people with disabilities. They included youths who were blind, deaf, using wheelchairs, or suffering from Down syndrome, autism, and cognitive disabilities.

The Syrians were invited by the Al-Amal school for the disabled whose chair, Asma Assad, the wife of Syrian president Bashar Assad, spent an afternoon meeting with the youngsters.

"It must be every child's dream to create a superhero," the Syrian first lady said in a video provided to the AP. "But I really do hope that we can bring our powers together � our human powers together � to be able to make a difference."

Hamza Jaka, 18, of Fontana, Wisconsin, who is co-chair of Kids as Self-Advocates which promotes the rights of young disabled people, said the visit to Syria "was great" because it was people-to-people, "not politicians flying in and blustering." Jaka, a freshman at the University of California at Berkeley who is studying linguistics, said the trip has inspired him to study Arabic.

"There's a lot of hatred, and it really can be dispelled by just sitting down and talking to people and realizing you share experiences in common," he said. "That's what happened when I started talking to one of the disabled Syrians. We both discovered that we had a love of basketball and ... loved the same players," Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal.

"I am a disabled Muslim and I love comic books, so this is like the highlight of my life," said Jaka, who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair.

"As somebody who owns a lot of comics and has studied how they affect social change, it was fun to be part of an exchange that hopefully can do the same," he said, especially in changing attitudes towards the disabled, towards Muslims, and towards Syria.

Abdulrahman Hussein, 20, a Syrian student who was born handicapped and uses a wheelchair, said meeting the young Americans "made me feel that I have to improve my life."

He said he is studying library administration at a university and wants to learn English so he can have contact with more people.

"I like the American people as I found them friendly," Hussein said. "I'd like to visit America because I want to get acquainted with the achievements (of) the Americans."

The Open Hands Initiative was launched last November to respond to Obama's offer to the Muslim world in his inaugural address to "extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist."

Snyder said the initiative's goal is to promote "diplomacy" between ordinary people that emphasizes dialogue, understanding and mutual respect.

It has already started a program to bring Syrian music to the U.S. and is planning to bring leading American artists to Damascus for workshops with young Syrian artists.

In early 2011, Snyder said Open Hands hopes to be on the ground in Pakistan with programs bringing Americans and Pakistanis together in the fields of public health, literature and culture � and later in the year it intends to launch projects in Afghanistan.

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Online:

http://www.openhandsinitiative.org

http://www.liquidcomics.com

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