Last weekend's box-office race went to News Corp. (NWS). The media conglomerate released the sequel to Wall Street. The project, entitled Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, stars Michael Douglas and Shia LaBeouf. When you think of the iconic equity the original possesses, and combine it with the current financial zeitgeist (maybe I should have written current negative financial zeitgeist, considering the state we're in), you might have expected a huge hit.

I did. And I was wrong. Sure, according to Box Office Mojo, the second Wall Street captured the top spot. But take a look at the actual domestic gross for the three-day debut: $19 million. Does that sound like a blockbuster? Even in the more sedate September period, I had higher hopes for a more exciting debut.

Ruthless corporate raider Gordon Gekko returns to the silver screen next week in Oliver Stone's Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. Gekko was introduced in 1987's Wall Street, and his greed-is-good philosophy made the character a cultural icon and cult hero, as well as won Michael Douglas an Academy Award. The questions is, will Gekko hold up in the new millennium? We'll soon find out.

In the meantime, here's a glance at some of the best of Wall Street movies thus far. Are your favorites on the list?

• Pi (1998). A thriller about a paranoid mathematical genius on the run because he might just have discovered a way to accurately predict the behavior of the stock market. A Sundance Festival award winner. See trailer.

I have to admit, I didn't notice until late this week that World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) Legendary film, which opened yesterday, was some sort of drama. Maybe I was aware of it, somewhere in the back of my mind, but honestly, I've suddenly been hit by the notion that WWE's celluloid division made one heck of a strange business decision in green lighting the project.

Let me say upfront that I have not seen the movie. But I've read several reviews, such as the one in the Los Angeles Times. They don't make me want to see the flick.

Media companies like Disney (DIS), News Corp. (NWS), and Time Warner (TWX) are dependent on a healthy celluloid industry. As times have changed, the industry has become more challenging. Home video, for example, is mired in a complex conundrum: how does one grow physical media revenue in the digital age? How does video-on-demand fit into the picture? What about online downloads? When you think about it, theatrical exhibition is becoming more important than ever before as post-multiplex channels of distribution undergo radical changes to keep up with the times.

Unfortunately, the following article from the Associated Press indicates that there's a lot of marketing work to be done in Hollywood. You see, while summer box-office sales are up, the quantity of admission transactions has declined.

Netflix (NFLX) looks like a buy. And then again, it looks like a sell. Don't you hate that? Louis Navellier was recently bullish on the movie-rental company. I see his point. But I also see the one-year chart as maybe a reason to take profits at this time. Inarguably, the stock has had a nice run.

A little over a week ago, Wade Hansen discussed the streaming success the company has had and also analyzed the technical prospects for the equity. There's no question that the management team wants to aggressively move its business model forward from physical media to digital delivery. Considering the brand equity in place, I believe the service has a good shot at achieving long-term success.

Lionsgate (LGF) needed The Expendables to be a hit, as I noted last week. And management scored on that count. According to early estimates for domestic theatrical performance at Box Office Mojo, the movie nabbed first place with $35 million over the three-day weekend.

Coming in a strong second was Sony's (SNE) Eat Pray Love, which had a ton of buzz surrounding it going into its debut, capturing $23 million. Not bad.

Lionsgate Entertainment (LGF) is hoping it can dominate the upcoming weekend box-office race. And if it can't dominate, then it at least wants to come as close to dominating as possible.

The bottom line: it can't put in a mediocre performance -- and it most definitely cannot fail. It will release a movie this Friday called The Expendables. As the Los Angeles Times makes clear, it's a pretty important event for the studio.