The weekend domestic box-office results weren't too shocking. I pretty much knew that DreamWorks Animation's (NYSE: DWA) Kung Fu Panda would kick its way to the top (I wonder how many writers will be using that phrase when covering the movie this week). But when I saw that Boxofficemojo estimated a $60 million gross for the cartoon, I actually was disappointed. These days, a $60 million haul in the summertime doesn't seem impressive. I thought Panda might have been worth a little more. But, after checking some of the historical openings for other DreamWorks pictures, I realized that Panda did all right. It actually was one of the bigger debuts for the studio.

Even though the cartoon seemed a lock for first place, I thought Sony's (NYSE: SNE) You Don't Mess with the Zohan project would be a close second. At a $40 million estimated gross, it wasn't. I don't know if you can mess with Zohan or not, but you apparently can mess with Adam Sandler and best his star power. Viacom's (NYSE: VIA) Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is still going strong in third place. It has crossed the $250 million level, and it is headed for $300 million. Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX) Sex and the City, however, has lost a great deal of thunder, dropping from first to fourth place in its second weekend at the multiplexes. It is just shy of the $100 million mark. Is Sex nothing more than an opening-weekend phenomenon? It seems that way, but we'll have to see how steep the drops are in subsequent weekends.

The Strangers, from General Electric's (NYSE: GE) Universal Pictures, dropped from third to fifth place in its second weekend, a rather predictable event for a horror movie. At a $37 million total gross so far, The Strangers won't go down as a huge triumph, but you've got to love the profit potential for this low-budget flick that succeeded in counterprogramming its way to summertime glory. Universal obviously thought the film's concept possessed a chance to score a $100 million total haul since it placed the movie against the big guns of this busy period, but that's okay, the try was worth it in this case.

It's no secret that 'Sex and the City' has been an overwhelming success. According to Box Office Mojo, the movie grossed $56,848,056 this last weekend. This is almost nothing more than found money for Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) as it gets to recycle its old content into a fresh new round of content, and it gets to do so at $8 to $10 per ticket. Add in the merchandise sales, future DVD sales, and the redistribution, and you have bonus bucks for the company.

So what's next? Seems pretty obvious to me.

'The Sopranos' was a monster success for Time Warner's HBO. As I noted last year before the finale of the Sopranos, "....it's hard to imagine "truly" killing off a major franchise...."

Tony lived at the end of the series, but it looked like a showdown over a bust or bloody restaurant shootout was imminent as the "leave you hanging" point for future releases.

The series has the same winning formula for success as Sex and the City: Characters that get talked about beyond the show, trend-setting themes, extreme audience loyalty, and so on.

Yep, this all points to Tony and whoever really is alive from the end of the season finale to head next to the big screen.

For Time Warner, the money is just too big and you don't have to be a mobster to do that math. Plus, this will be a movie that guys won't want to skip either. Don't fuggedaboutit...

Since last year's summer movie preview featured mostly sequels and adaptations, this year's preview has been expanded to include more than just potential "blockbusters." The following is a chronological list of not only the most hyped film fare of the summer, but other noteworthy smaller entries, and a short commentary on each.



5/2 - Iron Man, Viacom (NYSE: VIA)'s Paramount Pictures
The first of two big Marvel Entertainment (NYSE: MVL) adaptations of the summer, the Robert Downey Jr. led Iron Man has been getting a ton of hype and critical acclaim. This is the second year that a comic book adaptation has kicked off the summer, following last year's Spider-Man 3, which grossed over $150M over its opening weekend.

5/9 - Speed Racer, Time Warner (NYSE: TWX)'s Warner Bros.
Another big-budget adaptation of a generations-old cartoon. Last year's Transformers was, to my surprise, a huge success, so maybe Speed Racer, in the capable directing hands of the Wachowskis, can be as well.

After years of speculation, rumors and negotiations, a film version of beloved HBO series Sex and the City is set to start shooting in the fall.

New Line Cinema, a subsidiary of Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX), is said to be near a deal to finance and distribute the picture, and the leading cast is ready to go. All four major players -- Sarah Jessica Parker, the reportedly hardball-playing Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis, and Cynthia Nixon -- have agreed to reprise their respective roles as Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte, and Miranda. The show's executive producer, Michael Patrick King, is set to write and direct.

When television audiences bid adieu to the ladies in early 2004, things were fairly neatly knotted up (spoiler alert!). Carrie's character had reunited with on-again, off-again love "Mr. Big" (aka "John," as we find out). Samantha was cancer-free and in a healthy relationship with a much younger man; Charlotte and new husband Harry were looking forward to adopting a baby girl; and newlywed Miranda was raising her son with husband Steve and caring for his ailing mother.

One can only speculate where the movie will take the ladies. Will it pick up in real-time, three years after the events of the series finale? Will the foursome's leading men also be back in their roles? Finally, will anyone still care to see 90 minutes into these ladies' lives, now that they are all settled down and monogamous? Michael Patrick King is a fantastic writer of dramedy, and the actresses are a fabulous ensemble. Here's hoping the cosmopolitans continue to flow for one more chapter of their collective tale.

Beth Gaston Moon is an analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research.

Along with Samantha, Charlotte, Miranda and of course Carrie, there was an ever-present fifth character from the popular HBO comedy Sex and the City, and I'm not talking about Mr. Big. Carrie Bradshaw's wardrobe -- from season one's "naked dress" to the short formal/long faux-fur coat combo in the series finale -- was always a topic of discussion and debate (along with the characters' many conquests.)

Sarah Jessica Parker, the woman who breathed life into our favorite New York City singleton, has launched her own clothing line, Bitten, which promises to deliver fashionable choices at a very modest price. The name comes from the concept of being "bitten" by the theater bug. With this new business venture, the petite actress (and Mrs. Matthew Broderick) joins the ranks of other multi-hyphenates that have entered the fashion world, including Madonna, Jennifer Lopez, and the Olsen twins.

Unlike other celebrity-branded clothing lines, however, Parker's designs come with more reasonable price tags. In fact, none of the 500 pieces in the Bitten collection costs more than $19.98. The line, which can outfit one's entire wardrobe, from suit separates to lingerie to swimwear, is available exclusively at the privately held Steve & Barry's chain, which operates 200 stores in 33 states.

Don't expect to see many of the wild fashion choices that made Carrie such a whimsical gal. Bitten largely focuses on the basic staples, including simple slacks and sweaters, jeans, and T-shirts.

Beth Gaston Moon is an analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research.