Disney (NYSE: DIS) had something of a magical weekend at the domestic box office. The company's new film, G-Force, a 3D-powered property, grossed an estimated $32 million according to Boxofficemojo, good for first place. Believe it or not, that was enough to take out Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which dropped to second place (last weekend it debuted at number one, of course) with about $30 million.

These are estimated numbers at the time of this writing. When the final stats come out, it is conceivable that the rankings could change since we're talking about a difference of a mere $2 million. But I think they stand a good chance of staying the same.

According to Boxofficemojo, Bruno came out on top this past weekend at domestic theaters. It was expected. Since this is the follow-up to Sacha Baron Cohen's comedic phenomenon Borat, it was only natural for the rest of the competition to step aside and let the project through.

However, I have to wonder if General Electric (NYSE: GE) was truly happy with a $30 million estimated opening. Borat came out in November 2006. It opened with $26.5 million. I honestly thought Bruno would have debuted somewhere between $40 million and $50 million. Was that too high of a financial goal?

The domestic box-office estimates for the July 4th holiday weekend are in. According to Boxofficemojo, at the time of this writing, the results are too close to call. Both Viacom's (NYSE: VIA) Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and News Corp.'s (NASDAQ: NWS) Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs are credited with the same amount of money: $42.5 million. Boxofficemojo is giving Dinosaurs the edge for now and calling it the top movie, presumably because the per-theater average for the computer cartoon is slightly higher.

I previously discussed News Corp.'s strong opening with Dinosaurs, but unfortunately, I'm not so sure the movie lived up to it. When the second Ice Age was released back in 2006, it scored $68 million in its three-day debut weekend. Dinosaurs didn't do as well, but let's take into account the film's Wednesday opening, and tally up the gross for the five-day period, since some of the excitement that might have been reserved for the weekend could have been spread over the mid-week showings. Even by that standard, as of the current estimate, Dinosaurs has taken in a little less than the second Ice Age.

Disney (NYSE: DIS) soared to the number-one spot this past weekend with its new Pixar project, Up. The computer cartoon grossed roughly $68 million at domestic theaters as of early estimates, according to Boxofficemojo.

Disney took a lot of thunder away from News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) and its Ben Stiller comedy/fantasy Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. That movie dropped to second place, taking in about $25 million.

Well, my friends, last week I discussed the better-than-expected box office results of Disney's (NYSE: DIS) Hannah Montana: The Movie. The project grossed well over $30 million in its opening weekend and ranked in first place. Looks like the half-life was short on this one.

According to Boxofficemojo, the early estimates for this past weekend place Montana in fourth place with roughly $12 million. This represents a huge dive of 60%. The film does not have any legs, let me tell you. Disney shareholders should be disappointed (I'm one, and I'm very disappointed).

So, Disney (NYSE: DIS) shareholders are bracing themselves for another big weekend at the box office. Remember when we were bracing ourselves for the release of the Jonas Brothers concert film? Yeah, that failure. I certainly hope Miley Cyrus does a lot better with her project.

But I have my doubts. Hannah Montana: The Movie opened Friday at over 3,100 domestic theaters. I just don't feel the kind of buzz I had hoped to be feeling at this point surrounding the movie. I don't have the sensation that I've been inundated by the feature's brand equity.

Then again, I'm not the target demographic. Perhaps Disney is reaching all tweens as we speak via the platforms that they frequent and I'm just not aware of it. Tough to tell. Nevertheless, I've seen some of the commercials, and they don't seem overwhelmingly exciting.

General Electric (NYSE: GE) shareholders have a little something to celebrate today. Fast & Furious, distributed by GE's Universal asset and starring Vin Diesel, came in first place over the weekend at domestic theaters according to Boxofficemojo.

The racing movie scored about $72 million as of early estimates, more than enough to secure the top spot. I know that such success won't do much for GE in terms of stock movement, but hey, as a GE shareholder myself, it's personally been a tough year with all the financial awfulness at GE Capital, so if one of GE's latest movies is a hit, I'll take it.

Oh, well, can't win 'em all. I thought Lions Gate Entertainment (NYSE: LGF) had a pretty good chance of being on top this past weekend with My Bloody Valentine 3-D. Unfortunately, it was not to be. The honors, according to early estimates at Boxofficemojo, go to Sony's (NYSE: SNE) Paul Blart: Mall Cop, a movie that does indeed look hilarious. Blart took in more than $33 million at domestic theaters.

Now, the race for slots two, three, and four are close as I write this. Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX) Gran Torino, Valentine 3-D, and News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) Notorious are credited with box-office hauls of $22.2 million, $21.9 million, and $21.5 million, respectively. As can be seen, the rankings could easily change when final figures are computed, but it shows just how competitive the weekend was, and how Lions Gate maybe should have tried a bit harder with its marketing campaign.

It's not that the studio necessarily needed to spend more money, it's just that maybe those in charge of selling the film could have been smarter about the ways in which they invested their ad budget. Even if being number-one wasn't in the cards for the horror flick, Valentine 3-D could have at least been a decisive second-place finisher. Still, I concede that Blart simply could have been too much competition. Really, the whole idea of parodying the profession of the mall cop would definitely appeal to the same demo as a murderous miner would. (As a side note, not long ago, I saw a mall cop on a Segway for the first time; it indeed is a humorous sight to behold.)

I expect that Valentine 3-D will see a decline of at least 50% next weekend. It's the typical pattern for a horror film, unless there's something particularly compelling about it. In this case, I don't think there's any differentiating element to the concept/plot that would predict better staying power. Plus, we can look to General Electric's (NYSE: GE) The Unborn, released by GE-owned Universal, for guidance. That project, which hit the market last weekend, grossed roughly the same amount in its debut frame as Valentine 3-D did in its opening weekend. This weekend, Unborn is down 50%, and it dropped from third place to seventh. This is why I'm such a stickler about big opening weekends, and why I'm critical when a studio doesn't do as well as it perhaps should have. You need to start from as high a level as possible so that 50% drops don't mean as much. I'm sure institutions invested in Lions Gate share my opinion on that count. We'll have to wait and see what the raging miner does next week...

Disclosure: I own GE; positions can change without notice.

Clint Eastwood's box-office day was made this past weekend. According to Boxofficemojo, his film Gran Torino, distributed by Time Warner (NYSE: TWX), was number one at domestic theaters. The film, which saw a much wider release this week, took in $29 million. That was $8 million more than the movie in second place, News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) Bride Wars, starring Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway. Gran Torino has banked about $40 million at this point. Eastwood may be old, but he's still relevant. Good going, Dirty Harry.

As interesting as the above is, I'm actually more interested in the film in third place. And I'd be willing to bet that Lions Gate Entertainment (NYSE: LGF) shareholders are interested in it as well. That's because The Unborn, distributed by General Electric's (NYSE: GE) Universal, is a horror film that did much better than I expected. I heard bad word of mouth about the project, but it actually grossed more than $20 million. Lions Gate will be releasing My Bloody Valentine 3-D next weekend, and I think the performance of The Unborn may improve that film's chances.

Lions Gate, as we all know, is a studio that has a reputation for being an expert in targeting slick (as well as sick) slashers at young people. I want to see this remake, but I'm not interested in the whole 3-D aspect, I couldn't care less. I know, though, that perhaps the older teens will care. Still, I do hope the studio made sure that there's quality to back up the gimmick. If there isn't any, then it will quickly fade from the multiplex.

Universal Pictures, owned by General Electric (NYSE: GE) launched Rogue Pictures in 2004 with the goal of producing "high-quality suspense, action, thriller and urban features with mainstream appeal and franchise potential." Now the studio is being sold to Relativity Media for about $150 million.

The studio has produced a few features including Fearless, The Strangers and Balls of Fury. The New York Times reports that "The transaction pointed toward G.E.'s willingness to bolster profit with help from an asset sale."

The deal isn't large enough to have a material impact on General Electric's stock price, but investors are probably generally pleased with the company's efforts to improve profitability by selling off marginal units. Still, I wonder: With the economy in a state where valuations are so depressed, why is GE getting involved in streamlining and "focus on core competencies" now? It seems like it would make more sense to make acquisitions when the economy is weak and then sell parts when the economy is booming and suitors pay attractive prices.

The Rogue acquisition includes a library of around 25 movies -- although that includes monstrosities like Seed of Chucky -- and another 30 development projects.

So the market said yes to Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX) new movie starring Jim Carrey, Yes Man. I know, that's an awful pun, and I'd be willing to bet that other articles about this past weekend's box office results said something similar. Sometimes you just can't resist. But, yes, Yes Man ruled at domestic multiplexes and grossed about $18 million according to early estimates from Boxofficemojo.

Here's the thing, though -- is an $18 million opening that great for Jim Carrey? Furthermore, as of the early estimates, Sony's (NYSE: SNE) Seven Pounds, the number-two film, actually grossed only $2 million less than Yes Man, and to add further insult, its per-theater average was higher. Shouldn't Carrey's star power have guaranteed a wider margin of victory? For that matter, what's Will Smith, the star of Pounds, doing in second place?

It just goes to show institutional shareholders of media companies that big star salaries simply do not guarantee runaway hits on the silver screen (I keep hoping that they'll complain about celebrity compensation, but so far, there have been no takers whatsoever).

General Electric Company's (NYSE: GE) NBC Universal movie studio is is duking it out with Redbox, the DVD rental kiosk business owned by Coinstar (NASDAQ: CSTR).

Basically, Universal doesn't like that Redbox is renting out its movies for $1 per night, and thinks its hurting its retail sales and those of Blockbuster Inc. (NYSE: BBI) which splits a chunk of its revenue with the studio.

Universal threatened to stop selling its movies to Redbox but, like the petulant little upstart that it is, Redbox just went ahead and bought them from other sources -- and sued Universal for antitrust violations and misusing copyrights. Universal has asked the court to throw out (subscription required) the lawsuit.

Universal has said that it wants Redbox to stock its DVDs no earlier than 45 days after they hit traditional retailers -- but Redbox isn't having it.

There's no question that consumers will be rooting for Redbox in this one: If Redbox wants to buy movies and rent them out for $1 per night, it doesn't really seem like Universal should be able to stop them.

To get codes for free Redbox rentals, click here.

Lions Gate Entertainment (NYSE: LGF), whose bigger colleagues include Disney (NYSE: DIS), General Electric's (NYSE: GE) Universal, Time Warner (NYSE: TWX), Viacom (NYSE: VIA), and Sony (NYSE: SNE), publicized its Q2 earnings after the bell on Monday. There was good news and bad news.

The good news was that the company narrowed its loss compared to last year's results. Lions Gate booked a net loss of $0.41 per share this year versus a net loss of $0.49 per share in the year-ago period. The bad news, however, is that the results did not meet expectations. I mean, they really didn't meet expectations, as the call was for a loss of $0.15 per share. That's just how the movie business goes sometimes.

However, let's look at the cash flow, because we can find some comfort there. Operational cash flow for the quarter was positive this year instead of being negative, and free cash flow, which is the ultimate goal of any business, increased over three times to nearly $74 million.

And I'll steer you to another positive statistic -- filmed entertainment backlog increased to what management is calling a record $456.5 million. I know, I also tend to dismiss terms like "record" when I see them in a press release, but at least in this case it refers to revenues that will ultimately be recognized down the line.

Without a doubt, DreamWorks Animation (NYSE: DWA) really nailed it with its latest computer-cartoon sequel, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa. According to estimates at Boxofficemojo, the film, which is distributed by Viacom (NYSE: VIA), was number one at the box office over the weekend at domestic theaters.

That was expected. But I have to give kudos to the studio's marketing department for improving the previous film's opening weekend. Madagascar, which was released in May 2005, took in $47 million during its opening weekend. As of this writing, Escape 2 Africa has been credited with about $63 million. Considering that this isn't the summertime, I thought the sequel's debut performance was pretty cool.

And here's another equally cool fact: if the estimates hold, then Escape 2 Africa's first-weekend take will be slightly higher than Kung Fu Panda's opening weekend of $60.2 million. You've got to call that a success. Disney's (NYSE: DIS) Pixar brand definitely better take notice, especially if DreamWorks Animation can consistently put out blockbusters during both the summer and fall.

Marvel (NYSE: MVL), whose competitors include media companies such as Disney (NYSE: DIS) and Time Warner (NYSE: TWX), reported Q3 numbers on Tuesday. Revenues increased a whopping 48% to $182.5 million. Earnings per diluted share soared 42% to $0.64. And net cash from operations was more powerful than a locomotive (wait, I might be mixing universes with that metaphor): they went up more than ten times, coming in at $172.2 million.

All of that is impressive. It shows that Marvel's movie model can bring in the money. Projects such as Iron Man, distributed by Viacom (NYSE: VIA), and The Incredible Hulk, distributed by General Electric's (NYSE: GE) Universal, helped to drive the quarter.

However, as this article points out, Marvel isn't expecting much from 2009. Why's that? Because there are no new self-produced movies scheduled for release in that calendar year. That's going to drive long-term shareholders crazy, since I'd have to assume the stock won't be doing much during that time period. Traders might get some opportunities if the stock becomes volatile, but either way, there really are no big catalysts on the horizon.