Report: The NSA pays millions for US telecom access

When it comes to tapping into U.S. telecommunications networks for surreptitious surveillance, the U.S. National Security Agency can't be accused of not paying its way.

The government agency pays "hundreds of millions of dollars a year" to U.S. telecommunications companies for the equipment and service required to intercept telephone calls, emails and instant messages of potential interest, according to a story in Thursday's Washington Post.

For the current fiscal year, the NSA will pay US$278 million for such access, and had paid $394 million in fiscal 2011, according to the Post.

Although previous news reports of NSA surveillance noted that the agency paid the costs for tapping into communications networks, the exact amount the agency has paid has not been cited before, according to the Post.

One of the largest of the 16 U.S. intelligence offices, the NSA is in charge of collecting and analyzing data to track foreign activities that could be harmful to the U.S. The agency is overseen by the U.S. Department of Defense's Director of National Intelligence.

The practice dates back at least to the 1970s. These data collection programs -- which have gone under names such as Blarney, Stormbrew, Fairview, and Oakstar -- are separate from the PRISM program first publicly unveiled by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. PRISM collects data from U.S. service providers such as Microsoft, Facebook and Google, whereas with these programs, the NSA collects potential data of interest as it moves across telecommunication gateways.

The article did not provide the names of any telecommunications companies that participate in the program, though notes they typically are paid for the costs of hardware and the labor to install and run the necessary equipment, as well as a certain percentage for profit.

The privacy advocacy group Electronic Privacy Information Center had noted that it is troublesome that the NSA is paying so much to telecommunication companies given that their customers expect that their communications remain private.

Most enterprise networks riddled with vulnerable Java installations, report says

Despite the significant Java security improvements made by Oracle during the past six months, Java vulnerabilities continue to represent a major security risk for organizations because most of them have outdated versions of the software installed on their systems, according to a report by security firm Bit9.
Bit9's report was released Thursday and is based on data about Java usage collected from approximately 1 million enterprise endpoint systems owned by almost 400 organizations that use the company's software reputation service.

The data shows that Java 6 is the most prevalent major version of Java in enterprise environments, present on more than 80 percent of enterprise computers that have Java installed.

Java 6 reached the end of public support in April, and only Oracle customers with a long-term support contract will continue to receive security updates for it. Java 7, the version that is the focus of Oracle's recent security strengthening efforts, was only found on around 15 percent of endpoint systems sampled by Bit9.
Furthermore, most companies that run Java 6 on their systems don't have the latest security updates for it, the security firm found.

The most widely deployed Java version, according to Bit9's data, was Java 6 Update 20, which was installed on a little over 9 percent of endpoints. This version of Java is vulnerable to a total of 215 security issues, 96 of which have the maximum impact score on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) scale, Bit9 said.

The last publicly available security update for Java 6 is Java 6 Update 45, which was released in April at the same time as Java 7 Update 21, the latest version of Java available when Bit9 collected data for its report.
Only 3 percent of enterprise endpoint systems were running Java 7 Update 21, the company said. However, those endpoints belonged to only 0.25 percent of the sampled organizations, which seems to indicate that organizations with a larger number of endpoints are more likely to have the latest version of Java installed on their systems.

Another issue is that many enterprise systems have multiple versions of Java running on them. Around 65 percent of systems had more than two versions of Java installed at the same time, and approximately 20 percent had more than three versions.

According to Bit9's report, on average, organizations have more than 50 distinct versions of Java installed in their environments. About 5 percent of organizations have more than 100 versions.

This problem mainly stems from how the Java installation and updating process deals with older versions.
The Java 7 updater will attempt to remove existing installations of Java 6, but a clean installation of Java 7 won't remove older versions, said Harry Sverdlove, Bit9's chief technology officer. Java 5 versions are not removed during Java 7's installation or update processes, he said.

The Bit9 data showed that 93 percent of organizations have a version of Java on some of their systems that's at least five years old. Fifty-one percent have a version that's between five and 10 years old.

The problem with having multiple versions of Java installed at the same time on a system is that attackers can target the older and vulnerable versions to hack into that computer. Once that happens, the security of the newer Java versions doesn't help.

Code that enumerates all Java versions installed on a system for reconnaissance purposes has already been seen in real attacks, Bit9 said in the report.

Having different Java versions on a system increases usability because customers can run legacy applications, but from a security perspective it's a nightmare, Sverdlove said. Every version that is installed introduces yet another set of known vulnerabilities that attackers can target, he said.

Sverdlove compared the situation of companies running five-to-10-year-old versions of Java to running Windows 95. This practice might be convenient for compatibility reasons, but it's a horrible security risk, he said.
In most cases, this kind of Java version fragmentation inside enterprise environments is probably not even intentional, as many companies don't understand or keep track of how many versions they have installed, Sverdlove said.

First and foremost, organizations should get an assessment of what Java versions they have in their environments and where, Sverdlove said. The next step should be for them, as a matter of security policy, to stop and seriously consider whether they need Java, and if they do, for what purposes, he said.

The results of this assessment will vary among organizations, Sverdlove said. Some companies might find that a particular version of Java is needed to run legacy applications, but only on certain computers. Others might discover that certain websites that require Java work with the latest version of the software, and some might find that Java is only needed on their servers and not on desktops, he said.

Regardless of their individual Java needs, organizations should create a Java deployment policy and enforce it, Sverdlove said. If their policy is to not have Java, then they should use tools to block it from running; if they determine that they only need Java on certain machines, then they should remove it from all other machines, he said.

The most common way for hackers to attack Java installations is through the software's Web browser plug-ins by using exploits hosted on websites.

The Bit9 report did not contain specific information about how many of the Java installations identified on enterprise endpoints were accessible through the Web browsers on those computers. However, the majority of the sampled endpoint systems were desktops and laptops, so the likelihood of those Java installations being exposed to Web attacks is high, Sverdlove said.

Box Office Report: Early Friday Returns Show 'Pacific Rim,' 'Grown Ups 2' in Tight Race

There's a fierce race going on at the North American box office as Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim and Adam Sandler comedy Grown Ups 2 jockey for position.

Universal's Despicable Me 2, however, could beat both and stay at No. 1 in its second weekend with a gross as high as $48 million.

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Defying soft prerelease tracking, Pacific Rim is certainly doing better than expected, but the film could see a precipitous drop-off on Saturday once fanboy traffic slows. It took in $3.6 million in Thursday night shows, with 23 percent coming from fanboy-friendly Imax theaters.

Some believe the 3D sci-fi epic, from Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros., could gross in the mid-$40 million range for the weekend, though most box-office experts believe it will top out at between $35 million and $40 million, a so-so number considering the tentpole's $190 million-plus budget.

Sony's Grown Ups 2 is tipped to debut in the $40 million range and earned a surprisingly strong $2.3 in Thursday night runs. The sequel, costing $80 million to produce, opens three years after the original film turned into a box-office hit, bowing to $40.5 million and ultimately grossing $271.4 million worldwide.

The ensemble comedy, receiving blistering reviews, reteams Sandler with Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, Salma Hayek, Maya Rudolph and Maria Bello.

Prerelease tracking for Pacific Rim was notably soft, but Warners and Legendary say stellar reviews and word of mouth are fueling a better-than-expected performance. Legendary took the lead on the movie, including paying for most of the budget.

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Pacific Rim, pitting giant robots against alien monsters, stars Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi and Charlie Day.

Overseas, Pacific Rim is off to a strong start in Asia, Russia and Argentina, though it fared dismally in Australia on Thursday, coming in No. 4 behind the the opening day of The Heat, Despicable Me 2 and Monsters University (the two animated films are benefiting from school holidays).

Pacific Rim grossed $7.8 million from 25 markets on Thursday, led by Russia with $2 million. It also prospered across Asia, taking in $1.5 million in South Korea, marking Warners' third-largest opening day of all time in that market.

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So far internationally, the epic is outpacing a slew of films that went on to gross between $300 million and $400 million overseas, including Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Clash of the Titans and Prometheus. It's also pacing on par with World War Z, which has earned more than $200 million to date at the foreign box office.

Pacific Rim opens just as Thomas Tull's Legendary and Warners prepare to part ways. This week, Legendary announced it had struck a new co-financing and production deal with Universal.

Despicable 2 has already earned well north of $316 million worldwide.

Is Fox Planning an 'X-Force' Movie? (Report)

With The Wolverine still weeks away from release and X-Men: Days of Future Past still in production, you could be forgiven for thinking that Fox currently has its hands full when it comes to the X-Men movie franchise. It appears, however, that plans are already in motion to bring a little bit of 1990s mutant magic to the big screen with a future installment.

The X-Men Films blog has noticed that Fox has registered the domain X-ForceMovie.com, noting that "this is usually how future X-Men film titles end up getting leaked" (Both X-Men: First Class and Days of Future Past were leaked in this manner ahead of official announcements).

For those unfamiliar with X-Force, the concept was created by Rob Liefeld and Fabian Nicieza as a replacement for the teen superhero title New Mutants, with the characters from that series re-organizing themselves into a more militaristic group led by time-traveling cyborg Cable. The first issue set a sales record for the comic book industry when released in 1991.

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Through the years, the title has been adopted by different creators for various (and varied) projects, including a satire on the concept of celebrity superheroes and a black-ops branch of the main X-Men team. Currently, the "X-Force" name is being used by two otherwise unrelated series at Marvel: Uncanny X-Force and Cable and X-Force.

With only the URL registration to go on, it's too early to hazard a guess about which version of the team a prospective movie would use, but concept creator Liefeld has long teased the idea of his Cable character appearing in a movie.

Of course, with Fox holding an X-Men movie panel at Comic-Con in San Diego next weekend, more news may be forthcoming sooner than you suspect.

Box Office Report: 'Pacific Rim' Opens to $3.6 Million Thursday Night; 'Grown Ups 2' Nabs $2.3 Million

Fanboys turned out in strong numbers Thursday night to see Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim, taking in $3.6 million to match the start of World War Z, which went on to gross $66.4 million for the weekend.

From Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures, Pacific Rim made headlines as it opened in Asia on Thursday, grossing $3.8 million from seven markets. The 3D sci-fic epic outpaced a slew of films that went on to gross between $300 million and $400 million internationally.

The news from Australia, which often mirrors the U.S. in terms of playability, was more troubling. Pacific Rim grossed a soft $666,000 as it opened on Thursday, coming in No. 4 behind Despicable Me 2, the opening day of The Heat and Monsters University (with school holidays, Despicable 2 and Monsters U are thriving).

Sony's ensemble Adam Sandler comedy Grown Ups 2 didn't do too shabby either as it likewise began rolling out in North America Thursday night, grossing an impressive $2.3 million. That's a great result for a comedy and easily bested the $1 million earned Thursday night by box-office pleaser The Heat.

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Box-office experts are divided as to whether Pacific Rim can overcome poor tracking. Based on prerelease tracking, they believe it may only open in the $30 million range, a financially precarious beginning for a movie that cost at least $190 million to produce (Legendary took the lead on the project and paid for the majority of the budget).

But WB and Legendary believe Pacific Rim could gross well north of $40 million, based on strong reviews and the buzz on social media. The big question will be how much Pacific Rim drops. A fanboy-driven film often will do especially big business on Friday but see substantial declines as the weekend progresses. That won't be the case if Pacific Rim can lure families as well.

Pacific Rim, pitting giant robots against alien monsters, stars Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi and Charlie Day.

Imax theaters should do big business, with 23 percent of Thursday night's gross coming from Imax locations ($835,000). Overall, 52 percent of the $3.6 million came from 3D locations, including Imax.

Pacific Rim opens just as Thomas Tull's Legendary and Warners prepare to part ways. Earlier this week, Legendary announced it has struck a new co-financing and production deal with Universal.

Sony's Grown Ups 2, with a budget of $80 million, opens three years after the original film turned into a box-office hit, opening to $40.5 million and ultimately grossing $271.4 million worldwide.

The ensemble comedy -- receiving blistering reviews -- reteams Sandler with Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, Salma Hayek, Maya Rudolph and Maria Bello. Grown Ups 2 had an abysmal 3 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes as of Thursday afternoon.

Sony insiders believe the sequel will open in the same range as the 2010 film.

Universal's megahit Despicable Me 2 could easily stay at No. 1 in its second weekend. The 3D animated tentpole has already earned north of $165 million domestically and over $316 million worldwide.

Report Indicates More Extensive Cooperation by Microsoft on Surveillance

Quoting classified internal N.S.A. newsletters obtained from Mr. Snowden, The Guardian newspaper reported that Microsoft had helped the security agency find ways to circumvent its encryption on its Outlook.com portal’s encrypted Web chat function, and that the agency was given what The Guardian described as “pre-encryption stage” access to e-mail on Outlook, including Hotmail e-mail.

The Guardian, which did not release the N.S.A. documents that it quoted, said that Microsoft had also provided the F.B.I. with access to its SkyDrive service, a cloud storage service with millions of users.

Microsoft, according to The Guardian, also worked with the F.B.I. to study how Outlook allowed users to create e-mail aliases, while Skype, now owned by Microsoft, worked with the government to help it collect both the video and audio of conversations. It also reported that information collected through the N.S.A. program code-named Prism was shared with both the F.B.I. and the C.I.A.

Microsoft said in a statement that it only provided access to its systems when required to do so by court orders.

“We only ever comply with orders about specific accounts or identifiers, and we would not respond to the kind of blanket orders discussed in the press over the past few weeks,” the company said in its statement. “To be clear, Microsoft does not provide any government with blanket or direct access to SkyDrive, Outlook.com, Skype or any Microsoft product. Finally, when we upgrade or update products legal obligations may in some circumstances require that we maintain the ability to provide information in response to a law enforcement or national security request.”

The latest disclosure from documents leaked by Mr. Snowden underscores the increasingly close ties between the N.S.A. and the high-tech community. Microsoft, Facebook and other companies have already been forced to address questions about their cooperation with the agency following Mr. Snowden’s disclosure of the Prism surveillance program.

Many of the companies have repeatedly denied that they agree to blanket collection requests from the government, despite evidence that the government has for years collected huge amounts of phone and Internet data from American citizens. An N.S.A. Internet metadata collection program revealed by Mr. Snowden, for example, was halted in 2011 only after two members of the Senate Intelligence Committee began to question its value.

Fearing a negative public response to their cooperation, some Silicon Valley companies are beginning to openly push back against the security agency. Yahoo, for example, is now asking the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, the secret court that rules on data collection requests by the government, to allow it to make public the record of its 2008 challenge to the constitutionality of the law requiring it to provide its customer data to the agency.

A Yahoo spokeswoman said Thursday that the company was “seeking permission from the FISA court to unseal the arguments and orders from the 2008 case.”

Yahoo said in a public filing with the FISA court this week that releasing documents about the 2008 case would allow it “ to demonstrate that it objected strenuously to the directives that are now the subject of debate, and objected at every stage of the proceeding, but that these objections were overruled and its request for a stay was denied.”

Signs of a popular backlash against the security agency’s large-scale collection of the personal data of Americans have convinced a leading privacy advocate in Congress that the Obama administration may soon begin to back away from the most aggressive components of the agency’s domestic surveillance programs.

The advocate, Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat and a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in an interview Thursday that he believed that the security agency might soon abandon the bulk collection of the telephone calling data of millions of Americans.

The current controversy over the agency’s surveillance policies was first set off after Mr. Snowden leaked a secret FISA court order telling Verizon to turn over calling data from all of its customers. Mr. Wyden now believes that the White House is beginning to recognize that the program raises so many privacy concerns that it is willing to drop it.

“I have a feeling that the administration is getting concerned about the bulk phone records collection, and that they are thinking about whether to move administratively to stop it,” he said. He added he believed that the continuing controversy prompted by Mr. Snowden had changed the political calculus in Congress over the balance between security and civil liberties, which has been heavily weighted toward security since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

“I think we are making a comeback,” Mr. Wyden said, referring to privacy and civil liberties advocates.

Trailer Report: 'Despicable Me' Becomes Most Watched of Week, 'Pacific Rim' Hits Top Ten

Matching its strong opening weekend, Universal's Despicable Me 2 was the most viewed trailer for the first week of July.

Universal's continuing animated story about a super villain (voiced by Steve Carell) who adopts three girls, the sequel to 2010's original, recorded 7.6 million views, more than doubling the No. 2 finisher, Fast & Furious 6.

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The Vin Diesel-Paul Walker car epic recorded 2.6 million views for its preview. The movie, which opened in the U.S. on May 24 and has grossed $695 million worldwide, is continuing to roll out to new foreign territories.

No. 3 finisher Man of Steel recorded 1.3 million views, half as much as the one ahead of it on the list.

The next six slots are all head by fall releases, except for World War Z in the No. 7 spot.

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Interest in Thor: The Dark World (32 million lifetime views) and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (36 million lifetime) remains strong.

Pacific Rim, the monster movie from Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, which opens July 12, was the only new film to enter the list, coming it at No. 10.

The movie has been tracking softly, raising questions about its box office potential. The uptick in trailer views might indicate a stronger-than-expected opening for the movie.

Twitter: @sajilpl

Box Office Report: Little Hope for 'Lone Ranger' as 'Despicable Me 2' Soars

There will be no riding off into the sunset for The Lone Ranger, which continued to struggle on Independence Day, even as Despicable Me 2 smashed more records.

From Universal, Despicable 2 took in $24.5 million to score the second-best July Fourth gross behind box-office behemoth Transformers, which took in $29.1 million in 2007. The Lone Ranger grossed a grim $9.9 million for a two-day cume of just $19.5 million.

At this pace, Despicable 2 is headed for a five-day debut north of $130 million, and possibly north of $140 million in a major victory for Universal and animation partner Illumination Entertainment. The event pic cost a modest $76 million to produce.

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Lone Ranger -- headlined by Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer -- may only reach $55 million through Sunday, far from enough considering its hefty production budget of at least $250 million. The tentpole, directed by Gore Verbinski and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, is almost certain to pose a major financial problem for Disney unless it does extraordinary business overseas.

With Lone Ranger, Disney had hoped to whip up the same magic that Bruckheimer, Verbinski and Depp created with the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. In this latest film, Depp applies his penchant for playing quirky characters to the role of Tonto (Depp says he is part Native American), while Hammer plays the Lone Ranger.

Hollywood will be be paying close attention to Lone Ranger's performance (at one point, it was almost scrapped entirely because of the budget). This past weekend, Sony's big-budget action tentpole White House Down, which cost $150 million to produce, flopped in its North American debut, grossing just $24.9 million.

Despicable 2 is easily walking away with the glory, both domestically and internationally, where it has already earned $75.8 million for an early worldwide total of $134.5 million through Thursday.

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It's also smashing a number of records. In North America, the movie also scored the second-highest Thursday gross in history behind Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen ($29.1 million). (That doesn't include films that opened on Thursday.) And on Wednesday, Universal's sequel scored the third-highest opening day for an animated feature behind Toy Story 3 and Shrek the Third (both those films opened on a Friday).

In the toon, Steve Carell returns to voice the role of Gru, master of the minions, while Kristen Wiig voices the role of Agent Lucy Wilde.

The third new entry of the July Fourth holiday frame is Summit Entertainment's stand-up comedy film Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain, which grossed a stellar $2.6 million on Thursday from 876 theaters for a two-day total of $7.4 million. Summit is hoping to provide counter-programming for African-American audiences as well as comedy fans. The film, from Codeblack Films and HartBeat Productions, was shot live at New York's Madison Square Garden.

Sophia Loren Ends Big-Screen Hiatus to Star in Son's Film (Report)

ROME – Legendary Italian actress Sophia Loren says she is headed back to the big screen for her first starring role in nearly a decade.

Italian newspapers reported Friday that the 78-year-old icon would star in La voce umana (The Human Voice), which will be directed by her 40-year-old son, Edoardo Ponti. The story is based on a one-person play first performed in 1930, written by the French poet and writer Jean Cocteau.

Unlike the stage version, which was written in French, the screen version of the story will be performed in Neapolitan dialect. The film will be set in Rome, Naples and Ostia, the port city just west of Rome, with shooting expected to take around three weeks, starting this month.

The role will be Loren’s first acting work of any kind in three years, when she starred in the Italian television movie La mia casa e’ piena di specchi (My House if Full of Mirrors), an autobiographical film in which she played her own mother and Margareth Made played the young Loren. And it will be Loren’s first starring role since Peperoni ripieni e pesci in faccia (Too Much Romance … It’s Time For Stuffed Peppers), a comedy directed by Lina Wertmueller, from 2004.

It will not be the first time Ponti directed his mother in a film: she also starred in his 2002 drama Cuori estrani (Between Strangers), Ponti’s feature film debut.

Rupert Murdoch Bribery Admission Caught on Tape (Report)

Update: In an additional statement on Wednesday, News Corp denied that Murdoch was aware of any bribery. "Mr. Murdoch never knew of payments made by Sun staff to police before News Corporation disclosed that to UK Authorities. Furthermore, he never said he knew of payments. It’s absolutely false to suggest otherwise," the statement reads.

Original Post:

News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch indicated in a secretly recorded meeting that he knew his journalists were bribing public officials, according to a report on ExaroNews, an investigative website based in the U.K.

During a meeting on March 6 at News U.K.'s headquarters in London, Murdoch met with roughly 25 executives and reporters from The Sun, who had been arrested by detectives over allegations of illegal news-gathering practices, including paying police officers and other public officials for information, according to the transcript. Among those at the meeting were Sun editor Dominic Mohan, recently promoted to a News Corp chief executive advisory role, and News U.K. chief executive Mike Darcey.

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The arrested Sun staffers were reportedly furious that the company had supplied internal communications, that betrayed confidential sources, to the police and saw themselves as scapegoats. Some reporters even went so far as to set up digital recorders to tape the meeting, Exaro claims.

In the meeting, Murdoch indicates that the bribing of public officials was widespread across national newspapers in the U.K.

At one point, according to the transcript, Murdoch says, "We're talking about payments for news tips from cops: that's been going on a hundred years, absolutely. You didn't instigate it."

Later, Murdoch hints that he was aware of bribery at the now-shuttered tabloid News of the World, which closed two years ago in the wake of a phone-hacking scandal, adding that it was the culture of Fleet Street.

Murdoch recounted, "I remember when I first bought the News of the World, the first day I went to the office…and there was a big wall-safe…And I said, 'What's that for?' And they said, 'We keep some cash in there.' And I said, 'What for?' [They said,] 'Well, sometimes the editor needs some on Saturday night for powerful friends. And sometimes the chairman is doing badly at the tables and he helps himself.'"

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That chairman was the late Sir William Carr, who was in charge before Murdoch took over in 1969, Exaro reports.

There's also a discussion of News Corp.'s internal management and standards committee (MSC), which both Sun staffers and Murdoch are upset about, with the News Corp chairman saying setting up the MSC was a "mistake."

Murdoch also rails against the police, judges and other authorities, saying that his newspaper group has been "picked on."

But he also expresses a lot of support for Sun reporters who are concerned about their futures after being arrested.

"I will promise you continued health support," he says. "But your jobs...I've got to be careful what comes out--but frankly, I won't say it, but just trust me. Okay?"

Murdoch also reveals his succession plan, saying that if he's "not here," decisions would be made by his son, Lachlan, or new News Corp CEO Robert Thomson.

"And you don't have any worries about either of them," he adds to the Sun staffers.

Exaro published a full transcript of the exchanges between Murdoch and his staff, redacting a few passages for legal reasons.

In a statement, News Corp said "No other company has done as much to identify what went wrong, compensate the victims, and ensure the same mistakes do not happen again. The unprecedented co-operation granted by News Corp was agreed unanimously by senior management and the board, and the [internal management and standards committee] continues to co-operate under the supervision of the courts. Rupert Murdoch has shown understandable empathy with the staff and families affected and will assume they are innocent until and unless proven guilty."

Trailer Report: One Direction's 'This Is Us' Debuts at No. 1

Trailer fans are heading in One Direction this week.The debut trailer for the hit boy band's combo behind-the-scenes/concert movie was the most watched preview during the week of June 24-30, according to Zefr.It recorded 6.8 million views on YouTube in its first week.
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One Direction: This Is Us arrives in theaters on Aug. 30.

In advance of its July 3 opening, the third trailer for Despicable Me 2 jumped to the second spot from No. 10 the previous week, recording 4.3 million views.

Trailer views for Despicable 2 correlate strongly with early box-office tracking for the movie, which is predicted to take in about $110 million over the long holiday weekend.
By contrast, no trailer for Lone Ranger, the week's other big release, cracked the top 10 and the movie is tracking softly, with an expected opening in the $65 million to $70 million range.
Analysts have speculated on why the movie seems to be failing to connect with audiences.

Fast & Furious 6's first trailer was the third-most-viewed preview of the week, jumping from the seventh spot the week prior.

The Paul Walker/Vin Diesel car heist movie's promo garnered 3 million more views, lifting its lifetime total to 115 million views since debuting online Feb. 5.

The movie, which has grossed $682 million worldwide to date, rolls out in China and Japan later this month.

Man of Steel also saw a jump in advance of a wider international rollout, recording 1.9 million views to rise from the eighth-most-watched trailer to fifth place on the list.
Gwyneth Paltrow's upcoming movie Thanks for Sharing made a surprise appearance in the top 10, netting 1.1 million views in the trailer's debut week.
Interest in the trailer was spurred by images of Paltrow stripping down to lingerie, revealing her enviable body, which received wide media coverage.

 

Box Office Report: 'Despicable Me 2' Leaving 'Lone Ranger' in the Dust

Universal's Despicable Me 2 is already proving the box office hit everyone thought it would be, while Disney's The Lone Ranger may fail to ignite enough Fourth of July fireworks. Both films began rolling out Tuesday night, hoping to capitalize on the long holiday stretch.

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Despicable 2 grossed an estimated $30 million to $35 million on Wednesday, putting the 3D animated sequel on course for a possible five-day debut in the $120 million range, marking another major win for Universal's animation efforts. The family pic earned an A- CinemaScore from audiences, further boosting its standing.

Lone Ranger -- headlined by Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer -- may only reach half of that unless business picks up considerably.

The tentpole, receiving a B+ CinemaScore, is pacing to gross $11 million to $12 million on Wednesday for a meek five-day opening in the $50 million to $60 million range (some say it won't get much past $55 million). That's an especially troubling number considering the film's price tag, and means Lone Ranger will have to do huge business internationally, as well has have strong legs domestically.

Despicable Me 2 cost a modest $76 million to produce, while Lone Ranger cost at least $250 million. Director Gore Verbinski and Depp reunited with their Pirates of the Caribbean producer Jerry Bruckheimer to bring Lone Ranger to the big screen.

With Lone Ranger, Disney is hoping to whip up the same magic that Bruckheimer, Verbinski and Depp created with the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. In this latest film, Depp applies his penchant for playing quirky characters to the role of Tonto (Depp says he is part Native American), while Hammer plays the Lone Ranger.

Hollywood will be be paying close attention to Lone Ranger's performance (at one point, it was almost scrapped entirely because of the budget). This past weekend, Sony's big-budget action tentpole White House Down, which cost $150 million to produce, flopped in its North America debut, grossing just $24.9 million.

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Despicable 2 is something of a sure bet, considering it's a sequel to a family hit. The toon opens three years after the first film took the box office by storm. The films are the brainchild of Chris Meledandri's Illumination Entertainment, the animation venture backed by Universal.

Overseas, Despicable 2 has already earned an outstanding $48 million from only seven territories, including six where it opened over the weekend after initially rolling out in Australia the prior weekend.

In the toon, Steve Carell returns to voice the role of Gru, master of the minions, while Kristen Wiig voices the role of Agent Lucy Wilde.

Summit Entertainment enters the holiday fray with stand-up comedy film Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain, which likewise rolled out Tuesday night, grossing a solid $1.1 million from only 876 theaters. Summit is hoping to provide counter-programming for African-American audiences as well as comedy fans. The film, from Codeblack Films and HartBeat Productions, was shot live at New York's Madison Square Garden.

Opening Night Report: Larry Ellison's New Malibu Restaurant

Nikita, the most anticipated restaurant of the year in Malibu, quietly opened at 5 p.m. Monday along the Carbon Beach oceanfront. It’s backed by Oracle CEO Larry Ellison and named after his girlfriend, Ukranian actress Nikita Kahn. Currently worth an estimated $43 billion, he lives nearby and has in recent years demonstrated an insatiable appetite for purchasing adjacent real estate parcels, including at least nine Carbon homes.

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Situated just across a Ferrari-festooned parking lot from Nobu -- Malibu’s dining debutante last summer -- Nikita shares its neighbor’s penchant for teak wood, minimalist stonework, giant glass panes and a generally understated Zen vibe. Dinner reservations were booked out all week, although the restaurant was only lightly occupied; management seemed to be purposefully easing into dinner service. Lunch will follow in a few months.

The menu, by chef Massimiliano Blasone (previously of the Michelin-starred Apsley's in London), is Italian-inclined Mediterranean through a Californian lens. Expect a lot of handmade pastas and precision-plated appetizers, such as the signature crispy sea bass “cannolo” appetizer accompanied by diced celery and cantaloupe.

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Really, though, the most appropriate culinary description may just be Gazillionaire Grub: very small portions of very well-executed dishes at very high prices. (An itsy-bitsy $25 “lobster salad,” available only at the bar, consisted of two claws and several pieces of endive and frisee, all resting atop a smear of avocado puree.)

The first day’s crowd was almost entirely comprised of eager, in-the-know Malibuites, clad in the city’s particular definition of dressy-casual -- Piaget watch with baseball cap, James Perse top and bikini bottom with Hermes bag. There was quite a bit of talk about the positively-avant-garde-for-the-neighborhood cocktails (a mixology-minded list conjured by the noted Greg Seider, co-owner of The Summit Bar in Manhattan’s East Village) as well as local Fourth of July festivities. Specifically, the one being held at Nikita. It seems Ellison and his other investors have booked out most of the available tables for dinner on Thursday and are arranging for a rather epic fireworks spectacle over the water directly in front of the restaurant that may put other past Carbon barge displays to shame.

Box Office Report: 'The Heat' Bringing Down the 'White House' in Early Friday Returns

Melissa McCarthy can apparently do no wrong at the box office.

Based on early Friday ticket sales, Paul Feig's comedy The Heat -- starring McCarthy opposite Sandra Bullock -- could near $40 million in its debut, enough to easily beat Roland Emmerich's big-budget tentpole White House Down, headlined by another hot box-office star, Channing Tatum.

White House Down, also starring Jamie Foxx, may not cross $30 million in its North American opening, a blow for Emmerich and Sony, which spent $140 million to make the pic. In the film, the president of the United States (Foxx) and a wannabe Secret Service agent (Tatum) team up after the White House is invaded by terrorists and the U.S. Capitol destroyed.

PHOTOS: Jamie Foxx and Channing Tatum: Exclusive Portraits of the 'White House Down' Stars

One problem -- White House Down comes out just three months after FilmDistrict's White House-under-siege film Olympus Has Fallen played in theaters. Another is a glut of male-skewing action films in the market.

20th Century Fox's The Heat, meanwhile, marks another coup for McCarthy and Feig, as well as for Bullock. To date, McCarthy's top opening at the domestic box office is Identity Thief, which debuted earlier this year to $34.6 million.

The Heat -- the first female offering of the summer, costing a modest $43 million to produce -- stars Bullock as a strict FBI agent who is forced to team up with McCarthy's rough-around-the-edges Boston street cop.

STORY: Box Office Report: 'White House Down' Earns $1.35 Mil, 'The Heat' Warms With $1 Mil Thursday

Feig's Bridesmaids grossed $26.2 million in its domestic debut in May 2011. The film, which starred McCarthy along with Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph, became a female-friendly comedy hit and has gone on to gross $288.4 million to date worldwide.

At current pacing, White House Down could become one of Emmerich's lowest-grossing debuts to date for a broad tentpole. In summer 2004, The Day After Tomorrow debuted to $68.7 million. Independence Day -- which also featured the destruction of the White House -- opened to $50.2 million in July 1996.

Monsters University is likely to stay at No. 1 in its second weekend with a gross in the $45 million-plus range. The Disney/Pixar film, the prequel to 2001 hit Monsters, Inc., debuted in 4,004 theaters last weekend to earn $82.4 million, making it Pixar's second-highest opening ever behind 2010's Toy Story 3. Holdover World War Z continues to show strength as well and could be neck-and-neck with The Heat.

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Report: NSA collected US email records, Internet use for years

The U.S. National Security Agency collected the email and Internet use records of some U.S. residents for about a decade following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, according to documents published Thursday by the U.K. newspaper the Guardian.

 

The NSA's collection of email and Internet use metadata was authorized by former President George W. Bush after 9/11 and continued for two years under President Barack Obama, according to the Guardian's report.

 

The Guardian published two secret documents on the so-called Stellar Wind collection program, a March 2009 NSA inspector general's report on the program and a November 2007 U.S. Department of Justice memo defending the collection.

 

The inspector general's report says the White House, including members of then-Vice President Dick Cheney's staff, pushed the NSA to collect more information on U.S. residents in the days following the terrorist attacks. When General Michael Hayden, the NSA's director at the time, said he didn't believe the NSA had the authority to collect U.S. communications, the White House granted the NSA additional authority.

 

Shawn Turner, spokesman for the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence, said the program stopped in 2011. "The Internet metadata collection program authorized by the FISA court was discontinued in 2011 for operational and resource reasons and has not been restarted," he said by email. "The program was discontinued by the executive branch as the result of an interagency review."

 

The new revelations of NSA surveillance on U.S. residents follow news reports earlier this month that the NSA is currently collecting all telephone records from Verizon Communications. The agency is also collecting email and Internet communications from nine Web companies, including Google, Microsoft and Apple, with some U.S. communications swept up along with foreign targets, according to news reports.

 

The NSA inspector general's report says 92 percent of the targets in the collection program from 2001 to 2007 were email addresses and phone calls outside the U.S. There were just over 3,000 targets in the U.S. during that time frame, according to the report.

 

The 2007 DOJ memo, from Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Wainstein, defended the program, saying it doesn't violate the U.S. Constitution's Fourth Amendment protecting U.S. residents against unreasonable searches and seizures.

 

"We conclude that a person has no such expectation, however, in dialing, routing, addressing, or signaling information that does not concern the substance, purport, or meaning of communications," Wainstein wrote. "We note that the analysis of information legally within the possession of the Government is likely neither a 'search' nor a 'seizure' within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment."

 

The NSA's collection of telephone and Internet communications metadata included "routing, addressing, and signaling information that does not concern the substance" of the underlying communications, wrote Wainstein, now in private practice.

 

Wainstein didn't immediately respond to a request for a comment on the memo he authored. The DOJ memo came in response to an NSA request seeking to clarify that it had authorization to collect Internet metadata from U.S. residents.

 

NSA critics have said that the collection of metadata, including the recipients of phone calls and email and the time of the calls and emails, can tell a great deal about a person and is a privacy violation.

 

The NSA U.S. collections are "pretty outrageous," digital rights activist Sina Khanifar said in an email. "Anyone who claims that the NSA's surveillance hasn't been in violation of our Fourth Amendment rights is going to have a much harder time making that argument in light of this news."

 

Khanifar helped launch the website StopWatching.us two weeks ago, and the site has collected more than 512,000 signatures of people calling on the U.S. government to stop spying on them.

 

Grant Gross covers technology and telecom policy in the U.S. government for The IDG News Service. Follow Grant on Twitter at GrantGross. Grant's e-mail address is grant_gross@idg.com.

 

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Box Office Report: Brad Pitt's 'World War Z' Opens to $3.6 Million Thursday Night

Paramount's zombie extravaganza World War Z grossed $3.6 million as it began its North American assault Thursday night, competing for attention with the final NBA championship game between the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs.

Disney and Pixar's Monsters University, the weekend's other new entry, also began rolling out at 8 p.m., grossing $2.6 million. The long-awaited sequel is widely expected to top the North American box office chart with a debut in the $70 million-plus range. Earlier this year, Disney's Oz the Great and Powerful did $2 million in Thursday night business on its way to a $79.1 million weekend.

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Pointing out that World War Z is an original property, Paramount is projecting a $40 million to $45 million domestic debut for the movie, starring and produced by Brad Pitt. But other box office observers says the film, based on Max Brook's 2006 novel of the same name, is likely to open in the $45 million to $50 million range.

Earlier this summer, The Great Gatsby took in $3.3 million in midnight shows on its way to a $50.1 million North American opening.

In addition to Monsters U, World War Z will have to compete with holdover Man of Steel, which could earn anywhere from $50 million to $60 million in its second outing.

Thursday night's basketball game no doubt kept many moviegoers at home. Hollywood studios -- including Paramount -- blanketed the game with ads promoting their movies, including two spots for World War Z.

World War Z, rated PG-13, cost $190 million to produce after tax incentives. Extensive reshoots bumped up the budget, which was originally at $150 million. The pic, directed by Marc Forster, was initially slotted to open in December 2010.

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Overseas, World War Z is already scaring up strong business, scoring $5.7 million on Thursday and pacing in line with Christopher Nolan's original event pic Inception.

In South Korea, World War Z grossed $1.5 million, ahead of the $1.1 million earned a week ago by Man of Steel. Inception's opening-day gross in South Korea was $941,000.

World War Z grossed $1.1 million in Australia, in line with Inception. And the movie made the record books in Argentina, grossing $710,000, double the Man of Steel and the third-best Thursday of all time.

Twitter: @sajilpl

Box Office Report: 'Man of Steel' Sails Past $150 Million in North America

Zack Snyder and Christopher Nolan's Man of Steel zoomed past the $150 million mark in its fifth day of release at the domestic box office, enjoying robust weekday business.

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The Superman tentpole, from Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures, scored the top June debut of all time, grossing $116.1 million. Including $12 million earned last Thursday night from special Walmart screenings, the pic ended Sunday with a total $128.7 million under its belt.

Man of Steel, based on the marquee D.C. Comics superhero, took in another $12.6 million on Monday and $11.5 million on Tuesday, pushing its North American total to $$152.8 million. Overseas, the movie -- starring British actor Henry Cavill in the title role -- opened just north of $70 million last weekend.

Directed by Snyder and produced by Nolan, Man of Steel should cross $200 million domestically on Saturday.

The $225 million tentpole is a sizeable victory for Warners and Legendary. The movie also stars Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Russell Crowe, Kevin Costner and Diane Lane.

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Superman isn't the only superhero celebrating.

Also on Tuesday, Disney and Marvel Studios' Iron Man 3 jumped the $400 million mark at the domestic box office as its blockbuster run comes to an end. Shane Black's threequel was already the No. 1 film of the year. Oz the Great and Powerful is currently No. 2 with $234.2 million, followed by Fast and Furious 6 with $222 million.

Globally, Iron Man 3 is the No. 5 top grossing film of all time with $1.2 billion, including $802.9 million in international ticket sales.

Returning Robert Downey Jr. in the title role, Iron Man 3 is the sixth Disney film to cross $1 billion and the second-highest grossing Disney film after Marvel's The Avengers ($1.5 billion).

Iron Man 3 has outpaced Avengers in many territories -- including China, Hong Kong, Korea and Russia -- indicating that it has played more like a sequel to Avengers than to Iron Man 2.

 

Box Office Report: 'Monsters U' Zooms to $82 Million Debut; 'World War Z' Nabs $66 Million

Affable monsters and hordes of zombies converged at the North American box office over the weekend to create a perfect storm for moviegoing.

Disney and Pixar's long-awaited sequel Monsters University opened to a sizzling $82 million, the No. 2 Pixar opening of all time after Toy Story 3 ($110 million). Overseas, Monsters U took in an early $54.5 million from 35 markets for a worldwide debut of $136.5 million.

Brad Pitt zombie pic World War Z, from Paramount, also overperformed in opening to $66 million, the top launch for an original live-action tentpole since Avatar. It also marks Pitt's largest opening domestically, easily outpacing the $50.3 million launch of Mr. & Mrs. Smith in summer 2005. Internationally, World War Z debuted to $45.8 million from its first 25 markets for a worldwide total of $111.8 million.

PHOTOS: 'World War Z' Premiere: The Zombie Apocalypse Starts in London 

World War Z's performance is a notable victory for Paramount, considering many in Hollywood left the film for dead after its release was pushed back from December 2012 in order to allow for numerous reshoots required to reshape the ending. Directed by Marc Forster and co-financed by Skydance Productions, World War Z was a passion project for Pitt, who produced the tentpole.

Domestic box office revenue for the weekend reached an estimated $236 million, the second best of the year after Memorial Day weekend and among the top 10 weekends of all time.

Heading into the frame, box office observers believed World War Z would end up in a closer battle with Zack Snyder and Christopher Nolan's Man of Steel, with many giving Superman an edge over zombies.

As it turned out, Man of Steel fell more than expected domestically, even as it jumped the $200 million mark in North America and nearly $400 million worldwide. The movie grossed $41.2 million domestically, a 65 percent decline, pushing its domestic total to $210 million.

Overseas, Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures' Man of Steel towered over the competition, grossing $89 million from 52 markets for an international cume of $188.3 million and global total of $398.3 million. Highlights included China, where the tentpole took in $25.5 million.

Coming in No. 4 in North America was Sony's innovative comedy This Is the End, which fell just 37 percent in its second weekend. The R-rated pic grossed $13 million for a domestic cume of $57.8 million.

Rounding out the top five was Summit's sleeper hit Now You See Me. The magician heist pic has enjoyed a great hold, grossing $7.9 million in its fourth weekend for a domestic total of $94.5 million.

The might of Monsters U, directed by Dan Scanlon, continues Pixar's winning streak at the box office and marks the 14th Pixar title to open to No. 1. The sequel returns Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi and Frank Oz in the roles of Mike Wazowski, James P. Sullivan, Randall Boggs, and Jeff Fungus, respectively.

"The consistency of the quality that comes from Pixar and John Lasseter and his team is extraordinary" "This movie had to live up to a very had to live up to a very high bar, and it did," said Disney executive vice president of distribution Dave Hollis, also noting that the animated tentpole did strong nighttime business in a sign that adults were turning out in addition to families.

One downer -- onlyl 31 percent of the revenues came from 3D screens.

Monsters U will have plenty of competition in the coming weeks as a record number of 3D summer toons open at the North American, but a glowing A CinemaScore should help fuel word of mouth.

Overseas, the 2013 summer animation war began over the weekend in Australia, where Monsters U debuted opposite University's Despicable Me 2 in advance of the winter holidays. Despicable 2 was the victor, grossing $4.3 million. Combined with previews, the toon has earned a total of $6.4 million. Monsters U took in $3.5 million.

STORY: 'Monsters,' 'Despicable Me 2,' 'Turbo': Summer's Brutal Animation War 

Paramount is hoping that World War Z -- following the lead of other successful original tentpoles -- enjoys a better-than-usual multiple. Avatar debuted to $77 million in December 2009 on its way to cuming $760.5 million domestically, or 10 times its opening number. And in summer 2010, Christopher Nolan's Inception grossed $292.6 million, nearly five times its $62 million debut.

"This was an original movie in a summer that's been full of sequels and remakes. I think it captured the public's imagination. Certainly, Brad gave a superb performance," said Paramount vice chairman Rob Moore.

Rated PG-13, World War Z earned a B+ CinemaScore.

World War Z, based on Max Brook's 2006 novel of the same name, was a sizeable gamble for the studio, costing $190 million to produce after tax incentives. The budget was originally $150 million, but the additional work -- shepherded by Pitt and Forster alongside Paramount Film Group president Adam Goodman and his team -- bumped up the number.

In the film, Pitt plays a retired U.N. employee who must return to work and stop a worldwide pandemic that is turning humans into zombies. The Killing's Mireille Enos stars as his wife.

World War Z opened in 25 foreign markets this weekend, including the U.K., South Korea and Australia.

At the specialty box office, Sofia Copolla's The Bling Ring came in No. 11 as it made a major push in its second weekend, upping its theater count from five theaters to 650. The indie film, from A24 films, grossed $1.8 million from 650 theaters for a cume of $2.1 million.

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Box Office Report: 'This Is the End' Opens to Impressive $2.2 Million Tuesday Night

Seth Rogen and Evan Goldeberg's This Is the End earned a strong $2.2 million as it rolled out in select theaters Tuesday night at 7 p.m.

The R-rated end-of-the-world comedy -- marking the directorial debut of Goldberg and Rogen, who also stars -- is hoping for a pleasing five-day debut in the low $30 million range, which would recoup the film's $32 million budget. It opens everywhere in North America on Wednesday.

PHOTOS: 'This is The End' Premiere: The Apocalypse Gets Funny

In terms of comps, Summit Entertainment's ensemble magician pic Now You See Me grossed $1.5 million in Thursday night shows late last month on its way to a $29.4 million.

Also starring Jonah Hill, James Franco, Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride, Craig Robinson, Michael Cera and Emma Watson, This is the End hopes to serve as counterprogramming to Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures' Superman entry Man of Steel, which begins rolling out Thursday night in the U.S.

In the comedy, the actors -- all playing fictional versions of themselves -- are attending a star-studded party at Franco's house when the apocalypse begins and they're forced to work together to survive. The feature is based on a short film created by Rogen and Baruchel in 2007 titled Jay and Seth vs. The Apocalypse. Rogen and Goldberg also co-wrote the scripts for Superbad, The Green Hornet and The Watch.

This Is the End, which will play in more than 2,900 theaters, also features several other cameos during the early scenes at Franco's house party, including appearances by Rihanna, Mindy Kaling, Jason Segel, Paul Rudd and Kevin Hart.

In terms of sheer gross, the comedy will be eclipsed once the highly anticipated Man of Steel debuts. Zack Snyder's superhero action film, produced by Christopher Nolan, opens in 24 foreign markets, including in South Korea on Thursday.

Among other major markets, Man of Steel opens in the U.K. and Mexico on Friday. The following weekend, the $225 million tentpole opens in 26 additional markets, including China, France, Germany, Italy, Russia and Spain.

Based on tracking, box-office observers are predicting a North American debut in the $85 million to $100 million range.

VIDEO: 'Man of Steel's' Henry Cavill on Fame: 'Going to Starbucks Is Now a Thing of the Past'

British actor Henry Cavill stars as Clark Kent in the origin tale, which sees his character trying to hide his superpowers and live a normal life on Earth. Amy Adams stars as Lois Lane, and Michael Shannon takes on the role of the menacing General Zod.

With a story by Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer, and a script by Goyer, Man of Steel will have a special screening at the Los Angeles Film Festival on Wednesday. It opens in limited release in the U.S. Thursday night, with a wide release on Friday in more than 4,200 theaters.

Warners and Legendary turned to Nolan as a producer on the project after he successfully revived the Batman franchise with his Dark Knight trilogy. In the summer of 2005, Nolan's Batman Begins opened to $48.7 million and had incredible staying power.

Twitter: @sajilpl

 

Box Office Report: 'World War Z' Opens Strong in Australia, South Korea

Paramount's World War Z is scaring up strong business as it begins rolling out overseas, scoring stellar opening-day numbers in South Korea and Australia on Thursday.

The Brad Pitt zombie extravaganza took in $1.1 million in Australia, on par with Christopher Nolan's Inception, likewise an original tentpole. Inception posted a weekend opening gross of $6.7 million.

PHOTOS: 'World War Z' Premiere: The Zombie Apocalypse Starts in London

In South Korea, World War Z grossed $1.2 million, just ahead of the $1.1 million earned a week ago by Superman tentpole Man of Steel on its way to an $8.6 million weekend. Inception's opening-day gross in South Korea was $941,000.

"These markets look great," remarked one top Paramount executive.

World War Z, directed by Marc Forster, begins rolling out in North America at 8 p.m. Thursday.

Paramount is predicting a domestic opening in the $40 million to $45 million range for World War Z, which is rated PG-13. But more bullish box-office observers with access to tracking believe the movie -- produced by and starring Pitt -- could open in the $50 million range, while holdover Man of Steel could earn anywhere from $50 million to $60 million in its second outing.

Disney and Pixar's Monsters University is widely expected to win the weekend with a $70 million-plus debut.

FILM REVIEW: 'World War Z'

Versus a big opening, Paramount and co-financing partner Skydance Productions are banking on World War Z to have a better-than-usual multiple, similar to other original tentpoles. Avatar debuted to $77 million in December 2009 on its way to cuming $760.5 million domestically, or 10 times its opening number. And in summer 2010, Christopher Nolan's Inception grossed $292.6 million, nearly five times its $62 million debut.

Paramount insiders point out that very few original event pics open to $50 million or more. And while Pitt may be one of the world's most recognizable stars, his biggest opening was the $50.3 million earned by Mr. and Mrs. Smith in summer 2005.

World War Z, based on Max Brooks' 2006 novel of the same name, is a sizable gamble for the studio, costing $190 million to produce after tax incentives. The budget was originally $150 million, but extensive reshoots bumped up the number (it was initially slotted to open in December 2010).

The apocalyptic horror pic is a passion project for Pitt, who produced the movie via his Paramount-based production company Plan B. In the film, he plays a retired U.N. employee who must return to work and stop a worldwide pandemic that is turning humans into zombies. The Killing's Mireille Enos stars as his wife.

World War Z, which has received generally positive reviews, is opening in a total of 26 foreign markets this weekend.

Twitter: @sajilpl