'Museum' still exhibits drawing power

Museum crowds are strong at movie theaters. Ben Stiller's "Night at the Museum" took in $24 million to stay on top at the box office for a third straight weekend, fending off a soft crop of newcomers during the post-holiday lull. Will Smith's "The Pursuit of Happyness" finished second again with $13 million. Expanding from its Christmas debut in a handful of theaters, the thriller "Children of Men," starring Clive Owen and Julianne Moore, led the new wide releases, coming in at No. 3 with $10.3 million. Debuting in fourth with $9.7 million was "Freedom Writers," starring Hilary Swank as an idealistic teacher who uses writing journals and exercises in tolerance to inspire her class of racially divided teens. The animated comedy "Happily N'Ever After," a fairy-tale farce featuring the voices of Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze Jr. and Sigourney Weaver, opened at No. 6 with $6.8 million. And "Code Name: The Cleaner," a comedy with Cedric the Entertainer as a janitor who thinks he's a spy, premiered out of the top 10, coming in at No. 11 with $4.6 million.

Guillermo Del Toro's gothic fairy tale "Pan's Labyrinth " was named best film of 2006 on Saturday by the National Society of Film Critics. Mark Wahlberg was chosen best supporting actor for his performance as a vengeful Boston detective in "The Departed." He is also nominated for a Golden Globe. Forest Whitaker, who stars in "The Last King of Scotland , " and Peter O'Toole, who stars in "Venus," were running neck-and-neck in the balloting, until Whitaker took the honors in a tiebreaker for his performance as the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, according to a spokeswoman for the society. Helen Mirren easily won best actress for her performance as British monarch Elizabeth II in "The Queen," which also won best screenplay honors for Peter Morgan. The 45 members voting Saturday at the society's 41st annual meeting at Sardi's restaurant in New York City had a difficult time selecting a best actor. Meryl Streep was named best supporting actress for her diverse turns as a demanding fashion magazine editor in "The Devil Wears Prada," and as a member of a singing sister act in "A Prairie Home Companion." "An Inconvenient Truth" was selected best nonfiction film, and Emmanuel Lubezki was chosen best cinematographer for "Children of Men."

Jay-Z (below) and General Motors are teaming up to bring a stylish hue to a rugged sport utility vehicle. The music mogul emerged from a concept GMC Yukon Denali SUV on stage Saturday during a celebrity-filled party thrown by General Motors Corp. on the eve of media previews for the North American International Auto Show. Painted "Jay-Z Blue," the SUV was developed through a partnership with the rapper during the past two years. Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, worked with the company's global color studio to create the reflective blue color for the SUV. " Hopefully, I'll be able to drive one of them out of here tonight," he said. The world's No. 1 automaker invited several celebrities to escort new vehicles down a brightly lit catwalk inside a massive tent along the Detroit River. Posing with the vehicles were Carmen Electra, Jennifer Hudson, Vivica A. Fox, Rosie Perez, Christian Slater, Mario Lopez, and Nick Lachey.

A nationwide talent search for dancers fleet-footed enough to back up Beyonce Knowles (inset) came to the pop diva's hometown of Houston as hundreds turned out to audition for 40 open slots. The would-be performers took turns Saturday moving through choreographed routines to such Beyonce hits as "Deja Vu," while cameras recorded their footwork and choreographer Frank Gaston studied their style. Houston was the third location in the cross-country search, following auditions in Atlanta and Los Angeles. After two more stops, in New York and Chicago, Gaston and Beyonce will review the tapes. There will be 30 finalists from each city. The finalists get a trip to either New York or Los Angeles, where the numbers will be pared to the final 40. The dancers will earn $1,500 to $3,000 a week and get extensive exposure at Beyonce's performances, said Gaston, who choreographs Beyonce's videos and has worked with En Vogue and Toni Braxton.

Oprah Winfrey was the target of a foiled $1.5 million extortion plot, according to the FBI and other published reports. While the criminal complaint filed in US District Court against Keifer Bonvillain, 36, states that he had approached "a public figure and the owner of a Chicago-based company" and threatened to release potentially damaging recorded phone conversations about the person, the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times, citing unidentified sources, name Winfrey as his intended victim, the Associated Press reports. Bonvillain, who is scheduled for a preliminary hearing in Chicago today , was arrested in Atlanta on Dec. 15, the day after he met an emissary with the intention of their exchanging money for the tapes, says the Sun-Times. After his arrest, Bonvillain was released on $20,000 bail. In a phone conversation with the paper, Bonvillain said of the case, "There is nothing to it. It's nothing. It was a big mix-up." His attorney, Kent Carlson, told the Sun-Times he could not "confirm or deny" the specifics in the legal complaint against his client.

Nobel Prize - winning novelist Orhan Pamuk took over a Turkish newspaper for a day, and devoted yesterday's front page to criticism of the oppression of artists in his native country. Pamuk, whose trial last year on a charge of "insulting Turkishness" received international condemnation before it was dropped on a technicality, earned a degree in journalism but had never practiced the profession before becoming the one-day editor in chief at Radikal. His cover story criticized the Turkish press and government for suppressing free expression. Its banner headline quoted a 1951 article that encouraged Turks to spit on Nazim Hikmet, an acclaimed poet and denounced communist who spent years in prison for his leftist affiliations and later died in Moscow. Pamuk, who won the Nobel literature prize last year, is reviled by many in Turkey, where nationalists accuse him of treason for talking about the killings of ethnic Armenians and Kurds.

FROM WIRE REPORTS