Or -- and don't mistaken me for a conspiracy theorist -- but perhaps Mr. Richards somehow blew through the $100-plus million Seinfeld fortune he's sitting on, and, in desperate need of money and attention, took a payoff from Mel Gibson to divert attention from his recent anti-Semitic explosion. Whatever the explanation for Mr. Richard's actions and words and no matter the fallout, I'm sure he and his publicist are pleased to see his name mentioned in the same breath as Mel and Tom Cruise for once this decade … even if the mention is ignominious at best.

Not ignominious is the arrival of Happy Feet and Casino Royale. (Let's see you segue from racism to a discussion of the weekend box office!) Not since Chilly Willy graced the Saturday morning cartoons, or perhaps not since last year's blockbuster documentary March of the Penguins, has the tuxedoed bird found such favor with audiences. Taking in more than $41 million was enough to eclipse the second-biggest Bond opening of all time (Die Another Day tallied $47 million in its competition-free slot back on November 22, 2002). Casino Royale still performed brilliantly, especially considering the pseudo-reinvention of the wheel with new actor Daniel Craig in the lead role. Taking in $40-plus million is nothing to sneeze about, unless, like in nearly every Moguls draft, you were the studio who drafted Casino well in front of the pesky penguins. But rest easy, Casino collected a higher PTA ($11,000-plus) which will be good for a third place finish, while Happy Feet, hampered by children’s admission prices and bargain matinees will finish in 4th. 

Obviously, with such a splash for Happy Feet, the other two major family films took a hit in the box office this week. Santa Clause 3 fell 51 percent, good enough for fourth place, and Flushed Away dropped 60 percent and fell to sixth. With the action, explosions and babes of Bond, Borat saw a 48 percent hit to its totals, but $14 million was still good enough for third and a cume hovering above $90 million. Stranger Than Fiction looks to be short of the legs for which Sony is hoping, and its 50 percent decline to fifth place, and total receipts of only $22 million, will lump this into the Bewitched level of returns for Will Farrell (as opposed to the Talladega Nights level).

The PTA side of things was very competitive. While Bobby collected an impressive $33,000-plus per screen, it was only in two theaters so in a Moguls-weighted world (and why would anyone care about a world that is not Moguls-weighted?), it's $6,000-plus PTA is only good for 5th place.  Leading the pack is For Your Consideration with a healthy $16,000 per theater, with Volver's $14,000 per venue good for second place. Casino and Feet finished third and fourth. Meanwhile, Fast Food Nation went the way of human beings who consume an inordinate amount of fast food. (Sorry for the "died a slow death" analogy, it was too easy to pass up, kind of like a fast food restaurant … I guess this could go on forever, so I'll stop at this point).  At only $1,200 per theater, Fast Food will be out of theaters … in a hurry.

Howard Roark laughed.  He can be reached at Howard@fantasymoguls.com.