- DMB Still Sells Through. Dave Matthews Band snagged the third-best album debut of 2009 this week, rising to the top of the Billboard pop charts with Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King, which has sold 424,000 copies. DMB bumps Eminem's comeback album, Relapse, which was No. 1 for the two weeks prior. [The New York Times]
- Armstrong Project Coasts With Ross Addition. The producing team behind the Lance Armstrong biopic has hired veteran Gary Ross to write the script -- the same guy who penned the Oscar-nominated sports movie Seabiscuit from its original book. Ross will be working primarily to adapt story elements from Armstrong's 2000 memoir, It's Not About the Bike, which was co-authored with Washington Post sportswriter Sally Jenkins. [The Hollywood Reporter]
- Swine Flu in Mexico Leaves Empty Theaters. How has swine flu in Mexico affected movie attendance, which, as we all know, requires you to sit for two-plus hours in very close quarters with 250 other people? Reports Variety: For a short period of time, some Mexico City theaters required every customer coming through the door to sanitize his hands, creating long, winding lines. Initially, the government said movie patrons everywhere would have to sit seven feet apart from one another, but when exhibitors complained, the rule became a recommendation only. As a result, the trade reports, the major studios are curtailing their expectations significanly for summer's tentpoles. [Variety]
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