MOVIES
Mission Accomplished: "M:I-2," starring Tom Cruise and directed by John Woo, got off to a slightly better start than the original "Mission: Impossible," which also debuted the Wednesday before the Memorial Day weekend in 1996. On a whopping 3,653 screens, "M:I-2" brought in an estimated $12.51 million on its opening day, slightly ahead of the $11.7 million the original captured (which included Tuesday night previews). The sequel's start is the fourth-best midweek debut ever and the second-best in May behind "Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace," which holds the record with $28.5 million, according to Exhibitor Relations. "M:I-2" seems to be on a trajectory similar to the first film, which grossed just under $75 million in its first six days in 3,012 theaters and eventually grossed $181 million in North America (and $284 million overseas).
TELEVISION
Out-Foxed: Michael J. Fox's farewell yielded a highest-ever rating for "Spin City," which drew an estimated 32.8 million viewers Wednesday--ABC's biggest audience in that time slot since "Ellen's" coming-out episode in 1997. In the show, Fox's character was forced to resign from the mayor's office, becoming an environmental lobbyist in Washington, D.C. Charlie Sheen will replace him next season, though Fox is scheduled to make occasional appearances on the program. With "Spin" as its lead-in, "20/20" attracted 19.2 million viewers, the biggest audience for a newsmagazine this year. Despite that competition, NBC's "Law & Order" closed the season on a high note with an audience of 19.5 million, the show's best results of the 1999-2000 campaign.
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Stealing 'Raymond': A truck containing 9,600 Emmy-consideration tapes for the CBS sitcom "Everybody Loves Raymond" was stolen Wednesday night outside a mailing house in Hollywood. Other vehicles in the lot where the truck was parked were vandalized, according to a spokeswoman for the production company. Producers are reduplicating the tapes and hope to send them out next week, still well in advance of June 5, when ballots will be mailed to Emmy voters. "I just hope the thieves were the young demographic that we're going for," quipped "Raymond" executive producer Phil Rosenthal.
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