New Bond beat by Penguins with "Happy Feet" but Daniel Craig is still tops!

An unexpected visit from an old friend required me to juggle my weekend schedule so I have YET to see "Casino Royale" starring the dreamy Daniel Craig. But I did report on the box office performance of the movie which just barely missed out on opening up at number one with the animated "Happy Feet" making just a bit more. HERE is my story on the weekend box office derby in today's Los Angeles Daily News (my favorite newspaper).

Monday box office UPDATE: Final figures released by studios this afternoon show that while "Happy Feet" came out ahead of "Casino," it was by less than $1 million - closer than estimated on Sunday. Bond grossed $40,833,156 over the weekend compared to the $41,533,430 taken in by "Happy Feet."

Aside from his buff bod, Craig's gay appeal has to have been helped by his role in the recent Truman Capote biopic "Infamous" in which he planted a kiss on the lips of Brit actor Toby Jones. And then there is this quote from Bond co-star Dame Juidi Dench after she caught a glimpe of a nude Craig and was taken aback by the size of his appendage: "It's an absolute monster! Maybe I shouldn't have said that. How uncouth of me!"