People briefs

'Wolverine' spooks 'Ghosts of Girlfiends'

You can't keep a good X-Man down.

Hugh Jackman's movie prequel "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" has leaped to the top of the box office with an $87 million opening weekend.

That puts it right in the pack with the three previous "X-Men" movies in which Jackman played the character of mutant superhero Wolverine.

The trilogy's final chapter, "X-Men: The Last Stand," had the franchise's best opening with $102.8 million.

But "Wolverine" came in ahead of the first two movies. "X-Men" did $54.5 million in its first weekend and "X2: X-Men United" did $85.6 million.

Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Garner's romantic comedy "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past" debuted in second place with $15.3 million.

Howard says Vatican nixed shots of Rome

Director Ron Howard claimed Sunday that the Vatican interfered with efforts to get permits to shoot certain scenes of his "Angels & Demons" religious thriller in Rome — a charge the Vatican said was purely a publicity stunt.

The film, which stars Tom Hanks and is based on the best-selling novel by Dan Brown, has its world premiere Monday in Rome.

"Angels & Demons" combines an ancient secret brotherhood called the Illuminati, a papal conclave and a high-tech weapon threatening to destroy the Vatican.

At a press conference Sunday, Howard said he hadn't sought cooperation from the Vatican based on the opposition he encountered filming "The Da Vinci Code," another Brown novel that angered many Catholic leaders.

But he said the Vatican nevertheless exerted influence regarding his filming permits, and he was told it would not be possible even to shoot scenes in Rome that had churches in the background.

"Was I surprised? No. Am I a little frustrated at times? Sure," he said.

David Cook's eldest brother, Adam, dies

Adam Cook, the eldest brother of "American Idol" winner David Cook, has died from brain cancer. He was 37.

David Cook announced the Saturday death at the 12th annual Race for Hope 5K in Washington, D.C., where he was serving as grand marshal. The singer says the cause of death was a brain tumor.

Adam Cook was a lawyer and married father of three from Terre Haute, Ind., who battled cancer for more than a decade.

Adam is the eldest of Cook's brothers.

A younger sibling, Andrew, also tried out for the show but didn't make it to Hollywood.