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FIRST LOOK: The News in Brief, June 22, 2003

LOTS OF GREEN: Director Ang Lee's The Hulk debuted as the top movie this weekend with a smashing $62.6 million, the biggest June opener of all time.

POTTER MANIA! Millions of Harry Potter fans around the world lining up at the stroke of midnight Friday dressed as their favorite characters to finally buy Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The long-awaited fifth installment in author J.K. Rowling's popular wizard series is already being hailed as the fastest-selling book of all time.

MAGIC SALES! Amazon.com reportedly shipping more than 1 million copies of the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on Saturday, breaking the record for the largest distribution day of a single item in e-commerce history set by the previous Potter book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

CURSES! Readers who bought more than 40 copies of the new Potter tome from a Virginia bookstore surprised to find nearly three dozen pages were missing in a printing mistake.

SHOWDOWN, PART 2: American Idol's Ruben Studdard and Clay Aiken both to release their debut albums on August 19, according to Billboard. Aiken won the battle of their dueling singles last week, with his "Bridge Over Trouble Water" selling more than 100,000 copies more than Studdard's "Flying Without Wings."

HITTING THE ROAD: The American Idol summer tour, featuring Ruben and Clay, already surpassing ticket sales of the first season's trek. The outing kicks off July 8 in St. Paul, Minnesota.

ROCK THE CASBAH: Streetcore, the final album from late Clash frontman Joe Strummer, scheduled to hit record stores on October 7.

MOURNED: Playwright George Axelrod, who penned such classics as The Seven Year Itch and Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter, as well as the scripts for such films as Breakfast at Tiffany's and The Manchurian Candidate, died in his sleep of heart failure on Saturday in Los Angeles. He was 81.

IN THE RING: Former world heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson arrested and charged with third-degree assault and disorderly conduct Saturday morning after a brawl with two men at a Brooklyn hotel, police said. He suffered minor cuts on his hands and was treated at the scene.

BAILING: Rock band Cold dropping out of its main stage slot on the upcoming Lollapalooza tour. Insiders tell Billboard.com it might have had something to do with the father of bass tech and temporary bassist Larry Melero passing away.

TINSELTOWN IN VEGAS: A federal bankruptcy court awarding the billion-dollar Aladdin casino to Planet Hollywood investors who plan to transform the Las Vegas property into a Planet Hollywood-themed resort.

EXORCISE THIS! Exorcist author William Peter Blatty and director William Friedkin suing Warner Bros. alleging the studio did not live up to its agreement to make them money after it sold the rights for a newer version of the classic film to its sister cable networks, TNT and TBS for little or no profit.

KUDOS! Lionel Richie receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Friday, his 52nd birthday.

CAREFUL WHERE YOU STEP: KISS' former lead guitarist Ace Frehley scrapping last Thursday's appearance at a Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp after falling down the stairs at his home outside New York City on Wednesday and suffering a concussion. He's okay.

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