The Storm was sold out in the Rocky Mountain region by 10 a.m. Brenda Raney, a spokeswoman for Verizon Wireless, said the carrier expects all retail stores to sell out today, but assured that there are enough of the high-end devices available, so customers who order the device will have it within a week.

In a Golden, Colo., store, Kathy Harms said she has been waiting for months to buy the handset. “I’m so excited! I’ve been waiting since they told me in June.” Harms said she almost bought Apple Inc.’s iPhone available exclusively through AT&T Mobility, underscoring the competition between the nation’s two largest carriers. The Storm runs on Verizon Wireless’ 3G network and includes an 8 gigabyte microSD memory card. Initial reports on the device are mixed; reviewers generally have been impressed with the smartphone, but the touchscreen-haptics feature has been awkward for some users.

Stone’s “W.” actually ran fourth, opening with $10.6 million to finish behind the family comedy “Beverly Hills Chihuahua” (No. 2 with $11.2 million) and the chick flick “The Secret Life of Bees” (No. 3 with $11.1 million).

“For me, an Oliver Stone film about George Bush doesn’t necessarily scream big box office,” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers. “A film like this is very tough to gauge, but this is exactly what I thought it would do.”

Lionsgate’s “W.,” starring Josh Brolin as Bush, came in well behind the $18.7 million debut of Stone’s last movie, 2006’s Sept. 11 saga ,“World Trade Center”. That movie opened in nearly 3,000 theaters, about 900 more than “W.,” however.

Playing in 2,030 cinemas, “W.” averaged a solid but unremarkable $5,197 a theater, compared with a $6,334 average for “World Trade Center.” “W.” was shot on a modest budget of $25 million.

The film had been on political junkies’ radar since Stone put “W.” on the fast track less than a year ago so he could have it out before the November election. Stone started shooting in May, his five-month turnaround time remarkably short by Hollywood standards, where major movies can take a year or more.

If he needed more time, Stone contractually had the option of releasing the film around the time Bush leaves office in January.

But with two weeks until the election, this is prime time for a Bush biography, said Steve Rothenberg, Lionsgate head of distribution.

“We felt it was very important to release the film after the presidential debates but before the election,” Rothenberg said. “We felt interest in the election would be at its height, and interest in George W. Bush would be much greater now than after January. We feel we have a good corridor over the next two weeks.”

The movie received mixed reviews, with critics surprised at how relatively tame it turned out coming from liberal firebrand Stone, who made the paranoia-laden presidential tales “JFK” and “Nixon”.

Brolin’s Bush has some buffoonish moments, but Stone showed empathy for the president, casting him as a man with serious daddy issues but an unshakable relationship with wife Laura to fall back on.

Among the weekend’s other new movies, 20th Century Fox’s “Max Payne” averaged $5,332 in 3,376 theaters and Fox Searchlight’s “The Secret Life of Bees” did $6,945 in 1,591 cinemas.

Disney’s “Beverly Hills Chihuahua,” which had been the No. 1 movie the previous two weekends, raised its total to $69.1 million.

Adapted from the video game, “Max Payne” stars Wahlberg as a New York City cop hunting the killers of his wife and child.

“The Secret Life of Bees” stars Dakota Fanning, Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keys and Sophie Okonedo in a drama about a troubled teen learning life lessons through the beekeeping operations of three Southern sisters.

“Max Payne” had a predominantly male audience, “The Secret Life of Bees” played to women, “Beverly Hills Chihuahua” continued to grab family crowds and “W.” was the choice for politically minded adults.

“You’ve got all kinds of pictures out there,” said 20th Century Fox distribution executive Bert Livingston. “When this business is great is when there are a lot of different pictures out that people want to go see.”

Hollywood’s overall revenues rose for the fourth-straight weekend. The top-12 movies took in $86.4 million, up 10 percent from the same weekend last year.

An adorable talking dog remained just the sort of escapist movie hero audiences wanted after a week of awful economic news. Disney’s family comedy “Beverly Hills Chihuahua,” with Drew Barrymore providing the voice of the pooch, was the No. 1 flick for the second-straight weekend with $17.5 million, raising its 10-day total to $52.5 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

“Beverly Hills Chihuahua” is the only light comedy in a market heavy on drama. Chuck Viane, Disney’s head of distribution, said movie-goers may be turning to the perky pooch to help forget the market free-fall on Wall Street.

“This is only word-of-mouth coming back to us from theaters. I don’t have any statistical proof. But they’re telling us we’re getting more unaccompanied-by-children adults coming on their own. They’re looking for a little entertainment,” Viane said. “The axiom we’ve always lived by is funny is money. People come out for comedy. They love to sit back and let someone give them a couple of hours of escapism.”

The weekend’s No. 2 flick — the fright film “Quarantine,” which debuted with $14.2 million — filled the escapism needs for the horror crowd. The Sony Screen Gems release centers on a contagion that turns an apartment building’s tenants into flesh-hungry monsters.

“It’s probably the perfect kind of movie for today’s climate,” said Rory Bruer, Sony head of distribution. “Let’s just get away from the news, from all that’s going on, and go someplace else, and this is something that’ll take you someplace else.”

The marquee trio of Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe and director Ridley Scott had to settle for third-place with their terrorism thriller “Body of Lies,” which had a $13.1 million debut. The Warner Bros. film centers on a CIA operative hunting the terrorist responsible for bombings around the world.

“Body of Lies” may have dealt with too sober a topic after all the disastrous financial news, said Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros.

“I think we ran into really difficult timing. The nation suffered such an economic loss this week that the mood of our audience was such that they were probably looking for a little more escapism than to see a movie on terrorism,” Fellman said.

The weekend’s other new wide releases, Universal’s football drama “The Express” and 20th Century Fox’s family fantasy “City of Ember,” opened weakly.

“The Express” — starring Rob Brown and Dennis Quaid in the story of Ernie Davis, the first black player to win the Heisman Trophy — came in at No. 6 with $4.7 million.

“City of Ember,” with Tim Robbins and Bill Murray in a post-apocalyptic adventure set in an underground realm, took in $3.2 million to finish at No. 10.

Keira Knightley’s historical saga “The Duchess” climbed into the top 10 as it expanded nationwide after three weekends in limited release. The Paramount Vantage drama, which stars Knightley as an 18th century aristocrat stuck in a loveless marriage, pulled in $3.32 million to place No. 9.

Two British movies started well in limited release. Guy Ritchie’s London crime romp “RocknRolla” opened with $141,000 in seven theaters. The Warner Bros. release features Gerard Butler, Thandie Newton and Tom Wilkinson heading an ensemble cast.

Mike Leigh’s “Happy-Go-Lucky,” a Miramax release starring Sally Hawkins as a woman whose eternal optimism is continually challenged, premiered with $80,000 in four theaters.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.

Miley Cyrus’ 16th birthday party was more boisterous than sweet. Cyrus celebrated the hallmark birthday at an over-the-top Disneyland celebration Sunday — even though she doesn’t actually turn 16 until Nov. 23. The theme park was closed for the supersized soiree, which included a four-song performance by the teen queen and a fireworks display above Sleeping Beauty Castle and 16 giant inflatable candles.

“Miley is really hard to surprise,” her father Billy Ray Cyrus said at the event.

Organizers estimated over 5,000 people attended the special party, which cost $250 a ticket. On the event’s purple carpet — that’s Cyrus’ favorite color — the “Hannah Montana” star bragged that her parents bought her a new puppy for her birthday. What else does Cyrus want for her birthday? A new car? Perhaps a later curfew?

“My parents shut down Disneyland for me, so I’m good for a while,” Cyrus said.

Cyrus’ father opened up for his daughter with a few of his own songs, including “Achy Breaky Heart.” His daughter donned a white ruffled skirt and jersey-like vest with “Sweet 16″ printed on the back for her truncated concert. At one point, Cyrus boarded a boat in the park’s Rivers of America and crooned such tunes as “Breakout” and “G.N.O.”

Throughout the evening, several popular attractions, such as Big Thunder Mountain and Pirates of the Caribbean, remained open to partygoers. Additional activities, like receiving a “Hannah Montana” makeover and playing the upcoming Disney Interactive Studios rhythm video game “Ultimate Band,” were also made available to attendees.

Partygoers ogled celebrities roaming around the park throughout the party. David Archuleta and his entourage skipped the line to ride Space Mountain. Jennie Garth and her family ducked out before the fireworks display capping the celebration. Other stars in attendance included Steve Carell, Cindy Crawford, Tyra Banks and Jennifer Love Hewitt.

Disney used the event to promote their upcoming “What Will You Celebrate?” marketing initiative, which encourages tourists to take “celebration vacations” with their families. Beginning in 2009, guests at Disneyland and Walt Disney World in Florida can gain free theme park admission on their birthday with a valid ID and proof of birth date.

Over at Disney’s California Adventure, Disneyland’s sister theme park, an entirely different celebration was occurring during the Sweet 16 event: the 11th annual Gay Days Anaheim, an unofficial gathering of gays and lesbians at the Disneyland Resort. Event producer Jeffrey Epstein said Cyrus’ affair didn’t conflict with Gay Days Anaheim.

“We’re happy to share our big weekend with Miley,” said Epstein. “While it may be a small world after all, we think it’s big enough for both groups to have a blast.”

Redmond cut the price of its Xbox 360 to $199. That drops it from its previous sticker of $279. The action may take some business away from the Sony PS3, but it is more clearly aimed at market leader Nintendo which has remained in the front spot for months with its $250 Wii.

According to MarketWatch, “This is a smart move by Microsoft ahead of the holidays, as this makes them the price leader,” said Colin Sebastian of Lazard Capital Markets.

There is also a very good chance that the move will put the Microsoft device division back into the red. It struggled for years to make money.

In the fiscal year ending in July, Microsoft made $426 million on $8.1 billion in revenue in the unit it calls “entertainment and devices”. It lost a total of $2.3 billion in the operation over the previous two years.

Some of the improvement in revenue at Microsoft’s Xbox empire came from games, primarily Halo 3. It is not at all clear that this income can offset such a huge price drop for the Xbox game console.

Microsoft has never been against losing money to weaken competition. With the holidays coming, it has a chance to best it two large rivals.

The move puts Sony in a tough spot. It has been counting on a resurrection of its games division to help improve the company’s multi-year lackluster earnings performance.

With cash still pouring from its software operations, Microsoft can afford to wage a price war in the video game market.

Leading the pack was former WILD ON host Brooke Burke, who managed to resurrect her career in one night. The smokin’ hot mama of four and her partner Derek Hough gave a scorching performance.

If we were Derek’s girlfriend (and former DWTS partner) Shannon Elizabeth we’d be less than thrilled about that pairing.

Also performing well were Lance Bass and Toni Braxton.

We still say if you are a professional entertainer and have choreographed dances in your shows, that means you have an unfair advantage.

Cloris Leachman is the oldest contestant in the competition (82!) and spiced up the night by putting her leg up on the podium in front of judge Bruno Tonioli’s face and then flashing her cleavage in front of Len Goodman. She also had a few choice bleeped-out words when she received a low score of 16.

Among the other stinkers were soap star Susan Lucci with a 15, celeb chef Rocco DiSpirito with a 14 and comedian Jeffrey Ross with a 12. Ouch.

One couple goes home tonight and another on Wednesday.

We didn’t want to watch another season of DANCING WITH THE HAS-BEENS, but we’re already hooked. Damn you, DWTS!

Best Buy scored today by picking up the Napster digital music service at a bargain-basement price. It’ll use Napster to launch its own digital music sales and subscription service, competing with RealNetworks and others.

The purchase price was about $121 million in cash, but since Napster already has $67 million in cash and short-term investments, Best Buy is only out $54 million. It’s a sweet deal, but opens up a big question: Can Best Buy turn Napster into a service that customers want?

Best Buy shares are down less than 1% to $44.43. Napster shares have soared 85% today to $2.52.

Napster has 700,000 music subscribers, and Best Buy doesn’t appear to be making any immediate changes for them. The biggest change will be in Best Buy stores, where I assume the company will play down its partnership with RealNetworks’ Rhapsody service in favor of pushing Napster.

Napster costs about $13 a month, and gives customers access to 5 million songs. Downloading them costs more money.

The service doesn’t directly compete with Apple’s iTunes, since iTunes sells song downloads and not subscriptions. And since Apple and Best Buy recently announced an iPhone sales deal, I wouldn’t expect Best Buy to step on Apple’s toes too much. Nope, Best Buy will try to go after the subscription market dominated by RealNetworks. The transaction will close in the fourth quarter, and Best Buy will be scrambling to have something ready before the holidays.

If Best Buy can keep the 700,000 subscribers, beef up single-download sales and cut operating costs, then it made a smart move today in buying Napster.

It took a year, but Britney Spears’ comeback on the MTV Video Music Awards is finally a reality.

Spears nabbed all three VMAs she was nominated for, including video of the year, and made triumphant appearance in an atttempt to erase the career-low of last year’s ceremony.

Spears didn’t perform. Still, just being there was enough for a standing ovation from the star-studded crowd long before she opened her mouth to get things rolling.

Maybe the audience was simply excited to see a glimpse of Britney looking fab once again. The rebounding pop queen wore a short silver mini-dress with a plunging neckline, showcasing her svelte figure.

It was a far cry from last year, when her dishelveled, bumbling kickoff was widely panned.

Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen Media Research for July 7-13. Listings include the week’s ranking, with viewership for the week and season-to-date rankings in parentheses. An “X” in parentheses denotes a one-time-only presentation.

1. (19) “America’s Got Talent,” NBC, 12.73 million viewers.

2. (41) “Wipeout,” ABC, 10.6 million viewers.

3. (X) “The Bachelorette” (Monday, 10 p.m.), ABC, 9.99 million viewers.

4. (9) “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” CBS, 9.86 million viewers.

5. (88) “The Bachelorette” (Monday, 8 p.m.), ABC, 9.53 million viewers.

6. (53) “Greatest American Dog,” CBS, 9.53 million viewers.

7. (16) “Two And a Half Men,” CBS, 9.14 million viewers.

8. (53) “So You Think You Can Dance” (Wednesday), Fox, 8.93 million viewers.

9. (31) “Hell’s Kitchen,” Fox, 8.91 million viewers.

10. (28) “CSI: NY,” CBS, 8.9 million viewers.

11. (53) “So You Think You Can Dance” (Thursday), Fox, 8.85 million viewers.

12. (13) “NCIS,” CBS, 8.62 million viewers.

13. (16) “CSI: Miami,” CBS, 8.41 million viewers.

14. (22) “60 Minutes,” CBS, 8.2 million viewers.

15. (76) “Flashpoint,” CBS, 8.13 million viewers.

16. (26) “House,” Fox, 7.93 million viewers.

17. (22) “Criminal Minds,” CBS, 7.83 million viewers.

18. (88) “Price Is Right Primetime,” CBS, 7.71 million viewers.

19. (88) “Celebrity Family Feud,” NBC, 7.54 million viewers.

20. (88) “48 Hours Mystery” (Tuesday),” CBS, 7.35 million viewers.