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Day weekend box office, but analysts say despite the size of the promotion for ``Godzilla,'' the picture didn't do as well as expected. Early estimates indicate ``Godzilla'' earned $55.5 million, a four-day total that falls short of the $90.2 million earned by ``The Lost World: Jurassic Park'' last Memorial Day weekend. Still, Sony isn't worried. ``Godzilla'' posted the biggest film opening of 1998 and the eighth biggest of all time. Since it opened on Tuesday, ``Godzilla'' has earned $74 million. Elsewhere at the box office, ``Deep Impact'' slipped to No. 2 after two weeks at No. 1, with $19 million for the weekend; Robert Redford's ``The Horse Whisperer'' came in third at $13.7 million; ``Bulworth'' was fourth; and ``Quest for Camelot'' came in fifth.

Sinatra Musical in Works
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Several top Broadway producers reportedly are looking into creating a musical based on the life of Frank Sinatra, who died this month at the age of 82. Stewart Lane, co-producer of ``1776'' and ``Wait Until Dark,'' tells the New York Post that he wants to form a ``workshop'' production of Sinatra's life by next winter and then take it out of New York. Lane says he would try to get the Sinatra family's approval, but would probably go ahead even if he didn't have their blessing. Several other producers are also exploring a Sinatra show, the newspaper says.

Carrey Breaks Out
HOLLYWOOD (Reuters) - Paramount Pictures has reportedly been worried that Jim Carrey's new film ``The Truman Show'' might not click with his typical audience. After all, some critics consider it a smart media satire, not exactly the stuff of the ''Ace Ventura'' movies or ``Dumb and Dumber.'' But the publicity for it may help. Carrey graces the cover of this week's Time magazine, with the headline ``Jim Carrey Breaks Out.'' ``To me, it's the saddest thing in the world to see a comedian at 60 doing the same character and the same act,'' the actor told Time.

'Larry Sanders' Says Goodbye
NEW YORK (Reuters) - After a six-year run on HBO, Garry Shandling's ``The Larry Sanders Show'' is signing off this week. Shandling tells Time magazine that ``the casting and the honesty of the acting'' is what gives him the most satisfaction with the show, which he has also produced and co-written. In the last episode, the fictional talk show is also saying goodbye. ``What I always tried to bring out was the essence of the celebrity and who they really were,'' says Shandling, whose character is self-absorbed, insecure and two-faced.

Bullock Learns a Lesson
HOLLYWOOD (Reuters) - Sandra Bullock says she's learned to say no. She says the flop ``Speed 2: Cruise Control'' taught her that lesson. ``I now understand how to say no, and not go, 'Oh my God, is everyone not going to like me?''' she told the Philadelphia Inquirer. ``You're making a film. It's not about the popularity contest of having everyone like me.'' Bullock's latest picturis ``Hope Floats'' with Harry Connick Jr. It's the first film in which she's both an actress and executive producer.

Rapper Starts Fashion Line
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Ever want to dress like Sean ``Puffy'' Combs? Now's your chance. Combs reportedly is launching his own fashion line. He's following in the footsteps of fellow rapper Russell Simmons, whose Phat Farm clothes have become popular. The New York Daily News reports Combs toured clothing stores in New York last week.

Lloyd-Webber Makes Offer
LONDON (Reuters) - Andrew Lloyd-Webber, composer of hit musicals such as ``Cats'' and ``Phantom of the Opera,'' is attempting to buy PolyGram's 30 percent stake in his Really Useful Group, according to British newspapers. The Daily Telegraph says Lloyd-Webber has made an offer for the stake to Polygram before Canada's Seagram announced last week it was buying Polygram for $10.6 billion. The newspaper said the theater tycoon had made it clear he was not prepared to cede control of the company he founded in 1977. The Times said Seagram had yet to decide the future of the 30 percent stake.

Ted Danson's Dad
HOLLYWOOD (Reuters) - First his CBS show ``Ink'' bombs, and now Ted Danson is being mistaken for his father. The former ''Cheers'' star told David Letterman that a Blockbuster clerk seemed confused when he saw Danson with his gray hair undyed and looked at his charge card (on which he's called Edward). The clerk asked if he was Ted Danson's father. Danson said yes.

Warner Bros. Buys 'Handyman'
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Warner Bros. has made a swift outright purchase of film rights to the forthcoming Carolyn See novel ``The Handyman.'' Sources describe the story as a light-hearted drama in the tone of ``Good Will Hunting.'' It centers on a handyman who's bad at repairing the things he's hired to fix, but good at fixing the messed-up lives of the people who hire him. Because of the handyman's compassion and wisdom, people pour out their problems to him.

Fox Eyes 'Romance'
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Fox-based Davis Entertainment, which in recent days has set up a string of projects at its home studio, sold B.E. Brauner and James Iver Mattson's speculative script ``My Romance'' to Fox 2000. Described as a romantic comedy in the vein of ``Pretty Woman,'' ``My Romance'' concerns a young woman who is paid to pose as the girlfriend of a famous billionaire.

^REUTERS