A test of his box office muscle No one would argue Pitt' s superstar status. He earns $ 20 million a film and is a magazine- cover favorite. But the 40- year- old has yet to prove he has much box office clout. Since he broke out in Thelma & amp; Louise in 1991, Pitt has anchored only one film, 1995' s Seven , that took in more than $ 100 million. His average film makes $ 40.

5 million.

Pitt' s fortunes could change with Troy , in which he plays Greek warrior Achilles. " This is a huge movie for Brad because it will gauge whether he belongs with the other A- plus actors, " says Gitesh Pandya of Box. Office. Guru. com. " But it' s something to worry about if the movie flops. " The chance for an image face lift Bana' s last big movie, The Hulk , was considered the flop of 2003, even though it managed $ 132. 2 million.

His portrayal of Trojan prince Hector is earning good buzz, however, and Bana could regain the reputation as a serious actor that he earned with 2002' s Black Hawk Down . The chance to keep up Hollywood' s hottest winning streak If anyone would survive a non- successful Troy , it would be Bloom. With his turns as Legolas in The Lord of the Rings trilogy and swashbuckler Will Turner in Pirates of the Caribbean , Bloom has the least to lose in this epic, in which he plays Trojan prince Paris. " He' s got four films under his belt that have made more than $ 200 million, " says Robert Bucksbaum of tracking firm Reel. Source. " No matter what happens, he' ll still be the hottest actor going right now. " The shot at becoming Hollywood' s go- to action director If Troy breaks the $ 150 million mark, it will be the third consecutive movie to crack that critical benchmark for the German director, whose previous films include 1997' s Air Force One and 2000' s The Perfect Storm .

While he doesn' t always win over critics, " he' s establishing himself as a director who knows how to make films the general public wants to see, " Pandya says. " Troy could seal that reputation. " Historical epics stand to win, too Troy also could put the historical epic back on track. Since 2000' s Gladiator raked in $ 187. 7 million, studios have been scrambling to churn out their own sword- and- sandal flicks. So far, none has matched Russell Crowe' s achievement, and only The Last Samurai has captured more than $ 100 million. While no studio has lost its shirt on the historical epic & # 8212; they tend to sell well overseas & # 8212; a monster hit could rekindle the genre anew.

Success could also change the dynamics of summers in the future, perhaps leading the way for riskier stories. " The summer has so many sequels and franchises, it will be interesting to see what happens with an original film with an all- star cast, " Pandya says.

Duke vs. Virginia Feb 15, 2003 NCAA BB FINAL 1ST 2ND TOTAL - - - - - - - - - - - DUKE ( 8) 39 39 78 VIRGINIA 22 37 59 FINAL HIGH SCORERS: DUKE - SHELDEN WILLIAMS 20, DAHNTAY JONES 17, JJ REDICK 15 VIRGINIA - ELTON BROWN 18, TODD BILLET 13, JERMAINE HARPER 8 HIGH REBOUND: DUKE - DAHNTAY JONES 8, SHELDEN WILLIAMS 8, TWO PLAYERS WITH 6 VIRGINIA - TRAVIS WATSON 10, DEVIN SMITH 6, NICK VANDER LAAN 5 HIGH ASSISTS: DUKE - CHRIS DUHON 4, JJ REDICK 4, SHELDEN WILLIAMS 2 VIRGINIA - TODD BILLET 4, TRAVIS WATSON 3, ELTON BROWN 2 ATT: 8, 392 Box Score DUKE ( 78) fg ft rb min m- a m- a o- t a pf tp S Williams 31 8- 13 4- 9 4- 8 2 4 20 D Jones 26 7- 12 3- 4 1- 8 1 2 17 C Sanders 18 1- 3 0- 1 3- 6 0 3 2 J Redick 34 6- 13 0- 0 0- 2 4 1 15 C Duhon 37 3- 11 0- 0 0- 3 4 0 7 A Buckner 1 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 0 0 0 N Horvath 20 1- 4 1- 2 2- 6 1 3 3 D Ewing 24 3- 8 5- 7 0- 4 0 4 12 L Melchionni 1 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 0 0 0 S Dockery 7 1- 3 0- 0 0- 0 0 0 2 M Thompson 1 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 0 0 0 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ TOTALS 200 30- 67 13- 23 10- 37 12 17 78 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Percentages: FG- . 448, FT- . 565. 3- Point Goals: 5- 16, .

313 ( D Jones 0- 1, J Redick 3- 7, C Duhon 1- 7, D Ewing 1- 1) .

Team Rebounds: 6.

Blocked Shots: 6 ( S Williams 4, C Sanders, D Jones) . Turnovers: 12 ( D Jones 4, J Redick 3, N Horvath 2, D Ewing 2, C Sanders) .

Steals: 7 ( J Redick 2, S Williams 2, C Duhon, L Melchionni, C Sanders) .

VIRGINIA ( 59) fg ft rb min m- a m- a o- t a pf tp D Byars 19 1- 5 0- 1 0- 2 0 3 2 E Brown 31 7- 12 4- 8 0- 4 2 4 18 T Watson 26 3- 8 0- 1 0- 10 3 3 6 T Billet 38 5- 13 0- 0 1- 2 4 2 13 J Harper 25 4- 7 0- 0 2- 2 0 3 8 N Vander Laan 5 1- 2 0- 0 2- 5 1 2 2 M Mapp 15 0- 1 0- 0 0- 0 1 1 0 R Lodge 1 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 0 0 0 D Smith 29 2- 11 2- 2 1- 6 1 1 7 J Clark 11 1- 1 1- 2 1- 1 0 3 3 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ TOTALS 200 24- 60 7- 14 7- 32 12 22 59 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Percentages: FG- . 400, FT- . 500. 3- Point Goals: 4- 19, .

211 ( D Byars 0- 2, E Brown 0- 1, T Watson 0- 1, T Billet 3- 6, J Harper 0- 2, M Mapp 0- 1, D Smith 1- 6) .

Team Rebounds: 4. Blocked Shots: 4 ( T Watson 2, J Clark, N Vander Laan) . Turnovers: 16 ( M Mapp 3, T Watson 2, E Brown 2, J Clark 2, T Billet 2, J Harper 2, D Byars, D Smith, N Vander Laan) . Steals: 4 ( T Watson 2, J Clark, D Byars) . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - DUKE 39 39 - 78 VIRGINIA 22 37 - 59 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Technical fouls: None. A: 8, 392.

Officials: Gerald Boudreaux, Orlandis Poole, Reggie Cofer Game Story CHARLOTTESVILLE, Virginia ( Ticker) - - Duke ran out of gas on Thursday night at Wake Forest. But the Blue Devils had plenty in the tank against Virginia.

Freshman Shelden Williams scored 20 points and Dahntay Jones 17 as the eighth- ranked Blue Devils built an 18- point lead in the first half and snapped a four- game road losing streak with a dominating 78- 57 Atlantic Coast Conference victory. Duke ( 17- 4, 7- 4 ACC) had dropped four in a row on the road for the first time since the 1995- 96 season, including a double- overtime loss at Wake Forest on Thursday night in which the Demon Deacons closed with a 20- 5 run. A day of rest apparently did wonders for the Blue Devils, who also found their shooting touch after connecting from a mere 36 percent in their last four games. Duke shot 45 percent ( 30- of- 67) overall and quickly silenced the crowd at University Hall by sprinting out to an 18- 6 lead just over nine minutes into the contest. " The good night sleep helped. In the shootaround today, we didn' t do much, " Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. " They didn' t put their heads down.

I think you credit players fully for something like that. The leadership of this team helped in that regard. " Jones, who missed all 12 of his shots from the field on Thursday night, had two of Duke' s first three baskets on a layup and a jumper. Daniel Ewing had a three- point play and a dunk in a 15- second span, and buried a 3- pointer less than two minutes later to make it 18- 6. Freshman J.

Redick, a native of Roanoke, Virginia, had 15 points. He had nine points in the first half, including a 3- pointer with 5: 58 left that gave the Blue Devils their biggest lead of the half at 32- 14. " Duke would have beaten a lot of teams tonight, " Virginia coach Pete Gillen said. " They would have beaten almost anyone in the country. They played great defense and they were focused. They were really, really sharp. " Redick, who helped Cave Spring High School to a state title last year, was booed often by Virginia fans who felt he abandoned the Commonwealth State by enrolling at Duke.

A pair of free throws by Williams with five seconds left made it 39- 22 at halftime. Williams had all four of his blocks in the first half and finished with eight rebounds.

Virginia got no closer than 13 points in the second half.

The Cavaliers cut the lead to 53- 40 on the 3- pointer by Todd Billet with 11: 36 left, but Duke answered with a three- point play by Williams. The Cavaliers cut the deficit to 60- 47 on a basket by Travis Watson with 7: 48 left before a 3- pointer by Redick and a dunk by Jones make it a 65- 49 game. Jones put an exclamation point on the victory with a flying dunk over Nick Vander Laan with three minutes left that ended in a three- point play. As Jones hit the floor, he did several pushups before getting up.

Elton Brown scored 17 points and Billet 13 for Virginia ( 14- 9, 5- 6) , which lost at home for the first time in 11 games this season. Watson, Virginia' s leading scorer, had just six points but grabbed 10 rebounds. " We were fortunate that Shelden did a really good job on ( Watson) , " Krzyzewski said. " I thought he was instinctive tonight. He had a great game. " The 59 points was the Cavaliers' lowest point total at home. " We just couldn' t score, " Gillen said. Duke has won 15 of its last 17 meetings with Virginia, including a 104- 93 rout at Cameron Indoor stadium in January. The Blue Devils posted their 100th win over Virginia and lead the all- time series, 100- 47.

Duke had lost its last two visits to Charlottesville.

Ball scores three TDs, Maryland holds on to beat Georgia Tech COLLEGE PARK, Md. ( AP) - In his first career start, Chris Turner threw for 255 yards, and Lance Ball ran for three touchdowns as Maryland barely held on for a 28- 26 victory Saturday over Georgia Tech. Travis Bell sent a 52- yard field goal attempt wide right with 54 seconds remaining.

Andrew Gardner was whistled for holding on the previous play, knocking the Yellow Jackets back 10 yards and preventing them from lining up for what would have been a 40- yard try. Turner had three passes of longer than 40 yards in the first half, including the first touchdown pass of his career, a 78- yard strike to Jason Goode. He cooled off in the second half but finished 10 of 17 for 255 yards and a touchdown.

Ball carried 16 times for 86 yards and three touchdowns. Maryland ( 4- 2, 1- 1 Atlantic Coast Conference) had leads of 21- 3 and 28- 17, but Georgia Tech closed to 28- 26 with 8: 21 left in the game on a 39- yard touchdown pass from Taylor Bennett to Demariyus Thomas. The Yellow Jackets' two- point conversion try fell short when linebacker Dave Philistin stuffed Tashard Choice on a direct snap. Philistin finished with 21 tackles.

In a matchup of the top two rushing offenses in the ACC, the teams combined for more than 550 yards through the air, compared to 263 on the ground. Georgia Tech ( 3- 3, 1- 3) moved the ball consistently against the Terrapins, gaining 484 total yards and crossing midfield on every possession except its first. But the Yellow Jackets failed to capitalize on several drives, in part because of a lost fumble and two missed field goals. Saturday' s victory was Turner' s second straight impressive performance. He replaced an injured Jordan Steffy late in the second quarter the previous week and led the Terps to a 34- 24 road upset over then- No.

10 Rutgers. Steffy, who suffered a concussion against Rutgers, did not dress Saturday. Nor did the team' s leading tackler, Erin Henderson, who has a bad knee. Maryland scored first on Turner' s long pass to Goode, then extended its lead to 21- 3 early in the second quarter on TD runs of 7 yards and 1 yard by Ball.

The Yellow Jackets managed only three points on offense in the first half, thanks to a missed 47- yard field goal and a fumble by Tashard Choice at the Maryland 28. On one of the drives, Choice took a direct snap from his own 40, broke through the line and appeared to be on his way to a touchdown. But he pulled up lame and ran out of bounds at the Maryland 32, and the drive stalled on Bell' s missed field goal. Bennett finished 22 of 34 for 309 yards and a touchdown. Choice had 32 carries for 132 yards and a touchdown.

Georgia Tech' s first touchdown came with less than a minute to go in the first half, when Turner, under pressure on a third down, was hit by Vance Walker and fumbled. Defensive end Darrell Robertson picked up the ball and ran 32 yards for the score.