Nick Stahl, the actor who played John Connor in Terminator 3, has reached out to friends days after his wife reported him missing.

According to TMZ, Stahl resurfaced Friday in an email to friends, saying he was sorry and that he was headed to rehab, where he would be under the radar for 30 days. Not among the email recipients: his wife, Rose Stahl, who filed a missing persons report with the LAPD on Monday, saying that she last saw her husband on May 9.

In February, she filed papers expressing concerns that the 32-year-old actor had become involved with drugs. A previous TMZ report said Stahl was believed to have been a frequent visitor of the Skid Row area of Downtown Los Angeles and his wife thought drugs may have played a role in his disappearance.

“I’m relieved,” said Rose Stahl, who feared he might die in an overdose, in an interview with People magazine, adding: “But I’m also skeptical that he really in rehab.”

She said she read the “unemotional and unapologetic” email since she has access to his account; it was sent around 10 p.m. on Friday. she noted, and Stahl wrote that he intended to make arrangements to pick up his clothes before checking into rehab.

Stahl’s other film credits include 2005’s Sin City, 2001’s In the Bedroom, opposite Sissy Spacek and Tom Wilkinson, and the 1998 war drama Thin Red Line, opposite Sean Penn and Nick Nolte.

Stahl’s publicist did not immediately return THR‘s request for comment. A representative for the LAPD told THR that the investigation into his disappearance was still ongoing.

Even before Simon Cowell offically appointed Britney Spears to the judges’ panel on The X Factor, the critics began weighing in: they questioned her competence and her ability to string a sentence together, predicting total disaster.

Just ask Howard Stern. Here’s the rookie America’s Got Talent judge gleeful response to Spears’ hiring: “It’s a wonderful decision. Britney still thinks the earth is flat.”

In an AGT press conference last week, when the singer’s X Factor role was still a rumor, Stern sniped: “I can’t imagine… I think we’re going to tune in to see her, to see if she can function through the thing. As far as any real criticism, I think Simon and LA Reid will do that. As far as criticism, I think Britney will sit there and eat a lollipop and wear a sexy outfit. … I’ll tune in to see what kind of trainwreck she is, absolutely.”

Spears joins co-judges Cowell, record exec Reid and fellow singer-newbie Demi Lovato in X Factor‘s revamped second season; Cowell fired Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger from the panel earlier this year in an effort to reinvent his pet reality project amid heavy competition from such rivals as The Voice in a TV marketplace saturated with singing shows.

VIDEO: ‘X Factor’s’ Simon Cowell Promises ‘Punched Up’ Season 2

On Monday, the music mogul unveiled new colleagues Spears and Lovato at Fox’s upfront presentation to advertisers in New York City, the announcement of which resulted in the TMZ headline: “Simon Cowell — Not Worried About Britney Spears Melting Down.” Smiling for the cameras, Cowell teased: “We’ll see.”

As THR previously reported, industry insiders and people around the Spears camp have been seriously concerned as to whether she can capably handle having to give an opinion on live television. The 30-year-old mother of two, whose tabloid troubles all but eclipsed her career in recent years, has avoided doing any major interviews since her 2006 one-on-one with Matt Lauer, where she broke down — while chewing gum — on camera.

Spears is under the the conservatorship of her father, Jamie Spears, and her fiance, Jason Trawick, fueling more concern: is she really ready for this?

“She’s got really smart people around her,” said Howard Bragman, Hollywood crisis managment expert and vice chairman of Reputation.com. “I don’t think (Spears’ manager) Larry (Rudolf) and her team would let her out if she wasn’t ready.”

Bragman told THR she could prepare by watching past editions of X Factor to get as familiar possible while learning from the judges’ on-air mishaps. The key, he said, is to develop her own judging style because viewers respond to originality. Then again, she’s got a lot of angles to work with, as a beloved yet controversial performer who’s also a mom.

“Don’t underestimate someone a little shaky,” he said, mentioning Abdul’s successful run of “walking the tightrope” on American Idol. “This is a good girl. We want her to succeed.”

VIDEO: JC Chasez Weighs in on ‘The Voice’s’ Tony Lucca, Britney Spears on ‘X Factor’

Legal and communications strategist Mark Fabiani — who worked with Lance Armstrong during his performance-enhancing drug controversy and Bill and Hillary Clinton circa Whitewater — said Spears could benefit from low expectations.

“People are eager to give second chances to other people if they seem to be trying hard,” he said.

Fabiani also noted the multi-platinum, chart-topping pop superstar’s years of experience, performing shows for millions of fans — most recently, on her Femme Fatale tour. “I wouldn’t sell short a person like that, In some ways, it doesn’t seem daunting,” he said.

Plus, Spears’ aura of anything-can-happen unpredictability might be fun to watch. (See: Abdul on Idol, 2002-2009.)

“Part of the fun of these shows is they are seemingly spontaneous,” observed Fabiani, noting Spears should practice various media techniques to ensure a smooth debut this fall — but her feedback need not be scripted, or rehearsed beforehand.

Matt Hiltzik, who’s guided Alec Baldwin through his crises, compared training Spears for X Factor to preparing an athlete for a post-retirement life in the public eye. The difference, he said, is that Spears — like Idol‘s Jennifer Lopez – remains immersed in the performing world, and that lends her credibility as a judge.

“She’s perfectly capable of doing it,” he said. “People should give her a chance. She is a fascinating figure who’s lived the life.”

Email: Erin.Carlson@thr.com

Twitter: @ErinLCarlson

Breaking another record, The Avengers grossed a stunning $103.2 million during the weekend in North America, becoming the first movie to cross the $100 million mark in its sophomore outing and falling a slim 50 percent.

Worldwide, Avengers expects to jump the $1 billion mark on Sunday after only 19 days, matching the speed record set by Avatar and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, as well as becoming the 11th top grossing title of all time.

With Avengers doing such massive numbers, the news wasn’t so good for Tim Burton and Johnny Depp’s latest collaboration Dark Shadows, which debuted to a muted $28.8 million domestically, putting pressure on the Warner Bros. film to have strong legs.

PHOTOS: 28 of Summer’s Most Anticipated Movies: ‘Avengers,’ ‘Dark Knight,’ ‘Prometheus’

Prerelease tracking had suggested that Burton’s campy adaptation of the classic vampire soap opera would earn $35 million to $40 million. The movie, which cost $100 million to produce, only received a B- CinemaScore and skewed noticeably older, with 73 percent of the audience over the age of 25. Females made up 57 percent of the audience.

Warner Bros. president of domestic distribution Dan Fellman said the studio certainly wanted Dark Shadows to do more but added the film will benefit from being female-centric as Battleship and Men in Black 3 open on May 18 and May 25, respectively.

“We’re hoping that the next few weeks set the pace for where the movie is going,” Fellman said.

Avengers also beat Dark Shadows overseas, grossing $95.4 million in its third weekend for a foreign cume of $628.9 million. Domestically, Avengers’ cume through Sunday was $373.2 million, becoming the fastest film to reach $300 million.

STORY: Box Office Preview: ‘Avengers’ Passing $800 Million Worldwide, Could Hit $1 Billion by Sunday

Dark Shadows opened to a $36.7 million internationally from 42 markets, a fair number but coming in on the lower end of expectations. It came in No. 1 ahead of Avengers in several European markets, including France (where Depp lives), where it grossed $4.6 million. It scored its biggest number in Russia, grossing $5.3 million.

The performance of the Joss Whedon-directed Avengers superhero pic is a substantial victory for Marvel Studios and its parent company Disney, propelling Disney’s film division to No. 1 in domestic market share as of Sunday.

Avengers is such a powerhouse that IMAX and other big-screen venues split shows between that film and Dark Shadows (IMAX originally intended to swap out Avengers and play only Dark Shadows). Between the two titles, IMAX locaitons grossed $10.3 million worldwide over the weekend.

Avengers’ global box office already has surpassed the global box-office totals of setup films Captain America: The First Avenger ($364 million), Thor ($449 million), Iron Man ($585 million) and Iron Man 2 ($624 million).
 
Internationally, Avengers already has eclipsed the three Spider-Man pics and The Dark Knight to become the most successful superhero title of all time.

Another headline at the domestic box office was Lionsgate and Pantelion’s Hispanic-themed Girl in Progress, which came in No. 10, grossing $1.4 million. The film stars Eva Mendes.

At the specialty box office, Fox Searchlight’s The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel grossed $2.7 million from 178 theaters in its second weekend to crack the top 10 chart and land at No. 8. The pic’s per screen average was an impressive $14,888. Overseas, the film has now earned a stellar $75.7 million

Fox Searchlight’s Sheila DeLoach said the adult pic succeeded in serving as counter programming, as well as enjoying a boost from Mother’s Day. In two weeks — Memorial Day — the John Madden-directed film will be playing in over 800 theaters.

Conversely, the Weinstein Co.’s Mother’s Day rerelease of Oscar winner The Artist in 751 theaters across the country fell flat. The pic grossed $161,000 for a screen average of $214.

For full box office results, see below.

Domestic box office, May 11-13

Title/Weeks in release/Theater count, Studio/Three-day weekend total/Cume

1. The Avengers, 2/4,349, Disney/Marvel Studios, $103.2 million, $373.2

2. Dark Shadows, 1/3,755, Warner Bros., $28.8.

3. Think Like a Man, 4/2,052, Sony, $6.3 million, $81.9 million.

4. The Hunger Games, 8/2,531, Lionsgate, $4.4 million, $386.9 million.

5. The Lucky One, 4/2,839, Warner Bros., $4.1 million, $53.7 million.

6. The Pirates! Band of Misfits, 3/3,079, Sony/Aardman, $3.2 million, $23.1 million.

7. The Five-Year Engagement, Universal, 3/2,569, $3.1 million, $24.4 million.

8. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, 2/178, Fox Searchlight, $2.7 million, $3.7 million.

9. Chimpanzee, 4/1,559, Disney, $1.6 million, $25.6 million.

10. Girl in Progress, 1/327, $1.4 million.

Yahoo made things official on Sunday, replacing CEO Scott Thompson amid a controversy over his resume.

The Internet company named Ross Levinsohn interim CEO and Fred Amoroso chairman as it said it has reached an agreement with a dissident shareholder.

The deal with hedge fund Third Point settles a pending contest over board seats.

Amoroso replaces Roy Bostock, who has stepped down from his role as non-executive chairman “to accelerate the leadership transition for the new board,” Yahoo said. Bostock had already been rumored to be on his way out.

Email: Georg.Szalai@thr.com

Twitter: @georgszalai