The new John Singleton film Shaft opened atop the feature film heap this past weekend, with an inaugural take of $21.1 million.

    And the countdown is on for the McFarlane action figure based on leading man Samuel L. Jackson. The Shaft figure will be part of the Movie Maniacs 3 lineup, set for an August release.

    Jackson's character, John Shaft, is the nephew of that infamous "black private dick" played by Richard Roundtree in the 1970s vintage Shaft films. The 2000 version is a sequel of sorts, Shaft is now a cop rather than a private investigator, but the film is more a traditional shoot-em-up rather than the Mickey Spillane-esque detective stories of old.

    And Singleton has much more sheer acting talent to work with. Jackson is amazing as always, with backups from such notables as Vanessa Williams, Toni Collette, Busta Rhymes and Christian Bale.

    The action figure portrays a stunning likeness to Jackson's Shaft character. It stands 7 inches tall in a swirling black leather trenchcoat with a gun and funky removeable sunglasses. The figure has eight points of articulation.

    Any questions?