Ghost Protocol Alive At US Box Office

Dragon Tattoo Arrives FourthDespite this weekend boasting Christmas day opportunities for US filmgoers to hit the multiplexes, there was little cheer to go around the box office once the big man in the red suit had been down the chimney and the estimates calculated. But there was good news for another man obsessed with climbing down high objects, as Tom Cruise and his Mission: Impossible team at least claimed the top of the charts, with Ghost Protocol riding the success of last week's IMAX sneak peeks to snatch $26.5 million over the weekend for a $58.9 running total so far.Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows held on well, seeing off the other new competition and falling to second place with $17.8 million, while Alvin And The Chipmunks: Chipwrecked also stayed strong with $13.3 million in third.As mentioned, Cruise's new release competition didn't fare quite as well. David Fincher's The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo managed fourth with $13 million but Tintin saw US audiences much more reluctant to embrace it than those over here, earning $9.1 million for a fifth place launch. Still, the movie's overseas success should help it keep the cash registers ringing.Sadly for Cameron Crowe, his big return to filmmaking with We Bought A Zoo appears extinct on arrival. Despite boasting the likes of Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson and a pack of heart-warming animals, the emotional comedy drama could only manage sixth place, taking $7.8 million.New Year's Eve was seventh with $3 million, Arthur Christmas fell to eighth with $2.7 million, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn was down to ninth with $2.1 million and, rounding out the top 10, Hugo made $2 million this weekend.To break into the full charts from outside the server room, head to Box Office Mojo.

Who Authored the Meanest Overview of 'Extremely Noisy and extremely Close'?

"You can write what you would like, when i don't especially care," 'Extremely Noisy and extremely Close' producer Scott Rudin authored within an email to NY Occasions reporter Brooks Barnes earlier this year, when requested about his latest film being Oscar bait. Barnes did not always go ahead and take super producer on that provide, however it seems experts have. Despite a exclusive pedigree, reviews for 'Extremely Loud' happen to be from the savage variety. Who authored the meanest slam of Stephen Daldry's 9/11 drama? Let us investigate! With only a 50 % Fresh rating on Rotten Tomato plants, 'Extremely Noisy and extremely Close' -- in regards to a youthful boy (Thomas Horn) whose father (Tom Hanks) died within the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11 -- has presented a viciousness in experts the kind of which has not been seen since 'Jack and Jill.' "Despite its overweening literary pretensions, 'Extremely Noisy and extremely Close' is all about as creatively profound as individuals presented 3-D photos from the Twin Towers imprinted with 'Never Forget' which are still available in Occasions Square ten years after 9/11." -- Lou Lumenick, NY Publish "Poor little Oskar! This kind of adorable, pint-sized heap of neuroses. Selection mouthpiece to have an author, or perhaps a filmmaker, for a means of going through the personal price of an excellent communal tragedy. Do you get the drift that Oskar must leave their own tiny-small personal prison and, yes, embrace the planet? Never has got the tragedy of 9/11 occurred so shrinky-dinked." -- Stephanie Zacharek, Movieline "[I]t will be 'too soon' for 'Extremely Noisy And Extremely Close,' which processes the immense grief of the city along with a family via a conceit so nauseatingly precious it's in some way both too literary and too sentimental, cloying yet aestheticized inside an inch of their existence. It's 9/11 with the eyes of the caffeinated 9-year-old Harper's contributor." -- Scott Tobias, A.V. Club "[Thomas Horn has] a hopeless role within an impossible movie which has pointless to be apart from as the second pop-culture palliative for any trauma it cannot bear to manage. In reality, 'Extremely Noisy & Incredibly Close' is not about Sept. 11. It comes down to our desire to empty on that day of their specificity and transform it into another wellspring of generic feelings: sadness, loneliness, happiness. This is the way kitsch works. It exploits familiar images, whether young puppies or babies -- or, as with the situation of the movie, the twin towers -- and attempts to make us feel great, even virtuous, simply about feeling. And, yes, you might cry, however when tears are milked because they are here, the truer response ought to be rage." -- Manhola Dargis, NY Occasions Yikes. Which critic was the meanest? Most likely Manhola, who pans 'Incredibly Close' such a specialist method in which her slam sneaks on you. Kudos, however, to any or all the participants. 'Extremely Noisy and extremely Close' has gone out in limited release on Christmas it hits theaters countrywide in The month of january. [Photo: Warner Bros.] Follow Moviefone on Twitter Like Moviefone on Facebook

VIDEO: James Franco's NYU-GradeGate Receives Gory, Hard-Hitting News Animation it Deserves

A former NY University film professor made headlines recently for suing the school, which he said fired him for giving barely present graduate student James Franco a D in his class. Jos Angel Santana alleges not only racist employment practices at NYU, but also that, “In my opinion, they’ve turned the NYU graduate film degree into swag for James Franco’s purposes, a possession, something you can buy.” Burn. Anyway, none of this would matter were it not for the requisite Taiwanese news animation showcasing both Santana’s firing and a reimagining of 127 Hours that’s quite possibly better than Danny Boyle’s film itself. NMA.tv has the story below. I’d err on the NSFW side of caution if I were you, but you tell me. Follow S.T. VanAirsdale on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.

Academy plans outside theater

The overseers from the Oscars are building an outside theater and event space on a bit of land in Hollywood that were meant for a movie museum.The La Occasions reported Sunday the Academy of movement Picture Arts and Sciences intends to open the 17,000-square-feet amphitheater next May like a venue to exhibit classic films.The academy bought the land in 2005 with intends to develop a world-class film museum there. Organizers abandoned that idea following the economy went sour, which makes it impossible to boost the funds required to build another facility.In October, the academy introduced intends to lease an old May Co. mall now possessed through the La County Museum of Art and set the film museum there. Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com

Golden Globe Awards: The Nominees

This article appeared in the Dec. 23 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.Related Topics•Awards Watch Roundtables It shouldn't be a surprise that Kathleen Kennedy cited Steve Jobs as a hero of hers during The Hollywood Reporter's annual Producers Roundtable. After all, the late Apple chief was heralded as a visionary for marrying artistic vision with savvy business practices -- the exact balancing act mastered by movie producers at the top of their game. VIDEO: THR's Producer Roundtable Uncensored Consider the creative and financial achievements of the group THR invited: Letty Aronson, 67, serves as her brother Woody Allen's trusted right-hand woman for all his films, including the time-travel dramedy Midnight in Paris, which became Allen's biggest box-office hit ever. Tim Bevan, 52, pulls double duty as co-chairman of the prolific Working Title Films and as an active producer, including on the spy thriller Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Jim Burke, 57, managed shooting The Descendants in interesting Hawaii locations on a tight $12 million budget. Chris Columbus, 53, also known for his active directing career (including the first two Harry Potter films), spent months in Mississippi working on the logistics that led to the surprise blockbuster The Help. PHOTOS: Kathleen Kennedy and THR's 2011 Women in Entertainment Power 100 Michael De Luca, 46, the New Line executive turned producer, helped revive Moneyball after the studio fired its original director. Kennedy, 58, shepherded two very different Steven Spielberg projects, The Adventures of Tintin and War Horse, often working on both at the same time. And Bill Pohlad, 56, the Minnesota-based producer-financier, put his own money into Terrence Malick's ultra-arty The Tree of Life and was rewarded with $54 million in worldwide gross. Together, the group, who gathered for an hourlong discussion Nov.13 at The Writers Room in Hollywood, represents the best of the year in filmmaking. PHOTOS: How 'The Help' Was Cast THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: What's been your most difficult moment as a producer? Michael de Luca: Mine actually happened to be this year. (Laughs.) It was when Moneyball ended up not going forward with Steven Soderbergh at the helm. When a plug is pulled on a picture, it's rare that it gets started again. But we had tremendous allies in the people at Sony. [Studio co-chair Amy Pascal] believed in the project, and I think for her, it was never, "Let's move on," it was, "How do we restart?" Kathleen Kennedy: One of the toughest was Empire of the Sun [1987]. No one had ever gone into China from the Western world and done what we ended up doing, which was to close down the Bund and shoot in Shanghai. That took about a year of constant trips to Beijing and then to Shanghai, and then negotiations to get the permission to be able to go in and do what we did. Juxtapose that against something totally different, which is Steven [Spielberg] saying to me [on 1993's Jurassic Park]: "I want dinosaurs that are 30 feet tall and I want them to run in front of the actors." And that's the end of the discussion. Jim Burke: [Descendants director] Alexander Payne and I have known each other for such a long time and we share a sensibility, so I trust him. But there were a couple of small moments where that trust was tested. We had to cast a young girl who was 10 years old. And we looked everywhere and couldn't find her and the clock was ticking. We were three weeks away from starting, we still didn't have a 10-year-old actress. But he was like, "Don't worry, don't worry." And I said, "OK." But I did worry, and then [Amara Miller] presented herself. We saw her on tape and she flew out and she did a terrific job. Tim Bevan: My toughest moments are when you start pictures where things aren't quite ready. Like on Green Zone in 2010, where, for various reasons, including the writers strike, we started the movie without a complete script. You can feel things sort of unraveling from the first day. It's that horrible thing in producing -- your job is kind of putting out fires. But you don't sign up for putting out fires 24 hours a day, 30 days a month and nearly a year. You just have to keep the movie alive. THR: Looking back, what would you have done differently? Bevan: I wouldn't have started it. Starting a film when the script's incomplete is nine-tenths madness. You don't have to make the movie. But as a producer, there's that thing inside where you've got the money and you're off to the races and it's starting and you keep moving anyway. THR: How much harder is getting the money these days? Letty Aronson: My greatest challenge is a yearly challenge, because we raise independent funds on a yearly basis. We don't get any studio money. We don't sell the film in presales to get the money. So every year I'm out there looking for the money. THR: All these producers have multiple projects with many directors, but you work with just one and he's your brother. What happens when you and Woody disagree? Aronson: He's very reasonable. (Laughter.) It has its pluses and minuses, but mostly its pluses. We are a year-round operation. We film in the summer. We film for seven weeks; we come back around Labor Day when Woody edits. In November, he starts thinking about a new project -- that's the hardest part. Once he's finished thinking, then he starts to write. He writes quickly. And then we budget it in January. In February or March, if we're going out of the country, I go with our line producer to Europe to interview all the key positions. We always hire local people. We start preproduction then. And in the middle of June, three weeks before we shoot, we go to the country or the city to look at all the locations, and in July we start to shoot. Kennedy: And why can't we all do this?! (Laughter.) THR: When have you said no to something Woody wants? Aronson: On occasion I have said, "We just can't have rain." Because it's very, very expensive. Or, "We've got to stay the extra day." On Midnight in Paris -- Woody doesn't like to shoot at night and he usually doesn't write anything that requires it -- but this [movie] was 50 percent at night. De Luca: Late Afternoon in Paris isn't as romantic. (Laughter.) Aronson: He was under the impression that we could shoot this between 10 p.m. and 12:30 a.m., because he doesn't like to work late, and that's very late for him. But it gets dark very late in Europe, so you can't even start lighting until 10. So a lot of nights we worked until 3 or 4 in the morning. THR: Kathy, have you had to say no to Spielberg? Kennedy: You never say no. You always give a choice. It's actually a really interesting rule that I use all the time. It's not going to do any good to say no if you don't have a solution. I love the process of trying to figure it out: "OK, what am I going to offer up?" I don't want to say, "You can't do this." If there's a good reason why we can't do it, then the problem needs to be solved, so what's the alternative? Burke: I love that approach; it makes me smarter and it engages me more. Bevan: And it'll make the crew smarter, too. Challenging the crew against budgetary constraints is a good thing, actually. All of a sudden their creativity goes off in a different direction, and quite often you get a more interesting result. Kennedy: Or ask a question rather than saying no. "It doesn't look like we can do this, but what do you think?" You might get three or four different ideas and often those ideas are better than what you started out with. Related Topics Chris Columbus Kathleen Kennedy Roundtable Michael De Luca Moneyball Midnight in Paris 1 2 3 4 next last

Helen Mirren Movie 'Love Ranch' Hit With Another Suit

Getty ImagesMichelle Williams, left, and Tilda Swinton Using the Screen Stars Guild Honours introduced Wednesday and airing Jan. 29, this will make the SAGs the audience and show using the longest nominations in the press. And just how performs this change the red-colored carpet picture? Well, to begin with, you will find likely to be lots of Bridesmaids who require dresses! And Kristin Wiig and Melissa McCarthy have finally moved up to and including-list status, so they'll be benefiting from major dresses offered making on their behalf.our editor recommendsSAG Honours TV: 'Modern Family' Leads Nominations, 'Homeland' SnubbedSAG Honours: 'Suits' Star Patrick Adams Responds to Shocking Nomination, Talks 'Friday Evening Lights' ExperienceSAG Honours: Jon Cryer on His First Nomination: 'I Didn't Have Reason Whatsoever to anticipate I'd Be Included'SAG Honours Nominations: The Entire ListSAG Honours Nominations: The Nominees' ReactionsSAG Honours: The Nominees The women from the Help can also get their pick from the designer litter -- not too Emma Stone hasn't had first dibs on dresses from next season from Europe, however Viola Davis, Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer is going to be joining her for the reason that "we'd LOVE to help you an outfit or three" category. Though Davis, Spencer and Chastain aren't your average actress size 2's, they won't be harming for major designer offers. Chastain was lately seen putting on Viktor & Rolf spring 2012 and Lv spring 2012 -- both looks which are very difficult to procure. This may be the entire year from the Large Sexy Gown: Both Spencer and McCarthy are glamazons who like to liven up and lots of designers is going to be aboard to assist them to within their quests. COMPLETE LIST: 2012 SAG Honours TV and Film Nominees Glenn Close is definitely an Armani loyalist, and Meryl Streep has a tendency to put on quite simple things, so very little curiousity there. Tilda Swinton and Michelle Williams would be the fashion will get for designers in the SAGs -- both nominated for the best actress, and both with definitively chic and quasi surprising styles. Will Williams put on Chanel couture (which shows prior to the SAGs air in Paris in The month of january)? She is among the couple of whom the home would consider. Will Swinton have her Euro designer buddies Haider Ackermann or Raf Simmons (now at Jil Sander, stated to become jumping ship to Dior) or Viktor & Rolf make her an avant-garde gorgeous gown or tuxedo -- or will she got with lower-key Prada, which she also wears? PHOTOS: SAG Honours Nominees As well as in the supporting category, we can be certain that Berenice Bejo in the Artist, nominated for the best supporting actress, can get some fashion love -- though in some way we doubt she'll be putting on the 20's looks in the spring collections of Gucci or Marc Jacobs. But it might be wild if she did! In some way we expect she'll opt for what's chic and French, representing her country. If this involves the SAG TV noms, Kate Winslet, Juliana Margulies, Tina Fey, Julie Bowen and Sofia Vergara will all have numerous designer options -- with Winslet obtaining the most, obviously. But Margulies always looks amazing at any honours show. STORY:'The Help' Leads Screen Stars Guild Honours Nominations Kelly McDonald and Aleksa Palladino of Boardwalk Empire go for visual appearance -- when they hire good stylists. That's key here. Because following the Experts Choice Honours and also the Globes (both early and mid-The month of january), it requires a knowledgeable stylist to obtain designers to spend the truly great dresses they could be holding back for that Academy awards. And just Williams or Swinton could score couture for that SAGs -- maybe. We're sad Kirsten Dunst isn't going, but you will find more nominations available. PHOTO GALLERY: View Gallery SAG Honours: The Nominees Fashion SAG Honours Kristen Wiig Red-colored Carpet SAG Honours 2012

New Year's Eve Tops US Box Office

The Sitter squats in secondGiven the outcomes of the weekend's box office haul, it may sound such as the corridors and lobbies of America's movie theaters were largely full of silence, as no new arrivals made a lot of an effect. Still, with $13.7 million, New Year's Eve crawled out victory despite poisonous reviews. Which was enough to make sure that The Sitter needed to get by with second place along with a disappointing $ten million.In third, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Beginning Part 1 handled to cling on in front of the Muppets, with Bella, Edward and co nabbing $7.9 million and Kermit and buddies making $7 million.Arthur Christmas was lower someone to fifth, generating $6.six million, while Hugo ended up to sixth and $6.a million. The Descendants remained in position at seventh, taking $4.8 million.Happy Ft Two declined lower to eighth place with $3.75 million, Jack And Jill was ninth with $3.two million and Immortals rounded the top ten, generating $2.4 million a few days ago.To celebrate a motion picture holiday with full chart action, mind to Box Office Mojo.

R.I.P. Joseph Farrell

Legendary movie marketing innovator Joseph Farrell died this morning of natural causes. He was 76. Farrell is the former chairman and CEO of The National Research Group which quickly became the leading market research firm in the film industry, serving studios andfilmmakers and distributors worldwide. Among the services he introduced, now taken for granted by the film industry, are trackings, test screenings, trailer and TVspot testing and norms by quadrants and other socio-demographics analyses, and early warning forecasting of movies box office potential. In 2003 Farrell created FP Productions with a first-look deal at Disney where he was special advisor to the chairman. In 2009 FP Productions went indie and its feature films include Joy Full Noise to be released in January by Warner Bros, andThe Leonardo Job in development with Alcon Entertainment.Farrell continued as a marketing consultant to top executives at several major studios and investment banking groups.

Pretty Little Liars, Charlie Sheen Top Twitter's Hot Subjects this year

Chris Hemsworth, Lucy Hale, Charlie Sheen For Charlie Sheen and Twitter, 2011 was the entire year from the tiger (bloodstream). Both Sheen and also the stuff he states runs through his veins made Twitter's listing of hot subjects for 2011. Sheen, who were built with a busy year after being fired from 2 . 5 Males, shows up because the No. 1 most spoken about actor, then Macaulay Culkin, Ryan Dunn and Ough Gervais. His 2 . 5 Males alternative, Ashton Kutcher, also made the very best 10, landing at No. 8. (#tigerblood shows up because the second most spoken about hashtag of the season.) Charlie Sheen, Warner Bros. achieve funds over 2 . 5 Males dispute 2 . 5 Males itself was the 2nd most spoken about TV subject behind No. 1 rated Pretty Little Liars. Rounding the 5 best for television would be the Craig's list Killer, Golden Globe Honours and Individuals Choice Honours. Around the movie front, Thor arrived on the scene on the top, then The Dark Dark night Increases (which is launched This summer 2012), X-Males: Top Class, Fast Five and Eco-friendly Hornet. See other stars who died this season Bette Davis, who died in March, capped probably the most-talked about stars list. One of the others within the top ten were Black Swan castmates Mila Kunis and Natalie Portman, together with Harry Potter's Emma Watson and also the Vampire Diaries' Nina Dobrev. Despite attaining prestige among the worst tunes of the season, Rebecca Black and her tune "Friday" arrived towards the top of the background music list, then the kind of Nate Dogg, Gerry Rafferty and Gil Scott-Heron. Are you currently surprised at the subjects that made their email list?

First Hansel & Gretel: Witch Potential predators Pic

Arterton & Renner type in the woodsJust what type of grownups would Hansel & Gretel develop being like given their distressing encounter inside a witch's gingerbread house? If Hansel & Gretel: Witch Potential predators is going to be thought, the answer then is fairly screwed up, but furthermore badass... Now the initial image within the film remains released, and might be seen below.Witch Potential predators stars Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton since the titular pair in the story that can the conventional German folktale becasue it is beginning point and kicks into high gear while using sister pair going onto become agents of vengeance against wizards together with other nasty creatures they prefer to victimize kids.Directed by Dead Snow's Tommy Wirkola and produced by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay, it's set to become darkly funny, action-stacked think about the two figures."They have to murder somebody when they are kids! So it's all about being tough," Arterton notifies Entertainment Weekly. "Jeremy which i inside the script moments where we shown the vulnerable side of those. Frequently to use it movies, people are frightened to put that in. It was vital. Just a few moments, tender moments, when the guard drops, then you definitely certainly understand."For further, mind onto EW's piece round the movie. A clip is scheduled to land on Thursday, as well as the film itself will probably be on March 2.