In a world of constant changing protagonists, there seems to be one winner when it comes to the summer movie blockbuster season. That winner is Michael Bay’s transforming robots known as the Autobots. In its second weekend of release, Transformers 3 still managed to stay strong at #1 with an astounding $47 Million.

The film is staying strong not only in the US, but has pulled in upwards of $645 Million worldwide. Also opening this weekend, Warner’s Horrible Bosses didn’t make much of an impact with an estimated $28 Million.

Finally, and in the #3 spot this weekend, Sony’s The Zookeeper managed to draw something of an audience, with $21 Million over the weekend, and an average of $6,000 per screen. About a fourth of its $80 Million budget, so you can expect Kevin James to cause trouble in yet another occupation in the near future.

Even thought Transformers blew up for the past 2 weeks, and has made over half a billion dollars worldwide, that’s nothing in comparison to what the final Harry Potter film will do next weekend.

Opening in over 4,200 screens across the US, you can expect the film to blow this last Transformers film out of the water in the first weekend, let alone the worldwide net of the film going forward.

There aren’t nearly enough animated horror comedies out there these days. Burton managed to capitalize on not only Nightmare Before Christmas but Corpse Bride as well, Monster House may be one of the only ones to make it onto that list. After that, the list falls to mainly puerile comedies that only appeal to those under 20.

That may be changing with the cast announced for Sony’s upcoming Hotel Transylvania. Here’s the full breakdown from THR.

Adam Sandler leads off a voice cast that includes Kevin James and Andy Samberg for Hotel Transylvania, a 3D family comedy from Sony Pictures Animation. James is voicing Frank/Frankenstein while Fran Drescher is his in-your-face, over-the-top and larger-than-life bride.

David Spade plays Quasimodo, once the hunchback of Notre Dame and now a crazy, passionate gourmet chef. Steve Buscemi and Molly Shannon will play Wayne and Wanda, a pair of married, harried werewolves, parents to an ever-increasing litter of pups, who are looking forward to their family vacation at the hotel.

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It’s the cycle of nature. Every year, the studios serve their finest for the holidays, projects chock full of high tone and blue chip casts. This year there was the usual deluxe assortment: literary adaptation (True Grit), drug addiction (The Fighter), madness and artistry (Black Swan), and physical disability, historical drama and royalty (The King’s Speech).

Then comes January. The good stuff runs out and they bring out the cheap wine, hoping we’re too drunk to notice. So we get the likes of Country Strong, Season of the Witch, The Green Hornet and The Dilemma.

Starring the peculiarly charmless Vince Vaughn as Ronny and Kevin James (The King of Queens) as Nick, his purported bosom buddy/business partner/mechanical genius (more on that later), The Dilemma also features as Jennifer Connelly (Beth) and Winona Ryder (Geneva) as their respective love interests, both actresses dark-haired, kohl-rimmed, wraith-thin and hard-faced.

Of course it’s totally preposterous that either woman would ever go out with the likes of Vaughn or James, and pigs will scrapbook before we see the likes of Jude Law movie-dating the likes of America Ferrara (the only female star under 50 who comes to mind who’s remotely overweight). But hey, that’s the glorious misogynistic magic of Hollywood.

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Grown Ups is anything but. You won’t find a shred of maturity here, but you will find the following in abundance: fart jokes, bunion jokes, breast-feeding jokes, Salma Hayek’s amazing rack (clothed, but still), physical pratfalls, teen aged girls in short-shorts, and five grown men acting like complete idiots. The laughs are cheap, but they are there for the taking.

I laughed at a lot of stuff I shouldn’t have, but I also laughed at Joe Dirt, if that is telling.  This is the same type of movie, and there is obviously a segment of the population who will seek it out this weekend.  This panders to the lowest common denominator of comedy appeal.

I think the filmmakers knew exactly what type of movie they wanted to make, and mission accomplished.  If you howl with laughter anytime a character farts in a movie, you are in for a real treat.

Five childhood friends who played on the same basketball team when they were younger are brought back together for their coach’s funeral. Adam Sandler is the successful one, with a hot headed trophy wife (Salma Hayek) and spoiled brat kids. Kevin James is the rotund family man married to Mario Bello, who still breast-feeds their four year old (hilarious!)

Chris Rock is an emasculated stay at home dad with a nagging mother-in-law and ungrateful wife (Maya Rudolph.) Rob Schneider is a new-age vegan married to a woman old enough to be his grandmother, and David Spade still fancies himself a ladies man (really?)

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Adam Sandler and his ‘Happy Madison’ production company have been on a steady roll since the mid 1990s and their string of films starring Sandler himself. As of late, the company has been known for smaller, yet equally humorous, films such as Grandma’s Boy and the Deuce Bigelow franchise.

Now, the team is reuniting with Sandler’s cast of regulars and newest on-screen partner Kevin James for a brand new comedy called Grown Ups. The film is about a group of five boys who grow apart over the years and finally come together to reconnect and find their childhood once again. I like to call this one something like The Sand Lot: 30 Years Later.

Sandler takes the lead in this one, in his first comedy role since this year’s Funny People, with a familiar cast of characters joining him. David Spade, Rob Schneider, Chris Rock, and Kevin James are all in the cast as the group of boyhood friends. It almost seems like James is filling the role of the late Chris Farley here, as he’s the only one of the group who did not work on Saturday Night Live in the 90s.

The rest of the cast is filled out by Salma Hayek, Maria Bello, Steve Buscemi, Maya Rudolph, and Gary Busey. Check out the first full trailer after the jump. Catch Grown Ups in theaters on June 25th, 2010.

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