Books are coming back in a huge way lately. I can remember being in school when Hollywood was having an outreach for kids to “read more.” now it seems like Hollywood can’t get kids to stop reading and loving books, to the point where just about every big book franchise is getting adapted into a movie.

Twilight, Harry Potter, Hunger Games, and now Orson Scott Card’s epic series, Ender’s Game is getting the Hollywood treatment.

Movement on the project is picking up quickly, as critically acclaimed actor Ben Kinglsey is joining an already stellar cast. From THR:

Hugo actor Asa Butterfield and Hailee Steinfeld are starring in the pic, set in a future where the Earth is under attack by an insect-like race and mankind has created a battle school to train fighting forces.

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It turns out even decades of laughter through the form of hundreds of felt puppets can’t beat the Kristen Stewart pregnancy movie. After having one of the most intense marketing campaigns that Disney has ever executed for The Muppets, Breaking Dawn Pt. 1 still managed to beat the film in the box office by over $10 million during the holiday weekend.

The vampy melodrama got the #1 spot for the second weekend in a row with $42 million this weekend, while Muppets (which made $42 in total since it opened on Wednesday) was only able to pull in an estimated $29 million. It looks like vampires really are more popular than singing frogs and pigs. Shame.

Also hitting theaters this weekend, Sony’s Arthur Christmas fell flat with an estimated $12.7 opening weekend. Speaking of falling flat, Scorsese’s Hugo had an even weaker opening, as it came in 5th place with just over $11 million.

These films could very well do better as we draw closer to the holidays, but don’t expect to see much in the form of sequels for these family classics. Those films may not have performed as well as they could have, but what did was the Weinstein’s My Week with Marilyn which pulled off just over $2 million for its first weekend.

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As if it were a surprise. The penultimate film in the Twilight saga, Breaking Dawn: Part 1, opening in just over 4,000 screens across the nation, managed to pick up just under $140 Million in the domestic box office. It also got just over $280 Million worldwide.

With a production budget of $110 Million, and making $15 Million more than the opening weekend of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 1, Summit is sitting pretty high and mighty at this point. Also opening this weekend, Warner’s Happy Feet Two, which came in at #2 with $22 Million.

As expected, the rest of the box office took a bit of a hit due to all the vampire-on-werewolf action. Last weekend’s #1 hit Immortals took more than a 60% drop and only grossed an estimated $12 Million. Adam Sandler’s unfortunate new flick Jack and Jill came in right behind with just under $12 Million.

We expect Breaking Dawn to continue its success throughout the week, and possibly next weekend. Disney’s Muppets opens wide on Thanksgiving Day, so don’t expect to see the Twilight kids walk away completely unscathed after Kermit has his way with them.

This week’s Film Score Friday is going to stretch the concept a bit. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn actually has an original soundtrack, not a full score release as of yet, but I did want to branch out a little bit. Plus there is a single track of original score on the album, hooray for loop holes!

The album is a collection of pop songs that either appeared in the film or were inspired by it. Soundtracks like this are a very interesting proposition, it is very possible to arrange a fantastic set of songs that both evoke the film and make for a great listening experience. In fact my first introduction to the world of film scores was through soundtracks like this one.

Now I am far from Twilight’s target audience, but I have seen all the films so I know what to expect going into this album. These are going to be a collection of songs that are harmless, sappy and most of them will probably sound the same, right?

Well, a funny thing happened on the way to me writing this, I actually started to really like some of these songs. Mayhaps I have grown soft in my young age, but some of these songs are actually damn catchy. Also, and much more importantly, the songs actually work really well in the context of the film.

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We can’t really put into words our feelings about Twilight and it’s various big screen treatments. Suffice it to say there’s another movie coming soon called The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 and we’ve got a preview for it to show you.

Not that you need any extra encouragement to see the upcoming movie. If you’re a fan of the series you’re going to go, no matter what. If you hate all-things Twilight well, then, you probably won’t — unless you get dragged there by some weepy female. Hey, we’ve all been there, there’s no shame in it.

Sometimes you gotta do things you don’t want to do to make other people happy. Or, to get some, shall we say, action.

Whatever you’re motivations, or lack thereof, look for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part One to hit theaters on November 18. In the meantime, check out the preview after the break.

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For those who are clamoring for their vampire-on-werewolf action, look no further, as the first full trailer for Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 1 hit the internets today. This time, things get a little less romantic, and a little more like The Omen, as Bella’s pregnancy gets a bit scary. Here’s the premise for the first part of this story.

In the highly anticipated next chapter of the blockbuster The Twilight Saga, the new found married bliss of Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) is cut short when a series of betrayals and misfortunes threatens to destroy their world.

After their wedding, Bella and Edward travel to Rio de Janeiro for their honeymoon, where they finally give in to their passions. Bella soon discovers she is pregnant, and during a nearly fatal childbirth, Edward finally fulfills her wish to become immortal.

But the arrival of their remarkable daughter, Renesmee, sets in motion a perilous chain of events that pits the Cullens and their allies against the Volturi, the fearsome council of vampire leaders, setting the stage for an all-out battle.

The suspenseful and deeply romantic Breaking Dawn continues the epic tale of supernatural fantasy and passionate love that has made The Twilight Saga a worldwide phenomenon.

Finally, for those who want a full review of the entire Twilight series so far, here’s Family Guy’s Chris Griffin to explain it all. Check out the new trailer after the jump and catch Breaking Dawn: Part 1 in theaters on November 18th.

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We all know how tame and watered down vampires have become these days. Sure, we’ll get some cool moments in True Blood when fangs are popped and blood is drawn, but that’s only in between the other 50 minutes of romance, sex and melodrama. And let’s not even begin to think Twilight has any kind of vampire bad ass moments.

The one constant is that the Underworld series has always looked good, and had enough guns and leather to come across as a Matrix spinoff. So why wouldn’t we get another sequel amidst the vampire/werewolf hype happening today? Good news, we do.

The premise is a bit tame, but we don’t expect much of a story when the first thing we see in the trailer is a nude Kate Beckinsale.

Kate Beckinsale, star of the first two films, returns in her lead role as the vampire warrioress Selene, who escapes imprisonment to find herself in a world where humans have discovered the existence of both Vampire and Lycan clans, and are conducting an all-out war to eradicate both immortal species.

Of course, you’ll get the expected lines like “something else escaped” and “it’s more powerful than anything we’ve ever fought”. Why? Because why not. Leather + machine guns + Vampires = a good time.

Check it all out in the trailer after the jump. See Underworld 4: Awakening 3D in theaters January 20th.

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Right after the presentation late yesterday at Comic-Con in San Diego, Universal Pictures released the first promo images for their upcoming re-imagining of the Snow White story called The Huntsman. And to be honest, they look pretty cool.

In this images we get our first look at Kristen Stewart as Snow White, Charlize Theron as the Queen, Chris Hemsworth as the Huntsman and Sam Claflin as the Prince. The film also features Ian McShane, Eddie Izzard, Bob Hoskins, Toby Jones, Eddie Marsan, Steven Graham and Nick Frost.

Sadly, no pics of any of them just yet. Got to get the big characters and big actor names out in front first, apparently. According to reports from the panel, the proof of concept footage from the film looked pretty good too so if these images and that fact give us a bit of hope that the tend will continue and this movie will end up finishing the sam way.

The Hunstman opens on June 1, 2012. Click through to see all the rest of the images.

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You may have missed it in theaters, but you’re getting the second chance to catch Catherine Hardwicke’s Red Riding Hood in the comfort of your own home with a FREE iTunes download of the film.

Here’s the synopsis of the film, for those who missed it.

Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight) directs a fantasy thriller that puts a haunting twist on the classic fairy tale. For years the villagers of Daggerhorn have maintained an uneasy truce with a werewolf – but the beast changes the stakes by killing the older sister of beautiful young Valerie (Amanda Seyfried). Promised in marriage to one man but in love with another, Valerie has her life dramatically affected yet again by the creature’s bloody actions.

When a werewolf hunter warns that the beast takes human form by day and walks among them, panic sets in as the death toll rises. And Valerie learns she has a unique connection to the wolf that inexorably draws them together, making her both suspect…and bait. Gary Oldman, Billie Burke, Shiloh Fernandez, Max Irons, Virginia Madsen, Lukas Haas and Julie Christie also star.

Watch it your way, On Demand, For Download and on Blu-ray combo pack. http://bit.ly/j61o6l

How do you win? It’s simple! Just keep an eye on our Twitter feed later today. There, we’ll post a related trivia question. Reply back to us with the right answer and you’ll be entered to win this awesome giveaway! Be sure to stick around, because we’ve got another awesome giveaway coming up later this week!

Guys see movies for a lot of different reasons. Most will only admit to getting excited for the newest raunchy comedies or fast paced action movies, but how many of them are secretly enjoying themselves when they get dragged to a date movie and are forced to see something a little more “girly”? Everyone has a few guilty pleasures hiding in their DVD collection, and it takes a real man to admit that he’s popped in Love Actually just as many times as the Bourne Trilogy.

This week’s theme is both a literal and figurative.  We have one crazy movie about a girl, two movies to see with the girlfriend, and a documentary to check out when she’s not around.

The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo

Click to see the trailer

Stop the presses!  Here it is, this is the movie to watch for in 2011.  Based on the literary phenomenon The Millennium Trilogy, this film is a remake of the 2009 Swedish film of the same name.  Already dubbed “The feel bad movie of Christmas”, I think this film has a lot more in store for us than even this exciting teaser shows us.

Director David Fincher has been pumping out masterpiece after masterpiece the past few years, sending him on the fast track to becoming one of the most legendary filmmakers of our generation.  With an early track record including such film school favorites as Se7en and Fight Club, he has since settled into a core group of creative collaborators that he has worked with on The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and, most recently, The Social Network, which has propelled him to the front of critical acclaim, box office success, and Oscar recognition.

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I have mixed feelings about this news coming out of Cannes today. At least I’m happy to see this guy getting more work as I’m a fan and had the pleasure of working with him once long ago.

It seems Truman Show writer and Gattica director Andrew Nicol is taking on directing duties for the big screen adaptation of the Stephanie Meyer book The Host. The project, which is being shopped at Cannes by Inferno Entertainment and producers Nick Wechsler and Steve Schwartz and Paula Mae Schwartz, will star Saoirse Ronan.

Here’s some more info on the film:

Ronan will play Melanie Stryder, one of the last humans battling an alien species called Souls. These parasites invade human bodies, fuse to each person’s consciousness and systematically erase their personalities.

The story follows Melanie as she is captured by the aliens and implanted by a Soul called Wanderer. Wanderer wants Melanie to give up the remaining humans, but instead the alien finds Melanie to be unique in her unwillingness to surrender her consciousness.

Wanderer is so overwhelmed by Melanie’s memories and feelings that she is driven to reconnect with Melanie’s old life, which includes falling for Melanie’s boyfriend. The result is a complex, romantic and emotional human/alien love triangle.

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In what will come as no surprise to anyone, except maybe my mom, the MTV Movie Award nominations have been released and the most popular and creatively vacant film franchise this side of middle earth leads the pack. That’s right,  The Twilight Saga: Eclipse is on top with eight nominations.

The news is not all bad though as both Inception and Harry Potter are also lead contenders. In fact, aside from the obvious Twilight nominations, most of the nominations are not so bad. Many of the better films from 2010 are represented, including Kick-Ass, which has gone mostly forgotten in the retrospective hoopla.

Aside from the traditional Best Movie and Best Kiss, this year also brings a brilliant new category to the world of cinematic awards: “Best Line From A Movie.” This is not only a genius category for the shallow festivities of MTV, but it is something that all award shows should consider in the future.

In the world of cinema fandom movie quotes are often a defining factor in the quality of a film. The more quotable the movie, the more likely it will find a home in the hearts of film geeks the world over.

The nominations for Twilight are to be expected from MTV, but the nominations for Harry Potter are a little more of a surprise. Up to this point in time the Harry Potter movies didn’t really make a dent in the target audience of MTV.

Of course the franchise remains popular the world over, but for MTV, known for immature, shallow drama and sex appeal, to acknowledge the penultimate Potter film in so many categories shows that the Potter is still relevant to pop culture in general.

Check out the full list of nominations after the jump.

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