Movie News Today

Well I picked a bad time to go on vacation. Not only did I miss Games 6 and 7 of the World Series (thereby jinxing the Rangers, unquestionably), there was a flurry of movies news just waiting to be reported and no access to the Soap Box Office to see it through. Apologies! I did, however, come up with a few (supposedly) good ideas that I'll be trying out over the coming weeks but I believe I'll wait until the beginning of the year to see them through completely. Thanks for sticking around. On with the show.

Due to the numerous entries into the field, the Academy Awards have expanded the Best Animated Feature category to include five nominees instead of three. The only question is...um...are there five worth even mentioning this year?

Looks like the ever-busy Leonardo DiCaprio is on for The Revenant, about an 1820s fur trapper who is left for dead by his comrades and comes back to seek his revenge. Not exactly sure when it happened but DiCaprio has become an instant "in" for me no matter what movie he's in.

Here's one I missed while on vacation: the next Bond movie will called Skyfall and Movievine has a brief run down. Personally, can't wait.

Ridley Scott sat down with the Wall Street Journal and discussed his upcoming Blade Runner sequel/prequel. I'm so torn on this one. It needs to be GREAT to work out but the chances of a sequel being great 30 years after the original? Not so good.

Gary Oldman is experiencing a bit of a career swoon which is weird considering he's pretty much been a mainstay for the last 20 years. Suddenly, though, it's like major studio releases just discovered the guy. Or maybe he's just more willing to take on popcorn flicks than he used to be. Regardless, Warner Brothers is after the greatest-actor-of-his-generation to play Merlin in their upcoming Arthur and Lancelot. The more Oldman, the better. That's my motto.

JJ Abrams is honing in on Benicio Del Toro to play the villain in the Star Trek sequel. Note to Mr. Del Toro: you need to say yes. It's been a while since this guy, an outstanding actor, has been in anything relevant and Abrams would do wonders for his career.

Finally, Roger Ebert has announced that At the Movies will officially end in January if it does not find significant financial backing. I'm going to have a longer post on this in a couple of weeks but let me just say that this sucks. It would be a real bummer if the Ebert TV legacy came to an end. Hoping someone steps up with some cash.

Weekend Box Office Results
1. Puss in Boots - $33.04 million ($75.51 million total)
2. Tower Heist - $25.1M
3. A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas - $13.07M
4. Paranormal Activity 3 - $8.53M ($95.31M)
5. In Time - $7.7M ($24.21M)
6. Footloose - $4.55M ($44.8M)
7. Real Steel - $3.41M ($78.75M)
8. The Rum Diary - $2.99M ($10.42M)
9. The Ides of March - $2M ($36.8M)
10. Moneyball - $1.9M ($70.33M)