Movie News & Gossip

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Summit Entertainment's vampires-and-werewolves phenomenon "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" shrugged off three new wide releases to top the daily box-office rankings Wednesday with domestic grosses of $14.3 million.

That brought cumulative box office for "New Moon" to $179 million through just six days in release. The romantic action sequel showed no signs of losing steam heading into the Thanksgiving holiday. The weekend's business will be bolstered by the day off many students and workers receive on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving.

GSTAAD, Switzerland - After two months in a Swiss jail, Roman Polanski prepared Thursday for the splendid captivity of his $1.6 million chalet in one of world's most luxurious winter resorts.

Polanski will have views of snowcapped Alpine peaks, spacious rooms and the all the amenities of a town with a reputation for catering to the wishes of the rich and famous.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "Precious: Based on the novel 'Push' by Sapphire," directed by Lee Daniels, is generating a large amount of Oscar buzz this season and getting a push from executive producers Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry.

Prior to this film, Daniels was best known for producing "Monster's Ball" in which he cast Halle Berry in the role of a downtrodden, small town waitress that saw her make history when she became the first black woman to win a best actress Oscar.

SYDNEY (Reuters) - An Australian movie highlighting the desperate state of many Aboriginal communities won top prize at the third annual Asia Pacific Screen Awards on Thursday in which 37 films from 16 countries were competing.

The movie "Samson and Delilah," directed by Warwick Thornton, won the Camera d'Or prize at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, and has done the rounds of international film festivals this year as well as being nominated for 13 Australian Film Institute Awards.

GENEVA - Roman Polanski will be quietly transferred from a Zurich jail to house arrest in his Alpine chalet, Swiss authorities said Thursday, adding that the process will last at least another day.

Polanski was being held in a Swiss jail a day after a court granted him release on $4.5 million bail, the Swiss Justice Ministry said. The 76-year-old director, who must wear an electronic monitoring bracelet, will not be released Thursday, ministry spokesman Folco Galli said.

GENEVA - Roman Polanski appeared set to be released from jail on bail Thursday and placed under house arrest in his chalet in the Alps pending a decision on his extradition to the U.S. for having sex in 1977 with a 13-year-old girl.

Polanski was believed to be held in a Zurich-area jail a day after a court granted him release on $4.5 million bail. He must also forfeit his passport and wear an electronic bracelet.

HONG KONG - An Australia-based director's romance, a Taiwanese family drama and the story of a Chinese peasant guarding a cow are the unlikely trio of top contenders at the Chinese-language equivalent of the Oscars to be announced on Saturday.

Jurors for this year's Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan pushed aside several of the year's blockbusters in favor of art-house films. Movies like Jackie Chan's "Shinjuku Incident," John Woo's historical epic "Red Cliff II" and the biopic of Bruce Lee's kung fu teacher, "Ip Man," weren't among the leading nominees.

GENEVA - Roman Polanski has been granted $4.5 million bail, clearing the way for the fugitive director to move within days from a Swiss jail to house arrest and electronic monitoring at his Alpine resort chalet.

The justice minister said Wednesday she saw no reason to appeal the surprise decision by the Swiss Criminal Court. Polanski would have to remain in Switzerland as authorities assess whether to extradite him to the U.S. for having sex in Los Angeles in 1977 with a 13-year-old girl.