Movie News & Gossip

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - It was October 2007, a month before filming began on "The Lovely Bones," when Fran Walsh realized she had miscast her male lead.

The co-writer/producer, along with director Peter Jackson and the rest of the filmmakers, had cast Ryan Gosling and Rachel Weisz as parents of 14-year-old Susie Salmon, whose murder and journey through the "in-between" powers Alice Sebold's novel and the film. Although Gosling, then 27, had grown a beard and packed on 20 pounds to appear more convincing as the father of a teenager, he dropped out because of what was reported at the time as "creative differences."

LOS ANGELES - "The Princess and the Frog" earned a big wet kiss from family audiences as the animated musical leaped to No. 1 with $25 million in its first weekend of nationwide release, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The Disney musical is the studio's first hand-drawn animated tale in five years, a contrast to the computer-animated films that now dominate the cartoon world.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Irish actress Saoirse Ronan was only 13-years-old when she took the part of a murdered girl who watches over her grieving family in "The Lovely Bones." But even at such a young age, she never once worried about playing a dead person.

"I never really thought of Susie Salmon as someone who was dead," says Ronan, now 15, of her "Bones" character. "Although her body is dead, her soul is still there. That's what makes Susie who she is and that's what I love about her."

- Capsule reviews of films opening this week:

"Invictus" — Clint Eastwood's latest is a sports film less about what's on the playing field than what's happening in the stands. It's the story of South Africa's sea change under Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman) told through the unlikely prism of sport. It comes off like a case study in leadership, perhaps a bit clinical and limited, but still deeply revealing. When Mandela takes office in 1994, he embraces the rugby national team, the Springboks, and seeks to turn a symbol of apartheid into a beacon of hope. It feels like destiny fulfilled hearing Freeman — who has long sought to play the role — speak Mandela's halting, humble speech. No one could be better. "Invictus" is dripping with inspiration, and Eastwood's extraordinary late period remains a good place to find it. With a blond, beefed-up Matt Damon as the rugby team's captain and one truly terrible song from a South African boy band. PG-13 for brief strong language. 132 minutes. Three stars out of four.

The men of "Entourage" are going to become real-life movie stars, according to The Hollywood Reporter's Showbiz 411 blog.

In an interview with series executive producer Mark Wahlberg, the star revealed the HBO show may be heading to the big screen after another two seasons.

NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Two more seasons of HBO's "Entourage" and then a movie?

That seems to be the plan, according to Mark Wahlberg, an executive producer of the Hollywood-set show.

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Peter Jackson certainly is familiar with the challenges of satisfying filmgoers' expectations, having helmed three films derived from J.R.R. Tolkien's immensely popular "Lord of the Rings" novel and a second remake of the iconic film "King Kong."

So Alice Sebold's best-selling novel "The Lovely Bones," published in 2002, should be right in his wheelhouse. In this case, though, he has changed the focus and characters to such a significant degree that his film might resonate more with those who have not read the book.