Movie News & Gossip

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The narrative behind "The Princess and the Frog" is that Walt Disney Animation has rediscovered its traditional hand-drawn animation, which has been supplanted by computer-generated cartoons. But this misses the point about what allowed Pixar -- which Disney now owns -- DreamWorks and other CG-animation companies to upstage the one-time king of the animation world. It's a thing called story.

So "Princess and the Frog" really marks Disney's rediscovery of a strong narrative loaded with vibrant characters and mind-bending, hilarious situations. Under the direction of veterans Ron Clements and John Musker (the team behind "The Little Mermaid" and "Aladdin") and the watchful eye of Pixar guru John Lasseter, now chief creative officer of Disney Animation, "Princess and the Frog" celebrates old and new: It's a musical fairy tale that dates back to the days when Walt Disney was a person, not a brand. Yet it deftly mingles with the new sensibilities in animation where fairy tales must get fractured, settings must be fresh and humor must be pitched to many age levels.

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Since they are old dogs, there are no new tricks in Walt Disney's "Old Dogs," a shamelessly predictable, overly broad comedy aimed at the family audience starting Thanksgiving weekend. One could debate whether John Travolta or Robin Williams have reached an age to be mistaken for grandfathers, but they certain don't shy away from jokes their grandfathers would have groaned about.

Apparently, the working principle is if it's old, let's use it. There is one mild -- really, really mild -- gag that hints we are in an age that doesn't freak out that gay people exist. That's about as bold as "Old Dogs" gets. The film, opening Wednesday (November 25), should play well this weekend for grandparents and youngsters, after which any staying power it demonstrates will be a tribute to the stars' names and the Disney brand.

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer have been given the keys to "Uncharted: Drake Fortune."

Columbia Pictures has tapped the screenwriting duo to pen the adaptation of the video game.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Final box office figures for "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" showed the movie's ticket sales rising to $142.8 million from an estimated $140.7 million last weekend, the studio behind the film said on Monday.

"New Moon" opened on Friday as a sequel to last year's "Twilight." It enjoyed the biggest opening weekend of 2009 and placed third for the top opening weekend ever behind last year's Batman movie "The Dark Knight" ($158 million) and 2007's "Spider-Man 3" ($151 million).

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Final box office figures for "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" showed the movie's ticket sales rising to $142.8 million from an estimated $140.7 million last weekend, the studio behind the film said on Monday.

"New Moon" opened on Friday as a sequel to last year's "Twilight." It enjoyed the biggest opening weekend of 2009 and placed third for the top opening weekend ever behind last year's Batman movie "The Dark Knight" ($158 million) and 2007's "Spider-Man 3" ($151 million).

ATHENS (Reuters) - 20th Century Fox will make a profit with James Cameron's 3D sci-fi epic "Avatar," Fox Filmed Entertainment chairman Jim Gianopulos said in an interview, and dismissed reports the movie cost $500 million as "ridiculous."

Blending computer-generated characters and live actors, Avatar tells the story of a former Marine who infiltrates the native Na'vi people on a far-away planet to help corporations extract a mineral, but ends up fighting for the alien race.

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "Dark Void" will yield movie development matter.

Indian giant Reliance BIG Entertainment and Brad Pitt's Plan B shingle are developing a film version of the upcoming video game, and Pitt could well star as the lead combatant.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The "Twilight" sequel scored the third-biggest opening weekend of all time at the North American box office on Sunday, as millions of young women swooned over the complex love triangle involving a high school girl, a vampire and a werewolf.

"The Twilight Saga: New Moon" earned an estimated $140.7 million during its first three days of release across the United States and Canada, closely held distributor Summit Entertainment said, crushing industry expectations.