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Nightmare Before Christmas Director Provides Sneak Peek Into Coraline

Coraline hits theaters this Christmas season!Fans of The Nightmare Before Christmas and The Sandman graphic novel will have much to celebrate for come this December with Coraline.

The director of the Disney classic, Henry Selick, as well as Beowulf writer Neil Gaiman have teamed up for the upcoming stop-motion film, which follows a young girl named Coraline who walks through a door that ultimately takes her to an alternate version of her life.

Judging by the behind-the-scenes clip (seen after the jump), the look and feel of the movie are sure to please fans of both collaborators. Watching the painstaking task of stop-motion animation, I now have a newfound appreciation for the art.

The film stars Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, and Jennifer Saunders (Shrek 2).

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Variety


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Juno Movie Available Via iTunes

Juno, Ellen PageWhile iTunes users have become used to seeing selections from , DVD offerings from other studios have not come as quickly as some might have liked.  But it looks like things may soon change.

Just today, Fox made available for download via the popular site.  This is the same day the Oscar-nominated film was placed on store and rental shelves.  It’s likely the studio will allow more current titles to be sold in the future, but no immediate plans have been announced.

Meanwhile, Paramount has also started to dabble in ‘s waters as well.  The company recently offered up for purchase shortly after it debuted on DVD in February.

At last check, Juno (on sale for $14.99) was iTunes’ top seller.

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Variety


A Divorce for Sean Penn and Robin Wright Penn

Sean Penn, Robin Wright PennAfter more than a decade together, the Princess Bride and the Bad Boy are calling it quits.  and - who had been officially married since 1996 - are finally putting an end to something that endured quite a bit of time.  Their romance began shortly after Sean’s high-profile marriage to Madonna fell flat in 1989.

The couple - who have two kids together (Hopper Jack, 14, and Dylan Frances, 16) - have acted together in several films including She’s So Lovely and Hurlyburly.  Sean also helmed The Crossing Guard and The Pledge; both movies starred Robin Wright Penn and .

Sean’s directorial work can currently be seen in .  Wright Penn’s is also still in theaters.

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People


Box Office Breakdown: The Golden Compass Lacks Luster

Golden Compass

A Narnia-esque adaptation partnered with a holiday release date and an A-list cast should have conjured box office magic for .  Surprisingly, this weekend’s release from brought in barely enough money to cover the film’s catering budget.

Compass, based on Philip Pullman’s children’s series His Dark Materials, was and second disappointing collaboration this year (the first being ).  While it was enough for a first place finish, the $25 million debut was hardly impressive given the film’s $180 million price tag.

In other news, holiday flick remained in third place while the critically-panned bumped up two spaces from last week.  Meanwhile, and did well with their very limited releases.

Be looking for the highly-promoted (and ) to enter next week’s charts.

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E! Online


Box Office Breakdown: Jessica Alba Can’t Keep Audiences Awake

Awake

There’s nothing like a good snub to restore your faith in moviegoers. 

Although was the only new wide release this past weekend, discerning audiences kept it from succeeding by default.  (NOTE: Cute squirrels will always trump .)  The movie, also co-starring Star Wars’ , opened with a dismal $6 million - less than half of what Alba’s last stellar film, Good Luck Chuck, did.  (The latter opened at $13.7 million.) I wonder if this currently makes the most successful Jessica out there.

Aside from Awake’s entry, the rest of the Top Ten changed very little from last week.  refused to budge from its perch and earned another $16 million over the past three days.  Meanwhile, surged back up a notch, trading spots with holiday flick, .

Although the box office numbers were unspectacular overall, we can expect big changes in just a few days; that’s when New Line’s makes its debut.

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Box Office Breakdown: Audiences Enchanted With Disney

Enchanted

Throw comedy, drama, animation, romance, sci-fi, hunky actors, pretty actresses, singing, dancing, kids and cute animals all into one film and you’ll get .  You’ll also have latest holiday success.

The film, starring -nominated actress , grossed nearly $50 million over the 5-day weekend ($34 million from Friday-Sunday).  Enchanted’s take places it behind 1999’s Toy Story 2 - the film with the largest Thanksgiving debut ever ($80.1 million).

Last week’s champion, , fell into 3rd place right behind another holiday opener, .  The movies took in $23.3 and $26.3 million, respectively, during the long stretch.

Although the sappy opened in a disappointing 7th place, the DVD release of this week should make actress - and her fans - feel a bit better.

 

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E! Online


Burton To Direct Disney Films

Why does HE have such a hot wife? will direct a pair of 3-D films for Disney: and .

First, Burton will direct Alice, which will be filmed using a mixture of performance-capture imagery and live action footage, a la this weekends #1 film, . Next, Burton will helm Frankenweenie, based on his 1984 short film (of the same name) about a dog who gets run over by a car and is brought back to life by his owner. ’Weenie will be filmed using stop-motion animation and shown in digital 3-D.

The original Frankenweenie had an odd cast, which included Daniel Stern (as the owner), Shelley Duvall, and The Wonder Years’ Jason Hervey. No word if any of the actors will return for this version.

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Variety


In Theaters This Weekend (11/16)

Beowulf

Here are some possible suggestions for your upcoming weekend:

Oscar Buzz for Animated Films

Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Animation, Family, Awards,

Academy AwardThe official nominees for the haven’t yet been selected, but twelve animated feature films are already up for consideration. Only three films out of the twelve submitted will receive actual nominations, and only then if submission procedures are correctly followed.

No more than sixteen movies may be considered in any one category, but films submitted to the Animated category may qualify for other nominations as well.  The year’s potential contenders include Bee Movie, , Meet the Robinsons, , Shrek the Third and The Simpsons Movie.

The Oscar nominations will be announced Tuesday, January 22. 

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LA Times


Angelina Jolie Takes on Historic Lore In Beowulf

Angelina JolieOf all the actresses in all the sets in all the world, had to walk into Old English literature. She’ll be part of the cast in Paramount’s Beowulf, directed by Robert Zemeckis. Anyone who sat through High School English will probably remember the ancient tale of warrior Beowulf against nasty little Grendel, one of the most famous literary villains. Ray Winstone will play the title character in the flick, with Crispin Glover slated to play the monster. Jolie will play the monster’s mother, seductress of Beowulf and more desperate for a child than your average thirty-five-year-old single woman. The epic poem was carefully translated into an understandable script, with strong sexual overtones igniting an otherwise somewhat dry tale of heroism. Film insiders say the integrity of the book has been preserved. 

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