You heard me right; Ridley Scott (the Oscar-nominated director of Black Hawk Down, Gladiator and Thelma and Louise) will direct the prequel to his 1979 blockbuster Alien, finally setting the rumors straight. Variety said this, but no word yet on the story for the movie. The only other confirmed news is that Tony Scott (Man on Fire, The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3) will produce with Ridley Scott and Jon Spaihts, who most recently wrote Passengers, is scribing the screenplay. The movie is aiming for a 2011 release.

Do they say "wacked out" anymore? That's beside the point; however, as a new full-length trailer has been released for animated The Fantastic Mr. Fox. First reaction to it: whoa. And not in a good way. As Cinema Blend puts it, the stop-motion looks like something from Robot Chicken. Like not even Wallace and Gromit, they go straight to Seth Green's cartoon! Skeptical about this one. Watch it below and tell me what you think.

The Fantastic Mr. Fox opens in theaters November 13^th, 2010.

The teaser for Pandorum was amazing. It reminded me of that Saw V trap where you get your head trapped in a box with a tube in your neck that you have to get out to unlock the box before it fills with water. (Don't ask me to explain it, this is about Pandorum, not Saw!) So here lies that teaser, make way for the new full-length trailer! It premiered at Comic-Con, but since sadly I wasn't there, I just saw it moments ago over at Cinema Blend. It isn't quite as good as the teaser (this one is riddled with special-effects and screaming), although this movie might surprise us. Some people are saying that you can't tell the plot from the preview. I disagree, you can totally understand! Some people are captured and wake up godnowswhere and don't know who or where they are. Check it out below.

Pandorum comes to theaters September 18^th.

I personally loved Prince Caspian and The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe, all members of the Chronicles of Narnia series, despite what everyone else says (but what everyone else says doesn't matter when you get a worldwide gross of well over a billion dollars when you combine the two). So no duh I'd want a third, Voyage of the Dawn Treader. And now according to Coming Soon (via Cinema Blend), principle photography has started on the sequel in Queensland, Australia. Dawn Treader will be about the three kids and their cousin Eustace as they sail on a ship across the sea to save Narnia. Michael Apted (The World is Not Enough) will direct. It even has a release date already!

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader comes to theaters December 10^th, 2010.

Heard lately that Miley Cyrus would play Batgirl (which was obviously not true) and that David S. Goyer and Christopher Nolan had already written half of the script? False! According to Goyer, when MTV asked about the new Batman movie, he said "Right now, Chris is involved in filming Inception. When he finishes that, he will turn his studious gaze back to the Bat universe and we'll see." So Michael Caine lied at Comic-Con (sort of) that filming would begin in 2010. Or maybe he just didn't know and wanted to look cool in front of an audience. Still, at least know we now that a third movie is happening on the Dark Knight. I'll be willing to wait as long as the studio wants, just look how Half-Blood Prince turned out!

I heard that The Hurt Locker is the best movie of the year (and we're only in July) by a lot of major critics like Peter Travers and Roger Ebert. So I went to see it for myself, and I don't think that I saw the same movie as them. Hurt Locker starts off promising; squad "Bravo Company" defusing a bomb by hand after a robot breaks down. After an explosion and the death of a beloved team member, Bravo gets a new staff sergeant: William James. James, unlike previous sergeant Matt Thompson is a loose cannon. He's reckless and fearless, the kind of guy who likes to shoot now and take names later. At the point of his first greeting, the movie takes a downward spin. While some rare patches are suspenseful and will have you on the edge of your seat, the filler scenes between are filled with, well, nothing. Talking, talking, walking, walking. See a suspicious guy, watching, watching. Shoot someone, thinking, contemplating. Get my point?

The Hurt Locker stars Jeremy Renner (North Country) as James, Anthony Mackie (Eagle Eye) as Sergeant JT Sanborn and Brian Geraghty (We Are Marshall) as Specialist Owen Eldridge. Geraghty is the most convincing out of the three. There's also a short role for Guy Pearce as the later deceased Thompson, who's incredible, and another for Ralph Fiennes as the Contractor team leader. The big story here is the director, Kathryn Bigelow. Sure, she directed Point Break, but the lowdown on Locker is that she might have an Oscar nod in line for her come February. She'd be the fourth female director nominated for "Best Director" (the first if she wins) at the Academy Awards. Her style of directing is a mix of documentary and action. That works for some of the scenes, but I'm reminded of Michael Mann's arguable filming of Public Enemies. I'm going to cut her a break, since her directing is so influential. Mark Boal writes the screenplay, who also wrote In the Valley of Elah, and produces with Bigelow.

The Hurt Locker shows promise, although gets groggy as the movie unfolds. The reason I'm not giving it a lower grade than three out of five stars is because of the relationships the movie portrays with the Iraqi people. That's original, whilst The Hurt Locker is really just more of the same ol'.

3/5 stars.

For all of you wusses out there who couldn't handle the first red-band trailer for The Goods: Live Hard Sell Hard don't watch the next one from Funny or Die (via Cinema Blend) below. I hate how the FCC can't play these previews on regular cable; it's hilarious! Whatever. Check it out below from producers Adam McKay and Will Ferrell (Step Brothers, Talladega Nights).

The Goods: Live Hard Sell Hard opens in theaters August 14^th.

God-director Judd Apatow's Funny People comes out this Friday, July 31^st, and in it you'll see Aziz Ansari's newly famous "Randy" character. And if you thought that that was the last you'd see of him, you are wrong my friend. Judd Apatow himself said that he and Ansari are making a feature-length RANDY movie, according to JoBlo. "Randy isn't in the movie anywhere near as much we wish he was. Something hilariously magical happened when Aziz showed up," said Apatow. "So we all said, 'What else can we do?' Let's just make a documentary! We just couldn't stop writing for him. And now we're talking about making the RANDY movie. We can't get enough of Randy..." He also added that "we're (Ansari and himself) outlining it right now." I'm guessing that it'll be a mockumentary, just like the series on Funny or Die, where the comedian character leaked. Ansari has been a riot since he was a writer on Human Giant. With Apatow behind the movie as well, if he does actually go through with this it should be awesome.

Check out "Randy" in Judd Apatow's third directorial film Funny People, in theaters Friday.

During the Watchmen DVD panel at this year's Comic Con (which ended yesterday), tee shirts for director Zack Snyder's (also did 300) Sucker Punch were handed out. This is the only real look we have so far of the movie, starring Vanessa Hudgens, since it doesn't come out until spring of 2011. Still, here it is in all of its glory from JoBlo.

Sucker Punch comes out March 25^th, 2011.

The Disney comedy G-Force beat Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince this past weekend, grossing an estimated $32.2 million. Bad reviews from critics took no major part in Jerry Bruckheimer's first 3D film, since kids I'm guessing took up the majority of the seats. In second place was Potter, which broke records in midnight showings last week, took a sharp dive of 62% to $30 million. Its total is now $221.8 million.

In third, also opened this weekend was The Ugly Truth, starring Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler. It grossed an estimated $27 million, less than Knocked Up's $30.7 million opening weekend, however Truth did gross more than Heigl's 27 Dresses haul of $23 million. In fourth, another new release, Orphan. Reviews were mixed on this evil-child horror flick, 45% of critics recommending it on poll site Rotten Tomatoes. It gathered $12.8 million. Rounding out the top five is Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs with $8.2 million. Fox's animated movie now has a grand total of $171.3 million.

And my Hangover watch continues! This weekend it totaled $6.5 million in seventh place, falling 21% from last weekend. Although the Bradley Cooper comedy goes up one weekend and down the next. Its sum is up to $247.1 million, becoming the highest-grossing R-rated comedy of all time.

Other movies that opened this weekend-

Armando Iannucci's British political comedy In The Loop grossed $201,000 in only eight theaters. With a likely expansion, it should do considerably better before its run at the box office comes to an end. Shrink, starring Kevin Spacey, raked in $17,000 in two theaters. Sundance pick The Answer Man, starring Jeff Daniels got $13,000 tackling six screens.

Here are the weekend results according to studio estimates Sunday-

1. G-Force…$32.2 million
   
2. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince…$30 million
   
3. The Ugly Truth…$27 million
   
4. Orphan…$12.8 million
   
5. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs…$8.2 million
   
6. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen…$8 million
   
7. The Hangover…$6.5 million
   
8. The Proposal…$6.4 million
   
9. Public Enemies…$4.2 million
   
10. Brüno…$2.7 million

We've had character posters for Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law; now we have one for Rachel McAdams, who plays Adler in Guy Ritchie's take on Sherlock Holmes. It's here, it's awesome, check it out below!

Sherlock Holmes comes out Christmas Day.

How to Train Your Dragon, the new DreamWorks animated film based on the bestselling book, has just launched their official website! In addition to that, there's a brand new still from the movie and it is gorgeous! This might be DreamWorks' comeback from the equally disappointing Monsters vs. Aliens and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa. Check it out below.

How to Train Your Dragon comes to theaters March 26^th, 2010.

So Kevin Smith was at Comic-Con yesterday afternoon talking about District 9 and A Couple of Dicks. And at his panel, he said that the title for his February comedy Dicks would most likely be reconsidered. The decision is most likely because since it is a studio movie this time, they want to go for a mainstream audience. Dicks is now being related to Zach and Miri Make a Porno, his last controversial movie that came out last October, since that because of the title, the major networks like CBS and NBC couldn't show a preview of it before 9PM. I liked Zach and Miri no matter what anybody else says (including box office results, they're annoying) with the original title still intact. A Couple of Dicks will now be called A Couple of Cops, which was the movie's title for a day before renaming it back to Dicks. I know the movie is mainstream and all, though it sounds a bit too cliché. I hope that the movie is better than its name.

A Couple of Cops comes out February 26^th, 2010.

We've been hearing about Due Date since The Hangover's sudden success happened. Todd Phillips will direct Date as well. Robert Downey Jr. is tagging along in the cast with Zach Galifianakis (who also starred in The Hangover), according to Variety. Due Date is about a soon-to-be dad who's rushing across the country before his wife has their first baby with a misfit sidekick. Downey Jr. will play the father with Galifianakis as his partner on the trip. It's scribed by Alan R. Cohen and Alan Freedland (both writers on King of the Hill). Phillips calls the movie "a buddy comedy without the buddies."

Due Date starts filming in September in Atlanta, Arizona and Los Angeles and is set for release next year.

Another movie I can't wait for is Toy Story 3. Pixar Studios was at Comic-Con this year and they have announced that Michael Keaton will voice Ken, the infamous Barbie doll's boyfriend, in the upcoming animated movie. No news on what exactly the threequel will have to do with the piece of plastic, but it was also said that the flick opens with Andy (you know, the kid that owns Woody and Buzz?) heading off to college. The toys are then dumped at a day-care center, so I'm going to go ahead and guess that he's one of the toys inhabiting the place. This is going to be awesome!

Toy Story 3 comes out June 18^th, 2010.

Released at Comic-Con (of course), check out the new teaser trailer below from Cinema Blend!

Over 126,000 fans flocked to San Diego, California to check out the 2009 Comic-Con this year. If you're unfamiliar with this annual festival (which is probably impossible, yet I'll explain it anyway because there's probably at least one of you who won't know what the hell I'm rambling about), Comic-Con is a multi-genre gathering where everything from comic books to sitcoms are talked about by thousands of people. And ever since 1970 when it was founded, we've run over to Cali to stay for the three days. And there past days were no exception. CRAZY stuff, man!

At the 39^th annual Comic-Con, awesome movie news as released that had the geek in me screaming to come out. A new trailer, poster and clip from Saw VI, the official title of Tron 2 (which is now Tron: Legacy), two clips from New Moon, announcements for Toy Story 3, and all things Avatar. That's just the beginning. Batman 3 was officially announced by Gary Oldman, a Jonah Hex poster was released and endless booths for stuff like Iron Man 2 and Sherlock Holmes were there, too. Constant coverage was broadcast on video game channel G4 and miscellaneous Twitter feeds. Even though I couldn't be there I re-tweeted a lot of the major news as well.

Guys (maybe even girls, I don't know, but if there are female life forms out there, who enjoy this, please call me!) like me wept over our not going to the comic book meeting this year. All four-day tickets and single day tickets were sold out months in advance; a new record! Why is this released, to make us feel depressed? There's got to be more than 126,000 people living in the United States, so many of us were left out with no chance at all of going. Stung by the Green Hornet. (Get it, it's a movie reference to something that was at Comic-Con this year-oh, forget it.) I don't preoccupy myself with that. Until I saw that Saturday fans got a free advanced screening of Inglourious Basterds, that was when I got pissed!

That's why we obsess over this every year, to forget about all of the other bad things in the world. A recession, the health-care crisis, yadda yadda yadda. That'd be a good slogan for Comic-Con. "Who needs a steady-run government when we have Taylor Lautner shirtless?"

Yup, he was there, too.

Here are some of my tweets on Comic-Con this year-

• July 22^nd 11:20PM- RT @joblocom: ALICE! http://twitpic.com/bai1e
  
• July 23^rd 1:00AM- Pretty Clever New 'Saw VI' Poster: The poster for Saw VI has been released at Comic-Con (the teaser trailer come.. http://bit.ly/cYYSl
  
• July 23^rd 11:59AM- New Saw VI trailer TONIGHT! So fucking stoked! :D
  
• July 23^rd 3:10PM- RT @eonlinemovies: "Just for the record Helena and I are not married." Oh, Tim. You cad. #comiccon
  
• July 23^rd 5:00PM- RT @sonypictures: The CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS panel is beginning in room 6BCF. #comiccon
  
• July 23^rd 7:09PM- Breathtaking New Artwork and Title for 'Tron 2': For those of you who couldn't attend Comic-Con (sadly, like me).. http://bit.ly/4zK8F
  
• July 23^rd 7:30PM- RT @kateyrich: Cameron is making a classical Western with the most advanced technology in the world. How lucky are we??
  
• July 24^th 12:00PM- RT @eonlinemovies: NEWS!: Oldman says next 'Batman' starts shooting next year. Should be released 2011. Just 628 days to go! #comiccon
  
• July 24^th 1:00PM- I'm hot for Gerard Butler.
  

Man, everything starting from this September to all of next year should be awesome movie-wise. The new trailer for the weird Hot Tub Time Machine, starring John Cusack, Crispin Glover, Gary Cole and Rob Corddry with director Steve Pink (Accepted) has been released by MGM for Cinematical. The movie looks hilarious; I love Gary Cole in all of the Apatow flicks and The Office and Clark Duke was funny in Sex Drive. Check out the trailer below.

Hot Tub Time Machine comes out February 26^th, 2010.

After an awkward 15 minutes of waiting after 8PM for the Saw VI teaser trailer, here it is! Found it over on YouTube.

Saw VI opens October 23^rd.

For those of you who couldn't attend Comic-Con (sadly, like me), at least we get to hear about it from people who are there when we aren't. Too depressing? This'll pick you up: new Tron 2 concept artwork and a title. Tron: Legacy. Revealed at Comic-Con in Hall H this afternoon! Check the title out below and head to Movieline for more.

Another new image from Jennifer's Body has surfaced and again, these all are awesome, just no big deal anymore. Still, check it out below from Cinema Blend and tell me what you think!

The poster for Saw VI has been released at Comic-Con (the teaser trailer comes tomorrow). It is pretty clever, I'll give it that. Victims are chained around a bull's-eye that I'm guessing hints to killer Jigsaw's puppet. I am a major Saw fan, I know I don't sound like one, but I consider myself a big fan. I just don't want Saw VI to suck, I mean with a confirmed eighth movie after they only confirmed seven; I think the series is starting to get pretty old. Saw V was mildly well done; although one through four was fantastic. I love the poster, can't wait for the teaser trailer tomorrow (countdown clock on the official website, larger version of the poster there, too)! I love Comic-Con.

Saw VI is due in theaters October 23^rd.

The preview for the 2009 Comic-Con was tonight, July 22^nd, and a new poster for Jonah Hex was released. Check it out below from Cinema Blend. Head to their sit for more views on the one-sheet.

Jonah Hex comes to theaters August 6^th, 2010.

Seth Rogen is confirmed to play the Green Hornet superhero in his and writing partner Evan Goldberg's (Superbad, Pineapple Express) self-titled film, with Michael Gondry (Be Kind Rewind, Tokyo!) directing. Now according to Variety, Nicolas Cage is in pre-negotiations to play the gangster villain and Cameron Diaz to play a reporter along with Rogen's love interest. I'm not sure about this movie now; Seth Rogen and Goldberg have always done pot-smoking buddy comedies that had unknown stars, including Rogen himself as one of the leads. So big names like Cage and Diaz don't really fit into the picture here.

The Green Hornet comes out next summer.

I can't even put into words how awesome this movie looks…just…watch the new teaser trailer for Alice in Wonderland below from IGN (via Cinema Blend) and tell me that this won't be spectacular!

You've got a "very important date" March 5^th, 2010.

No one's going to bother to read this top part with text and words, so I'll just not write anything important. Check out the second still of Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow from Iron Man 2 via Yahoo.

Iron Man 2 opens in theaters May 7^th, 2010.

I don't want to hate on Tyler Perry. He has serious potential as a writer/director. Madea Goes to Jail and Diary of a Woman sucked with Meet the Browns tolerable, yet too out-there to be less of a joke than a comedy. Here's the new trailer for I Can Do Bad All By Myself, Perry's next movie. It looks good but I know better than to trust the trailer. Check it out below from YouTube.

I Can Do Bad All By Myself comes to theaters September 11^th.

Everyone saw the Aquaman movie coming. How good it'll be, no one can call. But The Hollywood Reporter said this of the superhero flick: "The studio is taking pitches on sci-fi hero Adam Strange and the underwater-breathing hero 'Aquaman' to be produced by Leonardo DiCaprio and his Appian Way shingle." So now questions are raised about DiCaprio portraying the underwater merman. Although just because he's producing it doesn't mean he will star in it as well. This could even be just another rumor, like the Nick Fury movie. That's all the news I got on Aquaman, folks. Here's to seeing it finally comes together.

Mystery Team is a new comedy from three unknown kids: D.C Pierson, Donald Glover and Dominic Dierkes. It's about children who used to solve child-like problems (cat stuck in a tree, lost doll, etc) who get together years later to take on a newfound murder mystery. The trailer looks dark, and is more like Observe and Report than The Hangover, which it's being compared to. Whichever it is like, I'm sure I'll love it since I really enjoyed both of those movies. Check it out below from Cinema Blend.

Mystery Team premieres at Comic-Con in San Diego this summer and this fall in theaters everywhere.

I'll admit, I didn't see the first Cabin Fever. Wasn't a big fan of the whole "infected" something that gives people a flesh-eating virus. Still, here's the first still of Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever I found at ShockTillYouDrop. It's of someone soaked in blood screaming on the floor. No lie, shocking though, right?

I love these photos. Not just because they're hot (which they are, mind you) but because of how stupid the whole idea of this movie is. And again, I love it! ShockTillYouDrop has a few images from the new graphic novel, and you can check out all of the pages over at their site. However I did post my favorite picture from the book below. Need I say why?

The video game was a hit and a miss in my opinion, but hey, I don't play video games that much (except for that Wii I so blatantly neglect in my den). But nevertheless, two new posters are here; one of Jake Gyllenhaal and one of Gemma Arterton for Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. The movie could actually be pretty good, Mike Newell (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Four Weddings and a Funereal) directing with Jordan Mechner (Sands of Time video game), Doug Miro, Carlo Bernard (The Uninvited) and Boaz Yakin (The Rookie) spawning the script. The movie is also Disney, so it comes as no shock that Jerry Bruckheimer is producing. Onto the posters: they're actually pretty cool. It looks like it will be quality, not a quote, "filler" movie just to make money. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is about how Prince Dastan (Gyllenhaal) partners with a princess (Arterton) to halt a ruler's plan to release a sandstorm that could obliterate Earth. Check out the posters from Empire Online (via Coming Soon) below.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time comes out May 28^th, 2010.

The Graves could just be another stupid little teen horror movie with hot girls in tight tank tops that kill stuff and scream. Although isn't that the horror that we like the most? The Graves is about two girls who go to a quiet town and discover, no surprise, some freaky things that go on there (I can't tell from the trailer what exactly that "freaky" stuff is). I wouldn't even talk about this movie, but the fourth annual After Dark Horrorfest has announced its first film, and it is indeed Graves. The movie is written and directed by Brian Pulido, who did a short film about a killer garden gnome in 2004. Check out the trailer below from YouTube that I came across at ShockTillYouDrop.

The Graves hits theaters January 13^th, 2010.

I'm a crazy big Saw fan and have been waiting for the next movie Saw VI since, well, the fifth one ended. The new poster has been released and it's…odd. I really don't want this great series to become pointless and cheesy, but that's the way it looks judging by the poster. Whatever. I still can't wait for the teaser trailer to come out (countdown clock on the official website). Check out the poster below and over at Yahoo! Movies where it premiered.

Cinema Blend has two new images from Twilight sequel New Moon today. Check them out below and on their website to see them in a higher resolution.

The wait is finally over, all you Potter-philes out there. I used to be a big Harry Potter fan, up until The Goblet of Fire. I grew up, as the rest of my generation of fans did. Moved on to liking movies of better quality than films about a boy wizard who fights evil. So prior to seeing Half-Blood Prince, the sixth book-turned-movie by J.K Rowling, without watching Order of the Phoenix (although I did read all of the books), I was mildly confused. Prince opens with a pack of Death-Eaters (evil wizards and witches who follow the dark Lord Voldemort),among them Bellatrix Lestrange, attempting to convince Severus Snape (former Death-Eater and Hogwarts teacher) to form an "Unbreakable Vow" (a vow which if you go back on your word, death ensues) with Draco Malfoy's mother Narcissa to look after Malfoy and be sure that he finishes the "task" (which I won't reveal, since it plays such a major role in the film) that Voldemort has graced him with. But even not being a Potter fanatic, catching even the smallest glimpse of the screen will have you drooling. The cinematography by Bruno Delbonnel (I know, whenever we hear that name we now think of Sacha Baron Cohen's mockumentary) s breathtaking, Oscar-worthy, even, respectively. Which comes as no surprise since he was nominated twice before by the Academy.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is once again about Harry Potter's (Daniel Radcliffe) fight with the evil Voldemort, however this time around he receives a mysterious journal that reads inside "This book is the property of the Half-Blood Prince". Harry also learns more of Voldemort's (then Tom Riddle) past along with Dumbledore (Michael Gambon, brilliant) in hopes of defeating the evil Lord once and for all. Although that's only half the story. The big issue on everyone in America's minds is the stars' ages. Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson are all pretty much in their twenties, starting off the series while they were all close to eleven, whilst the characters they portray are far younger. That might've been why the movie felt a bit rushed, to finish the films before the kids have officially "grown-up". Nevertheless, Half-Blood Prince is a masterpiece. Compared Twilight has nothing on Potter, the series being in an entire league of its own, and knowing that it is so. In addition to Harry's dilemma, Hermione Granger (the gorgeous and talented Emma Watson, a perfect example of the kids' "growing up") has feelings for Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) that only continue to grow. So when Ron begins to be noticed by girls after he (semi-spoiler alert) helps to win a Quidditch match, it's no wonder that she becomes jealous.

Also introduced in the movie is Horace Slughorn (played to perfection by Bridget Jones's Diary's Jim Broadbent), the new potions professor at the magic school. He originally joined the school around the same time as headmaster Albus Dumbledore did, as potions master, but later resigned in 1981. During his time there, he met Tom Riddle (Voldemort, remember?) who asked him odd questions about magic that are later revealed in the movie. Embarrassed at the memory he had gathered of the incident, he fixed it to make it right. So now when Harry tries to enter those particular memories years later, he can't seem to see Slughorn's answers to Riddle's questions.

If you're unfamiliar with Harry Potter, then yeah, you will be extremely confused at this sixth installment. Am I a major? No, yet after seeing Half-Blood Prince I am once again. David Yates (Order of the Phoenix) and screenwriter Steve Kloves' (who adapted every Potter film except for Phoenix) will renew your faith in the great old movie series that you at one time loved. The humor, romance, sadness and all-around dark vibe make the wait worthwhile for arguably the best Potter film ever. This is the arrangement's Raiders of the Lost Ark, its Return of the King. And just before the final two parts of the franchise, Half-Blood Prince will pull you back into a group that you may have long lost touch with.

4.5/5 stars.

The new Potter film Half-Blood Prince grossed an estimated $79.5 million this past weekend! The movie opened on Wednesday, July 15^th, raking in $58.2 million ($22.2 million in midnight showings alone, a new record), second-best Wednesday opening behind Transformers Revenge of the Fallen ($62 million), and has since made $159.7 million domestic and $205.5 million worldwide. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince did indeed beat Order of the Phoenix's $77.1 million (which opened midweek July 2007), but David Yate's fantasy flick couldn't top Chamber of Secrets ($88.4 million), Sorcerer's Stone ($90.2 million), Prisoner of Azkaban ($93.7 million) or Goblet of Fire ($102.7 million). Surprising since I heard it was the best Potter film to date.

In second place was Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs with $17.7 million. (This just says that you either went to see Potter this weekend at the movies or didn't see anything at all.) The animated tale's lifetime gross is now up to $514.4 million worldwide. Behind that was Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, taking in an estimated $13.8 million. Its total so far is up to $746.9 million; still $254.9 million away from topping The Dark Knight's billion+, which it probably won't.

Last weekend's #1 spot belonged to Sacha Baron Cohen's highly controversial Brüno. However this weekend it fell 73% to fourth place with $8.4 million. Ouch. And my Hangover watch continues! The Hangover actually jumped one spot to fifth place with $8.3 million. Todd Phillip's blockbuster now has a worldwide total of $310.6 million.

Other movies that opened this weekend-

500 Days of Summer, Fox Searchlight's indie romantic comedy, dared to compete with Harry Potter this weekend, knowing that it didn't stand a chance against it. The movie came in twelfth holding an estimated $838,000 in only 27 movie theaters across the nation. But with an expansion, Summer could gross a way higher amount in its box office run.

Here are the weekend results according to studio estimates Sunday-

1. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince…$79.5 million
   
2. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs…$17.7 million
   
3. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen…$13.8 million
   
4. Brüno…$8.4 million
   
5. The Hangover…$8.3 million
   
6. The Proposal…$8.3 million
   
7. Public Enemies…$7.6 million
   
8. Up…$3.1 million
   
9. My Sister's Keeper…$2.8 million
   
10. I Love You, Beth Cooper…$2.7 million

The title had me groaning. Hasn't this prefix of "I Love You" in movie titles become tired yet? After I Love You, Man, I keep seeing this sort of title everywhere! However I'm going to give I Love You, Phillip Morris a pass, since it is based on a book of the same name. The French film premiered at Sundance a little while back and after a long wait, Phillip Morris has a U.S distributor. The movie looks pretty funny (although I'm guessing that it's more of a dramedy than anything), about a man who gets in a car crash and discovers that he's gay. It stars Jim Carrey (let's hope for another Truman Show), Ewan McGregor and Leslie Mann. It's written and directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, who also did the hilarious (don't care, I thought these were funny) Bad News Bears, Bad Santa and Cats and Dogs. Check out the trailer below from Jim Carrey Online which I found over at Cinema Blend.

I Love You, Phillip Morris opens in limited release February 5^th, and wide February 12^th in theaters.

It was released on director Richard Kelly's (Donnie Darko) Twitter page. The Box is about a couple (Cameron Diaz and James Marsden) who receive an odd box on their doorstep that if they press the button inside, they gain a million bucks, and if they do, someone they don't know will die somewhere in the world. The concept for the movie is brilliant, based off of Richard Matheson's short story Button, Button and adapted by Kelly himself. The poster is really just more of the same that we've seen before, although this flick might actually be good. Here's to hoping The Box isn't something from Halloween PG-13 sell-out horror hell. Wow, that was a lot of words.

The Box comes to theaters October 30^th.

Ed Helms (that nerdy guy from The Hangover and Andy on The Office) is set to star in a movie that he wrote with Phil Johnston and will produce, according to Variety, about a depressed insurance salesman who tries to save his colleagues' jobs. It will be directed by Miguel Arteta (Sideways). Filming begins in October when Helms finishes the latest season of his NBC comedy.

The plot for Extract, starring Jason Bateman, Ben Affleck, Mila Kunis and Kristen Wiig, is pretty blah. A flower extraction plant manager deals with issues at work and home. Meh. But Mike Judge (King of the Hill, Office Space) writes and directs it, so that'll get me to go see it this fall. There are four new images from Cinema Blend that were released yesterday, one of Bateman and Wiig, two of Affleck (who's beard is like a cross between Tom Hanks in Castway and Joaquin Phoenix on David Letterman) and one with Kunis looking pretty damn hot in front of a tree. Check them out below.

Extract is due in theaters September 4^th.

If you thought Mickey Rourke was cool as Whiplash, don't sit down because you're just going to stand up anyway when you see the first pictures of Scarlett Johansson in costume as Black Widow, on all fours for Iron Man 2. The news comes from PopWatch (via Cinema Blend) and Entertainment Weekly, whose magazine the cast graces this week. Check the two stills out below, and I'll update you on more Iron Man 2 details when they are released prior to its spring 2010 debut.

Iron Man 2 comes out May 7^th, 2010.

Whip It is the directorial debut of Drew Barrymore, who's been producing movies and acting quietly for a while, and is about a rebellious teen who defies her mother and roller-derbies. It stars Ellen Page, Kristen Wiig, Jimmy Fallon and Barrymore herself. Check out the awesome new trailer from Cinema Blend below. This may be the big movie this fall!

Whip It comes to theaters October 9^th.

The Charles Darwin biopic Creation will open the 34^th Annual Toronto Film Festival on September 10^th. "This intimate look at Darwin puts a human face on a man whose theory remains controversial to this day," said Piers Handling, the director and CEO of the festival. He also said that the choice was influenced by 2009 being the 200^th anniversary of Darwin's birth. Other familiar-named movies that will play during the nine-day celebration are The Invention of Lying, Precious, The Boys are Back and The Informant!. The schedule will be final on August 20^th.

The 34^th Annual Toronto Film Festival plays through September 10^th-19^th.

Cool or not: the Scream trilogy? Personally, I think they were cool. Were cool. I don't want another sequel. Although, David Arquette and wife Courtney Cox are saying that they're currently signed on for a new one, as is Kevin Williamson, who wrote the first two movies and has currently finished his fall CW series The Vampire Diaries. The couple hopes that Neve Campbell will follow them and join in as well. They also hope that Wes Craven, who directed each of the previous films, will hop aboard as well. I think that without Craven, the movie will surely bomb. He brought life back to Friday the 13^th
and The Last House on the Left, and re-launched them as franchises. Could Scream be coming back? The plot details are being kept secret of course, but just know that a Scream 4 is definitely happening.