Okay, things are crazy in the EMH household this weekend, so I am bringing you the predictions the old fashioned way: print.

5. The Blind Side – 9 million – This movie looks like it may be the best of the five. Sadly, heartwarming sports stories sometimes don’t draw guys, and the girls are all about the mighty Edward this weekend.

4. A Christmas Carol – 11 million - This movie will make more next weekend than this weekend. It’s a mortal lock.

3. Planet 51 - 16 million – I don’t know about this animated stuff this weekend. This movie may fall flat.

2. 2012 – 32 million – Seriously, this movie is all action, and not much substance (well, that’s what I heard!). So after a big opening weekend, and with other curious moviegoers waiting another week to see it because of the holiday, this movie will take a huge drop from its week one rake.

1. New Moon – 70 million – Look, my wife sees fewer than 15 movies a year on the big screen, but tonight, at midnight, even though my 3-year old son just had his tonsils removed a few hours ago, she is heading off to the movies to see this movie. So don’t be surprised if this movie makes closer to 80 million or more. I just think that with next week being Thanksgiving (when more people are willing to wait a few extra days to see a movie) we might see this film make a more conservative number.

Let me know what you think. Give me your top five predictions! Or just your New Moon prediction will be fine. I am not trying to get you to lock in with a long-term commitment.

Thanks,

EMH

We reported earlier this month that author Frank Beddor’s Alice in Wonderland spin off series The Looking Glass Wars is being adapted for the big screen by Charles Roven.

We were just sent a link to some awesome concept art for this movie featuring some great looking character designs by artist Stephen Martiniere with soldiers decked out in different kinds of armor, and the heroine of the story Alyss Heart. Martiniere has worked on concept art for films such as Red Planet, the Star Wars Prequels, and I, Robot.

Check it out and tell us what you think!

These first  four characters are identified by a card suit, Club, Diamond, Heart and Spade. This refers to their class in the heirarchy of Wonderland.

And then here is Alyss.

You should definitely check out the rest Stephen Martiniere’s artwork over on his website.

It looks like Dustin Hoffman won’t be returning to reprise his role as Bernie Focker in the third installment of the Meet The Parents franchise, tentatively titled Little Fockers.

Laura Dern, Jessica Alba and Harvey Keitel are the latest actors to join Little Fockers, which reunites most of the main cast from the first two films, with Ben Stiller, Teri Polo, Robert De Niro, Blythe Danner and Owen Wilson confirmed to reprise their roles.

But for those of you looking forward to seeing Hoffman and Barbra Streisand reunite as Ben Stiller’s parents, you may have to resort to popping Meet The Fockers back in the DVD player. Sources tell EW that there has been strife between Hoffman and the studio over the size of the part, the scheduling of the days on set and other difficulties.

Hoffman had tentatively agreed to appear in what was to be a very funny cameo at the end of the film. That seems to have now fallen apart, due to either salary issues or scheduling problems, or both. The studio, Universal, declined to comment. Hoffman’s rep didn’t immediately return EW’s call for comment.

Barbra Streisand was to have a prominent role in the new sequel as Stiller’s mother, Roz Focker. She hasn’t signed on officially at this point, and with Hoffman’s involvement in turmoil, it remains to be seen how his will affect production.

Little Fockers won’t pickup right where Meet The Fockers(2004) left off, but rather true to the time between the films, some 5 or 6 years later. Dern’s casting confirmed rumors(and what the title suggests) that Stiller and Polo’s characters Gaylord Focker and Pamela Byrnes gave birth to twins, as Dern will play the headmistress of the elementary school that the Fockers’ kids attend.

Meet The Parents and Meet The Fockers director Jay Roach will be producing the film, scripted by Larry Stuckey and recently rewritten by John Hamburg, who wrote the first two films and directed and wrote this year’s I Love You Man. Paul Weitz(About A Boy/American Pie) will be taking over to direct.

Little Fockers is set to hit theaters on July 30th, 2010.

I love everyone who is returning and that has been added to the cast. I’m looking forward to seeing what Weitz can bring to the franchise. I feel that the first film was head and shoulders above the sequel though — it really dragged on too long, despite the comedic brilliance of Hoffman in place. But that’s just me. Besides, if his role was gonna be limited to a small cameo… is it that big of a deal?

What do you think of Dustin Hoffman not returning for LITTLE FOCKERS?

Twi-Hards really turned out in full force at the movie theaters last night to watch New Moon, they pretty much took over the theaters. I heard it was insane! My wife went to see the movie last night with some friends, and she told me that not only were there a ton of teenage girls, but women up into the ages of 65 years old were standing in line decked out in Twilight crowns, T-shirts, and bags. Teenage girls were showing up in full on footed pajamas, you know the kind parents put there babies in, only for teenagers? Yeah, I don’t get it either. At the Burbank AMC there were about 9 full lines waiting to get into sold out shows. Apparently all the guys were at the Buffalo Wild Wings Bar next to the megaplex theater getting drunk before the movie.

My wife said the movie was really good though. Much, much, better than the first film. I’ve heard from others that it was even better than the book. She then proceeded to tell me that she thinks I would like it. That has yet to be seen.

So we want to know what you thought about the movie The Twilight Saga: New Moon. Whether you are a die hard Twi-Hard, or you were just dragged to the movie by your significant other, we want you to give us your reviews. Would you seriously recommend that the GeekTyrant crew go and see this movie?

Hit us up in the Rant Back Section below!

A long long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…

Santa Wars

It is a period of Civil War.
Santa Sleighs, striking from a hidden mall
have won their first victory against the evil
Amalgamated Order of Real Bearded Santas.

Ok, so it’s not quite like that, but pretty close. Paramount Pictures has brought on Mike White to script Santa Wars, a comedy based on the true story of rival factions that developed within a union of professional Santa Clauses who became arch enemies during a Santa Claus civil war.

Santa Wars will jump off of a segment on Ira Glass’ public radio show This American Life written by Joshuah Bearman that aired last December. The segment revolved around the battles that erupted after two men who made seasonal livings dressing up as Santas formed a union, the Amalgamated Order of Real Bearded Santas, but then became bitter rivals.

A tale of two Santas. There’s Tim Conaghan, a full-time professional Santa with a big belly and a real flowing white beard. And there’s Santa Nick—he too has a belly and real white beard. But the story of Santa Tim and Santa Nick is not like most uplifting Christmas parables. Instead, it’s about two men, very much alike, who came to lead rival factions in a bitter Santa civil war, and came themselves to be arch enemies.

You can listen to the full segment at This American Life, the “Santa Fight Club” begins at the 22:40 mark. Or 22:30 if you need to be reminded not to listen to this around kids who aren’t fully aware of how their presents really get under the tree.

Mike White will produce through his Rip Cord Prods banner, along with his School of Rock and Orange County collaborator Scott Rudin. Bearman will serve as an executive producer.

This seems right up White’s alley, though it’ll surely be darker than his recent family friendly fare. White has a broad spectrum of comedic work under his belt, penning the aforementioned School of Rock, Orange County and Nacho Libre – which happen to have all been at Paramount — as well as The Good Girl, and TV’s Freaks and Geeks.

What do you think of Mike White writing SANTA WARS for Paramount?

Source: Variety

Here’s a behind the scenes featurette for Universal Pictures The Wolfman, directed by Joe Johnston(Hidalgo, October Sky, upcoming Captain America).

Set in Victorian England, the film stars Benicio Del Toro as Lawrence Talbot, a haunted nobleman, is lured back to his family estate after his brother vanishes. Reunited with his estranged father(Anthony Hopkins), Talbot sets out to find his brother… and discovers a horrifying destiny for himself. Talbot’s childhood ended the night his mother died. After he left the sleepy Victorian hamlet of Blackmoor, he spent decades recovering and trying to forget. But when his brother’s fiancée, Gwen Conliffe(Emily Blunt), tracks him down to help find her missing love, Talbot returns home to join the search. He learns that something with brute strength and insatiable bloodlust has been killing the villagers, and that a suspicious Scotland Yard inspector named Aberline(Hugo Weaving) has come to investigate.

Art Malik, Rob Dixon, Nicholas Day, Michael Cronin, David Schofield, David Sterne, Roger Frost, Clive Russell and Geraldine Chaplin round out the cast.

There is a minimal amount of new footage, the video focuses mostly on the rich legacy of Universal horror films, their influence on the new Wolfman movie and its cast, and the studio’s return to its roots.

Venkman wrote a great article back in Oct. that delved deep in to the history of the original 1941 Wolf Man, which you can Read Here.

Universal’s new take on The Wolfman hits theaters Feb. 12.

Check out the featurette and let us know what you think!

I’ve enjoyed all of the Underworld films so far, they’re fun to watch and I can’t help but be entertained by them. There has been talk for some time now about a fourth film in the franchise, now it looks like it’s moving forward.

The Shield writer John Hlavin has been brought in to write the script for the fourth Underworld movie for ScreenGems/Lakeshore. The director of the first two Underworld movies, Len Wiseman is producing with Gary Lucchesi, Tom Rosenberg and Richard Wright of Lakeshore.

There is still no word on who will end up directing the film or who will star in it. No deal has been made with either Kate Beckinsale, who gloriously starred in the first two films, or the beautiful Rhona Mitra who starred in the prequel. So most of the talent is up in the air right now.

The plot is obviously under wraps, but Hlavin does say this:

I can tell you it’s not a prequel. It will satisfy old fans and excite new audiences, meaning that we don’t want to redo the first three movies, so steps are being taken to honor what fans have loved but at the same time introduce fresh elements.

Well, I’m excited. I’m always up for a good action packed vampire vs. werwolf  movie.

So what do you think of a fourth UNDERWORLD film being made? And as far as vampire vs. werwolf  movies would you pick UNDERWORLD or TWILIGHT?

Source: THR

I still can’t believe a movie is getting made based on the TV show American Gladiators. I seriously don’t get it, but it is going to happen and a writer has been hired to prove it. Peter Lliff will take on the challenge of writing a script based on the NBC game show that first aired in 1988 and was recently revived. Liff has written films such as Patriot Games and Varsity Blues.

As for the story… all of those gladiators such as Blaze, Gold, Laser, Titan, Nitro, Lace and more will all be superheros in the movie and I am sure they will be saving people from some evil menace. This is definitely a movie that you can’t take seriously. This is going to be one muscular cheese-ball movie.

Scott Mednick (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) is producing, and American Gladiators creator Johnny Ferraro is exec producing.

Mednick is targeting the release for 2011.

Is anybody excited for this movie, or thinks this is a good idea?

Source: Variety

Now here is a great combination of talent teaming up to create something fantastically entertaining! Steven King recently announced that his new novel, Under The Dome might just end up becoming a TV miniseries for a network like HBO. Little did we know Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks TV would be involved with making this happen. DreamWorks TV has optioned the book and is looking to set it up as an event series.

Spielberg, King and DreamWorks’ Stacey Snider will executive produce along with DreamWorks TV chiefs Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey who are currently meeting with writers for the project. The plan is to set a writer before shopping the skein to prospective buyers.

Hopefully this doesn’t end up like Speilberg and King’s first collaboration. Speilberg has had the rights to King’s 1984 novel The Tailsman for 20 years now, and we still have yet to see it made into a movie or TV series.

Here is the Synopsis:

On an entirely normal, beautiful fall day in Chester’s Mill, Maine, the town is inexplicably and suddenly sealed off from the rest of the world by an invisible force field. Planes crash into it and fall from the sky in flaming wreckage, a gardener’s hand is severed as “the dome” comes down on it, people running errands in the neighboring town are divided from their families, and cars explode on impact. No one can fathom what this barrier is, where it came from, and when — or if — it will go away.

Dale Barbara, Iraq vet and now a short-order cook, finds himself teamed with a few intrepid citizens — town newspaper owner Julia Shumway, a physician’s assistant at the hospital, a select-woman, and three brave kids. Against them stands Big Jim Rennie, a politician who will stop at nothing — even murder — to hold the reins of power, and his son, who is keeping a horrible secret in a dark pantry. But their main adversary is the Dome itself. Because time isn’t just short. It’s running out.

What are your thoughts on Speilberg and King bringing UNDER THE DOME to the big screen?

Source: Variety

Idris Elba has joined the cast of Marvels highly anticipated Thor film. Production is getting ready to shoot the film in mid January and we recently heard from the folks at Marvel that everything is looking great!

Elba has been cast in the role of Heimdall, the brother of the warrior Sif. He is the all-seeing and all-hearing guardian sentry of Asgard, he stands on the rainbow bridge, Bifrost and stands watch for any attacks to Asgard. For ages, he stood as the guardian of Asgard, defending the city’s gates from any intruders, and was one of the most trusted servants of Odin.

Elba has been in several TV shows and film such as The Wire, The Office, 28 Weeks Later, The Unborn, RocknRolla, and more. I think he is a fine addition to the cast, I’m not sure how much screen time Elba will have, due to that fact that the majority of the movie is supposed to take place in Mid-Guard.

Kenneth Branagh is set to direct a great cast that includes  Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins, Jaimie Alexander, Colm Feore, Samuel L. Jackson, Stellan Skarsgard, Stuart Townsend, Ray Stevenson and Tadanobu Asano. The film is set to open May 20, 2011, and I’m looking forward to it!

Source: THR

According to VFX producer Julia Frey, filming for the Pilot episode of A Song of Ice and Fire: Game of Thrones has wrapped. The production shot for three weeks, it took place in three different countries, and involved a primary cast of two dozen actors and more than a hundred extras.

Cast members include Lena Headey as Cersei Lannister, a woman of royal blood, Peter Dinklage as Cersei’s brother Tyrion, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Cersei’s twin, Jaime, Sean Bean as aristocrat Ned Stark, Jennifer Ehle as his wife, Catelyn Stark, and Mark Addy as King Robert.

From here the project goes into post-production for editing, sound, colorization, voiceovers, special effects and more. HBO is expected to give its decision on a greenlight around March of next year.

I’m really looking forward to seeing what was accomplished in bringing this story to life.

Via: Westeros

Fox has set loose yet another behind the scenes look at James Cameron’s Avatar that focuses on the awesome power of the human hardware created for the soldiers in the movie. Not only do you get to listen to the director and cast talk about this hardware and get a look at the design, development, and usage of the badass hardware that the soldiers in the film will be using to take out the Navi — like the mech AM units, gunships, helicopters, various other weapons and gear that are used. There is also a decent amount of great new footage that we haven’t seen yet, and it’s pretty damn cool. I definitely suggest you check it out.

Video originated at IGN

The news broke yesterday that 2001 Maniacs head-honcho Tim Sullivan is set to direct and judge Season 2 of the VH-1 hit Scream Queens. Sullivan will take over where director James Gunn left off and the winner will have a role in Lionsgate’s and Twisted Pictures next Saw installment, Saw 3-D! Actress Jamie King will also be judging! Tim promises to bring along some fellow Maniacs to help out from time to time as his sequel 2001 Maniacs:Field Of Screams slowly makes its way to us, looking like a late summer/early fall release. Filming begins this Sunday, so be on the lookout for Scream Queens 2 on VH-1 this coming summer!

Follow Tim on Twitter here

ABC announced today that the sixth and final season of Lost will blow-up with a all-night event on Tuesday, February 2, 2010. Like alway the will start off with a recap special 8:00-9:00 p.m., ET, followed by the much anticipated two-hour premiere from 9:00-11:00 p.m. So now you can start planning out your LOST parties, and send out those E-vites. I can’t wait!

The series will then air in its regular time period Tuesday nights from 9:00-10:00 p.m., ET beginning the following week, on February 9. So they moved the day from Wednesday to Tuesday.

Lost stars Naveen Andrews as Sayid, Nestor Carbonell as Richard Alpert, Emilie de Ravin as Claire, Michael Emerson as Ben, Jeff Fahey as Frank Lapidus, Matthew Fox as Jack, Jorge Garcia as Hurley, Josh Holloway as Sawyer, Daniel Dae Kim as Jin, Yunjin Kim as Sun, Ken Leung as Miles, Evangeline Lilly as Kate, Terry OQuinn as Locke and Zuleikha Robinson as Ilana.

Lost was created by Jeffrey Lieber and J.J. Abrams & Damon Lindelof. Abrams, Lindelof, Bryan Burk, Jack Bender, Edward Kitsis, Adam Horowitz, Jean Higgins and Carlton Cuse serve as executive producers. Lost, which is filmed entirely on location in Hawaii and premiered on September 22, 2004, is from ABC Studios.

Forbes has put together a list of Hollywood’s 10 Most Over Paid Actors. To qualify, each actor had to have starred in at least three movies over the last five years, that opened in more than 500 theaters. They looked at the 100 biggest stars in Hollywood, and then calculated a return-on-investment number for each star by dividing total operating income on the three films by the star’s total compensation, including up-front salaries and earnings from DVD and TV sales.

This is right in line with Venkman’s article on why Movies Don’t Need A-List Actors, and our discussion on the subject in our latest Podcast.

Here’s the list, beginning with the actor with the worst investment return.

# 1  Will Ferrell : For every $1 Ferrell was paid, his films earned an average $3.29.

Ferrell is one of the few Saturday Night Live stars to achieve real movie fame, thanks to films like Elf and Talladega Nights. The success of those comedies bumped up Ferrell’s paycheck, but recently that has hurt his return-on-investment number. This summer’s Land of the Lost flopped, earning only $65 million on an estimated budget of $100 million. That pushed Ferrell to the top of our overpaid list.

# 2 Ewan McGregor : For every $1 McGregor earned in a starring role his films brought in an average $3.75.

Although he appeared as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the three new Star Wars films, McGregor is not the kind of actor who earns $15 million paychecks. Unfortunately, his low pay couldn’t protect him from landing second on our list, because his recent movies have performed so badly.

No. 3 Billy Bob Thornton : For every $1 Thornton was paid, his films earned an average $4.

Like McGregor, Thornton is one of the lower-paid actors on our list. He also suffers from a run of box office duds. His 2007 film Mr. Woodcock earned only $34 million; The Astronaut Farmer, from the same year, brought in just $11 million.

# 4 Eddie Murphy : For every $1 Murphy was paid, his films earned an average $4.43.

For a while, Murphy (the second SNL alum on our list) seemed like he could do no wrong in moderately budgeted family films. His updates of Dr. Doolittle and The Nutty Professor each earned $300 million and spawned successful sequels. But lately the Murphy magic seems to have dulled. His two most recent films, Meet Dave and Imagine That, were both box office bombs.

# 5 Ice Cube : For every $1 Ice Cube was paid, his films earned $4.77.

The hip-hop star has made a second career for himself as an actor in films like Are We There Yet? and Barbershop. Ice Cube earns a modest (by Hollywood standards) paycheck, but his recent films haven’t performed very well. Last summer’s The Longshots earned only $12 million.

# 6 Tom Cruise : For every $1 Cruise was paid, his films earned and an average $7.18.

For a long time, Cruise had one of the best deals in Hollywood: He earned almost nothing up front, but took a large chunk of the first-dollar gross. Good for Cruise, but not so good for the studios he worked with. Sometimes the star ended up making money while the studio was still in the red.

# 7 Drew Barrymore : For every $1 Barrymore was paid, her films earned an average $7.43.

The only actress on our list, Barrymore has had more luck lately as a producer than as an actress. February’s He’s Just Not That Into You, which Barrymore produced, was a surprise hit earning $178 million. But the actress only had a supporting role in that film. The 2007 film Lucky You, in which Barrymore starred, earned a mere $8 million at the worldwide box office.

# 8 Leonardo DiCaprio : For every $1 DiCaprio was paid, his movies earned an average $7.52.

The young actor earns big paychecks for playing in serious movies that don’t always earn out. Last year’s Revolutionary Road was a modest hit, earning $75 million on an estimated budget of $35 million. So was Body of Lies, which brought in $115 million on an estimated budget of $70 million. But modest hits aren’t enough when your star is earning DiCaprio-sized paychecks.

# 9 Samuel L. Jackson : For every $1 Jackson was paid, his films earned an average $8.59.

As a supporting player, Jackson shines. But the prolific actor (he’s appeared in seven movies over the last two years) has trouble carrying a film in the lead role. Recent films like Soul Man and Lakeview Terrace failed to wow at the box office.

No. 10 Jim Carrey : For every $1 Carrey was paid, his films earned an average $8.62.

The funnyman made a radical deal on his recent film Yes Man, which made him an investor in the movie and gave him a healthy return. His ROI number gets pulled down on this list because of films like The Number 23, which earned $77 million worldwide. When stars are earning as much as Carrey does, their movies have to hit it out of the ballpark.

I’m not surprised by many of the names on the list. I had no idea though that Will Ferrell’s value had dropped so far. Drew Barrymore often serves as a producer on her films, so I imagine her #7 spot isn’t as bad as it seems. The biggest surprise though… Ice Cube! He gets paid to act???

What do you think of the Most Overpaid actors in Hollywood?