The opening day for Robert Zemeckis' "A Christmas Carol" wasn't exactly worthy of a "bah humbug" reaction, though the folks at Disney might be lacking some Christmas spirit this morning. The 3-D holiday film, which stars Jim Carrey as the infamous grouch Ebenezer Scrooge and a whole slew of other characters, opened to $8.9 million on Friday with a projected $31 million weekend, according to Deadline Hollywood Daily's Nikki Finke.

"Poor reviews coupled with the 'too dark for kids' attitude may really be hurting the opening," a rival studio executive told Finke about the holiday picture, which was initially expected to earn as much as $40 million this weekend. "Throw that in with the possibility that they just might be a bit too early with the Christmas theme, and you have the possibility of a really lackluster debut for an expensive movie."

While audiences aren't latching onto the preemptive holiday cheer as much as Disney executives had hoped, other studios are enjoying the aftermath of last weekend's Halloween. The Milla Jovovich-starring "The Fourth Kind" earned the second place spot on Friday with a $5 million intake, which could be the result of its similarities to the supernaturally successful "Paranormal Activity." But given "The Fourth Kind's" debut weekend in just over 2,500 theaters, I wouldn't expect this thriller will come close to the increasingly popular "Paranormal Activity," which ended Friday night in fifth place.

Moviegoers not only rejected the early Christmas spirit, but also the allure of Hollywood star power. Despite a star-studded cast including George Clooney, Ewan McGregor and Kevin Spacey, "The Men Who Stare At Goats" only opened to $4.6 million on Friday for a third place finish. Deadline Hollywood estimates that the movie will wind up with $14.5 million by weekend's end.

"Michael Jackson's This Is It," meanwhile, sunk from first place last weekend to fourth place on Friday night with $4.1 million and an expected $14 million weekend. The result isn't quite as bad when factoring in the international success of "This Is It," which has earned just over $100 million overseas. Combined with its domestic intake, "This Is It" has yielded almost $150 million thus far. While that's not quite the $250 million it was projected to make within five days, the Jackson documentary still has time to pick up extra cash thanks to an elongated theatrical run.

Are you surprised by Friday night's box office rankings? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section or on Twitter!

Lack of clothing was on the minds of two other "Twilight" series actors, though, as Tinsel Korey seems to have not yet found a dress for the "New Moon" premiere, and Charlie Bewley reported on his love of not wearing anything. Remarkably, I made none of this up. Check it out, along with an award Arnold Schwarzenegger recently presented to Kirk Douglas, a scandalous "Full House" photo and the reason "Iron Man 2" will show up to theaters late if it gets delayed. It's all in the Twitter-Wood report for November 6, 2009.

Twitter Pic of the Day:
@Schwarzenegger http://twitpic.com/og6tz - I just presented my friend Kirk Douglas with the British Film Academy's Britannia Award. What a great man he is!
-Arnold Schwarzenegger, Actor ("Terminator," "Total Recall")

Runner-Up:
@bobsaget @johnstamos - Why do Dave and I looking like porn actors in this old pic and you're just wearing a hat? http://twitpic.com/ofscj
-Bob Saget, Actor ("Full House," "Madagascar")

@jodellemicah http://twitpic.com/oin67 - Me and my dog, @Gena_Fur
-Jodelle Ferland, Actress ("The Twilight Saga: Eclipse," "Silent Hill")

@alchemission When you have the place all to yourself, you really don't need clothes at all.
-Charlie Bewley, Actor ("The Twilight Saga: New Moon," "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse")

@tinselkorey Finished shooting "STAINED" thanks 2 the amazing cast & crew, u guys r awesome...now some R & R before the NM premiere. No dress still.
-Tinsel Korey, Actress ("The Twilight Saga: New Moon," "Stained")

@emmyrossum http://twitpic.com/oi8ls - I loved shooting this cover last month in NYC with the incredibly talented photographer mitchell mccormack @mitch
-Emmy Rossum, Actress ("Dragonball Evolution," "The Phantom of the Opera")

@BrianLynch Justin Timberlake is voicing Boo Boo in the live action YOGI BEAR movie. There are just some sentences you never thought you'd type.
-Brian Lynch, Writer/Director ("Puss in Boots," "Big Helium Dog")

@Jon_Favreau My editor has discovered World of Warcraft. There goes the release date.
-Jon Favreau, Actor/Writer/Director ("Elf," "Iron Man")

Don’t forget to follow @MTVMoviesBlog on Twitter for all the latest updates and colorful commentary from the world of movies.

Apparently, neither has the man himself. "I talked to him a bunch [at a party], he's really excited," noted Cory Monteith (who plays heartthrob Finn) during a "Glee" club fieldtrip to the MTV offices. "He's a big fan of the show — and [we spoke] before it actually came out that he was going to direct. He spoke to us, the cast, for an hour at this party."

Continue reading Joss Whedon Is 'Really Excited' To Direct 'Glee' Episode, Says Cast

Cool, right? For a look at the finished scene as it appears in the movie, hit the jump right... here!

Next up for Slim Shady is "Shady Talez," a 3-D horror anthology described as "'Twilight Zone' meets 'Creepshow'" by ScreenDaily, which broke the news. The project is a collaboration between "I, Robot" producer John Davis and writer/producer Dallas Jackson, under the D.J. Classicz/Davis Entertainment label. Jackson will co-write the story with "Underworld" creator Kevin Grevioux; the duo will also produce a four-issue comic book miniseries based on the movie under the Marvel Icons label, for a 2010 release.

ScreenDaily doesn't have many more details on "Shady Talez" to share beyond that. D.J. Classicz/Davis Entertainment have a number of other upcoming projects, including "The Last Dragon" (also written by Jackson), which reportedly has Samuel L. Jackson attached. Another potentially interesting project is "Rhythm and Juliet," a martial arts-infused interpretation of "Romeo & Juliet" written by "Stomp the Yard" scribe Gregory Anderson.

Obviously this development with Eminem is big news for the fledgling partnership. We'll certainly be digging for more information on "Shady Talez," but for now we can all rest easy in the knowledge that the real Slim Shady will bring his talents to Hollywood once more.

Are you a fan of "8 Mile"? Are you excited to see Eminem return to the silver screen? Is horror the right choice? What else would you like to see him in?

You can read the write-up for that first part right here. You can also find part two right here and part three right here. Stay tuned too, because we'll soon have two exclusive clips from the actual movie for you to check out. Enjoy!

The Verizon Droid is not the droid you're looking for. Sure, it's probably a very cool phone — the folks at Wired are talking about how it legitimately gives the iPhone a run for its money, despite a handful of minor grievances — but I must insist that you hold out for other droids.

I know what you're asking — "What droids are we looking for, Wigler?" — and the answer, of course, takes us back a long time ago to a galaxy far, far away. Why settle for a simple handheld device when you can wait it out just a little bit longer for some bona fide "Star Wars" era technology?

I firmly believe* that we're not far off from making official contact with the folks on Coruscant and Alderaan — okay, maybe not Alderaan — which will thereby give us access to the droids we're looking for. If you're not as patient as I am, then let me stack the Verizon Droid against some of the "Star Wars" droids to illustrate why you should hold out a few more years.

The Verizon Droid can connect to the Internet, which gives you access to a whole host of useful information from around the globe. But with your very own 3PO model, you could not only access all of that same information, you'd also have better storage space thanks to the droid's AA-1 VerboBrain. In some cases, you'd even be able to take advantage of the droid's TranLang III Communicator module, which allows for fluency in six million different forms of communication. If that feature doesn't speak your language, I don't know what will.

Even if the Verizon Droid doesn't have the same storage space as a 3PO model, it certainly has more room than most affordable cellular devices on the market. What it most assuredly does not have, however, is a hidden lightsaber compartment with ejector like the R2-series astromech droid. That feature really comes in handy, particularly when you're staring down into the sandy maw of a Sarlacc Pit.

For the sake of argument, let's suppose that the Verizon Droid does have space for a hidden lightsaber compartment. It still wouldn't beat out robot assassin IG-88, one of the galaxy's single-greatest cybernetic bounty hunters. Most of us aren't looking to contract out a mercenary — let alone a robotic one — but if ever the situation arises where somebody really grinds your gears, wouldn't you at least want the option of a self-aware, rail-thin android killer at your disposal? It's a fair question worth mulling over.

Scaling back from murder in the first degree, let's focus on a lesser criminal offense: stalking. Sure, you can access Twitter and Facebook by way of your Verizon Droid, but can you send it off on remote covert missions to ascertain top secret details about the folks in your rival neighborhood? No, I didn't think so — but the Viper probe droid could get that job done lickety-split. It might not be the most inconspicuous stalker in the galaxy, but its octopus-like physical appearance would be jarring enough that your cheating spouse wouldn't know what to do with the thing even if s/he saw it. And a built-in self-destruct mechanism ensures that you'd be safe anyway.

But all of these droids — especially the Verizon Droid — epically fail when stacked against Lobot, Cloud City's own chief administrator. Technically speaking, Lobot isn't a droid, though you wouldn't know it based on that honking Borg Construct Aj^6 strapped to the back of his noggin, a device that plugs him directly into Cloud City's central computer network. I don't think Lobot can speak six million languages, he probably isn't great at throwing lightsabers and he's not likely to kill anybody, though he probably would stalk your neighbors. So why is he the best of the bunch? Because, dear readers, he's a warm body and all he wants is a hug. Isn't that what we all want?

That said, the Verizon Droid is probably pretty sweet and if you're in desperate need of a good new phone, this might be your ticket.

* = Just kidding, I don't really believe any of this. But Movies Blog editor and notorious "Star Wars" geek Adam Rosenberg does. He has Wampa fur on his wall. (Editor's note: It's true, and it's authentic.)

Are you waiting for a "Star Wars" droid to become available before purchasing a Verizon Droid? Let us know your phone leanings in the comments or on Twitter!

Since I can also relate to the joy of seeing most of the movie in clips and stills before it even hits theaters, I'm here to bring you the latest photo gallery update. A whole new batch of "New Moon" stills for you to enjoy, roughly a dozen of them. Just click the image below to be magically transported to our newly updated flipbook gallery.

Now that the movie's out, it's time for Kelly to start thinking about what's next. The subject actually came up during a recent interview he gave to Ain't It Cool News. Since "Twilight" is all the rage these days, the conversation inevitably turned in that direction. There's one movie left without a director, and Kelly's keeping his options open.

"I don't even know if [Summit Entertainment] would ever be interested in someone like me. I'm certainly keeping an open mind," Kelly said. If he sticks to his guns on what he said, "The Box" will be the last "very personal... straight from the bone marrow" movie he makes for some time. "Southland Tales" and "Donnie Darko" before it were products of the same sort of introspection, and Kelly has decided that it may be time to test his skill in cooperation with someone else's work.

"Now, more than ever, I think I'm open to doing something that isn't an original or that's something from another script," he explained. "I'm just trying to keep my mind open to any possibilities that might present themselves."

Now to be fair, it's the interview who brings up "Breaking Dawn" (not even by name), not Kelly. And his response isn't really specific to any one franchise; "Twilight" is simply a peg to hang the query on. Still, you fans of idle speculation can have fun chewing this one up.

Personally, I don't think we'll be seeing Kelly in the director's chair for "Breaking Dawn." Which isn't to say that he can't do it, I just don't think it's the right fit, stylistically. He's a talented filmmaker and I think he's going to find the right script to knock out of the park as a "Box" follow-up, but the final chapter in the "Twilight" saga probably isn't it.

How about you? Kelly for "Breaking Dawn"? If not him, then who? Want to see Slade, Weitz or Hardwicke come back, or would to prefer to see some new blood? Or perhaps all three should come back, with each directing a different part of the three-part book?

The story begins in 2003, with aspiring combat reporter Bob Wilton (McGregor) waiting in Kuwait for clearance to cross over into Iraq. Biding his time, he encounters Lyn Cassady (Clooney), a man with a strange tale to tell. Cassady says he's a "Jedi warrior" (wink, wink) in the New Earth Army, a sub-rosa military unit dedicated to psychic battle strategies — mind-reading, "remote viewing," the whole new-age imaginarium. He says he's been reactivated to locate Bill Django (Bridges), the ponytailed Vietnam vet who founded the NEA back in the early '70s and has now gone missing. Wilton senses a story here, and decides to tag along.

Continue reading 'The Men Who Stare At Goats': Destination Nowhere, By Kurt Loder