* Box office? As expected, Super 8 is the top moneymaker for this weekend. Meanwhile, Magneto and Charles Xavier wrapped this up nicely; X-Men: First Class nab the second spot, with The Hangover Part II and Kung Fu Panda 2 right behind. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides hangs on to the final spot in the top five, ousting Bridesmaids.
* The Wire’s Idris Elba in talks to take a role in Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim. This is still sketchy at this point, but since the reason it’s sketch is probably due to the possibility of Idris having a role in Quentin Tarrantino’s new flick, Django Unchained, I say that’s a good thing. Either way, we’ll have him on the big screen soon. Go ahead, Stringer Bell!
* Twilight and Star Wars…similar? Well, Jason Sudeikis, the host of the MTV Movie Awards, explains the connection. Okay, gotta say he’s not wrong. And check out the winners of this year’s MTV Movie Awards — hooray for The Help’s Emma Stone for breaking through the Twilight sleeper hold on the ceremony!
* Alyson Hannigan’s back in the American Pie fold with American Reunion, and thank goodness. She drops a few spoilers for fans, and it looks like it’s going back to the old-school fun of the original. Hey, couldn’t get worse than the last few straight-to-DVD flops, but the return of Alyson, Jason Biggs and the incomparable Jennifer Coolidge gives me hope.
* I can’t be the only grownup that absolutely adored How To Train Your Dragon. Right? Well, for my fellow fans, there’s a release date for How To Train Your Dragon 2, and the possibility that this story could play out to a third film. I can’t wait to see Toothless strut his adorable dragon stuff. The problem is, the release date will be in 2014. The agony!
* Last week a “leaked” version of the new American re-do of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo hit the internet. Why didn’t I cover it? Because it looked like someone just hit “record” on their iPhone and let it fly. Now the official The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo trailer is up, as is their Web site. I could do without the self-important word. By. Word fast cuts from “The Feel Bad Movie Of Christmas” and “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” to snippets of the teaser (seriously, you can just show the entire movie title, we’re already sucked in to the teaser folks). I missed the heavy bass beat from the original Immigrant Song too, if I’m being honest. If you’re gonna get the Led out, go real or go home. The cover just doesn’t cut it.
* I love classic movies. Gimmie Bringing Up Baby, The Thin Man, His Girl Friday and I’m in heaven. But they’re planning on remaking The Three Stooges. Not sure how that’s gonna play with modern audiences, but then moviegoers did love Dumb and Dumber. Anyway, Jennifer Hudson will be lending her Academy Award winning self to the film. Bless her heart.
* Because Harry Potter did it. And Twilight did it. The Hunger Games will most likely be four movies. I just finished the trilogy this week, and I can see how an extra film could help tell the full story. The fact that they’ve cast Lenny Kravitz as fashion designer/friend to Katniss Cinna has me crossing my fingers in the hopes they’re really trying to do this story up right.
* This week’s Everybody’s Talking trailer is Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, a movie even Tom Hanks told Entertainment Weekly that he’s dying to see. Hey, after seeing the trailer myself I’ve got to agree.
