First Look At Ian McShane As Blackbeard On The Pirates 4 Set

Bad news for Hawaii-based movie and TV fans who are still mourning the loss of the Lost cast-- Johnny Depp has left your fair state as well. The shooting of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides has apparently moved to Hawaii back to Los Angeles, where Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz were photographed on set. They also had someone new with them-- Ian McShane, in costume and giving us our first look at him as the film's villainous Blackbeard.

So little has been confirmed about the plot that it's impossible to know exactly what kind of role Blackbeard will be playing in the story about Jack's quest for the Fountain of Youth, but it's interesting that McShane, Cruz and Depp are all filming a scene together--I'd bet there was some swordplay going on that we don't see in these photos. It's unlikely that any particularly spoilery photos will hit the web, so for now we can only guess all the pirate-tinged dialogue going on between them in the scene.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt And Scarlett Johansson Rumored For Breathers: A Zombie's Lament

While things have been heating up for Young Adult, the next collaboration between Diablo Cody and Jason Reitman, with the casting of Charlize Theron and potential casting of Josh Brolin, a project that has seemingly been left in the dust has been Breathers: A Zombie's
Lament. Set to be produced by Cody, nothing about the project has emerged since it was first announced in February 2009. Now it appears that casting might soon be getting underway.

A source at Pajiba reports that Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Scarlett Johansson are loosely attached to the project, with emphasis on the word "loosely." Gordon-Levitt would presumably play the role of Andy, a recently re-animated zombie living in a world that discriminates against his kind. Johansson, most likely, would play Rita, a fellow zombie who Andy meets at a Undead Anonymous meeting.

While I sadly can't say that I've read the book, Gordon-Levitt is an immensely talented actor and the role could be a strange and unique opportunity for him (how often is it that you get to play an educated, depressed zombie?). Then there is the fact that I think Scarlett Johansson could even make being a zombie look good. There's very little not to like about these casting choices; let's hope that they are real.

Early Black Swan Movie Reviews Dance Out Of Venice

Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan was seen for the first time last night at the Venice Film Festival and that means reviews have begun pouring on to the internet. Unfortunately, for the most part, only a certain type of reviewer attends the Venice Film Festival. You know the type, they think using big words while writing long a plot synopsis makes them seem insightful. So while it’s a limited early sample we at least have a taste of how people are reacting to Aronofsky’s film and so far, the reaction to it seems to depend on how far each person is willing to go with him down the rabbit hole.

Those who’ve been willing simply to go with it came away loving it, calling it one of the year’s best films, blown away by Natalie Portman’s performance and the sheer audacity of it. Those who weren’t able to let go found it over the top and excessive. The good news is that the former seems to be the larger group and Aronofsky may have another audaciously fantastic film on his hands.

Here’s a quick sampling of what Venice Film Fest reviewers are saying about Black Swan:

There will, I suspect, be those left cold by the film’s more mannered instincts, or those who feel it’s a genre-film concession too far for the director. Either way, however, “Black Swan” cements Aronofsky’s place as one of the biggest and most unruly thinkers working in the only notionally small aesthetic of American independent cinema. - Guy Lodge, In Contention

Trying to coax a horror-thriller out of the world of ballet doesn't begin to work for Darren Aronofsky. - Kirk Honeycutt, THR

Powerful, gripping and always intriguing, it also features a lead performance from Natalie Portman that elevates her from a substantial leading actress to major star likely to be lifting awards in the near future. - David Gritten, Telegraph

With Natalie Portman, in the demanding leading role, equaling her director in unquestioned commitment, the central issue for the viewer is how far one is willing to follow the film down the road to oblivion for art’s sake. - Todd McCarthy, IndieWire

First Official Sucker Punch Still Has Dragons Fighting Airplanes

Zack Snyder's Sucker Punch promises to be one hell of a ride. Hell, the short, 1:26 teaser trailer was so jam-packed full of awesome that it took 55 screen caps to try and make sense of it. One of the coolest features of the film is how it is approaching its fantastic elements, putting robots in medieval settings and creatures of fantasy in World War I. It's that kind of mix that's going to make the film even more badass and it's well-featured in the first still from the film.

Cruel and Unusual Films (Snyder's production company) has posted the first official image from the film and features a dragon dogfighting with an airplane. That needs to be repeated: a dragon dogfighting with an airplane. It's already been established through Snyder's previous films that he has an incredible vision, but now he's completely free of restraint, no source material holding him back. It's probably best to start mentally preparing for this film now.

Black Swan And The Wrestler Started Out As One Movie

It’s easy to understand why director Darren Aronofsky might want to follow The Wrestler with Black Swan. Even without having seen Black Swan it’s clear that both movies involve similar themes. Both stories focus on athletes struggling with fading careers in less than mainstream professions. In The Wrestler Mickey Rourke plays a wrestler past his prime but unable to let go of the spot light. In Black Swan Natalie Portman plays a dancer facing a career challenge from a younger talent. But who’d have suspected that they started life not just as similar films but as one movie?

Aronofsky tells MTV that his original intent was to make a film about the coupling of a wrestler and a ballet dancer. He explains, “At one point, way before I made 'The Wrestler,' I was actually developing a project that was about a love affair between a ballet dancer and a wrestler, and then it kind of split off into two movies.” But the ballet meets wrestling idea became too complex and he eventually split the two concepts off into two separate films.

Yet even now he considers The Wrestler and Black Swan to be companion pieces and his hope is that at some point, someone will play them together. Aronofsky says, “They are really connected and people will see the connections. It's funny, because wrestling some consider the lowest art — if they would even call it art — and ballet some people consider the highest art. But what was amazing to me was how similar the performers in both of these worlds are. They both make incredible use of their bodies to express themselves.”

Now that the cat’s out of the bag, I’d say a Wrestler/Black Swan double feature is almost inevitable. Start lobbying your local arthouse for it, right now.

Twilight: Breaking Dawn Casts An Egyptian Vampire

Twilight has a new castmember and he was announced by Kate Gosselin. That’s just about where we’re at with this thing folks.

The new addition’s name is Rami Malek, an American actor of Egyptian descent who most recently appeared in the Emmy awarded miniseries The Pacific. He was also Ahkmenrah in the much better than it had any right to be Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. Now the 29-year-old will play an Egyptian vampire named “Benjamin” in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn.

An Egyptian named Benjamin? Really Twilight fans? This requires explanation. If you've read the books, give me one in the comments section below.

Nutcracker 3D Coming To Theaters November 24

When the trailer for Andrey Konchalovskiy's 3D take on the classic ballet The Nutcracker popped up online earlier this month, it seemed inevitable that we could expect a release later this year for the new take on the holiday classic. Now Freestyle Releasing has made it happen. THR reports that the indie distributor has scheduled a November 24 release for the film, which includes eight new songs by Lion King mastermind Tim Rice in additional to the traditional Tchaikovsky score.

Though the lead character's name is typically translated as "Clara" in the ballet, for this movie she'll be named Mary and played by Elle Fanning. Nathan Lane plays the uncle who gives Mary the enchanted nutcracker, and John Turturro plays the wicked Rat King whom Mary must defeat. Though Koncaholvskiy's last few films have been in Russian this one will be in English, so it'll be interesting to see how the Tango & Cash director handles a return to the language. And if we have to choose a 3D holiday movie, I'll take whatever this is over revisiting The Polar Express any day.

Take a look at the trailer again below if you're so inclined.

Daniel Radcliffe Lights Up In A New Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Image

We have a new image from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1. In it, Harry lights up on some stairs. His wand that is. Daniel Radcliffe is climbing an unusually narrow stairway and he looks ready for a fight.

If you click on the image below you’ll get a high-res version of the photo, where you may be able to better make out what’s behind Harry in the photo, in the glass containers on the wall. Those would be skulls and I don’t think they’re human ones. Take a look:

New Images From Buried Put Ryan Reynolds In A Box

I've had an incredible curiosity about the upcoming film Buried from the minute I first read about it. The concept is simple, yet brilliant: an hour and a half trapped in a tiny coffin with a panicked Ryan Reynolds. I then got my hands on a copy of the script, with the intention of only reading the first 10 pages. I ended up not being able to put it down and finishing it in one night. Then came the response out of the Sundance Film Festival, which was overwhelmingly positive and led to the film being picked up by Lionsgate to be distributed this fall. With the release date of October 8th drawing ever closer, my anticipation grows, and everything that comes out from the film only makes me want to see it more.

Kino Gallery has posted a slew of images from the film, both behind the scenes and stills from the movie itself. Considering the incredibly little amount of space they had to film in, it looks as though the only source of light in the scenes comes from the props, such as the cell phone, glow sticks and lighter. This must have been an absolute nightmare in post-production, but I can only imagine how it affects the atmosphere.

Life As We Know It Poster Makes Josh Duhamel A Drunken Baby

Here’s the craziest movie poster you’ll see this week for what is almost certain to be one of the least crazy movies being released in October. You know it’s not crazy because it stars Katherine Heigl and since announcing to the world that she hated Knocked Up (the only good movie she's ever done), she’s made it a point to do nothing but boring and predictable. But you wouldn’t know it from this poster for Life as We Know It, which shows her pursuing both her costar Josh Duhamel and her on screen goddaughter, who both seem to be doing their best baby runs away from mommy impression. It’s a poster craziness to movie lameness ratio of epic proportions.

Maybe Josh Duhamel will make this worth watching. If you’ve only seen him in Transformers you haven’t really seen what the guy is capable of. There’s a good actor, maybe even a good comedic actor, in there somewhere. Will Life as We Know It give that actor a chance to show us his stuff? The poster does.

Fox Looking At Bruce Willis And Kiefer Sutherland To Be The Thing In Fantastic Four Reboot?

The Thing from the Fantastic Four is about to undergo his newest incarnation. In the 1994 cheaply-made adaptation, he looked like something that crawled out of the toilet. In the 2005 and 2007 versions, they actually seemed to do it somewhat right, having Michael Chiklis dressed in a rubber suit. For the reboot, however, they've decided to go with an all-CGI Thing (a la Hulk), which means that the actor playing the role will only inform the character through a voice. But who will that voice be?

Comic Book Movie and Screen Rant are separately posting rumors that Fox is pursuing Bruce Willis and Kiefer Sutherland to lend their voices to the comic book character, though the sites fail to reference sources for their information. The reports state that neither actor has been reached out to by the studio as of yet.

The skeptical nature of the rules aside, I'm not sure either actor is the right man for the part. Willis' voice is simply far too smooth, whereas The Thing has a voice reminiscent of car driving on a poorly paved road. Sutherland's voice is at least deeper, but it doesn't have that right quality. And why would you want a voice people are going to recognize anyway? If they aren't seeing the actor behind the character's eyes, audiences are just going to be hearing John McClane or Jack Bauer. Fox, just let Chiklis do it. To be frank, he was perfect.

Life Imitates Art: Takers Steals Top Box-Office Spot From The Last Exorcism

Despite initial reports, Takers has lived up to its namesake and stolen the weekend box office throne from The Last Exorcism. Exorcism was initially deemed the champ with a weekend take of $21.3 million to Takers' $21 million flat, but THR reports that final data overturned that initial placement, Takers finishing with $20.5 million, and Exorcism with $20.3.

I am hit with a level of disappointment. Exorcism is actually a surprisingly good movie; swift, unpredictable, and with an uncommonly wicked sense of humor. Critics, including our own Josh Tyler have said that Takers is a waste of time and offers nothing fresh or innovative, instead choosing to rehash older, better movies (i.e. Heat) in some slick but tacky new packaging. The Last Exorcism deserved to win over the weekend, if only because it probably surprised plenty of people by rising out of the late-August film dreck and managing to be a fun and nimble theme-park ride of a movie (and not just in a late-August, get-what-you-pay-for, Piranha 3-D kind of way).

Teresa Palmer Doing A Younger, Sexier Deliverance

Teresa Palmer has signed on to act alongside Joel Edgerton in Australian film Say Nothing. The film will be directed by multihyphenate actor/writer/director Kieran Darcy-Smith, according to Moviehole. Native Australian Palmer is in that stage where relative unknown starts finding themselves on the tip of people's tongues. Her most recognizable role is probably the love interest in Disney's underperforming summer movie The Sorcerer's Apprentice.

Initial plot details describe Edgerton and Palmer as husband and wife Dave and Alice who, along with Alice's sister and her boyfriend, travel to South East Asia on vacation. Amidst all their merrymaking something terrible happens and only three of the four vacationers return. When Dave and Alice are blitzed with questions surrounding what happened on the fateful night when one of them disappeared, dark secrets begin to unravel.

Sounds like a younger, sexier Deliverance. I'm actually wondering if this is going to be staged as a really horrifying version of The Hangover, where a single night from the past is unfurled over the course of the movie? Also of note-- Palmer nabbed one of her first roles as an anonymous partier in Wolf Creek, another thriller about a few twenty-somethings letting loose on a road trip, only to find themselves blindsided by unforeseen events. Let's hope that Cambodian full moon holds a candle to the stark cruelty of the Australian outback.

First Burlesque Poster Is Hot Pink And Shiny

For those of you who saw Moulin Rouge! back in 2001 and fervently wished from then on that every movie you saw was so flashy and campy, your decade of disappointment is about to end. Coming this Thanksgiving is Burlesque, a movie that puts Cher and Christina Aguilera together in a burlesque club and has them duke it out to see who's the best diva. No matter who loses, we win, am I right?

The first trailer for the film was almost incoherently glitzy but also really really fun, and now Cinematical has debuted the first poster, which is basically asking you to consider this movie a pink-tinged Chicago sequel. (for comparison's sake). I'm not sure if those are photos of the lead actresses or just CGI recreations, given how unwrinkled and generally inhuman they both look, but that stylization is pretty much the point. I also like the idea that the title runs between Cher and Christina because they're such huge divas they had to be split up.

Check out a smaller version of the poster below and click on it for Cinematical's full-size. Burlesque hits theaters this Thanksgiving, so you have plenty of type to sew sequins on to all of your clothes in the meantime.

Depp Gets Airbrushed In Newest Still From The Tourist

Airbrushing is a godsend for most models and actors. Who cares if you are getting older, so long as they can erase your age lines? Eternal youth is evidenced on every newsstand in America. But when you start airbrushing publicity stills for movies, you are going a step too far.

MTV has posted a new image from the upcoming Johnny Depp/Angelina Jolie thriller The Tourist, and it looks as though Depp's skin has the texture of a Ken doll. Sure, Depp is 47 years old now, but I don't know a single person that could pass a lie detector test saying that he looks like he's pushing 50. Do they really think that people won't go see The Tourist if Depp has a single wrinkle on his face? This isn't some outrageous scandal by any means, but it is kind of sad.

Indiana Jones / Star Wars Crossover Stunt Show

At Disney’s Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM Studios) in Disney World, one of their main attractions has always been the Indiana Jones Stunt Show, an action-packed live show that pits Indy himself against many obstacles and enemies you’ve seen him battle in the films. Well, for the Lucasfilm gathering Celebration V, they did something a little different.

Since George Lucas created Indiana Jones as well, the stunt show was rewritten by fans to include all your favorite characters from Star Wars. One witness to the awesomeness captured it and put it on YouTube; the video is about 50 minutes long so if you’re at work passing the time then you may have to watch it in chunks, but for fans of either franchise it’s totally worth it.

The 2010 Primetime Emmy Awards Winners

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences awarded the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards Sunday night on NBC from the Nokia Theatre live in Los Angeles. The show was hosted by Jimmy Fallon and you can view a partial list of the winners below:

Outstanding Drama
**Winner** "Mad Men"
"Breaking Bad"
"Dexter"
"The Good Wife"
"Lost"
"True Blood"

Outstanding Comedy
**Winner** "Modern Family"
"30 Rock"
"Curb Your Enthusiasm"
"Glee"
"Nurse Jackie"
"The Office"

Outstanding Actor in a Drama
**Winner** Bryan Cranston ("Breaking Bad")
Hugh Laurie ("House M.D.")
Jon Hamm ("Mad Men")
Kyle Chandler ("Friday Night Lights")
Matthew Fox ("Lost")
Michael C. Hall ("Dexter")

Outstanding Actress in a Drama
**Winner** Kyra Sedgwick ("The Closer")
Connie Britton ("Friday Night Lights")
Glenn Close ("Damages")
January Jones ("Mad Men")
Julianna Margulies ("The Good Wife")
Mariska Hargitay ("Law & Order: Special Victims Unit")

Outstanding Actor in a Comedy
**Winner** Jim Parsons ("The Big Bang Theory")
Alec Baldwin ("30 Rock")
Larry David ("Curb Your Enthusiasm")
Matthew Morrison ("Glee")
Steve Carell ("The Office")
Tony Shalhoub ("Monk")

Outstanding Actress in a Comedy
**Winner** Edie Falco ("Nurse Jackie")
Amy Poehler ("Parks and Recreation")
Julia Louis-Dreyfus ("The New Adventures of Old Christine")
Lea Michele ("Glee")
Tina Fey ("30 Rock")
Toni Collette (United States of Tara")

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama
**Winner** Aaron Paul ("Breaking Bad")
Andre Braugher ("Men of a Certain Age")
John Slattery ("Mad Men")
Martin Short ("Damages")
Michael Emerson ("Lost")
Terry O'Quinn ("Lost")

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama
**Winner** Archie Panjabi ("The Good Wife")
Christine Baranski ("The Good Wife")
Christina Hendricks ("Mad Men")
Elisabeth Moss ("Mad Men")
Rose Byrne ("Damages")
Sharon Gless ("Burn Notice")

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy
**Winner** Eric Stonestreet ("Modern Family")
Chris Colfer ("Glee")
Jesse Tyler Ferguson ("Modern Family")
Jon Cryer ("Two and a Half Men")
Neil Patrick Harris ("How I Met Your Mother")
Ty Burrell ("Modern Family")

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy
**Winner** Jane Lynch ("Glee")
Holland Taylor ("Two and a Half Men")
Jane Krakowski ("30 Rock")
Julie Bowen ("Modern Family")
Kristen Wiig ("Saturday Night Live")
Sofia Vergara ("Modern Family")

Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series
**Winner** "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart"
"The Colbert Report"
"Real Time With Bill Maher"
"Saturday Night Live"
"The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien"

Outstanding Reality Show Competition
**Winner** "Top Chef"
"Project Runway"
"The Amazing Race"
"Dancing with the Stars"
"American Idol"

Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality Competition Program
**Winner** Jeff Probst ("Survivor")
Phil Keoghan ("The Amazing Race")
Ryan Seacrest ("American Idol")
Tom Bergeron ("Dancing with the Stars")
Heidi Klum ("Project Runway")

Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series
**Winner** Steve Shill ("Dexter) - "The Getaway"
Michelle MacLaren ("Breaking Bad") - "One Minute"
Jack Bender ("Lost") - "The End"
Leslie Linka Glatter ("Mad Men" -" Guy Walks Into An Advertising Agency"
Agnieszka Holland ("Treme") - "Do You Know What It means" (Pilot)

Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series
**Winner** Matthew Weiner and Erin Levy ("Mad Men") - "Shut the Door"
Rolin Jones ("Friday Night Lights") - "The Son"
Michelle King and Robert King ("The Good Wife") (Pilot)
Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse ("Lost") - "The End"
Robin Veith and Matthew Weiner ("Mad Men") - "Guy Walks Into Advertising Agency"

Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series
**Winner** Ryan Murphy ("Glee") - "Director's Cut (Pilot)"
Paris Barclay ("Glee") - "Wheels"
Jason Winer ("Modern Family") (Pilot)
Allen Coulter ("Nurse Jackie") (Pilot)
Don Scardino ("30 Rock") - "I Do Do"

Outstanding Writing for a Comedy
**Winner** Steven Levitan and Christopher Lloyd ("Modern Family") (Pilot)
Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Ian Brennan ("Glee") - "Director's Cut (Pilot)"
Greg Daniels and Mindy Kaling ("The Office") - "Nicaragua"
Matt Hubbard ("30 Rock") - "Anna Howard Shaw Day"
Tina Fey and Kay Cannon ("30 Rock") - "Lee Marvin Vs. Derek Jeter"

Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Special
**Winner** "The 63rd Annual Tony Awards"
"The 82nd Annual Academy Awards"
"Bill Maher... But I'm Not Wrong"
"The Kennedy Center Honors"
"Wanda Sykes: I'ma Be Me"

Outstanding Directing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Special
**Winner** Bucky Gunts ("Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games Opening Ceremony""
Ron de Moraes ("In Performance at the White House: A Celebration of Music From the Civil Rights Movement")
Louis J. Horvitz ("The Kennedy Center Honors")
Glenn Weiss ("The 63rd Annual Tony Awards")
Joel Gallen ("The 25th Anniversary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert""

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie
**Winner** Julia Ormond ("Temple Grandin")
Kathy Bates ("Alice")
Catherine O'Hara ("Temple Grandin")
Brenda Vaccaro ("You Don't Know Jack")
Susan Sarandon ("You Don't Know Jack")

Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie
**Winner* David Strathairn ("Temple Grandin")
Michael Gambon ("Emma")
Patrick Stewart ("Hamlet")
Jonathan Pryce ("Return To Cranford")
John Goodman ("You Don't Know Jack")

Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special
**Winner** Adam Mazer ("You Don't Know Jack")
Michelle Ashford and Robert Schenkkan ("The Pacific") - "Part Eight"
Bruce C. McKenna and Robert Schenkkan ("The Pacific") - "Part Ten"
Peter Morgan ("The Special Relationship")
Christopher Monger and William Merritt Johnson ("Temple Grandin")

Actress in a Miniseries or Movie
**Winner** Claire Danes ("Temple Grandin")
Maggie Smith ("Capturing Mary")
Joan Allen ("Georgia O'Keeffe")
Dame Judi Dench ("Return To Cranford")
Hope Davis ("The Special Relationship")

Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special
**Winner** Mick Jackson ("Temple Grandin")
Bob Balaban ("Georgia O'Keeffe")
David Nutter and Jeremy Podeswa ("The Pacific") - "Part Eight"
Tim Van Patten ("The Pacific") - "Part Nine"
Barry Levinson ("You Don't Know Jack")

Actor in a Miniseries or Movie
**Winner** Al Pacino ("You Don't Know Jack")
Jeff Bridges ("A Dog Year")
Ian McKellen ("The Prisoner")
Michael Sheen ("The Special Relationship")
Dennis Quaid ("The Special Relationship")

Outstanding Miniseries
**Winner** "The Pacific"
"Return to Cranford (Masterpiece)"

Made for Television Movie
**Winner** "Temple Grandin"
"Endgame"
"Georgia O'Keeffe"
"Moonshot"
"The Special Relationship"
"You Don't Know Jack"

Outstanding Reality Program
**Winner** "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution"
"Antiques Roadshow"
"Dirty Jobs"
"Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List"
"MythBusters"
"Undercover Boss"

Outstanding Nonfiction Series
**Winner** "The National Parks: America's Best Idea"
"American Experience"
"American Masters"
"Deadliest Catch"
"LIFE"
"Monty Python: Almost the Truth (The Lawyer's Cut)"

Outstanding Animated Program
**Winner** "Disney Prep & Landing"
"Alien Earths"
"The Ricky Gervais Show"
"The Simpsons"
"South Park"

Outstanding Children's Program
**Winner** "Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie"
"Hannah Montana"
"iCarly"
"Jonas"
"Wizards of Waverly Place"

Takers & Exorcism Lead Late Summer Rebound

After last weekend's dismal showing with no new movie grossing more than $15 million, the last weekend in August rebounded and fought back against the famed "Dog Days of Summer" with two new movies each grossing roughly $21 million, and the weekend winner potentially being too close to call.

Produced by horror maven Eli Roth (Hostel), the independently-financed The Last Exorcism (Lionsgate) topped Friday with $9.5 million (including highly-publicized Thursday midnight), but quickly tailed off on Saturday to end up with an estimated $21.3 million for the weekend. The dismal "D" CinemaScore was rather telling that critics liked this one more than moviegoers, but that also may have something to do with the marketing campaign that focused on the scares at first and only revealed the faux doc style of the film in the last week. Even so, the movie only cost roughly $1.8 million to make, which means Lionsgate just has to make back their marketing and promotion costs on the movie. That alone puts "Exorcism" among the ranks of low-budget horror hits like The Blair Witch Project, the original Saw and last year's Paranormal Activity. If the numbers hold, this may also be the first time in Lionsgate history where they've held the top spot for three weeks in a row, but being that "Exorcism" only has a $300 thousand lead over the #2 movie, it's going to be a close one.

After sitting on the shelf for almost a year, the ensemble crime-drama Takers (Sony/Screen Gems), starring Paul Walker, Idris Elba, rapper T.I., Chris Brown, Zoe Saldana, Hayden Christensen and Matt Dillon, exploded out of the gate with its own $21 million in 2,206 theaters, an impressive per-theater average of $9,500 per site. It's the fourth hit in a row for Screen Gems with producer William Packer following Stomp the Yard, This Christmas and Obsessed--the latter two also starring Idris Elba--proving they have what it takes to get African-American audiences into theaters. With just $300 thousand separating it from The Last Exorcism, there's a chance it could end up being #1 once the dust settles.

After holding the top spot for two weeks in a row, Sylvester Stallone's ensemble action flick The Expendables (Lionsgate) dropped to third place with $9.5 million and $82 million grossed after three weeks. Stallone has already been talking about developing a sequel and with that sort of success--it's likely to become Lionsgate's second highest-grossing release by Labor Day--there's little doubt the distributor will back that plan.

Meanwhile, Julia Roberts' romantic drama Eat Pray Love (Sony) took fourth place with another $7 million and $60.7 million total.

The Will Ferrell-Mark Wahlberg cop comedy The Other Guys was the first of two movies to maintain their spot in the Top 10, settling into fifth place with $6.6 million and $99.3 million after four weeks in theaters.

Christopher Nolan's ensemble sci-fi flick Inception (Warner Bros.), headlined by Leonardo DiCaprio, continued its late summer run by moving *UP* two places to seventh with another $5.1 million and $270.7 million grossed domestically since opening seven weeks ago.

Many of last week's new movies had large drop-offs with the Friedberg and Seltzer spoof comedy Vampires Suck (20th Century Fox) dropping from second to sixth place with $5.3 million, off 57% from its opening weekend, with a ten-day gross of $27.9 million. On the other hand, Emma Thompson's Nanny McPhee Returns (Universal) remained in eighth place with $4.7 million, down 44% from its opening weekend, with a gross of $17 million in ten days.

Jennifer Aniston's romantic comedy The Switch (Miramax) was down a similar percentage, ending up with just under $4.7 million to take ninth place, followed by the horror remake Piranha 3D (Dimension Films) with $4.3 million, down 57% from last week.

Though it opened in fourth place last week, the Ice Cube-produced Lottery Ticket (Warner Bros.) dropped right out of the Top 10 to take 11th place with $4 million, down a whopping 62% from its opening weekend. It has grossed $17.4 million after ten days, which is more than it cost to make.

James Cameron's Avatar: Special Edition was re-released into 812 IMAX and Digital 3D theaters and it brought in $4 million domestically to take twelfth place and push its total to $753.8 million. Overseas the re-release earned $4.3 million, pushing the international total past the $2 billion mark.

Even with two successful films, the Top 10 was down roughly 15% from the last weekend of August 2009 where New Line's The Final Destination topped the box office with $27.4 million thanks to the added money brought in by 3D ticket prices.

The first part of the French crime drama Mesrine: Killer Instinct (Music Box Films), starring Vincent Cassel, was released into 28 theaters in select cities where it brought in roughly $150 thousand.

'The Last Exorcism': What Did You Think (of the Ending)?

A couple of weeks ago, I put forth The Last Exorcism as a likely candidate to become a late-summer sleeper hit. At the end of its first weekend in theaters, the box office returns look good, and the critical consensus does too -- with the exception of the ending, which took a drumming from everyone and their mother. MaryAnn Johanson writes that the movie is "absolutely worth seeing... if only for the intriguing debate to be had afterward, if it wouldn't be an even stronger film were the last five minutes or so to be chopped off." The A.V. Club's Keith Phipps laments that "the finale abandons the [movie's] carefully constructed ambiguity." Owen Gleiberman: "For a while, the movie shrewdly exploits our voyeurism, all built around the teasing question of whether there's actually anything supernatural going on. The payoff, however, simply isn't scary enough. The movie is like The Exorcist without a spine-tingling catharsis." And so forth.

I'm of two minds about the direction Daniel Stamm's film takes in the final minutes. On one hand, I appreciate the way the movie toys with us before full-tilt careening toward the supernatural, and my fondness for pseudo-biblical horror films ensured that I'd get at least a small kick from the final twist. I also thought that the ending, and specifically the sudden callback of a piece of information dispensed earlier, recalled -- in a positive way -- the bone-chilling final shots of The Blair Witch Project.

On the other, I agree that the ending wreaks havoc on the film's themes. Ultimately it's not clear what the movie wants to say about the way religious thinking makes people easy pray for hucksters and scam artists. In this sense, I much prefer The Last Exorcism's first twist ending -- the one that makes Cotton's camera crew turn around and head back to the Sweetzer homestead. I'm also not sure the movie ultimately makes sense -- what parts of Nell's possession were real, and what parts were her attempt to get herself rescued? I don't think it's possible to answer that question.

Still, I stand by my original judgment that The Last Exorcism is scary as hell. What did you think? Did it do a number on you? And did the last few minutes break the spell?

Mad Max: Fury Road Will Use 130 Cars And 298 Real Death-Defying Stunts

I wonder if George Miller made his pro-environmental, animated movie Happy Feet to offset the carbon footprint he’s about to create with Mad Max: Fury Road. If so, he may want to start work on that Happy Feet sequel
. One won’t be enough to offset what’s shaping up to be a gas guzzling, high-octane reboot of the formerly Mel Gibson powered franchise. 130 gas guzzlers, to be exact.

The number was discovered by Moviehole in Transmoto magazine where stuntman Cameron Taylor talked about his work on Fury Road. Said Taylor, “It's a big budget deal that's got 130 cars and bikes and 298 stunts!” And apparently they’re kind of going nuts with them.

He adds, “With Stephen Gall orchestrating the bike side of the stunt program, there's Yamaha YZ250s; R1s with super-long swingarms, knobbies and beefed-up suspension; and Tenere 650s will insane paint jobs. They're going all out on this. I'm literally riding all day at the moment, jumping up cliffs and doing some technical riding.”

Here’s the best news in all of this: They’re using actual cars. Actual stuntmen. Tons of them. That means a limited number of ridiculous looking, CGI, green screen substitutes. Real stunt men. Real cars. Real motorcycles. Real jumps. Real crashes. That’s the way a proper Mad Max movie ought to be done. Get excited for Fury Road.

Mad Max: Fury Road is currently shooting in Australia with Inception's Tom Hardy in the lead as Max. Look for it in theaters some time during 2012.