Kristen Stewart in talks for 'Snow White'

By Sarah Sluis

On the screen and off, Twilight star Kristen Stewart always looks so...well, grumpy. Is she one of those people whose mien just comes across as sour, or is she actually always in a bad mood? Given her limited range of expressions, it seems that her tenure as an actress would be limited, but instead she's carved out a niche playing moody characters.

Stewart is currently in talks to star in the action fairy tale Snow White and the Huntsman, and no, she wouldn't be playing Grumpy the dwarf. She would play Snow White--you know, the one who delighted in the seven dwarves' song "Whistle While You Work"?

This Universal reboot of the fairy tale has signed on Viggo Mortensen to play the Huntsman and Charlize Theron as the witch. Universal wanted Stewart back in December, then changed its mind and decided to pursue an unknown actress (including Sundance ingnue Felicity Jones), before returning back to Stewart.

It's a logical fit for Stewart to stay within the fantasy category. Can I point out that the book cover of Twilight has a character holding an apple, the same symbol that figures so prominently in the Snow White story? In Snow White and the Huntsman, the Huntsman character serves as a mentor and protector to Snow White, not so far from good vampire Robert Pattinson protecting Bella (Stewart) from evil vampires.

I suppose there's a danger of Stewart being typecast, but she's done plenty of films outside of the Twilight series: a rocker in The Runaways a young prostitute in Welcome to the Rileys, a teen theme-park employee in Adventureland. She can definitely break outside of the supernatural romance category, but why not sidestep into a fairy tale romance/action film? Stewart will also need a blockbuster hit outside of the Twilight series to prove she's a commercial draw(and avoid the Mark Hamill syndrome), and this project may be it.

'New Moon' to bring fangirls to the box office

By Sarah Sluis

The Twilight Saga: New Moon will open in over 4,000 theatres at midnight, 600 more screens than the first Twilight. Movietickets.com reported that over 2,150 screenings of the vampire romance have sold out, and the film has surpassed franchise films like Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter to become their #1 advance seller of all time. The reviews are coming in, but it's doubtful the fan base will even care. This movie is all about reliving the book with the added visuals of Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner, and the swoons and shrieks of your friends and fellow audience members. Plus, the sequel combines Vampire-mania with Werewolf-mania, throwing heroine Bella into a love triangle between the two man-creatures.

The Blind Side, which many have called Precious with a white, Republican savior (and thus appealing to that demographic) will open in 3,100 theatres. Sandra Bullock is in top form, but critic Michael Rechtshaffen wished that "Oher [the black homeless teen Bullock's character and her husband took in] had been presented as something other than essentially a large prop." Further separating itself from a movie like Precious, The Blind Side sticks to "proven inspirational sports-movie/fish-out-of-water

formulas while holding the inherent sociological issues to the

sidelines," despite the fact that "there also was room for more thought-provoking substance."

Planet 51 (2,600 theatres), a kind of E.T. in reverse, revolves around an astronaut who has landed in a suburban alien town. Grade-school joke: they think he's the one who's funny looking. The "Sci-Fi Lite" movie, according to critic Kirk Honeycutt, has "gentle jokes and cornball battles," and is geared more towards children than the adult-children mix more frequently seen in today's animated movies.

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans opens in 27 theatres, and if you are near one--you need to see it. Genre-wise, it's a story of a corrupt cop (Nicolas Cage) in love with a prostitute (Eva Mendes), but director Werner Herzog takes this story places you have never even imagined. The screening I was in prompted several moments where everyone broke out in shocked laughter--whether it was because Cage was so outrageously bad, mad-scientist crazy, or because the movie did things you just aren't supposed to do on film, including alligator point-of-view shots.

Also moving into theatres on Friday is Red Cliff. Directed by John Woo, the American version compresses the two-film arc into one historical epic critic Daniel Eagan called "teeming with characters and plot twists," but "told in such a direct and vigorous style that it is never confusing."

New Moon is the hands-down winner for this weekend, but its narrower fan base is always a liability. Everyone will be watching to see how much the film drops Saturday and Sunday after its Friday open. Precious and Fantastic Mr. Fox will be expanding this runs, and Planet 51 needs to bring in audiences before The Princess and the Frog opens over Thanksgiving (though, thankfully, in a limited run).

Kristen Stewart to play Joan Jett in "The Runaways"

By Sarah Sluis

Ever heard of the band The Runaways?  If you're like me, born after their heyday in the 1970s, you might
not know about this all-girl band famous for "Cherry Bomb" and "Schoolgirls" (cleverly available, occasionally with katakana subtitles, on YouTube).  Today, River Road productions announced the casting decision of Kristen Stewart (maybe you've heard of that vampire film, Twilight?) as Joan Jett, the lead singer of the band.  Stewart looks remarkably similar to Jett, who went on to sing such classics as "I Love Rock and Roll" and "Bad Reputation." The idea of a rise/fall story centering on female band  members strikes me as novel and compelling.  The tough, devil-may-care attitude of the band contrasts fabulously
with the only other "girl power" band picture I've seen--the
hideous Spice World, a film for which I had to create the category "Worst Film I Have Ever Seen."  (Trivia buffs will note 1981's Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains and 1988's Satisfaction depicted girl bands)  For most of the intended audience, the character of Joan Jett will be a blank slate, but grounding the rise/fall story with an actual (and interesting) character is a smart move that adds authenticity and offers up a mythic
figure far better than, say, Britney Spears.

While I laud 2006's Dreamgirls for depicting a group of successful, powerful singers, most band films, like That Thing You Do and Almost Famous, relegate
women to groupiedom (in the case of the latter, Kate
Hudson's compelling performance and insistence on being called a band-aid helped empower her character).  I'm excited to see an edgy, authentic rocker on the big screen, and hope this project will join the wave of 2008's "surprise" female-targeted hits, Sex and the City and Twilight.

'Twilight' draws teens, adults to a $70 million opening weekend

By Sarah Sluis

Surpassing both industry ($50-$60 million) and Summit Entertainment's ($40 million) expectations, Twilight earned $70.5 million this weekend.  The astounding figure makes my estimate of $100 million
in three weeks virtually guaranteed, even with this Wednesday's release of PG-13 spectacle Australia and comedy Four Christmases.  Twilight, which made $35.8 million on Friday alone (including midnight screenings from the evening before), dropped minimally on Saturday.  A cult film without crossover appeal usually dies on Saturday, but, like its undead hero, Twilight stayed alive.  The flurry of media around Twilight created a zero-to-sixty in awareness level among those unfamiliar with the source material, drawing out scores of curious viewers, especially mothers.  The film's Mormon connection siphoned away viewers from Disney's Bolt, which finished third at $27 million.  Utah, with its Mormon-heavy, family-oriented population, normally does above-average business with Disney films, but it appears those audiences chose Twilight over Bolt.  Disney expects audiences will turn out for Bolt in weeks to come, but Twilight's passionate fan base undoubtedly swayed groups of filmgoers towards the vampire romance.  Directed by Catherine Hardwicke, the film also turns out to be the biggest opening ever for a female-directed film.  More depressing than inspiring, only 6% of directors are female.  Betcha more than 6% of wannabe directors are female.

Beating out Bolt, Quantum of Solace finished at #2 with $27.4 million.  The best option for moviegoers not entranced by teen vampires or superstar dogs, the Bond film swiftly crossed the $100 million mark and brought its two-week total to $109.4 million.

Below the top three, kid-oriented pictures Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (#4, $16 million) and High School Musical 3 (#7, $2 million) experienced the biggest drops in business due to competition from Twilight and Bolt.  Each fell over 50% from last week, with HSM falling 64.5%.

Role Models ($7.2 million) and Changeling ($2.6 million) each dropped around 30% to finish at #5 and #6.  The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, which expanded in its third week, made $1.6 million and grabbed the #9 spot.  Finishing just outside of the top ten, despite being exhibited in only 32 theatres, Slumdog Millionaire made $994,000, $31,000 per theatre.  Since its release, the film has received an uptick in Oscar buzz.  Unlike Changeling, which lost  Oscar momentum after people went out and saw the film, Slumdog Millionaire has played the underdog card successfully, making those who have seen the film feel as though they have discovered a gem.  If only a fraction of the viewers are like me--I've encouraged a number of friends and family to see the film--Slumdog will be a millionaire many times over.

Full box office results available here.

'Bolt' and 'Twilight' to satisfy the young (at heart)

By Sarah Sluis

Twilight (3,419 screens) debuted with sold-out midnight screenings last night, and finished at #5 among all-time pre-sold tickets (per Movietickets.com), right below The Dark Knight.  With the help of "Twilight Moms," the most obvious expansion of the teen girl demographic turning out for the film, the
vampire romance will continue to sell out screenings throughout the weekend.  Among non-Twilight-reading and Twilight-reading critics, the film has inspired polarized opinions.  A decent portion have acknowledged the film's ability to pull heartstrings despite some corny moments, but for others, like our critic Ethan Alter, those moments, combined with some trite camera setups and technical sloppiness, make the film unbearable.  A friend who accompanied the press screening called Twilight "teen fantasy reduced to its most basic form.   There is something so pure about a film that doesn't try to trick you into thinking it's clever, or appealing to anyone outside its demographic.  It's exactly the film for exactly its audience.  That's rare."

Bolt (3,651 screens) opens after a non buzz-generating sneak preview last weekend.  With a large portion of the screens exhibiting in 3D, the film will receive a boost in revenue from higher ticket prices
at those venues.  A solid film, our executive editor Kevin Lally called Bolt "an unpretentious, consistently entertaining romp...with plenty of heart".  As Lally notes, the breakout press story is that of Disney animator Mark Walton.  A hyperactive fanboy who naturally possesses hamster-like qualities, his scratch recording of the hamster Rhino was so good, it made it into the final film.  Coupled with the celebrity voices of Miley Cyrus, John Travola, and "Curb Your Enthusiasm"'s Susie Essman, the film should please adults and kids alike.

On the specialty side, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas expands to 406 screens, Muslim-lesbian romantic drama I Can't Think Straight opens on 3 screens, drug-induced superhero hallucination picture Special debuts on 1 screen, and Laotian immigrant documentary The Betrayal (Nerakhoon) opens at New York City's IFC Theatre.