Ron Howard & Brian Grazer adapt Mormon murder mystery in 'Under the Banner of Heaven'

By Sarah Sluis

Jon Krakauer is one stellar author. His nonfiction books combine gripping tales of adventure and tragedy with well-researched background information that offers incredible insight about the environment and history of his characters. They've also become movie fodder. 2007's Into the Wild, about a young man who lived a vagabond life before dying in Alaska, was nominated for two Oscars. Into Thin Air, the more successful book, has a less successful life on film. ABC turned it into a 1997 TV movie, but the movie was more of a cultural catalyst. Programs like Discovery Channel's "Everest: Beyond the Limit" mine the same content as Krakauer's book. Now the production team of Ron Howard and Brian Grazer have set their sights on a film version of Krakauer's 2003 book Under the Banner of Heaven. But it won't be an easy book to adapt.

Under the Banner of Heaven is both an incredibly readable history of the Mormon religion as well as the story of two fundamentalist Mormon brothers who killed their younger brother's wife and infant daughter. Among Mormons (though not an official part of current, mainstream LDS religion), there is a principle called blood atonement which mandates that blood must be spilled in order to atone for certain crimes. The men believed that the brutal killing was commanded by God and would serve as atonement for the wife's "sin." Her crime? The brothers maintained that young wife's influence led the elder brother's wife to leave him when he wanted to take a second wife.

The obvious choice is for the adaptation to drop the history altogether and focus on the murder. However, in the wake of the success of the Broadway play The Book of Mormon, I wouldn't be surprised if the producing duo had something else in mind. At the very least, they will need to provide context for the principle of blood atonement.

Dustin Lance Black has been tapped to pen the screenplay, and he just might be the perfect man for the job. Professionally, his expertise is in biographical films, including Milk and the upcoming J. Edgar. He also grew up Mormon, giving him a uniquely personal insight into Mormonism's religious culture. It's no wonder that he was a writer/co-producer/director on the HBO series "Big Love."

I look forward to seeing Under the Banner of Heaven on the big screen. "Big Love" has a soap opera take on polygamy, but I hope Black turns this tale as dark as he can--I'm thinking Boys Don't Cry and Zodiac, not Fargo.

'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.