'Tintin,' 'M:I 4,' 'Dragon Tattoo,' and 'We Bought a Zoo' compete for holiday audiences

By Sarah Sluis

This year, Christmas falls on Sunday and Monday is a national holiday. Though a half-dozen wide releases will join the holiday movie fray between Wednesday and Sunday, the box office is currently down 4% from last year. A defecit that large will be hard to make up, putting the industry on edge.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2,800 theatres) already jumped the gun and opened in theatres on 7pm on Tuesday, earning an estimated $1.6 million. David Noh praised the David Fincher-directed adaptation of the Swedish book and film, calling it a "highly satisfying and smart thriller." As the tattoed and mowhawked Lisbeth, Rooney Mara turns in a "supremely iconic performance." Audiences are excited too, with 26% of people visiting Movietickets.com saying they would see the movie over the holiday. The only film to post a higher percentage? Mission: Impossible--Ghost Protocol, which captured 26.8% of the vote.

M:I 4 will expand from 500 to over 3,400 theatres today. Audiences who saw the actioner last week are spreading the word. From Wednesday to Sunday, the Tom Cruise picture is projected to earn $35-40 million, slightly higher than Dragon Tattoo.

The Adventures of Tintin (3,000 theatres) has already earned $240 million overseas, where kids and adults alike are familiar with the Belgian comic book character. In the U.S, the character is not as well-known, but director Steven Spielberg's "splashy animated adventure," which critic Chris Barsanti compares to his Indiana Jones series, could win over American audiences, but it will take time. Its opening will be behind some of the big adult pictures, with many estimating a total in the high $20 millions through Sunday.

On Friday, We Bought a Zoo (3,000 theates) will join the menagerie. Cameron Crowe directs the feel-good tale about a widower father (Matt Damon) who buys a run-down zoo. The "facilely obvious" movie did not win over critic David Noh, who had this to say: "Strictly targeted family films always lay it on pretty thick; We Bought a Zoo uses a two-ton trowel." The PG-rated movie will probably see the most action the Monday after the holiday, since Christmas Eve is considered a low day at the box office.

On Sunday, Christmas Day, War Horse (2,300 theatres) will give audiences another Steven Spielberg-directed option. Kevin Lally was touched by the tale of a boy and his horse, separted by the events of World War I. He called it a "lovingly crafted, impressive achievement from a movie master." Some have decried the play adaptation for its sentimentality, but the holidays are often a perfect time to release such films.

Sunday will also see the release of The Darkest Hour (2,200 theatres), an alien invasion film set in Russia that's the black sheep of the bunch. Summit probably hopes to target those looking for the sci-fi/horror fare that's not available this time of year, and capitalize on the high theatre attendance around the holiday.

In addition to the wide releases, a host of specialty films will debut or expand into new territories. A romance set during the Bosnian War, In the Land of Blood and Honey (6 theatres) will release on Friday. Angelina Jolie shows "real flair as a filmmaker" in her writing/directing debut, according to critic Marsha McCreadie. Black-and-white silent The Artist will expand into 170 theatres, and My Week with Marilyn into 400 theatres. On Sunday, the 9/11 literary adaptation Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close will open in just 6 theatres.

Next week will start to reveal which films will be the hits or disappointments of 2011. Many of these releaes will play strongly or expand through January. Then there's awards season, which is only just beginning.

Trailer for 'We Bought a Zoo' surprisingly sappy

By Sarah Sluis

Director Cameron Crowe hasn't made a feature film in six years. 2005's Elizabethtown fell flat on its face, a huge disappointment for those looking for another one of his memorable movies with heart, like Jerry Maguire, Almost Famous, or Say Anything... The trailer for his next movie, We Bought a Zoo, just released, but the movie footage portends a filmi that's more tears-and-hugs than anything else he's done before. Think Marley & Me, but with zoo animals instead of a pet dog. For that reason, I actually think this movie may be a commercial success on par with Jerry Maguire, though for different reasons. 20th Century Fox certainly seems to think so, too, giving the movie a prime Dec. 23 release date, the more perfect to capture intergenerational audiences in search of warm-fuzzies around the holidays.

Matt Damon plays a widower with two children. He buys a house that comes with a backyard menagerie addition. Scarlett Johansson appears to be his love interest, who may have come on initially to help out with the zoo animals. Elle Fanning is a sympathetic next-door neighbor and Thomas Haden Church Damon's father.

The trailer serves us classic Crowe-esque elements. Damon quits his job in a public way, a la Jerry Maguire. His father, giving Damon advice--"Attempt to start over. Sunlight. Joy"--reflects the spare, affected dialogue that Crowe has always done so well. Where the movie gives me pause is during this voice-over from Damon: "You don't even need a lot of special knowledge to run a zoo. What you need is a lot of heart." Okay, Crowe is a sensitive filmmaker who specializes in poignancy, but that crosses the line into cheesy. In general, I wasn't totally happy with the pacing of the trailer, especially when it came to the beats between jokes. As a big fan of Crowe's films, I hope that the trailer was overplaying the sensitive and the actual movie will be hiding more nuanced emotional content.

Cameron Crowe to make first film in five years, 'We Bought a Zoo'

By Sarah Sluis

Cameron Crowe is one of my favorite directors. I love his sensibility, his mix of humor and sadness combined with an eye towards reality. His (successful) movies are also immensely entertaining crowd-pleasers: Say Anything, Jerry Maguire and Almost Famous are included in many people's favorite film lists. But he hasn't

been on his game lately. Neither Elizabethtown nor Vanilla Sky electrified audiences or critics, so it's been over a decade since he directed a well-received movie. Let's hope this streak changes when he takes on an adaptation of the British memoir We Bought a Zoo, which is planned for a Christmas release in 2011.

The story follows a man who buys a dilapidated zoo in England. Besides the hazards and challenges of running a zoo, his wife is dying of a brain tumor, leaving behind him and their two children. The British novel was published (at least in the U.S.) by Weinstein books, so although Fox will produce the project, rights probably originated with the Weinstein Company. The release date has been planned for a year and a half from now, so production will probably start within the next six months. Crowe will now be on a search for an A-list star for the role of the zoo-buying man. On IMDB, Ben Stiller is "rumored" for the role. I could see him working in the part, though let's hope he can create a more likable character than the mope he played in Greenberg.

In its favor, the movie will draw animal-loving audiences with its menagerie of cute animals. Because of the success of Fox's Marley & Me (which also has some sad moments), the studio was reportedly excited for another animal-themed project. But figuring out how to balance the sad aspects of the movie against the comedy might be tricky. The book opens with the family finding out that the wife has a brain tumor while they are living in Southern France. It appears that the tumor recurs after the family has moved back to England and bought a zoo. Watching someone die slowly on screen, while making jokes? I loved Patch Adams but this tone will be extremely difficult to nail. From checking out reviews of the book on Amazon, it appears the book solves this problem by focusing mainly on the ins and outs of the zoo. Readers seemed to like the emotional weight of the scenes with his wife, but they didn't dominate the narrative.

I hope Crowe can come up with a great film with unforgettable dialogue and imagery--maybe for the scene when the jaguar escapes from the zoo? We need another image of John Cusack holding a boombox over his head or "Show Me the Money." Make it memorable, Cameron!