Holdovers hope to prosper at New Year's B.O.

'Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol' is expected to stay on top of the domestic box office.Warner Bros.' 'Sherlock Holmes' should take the No. 2 spot over the New Year's weekend.New Year's box office is historically light on new entries, leaving Christmastime holdovers with room to grow during what can be a solid moviegoing weekend. That's certainly the case this year, as Paramount's "Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol," which won bragging rights last weekend with a four-day gross of $44.1 million, is expected to stay on top. Warner Bros.' "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" should follow after collecting $31 million over Christmas. Entering its second week of wide release, "Mission" has raked in $86 million domestically; "Sherlock" just passed $100 million in its third week. Only a quartet of titles open in limited release, led by the Weinstein Co.'s Friday entry "The Iron Lady" and Focus Features' "Pariah," which bowed Wednesday. (Both pics open at four locations.) Sony Pictures Classics' "A Separation," Iran's submission to the foreign-lingo Oscar race, and Magnolia's family drama "Angels Crest" also launch limited on Friday. Similar to Stateside plexes, overseas cinemas should benefit from filmgoers on vacation. In fact, business throughout Europe should increase significantly vs. last weekend since most theaters there were closed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. "Mission" topped the overseas charts last weekend with $45.8 million; international cume is $144.2 million. "Sherlock" and Fox's "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked" followed, collecting $22 million and $16.5 million, respectively, over the weekend. "Sherlock" has cumed $49 million; "Chipwrecked," $38.5 million. In 2010, Universal's holdover "Little Fockers" won New Year's weekend with $25.8 million. But that pic dropped 16% in its second weekend, while Par's No. 2-ranking "True Grit," also in its soph sesh, fell just 2% for a weekend take of $24.4 million. This year's crop should see similarly strong holds because of mostly positive exit polls and word of mouth. Beside "Mission" and "Sherlock," high-ranking pics should include Fox's "Chipwrecked," Sony's "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" and Disney-DreamWorks' "War Horse." The latter film, which bowed wide Christmas Day, will have more time to prove itself throughout the weekend, while "Dragon Tattoo" has been performing well in midweeks. "Chipwrecked" cumed north of $63 million, "Dragon Tattoo" $32.5 million and "War Horse" $18.7 million as of Dec. 27. Two family pics, Fox's "We Bought a Zoo" and Par's "The Adventures of Tintin," also hope to benefit from the lack of new wide releases. "Zoo" has collected $27.7 million domestically; "Tintin," $18.9 million. Contact Andrew Stewart at andrew.stewart@variety.com

New trailer for Underworld: Awakening

Not had enough trailer-based goodness for starters week? Reckon you'll be able to squeeze in one more? Well that's handy, must be new teaser remains released for Underworld: Evolution, which is stuffed for the brim with supernatural antics.The film sees Kate Beckinsale putting on the lycra suit once again to see vampire warrior Selene, who breaks from her extended-standing incarceration to get the Vampires of the underworld from the underworld and Lycans temporarily united states . having a common foe... guy.The completely new trailer provides a good look at India Eisley's character Eve, a hybrid child whose existence could spell the conclusion for clans, together with the fearsome-searching mega-Lycan.Take a look within the new trailer, below... Fairly exciting stuff, in the event you request us. Sure, it's all regulated controlled OTT explosions and dizzying quick-cuts, nevertheless it does no less than look as though the newest instalment won't skimp the loop. And Selene's throat-slitting corridor slide is actually badass!Underworld: Awakening opens in Uk cinemas on 20 The month of the month of january 2012. Prepare to select a side...

David Copperfield Totally Lost Out on Orson Welles's Oscar

Tucked away in this report that Orson’s Welles’s Citizen Kane Oscar finally sold this week for $861,542, find this depressing revelation: “Underbidder David Copperfield had been eager to acquire the statuette because Welles apparently was something of a magician himself. Copperfield already owns many props from the movie.” The winner of the auction has not been identified, but whatever. “Underbidder David Copperfield.” Saddest holiday ever. [Deadline]

Natalie Portman angry over Patty Jenkins departing Thor 2

Natalie Portman is apparently most displeased in the exit of Patty Jenkins from super hero follow up Thor 2 earlier this year.Beast director Jenkins have been introduced because the alternative for Kenneth Branagh, after Branagh had switched lower the chance to come back. It had been a scheduled appointment that will make Jenkins the very first female director to mind up a significant super hero movie, just for her to depart the project abruptly at the outset of the month.Although "creative variations" were mooted, The Hollywood Reporter indicates that Jenkins was fired unexpectedly, a training course of occasions which has riled Portman.It's believed that the star had recently been thinking about her position within the follow up over concerns it would keep her from investing time together with her newborn. However, individuals issues were apparently resolved, with Jenkins presence a vital element in Portman's decision.Portman has become contractually obliged to look within the film, although Marvel aspire to appease her somewhat by including her in the quest for Jenkins' alternative. Word on who that could be, once we have it.

The Amazing Spider-Man gets a cool new poster

[brightcove]1069347403001[/brightcove]Things have been a little quiet on The Amazing Spider-Man front recently (well, unless you're an avid Pez fan).But that's changed today with the unveiling of a cool new poster, which clearly takes a leaf out of Batman's stylish book, and marks a departure from the brightly-coloured promos of Sam Raimi's era.The poster, featured on Superhero Hype, shows Peter Parker perched nimbly on a wall, with his shadow creating an iconic arachnid design. That tagline makes the film's intentions pretty clear too...Check out the poster in full below:The Amazing Spider-Man opens on 4 July 2012, which surely means there must be a new trailer coming soon.

'G.I. Joe: Retaliation' Trailer: The Rock, Channing Tatum and Bruce Willis Save the planet

.publish-content img You most likely did not think a lot of 'G.I. Joe: An Upswing of Cobra' despite its $300 million worldwide gross. In the end, the film -- from noted hack director Stephen Sommers -- was savaged by experts, and audiences did not appear too pleased either -- a minimum of knowing by 'G.I. Joe's' heinous IMDb user rating. Fortunately, 'The Rise of Cobra' arrived on the scene at any given time when ticket purchasers were investing money such as the 1% released 'The Rise of Cobra' now, and it might be lucky hitting $200 million worldwide -- even just in three dimensional. So! How did Vital change 'G.I. Joe: Retaliation' in order to avoid the follow up from having to pay for that sins from the original? By casting Dwayne "The Rock" Manley, Bruce Willis and Tyra from 'Friday Evening Lights,' obviously! Directed through the progressively interesting Jon M. Chu, 'G.I. Joe: Retaliation' plays just like a sweatier version of 'Mission: Impossible.' The 'Joe' team is wrongfully charged with being a menace to national security and all sorts of are wiped out -- aside from Roadblock (Manley), Duke (Channing Tatum) and Lady Jaye (Adrianne Palicki TYRA!). Together they team with original G.I. Joe, Joe Colton (Bruce Willis), to prevent Cobra from overtaking the Whitened House. "The planet ain't saving itself," states Roadblock before a techno version of 'Seven Nation Army' takes over around the soundtrack. Hey, why don't you? 'G.I. Joe: Retaliation' hits theaters on June 29, 2012. Follow Moviefone on Twitter Like Moviefone on Facebook

Hulu targets Latino market

Hulu is launching a section for Spanish-language programming that draws from 11 content companies. Hulu Latino will be anchored with access to next-day programming from Univision, Galavision and Telefutura. Hulu Plus users will be able to watch entire current seasons of hits including "La Fuerza del Destino," "Aqui y Ahora," "Protagonistas" and "Noche de Perros." Also coming to Hulu Latino next year is content from Azteca America, Butaca, Caracol Television, Comarex, Estrella TV, Imagina US, Laguna Prods., Maya Entertainment, RCTV, Todobebe and Venevision. The broad range of deals means Hulu is hoping to corner the market on the massive Hispanic audience in the U.S. "We will also continue to improve the product and service to make the experience of enjoying this content better for all of our users, whether they are Spanish-speaking, bilingual or English-speaking," said Andy Forsell, senior VP of content at Hulu. Corona, Modelo, Toyota, Pantene and Volkswagen of America are onboard for sponsorships. Contact Andrew Wallenstein at andrew.wallenstein@variety.com

Asante to direct 'Belle'

LONDON -- Brit helmer Amma Asante is mounted on direct feature pic "Belle," with Damian Jones' shingle DJ Films creating. Story, occur the 1780s, follows a mixed-race girl that's adopted into an aristocratic family, who faces class and color prejudices. As she blossoms right into a youthful lady, she soon evolves rapport having a local vicar's boy, who is an advocate for slave emancipation. It has been some time since Asante makes a movie: the helmer-scribe formerly directed and composed "A Life-style," toplining Stephanie James, Gary Sheppeard and Nathan Johnson, which gained her the BAFTA Carl Foreman Award for many promising newcomer in 2005. "Belle," with a 6.5 million ($10.a million) budget and has been around development using the British Film Institute, that it received 13,000 ($20,289) of development gold coin, is skedded to lense next summer time. Asante has additionally re-written the most recent draft from the pic from the first draft composed by Misan Sagay ("The Key Laughter of ladiesInch). Johnson continues to be busy this season with Margaret Thatcher biopic "The Iron Lady," that the Weinstein Co. is delivering in Gotham and La on 12 ,. 30 before moving in the relaxation from the U.S. on Jan. 13. Johnson can also be presently lensing "Fast Women," helmed by Regan Hall and composed by Noel Clarke, which sees a youthful female runner in the wrong side from the tracks create a competition by having an equally ambitious and wealthy athlete. Johnson can also be creating Joe Strummer biopic "The Best Profile" with Film4, which, he states, continues to be searching for a helmer. Contact Diana Lodderhose at diana.lodderhose@variety.com

Carrie Fisher, Carson Kressley to Star in Modern-Day 'Christmas Carol' for Hallmark Channel (Exclusive)

NY - CBS Corp. is seeing continued advertising momentum, expects digital distribution deals to provide a continuing revenue stream and wants a healthy Netflix, which has paid up for library content deals with the company, president and CEO Leslie Moonves said here Tuesday in kicking off the second day of the 39th annual UBS Global Media and Communications Conference on a typically bullish note.our editor recommendsCBS' Leslie Moonves on Charlie Sheen Debacle: 'S--- Happens'CBS News Retires 'Early Show' Title He also said his company wants to remain in business with the NFL, even though he didn't confirm that a new long-term NFL TV deal was close to being signed. Asked about the advertising market late in the year, Moonves said scatter ad market sales remain up in the mid-teens percentage range at CBS, even though competitors with weaker ratings are not doing as well. With the year-end approaching, "demand is picking up again," he said, and trends in the first quarter are looking "promising" with few cancellations. Summarized Moonves: "We're feeling good about advertising" - both nationally and locally. Moonves on Tuesday also once again lauded the "extremely solid" programming schedule at CBS and suggested that the broadcast business is" taking share away from cable," he said. Asked about concerns that broadcast TV may face some fallout from the availability of more content in new forms, Moonves said there was no sign that cable, the Internet or anything else has hurt ratings or financials. Asked about Netflix and its recent subscriber issues, Moonves said: "We want a healthy Netflix...We're rooting for them. We hope they continue to remain strong" and gain subs. The company has become "much more of a friend than a foe," he said. And Moonves said international growth by Netflix makes CBS "very excited" about potential upside in the likes of the U.K. and Canada. Asked about recent online content deals more broadly, which some analysts have predicted will slow down, Moonves said "the future looks extremely bright for this revenue stream to continue forever." And overall deals this year have turned out better than expected. He reiterated that hundreds of millions of dollars in deals for library content are flowing to CBS Corp. "Exclusivity we have avoided," because it is a "dirty word," he quipped. After all, the company wants to be open to whoever else gets into the digital distribution space, including Apple and Google. Other companies are "kicking the tires" for additional digital distribution deals, he said. "You have not heard the last of these deals." Moonves also reiterated on Tuesday that "primary engines" for his company are the CBS network and Showtime, which he called the "family jewels." With retransmission fees rising and syndication strong, "why would you mess with that," Moonves said. Speaking of Showtime, Moonves told the UBS conference that Homeland is "the best show on television." He added: "It's a great hit." He later told The Hollywood Reporter that he is, of course, proud of all the hit shows on his networks. Moonves told the UBS conference that Showtime continues to look for more original content, including upcoming Don Cheadle comedy House of Lies, which he accidentally called House of Cards, the name of Netflix's first push into original programming, before correcting himself right away. The CBS boss also got a question about the future of football content on the network. The NFL is reportedly close to signing an eight-year extension of TV rights deals to 2021 with broadcast partners CBS, Fox and NBC that would earn it about $3.2 billion a year, a 60 percent increase over the current contract. "I assume we'll continue to be in business with the NFL," Moonves told the UBS conference. It is "an unbelievable property" as even a bad football game outrates most programming, he said, adding that CBS is making a lot of money from the CBS. While retransmission consent fees will continue to rise from current levels, sports deals will take up "some of that money," Moonves said, but described this as "nothing to worry about." Nomura analyst Michael Nathanson said early Tuesday that 2014 could mean some headwinds from a new NFL deal for CBS. The cost for the NFL should go up since it has done "extremely well," but Moonves emphasized that the league "likes their partners to be strong" and make money. "We hope it continues for many years." Asked about his broader plans for sports coverage, Moonves said: "We really love the mix of sports programming we have...I'm not looking to expand...We're as solid as we have ever been." He pointed to the company's NFL, SEC, NCAA and golf events coverage. Moonves said CBS has no major revenue from reverse retrans deals with TV station groups yet, with 2013 starting to see financials from that revenue stream becoming more significant. His firm looks at each station group separately though, and there isn't a finite solution, he emphasized. Some struggle, so "we're not going to go after them as much," Moonves said, describing overall network-stations relationships at CBS as good. Asked about the use of cash at CBS Corp., Moonves said it could well raise its dividend next year. And while it plans no major acquisitions right now, the company will keep its eyes open for possible deals if they make financial and strategic sense, he said. Moonves started the second day of the UBS conference. Monday night, UBS had organized a cocktail reception at a bar near the conference location, the Grand Hyatt hotel in midtown Manhattan. Among those schmoozing at the reception were Aryeh Bourkoff, vice chairman, head of investment banking, Americas at UBS, Madonna manager Guy Oseary, ICM's Patti Kim, Showtime boss Matt Blank, TiVo CEO Tom Rogers, Dish Network board member Carl Vogel, Time Warner CFO John Martin, Anschutz executive Daniel Benel, Electronic Arts CFO Eric Brown, Katherine Keating, the daughter of the former prime minister of Australia, and former Sundance Channel CEO Larry Aidem. Email: Georg.Szalai@thr.com Twitter: @georgszalai Related Topics Leslie Moonves CBS CBS Corporation

Cruise cues 'All You'll Need Is Kill'

CruiseAfter relaxing in development limbo for a lot of several weeks, "You Just Need Kill" may finally be around the steps for success as Tom Cruise has decided to star.In line with the graphic novel, the initial story is incorporated in the vein of "Groundhog Day," having a twist: A soldier inside a war against aliens finds themself reliving his last day again and again after being wiped out. With the training and battles he encounters during these time loops, he turns into a better soldier.While an offer using the studio is not formally signed, Cruise continues to be weighing this role for a while after ongoing talks with director Doug Liman.Sources say Warners. prexy Shaun Robinov always wanted a large star, although the script known as for any more youthful actor like Ryan Gosling or Frederick Gordon Levitt. Studio has had the script rewritten to create the smoothness fit Cruise's age.Dante Harper composed the script with Joby Harold doing the rewrite. Sources stated Cruise loved the script a lot that Liman traveled to Pittsburgh, in which the thesp was shooting Vital and Skydance's "One Shot," to satisfy using the actor concerning the role.Another essential development: Liman, who's been onboard to direct "Kill" for a while, has lined up as his next project. For several weeks, Liman have been weighing carrying this out or even the Vital space adventure "Luna," which battled to put together financing and saw David Ellison's Skydance Productions give up -- forcing Liman to show to "Kill" for the time being.Cruise' hectic agenda could enable Liman to complete both: After "One Shot," Cruise is anticipated to shoot the Universal sci-fier "Oblivion" in March, then begin "Kill" within the late third/early 4th quarter of 2012. No start date is yet set.Cruise, repped by CAA, is visible next in Componen and Skydance's "Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol," which bows 12 ,. 16, then New Line's "Rock of Age range" next summer time.Erwin Stoff, Tom Lassally and Jason Hoffs are creating through 3 Arts Entertainment.Harold is definitely an professional producer around the project. Contact Justin Kroll at justin.kroll@variety.com