Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Tom Sherak and Academy member and Oscar-nominated actress Jennifer Lawrence announced the nominations earlier today. Martin Scorsese’s Hugo lead the pack with 11 nominations, with Michel Hazanavicius’ The Artist picking up 10.

Here’s list in full:

Actor in a Leading Role
Demián Bichir in “A Better Life”
George Clooney in “The Descendants”
Jean Dujardin in “The Artist”
Gary Oldman in “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”
Brad Pitt in “Moneyball”

Actor in a Supporting Role
Kenneth Branagh in “My Week with Marilyn”
Jonah Hill in “Moneyball”
Nick Nolte in “Warrior”
Christopher Plummer in “Beginners”
Max von Sydow in “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”

Actress in a Leading Role
Glenn Close in “Albert Nobbs”
Viola Davis in “The Help”
Rooney Mara in “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
Meryl Streep in “The Iron Lady”
Michelle Williams in “My Week with Marilyn”

Actress in a Supporting Role
Bérénice Bejo in “The Artist”
Jessica Chastain in “The Help”
Melissa McCarthy in “Bridesmaids”
Janet McTeer in “Albert Nobbs”
Octavia Spencer in “The Help”

Animated Feature Film
“A Cat in Paris” Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli
“Chico & Rita” Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal
“Kung Fu Panda 2″ Jennifer Yuh Nelson
“Puss in Boots” Chris Miller
“Rango” Gore Verbinski

Art Direction
“The Artist” Production Design: Laurence Bennett; Set Decoration: Robert Gould
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″ Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
“Hugo” Production Design: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
“Midnight in Paris” Production Design: Anne Seibel; Set Decoration: Hélène Dubreuil
“War Horse” Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales

Cinematography
“The Artist” Guillaume Schiffman
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Jeff Cronenweth
“Hugo” Robert Richardson
“The Tree of Life” Emmanuel Lubezki
“War Horse” Janusz Kaminski

Costume Design
“Anonymous” Lisy Christl
“The Artist” Mark Bridges
“Hugo” Sandy Powell
“Jane Eyre” Michael O’Connor
“W.E.” Arianne Phillips

Directing
“The Artist” Michel Hazanavicius
“The Descendants” Alexander Payne
“Hugo” Martin Scorsese
“Midnight in Paris” Woody Allen
“The Tree of Life” Terrence Malick

Documentary (Feature)
“Hell and Back Again” Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner
“If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front” Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman
“Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory” Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
“Pina” Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel
“Undefeated” TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Richard Middlemas

Documentary (Short Subject)
“The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement” Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin
“God Is the Bigger Elvis” Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson
“Incident in New Baghdad”James Spione
“Saving Face” Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
“The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom” Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen

Film Editing
“The Artist” Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius
“The Descendants” Kevin Tent
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
“Hugo” Thelma Schoonmaker
“Moneyball” Christopher Tellefsen

Foreign Language Film
“Bullhead” Belgium
“Footnote” Israel
“In Darkness” Poland
“Monsieur Lazhar” Canada
“A Separation” Iran

Makeup
“Albert Nobbs” Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″ Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng
“The Iron Lady” Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland

Music (Original Score)
“The Adventures of Tintin” John Williams
“The Artist” Ludovic Bource
“Hugo” Howard Shore
“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” Alberto Iglesias
“War Horse” John Williams

Music (Original Song)
“Man or Muppet” from “The Muppets” Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie
“Real in Rio” from “Rio” Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown Lyric by Siedah Garrett

Best Picture
“The Artist” Thomas Langmann, Producer
“The Descendants” Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Producers
“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” Scott Rudin, Producer
“The Help” Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan, Producers
“Hugo” Graham King and Martin Scorsese, Producers
“Midnight in Paris” Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum, Producers
“Moneyball” Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Brad Pitt, Producers
“The Tree of Life” Nominees to be determined
“War Horse” Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers

Short Film (Animated)
“Dimanche/Sunday” Patrick Doyon
“The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg
“La Luna” Enrico Casarosa
“A Morning Stroll” Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe
“Wild Life” Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby

Short Film (Live Action)
“Pentecost” Peter McDonald and Eimear O’Kane
“Raju” Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren
“The Shore” Terry George and Oorlagh George
“Time Freak” Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey
“Tuba Atlantic” Hallvar Witzø

Sound Editing
“Drive” Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Ren Klyce
“Hugo” Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon” Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
“War Horse” Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom

Sound Mixing
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Bo Persson
“Hugo” Tom Fleischman and John Midgley
“Moneyball” Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, Dave Giammarco and Ed Novick
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon” Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin
“War Horse” Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson and Stuart Wilson

Visual Effects
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″ Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson
“Hugo” Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman and Alex Henning
“Real Steel” Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor and Swen Gillberg
“Rise of the Planet of the Apes” Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon” Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler and John Frazier

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
“The Descendants” Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
“Hugo” Screenplay by John Logan
“The Ides of March” Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon
“Moneyball” Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin. Story by Stan Chervin
“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” Screenplay by Bridget O’Connor & Peter Straughan

Writing (Original Screenplay)
“The Artist” Written by Michel Hazanavicius
“Bridesmaids” Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig
“Margin Call” Written by J.C. Chandor
“Midnight in Paris” Written by Woody Allen
“A Separation” Written by Asghar Farhadi

Read similar posts to Here are the 84th Annual Academy Award nominations! at Filmonic

The New York Film Critics Online, the Boston Society of Film Critics, and the L.A. Film Critics all released their annual awards on Sunday. The American Film Institute also released its top ten movies and television shows of the year.

Michel Hazanavicius’ tribute to the silent movie era, The Artist, was one of the biggest winners, receiving Best Picture honors from both the NYFCO and the BSFC. It was also given a special award from the AFI (for movies which do not fit into the AFI’s normal criteria). Hazanavicius also won Best Director from the NYFCO.

The Descendants won the Best Picture prize from the LAFC.

The NYFCO, BSFC, and LAFC all awarded different winners in both the Best Actor (Michael Shannon for Take Shelter, Brad Pitt for Moneyball, and Michael Fassbender for his whole year’s body of work, including Shame and A Dangerous Method, respectively) and Best Actress categories (Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady, Michelle Williams for My Week With Marilyn, and Yun Jung-hee for Poetry, respectively).

Albert Brooks (Drive) nabbed the Best Supporting Actor awards from both the NYFCO and the BSFC. Christopher Plummer (Beginners) received it from the LAFC.

One of the most interesting winners from yesterday was Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids), who was honored by the NYFCO and the BSFC in the Supporting Actress category. Strictly comedic performances are often overlooked during the awards season, but if Robert Downey Jr. can get an Oscar nomination for Tropic Thunder, then maybe McCarthy can grab one too.

There doesn’t seem to be a clear front runner in any category, but The Artist, War Horse, The Descendants, Tree of Life, and Hugo (among several others) are all looking good to garner some Best Picture nominations during the big awards in the New Year.

You can view the complete list for the New York Film Critics Online awards here; the Boston Society Film Critics’ awards here; the L.A. Film Critics’ awards here; and the AFI awards here.

Read similar posts to Critics award The Artist, The Descendants, Brad Pitt, Michael Fassbender, and others at Filmonic

Amazon has now made Moneyball available to pre-order via these links: DVD | Blu-ray

Sony has set the Moneyball DVD and Blu-ray release date for January 10, 2012. The movie, starring Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Robin Wright, was released back in September and follows the story of Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane’s successful attempt to put together a baseball club on a budget by employing computer-generated analysis to draft his players.

Moneyball was directed by Bennett Miller and has made $71 million worldwide so far (it will be rolling out in the UK and other territories between now and February). The movie has an impressive 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, so an awards campaign and Best Actor push for Pitt may be on the horizon.

Blu-ray.com has the special features:

Four behind-the-scenes featurettes:
- Billy Beane: Re-Inventing the Game
- Drafting The Team
- Moneyball: Playing The Game
- Adapting Moneyball
Blooper: “Brad Loses It”

Amazon has now made Moneyball available to pre-order via these links: DVD | Blu-ray

Read similar posts to Moneyball set for January DVD/Blu-ray release at Filmonic

Puss in Boots purred his way to the top of the box office while also scoring the biggest Halloween weekend ever. While not a particularly amazing performance, it almost tripled Justin Timberlake’s In Time and I’m not even going to mention The Rum Diary.

Diablo Gato, The Furry Lover, Chupacabra, Frisky Two Times, The Gingerhead Man or simply Puss in Boots, opened with $34 million. For DreamWorks Animation, that’s on the low end. Even the 2001 original Shrek (that didn’t feature Puss) opened higher at $42.3 million without 3D. But, as is the case with most spin-offs, Puss in Boots was never expected to open like a Shrek. On the bright side, $34 million was enough to beat Saw 2‘s $33.6 million Halloween record. Word of mouth seems to be strong so I’m expecting good holds and a final gross north of $120 million in North America.

In 2nd place was Paranormal Activity 3 with a respectable $18.1 million for an even more respectable $83.4 million in 11 days. Paranormal Activity 3 also had the steepest second weekend drop of the franchise so far but after such a huge opening weekend, it was to be expected. On the other hand, Paranormal Activity 2 was at only $67 million after 11 days so this latest entry should still finish above the $100 million mark.

New entry In Time is 3rd with $12 million and for the very busy Justin Timberlake, it was the worst wide opening weekend in over 4 years. For director Andrew Niccol, famous for making unique movies like the cult classic Gattaca, Simone, Lord of War and now this, it was his biggest opening ever. Because In Time is such a polarizing movie (much like Niccol’s previous efforts), I don’t expect much in the way of box office legs so $30 million is as high as I see this going.

Footloose had another good weekend with $5.5 million for a total of $38.9 million in 18 days. The same can’t be said for Johnny Deep’s The Rum Diary. Coming in at just $5.1 million, this is the worst wide opening for Johnny Deep since The Astronaut’s Wife way back in 1999 when movie tickets were a lot cheaper and M. Night Shyamalan was arguably as popular as Christopher Nolan is today. Adjusted for inflation, this is probably the worst wide opening weekend ever for Mr. Deep. Yes, even Nick of Time in 1995 probably sold more tickets than this.

Finally, in Moneyball and Dolphin Tale news, I was right on the money when saying this would be the weekend that will see the Brad Pitt film take a stand. With $67.7 million versus $67.2 million, Moneyball is back in the lead and it will probably stay there.

Read similar posts to Box Office: Puss in Boots leads Halloween weekend at Filmonic

I was way off last weekend when predicting this would open with $30 million and i’m not ashamed to recognize when I’m wrong. Not only did Paranormal Activity 3 open higher than the last entry in the series but it took the number one pure horror opening record and the best fall opening to date. Meanwhile, everything else bombed.

It’s very hard to find words to express just how incredible a $52.5 million opening for Paranormal Activity 3 is. The first movie in the series, as many know, became a sleeper hit in the fall of 2009. In 2010 Paranormal Activity 2 turned from sleeper to event movie with a $40.6 million opening. Now, Paranormal Activity 3 did what few expected and bested the previous film’s opening. As mentioned in the introduction, Paranormal Activity 3 is now the highest opening horror flick, beating brother Paranormal Activity 2 that held said spot for just one year. The fall opening record (at least what Hollywood considers as fall) was previously under Jackass 3D with $50.3 million a year ago. Paranormal Activity 3 should have no problem finishing ahead of Paranormal Activity 2‘s $84.7 million total and even attempt to out-gross the original’s $107.9 million.

In 2nd place former leader Real Steel makes $10.8 million for a respectable $67.3 million after 18 days. Footloose was 3rd with $10.3 million and $30.9 million in 11 days. Made with $24 million, this 80′s remake is on the right track to becoming profitable.

The Three Musketeers in 4th place was for lack of better words, a disaster thanks to an $8.6 million opening weekend. This is enough to make even Conan the Barbarian jealous (one of the bigger bombs this year). With this puny opening, even a total of $20 million from North America seems like a stretch now. Director Paul W.S. Anderson probably isn’t very happy with this result but around the world musketeers is still doing decent business so it ain’t all bad.

The Ides of March rounds up the top 5 with $4.8 million and a total of $29.4 million after 18 days. In Dolphin Tale/Moneyball news, the flicks are still at it with $4.2 versus $3.9 million in 6th and 7th place with $64.6 and $63.9 million after 32 days. I can’t remember the last time two movies opening at the same time ran so close to each other. Next weekend (thanks to Puss in Boots) should be when Moneyball leaves Dolphin Tale behind.

Johnny English Reborn in 8th place with $3.8 million was a far cry from the $9.1 million opening of Johnny English in 2003. With numbers like that, this film is looking at $9-10 million max.

The last wide release of the weekend, The Mighty Macs, wasn’t able to even reach $1 million and had to settle for 15th place. This will be out of theaters in 2 weeks with no more then $2 million made in total.

Read similar posts to Box Office: Paranormal Activity 3 opens to horror records at Filmonic

Quite a bunch of remakes came out this year proving once again that Hollywood is very close to running out of ideas (they are making a Farmville movie, come on). It comes as no surprise that neither The Thing or Footloose were strong enough to bring robot boxing movie Real Steel down from the top spot.

Thanks to weak competition Real Steel manage to remain first with $16.2 million bringing the family flick at $51.7 million in 10 days. The 40.4% drop is decent and makes me believe that this movie could have a relatively long stay in the top 10 if it can keep this up. Still, numbers should definitely be higher for Real Steel considering the very high production costs.

Some called it pointless, others fun but the consent around Footloose is that, surprisingly the movie ain’t bad. A $15.5 million opening was good enough for 2nd place, and on a budget of $24 million Paramount are safe since it will make more than double that when all will be said and done. But the question remains, did we need this remake?

In 3rd place comes what could be considered a less pointless remake that technically is actually a prequel. The problem with this film is no one asked for a remake or prequel and the original The Thing is still very well regarded by fans of the genre. What Universal showed in previews for this new version wasn’t nearly as compelling as it should have been so no wonder the 2011 The Thing opened with just $8.4 million.

The Ides of March was in 4th place with $7.1 million for $21.7 million in 10 days. Dolphin Tale finished 5th while Moneyball was 6th. First one made $58.5 million while the later sits at $57.6 million, both in 24 days. I still think Moneyball will come out first in this battle.

50/50 in 7th had the smallest drop in the top 10, down $24.6 million for $4.2 million and a total of $24.2 million for this $8 million cancer dramedy.

Christina flick Courageous (produced by the very small company Sherwood Pictures, responsible for the sleeper hit Fireproof in 2008) was 8th with $3.3 million and has generated a total of $21.2 million in 17 days. That’s more than ten times the $2 million they spent on it.

The Big Year was 9th with a $3.2 million opening weekend and this is definitely what we could call a box office bomb. Jack Black, Steve Martin and Owen Wilson were not enough to propel this comedy higher. Finally The Lion King 3D was 10th with $2.7 million, likely for the last time in the top 10. Thanks to the $90.5 million grossed in this new run, The Lion King stands at a whopping $419 million in total. That’s 9th place on the all time North American chart and it could possibly get to 8th place where Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest has been sitting for the past 5 years with $423.3 million.

Read similar posts to Box Office: Real Steel wins round 2 at Filmonic

The robot boxing live-action flick Real Steel took the number one spot both in North America and around the world last weekend. While west of the Atlantic there wasn’t much of a fight, internationally Johnny English Reborn gave Real Steel a run for its money.

Real Steel generated $27.3 million in North America and $22.1 million in 19 other markets bringing the flick to a worldwide box office total of $54.6 million so far. For something released in October this would be a great number but unfortunately for Real Steel, the Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots movie came with a hefty price tag rumored to be somewhere around $147 million. In the US the movie could end up grossing over $100 million with good word of mouth while internationally the sky is the limit as they say. But I think over $200 million would be a more down to earth guess. Ultimately, it’s not going to be easy for Real Steel to become profitable.

The Ides of March took 2nd place in North America with $10.4 million. Coming from Sony, this was the other new release of the weekend.

Internationally Johnny English Reborn was 2nd with $21.1 million for a total of $61.3 million so far. The movie comes out in North America in little over a week so I’m expecting $20 something million from there also.

Dolphin Tale was 3rd with $9.1 million domestically for $51.3 million total while Moneyball was 4th with $7.4 million and a $50.9 million total. This two have had 21 days in release so far and are still going at it stronger then ever. My money is still on Moneyball taking the edge when all will be said and done.

Finally for North America, 50/50 was 5th with $5.6 million for $18.9 million in 12 days. Before I switch back to international box office I have to mention The Lion King 3D, 7th place with an epic $87.1 million made in 26 days. This is now just 0.5 million shy of the $900 million worldwide mark. Actually, considering how much money The Lion King 3D makes on a given day, I think it’s already there so congrats to Disney for bringing back a 17 year old series and making it the most successful movie of the autumn thus far.

Back to international box office where, maybe you didn’t hear but The Smurfs isn’t number one for the first time in 9 weeks, wow. Yep, the live-action debut of the animated classic was 3rd for the first time ever with $8.5 million for a ridiculous worldwide total of $532.7 million.

4th place has Rise of the Planet of the Apes with $7.8 million for a total of $418.4 million worldwide. Execs at Fox must feel so proud of themselves right about now. In 5th place The Lion King 3D grossed another $7.3 million and as mentioned above, it’s just shy of $900 million making it the 20th movie to ever reach that mark worldwide.

Read similar posts to Real Steel takes the box office by storm at Filmonic

Dolphin Tale managed to slip to first place after some underwhelming new movies couldn’t even reach the top 3 during the weekend. Neither Courageous, 50/50, Dream House or What’s Your Number? were strong enough to make a difference. Anyway, the order and numbers are right after the break.

Dolphin Tale fell only 27.4% from a week ago for a $13.9 million weekend, surprisingly, just enough for the number one spot. The Warner Bros. family flick is now at $37.8 million after 11 days. In 2nd place, Moneyball grabbed $12 million and stands at $38.8 million after 11 days. So while Dolphin Tale was stronger over the weekend, Moneyball has the upper hand on weekdays. It’s going to be a tough call trying to name which of these two that will end up with more green. Puss in Boots might take a hit on Dolphin Tale in 3 weeks so Moneyball could make a run for it then.

3rd place belongs to The Lion King 3D with $10.6 million for $79.7 million in this run and a whopping $408.3 million overall in North America. Thanks to this incredible 3D box office run, The Lion King is now back in the all time US Top 10. No surprise that Disney announced they will also re-release 4 other classics in 3D.

Courageous is the first new release from last weekend and probably the most successful with a $9 million opening weekend for a movie that cost just $2 million to make. Impressive enough was also 50/50 with an $8.6 million opening on an $8 million budget. It’s a given that neither of this two movies will lose money for their respective studios, so while numbers where underwhelming, the bottom line is what counts.

Dream House in 6th is probably the biggest flop of the newcomers with an $8.2 million opening for a $50 million flick. Daniel Craig doesn’t seem to be able to shake his bad luck streak at the box office outside of the Bond franchise.

Abduction was a decent 7th place with $5.6 million for $19.4 million in 11 days while the last wide newcomer, What’s Your Number?, was 8th with a $5.4 million opening weekend. On a $20 million budget it won’t be easy for this movie to break even at the box office.

Read similar posts to Box Office: Dolphin Tale swims to the top at Filmonic

This is definitely something no one could have predicted a few weeks ago, I mean The Lion King, a 17 year old animated movie becoming the highest grosser of the month. But, you know, there was nothing even remotely close to it besides Contagion in September so we could also attribute that to lackluster sales for mostly lackluster movies. Anyway, you guys probably wonder how the other movies performed and that comes right after the break.

Okay, The Lion King 3D is kicking some serious ass for a second weekend in a row with $21.9 million for an astonishing $62.9 after 11 days. By comparison, Contagion has made $57.6 million after 18 days. Thanks to all this new found money, the classic animated feature is now at $391.5 million in North America, going from 24th to 12th place on the all time US table in the past two weeks. Even better news, the initial 2 weeks only theater engagement that this movie had has been extended and The Lion King 3D will be here next weekend, with a bit of luck in first place again.

The rest of the top 5 is filled with new entries starting with Moneyball in 2nd. The Brad Pitt sports drama wasn’t strong enough to upset The Lion King but it was good none the less. $19.5 million is a decent result for the genre and when it comes to baseball movies openings it ranks 2nd just behind The Benchwarmers. Moneyball reportedly cost $50 million to produce and with the current opening in mind, I’m expecting it will finish with over $80 million in North America. I could say that profitability on this flick is very likely.

Next up Dolphin Tale was 3rd with $19.1 million, very impressive and even more so considering this went up against The Lion King with family audiences, yet neither seemed to suffer all that much. Good reviews and expected great word of mouth could lead Dolphin Tale to $100 million or more in North America making this a very profitable affair for Warner Bros. since it cost just $37 million to make.

Taylor Lautner’s Abduction finished 4th with $10.9 million and considering just how bad this movie was, I’d say the kid definitely helped its odds, raising a lot more money then it would have normally. I’m actually all the more impressive that this beat fellow action movie Killer Elite ($9.3 million), starring Jason Statham, Clive Owen and Rober DeNiro. Abduction got worse reviews  (3% versus 25% on Rotten Tomatoes) and was much cheaper ($35 million versus $70 million) yet it opened higher. So can Taylor Lautner open a movie? Yes he can, just not as big as some studios think.

Finally, thanks to all the above, 23-25 2011 is now the highest grossing September weekend ever.

Read similar posts to Box Office: The Lion King reigns again at Filmonic

Quite a decent offering we’ve got this weekend, four new entries, all able to draw a decent audience under normal circumstances. We’ve got sports drama Moneyball, starring Brad Pitt, family adventure Dolphin Tale and action movies Abduction and Killer Elite. So, how will each one of this perform against The Lion King? The answer should be right after the break.

I have to be honest, I’m not quite sold on the box office power of Moneyball, at least not enough to declare it a clear winner against The Lion King 3D. The later has had great legs through the week so I’m positive it will have a good hold. On the other hand, Moneyball has been a long time coming, at one point having Steven Soderbergh attached to direct. Today what we have is Brad Pitt (who’s been on this for years), Jonah Hill and Philip Seymor (working with director Bennett Miller again after Capote 6 years ago). Now sports dramas in general, with the exception of the Rocky series, The Blind Side and a few others, have never been big hits at the box office so I don’t expect things to change with this movie. I’m going to say $22 million for Moneyball, maybe enough for 1st place.

The Lion King 3D has a 50/50 chance to take the top spot again, depending on how much business Dolphin Tale steals from it. You see, 2 years ago Sony released an 3D animated flick called Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs around the same time. That movie opened ridiculously similar to The Lion King 3D so obviously I’m going to base my prediction on how that movie performed on its second weekend. Thing is Cloudy had half the weekday numbers The Lion King has so it wouldn’t be a stretch to think that the 3D remastered version could potentially finish north of $25 million over the weekend. Thing is Cloudy didn’t have another 3D family movie in its second week so I’m going to say The Lion King 3D makes $21 million for 2nd place.

Dolphin Tale, the second new movie of the week, comes from Warner Bros in not as glorious as it once was 3D. Having the most theaters (3507) out of all the pictures released today, the studio is definitely expecting something north of $15 million. Given the great reviews it’s getting (86% on Rotten Tomatoes right now) I won’t be surprised if it opens with $17 million for 3rd place.

Abduction is the third movie that comes out today and Taylor Lautner’s first true box office test. We already know he’s had great success in the Twilight Saga or with an ensemble cast in Valentines Day, but can he replicate that with Abduction? Sorry fans out there but I’m thinking no. That being said, it would be ridiculous to expect that same level of success out of an utterly mediocre action movie like Abduction. Still, he should be able to pull in a good $12 million or so for 4th place.

For the last spot in the top 5 we have no less then three movies fighting, namely Contagion, Drive and new entry Killer Elite. The former stars Jason Statham, Robert DeNiro, Clive Owen and Chuck‘s Yvonne Strahovski. A $10 million opening might be enough for this since I doubt it was all that expensive to make (and if it was, well tough luck). Contagion and Drive should both gross around $7-8 million.

Next week we don’t get a break cause we have yet again four movies. Cancer drama/comedy 50/50, romantic comedy where Anna Faris gets naked again called What’s Your Number, Daniel Craig and wife Rachel Weisz amnesia thriller Dream House and christian cop drama Courageous from the same guys that brought us the christian fireman drama Fireproof.

Read similar posts to Moneyball tries to outgross The Lion King 3D at Filmonic