Movies

Based on Dan Brown's esoteric thriller about code-breaking and conspiracy, the film will debut at the Riviera festival and in French theaters on May 17, the festival said Saturday. The rest of the world will have to wait two days, until May 19.

The adaptation by Oscar-winning director Ron Howard ("A Beautiful Mind") has an international cast led by Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou.

Like the novel, the movie is set largely in France: The story line opens with the murder of the curator of the Louvre Museum in Paris.

Early this month, the Louvre said the movie's producers were trying to decide between the museum and the Cannes festival as a site for the European premiere. The movie will not be in the running for prizes at Cannes.

Diana Ossana and James Schamus, who produced the Ang Lee-directed story of two ranch hands who conceal an ongoing homosexual affair from their families, took home the guild's top prize, the Darryl F. Zanuck producer of the year award.

Ossana also co-wrote the screenplay with famed Western author Larry McMurtry.

"Brokeback" won four Golden Globes last week - including best picture honors in the drama category - and has been lauded by critics' groups around the country.

The man-and-dog buddy adventure "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" earned Claire Jennings and Nick Park the producer of the year award for animated film.

Other winners at the awards ceremony held at the Universal Hilton included:

• Long-Form Television: "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers," HBO.

• Episodic Drama: "Lost," ABC.

• Episodic Comedy: "Entourage," HBO.

• Variety Television: "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," Syndicated.

The blood-drenched thriller, starring Kate Beckinsale and Scott Speedman, edged out last weekend's winning family fare, according to studio estimates released Sunday.

"Hoodwinked," the animated update of the Little Red Riding Hood story, fell to second place with $11 million in ticket sales, while inspirational films "Glory Road" and "Last Holiday" ranked third and fourth, taking in $9.1 million each.

Horror movies and family films "probably have the biggest built-in audience at the box office," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations.

The book by the award-winning children's author promises readers "high adventure, dramatic tensions and all the swashbuckling, danger and derring-do they can handle."

Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children owns the copyright to the original J.M. Barrie story about the boy who never grew up.

After a worldwide search for an author, the hospital trustees chose McCaughrean to write the sequel. The trust stipulated that the book must feature the original characters: Peter, Wendy, Tinkerbell, the rest of the Darling family and the fearsome Captain Hook.

The trustees have read and approved McCaughrean's recently finished manuscript and it will be published on Oct. 5.

"Neverland was such a marvelous place to spend my year," McCaughrean said. "I clean forgot Barrie's ghost might be reading the computer screen over my shoulder, forgot to worry whether the necessary people would like what I wrote. Mind you, that's a good sign. When a book is a joy to write, some of the fun often snags on the letters and gets trapped between the pages."

Filmmaker Nicole Holofcener warned the Sundance Film Festival crowd she was nervous.

And she proved it in remarks that preceded the premiere of her film "Friends With Money," forgetting to introduce her quartet of stars: Jennifer Aniston, Frances McDormand, Catherine Keener and Joan Cusack.

"Friends With Money" opened the festival to a packed theater Thursday night, with Sundance Institute founder Robert Redford and festival director Geoffrey Gilmore offering remarks before Holofcener came up.

Holofcener thanked many others on the film, executives at distributor Sony Pictures Classics, her casting director and editor, the male co-stars, including Jason Isaacs, Scott Caan, Simon McBurney and Greg Germann.

Then she started to leave, only rushing back to the podium after Gilmore reminded her she had neglected to mention the lead actresses.

Beyoncé Knowles is speaking to TMZ about the new DreamWorks and Paramount film version of 'Dreamgirls,' directed by 'Kinsey's' Bill Condon. Knowles plays a character loosely based on Diana Ross.

Former 'American Idol' season three contestant Jennifer Hudson (who many 'Idol' fans felt was unfairly booted way too early) has landed the dream role of "Effie," originated on Broadway by Jennifer Holliday.

The film also stars Oscar winner Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy, Danny Glover, Mos Def, Sharon Leal, and Tony winner Anika Noni Rose.

'Dreamgirls' will open in December 2006.

Best Film: "Brokeback Mountain," "Capote," "The Constant Gardener," "Crash," "Good Night, and Good Luck."

Outstanding British Film: "A Cock and Bull Story," "The Constant Gardener," "Festival," "Pride and Prejudice," "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit."

Direction: Ang Lee, "Brokeback Mountain"; Bennett Miller, "Capote"; Fernando Meirelles, "The Constant Gardener"; Paul Haggis, "Crash"; George Clooney, "Good Night, and Good Luck."

Original Screenplay: Cliff Hollingsworth/Akiva Goldsman, "Cinderella Man"; Paul Haggis/Bobby Moresco, "Crash"; George Clooney/Grant Heslov, "Good Night, and Good Luck"; Keir Pearson/Terry George, "Hotel Rwanda"; Martin Sherman, "Mrs. Henderson Presents."

Citing unnamed people familiar with the plan, the Journal said Disney would pay a nominal premium to Pixar's current market value of $6.7 billion under the deal being discussed in a stock transaction that would make Pixar chief executive Steve Jobs the largest individual shareholder in Disney.

The Journal said the outcome of the talks isn't certain, and that other options are possible. Telephone messages left Thursday morning for Disney spokeswoman Michelle Bergman in Burbank, Calif., and Pixar's Michele Clarke in New York were not immediately returned.

Pixar shares were up $3.24, or 5.7 percent, to $60.50 in premarket trading while Disney shares were down 22 cents at $25. Jobs is the largest shareholder in Pixar, with more than 60 million shares, or 50.6 percent, according to Pixar's filings with securities regulators last year. At its current share price, his stake is worth about $3.44 billion.

Although the film has never been screened in Nablus, many residents here have viewed several clips widely broadcast on satellite television, and some are not happy with what they have seen. Those giving the film thumbs down feel it portrays the bombers as less than heroic and godless.

"This movie doesn't help the Palestinian cause," said an armed Palestinian militant who would not give his name because he's on the run. "People who go to carry out bombings do not hesitate so much."

The film tells the story of two Nablus car mechanics who are sent to carry out a double suicide-bombing in Tel Aviv. They shave their beards to blend into Israeli crowds more easily, pray and prepare farewell videos.

The movie has generally been praised around the world and has been played in about 60 countries, according to director Hany Abu-Assad, an Arab born in Israel -- currently living in Holland -- who considers himself Palestinian.

Could an Oscar be around the corner? "It's a great moment," says Santaolalla, 54, "because I think everything that I loved, that I grew up interested in, now I'm doing."

Beyond recording music, Santaolalla has been clocking his share of stage time at award shows the past year, being named producer of the year at the Latin Grammys in November and lauded for his film scoring on "21 Grams" and "Motorcycle Diaries" on the film festival circuit.

But it was the ballad "A Love That Will Never Grow Old," which he wrote with longtime Elton John lyricist Bernie Taupin for "Brokeback Mountain" that landed him his first Golden Globe and, the next day, a congratulatory message from the president of Argentina.

And Hollywood's much-maligned system of rating movies stars in its own film.

The Sundance Film Festival, the country's foremost showcase for independent cinema, gets under way Thursday with an intriguing mix of role reversals among its cast.

Gore and Nader lead what's shaping up as a powerhouse year for documentaries, always a strong suit at Sundance. Director Davis Guggenheim's "An Inconvenient Truth" chronicles former Vice President Gore's dogged campaign to convince a reluctant society of fossil-fuel profiteers and consumers about the dangers of global warming.

The country's largest theater chains are snubbing the film because they object to it being sold on DVD and shown on cable TV the same day it debuts in a handful of theaters owned by the same company that produced the movie.

"Bubble" isn't the first film to be released this way. But the combination of a high-profile director and the backing of maverick billionaires Todd Wagner and Mark Cuban have studios and theater owners paying close attention this time.

"It's the biggest threat to the viability of the cinema industry today," John Fithian, president of the National Association of Theater Owners, said of the so-called "day and date" release strategy.

The move comes as new technology is giving consumers faster access to music, movies, TV shows and other content via multiple devices, including laptop computers, portable video screens, even cell phones. Theater owners have faced challenges from technology before, most notably television and the VCR. But this is the first time major studios have contemplated releasing films in competing formats at the same time.

Some people, like Joe Solmonese, president of the gay-rights group Human Rights Campaign, thinks so since six awards went to movies with gay or transsexual central characters.

"It was a historic night," he told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "I think it says a lot about where we're going as a country."

"The more people live out and openly and honestly, the more we are simply part of the everyday fabric of Americans' lives," he added. "I think that's what not just the release of these movies demonstrates, but the fact that they won the awards that they did."

But Janice Shaw Crouse of Concerned Women for America, a women's group that applies Biblical principles to public policy, maintained: "Once again, the media elites are proving that their pet projects are more important than profit."

The girls, aged 13 to 16, were trying out for the part of trainee wizard Luna Lovegood in "Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix."

In the book, Luna is described as being an unusual character who is considered somewhat of an outsider by her classmates. With her wand tucked behind her ear for safekeeping and a necklace of corks, the 14-year-old wizard often appears somewhat detached from what is going on around her.

The successful auditioner will join cast members Daniel Radcliffe, who plays Harry; Emma Watson, who is Hermione Granger; and Rupert Grint, who plays Ron Weasley. First in line outside Westminster Central Hall in London was Kim Allen, 15, who said she had been waiting in line since 11 p.m. Friday.

"I desperately want the part. I check the Harry Potter Web site every day and saw the auditions advertised on there."

From vampires and killer hostels to freaky grandmas and Steven Spielberg, there is something for everyone opening in theaters this weekend. But most notably -- it's the return of Hollywood's classic horror genre.

Arguably the most-anticipated release is director Eli Roth's slasher flick 'Hostel.' Advance buzz has been off the hook for this gut-cringing and eye-scrunching film about two American college buddies who get more than they bargained for while backpacking in Eastern Europe. They check into a cheap hostel looking for sex and drugs and soon discover a horrific scene of violence and gore reminiscent of the grisly horror films of the early '70s.

'Hostel' is reportedly so scary that some people ran out of an advance screening in horror. That reaction could be expected considering Oscar-winner Quentin Tarantino is one of the film's executive producers. If movie-goers flock to 'Hostel' like they did Tarantino's 'Pulp Fiction,' success is guaranteed.

Jay Hernandez ('Friday Night Lights') and Derek Richardson ('Reeker') co-star in the R-rated film which opens in wide release today.

Horror fanatics looking for more blood and guts might also want to check out the gory vampire flick 'BloodRayne.' However, be forewarned: The reviews have not been great. Kristanna Loken ('Mortal Kombat: Conquest') stars as a half-human vampire bent on avenging the rape of her mother. Oscar-winner Sir Ben Kingsley ('Gandhi'), Meatloaf ('Fight Club') and Michelle Rodriguez (TV's 'Lost') co-star in this R-rated film. But, apparently, even their acting chops couldn't save this bloody mess.

One online reviewer summed up 'BloodRayne' as "bloody horrible." Another wrote, "if you want to shell out $10 to see a $25 million dollar student film, this is the time to do it."

We'll have to wait and see which horror film slashes its way to the top of the box office chart.

The weekend competition also includes director Steven Spielberg's latest historical drama 'Munich.' Set in the tragic aftermath of the 1972 Munich Olympics, a secret agent (Eric Bana) is sent to track down the Palestinian terrorists who assassinated 11 Israeli athletes.

Critics are hailing the R-rated thriller as one of the year's best. 'Munich' has already nabbed two Golden Globe award nominations. Oscar-winner Geoffrey Rush ('Shine') and Daniel Craig ('The Jacket') co-star.

For comedy fans who are just looking to sit back and laugh out loud, 'Grandma's Boy' is just what the laugh doctor ordered. Hollywood's new golden girls Doris Roberts ('Everybody Loves Raymond'), Shirley Jones ('The Partridge Family') and Shirley Knight ('Dutchman') co-star as three grannies who have an accidental run-in with some special green 'tea.' Hilarity ensues as the golden trio gets jiggy with a group of young freaks. With Adam Sandler ('The Water Boy') on board as executive producer, you know it has to be funny. This raunchy comedy is rated R.

Oscar buzz continues to swirl around the gay cowboy drama 'Brokeback Mountain.' Director Ang Lee's ode to male bonding has lassoed a truckload of awards and nominations so far, but many moviegoers have not been able to see it. It has played in fewer than 500 theaters. That is, until now. The R-rated film expands to more cities worldwide today.

Also opening to wider audiences is the buddy action comedy 'The Matador.' The R-rated film stars Pierce Brosnan ('Die Another Day') as a lonely hitman who strikes up an unexpected friendship with a traveling salesman (Greg Kinnear) at a Mexico City bar. Brosnan is getting good reviews for this comedic turn away from his James Bond character.

With the Golden Globes just around the corner, now's the time to catch one of the other critical favorites still in theaters. Worth a second (or third) look this weekend: 'King Kong,' 'The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,' 'Memoirs of a Geisha,' 'The Producers,' 'Capote,' 'The Squid and The Whale,' 'Transamerica,' and 'Good Night, and Good Luck.'

For detailed movie information

Cash's Jan. 13, 1968, performance in a prison yard cemented his image as working-class hero and became a popular live album. About 54 inmates watched the movie in the Sacramento suburb as the actor and his entourage, including musician Shooter Jennings, son of Waylon Jennings, and a host of prison officials toured the facility.

Phoenix was also expected to perform several songs for the inmates.

The event was organized by Prison Fellowship, a group that runs Bible studies and other educational programs in prisons. Fellowship spokesman Joe Avila said the movie's message would be good for inmates because Cash's "whole life was a message of redemption."

"The movie is about how he screwed it up really bad, and he turned to Jesus Christ to help him change," Avila said.