I’ve been stockpiling some of these items while working on other stuff, and it’s time to set them free! 1. As of Tuesday, The Departed has passed The Aviator (2004) to become the top-grossing film of Martin Scorsese‘s entire career, with $103.3 million to date — and it’s still in the weekly top five! The Departed currently ranks third in Leonardo DiCaprio‘s filmography, behind Catch Me If You Can (2002; $164.6 million) and Titanic (1997; $600.8 million); and it will... Read more

Production Weekly reports that Christian Slater and Elle Fanning will star in an adaptation of Karen Kingsbury’s Gideon’s Gift: One long-ago Christmas, Big Earl Gibson (Slater) lost the two things most precious to him-his wife and daughter. Angry and heartbroken, he abandoned his belief in God and is now living on the street. Gideon Mercer (Fanning) is an eight-year-old leukemia patient determined to reach out to this lonely and hurting man. And Earl is just as determined to rebuff her.... Read more

More and more, it looks like the TV series The Sarah Connor Chronicles is going to become a reality. Variety reports that Lena Headey has been cast in the lead role, which Linda Hamilton played in the first two Terminator movies (1984-1991); and the trade paper says the series will focus “on Sarah and her son John, as they fight attackers from the future in present-day Los Angeles.” I can only assume this means the producers will be ignoring the... Read more

Here are the figures for the past weekend, arranged from those that owe the highest percentage of their take to the Canadian box office to those that owe the lowest. The Queen — CDN $1,858,477 — N.AM $9,986,970 — 18.6%Marie Antoinette — CDN $1,810,334 — N.AM $12,946,803 — 14.0%The Prestige — CDN $4,350,322 — N.AM $39,135,541 — 11.1%The Departed — CDN $10,092,376 — N.AM $102,004,054 — 9.9%Open Season — CDN $7,854,410 — N.AM $81,254,598 — 9.7%Man of the Year —... Read more

You may have heard that Ted Haggard, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, resigned last week following revelations concerning drugs and sex with a gay male prostitute. I have been pondering whether to post anything on that here — given Haggard’s appearance in the documentary Jesus Camp — but haven’t known quite what to say. I have even thought of contacting the filmmakers to see if they have any thoughts on this. But now, it seems the Associated Press... Read more

The newest issue of BC Christian News is now online, and with it, my film column, which looks mainly at the rise of ‘Contemporary Christian Cinema‘ — as heralded by the creation of FoxFaith and the success of Facing the Giants — but also touches on The Dark Is Rising and Atlas Shrugged. The paper also includes a print version of my interview with Deliver Us from Evil director Amy Berg. Read more

Here’s another quick batch. 1. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan topped the box office with revenues of $26.4 million this weekend, despite opening in only 837 theatres. The last film to be #1 with less than 2,000 screens was Tyler Perry’s Diary of a Mad Black Woman, which opened February 25, 2005 on 1,483 screens and grossed $21.9 million for the weekend. And the last film to be #1 with less than 1,000... Read more

Just a few new items, this time. 1. Variety reports that 16 films are eligible this year for the Oscar for Best Animated Feature, and I’ve seen most of ’em: The Ant BullyArthur and the InvisiblesBarnyardCarsCurious GeorgeEveryone’s HeroFlushed AwayHappy FeetIce Age: The MeltdownMonster HouseOpen SeasonOver the HedgePaprikaRenaissanceA Scanner DarklyThe Wild At least three, and possibly as many as five, of these films might go on to be nominated; and of course, only one will win. 2. The Associated Press reports... Read more

Darren Aronofsky, director of Pi (1998; my review), Requiem for a Dream (2000; my review) and the upcoming The Fountain, tells CHUD.com that he wants to make a Bible epic next: The new thing is even more exciting, and I’ll give you an exclusive. I’m not going to tell you exactly what it is, but…it’s a biblical epic. In…Aramaic? (laughs) In English! What led you to that? It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. Before Pi. Probably... Read more

My review of Flushed Away is now up at CT Movies. Read more