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1. "Michael Jackson's This Is It" ($7.9 million)
2. "Paranormal Activity" ($6.1 million)
3. "Law Abiding Citizen" ($2.42 million)
4. "Couples Retreat" ($2.38 million)
5. "Where The Wild Things Are" ($1.9 million)

There are ghosts and serial killers aplenty in movie theaters this Halloween weekend, but it appears that moviegoers are looking to celebrate the haunted festivities with none other than Michael Jackson.

The deceased pop sensation is the subject of "Michael Jackson's This Is It," the Sony distributed documentary chronicling Jackson's rehearsals for a massive concert series that never came to pass due to his death. "This Is It" unsurprisingly wound up in first place on Friday evening with $7.9 million, which brings the film's cumulative total to $19.1 million since its opening last Wednesday — but the Jackson documentary hasn't moonwalked all the way to the bank, certainly not in the way that Sony and concert promoter AEG had expected. Read more...

Tags couples retreat, law abiding citizen, Michael Jackson's This Is It, Paranormal Activity, where the wild things are

I hope you enjoyed this evening's "Ulalume: Howling at New Moon" Halloween special on MTV. I hope you also enjoyed our exclusive clip from "New Moon." The one that "Twilight" stars Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner introduced during the show. For those of you who may have missed it -- and for those who just want to watch it again... and again and again and again and again -- we've got it here for you now. Right below this text, in fact. I somehow doubt you've even read this far. Enjoy, and HAPPY HALLOWEEN TO ALL OF YOU! HAVE A FUN, SAFE WEEKEND!

Tags Kristen-Stewart, New Moon, robert pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Twilight, Video

"Kick-Ass" actress Chloe Moretz was among those tweeting good thoughts to Nicolas Cage and his family following the death of his father August Coppola this week. A literature professor and the brother of director Francis Ford Coppola, he reportedly died following a heart attack on Tuesday.

In other tweets, David Slade slipped a fresh image into his Twitter feed of actor Xavier Samuel from "Eclipse," which he says is the first look at Samuel's character Riley in the film. A couple of "Twilight" actors tweeted last minute contemplations over their Halloween costumes, while Edgar Wright may be giving up altogether and Russell Brand decried jack-o-lanterns as symbols for the season. Check out what they all had to say after the jump. It's in the Twitter-Wood report for October 30, 2009. Read more...

Tags chloe moretz, christian serratos, David Slade, eclipse, Fred Durst, paris hilton, paul mcguigan, russell brand, Twilight

Sure, this weekend's premiere of "Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day" features the return of Connor and Murphy McManus, Il Duce and the rest of Boston's favorite movie vigilantes, but when I asked around for some questions to ask the film's director and stars when they dropped by Movies Blog HQ, there was one element from the first film everyone was asking about for the sequel: the rope.

Fans of the original film will no doubt recall the brothers' oft-quoted, obscenity-laden debate regarding the merits of bringing rope to their showdown with a mob boss—and according to director Troy Duffy and stars Sean Patrick Flanery, Norman Reedus and Billy Connolly, the rope is indeed back by popular demand. Read more...

Tags Billy Connolly, Boondock Saints II: All Saint's Day, norman reedus, sean patrick flanery, troy duffy, Video

Richard Kelly is the man. Not just because he'll be here all this week, posting as a guest editor for MTV Movies Blog. It helps, sure, but we're talking about the guy who made "Donnie Darko" here. And "Southland Tales." Isn't that enough? Not for Kelly it isn't. His latest brain-twisting tale, "The Box," hits theaters on November 6. And he has a dynamite week of content planned for y'all, so sit back and enjoy!

October 30, 2009

LORD LANGELLA

What do you do with an Oscar-nominated actor for his follow-up role? If you’re me – you convince him to remove half of his face. Read more...

Tags richard kelly, The Box

FROM MTV.COM: In the spring, and out of nowhere, Robert Zemeckis exclusively revealed to MTV News that new digital tools like performance-capture technology had him buzzing about finally making a sequel to "Who Framed Roger Rabbit." But there's a big difference between being excited about a project and actually moving forward with it.

MTV News has now exclusively learned that Zemeckis is not only pumped to bring the flustered cartoon bunny back to the big screen after 20 years, but that he has commissioned a script. And guess who's writing it? Original scribes Jeffrey Price and Peter Seaman.

Continue reading Exclusive: 'Roger Rabbit' Writers Working On Sequel, Robert Zemeckis Says

Tags Robert Zemeckis, Video, Who Framed Roger Rabbit? sequel

Is it a widely known fact anymore that the evening before Halloween is called Devil's Night? I'm not sure of the history myself, but the term has its origins in 1930s Detroit, if Wikipedia is to be believed (I know, I know-- that's a big "if"). According to tradition, the night would be marked by youthful acts of vandalism and petty crime, though the transgressions increased in severity through the years, with arson unfortunately becoming a common practice through the 1970s and '80s. That all changed in the mid-'90s, when the city organized the volunteer-driven "Angel's Night" and started enforcing age-based curfews. Fans of "The Crow" -- currently in the midst of a week-long retrospective on MTV Splash Page -- are of course familiar with the term, as it factors heavily into that movie.

Grim associations aside, it's a cool name that lends itself well to this particular list feature. Whatever you want to call the ruler of the underworld -- the Devil, Satan, Beelzebub, Malebolgia, Lucifer, Mephistopheles... this list could go on and on -- he's certainly left his mark in the world of film. And since Halloween is mere hours away, I thought it would be a good time to shower some appreciation on my favorite fictional Satans. So throw out some Devil horns, crank up some Slayer and enjoy. Read more...

Tags futurama, Legend, little nicky, South Park: Bigger Longer Uncut, The Devil's Advocate

We've teased the new "Avatar" trailer for you. We've given it to you in Freeze Frame. And now here it is again in Stop Motion, 40 images, frozen in time and captioned for your reading enjoyment. The first pic is below. Click it to be whisked off to the shiny, new image gallery.

Tags avatar, james cameron

As director Oren Peli's "Paranormal Activity" continues its seemingly unstoppable march into the Halloween weekend, it's a good idea for us all to take a step back and consider exactly why it is so successful. The horror genre isn't exactly imperiled, but there are those in the fan community -- myself included -- who contend that so much attention has been brought to bear on delivering lifelike special effects and moment-to-moment thrills that the all-important element of suspense has been cast aside.

There's plenty of evidence to support the theory. Whatever your interest level in recent efforts such as "Halloween II" and "Saw VI" may be, they are clearly not subtle. "Paranormal," on the other hand, is highlighted by a slow-building terror. There's nary a drop of blood nor exposed innard to be found, and yet it's hard to sit and watch without squirming uncomfortably as the demon's tortures grow more overt. As Peli told us in a recent interview, that was the plan all along. Read more...

Tags Oren Peli, Paranormal Activity, Video

Yesterday we gave you a tease, only the smallest taste, of the just-released three and a half minute trailer for James Cameron's "Avatar." Well MTV's resident mad scientists -- ie our digital producers -- have been working hard with the full trailer to twist it into an all-new episode of Freeze Frame for your viewing pleasure.

Want to know who the stars are, how long its been since Cameron made a proper movie and other fun, informative tidbits? Take them and the shiny new trailer in simultaneously in the "Avatar" Freeze Frame trailer, embedded below.

Tags avatar, james cameron, Video