Critically speaking, 2011 may have been Adam Sandler‘s worst year ever.  His two main vehicles, Just Go With It and Jack & Jill, were panned.  As a producer, his name is also on Zookeeper and (most damningly) Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star.  The Razzies recognized his efforts with a record 11 nominations.  For those keeping track, this shatters the record set by Eddie Murphy and his 5 nominations for Norbit in 2007.  New Year’s Eve, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, and Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 join Jack & Jill and Bucky Larson as the 5 contenders for Worst Picture.  Hit the jump for the full list.

With three new releases plus three strong holdovers, this weekend turned out to be one of the most difficult to predict in terms of box office numbers.  In the end, it was the week-old Dolphin Tale that emerged victorious: leaping over Friday’s champ Moneyball, the still-ferocious Lion King 3D and the critically-acclaimed newcomer 50/50.

Once again, it looks like I was foolish to bet on Moneyball.  Blinded by the strong opening day of this long-time underdog, I completely forgot that last weekend’s champ would have a home field advantage on Saturday.  The final score put The Lion King 3D back on top and added another $22.1 million to the re-release’s lifetime stats.  Moneyball had to settle for second, though the estimates between it and the week’s newest family film, Dolphin Tale, are close enough that the baseball flick could conceivably fall to third by Monday.

Now that is a title I never thought I would write.  Two years ago it looked like Sony’s tale of baseball underdogs was dead in the water, but look at Moneyball now!  Number one on Friday with an estimated $6.8 million and almost guaranteed to win the weekend with a projected $20 million.  That is a bit higher than original studio estimates and, if achieved, would give Moneyball the biggest opening ever for a baseball-themed feature.  At number two after its big re-release last weekend is Disney’s The Lion King 3D, which means that the new family heart-warmer, Dolphin Tale, had to settle for third and an estimated $5.1 million.  The weekend’s third and fourth new releases round out the top five: Lionsgate’s Abduction, with Taylor Lautner, scored an estimated $3.8 million while Killer Elite, with Jason Statham and Clive Owen, was not far behind with $3.4 million.  Both films are currently looking at an opening of $11 million or so.  Details and analysis tomorrow.

The action thriller Abduction tells the story of Nathan Harper (Taylor Lautner), a high school teenager who has the uneasy feeling that he’s living someone else’s life. His therapist, Dr. Geri Bennett (Sigourney Weaver), tries to talk him through his intense nightmares, but when he stumbles upon an image of himself as a little boy on a missing persons website, he realizes his parents (played by Jason Isaacs and Maria Bello) are not his own and that his entire life is a lie. Targeted by a team of trained killers, he is forced to go on the run with the only person he can trust, his neighbor Karen (Lily Collins), who he’s had a crush on for years.

At the film’s press day, actress Sigourney Weaver spoke to Collider for this exclusive interview about the fun of playing roles originally written for men, what she enjoys about working with younger actors like co-stars Taylor Lautner and Lily Collins, and that she would be interested in exploring this character more, if there were to be a sequel. She also talked about how fun it is for her to see the ways kick-ass women have evolved in film, what made her want to jump into the vampire genre for Amy Heckerling’s upcoming comedy Vamps, and how her next role will be as a professor of queer theory in a film called It Is What It Is. Check out what she had to say after the jump.

The action thriller Abduction tells the story of a young man who is suddenly thrown into the deadly world of covert espionage. Nathan Harper (Taylor Lautner) is a high school teenager who has the uneasy feeling that he’s living someone else’s life. When he stumbles upon an image of himself as a little boy on a missing persons website, he realizes his parents (played by Jason Isaacs and Maria Bello) are not his own and that his entire life is a lie. Targeted by a team of trained killers and with CIA Agent Burton (Alfred Molina) hot on his trail, he is forced to go on the run with the only person he can trust, his neighbor Karen (Lily Collins), who he’s had a crush on for years.

At the film’s press day, Collider spoke to director John Singleton, in both a roundtable and a 1-on-1 interview, about his interest in working with Taylor Lautner and showing him in a different light, how it’s important to him to be able to bring something personal that he feels will elevate a film, what it was like to shoot the movie with 500 to 600 Twilight fans hanging around the set, what made Lily Collins the perfect co-star, his feelings on 3D and how he would like to shoot his own 3D movie, and the challenge of shooting an action movie with a PG-13 rating. Check out what he had to say after the jump:

At this weekend’s press day for Abduction, Collider was able to speak with Sigourney Weaver, who plays Dr. Geri Bennett in the film. Bennett is a 30-year CIA operative and therapist to Nathan Harper (Taylor Lautner), a teenager who realizes that his entire life is a lie after a team of trained killers tracks him down, leaving him with no one to trust.

But, since that film doesn’t open until September 23^rd, we’ll hold what she had to say about it until closer to the release date. In the meantime, we did get a chance to have her update the status of the Avatar sequels, which she will return for, and Ghostbusters 3, which hinges on Bill Murray’s involvement. Weaver did say that, although she hasn’t read a Ghostbusters script, she did ask Ivan Reitman to have her character’s son grow up to be a Ghostbuster and he agreed. Check out what she had to say after the jump.

We have three clips from Taylor Lautner’s upcoming actioner Abduction to bring you today. Directed by John Singleton (Four Brothers), the film centers on Lautner’s character as he attempts to find out why his baby photo is posted on a missing persons website.  Lily Collins, Alfred Molina, Sigourney Weaver and Jason Isaacs also star in the pic which will act as the first true gauge of Lautner’s solo box office prowess.  Check out the clips after the jump. Abduction opens on September 23rd.

New posters for Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, Melancholia, and Abduction are now available online. Beginning with Ghost Rider, the film stars Nicolas Cage, Idris Elba, and Ciaran Hinds. The pic centers on Cage’s reprised Johnny Blaze who, while kicking it in Eastern Europe, is called upon to stop the Devil (Hinds) from taking human form. Although I prefer the teaser promos found at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, this new sheet seems effective enough in positioning the film as a grittier take on the character than its predecessor. The new Melancholia poster is essentially the full, hi-res shot of a Kirsten Dunst image we seen back in April while the Abduction sheet features star Taylor Lautner running from a city skyline.

Check out each of the posters after the jump. Directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance opens on February 17th, 2012. Written/directed by Lars von Trier, Melancholia will hit VOD platforms on October 7th before opening in theaters on November 11th. Directed by John Singleton, Abduction will be released on September 23rd.

The second trailer for The Lautner Iden—er—Abduction has hit the web. The film pegs Taylor Lautner as an action hero and centers on a young man who’s out to uncover the truth as to why a baby photo of himself wound up on a missing persons website. While the first trailer focused on telling the story, this one plays much more like a fast-cut TV spot that’s very heavy on the action and light on dialogue. I think Lautner only speaks once. The supporting cast is pretty impressive, but I still have trouble taking Lautner seriously as an action star.

Directed by John Singleton, the film stars Lautner, Lily Collins, Sigourney Weaver, Danny Glover, Alfred Molina, Michael Nyqvist, Maria Bello, and Jason Isaacs. Abduction opens on September 23^rd. Hit the jump to watch the trailer.

A few new posters have surfaced today. Our first look at Pixar’s upcoming Brave comes in the form of a gorgeous poster, teasing some darker elements in the fairy tale story. The teaser trailer is attached to prints of Cars 2 this weekend, and compounded with the images/concept artwork that’s been released, I’m already looking past the Cars sequel and longing for this original film. Featuring the voices of Kelly Macdonald, Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson, Kevin McKidd, and Craig Ferguson, Brave hits theaters on June 22^nd, 2012.

Additionally, UK poster for the Guillermo del Toro-produced horror film Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark has been released. The trailers for the flick have been terrifying, and this poster keeps the creep factor up. Starring Katie Holmes, Guy Pearce, and Bailee Madison, the film is set to be released on August 12^th. And finally, we’ve got a poster for John Singleton’s Abduction. The trailers for the Taylor Lautner-starred flick gave off a strong Bourne vibe and this poster seems to be along the same lines. Abduction hits theaters September 23^rd. Hit the jump to check out the posters.

Maria Bello has established herself as a very intriguing leading actress, taking on a variety of roles in projects all across the board. She can next be seen in the indie drama Beautiful Boy, about a married couple (Bello and Michael Sheen) on the verge of separation who, after a shocking act of violence committed by their son (Kyle Gallner), are united in their grief. In the fall, she will be playing Detective Jane Timoney in the NBC crime drama Prime Suspect, a re-imagining of the British television hit (starring Helen Mirren) about a tough-as-nails detective who doesn’t know when to quit. On September 23rd, the John Singleton action thriller Abduction starring Taylor Lautner will hit theaters, in which she plays a bad-ass with an amazing fight scene.

At the press day for Beautiful Boy, actress Maria Bello did this exclusive interview with Collider, where she talked about choosing roles very instinctually, how she was drawn to exploring the levels of grief for this role, how much she enjoyed collaborating with co-star Michael Sheen, and that she thinks this is ultimately a hopeful film. She also talked about why she wanted to get involved with another television series with Prime Suspect, working with Peter Berg, who directed the pilot, and how she wants to use every facet of herself in her work and life. Check out what she had to say after the jump:

A couple new images from the action-thriller Abduction have been released. The trailer for the film, starring Taylor Lautner, was released last week and it looks like they’re very much going for a Bourne-esque vibe. The story centers around a young man who sets out to uncover the truth after finding a baby photo of himself listed on a missing persons website.

Directed by John Singleton (Boyz N the Hood), the cast includes Lautner, Lily Collins, Sigourney Weaver, Danny Glover, Alfred Molina, Michael Nyqvist, Maria Bello, and Jason Isaacs. Hit the jump to check out the new images. Abduction hits theaters on September 23^rd.

New posters have been released for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and Abduction.  The Pirates poster is basically a reprint of a previous poster but this one lets you know that the movie will be in IMAX 3D, or as the poster puts it: “IMA-[Pirates of the Caribbean logo] 3D,” which is really the best kind of 3D.

As for the Abduction poster, it gives you a very strong indication of the final film in that it shows you the single facial expression Taylor Lautner will have for the movie’s full runtime.  I watched the trailer yesterday and I struggled to believe that I ever liked him in parts of New Moon.

Hit the jump to check out the posters.  Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides opens May 20th.  Abduction gets released on September 23rd.

The first trailer for the action thriller Abduction, starring Taylor Lautner, has been released. Directed by John Singleton (Boyz n the Hood) the thriller centers around a young man who sets out to uncover the truth after finding a baby photo of himself listed on a missing persons website. While Lautner’s acting still seems a bit too ham-fisted to be taken seriously, the supporting cast is fairly impressive and some of the action sequences actually looked pretty cool. I understand Lautner’s desire to move on to bigger and better things post-Twilight, but the guy’s no Tom Cruise.

Abduction stars Lautner, Lily Collins, Sigourney Weaver, Danny Glover, Alfred Molina, Michael Nyqvist, Maria Bello, and Jason Isaacs. The film is set to be released on September 23^rd. Hit the jump to watch the trailer.