This week on Blu-ray another Disney classic is released from the vault, an Oscar contender hits home video, and an in-depth look at the film vs. digital debate comes to HD.  Briefly:

• Alex Cross [Blu-ray + Digital Copy + UltraViolet] – $19.86 (50% off)
• Cabaret [Blu-ray] – $18.86 (33% off)
• Celeste and Jesse Forever [Blu-ray] – $19.99 (44% off)
• Deadfall [Blu-ray] – $24.99 (17% off)
• Flight (Two-Disc Combo: Blu-ray / DVD / Digital Copy + UltraViolet) – $19.99 (50% off)
• Here Comes the Boom (+ UltraViolet Digital Copy) [Blu-ray] – $19.99 (44% off)
• House of Cards Trilogy: The Original UK Series Remastered [Blu-ray] – $44.86 (10% off)
• A Late Quartet [Blu-ray] – $20.86 (30% off)
• Peter Pan (Three-Disc Diamond Edition: Blu-ray/DVD + Digital Copy + Storybook App) – $27.99 (38% off)
• Side by Side [Blu-ray] – $19.99 (33% off)
• Star Is Born [Blu-ray] – $18.50 (34% off)

Hit the jump for special features details.

Two movies opened on Friday but there was really only one game in town: Paranormal Activity 4. Since 2009, the low-cost horror franchise has ruled late October with its increasingly impressive openings. That tradition hit a speed bump this weekend with PA 4’s estimated $30.2 million debut from 3,412 locations. That falls short of PA 2 and 3 and is also off from the scaled-back projections that followed the film’s Friday opening.

Alex Cross follows the homicide detective/psychologist from the best-selling novels by James Patterson, as he comes up against psychopathic serial killer Picasso (Matthew Fox). This time, the story takes a younger version of Alex Cross (Tyler Perry) back to the origins of the character while the two men face off in a high-stakes game of cat-and-mouse that will push Cross to this edge of his moral limits. The film also stars Edward Burns, Cicely Tyson, Carmen Ejogo, Giancarlo Esposito, John C. McGinley and Jean Reno.

At the film’s press day, director Rob Cohen (The Fast and The Furious, xXx) spoke to Collider for this exclusive interview about what made him want to reboot the franchise, the changes he wanted to make to the script, his process of collaborating with Matthew Fox on the Picasso character, what author James Patterson was like to work with, and keeping the PG-13 rating in mind for the subject matter. He also talked about the found footage action film he’s developing, as well as a feature about Isaac Newton and his time as a detective. Check out what he had to say after the jump.

After taking in $4.5 million from its Thursday late shows and midnight screening, Paranormal Activity 4 easily captured first place on Friday with an estimated $15 million. That puts the film on track for about $34 million by Sunday – an impressive figure that, nonetheless, falls short of most projections for the four year-old franchise. Twelve months ago, Paranormal Activity 3 earned $26.3 million on its first day, on its way to an all-time October opening record of $52.5 million. And while few expected PA 4 to come close to that total, the latest entry in Paramount’s crazy-profitable horror franchise should have had no trouble reaching the $40 million mark. Then again, because PA 4 is expected to earn twelve times its budget in worldwide grosses by Sunday, the word ‘disappointment’ does not exactly leap to mind. That word might better apply to this weekend’s second new release, Alex Cross. The thriller, starring Tyler Perry as author James Patterson’s popular crime solver, earned an estimated $4 million from 2,539 runs on Friday. That puts Alex Cross on track for a weekend in the $13 million range: well below the $20 million openings that Perry (as star AND director) has grown accustomed to.  Full details tomorrow.

Alex Cross follows the homicide detective/psychologist from the best-selling novels by James Patterson, as he comes up against psychopathic serial killer Picasso (Matthew Fox). This time, the story takes a younger version of Alex Cross (Tyler Perry) back to the origins of the character while the two men face off in a high-stakes game of cat-and-mouse that will push Cross to this edge of his moral limits. From director Rob Cohen (The Fast and The Furious, xXx), the film also stars Edward Burns, Cicely Tyson, Carmen Ejogo, Giancarlo Esposito, John C. McGinley and Jean Reno.

At the film’s press day, actress Rachel Nichols – who plays Monica Ashe, one of Cross’ co-workers at the Detroit P.D. – spoke to Collider for this exclusive interview about how she came to be a part of the film, why she loves playing strong women, going through training with Tyler Perry and Ed Burns, how natural the chemistry with her co-stars was, and how intense Matthew Fox’s transformation for his role was.  She also talked about her Canadian TV show Continuum, which will be airing on Syfy, that they start shooting Season 2 in January 2013, how she’d like to squeeze in another film first, and how she hopes her 2005 Fox TV show The Inside will be made available on DVD.  Check out what she had to say after the jump. 

Alex Cross follows the homicide detective/psychologist from the best-selling novels by James Patterson, as he comes up against psychopathic serial killer Picasso (Matthew Fox).  This time, the story takes a younger version of Alex Cross (Tyler Perry) back to the origins of the character while the two men face off in a high-stakes game of cat-and-mouse that will push Cross to this edge of his moral limits.  From director Rob Cohen (The Fast and The Furious, xXx), the film also stars Edward Burns, Rachel Nichols, Cicely Tyson, Carmen Ejogo, Giancarlo Esposito, John C. McGinley and Jean Reno.

At the film’s press day, actor Matthew Fox talked about how he prepared for such a dark role, coming out of character once filming was done, getting injured while shooting the big fight sequence, the first thing he ate once he was done with the character, the roles he was offered after Lost, his experience shooting Alex Cross and World War Z at the same time, and playing General Bonner Fellers in the WWII historical drama Emperor.  Check out what he had to say after the jump.

With Rob Cohen’s adaptation of James Patterson’s Alex Cross opening in theaters this weekend, you might have thought we’d have to wait to gauge audience response to Tyler Perry in Morgan Freeman’s former role before moving ahead with sequels.  Think again.  Perry and Patterson are reportedly in the final stages of sealing a deal for the planned sequel, Double Cross.  Another adaptation from Patterson’s series, this would return Perry to the title role of the crime solver faced with yet another serial killing spree. Not bad for being the first picture that Perry didn’t direct, produce or write.  Hit the jump for more on Double Cross. 

Alex Cross follows the homicide detective/psychologist from the best-selling novels by James Patterson, as he comes up against psychopathic serial killer Picasso (Matthew Fox).  This time, the story takes a younger version of Alex Cross (Tyler Perry) back to the origins of the character while the two men face off in a high-stakes game of cat-and-mouse that will push Cross to this edge of his moral limits.  From director Rob Cohen (The Fast and The Furious, xXx), the film also stars Edward Burns, Rachel Nichols, Cicely Tyson, Carmen Ejogo, Giancarlo Esposito, John C. McGinley and Jean Reno.

At the film’s press day, actor Tyler Perry talked about what drew him to this role, what it was like to be an actor for hire, how it was to be so stripped down for a character, how he enjoyed learning Krav Maga, whether he’d consider doing more role like this in the future, doing the fight sequences with co-star Matthew Fox, and what his Madea fans might think of him in this film.  He also talked about his partnership with Oprah Winfrey for original programming on OWN, how he feels about being a mogul, if he’d ever want to direct a big-budget movie, his biggest fears, and the fact that he’s recently met with J.J. Abrams about a possible project, but he will not appear in the Star Trek sequel.  Check out what he had to say after the jump.

Seven clips from the upcoming thriller Alex Cross have been released.  The James Patterson adaptation sees Tyler Perry taking over the titular role that was previously inhabited by Morgan Freeman in Along Came a Spider and Kiss the Girls.  This time the police detective/psychologist faces off against a muscle-laden serial killer played by Matthew Fox, under the direction of xXx helmer Rob Cohen.

Hit the jump to check out the clips.  The film also stars Rachel Nichols, Jean Reno, Edward Burns, John C. McGinely, and Giancarlo Esposito.  Alex Cross opens on October 19th.

One of the many films to premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival was Peter Webber’s (Girl with a Pearl Earring) historical drama Emperor. The film takes place during the days following the Japanese surrender at the end of World War II and stars Tommy Lee Jones as General Douglas MacArthur, the de facto ruler of Japan as Supreme Commander of the occupying forces.  Matthew Fox plays a leading Japanese expert on the staff of MacArthur who is tasked with deciding whether or not Emperor Hirohito should be tried as a war criminal.  Fox’s mission becomes more complicated as he searches for a school teacher (Eriko Hatsune) who first drew him to Japan years before the war.  For more on the film, here’s a clip and some images.

Shortly before the world premiere, I sat down with Matthew Fox for an exclusive interview.  We talked about why he wanted to do Emperor, how the finished film compares to the original script, how he prepares for a role, if he prefers a few takes or a lot, and more.  In addition, we also talked about Speed Racer (a film I love), his physical transformation for Alex Cross, World War Z, the reshoots, Lost, would he ever do a comic book movie, and a lot more.  Hit the jump to either read or listen to the interview.

Today, we’ve got a poster round-up for you, featuring some new domestic and international looks:

• Liberal Arts, stars writer/director Josh Radnor (Happythankyoumoreplease) as a thirty-something  loser who falls for a 19-year-old college student (Elizabeth Olsen) when he returns to his alma mater.  Look for Liberal Arts in wide release starting September 21st.
• Zero Dark Thirty, the Osama bin Laden picture from director Kathryn Bigelow, stars Joel Edgerton, Chris Pratt and Jessica Chastain in the revealing story of the Navy’s elite SEAL Team Six operation.  Zero Dark Thirty lands December 19th.
• Alex Cross, the adaptation of the James Patterson novel, stars Tyler Perry in the title role opposite Matthew Fox as the antagonist.  Alex Cross debuts October 19th.
• Looper, a sci-fi time-traveling actioner from writer/director Rian Johnson (Brick) and starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis and Emily Blunt, opens September 28th.

Hit the jump to see the posters.

Today, we have two images of two leading men with weapons: Vin Diesel as Riddick and Tyler Perry as Alex Cross. Diesel has been hard at work completing the third film in the franchise that started with Pitch Black and continued in The Chronicles of Riddick. This iteration finds our anti-hero left for dead on a desert planet infested with predators.  Riddick is forced to activate a beacon that alerts mercenaries to come and collect their prize.

Perry stars in the adaptation of James Patterson’s novel, “Cross,” as the titular detective.  Alex Cross pits Perry against a sadistic serial killer (Matthew Fox) in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse.  Hit the jump to check out the images.

The first trailer for the James Patterson adaptation Alex Cross has landed online.  The film sees Tyler Perry taking over the titular role that was previously inhabited by Morgan Freeman in Along Came a Spider and Kiss the Girls.  Though I tried to go into this trailer with an open mind, if it weren’t for the movie stars you’d be forgiven for thinking this was a Lifetime Movie of the Week.  Perry tries way too hard at being the toughened detective, director Rob Cohen (xXx) shows off his penchant for explosions, and I have no idea what’s up with Matthew Fox but he’s going way over the top for the villain role.  It’ll be interesting to see how this plays for Patterson fans, as Summit is hoping that Alex Cross kicks off a string of franchise films for Perry.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  The film also stars Rachel Nichols, Edward Burns, Jean Reno, Giancarlo Esposito, and John C. McGinley.  Alex Cross opens on October 19th.

We’ve got a couple of new posters to share this evening.  First up is the poster debut for the crime thriller Alex Cross.  Tyler Perry stars as the titular detective in this adaptation of the James Patterson novel I, Alex Cross, with Matthew Fox playing a ripped-out-of-his-mind villain.  This poster boasts one of the worst taglines we’ve seen in a long time, and I’d be inclined to believe it was fake had it not premiered on a major website.  Anyway, “Don’t Cross Alex Cross” when Alex Cross hits theaters on October 26th.

Additionally, a new poster for the comedy Hope Springs has surfaced.  From director David Frankel, the film stars Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones as a married couple who go to see a therapist (Steve Carell) in order to work out their issues.  This poster proves that the film definitely knows its audience, as “from the director of The Devil Wears Prada” is positioned just above the title.  Hope Springs opens on August 10th.  Hit the jump to check out the posters.

Here’s a look at the new schedule of release dates for some upcoming movies:

• The Bourne Legacy, starring Jeremy Renner, Edward Norton and Rachel Weisz, will be pushed back a week to August 10th.
• The Babymakers, starring Olivia Munn, Paul Schneider and Aisha Tyler, will open August 3rd.
• Alex Cross, starring Tyler Perry, Rachel Nichols and Matthew Fox, will open a week earlier on October 19th.
• The Big Wedding, starring Robert De Niro, Diane Keaton and Katherine Heigl, will take Alex Cross’s previous spot, opening October 26th.

Hit the jump for more on each movie, including why Universal is delaying the opening of their fourth Bourne movie, The Bourne Legacy.