Opening Christmas Day is director Andy Fickman’s (You Again) family comedy Parental Guidance.  The film stars Billy Crystal and Bette Midler as two grandparents who have a hard time finding middle ground with their three modernized grandchildren.  Marisa Tomei and Tom Everett Scott play the parents.  For more on the film, here’s the trailer.

During the recent Los Angeles press day I spoke to Crystal and Midler.  They talked about how the project came together, how much was improvised, what it was like working with the kids, Twitter, Facebook, and Crystal talked about Pixar’s Monsters University.  Hit the jump to watch.

A new trailer for the family comedy Parental Guidance has been released.  Directed by Andy Fickman, the film stars Billy Crystal and Bette Midler as two grandparents who have a hard time finding middle ground with their three modernized grandchildren.  This trailer ups the ante in the physical comedy department, as it features all the hallmarks of a very lame family comedy in under two minutes: nutshots, someone’s pants getting sprayed with water, kids going crazy after eating sugar, etc.  Most of the gags and jokes seem really dated, and I’m not exactly sure Crystal and Midler’s comedy will translate well to modern audiences.  Nevertheless, I’m sure parents will eat this one up.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  The film also stars Marisa Tomei and Tom Everett Scott.  Parental Guidance opens on Christmas Day.

The first trailer for the family comedy Parental Guidance has been released.  The film stars Billy Crystal and Bette Midler as two grandparents who have a hard time finding middle ground with their three modernized grandchildren.  The predictable one-liners and nut shots are prevalent in this trailer, but there also looks to be a bit of genuine heart to the film that’s kind of appealing.  The story seems less about the shenanigans that occur when the grandparents babysit and more about the generational gap between their style of parenting and how their daughter raises her children.  When thinking over the library of family films that we’ve all been dragged to during the holidays over the years, Parental Guidance could be worse.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  Directed by Andy Fickman (You Again), the film also stars Marisa Tomei and Tom Everett Scott.  Parental Guidance opens on Christmas Day.

A batch of new high-resolution images from the upcoming family comedy Parental Guidance has been released.  The film stars Billy Crystal and Bette Midler as two grandparents who have a hard time finding middle ground with their three modernized grandchildren.  The images have all the staples of an old-fashioned family comedy, with hijinks and shenanigans aplenty.  A trailer will likely be released soon, so we should have a better idea of what to expect in the coming weeks.  For now, enjoy “wet crotch” and “food-covered kids” jokes in image form.

Hit the jump to check out the images.  Directed by Andy Fickman, the film also stars Marisa Tomei and Tom Everett Scott.  Parental Guidance opens on Christmas Day.

Marisa Tomei has signed on to join director Andy Fickman’s (You Again) family comedy Us & Them. Also starring Billy Crystal, Bette Midler and Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark‘s Bailee Madison, the pic pegs Crystal and Midler as old school grandparents who have a hard time finding a middle ground with their three modernized grandchildren. According to Variety, Tomei will take on the role of Crystal and Midler’s daughter, Alice, whose rocky relationship with her parents is ultimately addressed (and most likely smoothed out) as a result of her kids and parents learning to co-exist.

The project’s most recent script comes courtesy of City Slickers writers Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel. Production is set to get underway in Atlanta later this month. As for Tomei, she can next be seen alongside George Clooney, Ryan Gosling, Paul Giamatti, Evan Rachel Wood and Philip Seymour Hoffman in Clooney’s political drama The Ides of March which opens on October 7th.

Bette Midler and Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark star Bailee Madison have signed on to join Billy Crystal in the family comedy Us & Them. The project, which has been in development for quite some time, re-teams Crystal (who hasn’t toplined a film in over ten years) with his City Slickers writers Lowell Gantz and Babaloo Mandel. The story revolves around a Fresno AAA baseball broadcaster who is tasked with caring for his three grandchildren alongside his wife (with whom he’s going through a separation). The flick will explore the generational gap between the parenting styles of grandparents and their children.

Variety reports that Midler will play Crystal’s estranged wife, while 11-year-old Madison will take on the role of one of their grandchildren. Andy Fickman (You Again) is directing the co-production between 20^th Century Fox and Walden Media. Production is set to get underway later this month in Atlanta.

Two more have joined the cast of HBO’s biopic of legendary record producer-turned-lady-murderer Phil Spector. Bette Midler and Jeffrey Tambor have joined the cast of the film, written and directed by David Mamet. Al Pacino was previously cast as Spector himself in the flick that will focus on Spector’s later years, specifically the 2003 trial where he was convicted of second-degree murder for shooting a struggling actress in his mansion.

The Wrap reports that Midler will play Linda Kenney Baden, one of Spector’s defense attorneys in the trial. Tambor is set to take on the role of defense attorney Bruce Cutler. Last year, Pacino won the Emmy for portraying Jack Kevorkian in the HBO drama You Don’t Know Jack, directed by Barry Levinson. Levinson is on board as an executive producer of this Spector project.

In the family comedy Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, the eternal battle between cats and dogs turns a new corner when one crazed feline takes things too far. Faced with the immediate threat, cats and dogs are forced to work together for the first time in history, to save themselves and their beloved humans from Kitty Galore and her diabolical plan for world domination.

During a press conference at the film’s press day, voice co-stars Christina Applegate, James Marsden and Bette Midler talked about doing voice work, what they liked best about their character and how they channeled their “inner animal.” Check out what they had to say after the jump:

Sam Rockwell is considering a starring role in the comedy Sweet Baby Jesus.  According to Deadline, Rockwell would play “Joe, a guy who finds himself accompanying his pregnant teenage girlfriend to Bethlehem, Maryland. His girlfriend’s name is Mary and soon the town is agog that it’s about to witness the Second Coming.”  Filming is set to begin in August.  If Rockwell signs on, he’ll be starring opposite British pop star Pixie Lott along with Bette Midler and Kim Cattrall, who will play the “innkeeper” Eleanor Mary’s mother Darlene, respectively.  Peter Hewitt (Garfield) will direct from a script by Steve Blair.