As the 84th Academy Awards move closer, we’re starting to get a better sense of how things will pan out. We recently shared the 39 songs that will contend for the Best Original Song category, and now the Academy has announced the 97 original scores eligible for the Best Original Score award. AMPAS is notoriously picky when it comes to eligibility in this category, and as we feared the scores for both Drive and Attack the Block have been deemed ineligible. Also disappointing is the ineligibility of Alexandre Desplat’s mesmerizing score for The Tree of Life.

While it’s upsetting to see some of the year’s best work side-lined, there’s plenty to be happy about. I was a huge fan of Howard Shore’s work in Hugo and Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’s score for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, as well as The Chemical Brothers’ brilliant work in the criminally underseen Hanna. Hit the jump for the full list, as well as who I think will make the cut.

After driving off with $33.2 million on Friday, a record debut for April, Universal’s Fast Five went on to an incredible weekend estimate of $83.6 million from 3,644 locations.  And, as on Friday, that was also good enough to break all kinds of records.

Now we’re talking.  Though April showed signs of life with Hop and Rio, it looks like 2011 has its first real blockbuster on its hands with Fast Five.  And not a moment too soon!  If I had to write one more box office report which parsed out the relative merits of a $15 million opening weekend I was going to have to slap myself.  After earning a reported $3.8 million in its midnight debut, Fast Five went on to take in a Friday total estimated at $33.2 million.  Most projections now have the action sequel earning over $70 million for the weekend.  Not only would that make Fast Five, easily, the highest debut of 2011, it would also pace the $71 million debut of the franchise’s last installment, Fast and Furious, which has held the record for the highest April debut of all-time since 2009.  So for once the trailers were right: summer really did start early this year!  For the rest of the top ten, it appears to be perpetual January, with both Disney’s Prom and TWC’s Hoodwinked Too! underwhelming in their debuts.  Full details tomorrow.

On Easter weekend the animated hit Rio managed to hold on to its number one perch for a second weekend in a row with an estimated $26.8 million.  The padding between Fox’s birds and the Tyler Perry’s bawd was pretty slim, however.  In second place Madea’s Big Happy Family was right behind Rio with an estimated $25.8 million.

Woo-hoo.  Folks, it looks like 2011 has indeed soared to its first big weekend win in months on the wings of Fox’s Rio.  The 3D animated toon rose from the ashes of a lower than expected Friday figure to earn an estimated $40 million for the three day frame.  Unfortunately, there was not a lot of love left over for Wes Craven’s Scream 4 but, no matter!  The weekend should still end up ahead of last year by approximately 12%.

Four new releases hit theatres this weekend, including one that was marketed to within an inch of its life.  Still, year-to-year grosses will be down once again by almost 10% and it was a holdover that took the number one title.  Universal’s Hop earned an estimated $21.7 million to put it on top of the US box office for the second week in a row.

It looks like a good news/bad news kind of morning for Russell Brand.  The good news is that his voice-only role in last weekend’s number one film Hop will give Brand a second weekend on top of the US box office.  The bad news?  Warner Brothers’ highly-promoted Arthur redux – the film in which he actually gets his face on film – wasn’t particularly aided by the comedian’s recent PR blitz.  The widest of this weekend’s four new releases, Arthur earned an estimated $4.5 million to Hop’s $5.5 million.  Arthur’s mediocre showing was counterbalanced by two Friday overachievers.  Focus features’ Hanna took in an estimated $4.2 million while Sony’s inspirational shark-attack biopic Soul Surfer earned $3.7 million in 2,214 locations.  That just leaves us with Universal’s Your Highness.  How this R-rated comedy from David Gordon Green and Danny McBride wound up nearly tied on a Friday night with a movie about a one-armed surfer is beyond me.  Details and analysis tomorrow.

Universal’s Hop has just earned 2011’s highest debut weekend – if today’s estimate of $38.1 million from 3,579 locations proves accurate. For now the three-day estimate for the live-action/CGI-animated comedy stands less than one million ahead of Rango’s record from five weeks back.

With Universal and Illumination Entertainment’s CG/live-action family film Hop opening this weekend, I got to interview James Marsden for our partners at Omelete.  In the film, Marsden (Enchanted) stars as a slacker who finds himself taking care of the Easter Bunny (voiced by Russel Brand) after he accidentally injures him.  Hop also stars (or features the voices of) Kaley Cuoco, Gary Cole, Elizabeth Perkins, David Hasselhoff, Chelsea Handler, Hank Azaria and Hugh Laurie.  You can watch some clips here.

During the interview, Marsden talked about acting against nothing as he mostly worked with an animated character, the physicality of the role, what’s his karaoke song, how much fun did he have doing an episode of Modern Family, and did Enchanted or Saved by the Bell: The New Class help him get ready for this role.  But the best part of the interview was the beginning.  The reason is I was the first one to talk to Marsden and almost as soon as we started, Brand started screaming at him from the other side of the studio.  As they scream back and forth, you can hear them playfully argue.  It’s very funny and definitely worth watching.

As expected, Universal’s Hop was Friday’s number one film with an estimated $11.4 million from 3,579 locations.  The live action/CGI-animated comedy was heavily promoted as hailing from the team behind last year’s Despicable Me and, though it ultimately fell short of that film’s $21.3 million first Friday, Hop has a shot at passing Rango to claim the biggest first weekend of 2011 if its projected three day take of $38 million proves accurate.  Summit Entertainment’s Source Code placed second with an estimated $5 million from 2,961 locations, which would indicate a weekend figure in the mid-teens.  In other words, not quite as strong as recent releases like Limitless in the sci-fi genre. Fellow newbie Insidious came in at number three on Friday with $4.8 million from 2,408 locations.  Weekend projections for the supernatural horror flick are between $10 and $15 million but, as FilmDirect’s follow-up to Paranormal Activity, the ultra low-budget Insidious is already counting its profits.  Details and analysis tomorrow.

With Universal and Illumination Entertainment’s CG/live-action family film Hop opening this weekend, I got to interview Russell Brand for our partners at Omelete.  In the film, James Marsden (Enchanted) stars as a slacker who finds himself taking care of the Easter Bunny (voiced by Brand) after he accidentally injures him.  Hop also stars (or features the voices of) Kaley Cuoco, Gary Cole, Elizabeth Perkins, David Hasselhoff, Chelsea Handler, Hank Azaria and Hugh Laurie.  You can watch some clips here.

During the interview, Brand talked about how Despicable Me got him this part, the recording process, how much was improvised, does he have a preference on where to do interviews, what’s his criteria for following someone on Twitter, does he get nervous before going on stage at Award shows or doing standup, and a lot more.  Hit the jump to watch:

With Universal and Illumination Entertainment’s Hop opening this weekend, I was able to sit down with Christopher Meledandri (CEO of Illumination) for an extended interview.  As most of you know, Illumination’s first movie, Despicable Me, went on to earn over five hundred and twenty seven million dollars at the worldwide box office.  Not bad for a film that had no build in audience.  As you might imagine, they’re hard at work on the sequel.

During my extended interview, Meledandri talked about the success of Despicable Me, the “it’s so fluffy!” line, how Hop came together and getting the cast, are there any Easter Eggs in Illumination films (like Pixar does it), his CinemaCon panel with George Lucas, James Cameron and Jeffrey Katzenberg, and he also talks about Illumination’s future projects which include Curious George, Tim Burton’s stop-motion animation adaptation of The Addams Family, Ricky Gervais’ Flanimals, and The Lorax.  Hit the jump to watch:

The family comedy Hop, from the makers of Despicable Me, blends CG animation with live-action, to tell the story of E.B. (voiced by Russell Brand), the teenage son of the Easter Bunny (voiced by Hugh Laurie). Hidden on Easter Island, off the coast of South America, there is the world’s most magnificent candy factory, where the Easter Bunny presides over a team of bunnies and chicks who work around the clock to prepare the candy-filled baskets that are delivered to children on Easter morning. Before his father can hand over the Easter Bunny title and all the power that goes with it, E.B. runs away to Hollywood, to follow his dream of becoming a drummer. Not long after he arrives, he meets Fred (James Marsden), a 30-year-old who is trying to pull his life together and find his place in the world. And, with E.B. uninterested in the Easter Bunny position, Fred thinks he just might have found his true calling.

At the film’s press day, director Tim Hill (Alvin and the Chipmunks) talked about the challenges of combining animation with live-action, what made Russell Brand and James Marsden his perfect leading men, and the reasons for not having done the film in 3D. Check out what he had to say after the jump:

In the family comedy Hop, actor James Marsden plays Fred, a 30-year-old on a directionless path, who is trying to pull his life together. His family keeps telling him to grow up, but Fred knows that he is destined for something great. Then, he meets E.B. (voiced by Russell Brand), the teenage son of the Easter Bunny who also happens to be next in line for the coveted position, but who wants to give it all up in pursuit of his dream to become a drummer. The presence of E.B. brings back memories from when Fred was a little boy and saw E.B.’s dad delivering his Easter basket early one morning, and he soon realizes that his calling just might be the thing that E.B. is running from.

At the film’s press day, James Marsden talked about acting opposite a bunny that wasn’t there, developing the dynamic and chemistry with Russell Brand that was necessary to bring their performances to life, the fact that he is a bit of a perpetual child like Fred, and that the film shows the importance of following your dream and finding your passion in life, even if that’s becoming the Easter Bunny. Check out what he had to say after the jump:

In the family comedy Hop, actress Kaley Cuoco (The Big Bang Theory) plays Sam O’Hare, the ambitious and driven younger sister of the directionless Fred (James Marsden). In her mid-20′s, Sam only wants the best for 30-year-old Fred and constantly encourages him to get his act together while he figures out what his passion in life is. When she sets him up with a house-sitting gig at her boss’ mansion, Fred has a chance meeting with E.B., the teenage son of the Easter Bunny, and none of their lives will ever be the same again.

At the film’s press day, Kaley Cuoco talked about shaking things up from her day job at The Big Bang Theory, how she loved the sweetness of her character, acting opposite a bean bag for her scenes with E.B., torturing her co-star James Marsden, and how she loves doing comedy. Check out what she had to say after the jump: