One week after Iron Man 3 scored the second-highest domestic debut of all-time, the Marvel sequel is still on top. The blockbuster passed the $200 million mark in the US on Thursday and now stands at an incredible $794 million total worldwide.  On its second Friday, Iron Man 3 earned an estimated $19.7 million – down 71% from last week. That was a bit steeper than the 63% drop The Avengers saw on its own second Friday, though not entirely unexpected.

What was unexpected was how close The Great Gatsby came to unseating Iron Man 3 on its first day in theatres. Baz Luhrmann’s lavish, 3D adaptation of the literary classic earned an estimated $19.4 million from 3,035 locations: including $3.25 million from Thursday pm & midnight previews. That puts Gatsby on track for a three-day debut of $52 million – nearly double what box office watchers forecast back when the film was moved from its original December 2012 release date. The good news for Gatsby was disaster for Peeples, the weekend’s second new release. The Tyler Perry-produced project earned an estimated $1.1 million from 2,031 locations towards an opening weekend projection of just $4 million.

We’ll have complete details and the weekend top ten when you check back tomorrow.

As we await the 85th Academy Award nominations announcement on Thursday morning, we now have a look at the opposite end of the 2012 film spectrum.  The 33rd Golden Raspberry Award nominations have been announced, celebrating the very worst of what 2012′s movie slate had to offer.  Leading the pack is The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 with 10 nominations, as the film landed a nomination in every single category.  The Twilight closer will go head-to-head with Battleship, A Thousand Words, That’s My Boy, and The Oogieloves in Big Balloon Adventure for the Worst Picture title.

It’s easy to beat up on the Twilight franchise, and even though I wouldn’t go so far as to call Breaking Dawn – Part 2 a good movie, it’s in no way the worst movie of the year.  The sheer amount of beheadings alone in director Bill Condon’s climactic fight sequence is enough to make the movie worth watching.  Anyway, hit the jump to check out the full list of Razzie Awards nominations.

A few casting updates:

• Ashley Greene is in talks to join Haley Bennett in Satanic (formerly known as Kristy), a horror movie about a group of college students who are attacked in their dormitory over Thanksgiving break.
• Wendi McLendon-Covey is the first of four female leads to be cast by Tyler Perry for his next movie, Single Mom’s Club.
• Kristen Stewart suggests “there’s a strong possibility” she will return for Snow White and the Huntsman 2.

Details after the jump.

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.

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. 

Tyler Perry will debut in Alex Cross this weekend (click here for a recent interview with Perry), taking over for Morgan Freeman in the latest James Patterson adaptation, but that doesn’t mean the multihyphenate is taking time off.  Perry will next turn his focus to Single Moms Club, which he will write/direct/produce and star in.  The picture unites four single mothers from different backgrounds via an inciting event at their children’s school.  The bonds of their resulting support group help them find humor in everyday obstacles along with the strength to overcome them.  Lionsgate is reportedly in final negotiations to distribute the picture.  Hit the jump for more. 

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.

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.

The theory that audiences would wait for the tentpole movies of July before opening their wallets went down in flames this weekend as two all-original movies (R-rated ones at that) delivered stellar openings. Ted and Magic Mike bested Brave by taking first and second place: nearly doubling their pre-weekend projections and giving box office watchers a lot more to consider than the imminent arrival of The Amazing Spider-Man.

So, it appears the answer to the question “did I underestimate the blockbuster potential of Ted” is a giant “Oh Hell Yes.”  From its first day in 3,239 locations the R-rated comedy from first-time film director Seth MacFarlane (the Family Guy guy) made an estimated $20.2 million. And this from a movie that was projected to earn only $25 million for its first weekend! With Friday’s huge win, Ted is now poised to take in double that by Sunday – a figure that would top The Hangover as the all-time highest debut from an R-rated (non-sequel) comedy. But Friday’s surprises were not limited to talking teddy bears. Magic Mike, the R-rated male-stripper movie starring Channing Tatum, was also a giant over-performer with an estimated $19.4 million from 2,930 venues. Again, that is just under what Magic Mike was projected to earn in its first three days. Meanwhile, Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Witness Protection, in 2,161 locations, also had a bigger-than-expected first Friday, taking in an estimated $10.25 million for what should prove a $27 million opening weekend. In fact, of yesterday’s four major new releases, only the Disney-distributed People Like Us played as expected – opening outside the top five with a modest $1.4 million.  We’ll have full details and analysis of this weekend’s box office tomorrow.

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.