We’ve got a very interesting case at the box office this weekend. Paramount’s horror pic The Devil Inside definitively won the weekend with a big $34.5 million take, but reaction to the film from both critics and audiences has been extremely negative. Not only does it sit at 7% on Rotten Tomatoes, but the film earned an “F” CinemaScore, which gauges how the film plays with general audiences. It’s already becoming infamous for a horrendous ending, but audiences turned up in droves making the little $1 million horror movie a bona fide hit. Hit the jump for more.

With three days before Hollywood’s jam-packed holiday season comes to a close, and with no major new studio releases, last week’s holdovers got a chance to stretch their legs on Friday.  After dominating the charts since it went wide ten days ago, Paramount’s Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol was yesterday’s winner with an estimated $10.7 million. This season’s all-purpose hit passed the $100 million mark on Thursday and is projected to take in another $35 million by the end of the four-day weekend.  Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows also hit $100 million (on Wednesday). Although the WB sequel was pushed into third by Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked on Wednesday and Thursday, Sherlock 2 should finish the holiday frame back in second place with $30 million to Alvin 3’s $25. As expected, each of the top five films saw a significant spike in earnings over last Friday; with the most impressive gain made by Fox’s We Bought a Zoo which rose 40% above its December 23^rd debut.  Just missing the top five, War Horse lost some momentum after its strong showing on Christmas Day.  The Disney/Dreamworks pic is projected to post $18 million through Monday – just ahead of director Steven Spielberg’s second holiday release: The Adventures of Tintin.  Check back for details and analysis.

Welcome to one of the most crowded (and confusing) holiday box office races you are likely to encounter.  Along with last weekend’s big name holdovers, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, six films will have opened wide or expanded within a five day span… or six days if you count films like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo which opened in some locations on Tuesday night.  Adding to the box office clusterf&c%, only one of the six titles opened on Friday while two will open on Sunday: throwing off the whole ‘three-day weekend’ model that keeps people like me employed.  Fox’s We Bought a Zoo was Friday’s lone new release, opening to an estimated $3 million from 3,117 locations – not quite enough to push it into the daily top five.  At number one since Wednesday, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol is on track to win the weekend with around $35 million – higher than was originally expected.  We’ll try to make sense of all of the Christmas-chaos after the dust settles but, until then, why not take in a movie?  I don’t think the excuse “there’s nothing to see” is going to hold up this year.

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.

‘Twas the Wednesday before Christmas, but before I get going, I’ll end this rhyme so it doesn’t start blowing.  That’s right, we have arrived at that fabled time of year when Hollywood finally unwraps some of its most-anticipated titles.  After its IMAX triumph last weekend, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol went wide on Wednesday and quickly vaulted over both Sherlock Holmes 2 and Alvin and the Chipmunks 3 to claim first place with $8.6 million.  M:I 4 also topped David Fincher’s much-hyped version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which snuck into theatres a day ahead of its official December 21^st release date.  From 2,914 locations, Dragon Tattoo has earned an estimated $5.1 million so far – just slightly behind what True Grit saw on its pre-Christmas debut one year ago.  Rounding out yesterday’s top five was Steven Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tintin.  One of Spielberg’s two end-of-year offerings (War Horse arrives on December 25^th), Tintin earned a relatively-soft $2.3 million from 3,087 domestic theatres, but a giant $240 million internationally.  With Christmas falling on a Sunday, this weekend’s totals are not expected to equal 2010 (when Little Fockers reigned), but we’ll keep you updated either way.

Looks like holiday cheer was not enough to pull the box office out of its recent slump.  Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows came out on top with $40 million from 3,703 locations while Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked claimed second with $23.5 million from 3,723.  Needless to say, neither sequel was able to meet the expectations their predecessors set on Christmas weekend back in 2009.  Meanwhile, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, took in $13 million from just 425 locations – making Tom Cruise the big winner of this weekend’s box office derby.  It’s like a little Christmas miracle.

After estimates became hard digits on Monday, last weekend’s domestic box office wound up with the lowest overall total of 2011… and 2010 and 2009, too.  That doesn’t bode well entering this sequel-stuffed Christmas season.  As expected, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows took first place on Friday with an estimated $14.7 million from 3,703 locations.  But with a midnight debut of just $1.25 million, Warner Brothers has had to modify expectations for their sequel.  Instead of coming in just under the original’s $62.3 million, Sherlock 2 may have to settle for a first weekend in the mid-$40’s.  In second place, Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked is also proving to be somewhat less impressive than its forebears with $6.8 million from 3,723 venues.  Part three of the ridiculously-successful CGI series is expected to bring in $25 million by Sunday. The bright spot in Friday’s constellation of sequels belongs to Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. MI:3 proved to be something of a disappointment, inspiring Paramount to give the latest installment a platformed release beginning Friday.  From 425 locations, Ghost Protocol estimated $4.1 million for Friday’s best per-screen average, by far.  Details and analysis tomorrow.

Under consideration for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature will be 18 contenders, some of which have yet to have their qualifying runs on screen. Major features include The Adventures of Tintin, Rango and Cars 2. Disney/Pixar has won 6 out of 10 years, while winning the last four in a row, but with DreamWorks’ Kung Fu Panda 2 and Puss in Boots in the running, it could very well be their turn. Though there are some dark horses in the mix.

Submitted films must satisfy the category’s qualifying rules, including their theatrical release, in order to continue the submission process. In order to activate the award category at all, no fewer than 8 animated features must be released in theaters in Los Angeles County within the calendar year. If these films meet requirements for other categories, including Best Picture, they may be eligible for those awards as well. Hit the jump to see the full list.

20th Century Fox has released the first trailer for Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, the third movie in the series, and it’s absolutely painful. Really and truly. It’s basically Lost with annoying pop song-singing Chipmunks. The story finds Jason Lee and his Chipmunks “chipwrecked” on a desert island after a luxurious cruise. Lee is split up from his chipmunks, and said chipmunks wonder how they’re ever going to find their master in between singing Lady Gaga songs. I guess kids will enjoy it, but this is one of those kids movies that has zero appeal to the parents that are dragged along.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer. The voice cast features Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler, Jesse McCartney, Amy Poehler, Anna Faris, and Christina Applegate.  Jason Lee, David Cross, and Jenny Slate will reprise their live-action roles.  Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked is scheduled for release on December 16th.