Two new releases hit theatres on this, the penultimate weekend of summer. A refreshing change from the FIVE films we were handed one week ago. Both The Last Exorcism and Takers performed above expectations – earning an estimated $21.3 million and $21 million, respectively. Though, overall, theatre attendance was down by 2009 standards. And what of that Special Edition of Avatar? It just missed the top ten with an estimated $4 million. January was a long time ago…

After two weeks of solid second-place finishes, Alcon Entertainment’s The Blind Side posted its first number one win this weekend, taking the lead with an estimated $20.4 million from its 3,326 locations. After two weeks of steroid-pumped box office dominance New Moon could not catch up – closing its third weekend with another $15.7 million domestically. All in all it was kind of a dull weekend, with new releases failing to drum up much interest. But that is all about to change with the official start of the holiday movie season next weekend. Let’s just call this week the calm before the storm.

Early estimates for the first Friday in December are in and it looks like more good news for Sandra Bullock and The Blind Side. In its third Friday in theatres, the modestly-budgeted football drama flattened its competitors, including some little teen flick called New Moon. True, the competition isn’t all that stiff on the Friday following Thanksgiving, but the fact that Blind Side just keeps defying the odds is sort of heartwarming. Someone should make a movie about it. New Moon, meanwhile, isn’t exactly wallowing in second place. The super-successful sequel is cruising past the $250 million mark right about… now! As expected, new releases Brothers and Armored did not make big entrances on Friday, coming in third and fourth respectively. Full details on all of this week’s releases when you check back here tomorrow.

Armored may not a blockbuster extravaganza filled with Hollywood’s biggest stars, but from what I’ve seen, it looks like a tight little action-thriller and that’s good enough for me.  I am hoping it’s good because you don’t want this film to be a travesty and then face the fact that director Nimrod Antal is going to be making Predators.  Still, I have faith and hopefully these five new clips from the film will inspire some faith in you as well.

Hit the jump to check out the clips along with a brief synopsis.  Armored hits theaters on December 4^th.

ComingSoon recently spoke with Predators director Nimrod Antal about his upcoming sequel to the classic 1987 action film, and his controversial decision to cast Adrien Brody as the leader of a bunch of bad-asses who fight the Predator aliens.  Antal says that it was too predictable to go with Schwarzenegger-type and how the role demanded someone of Brody’s physique: “He plays a mercenary in the film and if you look at the guys in Iraq and Afghanistan today, they’re not ‘yolked-out’ Schwarzenegger-looking guys. They’re all very wiry and thin guys, and I think it’s going to play well.“  Blackwater is the most infamous group of mercenaries fighting the “War on Terror” and here’s a link to a photo with some of them.  Yes, some of them are wiry but that’s an over-generalization and while I appreciate the unconventional casting, the original Predator is set up that you have a group of the toughest, meanest motherfuckers around and they’re getting picked off like they’re nothing by one creature.  Aliens works the same way.  It’s going to be tough to convince audience members that Brody is a man feared enough that we would consider him a worthy challenger against just one Predator, let alone many.

At least as far as the visual effects are concerned, Antal seems to be on the right track by opting for practical effects even though producer and screenwriter Robert Rodriguez wants everything to be CG because hey, ain’t that neat.  Antal also said that Predators will be an R-rated film so at least there’s nothing to worry about on that front.  For those who don’t know, Antal is best known for his 2003 film Kontroll and is currently doing press for his new film Armored, which hits theaters on December 4^th.

Do you know who Nimrod Antal is?  It’s okay if you don’t.  He’s the man behind “Kontroll”, “Vacancy”, and the upcoming “Armored”.  But you should start getting familiar with him because Robert Rodriguez just brought him on board to direct “Predators”, the first official sequel in the “Predator” franchise since we won’t count the “AVP” films and all their wretchedness.

Speaking with AICN, Rodriguez confirmed the hiring (which had been rumored in the past week or so as LatinoReview reported) and said that it was Antal’s work on “Armored” that really put him over the top.  Rodriguez compares Antal to Quentin Tarantino in being able to handle a large cast in a character-driven movie.  Also, judging from the interview, while Rodriguez is tight-lipped on the plot, he’s kind of selling it like “Aliens” but with Predators.  I don’t know if that’s any reason to complain, but I think it would be nice to have a film that can stand on its own as an action-horror flick rather than just using the “Predator” name.

Click over to AICN for the full story.  Antal’s “Armored” is slated to hit theatres on December 4th.