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.

The weekend played out pretty much as expected after Friday’s estimates, except for one factor (and I know this is a shocker): final weekend tallies ended up on the low end of projections across the board.  We are still dealing with box office totals that are down over 10% from 2010 but, compared to the 45% we were down last weekend, that’s progress!

Paramount did not quite reach the $50 million they were hoping for with their PG toon Rango.  With an estimated $38 million from its 3,917 locations, however, the 2D animated feature did manage to top The Green Hornet to become the biggest debut of 2011 so far.

See that?  All the box office needed to shake off the stagnant was Johnny Depp!  Debuting on the same weekend the actor owned with Alice in Wonderland in 2010, the animated western Rango is on track to have the biggest debut of the year.  The PG flick from director Gore Verbinski brought in an estimated $9.5 million on Friday from 3,917 locations and appears headed for a three day total above $40 million – and that’s without a 3D price boost.  If Paramount is pleased with their Rango debut, Universal is probably just as pleased with the debut of The Adjustment Bureau.  The Matt Damon-led sci-fi thriller opened to $6.7 million from 2,840 locations.  Expect a three-day total above $20 million, or a few million more than the studio was hoping for just a two days ago.  Alex Pettyfer is back this week in CBS Films’ Beastly.  The modern fairytale took in $3.5 million on Friday and should finish the weekend just below $10 million – right about where the studio was expecting. Full details and box office analysis tomorrow.

Beastly nearly succeeds at hiding all of its woes behind its comedic exterior. Unfortunately, the film has a devastatingly pretentious beginning and an unwieldy message. This modern day reimagining of the classic Beauty and the Beast tale goes after the teen heart with particular verve. While the film will obviously squander the good looks of star Alex Pettyfer, it makes an effort to show him doing shirtless pull-ups in the opening scene. All of this is laughably wrong, and yet the comedic bits that Beastly provides almost wipes the bad taste from your mouth by the third act. Instead of laughing at it, you begin laughing with it. However, all of its levity can only go so far to save this mixed message fairy tale about how far love can go. Hit the jump for my full review.

Opening this weekend is CBS Films Beastly.  Directed by Daniel Barnz (Phoebe in Wonderland), Beastly is a reimagining of Beauty and the Beast and it stars Alex Pettyfer (I Am Number 4) Vanessa Hudgens, Neil Patrick Harris, and Mary-Kate Olsen.  The one liner is Pettyfer stars as a popular high school student that finds himself turned into a beast.  He then has one year to find someone who can love him so that he can reverse the curse.

Anyway, a few days ago I got to speak with Pettyfer & Hudgens and we talked about how the film compared to what they thought it would be when they signed on, rehearsing versus improv, deleted scenes and alternate endings, working with the rest of the cast, going out in public with the makeup on, and what are their go to karaoke songs – which led to Hudgens singing.  Hit the jump to watch:

The fantasy film Beastly, based on the novel by Alex Flinn, takes the much loved story of Beauty and the Beast and turns it into a modern-day teen romance about learning to see past the surface to discover true inner beauty. Kyle (Alex Pettyfer) is a spoiled 17-year-old who is the king of his high school. When he chooses the next classmate to target for humiliation, he is unaware that Kendra (Mary-Kate Olsen) is a witch who decides to teach him a lesson. Once she transforms him into someone as unattractive on the outside as he is on the inside, he is given one year to find someone who can see past that and truly love him anyway, or he will remain that way forever. When he crosses paths with Lindy (Vanessa Hudgens), a girl who normally prefers to blend in and live life under the radar, he realizes that she may be his only chance to find someone who can see the beauty within.

During the film’s press day, actress Vanessa Hudgens talked about having been a big fan of the Disney animated movie, how she likes the realism this version of the story has, what it was like to see Alex Pettyfer as the beast for the first time, and how being close with her family keeps her grounded in a town that is built on superficiality. She also talked about her upcoming roles in Sucker Punch and Journey 2: The Mysterious Island. Check out what she had to say after the jump:

CBS Films has given us 5 clips for their upcoming film, Beastly.  The film – directed by Daniel Barnz (Phoebe in Wonderland) – is a modern reimagining of Beauty and the Beast, which places the classic tale in a high school setting.  Alex Pettyfer (I Am Number 4) stars as a popular handsome high school student that finds himself turned into a beast, who then has one year to find someone who can love him so that he can reverse the curse.  The film also stars Vanessa Hudgens, Neil Patrick Harris, and Mary-Kate Olsen.  Beastly is set to open on March 4.  Hit the jump to watch the clips:

Beastly was originally slotted for release last July, but CBS Films pushed it to 2011 so High School Musical fans would not be forced to choose between Beastly‘s Vanessa Hudgens and Charlie St. Cloud‘s Zac Efron.  The studio is moving Beastly once again — this time in the opposite direction.  Led by Hudgens and Alex Pettyfer, Beastly will open two weeks early on March 4th where it faces The Adjustment Bureau, Apollo 18, Rango, and Take Me Home Tonight.

Box Office Mojo reports Millennium Entertainment has scheduled their first release, Trust, for April 1st.  Trust stars Clive Owen and Catherine Keener, and is one of three limited releases to open on the date alongside Super and Rubber.  Hit the jump for synopses of both films.

CBS Films has released a new trailer for their upcoming film, Beastly.  The film – directed by Daniel Barnz (Phoebe in Wonderland) – is a modern reimagining of Beauty and the Beast, which places the classic tale in a high school setting.  Alex Pettyfer (I Am Number 4) stars as a popular handsome high school student that finds himself turned into a beast, who then has one year to find someone who can love him so that he can reverse the curse.  The film also stars Vanessa Hudgens, Neil Patrick Harris, and Mary-Kate Olsen.  Beastly is set to open on March 18.  You can hit the jump to watch the trailer and check out 21 images:

We have two posters for you this afternoon courtesy of Collider reader Scott.  First up is an international poster for Ben Affleck’s The Town.  The film follows a Boston bank robber (Affleck) who falls in love with a hostage (Rebecca Hall) while at the same time being pursued by an FBI agent (Jon Hamm).  The film will be playing at the Venice Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival.  It opens nationwide on September 17th

The other poster is for the teen romance-drama, Beastly.  The flick, which stars Alex Pettyfer and Vanessa Hudgens, is a modern take on Beauty and the Beast. It’s currently slated to open on March 18, 2011.  Hit the jump to check out both posters.

CBS Films originally slotted Beastly for July 30th, which would have pit star Vanessa Hudgens against boyfriend/High School Musical co-star Zac Efron and his project Charlie St. Cloud.  In an effort to avoid forcing fans into such a Sophie’s choice, THR reports that Beastly will now debut nearly eight months later on March 18, 2011.  The studio wrote on the Beastly Facebook page:

“We’ve been hearing from fans, so we know that having both Zac and Vanessa’s movies opening on the same day could be a real dilemma for people, so we are moving Beastly.”

I do like the idea of this theoretical fan who would have been completely beside themselves on July 30th, completely unable to decide between which pretty actor to support first.  Hit the jump for details on the two-day bump bestowed upon the Tom Cruise/Cameron Diaz action comedy Knight and Day.

A recent behind-the-scenes featurette shed some light on how Beastly, a teenage update on the Beauty and the Beast story, will approach its source material.  CBS Films has released a new trailer for the reimagining, which shows off Beastly‘s brooding tone amid a more narrative form.  The film stars Alex Pettyfer, Vanessa Hudgens, Neil Patrick Harris, and Mary-Kate Olsen; Daniel Barns (Phoebe in Wonderland) directed from his own script.

Check out the trailer–plus a look at the Beastly‘s potential–after the jump.

Sharlto Copley, who made one of the all-time best acting debuts with his performance in Neill Blomkamp’s Oscar-nominated District 9, in talks to star in the sci-fi flick I Am Number Four.  Based off the young-adult science fiction book by James Frey and Jobie Hughes, the film is about Four (played by Beastly‘s Alex Pettyfer), one of nine aliens who escape their home planet before its annihilation by a rival species and hide out on Earth disguised as human high schoolers.  According to Heat Vision, Copley will play, “a man who hailed from the alien world’s serving class but now is the title character’s adult guardian and mentor.”

The script is by Smallville creators Al Gough and Miles Millar and comes from a planned six-book series to be introduced this fall.  D.J. Caruso (Eagle Eye) is attached to direct and Steven Spielberg will produce the film with Michael Bay.  Copley will next be seen this summer in Joe Carnahan’s adaptation of The A-Team.

CBS Films and Universal Studios have sent over high resolution versions of the new Beastly and MacGruber movie posters.  Beastly stars Vanessa Hudgens and Alex Pettyfer and it’s a  modern-day take on Beauty and the Beast that takes place in New York City.  MacGruber stars Will Forte, Kristen Wiig, Ryan Phillippe, Powers Boothe, Maya Rudolph and Val Kilmer and it’s the feature film version of the Saturday Night Live skit.  While I don’t know anyone that’s seen Beastly, MacGruber screened at SXSW and I’ve heard from friends it’s very stupid but extremely funny.  Sounds like my kind of movie.  Hit the jump for the new posters: