With movie theatres closed from New Jersey to Maine, box office watchers expect overall grosses to be down again this weekend. But while Blizzard Nemo battered the East Coast, the rest of the country appeared ready to pick up the slack. Identity Thief, the new comedy from director Seth Gordon, brought in an estimated $11.2 million from its 3,141 locations on Friday. The film, which was expected to take in around $25 million through Sunday, should now come closer to $35 million. Not only is that more than most expected from Identity Thief, it’s also more than Gordon’s last hit, Horrible Bosses, made on its own opening weekend in 2011. The news was not as good for Side Effects, the weekend’s second wide release. Steven Soderbergh’s drama grossed an estimated $2.8 million from 2,605 locations on Friday – far less than the $7.9 million the director earned with 2011′s Contagion.  Check back tomorrow for complete details.

Over the past few days, we’ve been sharing bits and pieces from Steve’s recent extended interview with filmmaker Steven Soderbergh.  The two sat down for a 45-minute conversation in anticipation of Soderbergh’s upcoming film Side Effects, which opens this Friday, and they covered a wide range of topics.  In Part 1 we shared what Soderbergh had to say about digital filmmaking, his favorite cameras, and 48 frames per second, then in Part 2 we shared Soderbergh’s thoughts on the success of Magic Mike, the sequel, his second-unit work on The Hunger Games, and how he championed Christopher Nolan to direct Insomina when Warner Bros. was initially unsure about handing this larger-scale movie over to the guy who made Memento.

Today, in Part 3 of the interview, Soderbergh talks about the inception of Side Effects, his filmmaking process, editing while he’s shooting, his attitude regarding deleted scenes, cutting 45 minutes out of Contagion, and more.  Hit the jump to read on, and look for the full interview on Friday.

We told you yesterday that this weekend was on track to become the lowest-grossing frame of the year and the lowest-grossing frame since September 2008. Unfortunately, nothing came along to change that gloomy portrait after Sunday’s estimates were released. No film, including first-place holdover The Possession, managed to break ten million and only one new film reached half that amount.

You never know what you’re going to get with Steven Soderbergh. He’s a chameleon, someone just as happy to do a project that cost ten dollars as a hundred million. And he likes to work. Even though he’s mentioned retirement, Contagion came out in September theatrically, and four months later his Haywire is coming out. Contagion stars Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Laurence Fishburne, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Marion Cotillard and Jennifer Ehle in what amounts to a disaster film about a new virus that starts a pandemic. It may also be the best disaster film ever made. Our review of Contagion on Blu-ray follows after the jump.

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.

It may not be the overwhelming win that its pricey PR push promised, but America’s new number one movie Real Steel did score the highest debut of any truly ‘new’ release since Rise of the Planet of the Apes two months ago.  With $27.3 million from its 3,440 locations, the family-friendly robot boxing movie also earned almost three times what its nearest competitor, George Clooney’s The Ides of March, saw on its first weekend.

After seeing the movie modifier ‘3D’ lose almost all of its cache over the past year or so, who knew that an animated re-issue with that three dimensional makeover could roar this loud at the box office?  Doubling even the most sanguine early projections, Disney’s The Lion King 3D took in an estimated $29.3 million this weekend from its 2,330 (mostly 3D) locations to become this weekend’s undisputed box office ruler.

Estimates are in for Friday’s box office, and they indicate a robust return to the big screen for one of Disney’s most iconic features.  With a reported $8.8 million from 2,330 locations, the 3D re-issue of The Lion King is on track to win the weekend with $18 million.  That represents a significant jump from earlier projections, which had the family favorite taking in between $10 and $15 million.  In second place, Contagion took a relatively modest 42% hit entering its sophomore frame – putting it well ahead of the weekend’s three new titles.  Of those, Drive had the best showing with an estimated $4 million from 2,886 venues – though the film’s projected $10 million weekend would put it a bit below expectations.  Finally, Straw Dogs and I Don’t Know How She Does It fared about as well as anyone could expect on this low voltage weekend.  Neither newbie is expected to gross much more than $6 million by Sunday.  Details and analysis tomorrow.

To say the box office has been a bit sleepy of late would be a gross understatement.  Seriously, if I am being bored by the numbers I can only imagine how ordinary movie fans feel.  Four new titles hit theatres this weekend, including Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion. The pandemic thriller, and its A-list cast, drew an impressive three day estimate of $23.1 million: more than enough to end the three-week reign of The Help as the nation’s top draw.

After three weekends at number one (and twenty five consecutive days), The Help has been handed its box office pink slip.  As expected, Warner Brothers’ disease-thriller Contagion was the clear winner on Friday; taking in an estimated $8 million from 3,222 locations.  The Steven Soderbergh film, and its cast of thousands, is expected to earn just over $20 million through Sunday – more than double the projection for Friday’s number two, The Help.  Of course, Contagion benefitted from the fact that it also had nearly double the screen count of Friday’s other new releases.  Lionsgate’s mixed martial arts drama Warrior debuted at just 1,869 locations and took in an estimated $1.8 million on Friday for what should be a $6 million weekend.  Finally, the R-rated Happy Madison comedy Bucky Larson: Born to be a Star debuted with just $540,000 from 1,500 venues for what will surely be one of the sorriest debuts of 2011.  Details and analysis tomorrow.

In Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion, the Center for Disease Control’s Dr. Ellis Cheever (Laurence Fishburne) is asked by a deputy from the Department of Homeland Security (Enrico Colantoni) if the growing pandemic could be a terrorist attack.  “There’s no need to weaponize the bird flu,” Cheever calmly responds.  “The birds are doing that.”  Similarly, Soderbergh knows there’s no need to sensationalize a pandemic.  The pandemic is already terrifying on its own.  By realistically depicting the response to the rampant spread of an unknown virus, Soderbergh makes us feel the intensity and the helplessness of the situation.  But in attempting to capture as many sides of the story as possible, some characters become one-dimensional, plotlines fizzle out, and unintentional xenophobia overshadows the intended misophobia.

With director Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion opening this weekend, we’ve been given some movie related swag to giveaway to some of our readers.  Starring Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Winslet, Contagion is a “dramatic, multi-layered thriller about what can happen when a lethal airborne virus quickly spreads into a worldwide pandemic.”

I caught an early screening and thought Contagion was extremely well made with great performances, a strong script, fantastic direction, and I even loved the score.  It’s definitely recommended and by the end of the film, you’ll notice every cough and sneeze in the theater.  Hit  the jump for details on the giveaway.

Scott Burns doesn’t rewrite. I found out this interesting tidbit a year or so ago when Burns, at a lecture for The University of Texas, revealed there was only one draft on The Informant! This was surprising not only because of how rich a script The Informant! is, but in that it seemingly disregards centuries of screenwriting scripture yore.

Burns’ latest the multiple interweaving narrative epidemic horror flick Contagion, I thought, must surely prove to be the exception to this rule. There’s just no way that Burns could have successfully dealt with all these “Short Cuts”-like stories (Cotillard’s detective, Fishburne’s morally compromised CDC official, Damon’s overprotective father, Law’s scumbag journalist a.k.a. blogger, Winslet’s do-good crusader) all in one draft. But Burns is not your typical screenwriter. When pressed on how many drafts of Contagion there were – he replied matter-of-factly “just really one”, and maintained that he still doesn’t go through the rewriting process. This just couldn’t be. And in the interview that followed, I attempted to delve into Burns’ anti-conventional approach to the art and the thematics at the heart of Contagion. He also spoke about his adaptation process and how it pertains to the upcoming Fincher directed 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Hit the jump for the whole conversation.

Between the 60 hi-res images and now these 13 clips, you’ll probably know at least 20 minutes of Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion before you walk into the theater.  Think of the time you’ll save!  You can go to the bathroom or get some snacks!  Thank you, Warner Bros.

Hit the jump to check out the clips.  The film stars Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Kate Winslet.  Contagion opens September 9th.

Warner Bros. has unloaded a massive number of images from Steven Soderbergh’s upcoming star-studded thriller Contagion. The film centers on the global impact of a deadly virus outbreak, showcasing the ensemble cast that includes Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard, Lawrence Fishbourne and Bryan Cranston. We debuted the chillingly great character posters a few weeks back, and these images give us our first look at Elliott Gould, John Hawkes and Demitri Martin in their supporting roles, as well as a number of shots of Soderbergh in action.

Hit the jump to check out the images. Contagion opens in IMAX and regular screens September 9^th.