It’s January 1, 2013, which means that 2012 is now officially in the rear-view mirror.  Quality-wise, it was a stellar year in film, and with over a month to go before the Oscars there’s still an exciting air of unpredictability surrounding the awards contenders.  2012 wasn’t so shabby box office-wise either, and we thought today would be a nice time to take a look back at the year’s highest grossing films, lowest grossing films, and everything in between.  This year saw a few comedy surprises, the highest grossing Steven Spielberg drama in a long time, a couple of superhero megahits, and the glorious disaster that was Oogieloves.  Hit the jump to take a look at 2012’s Box Office in Review.

With the number of Academy screenings picking up and the holiday season fast approaching, we’re starting to get into the thick of awards season.  A full list of the animated films submitted for the Best Animated Feature Oscar consideration has now been unveiled, and it looks like we’ll see 21 films vie for the coveted trophy.  The films include the big studio releases like Brave, Frankenweenie, and Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted, as well as Studio Ghibli’s From Up on Poppy Hill and the adult-oriented A Liar’s Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python’s Graham Chapman.

It’s been a strong year for animated features, and Pixar is in no way a lock to take home the trophy for Brave given the film’s fairly lukewarm reception. It’s probably safe to assume that Brave will be still be nominated, and I’d venture to say ParaNorman and the upcoming Wreck-It Ralph and Rise of the Guardians are also pretty good bets as well.  Hit the jump to check out the full list of animated films under Academy consideration, and be sure to leave your thoughts on the Best Animated Feature race in the comments.  Nominations for the 85th Academy Awards will be announced on January 10th.

With Ice Age: Continental Drift the only wide release of the weekend, any wonder it’s number one? The fourth installment in Fox’s decade-old animated franchise took in an estimated $46 million from 3,881 locations. That’s a bit below the average debut of the first three Ice Age films and noticeably lower than this year’s other animated hits; but with international numbers steering the sequel past $300 million global by Sunday, no one at Fox is sweating the small stuff.

May the box office be ever in your favor! The Hunger Games outlasted competition from newcomers American Reunion and not-so-new Titanic 3D to top the box office for the third weekend in a row.  Hunger Games pulled in an estimated $33.5 million, a drop of about 43% from last week’s numbers, but still managed to cross a $400 million worldwide mark.   Second-week showings of Wrath of the Titans and Mirror Mirror rounded out the top five respectively. Hit the jump for the analysis, including a big mover who almost cracked the top ten.

Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax (opening in theaters on March 2^nd), is the beloved children’s story that’s also its author’s favorite work. The 3D-CG animated adaptation is an adventure that follows the journey of idealistic 12-year-old Ted (voiced by Zac Efron) while he searches for a real Truffula Tree for Audrey (voiced by Taylor Swift), in order to win the affection of the girl of his dreams. To find one, he must learn the story of the Lorax (voiced by Danny DeVito) from the enigmatic and bitter old hermit, known as the Once-ler (voiced by Ed Helms), who let the temptation of greed and success get the better of him.

At the film’s press day, producer Chris Meledandri (founder and CEO of Illumination Entertainment) spoke to Collider for this exclusive interview about how and when he first became aware of the work of Dr. Seuss, the challenge of adding original songs to The Lorax, and how much he’s enjoyed working with Audrey Geisel to protect the Dr. Seuss legacy. He also talked about the development of the live-action film Illumination is doing on the life of Theodor Geisel, the man behind the work of Dr. Seuss, that is being produced by Johnny Depp (who will possibly star in the lead role), the plan to do a mix of live-action with the animated characters of his creation, and how they are currently working on the animation for Despicable Me 2, with Al Pacino making his animated feature debut as the villain. Check out what he had to say after the jump:

Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax (opening in theaters on March 2^nd), is the beloved children’s story that’s also its author’s favorite work. The 3D-CG animated adaptation is an adventure that follows the journey of idealistic 12-year-old Ted (voiced by Zac Efron) while he searches for a real Truffula Tree for Audrey (voiced by Taylor Swift), in order to win the affection of the girl of his dreams. To find one, he must learn the story of the Lorax (voiced by Danny DeVito) from the enigmatic and bitter old hermit, known as the Once-ler (voiced by Ed Helms), who let the temptation of greed and success get the better of him.

At the film’s press day, actor Ed Helms spoke to Collider for this exclusive interview about how he pursued being a part of the film, that he was stunned when he was offered the role of the Once-ler, finding the voice for each of the different stages and ages of the character, and how cool it was to get to sing and play guitar on the film’s original songs (he has his on bluegrass trio and has been wanting to record an album of his own, for some time). He also talked about his next feature film, Jeff Who Lives at Home (due out in theaters on March 16^th), which he is clearly very proud of, the current status of The Hangover 3, and how much fun he’s been having as the office manager on the NBC comedy series The Office. Check out what he had to say after the jump:

From the creators of Despicable Me comes the animated feature film adaptation of Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, a beloved cautionary tale of environmental conservation wrapped up in a colorful children’s story.  We’ve previously brought you images, trailers and even a Super Bowl ad spot for Chris Renaud and Kyle Balda’s The Lorax, which stars Zac Efron, Taylor Swift, Ed Helms, Betty White and Danny DeVito. Now we have eight clips from the movie, which will mark Universal’s third Dr. Seuss feature after How the Grinch Stole Christmas and The Cat in the Hat. On what would have been the author’s 108^th birthday, The Lorax will land in theaters on March 2^nd.  Hit the jump to check out the clips.

This past week brought us a story that is near and dear to me. While I briefly give my own thoughts regarding DC Comics’ Watchmen prequel comic series after the jump, I want to use the “Top 5′s” opening paragraph space to invite readers to voice/type their own opinions on the announcement in the comments section. As a fervent fan of the series, I’m always interested to hear fellow fans’ take on Watchmen adaptations, prequels, and the like. So, with that said, what do you think? Does the creative talent involved interest you? Is it the best idea ever? The worst? Somewhere in between? Sound off in the comments.

In addition to DC’s Before Watchmen announcement, this installment of the “Top 5″ includes interviews with the cast and director of superhero/found-footage pic Chronicle, a “What If?” look at a 16-Bit Breaking Bad RPG, ten things to know about Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, and Sundance 2012 video interviews with Bradley Cooper, Paul Dano and more. A brief recap and link to each follows after the jump.

A new trailer for Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax has gone online. Directed by Chris Renaud (Despicable Me) the film is based on the childrens book by Dr. Seuss and tells the story of a boy searching for the one thing that will win him the girl of his dreams. In order to find it, he must learn the story of The Lorax, a creature whose world is in danger. This theatrical trailer delves pretty deep into the plot, and it looks as though the film will be taking the story a bit further than the book, focusing quite heavily on the boy’s exploits around town (ie. running from the “bad guys”). I’m really hoping the story’s environmental message doesn’t get lost in the silliness. Things have looked promising thus far, with some great visuals and charming work from DeVito, so I’m optimistic.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer. The film features the voices of Danny DeVito, Zac Efron, Ed Helms, Taylor Swift, Rob Riggle, and Betty White.  Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax opens in 3D on March 2nd, 2012.

In the domestic trailer for Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, we got a sense of the romantic angle that directors Chris Renaud (Despicable Me) and Kyle Balda want to take, along with the story of the title character. A new Australian trailer for The Lorax omits the romance entirely in favor of a few new bits of footage. This promo focuses more on the legend of The Lorax (Danny DeVito) and his run-in with the Once-ler (Ed Helms).

The Universal Pictures interpretation of the Dr. Seuss classic will bring the grumpy Lorax to life in “IMAX Tree-D.” The film also features the voice talents of Taylor Swift, Betty White and Rob Riggle. Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax opens on March 2, 2012. Hit the jump to check out the new trailer.

The first trailer for The Lorax has gone online. Directed by Chris Renaud (Despicable Me), the film is based on the classic Dr. Seuss enviromentally-conscious children’s book that centers on a boy who is searching for the one thing that will win him the girl of his dreams. In order to find it, he must learn the story of The Lorax, a creature whose world is in danger.  As you’ll see in the trailer, there’s the unmistakable Suessian architecture and it certainly looks colorful enough.  But there are little things in this trailer that are making me a bit nervous about the film.  The framing device shows a bright and colorful world so the Once-ler chopping down all the trees hasn’t been too much of a problem.  Also, while I understand it’s a family film that wants to play up the comedy, I hope the Lorax’s message won’t be diminished by making him a creature of fun rather than a bearer of grave warnings.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer along with ten high resolution images . The film features the voices of Danny DeVito, Zac Efron, Ed Helms, Taylor Swift, Rob Riggle, and Betty White.  The Lorax opens in 3D on March 2nd, 2012.

Earlier this year, we posted the first synopses for a few of Universal Pictures’ films slated for release next year. Today, we’ve got a few more synopses to share with you from some the studio’s upcoming slate. Included is Oliver Stone’s drug-smuggling drama Savages, the 3D animated feature Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, and the Knocked Up spinoff Untitled Judd Apatow Comedy. Additionally, we have a new synopsis and a title change for Big Miracle, the Drew Barrymore-starred family film that was formerly titled Everybody Loves Whales.

Hit the jump for a rundown of the cast and synopsis for each film. Big Miracle opens February 3, 2012, Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax opens March 2, 2012, Savages opens September 28, 2012, and Untitled Judd Apatow Comedy opens December 21, 2012.