With less than $300,000 separating the top three films this weekend, the final order of the domestic top ten has been difficult to call. Sunday’s estimates have End of Watch and House at the End of the Street tied for first with $13 million each. Warner Brother’s Trouble with the Curve is not far behind, however, so more definitive results will have to wait until Monday. One thing we can say for sure? Dredd 3D is off to a rough start.

When a studio dumps a horror movie, or any movie, it usually comes after some tinkering. Sometimes things don’t come out the way they were expected, and they try to fix what they can, or make it a harder or softer cut to make it more marketable. With 2011’s Dream House, one expects a terrible movie that was butchered or messed with in such a way that the release version seems a shred of the former movie. The weirdest thing about the film is that it feels like they made the movie they set out to make. Sure, it didn’t turn out well, but at least it’s a complete thought. Jim Sheridan directs Daniel Craig, Naomi Watts and Rachel Weisz in the story of a haunted family that seems like a decade-late riff on The Sixth Sense. Our review of the Dream House Blu-ray follows after 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 hasn’t been a great day for directors.  First, Pete Travis (Vantage Point) was locked out of the editing phase of the Judge Dredd reboot.  Now there is news that Dream House director, Jim Sheridan, had petitioned the Directors Guild of America over the summer to have his name removed from the project.  In retrospect, this would have been a blessing for the six-time Oscar-nominee since Dream House is currently lagging in the box office and is tanking critically.

Once upon a time, a director wishing to distance himself from a project would be replaced by the name “Alan Smithee,” aka “John Doe,” but this usage was discontinued in 2000.  Guild etiquette suggests that said director not divulge the circumstances surrounding this move, but thanks to the internet, we have the scoop.  Hit the jump for more details.

With three new releases plus three strong holdovers, this weekend turned out to be one of the most difficult to predict in terms of box office numbers.  In the end, it was the week-old Dolphin Tale that emerged victorious: leaping over Friday’s champ Moneyball, the still-ferocious Lion King 3D and the critically-acclaimed newcomer 50/50.

Moneyball won the pot on its second Friday with an estimated $3.9 million, though there is a good chance that either of September’s family hits, Dolphin Tale or The Lion King 3D will end up the weekend winner.  With Friday numbers, I usually like to give some indication of what Sunday’s top ten will look like but, today, I’m not sure that will be possible.  On top of the very close estimates between the holdover titles, there are four new releases in the mix: three of which are running well below their pre-release projections.  So far, What’s Your Number? is lagging 85% behind Anna Farris’ last comedy hit The House Bunny.  50/50 is doing half the business of 2009’s cancer comedy Funny People and the Universal thriller Dream House looks like a winner by sticking to its projected three-day opening of $8 million!  That leaves Courageous.  Haven’t heard of it?  The Christian drama has come out strong, with a debut of $3.1 million and a projected weekend that should nearly double its studio’s expectations of $5 million.  Details tomorrow.

The trailer for Oscar-nominated director Jim Sheridan’s (In the Name of the Father) Dream House has landed online. Starring Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz, and Naomi Watts, the film centers on a family who move into a new home only to discover that a brutal killing took place in the residence years before. After watching the cut, I’m convinced that it either gives too much away or is brilliant in its misdirection. Given the talent of those involved with the pic, I’m inclined to give it the benefit of the doubt for now.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer. Dream House opens later this year on September 30th. [Update: We've been sent some new images from the film which you can find after the jump]

With the holiday weekend behind us it’s time to give up the multinational obsession with fireworks and blowing things up so that we all finally can get back to obsessing over pop culture minutia. Fortunately that transition was made a little easier today with the release of four posters for upcoming movies that will soon be plastered all over multiplex lobbies. Today the internet has been graced with pics of the Sundance award-winner Tyrannosaur, as well as the upcoming thrillers Dream House, The Iceman, and Final Destination 5 (yes, shockingly The Final Destination didn’t end up being the final chapter in the franchise after it became a hit. Who could have seen that coming?). Hit the jump to get your required daily dose of teaser poster jollies.

The first image from Jim Sheridan’s (My Left Foot, Brothers) upcoming thriller Dream House has hit the web. The film stars Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz and Naomi Watts. The movie tells the story of a family that unknowingly moves into a home where several grisly murders were committed…only to find themselves the killer’s next target. Originally scheduled to be released next month, the release date was pushed back to September 30^th of this year in order to accommodate reshoots that are needed when Craig gets a break from filming David Fincher’s The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Hit the jump to check out the full image, as well as an official synopsis of the film.

Jim Sheridan’s (My Left Foot, Brothers) thriller Dream House (which stars Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz, and Naomi Watts) was scheduled to open on February 18, 2011.  However, due to Universal and Sheridan wanting to do some reshoots, the film has been delayed until later in 2011.  While everyone would love to film the reshoots immediately and make their release date, Craig is busy shooting David Fincher’s The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and won’t have a break in filming until the first two weeks of December.  With such a short time between the reshoots and the release date, the studio has decided to postpone the film until later in the year.  According to Variety, “Sheridan will lens the additional footage with the entire cast in Toronto, where Dream House was shot earlier this year.”

The one thing the studio and the filmmakers have going for them is they have yet to release a trailer or publicize the film.  Most moviegoers don’t have Dream House on their radar yet, so if the release date gets pushed until even the end of the year, they’ll never know the difference.  Hit the jump for the synopsis and more info:

The lovely and talented Rachel Weisz will be joining equally lovely and talented Daniel Craig and Naomi Watts in Jim Sheridan’s upcoming thriller Dream House.  According to Variety, the story centers on a, “successful publisher (Craig) who quits his Gotham job and relocates his wife (Weisz) and two daughters to a quaint New England town, only to discover that their perfect new home was the murder scene of a mother and her two children.”  And that’s why they got such a good price on it.  You can get a great price on a home if you’re cool that the previous inhabitants were slaughtered in their sleep.  Remember: Location, location, location.  Watts will play a neighbor who was close to the slain family.  Variety does not specify if this closeness relates to geography and/or emotional connection.

I just went off the reservation with my write-up of “Little Murder” but that’s because I’m just so happy I can report on something like that which carries no expectations.  But there’s also a story tonight about “Dream House” and it seems like both films share a common problem except one is directed by Jim Sheridan and stars Daniel Craig while the other feature Bokeem Woodbine and is directed by the guy who did “Hard Cash”.  Hit the jump to find out why “Dream House” doesn’t get my enthusiasm.