With Hurricane Sandy bearing down on the East Coast, a perfect storm of indifference hit the domestic box office. Blame it on the weather or on a weak crop of new studio releases, the outcome is the same: a slow weekend that fell behind 2011 by more than 10%. Only Argo found a silver lining in the storm, pulling into first place after two weeks in theatres. As for Cloud Atlas – the most closely watched newcomer of the frame – the forecast is a little, um, cloudy.

With four new wide releases, you’d think the box office would be primed to close out October with another strong weekend. You’d be wrong. The prospects for the four newbies – including Cloud Atlas and Silent Hill: Revelation 3D – looked shaky even before the so-called ‘Frankenstorm’ trained its eye on America’s East Coast. Now, a combination of poor Cinemascores and Hurricane hysteria seems poised to put Argo on top with one of the lowest first-place wins since September. On its third Friday in theatres, Argo edged out Silent Hill 2 and Cloud Atlas for first with an estimated $4 million. The Ben Affleck drama is expected to stay on top (for its first weekend win) while Silent Hill falls to number four. That means that Cloud Atlas, the epic drama co-directed by the Wachowski siblings and Tom Tykwer, should move into second place with close to $10 million – $3 million under initial projections. If the Cloud Atlas debut seems disappointing, however, it could have been worse. Despite a big release in 3,014 locations, Paramount’s Fun Size just missed Friday’s top ten with its estimate of $1.3 million. Fox’s Chasing Mavericks, with Gerard Butler, fared even worse: twelfth place on Friday with $1 million from 2,002 runs.

A few clips to share with you today.  Choose wisely:

• Paranormal Activity 4, starring Katie Featherson and Kathryn Newton, opens October 19th.
• Fun Size, from debut feature director Josh Schwartz, stars Victoria Justice, Jane Levy, Thomas Mann, Johnny Knoxville and Chelsea Handler.  Fun Size opens on October 26th.
• Ginger & Rosa, Sally Potter’s drama starring Elle Fanning, Alice Englert, Annette Bening, Christina Hendricks and Alessandro Nivola opens in the UK on October 19th.

Hit the jump to watch the clips. 

The first trailer for The O.C. creator Josh Schwartz’s feature directorial debut Fun Size has landed online.  The comedy centers on a sarcastic teen (Victoria Justice) who is forced to take her little brother-trick-or-treating on Halloween only to lose him along the way. She must enlist the help of her best friend and a couple of “non-cool” kids in order to find her brother before the night is over.  There are a few funny bits sprinkled throughout this trailer, but on the whole it skews a lot younger than I was expecting from Schwartz (he also created NBC’s Chuck and co-created Gossip Girl).  The highlight appears to be Suburgatory star Jane Levy, who recently nabbed the lead in the Evil Dead remake.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  The film also stars Thomas Mann, Johnny Knoxville, and Chelsea Handler.  Fun Size opens on October 26th.

New release dates, y’all:

• Safety Not Guaranteed – The Sundance hit sparked by a classified ad seeking a partner for time travel hits theaters on June 8.
  
• Sinister – The supernatural thriller starring Ethan Hawke has moved from August 24 to October 5
• Fun Size – The Halloween comedy led by Victoria Justice opens the Friday before the holiday on October 26
• Cirque Du Soleil: Worlds Away – James Cameron presents the acrobatics of the famed Montreal circus in glorious 3D on December 21
• The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D – Lionsgate pushed the horror reboot from October 5 to January 4, 2013

Hit the jump for more on each project.

We’ve got a couple of release dates for you this afternoon. First up, the indie drama We Need to Talk About Kevin has been slated for a December 2^nd release (per The Playlist). The film stars John C. Reilly and Tilda Swinton as the parents of a teenager who goes on a high-school killing spree. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival to a widely positive response, and is set to be featured at this September’s Toronto International Film Festival. The December release puts the film in a prime position for awards season, where the film’s said-to-be stellar performances are sure to turn heads.

Additionally, director Josh Schwartz’s (The O.C.) feature debut comedy Fun Size is set to open on October 12^th, 2012 (per Deadline). The Paramount comedy centers on a sarcastic teen who takes her little brother-trick-or-treating on Halloween only to lose him along the way. She must enlist the help of her best friend (who also happens to be in love with her) in order to find her brother before the night is over. The cast includes Victoria Justice (Victorious), Jane Levy, Thomas Mann (It’s Kind of a Funny Story), Johnny Knoxville and Chelsea Handler.

Skylar Astin (Taking Woodstock) and Justin Chon (The Twilight Saga: Eclipse) are in talks to join Miles Teller (Rabbit Hole) in the comedy 21 and Over.  Variety provides the logline:

[21 and Over] follows two childhood friends who drag their straight-arrow buddy out to celebrate his 21st birthday the night before an all-important med school interview. As one beer leads to another, the evening spirals into an epic misadventure of debauchery and mayhem.

Chon will play the birthday boy; Teller and Astin will play the bad influences. Production on the directorial debut of The Hangover writers Jon Lucas and Scott Moore is scheduled for later this summer.  Todd Lieberman and David Hoberman of Mandeville Films are teaming with Relativity Media to produce.

Hit the jump for details on Riki Lindhome’s role in Fun Size.

We’ve got a couple of casting stories for you this morning. Last night, we reported that Hugh Jackman is currently in negotiations to star in director Tom Hooper’s (The King’s Speech) big-budget musical adaptation of Les Miserables. Jackman is eyeing the role of protagonist Jean Valjean, and now Deadline reports that Paul Bettany is a candidate to play the villainous police inspector Javert. Apparently he’s read for the role and sang a few songs from the stage musical. I like the idea of Bettany as Javert. He’s a fine dramatic actor, and he and Jackman make an interesting pair.

Additionally, THR reports that Chelsea Handler is in talks to join The O.C. creator Josh Schwartz’s feature directorial debut Fun Size. The comedy centers on a sarcastic teen who takes her little brother-trick-or-treating on Halloween only to lose him along the way. She must spend the rest of the night trying to track him down, with the help of her friends. Handler will play the mother of the teen girl. The cast now includes Victoria Justice (Victorious), Jane Levy, Thomas Mann (It’s Kind of a Funny Story) and Johnny Knoxville.

We’ve got quite a few casting stories for you today. First up, Susan Sarandon has joined the cast of the Adam Sandler/Andy Samberg comedy I Hate You Dad. The comedy revolves around a father who moves in with his son and his son’s fiancé just before they’re about to get married, with Leighton Meester set to play Samberg’s fiancée. THR reports that in addition to Sarandon, Will Forte, Milo Ventimiglia, Eva Amurri (Californication), Blake Clark, Meagan Fay (Party Down), Tony Orlando, Dan Patrick and previously announced James Caan are all in negotiations to join the Sean Anders-directed comedy. Sarandon will play a sexy teacher who is the mother of Samberg’s character.

Additionally, Jennifer Hudson is the latest actor to join the cast of the Farrelly brothers’ The Three Stooges. The film stars Will Sasso as Curly, Sean Hayes as Larry, Chris Diamantopoulos as Moe, Jane Lynch, Larry David, Stephen Collins and Craig Bierko. Deadline reports that Hudson will play Sister Rosmary at the orphanage that the Stooges are raised. Lynch and David play two other (presumably evil) nuns at the orphanage. The Three Stooges is currently filming. Hit the jump for the casting news of Johnny Knoxville and a lot more in Fun Size and Seth Green, Michelle Trachtenberg, Katee Sackhoff, Harold Perrineau and Billy Baldwin in Sexy Evil Genius.

Jane Levy is in talks to star in Fun Size, the feature directorial debut of Josh Schwartz (Chuck).  Victoria Justice (Victorious) stars as Wren , “a sarcastic teen who takes her little brother-trick-or-treating only to lose him along the way.”  THR indicates Levy is under consideration to play Wren’s best friend in the movie.  Thomas Mann is in talks to play a debate team member in love with Wren.

I tend to love movies that take place over a single night, and the comedic blend of Schwartz and The Colbert Report writer Max Werner has potential.  This sounds the ideal opportunity for Justice to transition into the next stage of her career.  Levy is a fresh (and, might I add, incredibly beautiful) face in the acting game, with just a few episodes of Shameless on her resume.  Levy recently starred in the ABC comedy pilot Suburgatory and is now preparing for her first feature role in the indie dramedy Nobody Walks.

Actor Thomas Mann (It’s Kind of a Funny Story) is in final negotiations to join two upcoming projects. First up, the actor is in talks to star alongside Victoria Justice (TeenNick’s Victorious) in Fun Size. Marking the feature directorial debut of Josh Schwartz (creator/executive producer of Chuck, Gossip Girl), the film tells the story of a teenage girl who loses her younger brother trick-or-treating on Halloween. Variety reports that Mann will play Roosevelt, “the star of his school’s debate team who is in love with Justice’s character, Wren.” He aids Wren in the search for her brother. Max Werner (The Colbert Report) wrote the script.

Hit the jump for news on Mann joining the cast of the indie drama As Cool As I Am with James Marsden and Claire Danes, as well as a synopsis of the book.

Joshua Jackson (Fringe) is in talks to star opposite Bruce Willis and Rebecca Hall in Lay the Favorite, based on the life of Beth Raymer.  Once a Las Vegas cocktail waitress, Raymer became an elite professional gambler: “After falling in love, Raymer soon begins to re-evaluate her life and the profession she has chosen.”  Hall will portray Raymer — Willis will play her gambling mentor Dink Heimowitz.  Last we checked, Catherine Zeta-Jones was in talks to play Willis’ wife in the film.  Variety doesn’t specify in their report, but my instinct says Jackson is up for the love interest.  Lay the Favorite reunites director Stephen Frears (Tamara Drewe) with his High Fidelity screenwriter D.V. DeVincentis.

Hit the jump for more casting news, wherein Victoria Jackson, James Frecheville, and Craig Roberts join The First Time, and Michael Peña enters negotiations for End of Watch.

Television creator/producer/writer Josh Schwartz (The O.C., Chuck, and Gossip Girl) will make his feature directorial debut with the Halloween comedy Fun Size.  Penned by Colbert Report writer Max Werner, Fun Size tells the story of a girl who is forced to take her little brother trick-r-treating and accidentally loses him along the way.  Based on that one-line premise alone, I’m getting an Adventures in Babysitting/Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead meets Halloween vibe.  A vibe I’m completely okay with, I might add.

Per THR, Schwartz (who also has a writing credit on the upcoming X-Men: First Class) will develop Fun Size under his Fake Empire moniker for Paramount.  The hope is to have the film shooting in St. Louis by late spring and in theaters by Halloween 2011.  With that type of turnaround in mind, we should be hearing casting news for the film in the very near future.

Writer Max Werner (The Colbert Report) has sold his spec script Fun Size to Paramount, and Josh Schwartz (The O.C.) will produce.  According to The Hollywood Reporter “loglines are being kept under wraps, but Fun is described as a cross between Superbad and Adventures in Babysitting that is set on Halloween.  Werner said of the film, “I grew up on John Hughes films and miss those great character-based comedies that make you feel something. Fun Size is about real characters who are smart, funny and a little bit offbeat.”  I don’t know why he misses these kinds of comedies.  You can find at least five or six every year.