The fact that we all saw it coming doesn’t make it less sweet. Disney’s Oz the Great and Powerful opened big this weekend, earning an estimated $80.2 million from 3,912 locations. Not only does that more than double 2013’s highest debut, it also stands as the third-best March opening of all time, behind Alice in Wonderland and The Hunger Games.

2013’s box office downturn stretched to its sixth frame this weekend, as Warner Brothers’ Jack the Giant Slayer failed to justify its giant pricetag. From 3,525 locations, the fairytale adaptation took in an estimated $28 million – more than its Friday estimate promised, but less than half of what The Lorax delivered at this time last year. The weekend’s other offerings fared little better though, in the case of The Last Exorcism Part II, a small opening was mitigated by an even smaller budget.

Bryan Singer’s fantasy-adventure film Jack the Giant Slayer is now playing in theaters.  Starring Nicholas Hoult (X-Men: First Class) as the title character, the big-budget fairy tale follows Jack the farmer as he leads an expedition into the land of the giants in order to rescue a kidnapped princess (Eleanor Tomlinson). The film also stars Ian McShane, Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci, Eddie Marsan, Bill Nighy and Warwick Davis.

Recently, I landed an exclusive phone interview with Tomlinson, who plays Princess Isabelle.  We talked about making the movie, script changes, doing press, how she got into acting and landed this role, filming with 3D cameras and CGI monsters, collaborating with Singer, deleted scenes and more.  In addition, we also talked about Siberian Education with John Malkovich, and her upcoming TV series White Queen.   Hit the jump for what she had to say.

Yikes! For anyone hoping that this weekend’s slate of new movies would pull the domestic box office out of its deadly tailspin, get used to disappointment. Three new titles opened wide on Friday (four, if you count the independent thriller Phantom), but each is looking like more of a dud than the last. With an estimated $7.7 million from 3,525 locations, the best that can be said of Warner Brothers’ pricey Jack the Giant Slayer is that it didn’t have to vie for first place with the month-old Identity Thief. Director Bryan Singer’s fantasy film is expected to stay on top this weekend with around $25 million, though that falls far short of the film’s reported $200 million pricetag. 21 & Over was in second place on Friday with an estimated $3.3 million from its 2,771 locations. At this point, $10 million is the most that the teen-party flick can hope to see through Sunday so… not quite the Project X redux that was promised. Finally, back in August 2010, The Last Exorcism became a surprise hit when it earned over $20 million on its debut frame. This weekend, The Last Exorcism Part II is expected to make just $8.5 million – less than its predecessor realized on its first day.  We’ll have complete details and the top ten tomorrow.

Every once in a while I use this space to tout a recently released Blu-ray/DVD that I missed in theaters but, via the magic of home video, was finally able to check out from the comfort of my couch (click here to see me gush about The Perks of Being a Wallflower). Today I’ll do the same by encouraging you to check out co-writer/director Scott Derrickson‘s horror pic Sinister. There’s nothing spectacular going on here, it’s just an effective movie with several scenes that I found genuinely frightening/disturbing. Moreover, it’s probably the last widely-released horror entry since Insidious that left me turning some of the lights on in the house shortly after it ended.

With my “Super Cool Blu-ray Pick of the Week” out of the way, this week’s Top 5 includes interviews from the set of The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, some drama-inducing first set images from The Amazing Spider-Man 2, a set visit recap and interviews for Park Chan-wook‘s Stoker, Jack the Giant Slayer interviews, and the first trailer and poster for director James Wan‘s The Conjuring. As you may expect, a brief recap and link to each of these can be found completely free of charge after the jump.

Bryan Singer’s fantasy-adventure film Jack the Giant Slayer is now playing in theaters.  Starring Nicholas Hoult (X-Men: First Class) as the title character, the big-budget fairy tale follows Jack the farmer as he leads an expedition into the land of the giants in order to rescue a kidnapped princess (Eleanor Tomlinson). The film also stars Ian McShane, Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci, Eddie Marsan, Bill Nighy and Warwick Davis.

Recently, I landed an exclusive phone interview with Tucci, who plays the film’s villain.  We talked about making the movie, script changes, doing press, how he got into acting, filming with 3D cameras and CGI monsters, collaborating with Singer, and more.  In addition, we also talked about his work in Captain America: The First Avenger, if he’ll make an appearance in the sequel, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, DreamWorks Animations Mr.  Peabody & Sherman, Larry Gaye: Renegade Male Flight Attendant, adapting City of Women, and so much more.  Hit the jump for what he had to say.

There are two ways to read a bedtime story to a child.  The first is to be animated, and to draw the child into the world.  You move around, you do the voices of the characters, you pause for dramatic affect, and you help the child craft a dream.  The other way is to lethargically read the words on the page, and hope the damn kid goes to bed already.  Bryan Singer‘s Jack the Giant Slayer plays like bored parent who begrudgingly recites the same familiar tale.  Most of the cast seems to have no idea what to do with their one-dimensional characters, and they’re stuck in a bland world that offers few challenges.  Furthermore, the film looks astoundingly cheap from the CGI effects right down to the costumes.  There’s no imagination to Jack the Giant Slayer, and it fails to make a case for why it even needs to exist.

While some may remember Nicholas Hoult as the kid in About a Boy, over the past few years he’s proven that he’s definitely capable of playing adult roles in films like A Single Man, X-Men: First Class, and Clash of the Titans.  While Hoult was certainly becoming more well-known as an adult actor, he hadn’t ever lead a film before.  That all changes in 2013.  With leading roles in Warm Bodies and Bryan Singer’s Jack the Giant Slayer, Hoult is starting a new chapter in his career, and based on what I saw while visiting the set of Jack back in 2011, I think he’s going to easily make the jump.

Recently I landed an exclusive phone interview with Hoult.  We talked about the success of Warm Bodies, what it’s been like promoting Jack, how the film changed during production, deleted scenes, working with all the CGI characters, and more.  In addition, we also talked about George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road, X-Men: First Class and the sequel X-Men: Days of Future Past, and his other upcoming projects.  Hit the jump for what he had to say.

Over the past seventeen years, Bryan Singer been able to jump from genre to genre with great results.  While he’s previously made superhero movies (X-Men, Superman Returns), thrillers (The Usual Suspects, Apt Pupil), and a film about trying to assassinate Hitler during WWII (Valkyrie), in his upcoming Warner Bros. fantasy Jack the Giant Slayer, he’s tackling a classic children’s fairy tale with a modern twist.  As usual, he’s delivered a fun ride that audiences will love.

Recently I landed an exclusive phone interview with Singer.  We talked about making the film, the CGI and 3D, his thoughts on 48fps, how they rewrote the whole film during pre-production, Twitter, X-Men: Days of Future Past, his Battlestar Galactica remake, and so much more.  Hit the jump for what he had to say.

Director Bryan Singer’s fantasy adventure film Jack the Giant Slayer opens this coming Friday, and we here at Collider have quite a bit of Jack-related swag to give away to a few lucky readers.  Some of the prizing includes a heat changing mug, a Jack the Giant Slayer hoodie and scarf, a leather/canvas backpack, a Coffee Beanery gift basket, a burlap bag full of jelly beans, a quesadilla kit, and more.

Hit the jump to find out how you can win.  Jack the Giant Slayer stars Nicholas Hoult, Eleanor Tomlinson, Stanley Tucci, Bill Nighy, Ewan McGregor, and Ian McShane and opens in 3D on March 1st.

Up until this point, I wasn’t entirely clear on the tone of Bryan Singer’s Jack the Giant Slayer, but these three new featurettes help to clarify that issue.  In terms of recent fairy tale movies, Jack the Giant Slayer appears to be more tonally in line with the lighter Mirror Mirror than the more “gritty and realistic” Snow White and the Huntsman.  Approaching the film with this expectation (and knowing that Ewan McGregor gets rolled up in dough like a pig in a blanket), one would probably enjoy it more for the fun family adventure film that it is.

Also starring Nicholas Hoult, Eleanor Tomlinson and Ian McShane, Jack the Giant Slayer opens in 3D on March 1st.  Hit the jump to watch three new featurettes. 

Warner Bros. has released a slew of high-resolution images from director Bryan Singer’s upcoming fantasy adventure epic Jack the Giant Slayer.  The images highlight the film’s massive scale and large amount of visual effects, as well as the impressive ensemble cast which includes Nicholas Hoult, Eleanor Tomlinson, Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci, Ian McShane, and Bill Nighy.  There’s a lot to sift through, but they definitely give us a good idea of what to expect from the full film.

Hit the jump to take a look at the images.  If you missed any of Steve’s set visit coverage, be sure to check out 15 things to know plus a video blog recap, and his interviews with Singer, Nicholas Hoult, Ewan McGregor, and Eleanor Tomlinson.  Jack the Giant Slayer opens in 3D on March 1st.

A handful of clips and some Russian character posters from director Bryan Singer’s upcoming fantasy adventure epic Jack the Giant Slayer have made their way online.  The clips tease more of Singer’s fantastical world, highlighting protagonist Jack’s quest to rescue a kidnapped princess from the titular creatures.  If you missed any of Steve’s set visit coverage, be sure to check out 15 things to know plus a video blog recap, and his interviews with Singer, Nicholas Hoult, Ewan McGregor, and Eleanor Tomlinson.  Hit the jump to take a look at the clips and a few nifty international character posters.  Jack the Giant Slayer opens in 3D on March 1st.

A new trailer has been released for director Bryan Singer’s Jack the Giant Slayer.  This trailer takes on a wildly different tone than the previous trailer and TV spots, as the film is painted as more of an “intense actioner” rather than a “fantasy adventure,” complete with pulsating rock music fast-cut fight sequences.  Though I’m all for a new adventure film from Singer, something still feels a bit off with Jack the Giant Slayer.  The CG giants don’t necessarily look all that convincing or threatening, and I’m hoping there’s more fun to be had than the trailers are letting on.  Nicholas Hoult more than proved his ability at leading a film with the swell Warm Bodies and Ewan McGregor looks to be having a blast, so hopefully the full feature delivers on the adventure aspect.

Hit the jump to watch the new trailer, and if you missed any of Steve’s set visit coverage, click here. The film also stars Eleanor Tomlinson, Stanley Tucci, Ian McShane, and Bill Nighy. Jack the Giant Slayer opens in 3D on March 1st.

A new teaser for a new trailer for Bryan Singer’s Jack the Giant Slayer is now available.  It does the job well (ie, teasing) as, in just thirty seconds, we see Jack, a magic bean, a house-crashing beanstalk, a disrobing princess, a bewildered group of soldiers and a stampeding army of giants.  Not bad for a teaser!

Starring Nicholas Hoult, Ewan McGregor, Eleanor Tomlinson, Stanley Tucci and Bill Nighy, Jack the Giant Slayer opens in 3D on March 1st.  Hit the jump to check out the teaser trailer and come back on Monday February 11th for the full new trailer.