After its enormous opening last weekend, The Lorax continued to impress – capturing its second number one title with an estimated $39.1 million, or a week-over-week decline of just 44%.  For once, however, people seem more interested in the film that didn’t make it to number one than with the film that did.

Jack and Jill gained some ground on Saturday, though not enough to slay the Immortals.  The 3D action/fantasy film finished first with an estimated $32 million from 3,112 locations. Considering that the film’s distributor was expecting a top opening of $26 million that has to be seen as a win.  And even if the film’s total does look somewhat anemic compared to past 3D hits, with the year we’ve had I’d prefer to focus on the positive.

Neil Burger’s Limitless is the sort of film that just gets by. Bradley Cooper stars as Eddie Mora, who’s given a wonder pill that makes him super smart, but comes with a catch. As he makes piles of money, can he do the drug and not lose his mind? There’s a lot of good ideas in Limitless, and a lot of it cleverly executed, but the pieces are often more interesting than the whole. Abbie Cornish and Robert De Niro co-star in this modest hit. Our review of the Blu-ray of Limitless follows after the jump.

The sci-fi thriller Limitless, available on DVD and Blu-ray on July 19^th, is an intense and gripping adrenaline rush, starring Bradley Cooper as Eddie Morra, a burnt-out writer who discovers a top-secret pill that unlocks 100% of his brain’s capacity. He instantly acquires mind-bending talents and mesmerizing visions that bring him everything he could have ever dreamed or desired, but his life soon becomes a waking nightmare, as the drug’s brutal side effects take their toll. Now with an unrated extended cut, an alternate ending, making of features, deleted scenes and audio commentary, the box office success can be enjoyed even further on DVD and Blu-ray.

During this exclusive phone interview with Collider, Limitless director Neil Burger talked about how excited he is for people to see the extended cut that is wilder and more extreme than the PG-13 theatrical release, why it took time to perfect the ending of the film, how he believes you shouldn’t reveal everything with the audio commentary, and that he was relieved with how successful the film was. He also talked about recently signing on to helm the big screen adaptation of Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, rewriting the script and starting over from scratch, how the already cinematic video game has a great character and some intense moments that he’s looking forward to translating for film, and that he hopes to take fans of the game and moviegoers on an exhilarating ride. Check out what he had to say after the jump:

As expected, Universal’s Hop was Friday’s number one film with an estimated $11.4 million from 3,579 locations.  The live action/CGI-animated comedy was heavily promoted as hailing from the team behind last year’s Despicable Me and, though it ultimately fell short of that film’s $21.3 million first Friday, Hop has a shot at passing Rango to claim the biggest first weekend of 2011 if its projected three day take of $38 million proves accurate.  Summit Entertainment’s Source Code placed second with an estimated $5 million from 2,961 locations, which would indicate a weekend figure in the mid-teens.  In other words, not quite as strong as recent releases like Limitless in the sci-fi genre. Fellow newbie Insidious came in at number three on Friday with $4.8 million from 2,408 locations.  Weekend projections for the supernatural horror flick are between $10 and $15 million but, as FilmDirect’s follow-up to Paranormal Activity, the ultra low-budget Insidious is already counting its profits.  Details and analysis tomorrow.

Ouch.  Though it seemed likely after Friday’s figures were announced, the fact that Fox’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules so easily topped the flashier Sucker Punch has still got to hurt the folks at Warners this morning.

The number one movie in America right now is director Neil Burger’s (The Illusionist) Limitless.  Starring Bradley Cooper, Abbie Cornish, Anna Friel and Robert De Niro, Limitless has a very cool premise: what if a drug allowed you to use 100% of your brain.  You could “recall everything you’ve ever read, seen or heard, learn any language in a day, comprehend complex equations and charm anyone you meet.”  Sounds cool doesn’t it?  The fact is, with advances in pharmaceuticals happening every day, the premise for Limitless might not be too far off.  Maybe we’ll never get to 100%, but I’ll bet you that in the next few decades, scientists will invent some sort of pill that makes you smarter.

A few days ago I was able to do an exclusive phone interview with Burger.  We talked about what it’s like to have the number one movie, why they reshot the ending, the cool way he shot the sequences when Cooper was on the drug, did he do any research or talk to pharmaceutical companies before shooting, deleted scenes and what will be on the DVD/Blu-ray, how Shia LaBeouf was originally going to star and how the script changed to fit him and then Cooper, how did they get Robert De Niro, and what does he have coming up.  Hit the jump to either read or listen to what he had to say.

After pulling ahead of the pack on the traffic jam that was this Friday’s box office, Relativity’s Limitless stayed on top with an estimated $19 million from its 2,756 locations.  Fellow newcomers Paul and The Lincoln Lawyer had more modest starts, making this one more in 2011’s long line of down weekends.

Estimates for Friday’s top five are in, though I’d caution you to not make too much of those positions.  Aside from a clear number one in Relativity’s Limitless, less than one million dollars separates the remaining four films – meaning these numbers are almost meaningless!  Analysis with extra ambiguity when you check back tomorrow!

A film about a super-intelligent protagonist doesn’t necessarily need a smart script (although it never hurts), but it does need to act like a smart movie.  The direction needs a confident style, tone, and pacing that conveys the sense that the movie, like the protagonist, knows what’s going on and is ten steps ahead of the audience even though the actions on screen may be totally mundane and unremarkable.  Neil Burger’s Limitless never manages this task.  There’s plenty of visual flare, but it feels more like distraction than thoughtful support for its story.  Lead actor Bradley Cooper tries to make the most of his performance, but he lacks the everyman charm that would provide his character with some much-needed sympathy.  Undercut by poor writing, miscasting, and simplistic directing, Limitless may center on a brilliant mind but it lacks a convincing tone.

This coming weekend will feature three new releases starring some of Hollywood’s hottest hunks. First up, Bradley Cooper, in Limitless, will portray a man who has reached the apex of the human condition with a little pharmaceutical assistance. Next, Matthew McConaughey plays The Lincoln Lawyer, a defense attorney who lands the case of the lifetime, only to find it might be more than he bargained for. And for the sexiest of the bunch, we have the highly anticipated Paul, the dirty-talking alien (voiced by Seth Rogen) who accompanies Simon Pegg and Nick Frost on a cross-country trip. Two out of three ain’t bad, ladies.

Hit the jump for all our coverage, including trailers and synopses, on these headliners as well as limited releases Cracks, The Music Never Stopped, and Win Win.

With director Neil Burger’s Limitless opening March 18, Relativity Media has sent over nine clips which you can watch after the jump.  Starring Bradley Cooper, Abbie Cornish, Anna Friel and Robert De Niro, Limitless has a very cool premise: what if a drug allowed you to use 100% of your brain.  You could “recall everything you’ve ever read, seen or heard, learn any language in a day, comprehend complex equations and charm anyone you meet.”  Sounds cool doesn’t it.  The fact is, with advances in pharmaceuticals happening every day, the premise for Limitless might not be too far off.  Maybe we’ll never get to 100%, but I’ll bet you that in the next few decades, scientists will invent some sort of pill that makes you smarter.

Hit the jump for the clips and the full synopsis:

Relativity Media has provided us with an exclusive  TV spot for Limitless.  Directed by Neil Burger (The Illusionist), the plot centers on a struggling writer (Bradley Cooper) whose mental and physical abilities are greatly enhanced when he starts taking a new drug.

Hit the jump to check out the TV spot.  Limitless also stars Abbie Cornish, Anna Friel, and Robert De Niro.  The film opens March 18th.

As most folks take the day off to celebrate our nation’s Presidents (because I’m sure that’s how people are spending their free time: celebrating US Presidents), it’s a bit of a slow news day.  With that in mind, we bring you the UK poster for Limitless.  Even on a slow news day, I would usually skip over this, but the poster makes Bradley Cooper look so creepy that I had to share it with you.  It’s like the folks who designed this poster said, “We can’t find an image of Bradley Cooper and photoshop is broken.  I know!  There’s a new Bradley Cooper wax statue at the local wax figure museum!  Let’s go borrow it!  Chip-chip!  Cheeri-o!” (It’s a British poster and I’m 99% certain that’s how all British people end their conversations and this poster could have only been made by Brits because — 0h, no — I’ve run out of crappy-logic juice).

Hit the jump to check out the poster.  Limitless also stars Abbie Cornish, Anna Friel, and Robert De Niro.  It opens in the US on March 18th and the in UK on March 23rd.

If you skipped Super Bowl XLV but wanted to see all the movie ads, you’re in the right place.  That’s because while we already posted Super 8, Captain America: The First Avenger, Transformers: Dark of The Moon, Cowboys & Aliens, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, and Thor, the studios also aired ads for Battle: Los Angeles, Priest, Limitless, Rio, Rango, Fast Five, The Adjustment Bureau, Drive Angry 3D, and Just Go With It.  If you’d like to check them out, hit the jump: