After five consecutive weeks of sub-par grosses, the domestic box office rose from the dead this weekend: posting the biggest September debut of all time with Hotel Transylvania and one of the most lucrative frames since July. Looper and Pitch Perfect also had impressive starts. In fact, the only wrong note was struck by the drama Won’t Back Down, which saw one of the worst debuts of all time in more than 2,500 locations.

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.

After hitting the big screen earlier this year, it looks like Duncan Jones’ sci-fi, Groundhog Day reminiscent film Source Code will be getting a television series adaptation as well. THR reports The Mark Gordon Company and ABC Studios are working on the series adaptation to be set up at CBS, the first off-network sale for ABC Studios. Taking the form of a procedural drama, the series would follows three former federal agents who are part of a top-secret program who will use the Source Code technology to jump into the consciousness of people involved in tragic events.

Although Jones will apparently have no hand in the series (he tweeted earlier that he learned of its development via the almighty Internet), this is one of the better and more appropriate film-to-TV adaptations I’ve heard about in a while, and I’m definitely interested to see how they expand on the complex plot and timelines from the film itself. Steve Maeda (who has worked on Lie to Me and Lost) will write the potential new series, but no word on who might direct the pilot just yet. Stay tuned.

Source Code is a fast-paced thriller in which the military can transport a soldier into the final 8 minutes of a dead man’s memory to gain access to a crime scene that has come and gone. This time-travelling plot device is more than vaguely familiar, as it is a culmination of concepts previously seen in Groundhog Day, Déjà vu, and the Quantum Leap TV series, but, when blended with a Twilight Zone-meets-Hitchcockian adventure vibe, this effort feels wholly original in a year swamped with sequels.

While not as intellectually compelling as director Duncan Jones’ Moon, it wasn’t designed to be. Where Moon was contemplative of its themes and sported a career-high turn from Sam Rockwell, this strong sophomore effort’s goal was to entertain and excite, and it fully succeeds on both counts. Duncan Jones proves he is still a talent to keep close tabs on. After living its first days on the screenplay blacklist, Source Code now finds itself readily available to the widest audience possible on home video. Hit the jump to read my review of the Source Code Blu-ray.

Summit Entertainment will release Duncan Jones’ sci-fi thriller Source Code on VOD and EST platforms on Friday, July 8th, a date that falls more than two weeks prior to its Tuesday, July 26th Blu-ray/DVD release. While the early release date means that home entertainment audiences will be able to check out the film a little earlier (yes, I’m playing the part of the naive fan who doesn’t want to acknowledge illegal peer-to-peer sharing of the film), it also means that Summit is testing future waters for VOD and EST as the delivery methods have traditionally been made available on the same day as physical home video releases.

In their own words, the studio explains that Source Code‘s early release is a way to “test the demand for viewing a bigger budgeted film digitally prior to the release of physical discs.” In short, it’s a way for them to analyze the financial ramifications of releasing films via digital distribution windows ahead of physical home releases. For more, hit the jump to check out Summit’s full press release.

Universal’s Hop has just earned 2011’s highest debut weekend – if today’s estimate of $38.1 million from 3,579 locations proves accurate. For now the three-day estimate for the live-action/CGI-animated comedy stands less than one million ahead of Rango’s record from five weeks back.

Director Duncan Jones recently did a press tour for his new film Source Code and I was lucky that one of the stops on his tour was Atlanta.  With Source Code and his previous film Moon, Jones is quickly emerging as one of Hollywood’s strongest directors for intelligent sci-fi.  I, along with several other outlets, sat down with Jones to talk about Source Code, his pet project Mute, another sci-fi project he’s working on that he calls “Like Mute but makable”, and a host of other topics.  We also discussed the ending of Source Code and since there are obviously spoilers, I’ve highlighted those portions in red.

Hit the jump to check out the interview and click here to see Steve’s video interview with Jones.  Also, thanks to Ben Garman for providing the transcription.  Source Code is in theaters now and you can click here to read my review.

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.

With his 2009 film Moon, director Duncan Jones demanded that audiences sit up and take notice of smart science fiction.  Audiences then wondered why everything was so quiet, slow, and moody and became impatient for stuff to start blowing up real good.  For his second feature, Source Code, Jones has made a more accessible sci-fi that delivers on fast-paced action, lots of explosions, sharp dialogue, while still using sci-fi as a means to explore powerful themes about identity and sacrifice.  Even when the story steers towards a forced “happy” ending, it still comes up with enough ambiguity to make the trip worthwhile.

Opening this weekend is Summit Entertainment’s sci-fi thriller Source Code.  Directed by Duncan Jones (who previously made the incredible Moon), the film stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, and Jeffrey Wright.   If you aren’t familiar with the plot, Gyllenhaal stars as a soldier who wakes up in the body of a stranger on a Chicago commuter train and “learns he’s part of a government experiment called the ‘Source Code,’ a program that enables him to cross over into another man’s identity in the last 8 minutes of his life.”  If you’re nervous that Jones was a one hit wonder, don’t be.  Source Code is an intelligent thriller that’s definitely worth your time.  You can read Scott’s review here. I also definitely recommend it.

A few days ago I covered the Los Angeles press day and after the jump you can watch my conversation with Monaghan. We talked about doing press, what’s her karaoke song, did she immediately say yes when approached for the movie, did she watch Groundhog Day before filming, Quantum leap and the Easter Egg for fans of the show in Source Code, improv, and I mention my love of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and how she needs to be in Iron Man 3 (as that would reunite her with Shane Black and Robert Downey Jr.)

Opening this weekend is Summit Entertainment’s sci-fi thriller Source Code.  Directed by Duncan Jones (who previously made the incredible Moon), the film stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, and Jeffrey Wright.   If you aren’t familiar with the plot, Gyllenhaal stars as a soldier who wakes up in the body of a stranger on a Chicago commuter train and “learns he’s part of a government experiment called the ‘Source Code,’ a program that enables him to cross over into another man’s identity in the last 8 minutes of his life.”  If you’re nervous that Jones was a one hit wonder, don’t be.  Source Code is an intelligent thriller that’s definitely worth your time.  You can read Scott’s review here. I also definitely recommend it.

A few days ago I covered the Los Angeles press day and I spoke to Jones about t-shirts, what’s his karaoke song, the challenge of editing Source Code, how tough was it to settle on a project after the success of Moon, SXSW, what will be on the DVD/Blu-ray, deleted scenes, and he talks about his next film which he is writing right now.  Says it’s an original sci-fi story.  Hit the jump to watch:

Opening this weekend is Summit Entertainment’s sci-fi thriller Source Code.  Directed by Duncan Jones (who previously made the incredible Moon), the film stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, and Jeffrey Wright.   If you aren’t familiar with the plot, Gyllenhaal stars as a soldier who wakes up in the body of a stranger on a Chicago commuter train and “learns he’s part of a government experiment called the ‘Source Code,’ a program that enables him to cross over into another man’s identity in the last 8 minutes of his life.”  If you’re nervous that Jones was a one hit wonder, don’t be.  Source Code is an intelligent thriller that’s definitely worth your time.  You can read Scott’s review here. I also definitely recommend it.

A few days ago I did video interviews with the cast and after the jump you can watch my conversation with Vera Farmiga. We talked about how she got involved in the project, did she watch Groundhog Day before filming, what kind of flexibility did she have with the script to add her own lines, what’s her karaoke song, and she talks about two upcoming projects: Henry’s Crime and Goats.

Opening on April 1 is Summit Entertainment’s sci-fi thriller Source Code.  Directed by Duncan Jones (who previously made the incredible Moon), the film stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, and Jeffrey Wright.   If you aren’t familiar with the plot, Gyllenhaal stars as a soldier who wakes up in the body of a stranger on a Chicago commuter train and “learns he’s part of a government experiment called the ‘Source Code,’ a program that enables him to cross over into another man’s identity in the last 8 minutes of his life.”  If you’re nervous that Jones was a one hit wonder, don’t be.  Source Code is an intelligent thriller that’s definitely worth your time.  You can read Scott’s review here.

A few days ago I sat down with Gyllenhaal and he told me how the project came together, which of his previous films people always want to talk about, what’s up with David O. Russell’s Nailed, and he tells me what are his karaoke songs.  I’ve been asking the karaoke question a lot recently and his answer was one of the best.  Hit the jump to watch:

The fine folks over at Mondo commissioned some sweet posters for films playing at this year’s SXSW Film Festival.  If you attended SXSW, you had a chance to buy these great posters.  If, however, you were like me, you were at home cursing the heavens and crying into a pint of Häagen-Dazs.  But now for poor folks like you and me, Mondo is putting these posters up for sale online.

Starting at a random time tomorrow, Mondo will be selling their SXSW posters for Hobo with a Shotgun, The FP, Source Code, Moon, Hesher, and Paul.  Hit the jump for pricing and details on the posters.  Be sure you’re following @MondoNews for the official announcement of when the posters go on sale.

Only at SXSW will you see Jake Gyllenhaal and Pee-wee Herman teamed up. While attending the ongoing festival in Austin, the two recently paired up to create short videos explaining each other’s projects. Herman explains what Gyllenhaal’s new film Source Code is about, while Gyllenhaal attempts to explain what The Pee-Wee Herman Show on Broadway is about. Pee-wee’s Broadway show will be airing on HBO Satuday, March 19^th, while Source Code is set to hit theaters on April 1^st. Hit the jump to watch the clips.