When he first street-danced his way to stardom in Step Up, Channing Tatum read as little more than sentient six-pack, vacantly mumbling his way through that film and the obligatory star vehicles that followed. Then, a few flicks ago, something unexpected happened: his empty stare started giving way to a low-key charisma. The pretty boy who walked out of an Abercrombie and Fitch catalogue showed signs of developing into a vulnerable, relatable leading man. Due in no small part to the derision he was (and still is) subjected to, he’s also a believable underdog. It’s one of the reasons The Vow works better than most mainstream romances…some of the time, anyway. Hit the jump for our review of The Vow on Blu-ray.

The theory that audiences would wait for the tentpole movies of July before opening their wallets went down in flames this weekend as two all-original movies (R-rated ones at that) delivered stellar openings. Ted and Magic Mike bested Brave by taking first and second place: nearly doubling their pre-weekend projections and giving box office watchers a lot more to consider than the imminent arrival of The Amazing Spider-Man.

Best-selling author Nicholas Sparks and producer Denise Di Novi sat down with us for a roundtable interview to talk about The Lucky One, which marks the fourth Sparks’ novels that Di Novi has brought to the big screen.  In the film’s central role, Zac Efron stars as Logan, a U.S. Marine who returns from his third tour of duty in Iraq with the one thing he credits with keeping him alive — a photograph he found of a woman he doesn’t even know.  He embarks on a journey of discovery and healing that leads to her and the realization that she could be much more than his good luck charm.

Sparks and Di Novi talked about their collaboration, what Zac Efron brought to the role, and the way they approached bringing the story to the big screen to ensure the character of Logan remained universal, original and interesting.  They also revealed how Efron invested a lot of passion, enthusiasm and hard work into transforming himself to make his character believable and to honor the experiences of young Marines who had served in Iraq.  Sparks also discussed the differences between a novel and a script and the principles he follows whenever he works on a film to make sure it maintains the spirit and the intent of the overall story.

Fox 2000 and Michael Sucsy (The Vow) are reportedly in talks to team up on Susannah Grant’s (Erin Brockovich) untitled musical featuring the music of The Beach Boys. The project features an original story by Grant and a cast of fictional characters, though the real highlight may be the music itself.   John Stamos, who played with the band and remains close to them still today, will be a producer on the film. Producing the musical alongside Stamos will be Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, the team behind successful musicals, Chicago and Hairspray. The trio also produced “The Beach Boys: The American Family” back in 2000 for ABC television.

Variety reports that though the studio won a bidding war with Universal to use The Beach Boys’ music, the band’s popularity is not guaranteed to translate to a good box office showing. Mamma Mia’s ABBA soundtrack helped the musical bring in north of $600 million worldwide, while The Beatles’ contribution to Across the Universe netted only $29 million. Perhaps Sucsy will be able to bring his box office magic to the table, with his directorial debut having brought in over $100 million already.

After a strong debut on Friday, Act of Valor went on to win the weekend with an estimated $24.7 million from 3,039 locations.  Considering that this is an R-rated feature without any major stars, that’s a pretty remarkable start. Then again, with the fistfuls of cash Relativity devoted to marketing this Navy SEALs drama, anything less than first place would have felt un-American.

Those of you who like a side of certainty with your box office entrée may want to dine elsewhere this morning. That’s because we’re witnessing an extremely close race between Safe House and The Vow for number one. As estimates currently stand, Safe House seems to have the edge – $23.9 million to The Vow’s $23.6 million. But the real news is how none of the new President’s Day releases – including the 3D sequel Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance – could threaten the holdovers in their fight for first.

Another Friday, another surprisingly competitive box office race. According to estimates, three films were within one million dollars of claiming first place; though that is expected to change as the long holiday weekend progresses. In first place yesterday with $7.4 million was Sony/Screen Gems’ The Vow.  Even considering the film’s victory last weekend and its impressive seven day cume, analysts expected The Vow to fall to third in its sophomore frame.  Instead, the romantic-drama is making a play for another weekend on top, with a projected take of at least $25 million. On Friday, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance debuted with $7 million – just shy of The Vow’s first place finish. By Monday, however, the sequel should succumb to Nic Cage’s curse and drop to third behind holdover drama Safe House. The lingering success of The Vow proved a curse for the new romantic-comedy This Means War.  The would-be Valentine’s hit debuted in fourth place and is not expected to reach $20 million by Monday.  Finally, The Secret World of Arrietty may not have made the top five, but its projected four-day take of $7.5 million would double the highest debut of a Disney/Studio Ghibli animated film. Details and analysis tomorrow.

There was good news to go around this weekend as each of the four major studio releases opened to over $20 million.  That is an almost unheard of feat on any weekend, let alone a non-holiday-enhanced weekend in February. Overall, the box office looks to finish up 25% from last year’s post-Super Bowl frame to provide 2012 its sixth win in a row.

Far from ending 2012’s winning streak, this weekend is on track to become the biggest February frame of all time as each of Hollywood’s three new releases outstrip their financial forecasts by astonishing margins. Meanwhile, the 3D reissue of The Phantom Menace did not embarrass itself on Friday but it didn’t blow away early expectations either. Details after the jump.

Poised for Valentine’s Day, the Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum love story The Vow opens this weekend. The pair play young newlyweds who are fiercely in love until a car accident leaves McAdams’ character with such severe memory loss that she cannot remember her husband. While her husband tries to make her fall in love with him all over again, she must decide if she wants her old life back.  Based off a true story, the film is absorbing and hits deeply on a variety of emotions. With an excellent supporting cast—Scott Speedman, Sam Neill, and in particular Jessica Lange, the film is an engaging and satisfying love story, and also one that deals with the intricacies of family dynamics. Also, McAdams has a way of injecting believability into all her roles, and she was great in this.

At the film’s press junket, I sat down with the charming duo where we discussed how they got involved in the project, if they met the real life couple, and their favorite dating stories. Hit the jump to watch.

With director Michael Sucsy‘s The Vow opening on February 10, Screen Gems has provided us with five movie clips and eleven images from the film.  Based on a true story, the film stars Rachel McAdams as a woman who loses all her recent memory in a car crash, including that of her husband played by Channing Tatum. The film focuses on McAdams trying to get her life back, anchored by Tatum’s struggle to make her fall in love with him again.  The Vow also stars Sam Neil, Scott Speedman, and Jessica Lange.  Hit the jump for the clips and images and look for exclusive video interviews with the cast next week.

A new trailer for the drama The Vow has been released. Based on a true story, the film stars Rachel McAdams as a woman who loses all her recent memory in a car crash, including that of her husband played by Channing Tatum. The film focuses on McAdams trying to get her life back, anchored by Tatum’s struggle to make her fall in love with him again. This trailer centers a bit more on the whole “courting” aspect of the film, and is a great deal less depressing than the first one which was basically McAdams giving Tatum the “I don’t know you, go away” face over and over again. McAdams is a talented actress, and I’m sure the movie will do big business on its Valentine’s Day release date, but I’m not really seeing much here to get the male moviegoers in the seats (at least willingly).

Direct by Michael Sucsy (Grey Gardens), the film also stars Sam Neil, Scott Speedman, and Jessica Lange. The Vow opens February 10th.

The first trailer for director Michael Sucsy’s (Grey Gardens) drama The Vow has gone online. Starring Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum, the film was inspired by a true story and centers on a young woman (McAdams) who loses all recent memory in a car accident and struggles to rebuild her identity, while her husband (Tatum) tries to win her heart for the second time. Surprisingly, this is not based on a Nicholas Sparks novel.

Judging from the trailer, the flick looks like it’s better than it has to be. McAdams is a fine actress, and Sucsy’s work on HBO’s Grey Gardens was fantastic. Tatum’s been trying to work his way into more dramatic fare (both in acting and producing), but I’m still not sold on him as a serious actor. Hit the jump to watch the trailer for yourself. The Vow hits theaters February 10^th, 2012.

Lucasfilm and 20th Century Fox have set February 10, 2012 as the date for the 3D re-release of George Lucas’ Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.  We reported back in September that Lucas plans to re-release all six Star Wars films in 3D with a new 3D post-conversion due out every year.  I can’t wait to find out how this does at the box office.  My guess: the first three will flop and the original trilogy will do fine.

Hit the jump for the official announcement.  Also set to open on February 10, 2012 is the thriller Safe House starring Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds, and the romance flick The Vow starring Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum.

In his new film, The Eagle, Channing Tatum fulfills a childhood fantasy playing Marcus Aquila, the son of a Roman commander whose Ninth Legion vanished without a trace in the Scottish Highlands in 120 AD. When Marcus and his slave, Esca (Jamie Bell), set out to find out what happened, their dangerous and obsessive quest will push them beyond the boundaries of loyalty and betrayal, friendship and hatred, deceit and heroism.

Last week at a roundtable interview for The Eagle, Channing told us why he was attracted to the Roman epic action drama, what it was like working with director Kevin Macdonald, and how his dance training prepared him for the fight choreography.  Channing also discussed his production company 33 & Out, his plans to get behind the camera and direct, and the kind of films he and production partner, Reid Carolin, plan to make including What’s Left of Us. He also updated us on what he has coming up next including The Son of No One that was just picked up at Sundance, Steven Soderbergh’s Haywire, The Vow with Rachel McAdams, and what’s up with the G.I. Joe sequel.  Hit the jump for the interview: