Ron Howard's Favorite Directors and Dream Bio-Pics

Ron Howard is interviewed in The Sunday Times, and he's asked to list his top five movie presidents (excluding Frank Langella from his Frost/Nixon), the directors who have influenced him the most, and the other bio-pics he'd like to make.

I hadn't really thought about it, but you could argue that his three best movies are all bio-pics, Apollo XIII, Cinderella Man, and Frost/Nixon, although two of those are pretty fictionalized. And his Oscar win was for another story from history, A Beautiful Mind. So clearly, it's a subject on which he has a fair amount of experience and expertise. He doesn't pick anyone you'd ever think of - how about Genghis Khan, Socrates, the explorer Hernán Cortés, and cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov. We all know a little bit about those first three, but why Komarov?

"He was a Russian cosmonaut whose guidance system failed while orbiting earth. He made a stunning re-entry, piloting the capsule on his own, and it was a triumph...until his chutes failed to open properly and he crashed to earth and died. Not the most commercial idea, I realize..."

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'Frost/Nixon' Star Michael Sheen Joins 'New Moon'

Michael Sheen, who was good enough for Oscar nominations opposite two heads of state in The Queen and Frost/Nixon (even though he didn't get them), will put his Underworld experience to good use in New Moon. The lycan from all three of the Underworld flicks will see life from the other side now, as he's been cast as Aro, the leader of the Italian vampire clan called the Volturi.

Director Chris Weitz told The Daily Mail that he "aggressively" pursued Sheen for the role, which while it might not get him closer to an Oscar nomination, will at least pay him roughly $7 million, easily the most he's made in his career. "Michael’s role is so important because he’s the head of all vampires," Weitz said. "Aro is, on the surface, a very gracious and friendly vampire, but beneath that he is a tremendous threat."

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The Best Picture Profanity Reel

This is our last Oscar update before tonight's show. (Just a reminder, we've got loads of Oscar coverage for you, including interviews, predictions, and features about the best of the awards).

Someone spent a lot of time putting together the 2009 Best Picture Profanity Reel, which is exactly what it sounds like: Showcasing the bad words in Frost/Nixon, Benjamin Button, The Reader, Slumdog Millionaire, and Milk. We take the language of movies for granted - Scorsese's f-bombs, the c-word in Atonement, of all things - but as we wrote in our Best Best Actresses column, it was only about 40 years ago that Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? couldn't get away with saying "screw." You've come a long way, baby. Check it out if you've got five minutes. Oh - there are some spoilers in these clips, so if you haven't seen all the movies, this might not be for you.

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Box Office: 'Underworld' Wins Friday, 'Slumdog' A Multi-Millionaire

A few observations about the Friday night box office numbers: Inkheart is a bomb, My Bloody Valentine might be something of a cult hit, and Universal missed a great window of opportunity with Frost/Nixon. And that doesn't even touch on the big stories, including another number one finish for an Underworld movie and Slumdog Millionaire cashing in on its Oscar nomiations.

Yes, Underworld is headed for a number one finish, a little softer than expected, though, with an estimated $8 million on Friday. Slumdog Millionaire will probably finish in the top five, because Fox Searchlight expanded the film's run into 1,000 theaters this weekend, one day after it received ten Oscar nominations. Whether or not it wins Best Picture, Slumdog is still the Oscar hopeful with the most forward momentum at the box office. More on that in a minute... Paul Blart and Gran Torino finished Friday behind Underworld, and My Bloody Valentine was right there with them, headed for another $10 million this weekend, with another $20 million or so left to earn. Not a huge hit but certainly profitable, proving that for all the things Lionsgate may do wrong, that studio sure is tuned into its horror audience.

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Fearless Forecast - 'Lycans' Rises Over 'Paul Blart'

The box office will be up and down for the next month or so. It will do well this weekend, then it's going to be blah in a week because of the Super Bowl. It'll pick back up for two straight weeks after that, both of which will be extremely competitive. Then it's Oscar time, and there's nothing out that weekend, becuase the studios want you at home on Sunday night. Two weeks later, it's Watchmen time, the first summer movie of the year, when you get right down to it.

This weekend, there are a couple of new wide releases and a bunch of names you already know if you've been following the awards season at all. Most of the heavyweights that haven't enjoyed a big theatrical run are expanding this weekend, including the biggest movie in a decade. Because of its fan base, the prequel, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, will probably open in first place. No Kate Beckinsale, no problem. It faces competition from Inkheart, based on the young adult adventure novel, but that one's not projected to go through the roof. Instead, if Underworld trips up, it would likely be a repeat by Paul Blart, last weekend's surprise winner. I don't expect that to happen, but it's a possibility. The Oscar movies are jumping their numbers significantly, with Frost/Nixon and Revolutionary Road expanding to over 800 theaters, and Slumdog Millionaire and The Wrestler going up to 1,000 and 400, respectively. Slumdog should capitalize the most, because of its status as the heavy Oscar favorite. The film has already made $61 million worldwide, and it's only played in eight other countries. It opens in India and several other territories this weekend, and with its expanded run in the U.S., it should definitely be on pace for a $100 million global run in just a handful of weeks.

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