Movie fans turned out in a big way for the latest in the “Twlight” film series this weekend, which debuted with an estimated $139 million. ”The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1,” the first part of the final and fourth installment of the romantic fantasy, captured the number one spot at the box office and is now the top movie in the country.

In “Breaking Dawn” young lovers, Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) marry, but things get complicate really quick when Bella becomes pregnant and the vampire baby she’s carrying threatens her life. The film is based on the final book of the blockbuster series by Stephenie Meyers. Melissa Rosenberg, who wrote the screenplay for the previous films, is the writer of this script as well.

Another new flick the animated sequel, “Happy Feet Two,” danced into second with an okay $22 million debut. In third the fantasy drama, “Immortals,” with around $12.2 million, followed closely by the Adam Sandler comedy, “Jack and Jill,” with $12 million. Rounding out the top five, the animated feature, “Puss in Boots,” earned about $10  million.

“The Help” got a boost to number one at the domestic box office with a weekend estimate of $20 million. The comedy-drama is about a young southern white woman and her relationship with the black “help” during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Emma Stone, Viola Davis, and Octavia Spencer star.

“The Help” is based on the 2009 bestselling novel of the same title by Kathryn Stockett. The film’s budget, $25 million. In two weeks, it has made around $71 million and is getting some Oscar buzz as well.

After two weeks at number one, “Rise of the Apes,” fell to number two with around $16.3 million. Followed in third place, by the fourth installment of the “Spy Kids” movie series, which generated about $12 million. “Spy Kids: All the Time in the World” stars Jessica Alba and Joel McHale.

The attempted reboot of  “Conan the Barbarian” fell flat, coming in fourth with an estimate $10 million. This new telling of the mythical warrior Conan’s revenge story features Jason Momoa in the starring role. In two earlier film versions, “Conan the Barbarian” (1982) and “Conan the Destroyer” (1984) a rising action star, Arnold Schwarzenegger, played the lead character.

Rounding out the top five, the aninmated family film, “The Smurfs” with somewhere around $8 million. Final box office numbers out tomorrow.

The long-awaited film featuring the patriotic superhero, Captain America, finally hit movie screens today. “Captain America: The First Avenger” reportedly earned around $4 million at midnight screenings — besting “Green Lantern” and “Thor” for those early shows.

“Captain America,” which stars Chris Evans as the Marvel-comic- book inspired shield -wheeling hero, could be on track to make $60 million this weekend. Question is does the red, white, and blue crusader have enough power to boot the kid wizard, Harry Potter, from the number one spot? Ticket buying movie fans will make the call. More box office results later.

A magical opening weekend for the final installment in the Harry Potter movie series. “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2″ has broken all kind of records since opening to huge audiences at midnight screenings last Thursday.  Yesterday, its  estimated weekend take at the domestic box office was a gigantic $168. 5 million. The actual numbers were released today — and the Harry Potter finale did even better than expected — it pulled in $169.1 million for  a new all time weekend record.

Here are the top five grossing weekend movie openings

1. “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2″  —– $169.1 million

2. “The Dark Knight” —– $158.4 million

3. “Spider-Man 3″ —– $151 million

4.”The Twilight Saga: New Moon” —– $142.8 million

5. “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” —– $135 million

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2″ shattered the record for midnight shows with $43.5 million and for the biggest opening day — with $92.1 million last Friday.  Talking about ending on a high note.

Harry Potter easily captured the crown for the number one film in the country from the sci-fi action hit “Transformers 3″ — which was a distant second with $21.3 million. Rounding out the top five at the box office, the adult comedy, “Horrible Bosses” $17.7 million,  the family comedy “Zookeeper” $12.3 million, and the animated sequel “Cars 2″ $8.4 million.

Movie audiences are really wild about Harry — as in Harry Potter and the finale of the popular novel-based movie series. Tons of Potter fans stayed up late last night  — to catch the first showings of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2.”  In fact, the eighth installment of the series reportedly earned $43.5 million at the domestic box office during those midnight screenings. That blows away the previous record  of $30 million set by “Twilight Saga: Eclipse” back in June 2010.

Internationally, this Harry Potter flick is cleaning up at theaters as well.  Deadline.com has an extensive report on those numbers.

Final Harry Potter movie breaking records

The end is near for the zillions of Harry Potter movie fans. The eighth and final installment in the Potter film series opens tomorrow at midnight. All ready, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2″ is breaking records for movie screens and ticket sales.  Nikki Finke has the scoop over on deadline.com

Jaycee Dugard’s book sells 175,000 copies 1st day

The 18-year kidnap ordeal of Jaycee Dugard has really grabbed public interest. Dugard’s interview with ABC’s Diane Sawyer last Sunday brought in huge ratings  last Sunday. Nearly 15 million viewers reportedly watched the two- hour special. Yesterday, her memior detailing her years held captive in a tent by convicted sex offender, Phillip Craig Garrido and his wife, Nancy, debuted.  “A Stolen Life” sold 175,000 copies on Tuesday, according to Galleycat.  More here.

Hollywood & Carmageddon

Some folks in Hollywood are making plans to  avoid what may be a real life disaster. The shutdown of  the 405 freeway, between the 10 and 101, this weekend. It has been dubbed Carmageddon. The Wrap has details on what some local entertainment companies are doing.

The sci-fi mega-hit, “Transformers 3,” held on to the title of number one film in the country for a second straight week. Over the weekend, the third installment of the “Transformers” movie series pulled in $47.1 million, according to the final figures released today. That brings the two week total for “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” to around $260 million at the domestic box office.

In second place, a new R-rated comedy, “Horrible Bosses,” with a debut of $28.3 million. The movie revolves around three friends who decide there would be less grief in their lives if they murder their abusive bosses. The cast includes Jason Bateman, Jennifer Aniston, and Kevin Spacey. 

Another new flick, “Zookeeper,” captured third place. The family-friendly comedy stars Kevin James and did much better than expected by opening with $20 million. The film is about some very bright animals who help a struggling zookeeper with his love life.

The animated flick, “Cars 2″ drove into fourth place with $15.2 million and rounding out the top five, the comedy “Bad Teacher” with $8.9 million.

“Transformers 3″  makes $21 million on Thursday

“Transformers 3″ is packing them at movie theaters. Yesterday, the sci-fi  flick scored $21 million  — bringing its two-day haul to around $60 million. The question now is how close to $200 million will the film get before the fireworks celebrations wrap up on July 4th?

“Thor 2″ on the way

“Thor ” is still playing in theaters, but a sequel is already in the works.  So far, “Thor” has earned close to $178 million at the domestic box office. “Thor 2″ has a release date of July 26, 2013, even though it has yet to land a director.  However, the project does have a screenwriter. More on  Deadline.com

Justin Timberlake and MySpace

Specific Media snatched up MySpace at a bargain basement price of $35 million, earlier this week.  The Orange County company is hoping  singer/actor, Justin Timberlake, will help revive the struggling social network.  Details on The Wrap.

It’s going to be a hot, sizzling July 4th holiday weekend — and I’m not talking about just the weather.  The box office is fired up. The sci-fi action sequel, “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” opened yesterday with  around $37 million –  which means it’s on track to make some serious bucks over the next few days.

The other major  movies opening this weekend are romantic comedies: “Larry Crowne” starring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts and  “Monte Carlo”  featuring Selena Gomez.

The final box office numbers for the weekend are out today. The animated sequel, “Cars 2″ leads the pack with a debut of $66 million winning bragging rights as the number one film in the country. In second place, the Cameron Diaz-Justin Timberlake new R-rated comedy, “Bad Teacher,” with $31.6 million, followed by the superhero actioner “Green Lantern” $18 million,  the sci-fi flick “Super 8 ” $12 million, and rounding out the top five, the family comedy ”Mr. Popper’s Penguins” with $10 million.

“Jackass” star killed in car accident

"Jackass 3D" movie poster

 Actor Ryan Dunn was reportedly killed in a horrible car accident early this morning. The 34-year-old star of the  R-rated “Jackass”  movie comedy series apparently died when his Porsche crashed and exploded into flames in Pennsylvania. The Wrap has more on the  tragedy.

“Dilbert” creator in hot water over blog post

The  Internet is buzzing over the recent blunder by Scott Adams, the creator of the “Dilbert” comic strip.  In an attempt to explain the rash of  sex scandals by some prominent men, Adams recently published a  post on his Dilbert website  called, “Society Has Evolved To Keep Males in a State of continuous Unfulfilled Urgers.” 

Galleycat reports the post has generated hundreds of negative comments. Also,  a thousand readers have signed an online petition calling for Adams to apologize for the controversial post.  More here

“Green Lantern” shines bright at the box office

The actual box office numbers are out today and  “Green Lantern”  is in the number one spot.  “Green Lantern” beat the competition with a $53 million debut over the weekend.  There  are complaints the picture should have made millions more . Maybe so, but you gotta take into account that the “Green Lantern” isn’t the best known superhero and that could be a factor in its modest opening.  More on Box Office Mojo about the “Green Lantern” numbers and the other top movies.

McCourts’ divorce settlement and TV deal

The battling McCourts announced a divorce settlement today –  but it depends on a TV contract  between the Dodges and the Fox network .So it’s not quite a done deal for Frank and Jamie. Details here on the Los Angeles Times website.

“Green Lantern” burns red hot in theaters

The “Green Lantern”  made a ton of green at theaters today. Nikki Finke over on Deadline.com says the superhero flick’s opening day haul is around  $24 million — with an estimated weekend take of  $60 million.  More about the weekend movies here.

“The Hangover Part II” is off to a fast start at the Memorial Day weekend Box Office. The R-rated comedy opened with a huge $31.6 million yesterday. That’s the highest grossing day ever for a live-action comedy, according to Box Office Mojo.  And the long holiday weekend is just beginning.

The sequel to the 2009 hit, “The Hangover,” is written by Craig Mazin, Scot Armstrong, and Todd Phillips — who also directs.  This time out the guy pals are in Thailand for a wedding when something goes wrong and they lose the bride-to-be’s teenaged brother.

The other big movie opening is “Kung Fu Panda 2,” which was far behind  in second place with around $5.8 million on Thursday.  “Panda 2″ is expected to pick up steam today and the weekend — when more kids are out of school.

“Pirates of the Caribbean: On Strange Tides” sailed right to the top of the box office on its opening weekend. The fourth installment in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie series earned an estimated $90.1 million to easily become the number one flick in the country. This bountiful debut clearly shows movie audiences are willing to throw down some money at theaters to see sequels.

“Pirates 4″ stars Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz,  Ian McShane, and Geoffrey Rush in a plot based on the book, “On Strange Tides” (1987)  by Tim Powers.  In this action adventure, Depp and his crew tangle with the infamous pirate, Blackbeard, during their search for the fountain of youth.

Far behind in second, but still doing boffo box office, the chick flick, “Bridesmaids,” with around $21 million. In two weeks this comedy has earned nearly $60 million. The superhero, “Thor,” landed in third with an estimated $15.5 million, followed by the action film, “Fast Five,” with about $10.6 million, and rounding out the top five the animation, “Rio,” with an estimated $4.6 million.

Chick flicks are packing them in at movie theaters. Two in the last couple of weeks have beaten projections and grabbed a lot of attention away from the front runner, “Thor”.

While the superhero actioner held onto first place over the weekend, the debut of the raunchy female comedy, “Bridesmaid” is the talk of Tinseltown. The comedy about a down-on-her luck woman whose experiences as a maid of honor are hilarious, painful, and finally life changing.

“Saturday Night Live” cast member Kristen Wiig, co-wrote the screenplay with Annie Mumolo, and stars in the film along with Maya Rudolph, and Rose Byrne. In the actual box office numbers released today, “Bridesmaids’ scored an impressive $26.2 million — good enough for second place.

On the previous weekend, the low-budget but audience pleasing wedding comedy, “Jumping the Broom,” out paced expectations as well. This film cost around $7 million and in two weeks it has made around $26 million. Clearly, there is plenty of life left in the wedding comedy genre.

Box Office final numbers for May 13-15, 2011

1.”Thor” —–  $34.7 million

2. “Bridesmaids” —– $26.2 million

3. “Fast Five” —– $20.4 million

4. ”Priest” —– $14.9 million

5. “Rio” —– $8.2 million

6. “Jumping the Broom” —– $7 million

The final numbers for the weekend box office are out today and again the small budget romantic comedy, “Jumping the Broom,” stole a little of the thunder from the blockbuster, “Thor.”

Yesterday, “Jumping the Broom” surprised a lot of folks by beating expectation with an estimated debut of $13.7 million.  Today that debut got even better.  Actual numbers show “Jumping the Broom,” earned $15.2 million over the weekend.  

Weekend Final Box Office Numbers

• 1. “Thor”  $65.7 million
• 2. “Fast Five”  $32.4 million
• 3. “Jumping the Broom”  $15.2 million
• 4.   “Something borrowed”  $13.9 million
• 5.    “Rio”  $8.5 million

“Thor” hammered the competition into submission at the box office this weekend. The superhero action flick debuted with an estimated $66 million to become the number one film in the country.

“Thor” is based on the Marvel comic book hero who is punished for his arrogance by being banished from his mythical homeland of Asgard and sent to Earth. The cast includes Natalie Portman and Anthony Hopkins.

Last week’s top movie, “Fast Five,” put the pedal to the metal, but managed only second place this time. “Fast Five” generated around $32.5 million for a two week total of $139.5 million.

Two new romantic comedies battled it out for third place, and it appears “Jumping the Broom” has won that skirmish. The film, about two families from different socioeconomic backgrounds who clash during a wedding weekend on Martha’s Vineyard, beat expectations and earned about$13.7 million.

“Jumping the Broom,” the title comes from the African American tradition of a couple jumping over a broom as part of the marriage ceremony, is a small film. The budget reportedly around $7 million. Nevertheless, it looks like this little movie is going to beat the odds and make a nice profit. Laz Alonso, Paula Patton, Angela Bassett, and Loretta Devine star.

The other new rom com, “Something Borrowed,”  had to settle for fourth with around $13.1 million. The movie is about  a woman who falls for her best friend’s fiancé. It’s based on the best selling novel of the same name by Emily Giffin. The film stars Kate Hudson, Ginnifer Goodwin, and Colin Egglesfield.

Rounding out the top five, the animation “Rio” with an estimated $8.2 million.

A high octane debut at the box office for the fifth sequel to “The Fast and the Furious”  (2001).  ”Fast Five” burned rubber on the competition, left them in its smoke, with a huge opening estimated at $83.6 million. “Fast Five” is now the number one film in the country.

“Fast Five,” stars Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, The Rock, and Tyrese Gibson. The plot revolves around fast cars and a big money heist — $100 million.  

Far, far behind in second place, the animation “Rio” with around $14.4 million. Next in third, the comedy “Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Big Happy Family” with about $10 million. The drama based on the book of the same name, “Water for Elephants,” took in about $9 million good enough for fourth.

Rounding out the top another new flick, ”Prom.”  This teen comedy about a high school prom stars Aimee Teegarden, DeVaughn Nixon, and Danielle Campbell.

Three new films grabbed the top spots at the box office this weekend. Out front and the new number one film in the country, “Hop,” with an estimated $38.1 million. The animated flick is a fantasy about a series of mishaps that almost derail Easter. The cast includes James Marsden, Russell Brand, and Hank Azaria.

In second place, “Source Code,” debuted with $15 million. The action thriller revolves around a soldier who wakes up in the body of another man — part of the Source Code program — his mission, to find the bomber of a Chicago commuter train. This very clever sci-fi thriller has received some pretty good reviews, but the debut was disappointing. The reason for the film’s weak opening — most likely, Jake Gyllenhaal, who plays the lead character. Gyllenhaal has not developed into the kind of leading man that draws movie fans.

Another new film, “Insidious,” claimed third with an estimated $13.3 million. This very low budget film focuses on several paranormal events that terrorize a young family. Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, and Ty Simpkins star.

Last week’s top film, the family-friendly “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules” landed in fourth with around $10.4 million and fifth place went to the thriller, ”Limitless,” with about $9.4 million.

“Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules” raced to the top of the box office this weekend with an estimated debut of $24.4 million. The family film is based on the second  book in the popular  ”Diary of a Wimpy Kid ” series by cartoonist Jeff Kinney.

The movie focuses on two brothers and their humorous escapades in middle school. Zachary Gordon, Devon Bostick, and Rachael Harris star. The first film, “Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” was a big hit with movie fans last year. Another sequel is in the works.

While “Wimpy Kid 2″ apparently exceeded expectations another new film, “Sucker Punch,” stumbled. The fantasy action flick is about a young woman who breaks out of an asylum with some female inmates and they set off on an adventure. “Sucker Punch” earned around $19 million. The cast includes Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, and Vanessa Hudgens.

In third place, action thriller “Limitless” with an estimated $15.2 million, crime drama, “The Lincoln lawyer” landed in fourth with about $11 million, and rounding out the top five, the animated western “Rango” with around $9.8 million.