The supernatural film, starring Dane DeHaan (The Front) and Alex Russell (Wasted on the Young) scooped the top spot, earning a staggering $22m during its opening weekend.

However, the spine tingling chiller The Woman in Black, starring Harry Potter’s Daniel Radcliffe, took in an impressive $21m during its three-day opening, from Friday to Sunday.
The film, based on Susan Hills’ classic novel, was shown in 2855 screens and topped the record for the highest earning opening film in Hammer history.
Radcliffe’s period ghost story even beat the likes of Paranormal Activity, which grossed $19,617,650 in 2009, and The Grudge 2, which earned $20,825,300 three years before.
The CEO of Hammer was pleased with the record breaking result and was reported saying; “The fact that a gothic horror has attracted such a large audience on opening weekend shows the demand for elevated and intelligent genre films which Hammer aims to produce.”

Ghosts aside, in third place came Liam Neeson’s latest thriller, The Grey, which earned $9.5, dropping just one place from last week. Pulling in $8.5m, was the heart-warming, family fun film, Big Miracle, featuring John Krasinski (It’s Complicated , Leatherheads).
But a league behind Big Miracle came Underworld: Awakening, which earned just over $5m – a quarter of The Woman in Black’s intake.

One For The Money – starring Knocked Up’s Katherine Heigl – slid from third to sixth place earning $5.5 million, while Red Tails ranked seventh. George Clooney’s, The Descendants, remained in eighth place, making just $4.6 million. The Man On A Ledge has plummeted from fifth to ninth place making $4.5 million, and scraping in at number ten was Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close raking $3.9m last weekend.

Miss Piggy has proved that she can glam it up with the rest of the stars. The  picture above shows her looking fabulous arriving at the premiere of The Muppets back in November, and now she will be preparing to be the centre of attention yet again. It has been announced that the glamorous piggy, who is the long-time love interest of Kermit the Frog, will be the official red carpet host for the BAFTAs.

These prestigious film awards will be taking place this Sunday, 12th February, and Miss Piggy will be right there on the front-line. It will be her job to bring back the interviews everyone is waiting for, and by all accounts she is not planning on holding back. She is reportedly especially looking forward to grilling the likes of George Clooney, Michael Fassbender and Jean Dujardin who are all up for the category of Leading Actor – only the best for our famous Muppet!

Miss Piggy has said that she “will be asking questions that only moi would dare ask” – which should certainly make for some entertaining viewing. We can’t wait to see what questions she has in mind to fire at the unsuspecting actors and actresses, as well as finding out who the winners will be. The BAFTAs will be broadcast on BBC One on Sunday, 12th February at 9pm and the BAFTA Red Carpet Show With Miss Piggy will air on Monday, 13th February.

Leading the pack is the hot favourite for Best Film: The Artist. The French masterpiece received 12 nominations in total, which include: Best Film, Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing and Leading Actor and Actress acknowledgements for Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo.

The film is up against: The Descendants, Drive, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and The Help for Best Film.

Meanwhile Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is nominated in 11 categories, Martin Scorsese’s Hugo has nine, and British effort My Week with Marilyn boasts six nominations. The Help and War Horse scored a total of five acknowledgements apiece, while the Harry Potter crew will be pleased with their four nominations for Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2.

The nominees in the acting categories are a fairly predictable bunch. Dujardin is up against George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Michael Fassbender and Gary Oldman for the Lead Actor accolade. And My Week with Marilyn‘s Michelle Williams is up for the Lead Actress title, with competition from Bejo, Meryl Streep, Viola Davis and Tilda Swinton.

The nominees for the Orange Wednesdays Rising Star Award, were announced earlier this month too, with an eyebrow-raising lack of actresses to vote for. This year our choice is between: Adam Deacon, Chris Hemsworth, Chris O’Dowd, Eddie Redmayne and Tom Hiddleston.

On a plus note, the ceremony will be hosted by national treasure Stephen Fry instead of usual pick, Jonathan Ross. The ceremony will take place at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, Sunday 12th February 2012.

See the full list of non-mentioned nominations:

Outstanding British Film
My Week With Marilyn
Senna
Shame
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
We Need To Talk About Kevin

Outstanding Debut
Attack the Block – Joe Cornish
Black Pond – Will Sharpe, Tom Kingsley, Sarah Brocklehurst
Coriolanus – Ralph Fiennes
Submarine – Richard Ayoade
Tyrannosaur – Paddy Considine, Diarmid Scrimshaw

Director
The Artist – Michel Hazanavicius
Drive – Nicolas Winding Refn
Hugo – Martin Scorsese
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Tomas Alfredson
We Need To Talk About Kevin – Lynne Ramsay

Supporting Actress
Carey Mulligan - Shame
Jessica Chastain – The Help
Octavia Spencer – The Help
Melissa McCarthy – Bridesmaids
Judi Dench - My Week With Marilyn

Supporting Actor
Jonah Hill – Moneyball
Kenneth Branagh – My Week With Marilyn
Jim Broadbent – The Iron Lady
Christopher Plummer – Beginners
Phillip Seymour Hoffman – The Ides of March

Documentary
George Harrison: Living In The Material World
Project Nim
Senna

Original Screenplay
The Artist – Michel Hazanavicius
Bridesmaids – Annie Mumolo, Kristen Wiig
The Guard – John Michael McDonagh
The Iron Lady – Abi Morgan
Midnight In Paris – Woody Allen

Adapted Screenplay
The Descendants
The Help
The Ides Of March
Moneyball
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Animated Film
The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn
Arthur Christmas
Rango

Original Music
The Artist – Ludovic Bource
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo – Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
Hugo – Howard Shore
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Alberto Iglesias
War Horse – John Williams

Cinematography
The Artist – Guillaume Schiffman
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo – Jeff Cronenweth
Hugo - Robert Richardson
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Hoyte van Hoytema
War Horse – Janusz Kaminski

Editing
The Artist – Anne-Sophie Bion, Michel Hazanavicius
Drive - Mat Newman
Hugo – Thelma Schoonmaker
Senna – Gregers Sall, Chris King
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Dino Jonsater

Production Design
The Artist
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2
Hugo
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
War Horse

Costume Design
The Artist – Mark Bridges
Hugo - Sandy Powell
Jane Eyre – Michael O’Connor
My Week With Marilyn – Jill Taylor
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Jacqueline Durran

Sound
The Artist
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2
Hugo
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
War Horse

Make-Up & Hair
The Artist – Julie Hewett, Cydney Cornell
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 – Amanda Knight, Lisa Tomblin
Hugo – Morag – Ross, Jan Archibald
The Iron Lady – Marese Langan
My Week With Marilyn – Jenny Shircore

Special Visual Effects
The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2
Hugo
Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes
War Horse

I’m sure you’re here for the results more than the gossip, so I’ll make with the awards list:

Film:

Best Original Score: Ludovic Bource – The Artist

Best Original Song: ”Masterpiece” – W.E.

Best Foreign Language Film: A Separation - Iran

Best Screenplay: Woody Allen – Midnight in Paris

Best Animated Feature Film: The Adventures of Tintin

Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical: The Artist

Best Director: Martin Scorsese – Hugo

Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer – Beginners

Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer – The Help

Best Actor – Comedy or Musical: Jean Dujardin – The Artist

Best Actress – Comedy or Musical: Michelle Williams – My Week with Marilyn

Best Actor – Drama: George Clooney – The Descendants

Best Actress – Drama: Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady

Best Motion Picture – Drama: The Descendants

Television:

Best Actor – Comedy or Musical: Matt LeBlanc – Episodes

Best Actress – Comedy or Musical: Laura Dern - Enlightened

Best Television Series – Comedy or Musical: Modern Family

Best Supporting Actor: Peter Dinklage – Game of Thrones

Best Supporting Actress: Jessica Lange – American Horror Story

Best Actor: Kelsey Grammer – Boss

Best Actress: Claire Danes – Homeland

Best Mini-Series or Movie Made for Television: Downton Abbey

Best Television Series – Drama: Homeland

Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award: Morgan Freeman

The winners won’t be announced until both ceremonies are held in January, of course, but we finally know which films and performances caught the eye of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) and the Screen Actors Guild. Unsurprisingly they have similar ideas.

The Artist is in the lead with six nominations at the Golden Globes including Best Motion Picture: Comedy or Musical and three nominations at the SAG awards. George Clooney’s The Descendants and The Help have five nods apiece at the Globes, while The Ides of March, Midnight in Paris and Moneyball received four. BBC Film My Week With Marilyn has also done well, with three at the Globes and two at the SAG’s.

In the Acting categories, there are some surprises. No one expected Meryl Streep to not receive nominations for The Iron Lady (the only nods the film received), but I doubt anyone thought comedy hit Bridesmaids would get recognition. The film received three acting acknowledgements; one at the Globes and two at the SAG’s.

A-listers Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio and George Clooney will compete for the Male Lead in a Motion Picture accolades at both ceremonies while The Artist‘s Jean Dujardin also has two nods. In the supporting categories, My Week With Marilyn‘s Kenneth Branagh and Jonah Hill (Moneyball) received two nominations apiece.

The female categories on the other hand, see Michelle Williams recognised by the SAG and HFPA for her enchanting portrayal of Marilyn Monroe, while Carnage co-stars Jodie Foster and Kate Winslet are up against one another for Best Actress in a Motion Picture: Comedy or Musical at the Globes. Other actresses to receive nominations from both awards include:  Tilda Swinton for We Need to Talk About Kevin, Glenn Close in Albert Nobbs and Viola Davis for The Help.

For the full list of nominations including the television categories, visit the Golden Globes official site here, and the SAG site here.

Catch the Hollywood Foreign Press Association presents the 69th Annual Golden Globes ceremony on 15th January and the 18th Annual The Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAG) ceremony on 29th January 2012.

However, the Hollywood actor – sometimes referred to as the ‘silver fox’ – might have to part with some of his famous hair in order to pull off Jobs’ rather more balding look.

The Ocean’s Eleven star is up against 40-year-old Noah Wylie, who appeared alongside Clooney in the popular American medical drama, ER.

However, Wylie may have an advantage since he’s already played Jobs in the cult classic, Pirates of Silicon Valley film.

Aaron Sorkin, (The Social Network, The West Wing) is Sony’s favourite to write the screenplay, but will this film just be a huge Apple-fest for iPhone lovers only?

Hopefully, not just Apple fans will find it interesting to learn that Jobs dropped out of college after just a couple of months and ended up exchanging Coke bottles for money, while living off free meals from the Hare Krishna temple. Jobs later claimed that ‘If I had never dropped in on that single calligraphy course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts’.

Jobs then travelled to India to ‘find himself’, and along the way he also tried LSD which he believed was ‘one of the two or three most important things I’ve done in my life’.

However, for some people the film might seem like a two hour long Apple advert.

Does this also mean we will start seeing films based on other entrepreneurs?

Can we expect the movie version of the life of the man who invented the electric washing machine, an invention that has arguably changed society to far greater extent than Apple’s gadgets, or would Suds: The Movie be a washout? Is it the same principle? Vote on the poll to share your views.

There have been a number of exciting films in production recently, and now it has finally been revealed which of them will feature in the programme for this year’s BFI London Film Festival.

It was previously announced that Fernando Meirelles’ 360 would be opening the festival, whilst Terence Davies’ The Deep Blue Sea would provide the closing film. Other highlights include George Clooney‘s political drama, The Ides of March, as well as David Cronenberg’s Freudian flick, A Dangerous Method.

Other movies which are already surrounded by much anticipation include Lynne Ramsay’s We Need to Talk About Kevin, which was adapted from the critically acclaimed novel by Lionel Shriver, and Alexander Payne’s The Descendants, starring George Clooney.

The festival will also feature Andrea Arnold‘s version of the classic novel, Wuthering Heights, starring Kaya Scodelario, as well as Roman Polanski’s black comedy, Carnage.

The Festival will showcase a total of 204 feature films and 110 shorts over 16 days – take a look at the full schedule here.

Meanwhile, the Venice Film Festival is already in full swing, featuring screenings of Tomas Alfredson’s Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Todd Solondz’s Dark Horse and French film, Poulet Aux Prunes (Chicken with Plums).

We’ll keep you posted!

The Venice Film Festival will be awash with stars, the opening night including George Clooney and his co-stars of The Ides of March, Ryan Gosling and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

And this is just the start, with a total of 22 films entered into the competition, and a whole bundle of other famous faces set to join in the festivities later in the week. Not wanting to name drop, but just some of the stars that will be milling around include Kate Winslet, Keira Knightley, Matthew McConaughey, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Matt Damon and Madonna. This looks like it will be 11 days of film paradise, so stay tuned for more news coming up.

At this stage very little is known about what Clooney is planning, although we do know that the original cast will not be reprising their roles and director Rupert Goold is also not involved.

Spider- Man producer, Laura Ziskin, has secured the rights to the play and the original playwright Lucy Prebble is on board to write the script with Ziskin.

Ex-director of the Theatre Royal Stratford East, Philip Hedley, has expressed his dismay at the decision, saying: “It’s a great shame that the original talent hasn’t been able to follow through, to put on to film what they’ve originally created.”

Enron is a play about the famous Enron scandal, in which the huge energy corporation had a complicated and large bankruptcy. The play uses dance and music to shed light on the situation.

It premièred at the Chichester Festival Theatre in 2009 and went on a nationwide tour, which included an extended run in the West End. The play was hugely successful in the UK and has won a number of awards.

In April of 2010 the play went to Broadway, however it did not receive the same rapturous reviews and lasted a mere month on the US stage.

It is interesting therefore that Clooney has decided to take on the film, after it’s lack of success in the US, this may have something to do with his decision to mix things up with the cast.

Either way, it’s an interesting story which is bound to make a great film but whether Clooney will include song and dance, is yet to be seen.