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The final entry in the long-running Harry Potter franchise has broken box office records by becoming the highest domestic opening weekend ever.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 took an estimated $168.5 million this weekend, topping the $158.7 million taken by The Dark Knight back in 2008.

Michael Bay’s Transformers: Dark of the Moon falls to second place this weekend taking $21.2 million, followed by Seth Gordon’s Horrible Bosses with $17.6 million.

The Kevin James-fronted family comedy Zookeeper took $12.3 million, followed by Pixar’s Cars 2, which rounds out the top five films of the weekend with $8.3 million.

This week’s US box office top ten in full (studio estimates):
1. (-) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 – $168,550,000
2. (1) Transformers: Dark of the Moon – $21,250,000
3. (2) Horrible Bosses – $17,630,000
4. (3) Zookeeper – $12,300,000
5. (4) Cars 2 – $8,344,000
6. (-) Winnie the Pooh – $9,000,000
7. (5) Bad Teacher – $5,200,000
8. (6) Larry Crowne – $2,572,000
9. (7) Super 8 – $1,925,000
10. (-) Midnight in Paris – $1,891,000

Sam Raimi and the original producers of The Evil Dead have confirmed that a remake of the cult horror is in the works.

The news was leaked by producer Bruce Campbell earlier this week, and Ghost House Pictures has now released a statement confirming the report.

Original writer and director Raimi will return as a producer on the remake, alongside Campbell and Rob Tapert.

“We are committed to making this movie and are inspired by the enduring popularity and enthusiasm for the Evil Dead series,” the statement reads.

“We can’t wait to scare a new generation of moviegoers using filmmaking techniques that were not available to us 30 years ago, as well as Fede [Alvarez] bringing a fresh eye to the film’s original elements.”

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Harrison Ford has said that he would like Indiana Jones to die one day.

The actor also revealed that he wanted his iconic Star Wars character Han Solo to be killed off at the end of Return of the Jedi.

“I always want my characters to die,” he told Entertainment Weekly. “I though Han Solo should have died at the end of the last Star Warsmovie, just because it seemed right for the character.”

Ford also commented on rumours of a fifth instalment in the Indiana Jones series, following on from the 2008 film Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

“I’d be happy to make another Indiana Jones movie, but at this point it’s all just rumours,” he added.

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Guy Ritchie has declared that it was an “easy choice” to direct a Sherlock Holmes sequel.

The Snatch director told USA Today that although he is normally against making sequels, he “couldn’t help” joining forces with Robert Downey Jr (Holmes) and Jude Law (John Watson) again.

“I can’t help myself. They wanted this to be a franchise, which, in my mind, needs at least two movies,” he joked. “But I really liked working with the team on the first movie, so this was an easy choice.”

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows will see the famous detective pitted against his nemesis James Moriarty, played by Jared Harris.

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Transformers: Dark of the Moon has remained at the top of the US box office for the second weekend in a row.

The Michael Bay-directed epic took $47 million this weekend, bringing its overall domestic total to $261 million.

The Paramount Pictures action feature has now surpassed The Hangover Part II as the year’s highest grossing film so far.

R-rated comedy Horrible Bosses lands in second place taking $28 million, while the Kevin James-led family comedy Zookeeper opened to a disappointing $21 million.

Pixar sequel Cars 2 took $15.2 million, while Bad Teacher rounded out the top five with $9 million.

This week’s US box office top ten in full (studio estimates):
1. (1) Transformers: Dark of the Moon – $47,000,000
2. (-) Horrible Bosses – $28,100,000
3. (-) Zookeeper – $21,000,000
4. (2) Cars 2 – $15,209,000
5. (3) Bad Teacher – $9,000,000
6. (4) Larry Crowne – $6,264,000
7. (6) Super 8 – $4,825,000
8. (5) Monte Carlo – $3,800,000
9. (7) Green Lantern – $3,125,000
10. (8) Mr. Popper’s Penguins – $2,850,000

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment will bring time-honored musical ‘West Side Story’ to Blu-ray Disc Nov. 15 (order date Sept. 7), commemorating the film’s 50th anniversary.

A spin on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, West Side Story (1961) is set against the backdrop of gang warfare in the 1950s in New York, with Jets member Tony (Richard Beymer, The Longest Day) falling for Maria (Natalie Wood, Splendor in the Grass), the sister of the rival Sharks’ leader.

Bonus material includes brand-new featurettes “Pow! The Dances of West Side Story” and “A Place for Us: West Side Story’s Legacy,” a song-specific commentary by lyricist Stephen Sondheim, storyboards and more.

The West Side Story: 50th Anniversary Edition comes in a limited-edition four-disc boxed set with a two-disc Blu-ray, a remastered DVD, a tribute CD, a photo book and other collectible memorabilia. The film also will be released as a two-disc collector’s edition Blu-ray.

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Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides has become the eighth movie to gross more than $1 billion (£620m) worldwide.

The fourth instalment of the adventure films, starring Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Penelope Cruz and Ian McShane, has currently made approximately $1.009bn (£626m).

An estimated $234.2m (£145m) has come from domestic sales at the US box office, with an extra $774.7m (£480m) earned internationally, according to Box Office Mojo.

On Stranger Tides is also the second Pirates of the Caribbean movie to reach the landmark total after Dead Man’s Chest, which finished with a total of $1.066bn (£661m).

Michael Bay and Shia LaBeouf’s final entry in the Transformers film franchise has topped the US box office in its opening weekend.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon has taken an estimated $97.4 million so far, and is expected to break the current domestic four-day record for the Fourth of July weekend held by Spider-Man 2.

Last week’s box office-topping Pixar sequel Cars 2 falls to second place this weekend, taking $25.1 million, followed by Cameron Diaz’s latest comedy Bad Teacher with $14.1 million.

The Tom Hanks-directed Larry Crowne, starring the Castaway actor opposite Julia Roberts, opened with a disappointing $13 million, while romantic comedy Monte Carlo rounded out the top five with $7.6 million.

This week’s US box office top ten in full (studio estimates):
1. (-) Transformers: Dark of the Moon – $97,400,000
2. (1) Cars 2 – $25,110,000
3. (2) Bad Teacher – $14,100,000
4. (-) Larry Crowne – $13,000,000
5. (-) Monte Carlo – $7,600,000
6. (4) Super 8 – $7,500,000
7. (3) Green Lantern – $6,270,000
8. (5) Mr. Popper’s Penguins – $5,100,000
9. (8) Bridesmaids – $3,520,000
10. (10) Midnight in Paris – $3,438,000

Christopher Nolan is reportedly planning to begin work on a new supernatural-themed thriller next year.

According to Deadline, the Inception director will produce the project for Warner Bros through his company Syncopy.

Nolan has tapped regular TV director and writer Keith Gordon to helm the project, following his work on dramas such as Dexter and The Killing.

The project is said to be based on a currently-unknown novel, and will be a basic thriller but with definite supernatural undertones.

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