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Paramount’s Western animation Rango topped the US box office this weekend in the biggest debut of 2011 so far.

The film, which reunites Johnny Depp with his Pirates Of The Caribbean director Gore Verbinski, took $38 million in its opening weekend, well ahead of Matt Damon’s sci-fi thriller The Adjustment Bureau, which entered in second place taking $20.9 million.

Alex Pettyfer’s second offering of 2011, the teen fantasy drama Beastly, exceeded expectations by entering third in the top ten with $10.1 million.

Owen Wilson’s comedy Hall Pass falls to fourth with $9 million, while last week’s box office topper Gnomeo & Juliet rounds out the top five with $6.9 million.

This week’s US box office top ten in full:
1. (-) Rango – $38,000,000
2. (-) The Adjustment Bureau – $20,900,000
3. (-) Beastly – $10,100,000
4. (2) Hall Pass – $9,000,000
5. (1) Gnomeo & Juliet – $6,900,000
6. (3) Unknown – $,6,620,000
7. (7) The King’s Speech – $6,501,000
8. (4) Just Go With It – $6,500,000
9. (5) I Am Number Four – $5,702,000
10. (6) Justin Bieber: Never Say Never – $4,325,000

Jude Law and Robert Downey Jr have said that they are both open to the idea of continuing the Sherlock Holmes film series after this year’s upcoming sequel.

Both Law and Downey Jr have returned for the follow-up as Watson and Holmes respectively, and have admitted that they are excited at the possibility of future instalments.

“We were talking so much about the possibilities of more, and loads of ideas and situations, on the first one,” Law told MTV News. “We’ve got even more ideas now, and I hope we’re going to be allowed to do another one again.”

Downey Jr reiterated Law’s comments, admitting that he hoped to continue playing Holmes as long as he is allowed to.

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Resident Evil 5 will open in cinemas in September next year, reports Coming Soon.

The sci-fi horror, based on Capcom’s hit video game series, will be released on September 14, 2012 through Sony’s Screen Gems. The date lines up the untitled fifth film’s opening with the previous three franchise instalments, which also had September debuts.

Milla Jovovich will reprise her role as Alice in Resident Evil 5.

Last year’s Resident Evil: Afterlife, the series’ first in 3D, took in $290 million at the worldwide box office. The franchise has grossed more than $660 million at the box office in total.

Lucasfilm and Twentieth Century Fox have announced a released date for the 3D theatrical opening of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.

The 3D version of the first Star Wars prequel will arrive in cinemas on February 10, 2012.

George Lucas previously announced that he plans to convert all six Star Wars films to 3D and re-release them in theatres in the epic story’s chronological order.

The Phantom Menace was originally released in cinemas in 1999 and grossed more than $924 million at the worldwide box office.

Sir Elton John has blasted Disney over their apparent lack of support for his film Gnomeo & Juliet in the US, says The Hollywood Reporter.

The musician, who is an executive producer on the animated movie through his company Rocket Pictures, hit out at the company on The Marilyn Dennis Show for not congratulating him on the 3D film’s box office success.

“We fought resistance from the studio for so long, and to be honest with you, the film has taken $75 million in America, and we haven’t had a message of congratulations from anyone within the studio,” he said.

“Gnomeo & Juliet took us 11 years to make. We defied all the odds and all of the people at Disney who said this wouldn’t be a hit. And it’s the biggest hit, but it could have been a bigger hit if Disney got behind it more.”

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Actress Jane Russell has died of respiratory failure at the age of 89.

Born in Minnesota in 1921 to Roy William Russell and Geraldine Jacobi, Russell was discovered by movie mogul Howard Hughes in 1940. Her first film The Outlaw catapulted her to fame three years later. Its poster, showing the actress posing provocatively with a gun in a bale of hay, sparked controversy at the time.

She worked with many of the industry’s stars in the ’40s and ’50s, appearing alongside Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes in 1953. She also worked with Frank Sinatra, Groucho Marx and Vincent Price during the ’50s.

In a statement to Reuters, her son Buck Waterfield said: “Jane Russell passed away peacefully today (Monday) at home surrounded by her children at her bedside.”

She is survived by three children.