DreamWorks and Disney’s The Help and Fox’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes are the only two August releases that can be sure of making a profit, although New Line’s Final Destination 5 could make it over the line, according to the latest monthly estimate from SNL Kagan. The financial analysis firm makes its projections…

SATURDAY PM/SUNDAY AM, 4TH UPDATE: This weekend’s numbers bounced around, especially after Rentrak, the box office reporting service, sent out the following advisory: “We wanted to make you aware that a possible 1,000 theatres could be affected by the weather on the East Coast. We’ve been hearing about closures at…

Although the Cannes Film Festival just ended three weeks ago, there’s always another film fest around the corner trying to steal its thunder and become part of the cinematic conversation. On Thursday night, the Los Angeles Film Festival, now in its 17th year, opened with the world premiere of the Richard Linklater (Sch…

FilmDistrict has released a full-length trailer for Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, the remake of the creepy 1973 telepic made at a time when ABC was cranking out the scares with such films as Bad Ronald and Trilogy of Terror. Troy Nixey directed it and Guillermo del Toro produced with Mark Johnson. Katie Holmes, Guy Pear…

Guillermo del Toro has been announced as Guest Director of the 2011 Los Angeles Film Festival, which is set to run June 16-26 in downtown LA. The world premiere of FilmDistrict’s Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, co-written by del Toro and Matthew Robbins and directed by Troy Nixey, will be the closing-night film; Dark, a…

Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark has been acquired for domestic distribution by Peter Schlessel and Bob Berney’s FilmDistrict. The film will get an August 12 release and was the final and perhaps most potentially commercial of the films made by Miramax Films before the library was sold last year. The Troy Nixey-directed…

EXCLUSIVE: I’m told that Miramax transaction between owner Disney and soon-to-be new owners, construction magnate Ron Tutor and Tom Barrack’s Santa Monica-based Colony Capital (led by former Disney CFO Richard Nanula), won’t be finalized until the end of the year or soon after because of “strictly logistical reasons&#8221…

An early trailer is making the rounds for Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark, the remake of the 70s ABC scary telepic that Guillermo del Toro co-wrote and produced. While del Toro made a splash at Comic-Con announcing he’d co-write and produce Haunted Mansion, he was most excited about the Con crowd reaction to this film…

Luke Y Thompson is covering the Con for Deadline: A round-up of some other panels, in brief… BATTLE: LOS ANGELES Should they have called this, BATTLE: L.A., since it was actually shot in Louisiana, and that would provide plausible deniability? Regardless, the look being strived for here is obviously BLACK HAWK DOWN…

He’s a geek god when he walks the halls of Comic-Con. But Guillermo del Toro just told me he feels the phalanx of print and web media at the festival gave short shrift to the reaction of footage that he, producer Mark Johnson and director Troy Nixey presented for Don't Be Afraid of the Dark. On Friday, they showed the…

FRIDAY, JULY 23 STAR WARS DAY (This is a meaningless appellation unless and until George Lucas sees fit to say or do anything regarding the proposed live-action TV series.) Luke Y Thompson covers Hollywood events at the Con for Deadline: 10:15-11:15 AM: Aloha, Earth! Have you heard they're doing a new HAWAII FIVE-O…

While its struggle to unload Miramax Films and its library continues, Disney has just set a January 21, 2011 release date for the Miramax thriller Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark. The Troy Nixey-directed film, written by Guillermo del Toro and Matthew Robbins, stars Katie Holmes and Guy Pearce. The film is a remake of the…