Fandango reports that The Twilight Saga: New Moon is on pace to sell 10 tickets per second throughout today on the movie ticket-selling site.

Summit Entertainment has reported that “New Moon” set a new record for opening midnight shows with an estimated gross of $26.270 million playing at 3,514 theaters for a per theater average of $7,476.

Fandango also reports strong sales for “The Blind Side,” which makes up 8 percent of ticket sales on the site. Of course, nothing can stand against the onslaught of “New Moon” sales, which makes up 85 percent.

- Matt Price

J.J. Abrams’ reboot of the “Star Trek” franchise comes to DVD and Blu-ray today. If you’ve missed what was one of 2009’s best films, now’s a great time to get caught up on it.

As I wrote in my review of the film:

Director J.J. Abrams reinvents “Star Trek” in his new film that’s a reboot of the classic sci-fi series. For hardcore Trekkies, it doesn’t negate what’s gone before, but for the newbies – which make up most of the potential viewing audience – this “Star Trek” is brand new.

Feel free to click through for my full review.  I look forward to checking out the DVD for extra features in the near future. Special features on the DVD set include a digital copy of the film, deleted scenes, audio commentary and making-of documentaries.

- Matt Price

The Twilight Saga: New Moon is at the top of ticket pre-sales this week, making up 94% of daily sales at Fandango.com and 90% of ticket sales at MovieTickets.com, according to releases from the companies.

According to Fandango, the Thursday night re-release of “Twilight” is the No. 2 seller on the site, representing 2% of today’s sales.

MovieTickets.com reports more than 200 sellouts of the film in New York and Los Angeles, and 2,150 sellouts of the film overall.

A Fandango survey of New Moon ticket buyers indicates the following:

51% will scream as the theater lights go down at the first public showings of New Moon, while 18% of audience members plan to put their fingers in their ears until the screaming stops.

50% pick Breaking Dawn as The Twilight Saga sequel they’re most eager to see on the big screen; 47% would like to see the final story split into two movies.

46% are most excited to see Edward back on the big screen, while a 32% are most excited to see the return of Jacob (among all New Moon characters).

Four days prior to release, “New Moon” is the biggest pre-sales title in the 10-year history of ticket-selling site Fandango.   A release for the company indicates New Moon broke the record as of Saturday night.

The new Top 5 Advance Ticket-Sellers on Fandango (as of November 15, 2009) are as follows:

1. New Moon (2009)

2. Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005)

3. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)

4. The Dark Knight (2008)
5. Twilight (2008)

New Moon currently accounts for 86% of ticket sales at Fandango.com.

“For many fans, it’s clearly the year’s most anticipated film event,” said Fandango Chief Operating Officer Rick Butler in a release. “Ever since tickets went on sale on August 31, it’s been among our top five weekly ticket-sellers, as New Moon has a strong pull on audiences. We’re seeing a higher-than-usual number of tickets per transaction for this film, suggesting that moviegoers will show up en masse at theaters this weekend with their friends and family.”

A survey of Fandango users indicates that 10 percent of ticket buyers intend to show up to the film in costume.

Other information from the survey:

* 98% say the action in New Moon looks better than the action in Twilight.

* 72% plan to see the movie with a group of three friends or more.

* 52% of survey respondents say they dream about vampires.

* 22% are mothers and daughters planning to see New Moon together.

* 10% of fans plan to show up at the theater on Thursday night in costume, dressed as characters from the saga.

- Matt Price

Identify who said the above quote in what film in the comments!

According to The Hollywood Reporter, director Guy Ritchie left the “Sgt. Rock” project for another DC project, Lobo.  This cleared the way for “I Am Legend” director Francis Lawrence.  Joel Silver and Akiva Goldsman are set to direct.   The film, which has been in development for 20 years and at one time was to star Arnold Schwartzenegger, was to focus on the leader of Easy Company during World War II.

But scuttlebutt in the Reporter article is that WWII films don’t do big box-office, so the film will instead be set in the future.

I really can’t at this moment get excited about it.  I mean, we’ve had some pretty good Sgt. Rock comics lately, like Billy Tucci’s “Sgt. Rock: The Last Battalion” and “Sgt. Rock: The Prophecy” and “Sgt. Rock: Between Hell and a Hard Place.”

So naturally what you want to do with DC’s most realistic war character is take him and send him to the future.   Maybe they’ll come up with a great take, but at the moment my interest has waned.

- Matt Price

Identify who said the above quote in what film in the comments!

Marvel Comics’ Black Widow began as a Soviet spy, introduced as a foil for Iron Man in 1964’s “Tales of Suspense” No. 52. While her first few appearances saw her as an antagonist to Marvel heroes, she’s since joined with them, even leading the Avengers for a time.

The Black Widow, aka Natalia Romanova or Natasha Romanoff, will be played by Scarlett Johansson in next year’s film “Iron Man 2.” Marvel is doing its best to catch up readers on the character before the film, starting this week with the comic-book series “Black Widow: Deadly Origin.”

“Deadly Origin” is written by Paul Cornell, who wrote an acclaimed revamp of “Captain Britain” for Marvel Comics and is known for his work as a writer on the “Doctor Who” television series. The art is by Tom Raney.

“A hidden enemy is killing everyone our heroine, Natalia, has ever been close to: romantic partners, friends, people she was kind to in passing,” Cornell wrote on his blog at Paul Cornell.com. “The first issue has guest appearances by Wolverine, the Winter Soldier and Joe Stalin, flashbacks courtesy of John Paul Leon.”

Several of Black Widow’s earliest appearances, in “Tales of Suspense,” “Amazing Spider-Man” and “Daredevil,” as well as her own solo story in “Amazing Adventures,” are collected in the hardcover “Sting of the Black Widow.”

The Black Widow also pops up in two hardcover collections from Marvel slated to come out before “Iron Man 2.” The first, “Iron Man: Deadly Solutions,” collects the first seven issues of writer Kurt Busiek and artist Sean Chen’s work on the title in 1998.

“I’d assume the decision to reprint it has something to do with the second Iron Man movie coming out, and maybe the way my run has a fair amount in common with the movies — Pepper Potts as a major character, the goatee, the ‘smart’ house — or because they want Iron Man/Black Widow material out at the moment, and there’s not as much as people might think,” Busiek wrote at his Web site, Busiek.com.

Several of Black Widow’s solo appearances will be collected in the premiere hardcover “Black Widow: Web of Intrigue,” slated for a March 2010 release. This collection will include the George Perez-drawn Marvel Fanfare Nos. 10-13 from 1983, as well as Bizarre Adventures No. 25, and the graphic novel “Black Widow: The Coldest War.”

Writer Devin K. Grayson wrote a Marvel Knights miniseries starring the Black Widow in 1999, with a sequel, co-written by Greg Rucka (“Whiteout”) in 2001. In 2006, sci-fi novelist Richard K. Morgan wrote a Black Widow miniseries titled “Black Widow: The Things They Say About Her.”

Speaking at Comic-Con International in San Diego this summer, Johansson played close to the vest with how the Black Widow character would develop in the “Iron Man 2” film.

“We don’t know necessarily whether the character is villainous,” Johansson said. “She does have a dark past, and I think that she is very seductive and distracting and … we’re not sure exactly where she’s coming from and what her intentions are necessarily.”

Though “Iron Man 2” won’t focus exclusively on the Black Widow character, there’s a good chance the character could return in more Marvel films.

“I would love to see the character come back and, as I was saying, kind of reveal more about herself,” Johansson said.

Until then, Marvel fans can discover more about the character through the pages of Marvel’s comic books.

- By Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

Thanks to everyone who came out today to Southern Oaks Library to hear me talk about “The Maltese Falcon,” the 1941 film starring Humphrey Bogart and the Dashiell Hammett novel from which it was adapted.   For Nerdage readers who couldn’t make it, here’s what was said:

Although Spade is the best-known hardboiled detective, The Maltese Falcon is the only novel in which he appears.  Hammett also wrote about Spade in a handful of short stories, and while Spade the character appeared in a series of radio adventures and comic strips, Hammett had little to do with those stories besides, as he said, “cashing the checks.”

The Maltese Falcon was serialized in the pulp Black Mask in 1929.  It followed Hammett’s popular “Continental Op” detective stories, but Sam Spade took things a step further.

About Spade, Hammett said:

“Spade had no original. He is a dream man in the same sense that he is what most of the private detectives I worked with would like to have been and what quite a few of them in their cockier moments thought they approached … a hard and shifty fellow, able to take care of himself in any situation.”

Dashiell Hammett’s own life inspired his writing.  He worked as a detective for the Pinkerton National Detective Agency from 1915 to 1921, with time off to serve in World War I.  During the war, Hammett contracted Spanish flu, which later led to tuberculosis.  His health concerns led him to give up detective work, where he was considered one of the best “shadows” in the business, to concentrate on writing.

In the 1941 “Maltese Falcon,” which will be shown today, Bogart plays Sam Spade, a hard-boiled detective who is hired by Miss Wonderly, played by Mary Astor, to, he believes, find her missing sister.  But that’s just the first of many not-quite truthful things Spade will be told as he’s drawn into the hunt for the Maltese Falcon, a priceless relic of the Crusades.

Contrasting this “Maltese Falcon” with the 1931 version, Bogart’s Sam Spade has a sense of humor, but it’s a dark one.  He’s a flawed, jaded hero who follows a moral code he’s not even sure he quite understands.

Directed by John Huston, the 1941 Maltese Falcon is a close adaptation of Hammett’s original, maintaining most of the scenes and much of the dialogue.

Joining Bogart are the hoods: Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet and Elisha Cook Jr.  Each were successful actors of the time.   Lorre and Greenstreet would again be seen with Bogart in the classic Casablanca, again playing characters of questionable morality.  Cook would again join Bogart in film noir “The Big Sleep,” based on Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe.

The Maltese Falcon marked Huston’s first directorial work with Bogart, though Huston had written the script for High Sierra, a film which helped spur Bogart’s career.  The two were friends and drinking buddies, and after The Maltese Falcon would work together several more times.  Bogart’s roles in both High Sierra and The Maltese Falcon were turned down by George Raft.  Bogart’s portrayal of these roles helped to cement him as a top star at Warner Bros.

- Matthew Price

From MySpace, here’s the trailer for James Cameron’s Avatar in 3-D. For those trying to remain completely unspoiled, it does seem to give up quite a bit of the plot. But then, I don’t know if that’s likely to keep people away. Feel free to share your thoughts on the trailer in the comments!

Identify who said the above quote in what film in the comments!

U.S. singer Lionel Richie arrives at Japan premiere of "Michael Jackson's This Is It" in Tokyo, Japan, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009. (AP)

Movie-ticket site Fandango reports that “Michael Jackson’s This Is It,” hitting theaters last night, represents 77% of Fandango’s daily ticket sales.  Fans ranking the film on Fandango are ranking the film a “must go.”

Here’s more information from Fandango on “This Is It.”

* 45% say they plan to see the movie in the theater more than once.

* 48% claim that since Michael Jackson’s untimely passing they are more interested in his past works.

* 76% had never seen Michael Jackson perform live in concert.

* 84% plan to buy the DVD when it comes out; 77% will buy the soundtrack album.

- Matt Price

Identify who said the above quote in what film in the comments!

With today’s announcement of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles being purchased by Nickelodeon, let’s find out who the favorite Turtle of Nerdage readers is.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, created in the 1980s by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman, have been bought by Nickelodeon for approximately $60 million.  Nickelodeon plans to develop a new CG animated series with the Turtles, and a new feature film is in the works with Paramount.

Nickelodeon is part of MTV Networks, which is a division of Viacom Inc.  The rights to the Turtles had been owned by The Mirage Group and 4Kids Entertainment, Inc.

Nick now owns global intellectual property rights to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  While the release doesn’t specifically indicate comics, global intellectual property rights would tend to include comic books.

The new animated series is expected to debut in 2012, as is the new motion picture.  Merchandising rights go along with this deal, and Nickelodeon announced it planned to continue to work with longtime Turtles license-holder Playmates Toys.

“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shares a comedic sensibility with the Nickelodeon DNA, with added layers of action and fantasy that have kept this property an evergreen favorite with multiple generations of audiences,” said Cyma Zarghami, President, Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group, in a news release. “We are extremely happy to have the opportunity to be able to focus on this property and creatively re-introduce it to a new generation of kids.”

Paramount noted the Turtles could provide the studio a superhero franchise.

“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a property that maintains a very passionate global fan base, is rich with opportunity for a tentpole movie, and is exactly the right property for us to work together with Nickelodeon,” said Adam Goodman, President, Paramount Pictures.

Is this insurance for Paramount to grab some of the superhero audience after its deal with Marvel expires? Maybe.  If so, $60 million could be seen as a bargain in a few years.

UPDATE: Peter Laird explains on his blog that while he hadn’t been actively seeking a buyer for the Turtles, this opportunity came along, and “the stars lined up.”

“I know that many fans are concerned with how the TMNT will be treated now that they have a new owner,” Laird writes.  “I am also concerned, but I have faith that the new owner will treat the property with due respect and make the most of it. And the simple fact is — I didn’t have it in me any more, and the property DESERVED a new owner. Now it has one, with powerful roots in the entertainment business. I am actually quite excited to see where they take TMNT.”

- Matt Price

Michael Jackson fans arrive to buy tickets for the " Michael Jackson's This Is It" film, at L.A. Live in Los Angeles, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2009. Tickets for the advance screening will go on sale Sunday, Sept. 27, 2009. The film was produced from hundreds of hours of backstage footage of rehearsals last June. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

“Michael Jackson’s This Is It,” which releases on Oct. 28, has moved past “Dreamgirls” in MovieTickets.com’s list of the Top-25 Advance Ticket Sellers of All-Time.  “This Is It” now ranks No. 22.

According to Movietickets.com, as of 3:30 PM EST “Michael Jackson’s This Is It” leads all ticket sales at MovieTickets.com.  The behind-the-scenes concert film accounts for 33 percent of all tickets sold.

Tickets remain available for the film’s limited, two-week run.

- Matt Price

To celebrate the Solar System Premiere of Columbia Pictures’ new animated comedy Planet 51, which will be released in theaters on Earth November 20, 2009, the film (on disc) is currently orbiting the planet on the International Space Station.

What better way to celebrate a space movie than … sending a movie into space?

A copy of Columbia Pictures’ animated comedy “Planet 51,” which comes to theaters Nov. 20, is currently orbiting the Earth on the International Space Station, according to a release.   The film was launched on the Space Shuttle Discovery on August 28, 2009.   A few days later, astronauts transferred the film to the space station.

The film is now cruising high above Earth at 17,500 miles per hour and orbiting the planet every 90 minutes.  As the release notes, 90 minutes is the running time of the film, so the space-bound copy of the movie will make a full Earth orbit as the movie premieres on the ground.

In a joint statement, producers Guy Collins and Ignacio Perez said:  “Planet 51 is a fun film for all the family and one of its strong messages, particularly for children, is to not be afraid of the unknown. That is what NASA has been showing the world for 50 years and I hope that our film will encourage children to increase their understanding of the Universe and NASA’s work.”

Planet 51 is an animated feature in which American astronaut Captain Charles “Chuck” Baker lands on Planet 51 to find the planet inhabited by little green people living in a 1950s-like world.  The film features the voice talents of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Jessica Biel and Seann William Scott.

- Matt Price

Identify who said the above quote in what film in the comments!

MTV Splash Page caught up with “Iron Man 2″ director Jon Favreau, who sadly says he won’t be available to direct the “Avengers” motion picture.

“They’ll have to [find a different director], because I’m not going to be available,” he said. “It’s something I’m being the executive producer on, so I’ll definitely have input and a say.”

Favreau adds whoever does direct “Avengers” will have to mix the technological world of “Iron Man” with the mythology-based world of “Thor.”

It’s too bad Favreau won’t do it – he’s been a great choice for “Iron Man” — but I’ll keep my fingers crossed for Marvel finding a director who will do an “Avengers” movie justice.

- Matt Price

With two weeks to go before release, MovieTickets.com reports 603 performances of “Michael Jackson’s This Is It” have sold out.   It’s now No. 23 on MovieTickets.com’s all-time pre-seales list, passing “Quantum of Solace.”

Tickets are still available for “This Is It,” which is planned to have a limited, two-week run in theaters.

- Matt Price

Variety reports that 20th Century Fox has acquired a pitch to tell the story of Moses and the Jews’ exodus from Egypt, “300″-style.

“300″ is the graphic novel by Frank Miller that became a film by Zack Snyder (”Watchmen”) and was a surprise hit, making more than $210 million domestically.

According to Variety, Peter Chernin will produce with Dylan Clark. The script will be written by Adam Cooper and Bill Collage, who are also adapting “Moby Dick” with a “graphic novel feel,” Variety reports.

The Moses movie would, like “300,” be made using extensive green screen.

- Matt Price

Empire Online reports that Bryan Singer has met with Fox about possibly returning to the X-Men franchise.

“I’m still looking to possibly returning to the X-Men franchise. I’ve been talking to Fox about it,” said Singer. “I love Hugh Jackman. I love the cast.”

That indicates that Singer may be more likely to return to an “X-Men 4″ with the original film X-Men versus taking the helm of a reboot or an “X-Men First Class” set in the early days of Xavier’s school.

Click past the cut to vote on whether you think Singer should return to the X-Men.

Identify who said the above quote in what film in the comments!

The Hollywood Reporter indicates Gary Ross will write “Venom,” a Spider-Man spinoff for Columbia, and that he may also direct the film.  Ross last directed 2003’s “Seabiscuit.”   Ross wrote “Pleasantville” and the upcoming “Spider-Man 4.”

As fans of the comics know, Venom was Eddie Brock, a photographer for the Daily Bugle, who bonded with an alien parasite that used to be Spider-Man’s costume.   (In the comics currently, that symbiote has bonded with the former villain the Scorpion, Mac Gargan, who is the new Venom.)

Topher Grace played Eddie Brock/Venom in Spider-Man 3.  It’s not known at this time whether Grace would return to the role.

My take? Venom is OK in small doses, but do I want to watch a 2-hour movie focusing on him, without Spider-Man? I don’t, anyway, though some may.   The best way to seemingly do a Venom movie is as some kind of crazy serial killer thing, and if you don’t have Spider-Man to stop him, what’s the point of that?  But I’ve always found Venom (and Carnage for that matter) best in moderation, brought out every few years to jolt the Spider-Man titles.  Still, his visual is pretty sweet.

Venom’s co-creator, Todd McFarlane, said something similar in an August interview with Newsarama’s Vaneta Rogers.

“I don’t know if you can have a movie about a guy who goes out there and maims everybody and wins all the time,” McFarlane said. “I don’t know what their mindset is and how they can get there other than adding too much niceness to him, but we’ll see.”

- Matt Price

With three weeks to go before its release, “Michael Jackson’s This Is It” has entered MovieTickets.com’s all time Top 25 Advance Ticket Sellers list.

“This Is It” knocks “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” from the list.

Looking at the same point in the sales cycle, 17 days from release, MovieTickets.com reports “Michael Jackson’s This Is It” is on the heels of “Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds,” the highest grossing concert film of all-time, which sits at No. 7 on the all-time pre-sales list.

See the full list after the break.

MovieTickets.com Top-25 Advance Ticket Sellers of All-Time

1. Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith

2. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince + IMAX + IMAX 3-D

3. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (4) + IMAX

4. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

5. The Dark Knight + IMAX

6. Twilight

7. Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Disney Digital 3-D

8. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix + IMAX

9. The Matrix Reloaded

10. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End

11. Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones

12. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

13. Sex and the City

14. Spider-Man 3 + IMAX

15. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

16. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

17. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

18. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen + IMAX

19. Passion of the Christ, The

20. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest

21. High School Musical 3: Senior Year

22. Dreamgirls

23. Quantum of Solace

24. Departed, The

25. Michael Jackson’s This Is It

Identify who said the above quote in what film in the comments!

According to Deadline Hollywood, Michael Bay officially signed on to Transformers 3 today, and confirmed the film’s release date of July 1, 2011.

Michael Bay even got in a small dig at one of his stars, Megan Fox, in his announcement on his site about the film.

“Megan Fox, welcome back,” Bay wrote. “I promise no alien robots will harm you in any way during the production of this motion picture.”

Click past the cut for some recent pictures of Megan Fox promoting her recent film, “Jennifer’s Body.”

- Matt Price

SAN DIEGO — The horror-comedy “Zombieland” looks at the world after a zombie invasion and two men who are doing everything they can to survive the aftermath.

The cast of “Zombieland” talked about the project at Comic-Con International in San Diego.

“It was high time I got offered a zombie movie,” said Woody Harrelson, who plays gun-toting zombie battler Tallahassee.

“I thought, this is probably going to be a silly movie, ‘Zombieland’? What?” he said. “And then reading it, I found it absolutely riveting. … Anyway, they wrote an amazing script, it’s a page-turner.”

“Zombieland” was conceived as a television pilot but was adapted to a feature film when it seemed it would be too expensive to realize on TV.

Jesse Eisenberg plays Tallahassee’s nerdy partner, Columbus. Columbus is a bit of a wimp with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

This prompts him to create a list — 47 rules of how to survive in Zombieland.

Along the way, Tallahassee and Columbus meet up with Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin).

“I was not as put off by the idea of it being a zombie movie, because I thought it would be kind of cool,” Stone said. “And then it was wonderful, and I learned I would get to shoot a gun. I went to a gun range a couple times and learned how to shoot a pump shotgun, so that was kind of nice.”

The shoot took place over 42 days in Georgia. While that’s not a long shoot, director Ruben Fleischer said it seemed long enough to him.

“I come from a low-budget, music video and short film background, so for me it seemed like a really long amount of time,” he told the Comic-Con crowd.

- by Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

Michael Jackson fans arrive to buy tickets for the " Michael Jackson's This Is It" film, at L.A. Live in Los Angeles, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2009. The film was produced from hundreds of hours of backstage footage of rehearsals last June. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Both MovieTickets.com and Fandango.com are reporting strong sales for Michael Jackson’s “This Is It” concert film, four weeks prior to its release on Oct. 28.

MovieTickets.com reports 550 sold-out performances, and reports that “This Is It” accounts for 69 percent of ticket sales on the site.   Sixty-seven percent of poll respondents at MovieTickets.com said they were ready to see Michael Jackson on the big screen.

At Fandango, “This Is It” is outpacing the Hannah Montana 3D concert film by a factor of 3 to 1 at the same point in the sales cycle.

“Michael Jackson’s This Is It” was responsible for Fandango’s biggest Sunday pre-sales a full month prior to a film’s release date, according to a release from the site.

- Matt Price

The trailer for the remake of “Nightmare on Elm Street,” with Jackie Earle Haley (”Watchmen,” “Bad News Bears”) as Freddy Krueger. Feel free to share your thoughts about the remake in the comments!