A History of Violence News

Showbiz writers have rewarded independent features and issues-oriented dramas -- along with offbeat

comedy "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" -- in Writers Guild of America screenplay nominations. Noms in original

category went to "Cinderella Man," "Crash," "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," "Good Night, and Good Luck" and "

The Squid and the Whale." Adapted screenplay noms went to "Brokeback Mountain," "Capote," "The Constant Gardener," "A History of Violence" and "Syriana."

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Canuck helmer David Cronenberg's "A History of Violence" and Truman Capote biopic "Capote" nabbed three prizes apiece from the Toronto Film Critics Assn. on Tuesday. "Violence" took film and Canadian film honors, while Toronto-based Cronenberg drew helmer laurels.Philip Seymour Hoffman received the actor nod for his portrayal of the author in "Capote," Catherine Keener won as supporting actress for the same film and the Bennett Miller-directed pic drew the first feature prize.

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Ang Lee's cowboy romance "Brokeback Mountain" rode off with a herd-leading seven nominations for the 63rd annual Golden Globe Awards Tuesday. In addition to "Brokeback," Focus' "The Constant Gardener" and Warner Independent's "Good Night, and Good Luck" snagged best drama bids, along with New Line's "A History of Violence" and DreamWorks' Woody Allen-directed "Match Point." Focus also lassoed a musical/comedy film nom for its "Pride & Prejudice," which is joined by the Weinstein Co.'s "Mrs. Henderson Presents," Mel Brooks' Universal-Columbia musical "The Producers," "The Squid and the Whale" and Fox's "Walk the Line." "Squid" and "Walk" each received a pair of bids for their respective leads -- Jeff Daniels and Laura Linney as the former's divorcing parents, and Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon in the Johnny Cash biopic.

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Fall's fast start slowed this weekend, as the weekend's new films failed to fuel much audience enthusiasm. Walt Disney's holdover "Flightplan" led the pack for a second week, scoring $15 million in its sophomore session and dipped a modest 39% from last week's opening. This is the time of year when Oscar-possible films begin to emerge, but other than a strong showing by Sony Pictures Classics' "Capote," which brought in a robust $348,978 from 12 screens in its opening (averaging a stout $29,082 per screen), few of the prestige films seem to have yet caught traction with audiences. Behind the Jodie Foster plane thriller, the top new entry was Universal's sci-fi title "Serenity," which bowed at No. 2 with $10.1 million from 2,188 theaters. At No. 3 was Warner Bros.' "Tim Burton's Corpse Bride," with $9.8 million, down 49%. The stop-action movie has a total of $32.9 million. It was followed at No. 4 by New Line's wide expansion of the David Cronenberg-directed and Viggo Mortensen-starring crime drama "A History of Violence," which finished with $8.2 million from 1,340 venues. Other new wide releases finished lower down the chart, as Sony's treasure hunt adventure "Into the Blue" came in at No. 5, posting $7 million while unspooling at 2,789 locations.

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Hoping to continue the fall season's strong start at the box office, four wide releases reach the market this weekend. Sony is bowing "Into the Blue" (which it inherited from MGM) at 2,789 theaters, while Universal introduces "Serenity," the Joss Whedon-directed continuation of his short-lived "Firefly" TV series, in 2,188 and Disney opens historical golf drama "The Greatest Game Ever Played" at 1,014. Also this weekend, New Line expands "A History of Violence" into 1,340 theaters after one week's play on 14 screens. Other expansions this weekend include Sony's Roman Polanski-directed "Oliver Twist" to 779 after it unspooled on five screens last Friday. While none of the new wide releases is expected to get beyond $20 million for the frame, industry observers say "Into the Blue," "Serenity" and the second week of "Flightplan" all have a shot at claiming this weekend's box office crown.

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