This week:

Ben Affleck is the man about Town; Shawn Levy is the Deadliest Warrior;  Steven Soderbergh's Contagion spreads; Sony Pictures is Insidious; Ron Perlman gets ready to Drive; Al Capone goes to Cicero; Harrelson, Foster, Cube, Buscemi, Heche, Nixon, Weaver and Wright visit Rampart; and more.

Box Office

Ben Affleck is back! The Oscar-winning star has topped the box office with The Town. The film, which he directed, starred, and co-wrote, brought in an estimated $23.6 million over the weekend. Affleck has had quite a decade, after his breakout hit Good Will Hunting alongside pal Matt Damon, he went on to star in a string of hits (and misses), headlining quite a few big budget action films. However, his relationship with Jennifer Lopez caused a tabloid frenzy, leading to over-exposure in the media - leading Affleck to shun the limelight in favor of supporting roles in smaller pictures. He made his directorial debut with the excellent Gone Baby Gone and while that film didn’t set the box office on fire, it did show his skill behind the camera. The Town (read our review) is his return to headlining a major studio film (as well as directing) and it seems that the general public have forgiven him for any cinematic wrong doings – let's hope he stays on top!

The Town debuts at number one

Teen film Easy A was in second place after bagging just over $18 million on its debut. Meanwhile the M.Night Shyamalan produced, Devil (read our review) had to settle for third place with a disappointing $12.7 million gross. The fright film wasn’t directed by the Sixth Sense director, but put out under his Night Chronicles shingle. Future prospects aren't looking good, since most horror films fall hard on their second week.

Last weekend’s champion Resident Evil: Afterlife dropped to fourth place after bringing in another $10 million. The total for the film now stands at $44 million, showing that there’s life left in this zombie franchise.

Animated film Alpha and Omega entered the top ten in the fifth position after bagging $9 million. The surprise hit Takers brought in another $3 million for a $52 million total.

George Clooney’s The American brought in $2.8 million, upping its cume to a smidgen under $33 million.

The Other Guys raised its total to $115 million, after grossing another $2 million. Leggy Inception was ninth after stealing just under $2 million from moviegoers' wallets. The Leonardo DiCaprio film has now banked $285 million.

Julia Roberts’ Eat Pray Love rounded out the top ten after bringing in $1.7 million. The chick flick has a total of $77 million and should finish its run with over $80 million.

Movie News

1. Paramount Pictures and Spike TV are set to bring Deadliest Warrior to the big screen.

deadliest warrior targets the big screen

Shawn Levy and Dan Levine are set to produce, with the possibility that Levy might direct the film.

The director is currently bossing Hugh Jackman around on the set of Real Steel.

Source: Deadline

2. Steven Soderbergh just keeps adding names to the cast-list of his forthcoming virus thriller Contagion. Not content with his already star-filled cast which includes: Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law and Laurence Fishaburne – the director has now snagged Demetri Martin, Jennifer Ehle, Bryan Cranston and 70s icon Elliott Gould for his Traffic-esqe feature.

Contagion is set to open on October 21, 2011

Source: The Playlist

3. Sony Pictures has picked up the North American distribution rights to James Wan’s Insidious.

The horror film was written by Leigh Whannell who previously worked with Wan on the Saw movies.

Insidious stars Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne.

Source: Deadline

4. B-movie staple Ron Perlman is set to join Ryan Gosling, Christina Hendricks, and Carey Mulligan in Drive. The film sees Gosling star as a stuntman who moonlights as a getaway driver for criminals. However, when a job goes horribly wrong Gosling’s character has to Drive.

I can only imagine that Perlman will play some sort of badass.

Source: Screen Daily

5. Warner Bros. is set to bring the Al Capone story to the big screen in Cicero.

cicero

According to Variety:

"Cicero details Capone's rise from the slums of Brooklyn to the head of the criminal underworld in Chicago during Prohibition, when his gang operated casinos and speakeasies throughout the city. In order to operate outside Chicago city limits, the gangster set up headquarters in suburban Cicero, Ill., where he famously took over the city government in 1924.”

Walon Green wrote the screenplay which is said to be similar in tone to the gangster films that Warner Bros. released in their thirties heyday.

Source: Variety

6. Oren Moverman is set to direct a very impressive cast in Rampart. The film which was written by master crime novelist James Ellroy will star Woody Harrelson, Ben Foster, Ice Cube, Steve Buscemi, Anne Heche, Cynthia Nixon, Sigourney Weaver, and Robin Wright.

Rampart is set against the background of the real-life scandal involving the LAPD anti-gang squad, in which over 70 officers were implicated.”

Source: The Play List

Also:

That’s it for now. See you at the movies.