Vote the Movies

1. "Shutter Island" ($22.2 million)
2. "Cop Out" ($18.6 million)
3. "The Crazies" ($16.5 million)
4. "Avatar" ($14 million)
5. "Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief" ($9.8 million)

The ghosts of "Shutter Island" continued to haunt the box office this weekend with another first place finish. Having already won the top spot last weekend and on Friday, director Martin Scorsese and star Leonardo DiCaprio's most recent collaboration remained in front of the pack by Sunday's conclusion with $22.2 million. With a domestic gross of $75 million and a foreign intake of $4.6 million after two weeks in theaters, Paramount's latest thriller is a stone's throw away from earning back its $80 million production budget.

New releases "Cop Out" and "The Crazies" battled it out for the weekend's second place slot, having a mere $5,000 difference between them going into Saturday morning. Ultimately, director Kevin Smith's latest comedy, which stars Bruce Willis and Tracey Morgan as a pair of mismatched police officers chasing down a petty thief played by Seann William Scott, bested "The Crazies" by a $2.1 million margin. Although business could have been better, "Cop Out" and "The Crazies" enjoyed successful weekends due to the relatively inexpensive production costs for both films, with Breck Eisner's horror remake already well within reach of its reported $20 million budget.

James Cameron's "Avatar" stayed strong in its eleventh weekend in theaters. With a fourth place finish worth $14 million, the science fiction adventure has officially broken past $700 million in domestic ticket sales. "Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief," meanwhile, took the final spot in the top five, causing Friday's fifth place finisher "Valentine's Day" to drop to sixth place.

Tell us what you think of the box office results in the comments and on Twitter!

1. "Shutter Island" ($6.7 million)
2. "Cop Out" ($5.975 million)
3. "The Crazies" ($5.97 million)
4. "Avatar" ($3.1 million)
5. "Valentine's Day" ($2.9 million)

Friday initiated a relatively quiet start to the weekend as director Martin Scorsese and star Leonardo DiCaprio's "Shutter Island" continued its first place lead at the box office with $6.7 million. With Friday's intake, Paramount's latest thriller now boasts a cumulative total of $59.5 million from domestic ticket sales and an additional $4.6 million at the foreign box office. It's likely that "Shutter Island" will recoup its production budget of $80 million by the weekend's conclusion.

Second and third place was a tight battle between the weekend's new releases, director Kevin Smith's comedy "Cop Out" and Breck Eisner's remake of "The Crazies." The Warner Bros. buddy cop flick ultimately took the silver medal, but just barely outgrossed "The Crazies" by a mere $5,000. The two films could easily switch positions before the weekend is over.

Fourth and fifth place belonged to "Avatar" with $3.1 million and "Valentine's Day" with $2.9 million, with James Cameron's science fiction epic currently on pace to cross the $700 million margin by Sunday's end. "Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief" and "The Wolfman" slipped from the top five to sixth and eighth place respectively.

One reason for Friday's relatively slow business was the massive snowstorm that pummeled the American east coast, discouraging several would be moviegoers from checking out the weekend's new releases. If weather clears up on Saturday and Sunday, expect a bit of a boost in the box office's numbers.

Tell us what you think of the box office results in the comments and on Twitter!

These days, we can’t get enough of the newly-revealed “Nightmare on Elm Street” trailer, giving us our best look yet at Samuel Bayer’s take on Wes Craven’s original formula. With only a few months left before the April 30th unveiling of the film, we took a look back at Craven’s 1984 "Nightmare" and lined up 6 key side-by-side images. Read on for our analysis of what’s better, what’s not, and who might become this movie’s Johnny Depp.

The Jump-Rope Girls
A longtime staple of the “Elm Street” series, there’s something undeniably creepy about three little girls skipping rope and singing a song about a serial killer. Clearly, their existence in the series is an update of “Ring Around the Rosie,” an upbeat kids’ dittie long-rumored to be about the black plague [interestingly enough, Snopes says it’s not]. In both movies, the three girls are dressed in white, and hauntingly indifferent to their own existence as heralds of Freddy’s impending arrival. The new film seems to have done a remarkable job at casting young actresses that look exactly the same – and personally, I’m just glad to know that after all these years, the girls have finally learned to get off the damn lawn. Sing along everybody: 1, 2 Freddy’s coming for you…

The Ol’ Coming-Through-the-Wall Trick
Arguably the most famous image to ever emerge from the “Nightmare” films, Wes Craven’s 1984 original summed up its premise with a great shot that had Freddy Krueger preying upon Nancy (Heather Langenkamp) as she slept; the new film similarly shows Freddy looking down upon the new Nancy, Rooney Mara. The biggest difference is that while the original shot was made by stretching a spandex sheet over a hole in the wall, this one is pure CGI. Considering how the original scene has haunted two generations of horror fans, take a close look and ask yourself: Have special effects really gotten better, or just easier?

Tub-Thumping
In the '80s, Wes Craven conceived a brilliant spin on Hitchcock’s famous “Psycho” shower scene. Once again, we have a woman alone, being hunted at the one moment when she could expect to be safe. We’ve got to give props to the new film, which seems to have done a better job of framing the shot. At the same time, Nancy’s baby blue bath pillow in the original is so endearingly cheesy – but honestly, if you’re trying to avoid falling asleep, why would you ever put your head on its air-cushioned goodness?

Scratching the Surface
Is there a more annoying, unsettling noise than fingernails on a chalkboard? Craven tapped into our primal repulsion by taking it one step further – giving Freddy long, razor-sharp claws and an affinity for running them along things. In another shot that parallels a Krueger trademark, the new film gives us a peek at the boiler room where he was killed – a recurring theme in his nightmares - and has him running his fingers along some pipes. Get ready for a familiar screech, this time in surround sound glory, when you hit the theater April 30th.

Dancing on the Ceiling
In 1984, one of the spookiest “Elm Street” scenes had a teenage boy helplessly reaching out while he saw his still-sleeping girlfriend cut open by invisible knives, dragged up the wall and across the ceiling – and then was accused of the murder. Loosely based on the original, the new “Nightmare” appears to have changed the character’s name from “Tina” to “Kris,” but Katie Cassidy seems certain to meet the same grisly fate. Like the wall scene described above, the original shot was accomplished with visual trickery that had the actress acting on a floor disguised as a ceiling; in the new “Nightmare,” computer work has been used to float Freddy’s hapless victim. Which do you find more effective?

The Next Depp?
Our last photo isn’t so much an homage, as it is a pic to click. When Craven’s original “Nightmare” hit theaters in 1984, few people were aware of Johnny Depp, a 21-year-old actor cast as ill-fated Glen “Morality Sucks!” Lantz. Nowadays, 24-year-old Kellan Lutz has a better head start as Dean in the new “Nightmare.” Does Kellan have what it takes to still be a Hollywood star a quarter-century from now? If any of Freddy’s new victims has the goods to become the next Johnny, our money is on him.

What do you think of the new movie vs. the old movie? Based on the footage we've seen so far, are there any improvements?

"The Crazies" is not a zombie movie. Although it's a remake of an older movie made by zombie godfather George Romero, the crazy freaks that populate Breck Eisner's latest thriller aren't of the undead variety. For some reason, plenty of films – horror or comedy, good or bad – are inexplicably labeled as part of the zombie genre, even when there isn't an undead flesh-eater in sight.

Beyond the jump, we've listed a few flicks that some casual moviegoers might mistakenly describe as an exploration of the walking dead.

28 Days Later: Although a fantastic film on many levels, Danny Boyle's "28 Days Later" isn't part of the zombie canon. The creatures that inhabit this horrific post-apocalyptic world are victims of a rage-inducing plague, one that's transferred by blood, but certainly doesn't cause death then subsequent flesh-hungry resurrection.

Cabin Fever: Violent transformation caused by contagious infection? Check. Spewing blood out of the mouth like a great geyser? Check. Zombies? No. Eli Roth's "Cabin Fever" is another classic example of disease changing man into something aggressive and grotesque, but certainly not into a soldier of the undead.

Death Becomes Her: In "Death Becomes Her," Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn play filthy rich competitors that set out to kill each other – only to realize that they're now immortal due to an eccentric cosmetic they've both used. While repeatedly suffering horrible accidents that would kill most humans, neither character ever truly dies – so even though they miraculously survive endless bouts of violence, they're never resurrected, and can't be classified as zombies.

The Evil Dead II: Sam Raimi's cult classic horror film certainly deals with the dead, but protagonist Ashley J. Williams -- played famously by Bruce Campbell -- is really going up against a whole lot of bad voodoo, not so much an army of zombies. (That's reserved for the next film.) Even the scene where he battles his monstrous lover Linda shouldn't be classified as a zombie attack, as her body has been repossessed by evil spirits.

I Am Legend: The world of "I Am Legend" is certainly bleak and apocalyptic. Will Smith plays one of the last human survivors of a terrible outbreak that wipes out the majority of mankind and turns nearly everyone else into a Darkseeker, a creature with enhanced strength, agility, aggression and animosity towards uninfected human beings. But these creatures are actually a lot closer to vampires considering their aversion to sunlight and relative intelligence, qualities that are irregular by zombie standards.

Tell us which other alleged "zombie movies" aren't really zombie movies at all in the comments and on Twitter!

In Kevin Smith's "Cop Out," Bruce Willis plays a law enforcement official. Again. And I'm not just calling back to John McClane of the "Die Hard" franchise – while that's undoubtedly Willis' most famous cop role of them all, the actor has worn plenty of other badges in his day.

But don't take that as a slight against Willis and his career choices – although he's embodied the same crime-busting occupation a number of times, he almost always manages to deliver a uniquely badass performance with each subsequent role.

After the jump, we've got the rundown on some of the less discussed but no less terrific cops Willis has portrayed over the years.

16 Blocks: Detective Jack Mosley in "16 Blocks" is about as radically different from John McClane as Willis could possibly get. Mosley is an aging NYPD officer with a body that doesn't react the same as it used to. So it's no easy feat when he's forced to get a key witness to a courthouse sixteen blocks away while dodging the full might of a corrupt police task force.

Hostage: Less of a shooter and more of a talker, Willis' Jeff Taley in "Hostage" is an expert negotiator that's never suffered a casualty on his watch – until the one day that a situation goes south and a little boy ends up dead. A year later, he gets his chance at redemption when a hostage situation goes down in his small California town, but even he isn't prepared for all the danger that the job demands.

The Last Boy Scout: In "The Last Boy Scout," Willis plays Joe Hallenbeck, a burned out detective tasked with protecting an ex-football player's (Damon Wayans) girlfriend. When she's gunned down in a drive-by-shooting, Hallenbeck and the former pro athlete put their heads together to track down the murderer – but neither of them are prepared for the level of corruption behind the shooting.

Mercury Rising: Willis displays a more nurturing side of his bad guy bashing persona in "Mercury Rising" as Art Jeffries, an FBI agent tasked with protecting a boy with autism named Simon. Government officials want Simon dead after he cracks a supposedly unbreakable and top secret code called Mercury. With his own agency turning against him and the bodies piling up, Jeffries has to determine who he can trust in order to effectively save himself and the young Simon.

Surrogates: In the Top Shelf comic book adaptation "Surrogates," Willis brings his law enforcement game to the future as FBI agent Tom Greer, a man charged with investigating the murder of two individuals using surrogates – remotely-controlled robotic avatars that have become a societal norm to prevent danger – even though nobody has ever died while using a surrogate before.

What's your favorite Bruce Willis cop role? Tell us in the comments or on Twitter!

If you haven't been keeping up with "Caprica," then you've been missing out. Syfy's "Battlestar Galactica" spin-off prequel series created by Ron Moore and David Eick hasn't quite hit the heights of its predecessor just yet, but it's smart, entertaining television nonetheless.

One of the more familiar faces on the show is Patton Oswalt, who plays popular Caprican talk show host Baxter Sarno. We saw his most extensive contribution to the series yet last week when Daniel and Amanda Graystone appeared on his show in an effort to clear the air after their deceased daughter was implicated in the terrorist bombing of a commuter train. MTV's Rick Marshall caught up to Oswalt earlier this week and he took the opportunity to ask about what's coming up for the talk show host.

"Well I kind of pop up throughout [the season], you know on televisions and stuff. People are clearly watching the show that I host," he said. "And then, I have a bit of involvement later that I’d like to just sort of leave up in the air."

Fair enough. It's good to know at least that we haven't seen the last of Baxter Sarno. But where does the character come from? Oswalt is no stranger to television, but he's never hosted a talk show. Rick also made a point of asking where he draws his inspiration from.

"I tried to... keep other people out of mind because I didn’t want to be aping them. I was like, how would I do a show if I did a show," he explained. "How would I do it, but then, you know, it’s clear [in my performance] the influence... that people like Jon Stewart and David Letterman have had on me. So there’s still that, that’s stuff is still in there. But that wasn’t intentional."

Let's see if we can spot Oswalt again on "Caprica" when it airs tonight. And look for the recap tomorrow here on MTV Movies Blog.

"Cop Out" hits theaters today, the first high-profile example of a buddy cop movie that we've seen in quite some time. What good timing then that we learn of another mixed race law enforcement pairing that's currently in the offing.

The word from Pajiba tipster Hollywood Cog is that Ashton Kutcher and Jamie Foxx will team up to keep their city safe in buddy cop "action-comedy-drama" flick, "Streets on Fire." It seems that nothing is confirmed yet, beyond the fact that Kutcher's Katalyst Films will produce. The "Punk'd" star is eying the lead and Foxx for his co-lead.

The 2009 Black List script -- Black List being a list of top unproduced scripts for the year -- comes from Justin Britt-Gibson, a newcomer whose top Google search item is a Washington Post story on race relations. Perhaps "Streets" won't follow the same old buddy formula of running through the usual stereotypes until the bad guys go boom.

The story, set in Chicago, follows the two cops -- one a by-the-book boy scout who needs some anger management lessons (Foxx), the other an arrogant loose cannon (Kutcher) -- as they take on the city's drug underworld. Their unwanted pairing turns into a more amicable relationship after they realize that the group they're pursuing are supported by crooked police.

It sounds rote, but these things always do on paper. "Streets" will inevitably live or die based on the power of the writing and the performances which bring that writing to life. And before you start complaining that we've seen buddy cop movies many times before, at least take heart in the fact that this isn't a remake.

Do Kutcher and Foxx make a good pairing? What is your favorite buddy cop flick?