• It's a jolly holiday for Hollywood! Box office for the three-day weekend was at $190 million, up 5% from last year. Fox got what it wished for -- a hit. Marley and Me landed at number one.
• When will writers learn: You can't lie to Oprah! The Holocaust memoir Angel at the Fence has been canceled because the author admitted the love story was really fiction at the fence. A film adaptation was in development under the name Flower of the Fence.
• AFI has released its picks for the year's "Moments of Significance." Slumdog Millionaire was one because it "stands as a monument to the possibilities of cross-cultural storytelling." The organization also noted the downturn for indie filmmakers, with specialty divisions such as Paramount Vantage, New Line, Warner Independent and Picturehouse disappearing.
• The Transformers sequel will be kicking alien robot butt thanks to the United States military. "As far as I know, this is the biggest joint military operation movie ever made, in terms of Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines," the film's Army liaison, Lt. Col. Gregory Bishop, told USA Today. Watch out Decepticons!
• If you're a fan of the femme fatal, then you're likely a fan of Ann Savage, the star of the 1940's pulp-fiction crime story Detour. The 87-year-old actress died in her sleep at a nursing home on Christmas Day.
• Empire has a picture from Pixar's latest creation: Meet septuagenarian Carl Fredricksen, star of UP. He's not as cute as Wall-E, but grumpy old men have a way of endearing themselves on screen.
• Philadelphia police say James Joseph Cialella, enraged by a noisy family that disrupted his viewing of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button on Christmas night, shot the father in the arm. Which, in turn, likely disrupted the screening for all.
• Actor Will Arnett has the scoop on the Arrested Development movie. "I'm sure I'm not speaking out of turn when I say Christmas Day '09, 12:01 a.m. is the first show," he told EW. "It's going to be directed by Obama's Secretary of the Treasury... Part of the Wall Street bailout is for our budget." He might be joking.
