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Happy holiday film season: Hollywood's ready to roll 'em

Starting with a new take on 'A Christmas Carol,' Hollywood's ready to roll 'em

By David Germain Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — Hollywood loves money. So does Ebenezer Scrooge. So what better way to launch the holiday season than putting the old money- grubber at the head of the line to separate moviegoers from their cash?

The latest version of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, opening Friday, features Jim Carrey as Scrooge. Coming on Ebenezer's coattails will be everything from vampire romance (The Twilight Saga: New Moon) and end-of-the-world stories (2012, The Road) to epic science fiction (Avatar) and a new incarnation of the world's greatest detective (Sherlock Holmes).

Disney's 3-D A Christmas Carol is the latest from Oscar-winning director Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump), who presents Dickens' London with the same performance-capture technology he used on The Polar Express and Beowulf.

Carrey and co-stars Gary Oldman, Robin Wright Penn, Colin Firth and Bob Hoskins worked on a bare soundstage, their bodies covered with sensors so digital cameras could record their performances in 360 degrees. Sets, costumes and other details were filled in later by computer animation.

The process allowed actors to take on multiple roles, with Carrey playing Scrooge and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come.

While Zemeckis loves Alastair Sim's 1951 A Christmas Carol, he said previous adaptations never captured the full impact of Dickens' surreal images. As he made Beowulf, Zemeckis realized he now had the tools to bring A Christmas Carol to the screen the way he imagined it on the page.

"It was the idea of being able to actually re-create London and not have any limitations whatsoever. Anything that existed at the time we could present," Zemeckis said. "Then the idea that Jim could play Scrooge in all the different ages, and the ghosts, they could be his alter-ego, and he could play those. Everything just fell into place."

HOLIDAY MOVIES

Hollywood has dozens of other films coming before year's end. Here's the lowdown on some. Opening dates are subject to change.

More potential blockbusters

Sherlock Holmes: Robert Downey Jr. and director Guy Ritchie re-create old London while reinventing Arthur Conan Doyle's brainy, monkish detective as an action hero — and even a bit of a lover. Downey's Holmes fights, trades odd-couple banter with best buddy and roommate Watson (Jude Law), and shares romantic moments with the only woman (Rachel McAdams) who ever got the better of him. (Dec. 25.)

The Twilight Saga: New Moon: The second installment of author Stephenie Meyer's love story between schoolgirl Bella (Kristen Stewart) and her vampire boy toy, Edward (Robert Pattinson), is a lesson in teen heartache as Edward dumps Bella, realizing the danger he represents to his human girlfriend. Brooding Bella finds solace with a school chum (Taylor Lautner) and his werewolf gang, and she eventually winds up pulling Edward out of a jam. (Nov. 20.)

Avatar: Also in the fantasy realm, James Cameron is back with his first fictional film since 1997's Titanic. Avatar also marks Cameron's return to his science fiction roots and a reunion with Aliens star Sigourney Weaver, who joins Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana among the cast of the filmmaker's 3-D epic about humans taking on the form of extraterrestrials as they explore a distant world. (Dec. 18.)

HUSBANDS, WIVES AND LOVERS

Nine: Chicago director Rob Marshall orchestrates his latest musical with Nine, based on the Broadway adaptation of Federico Fellini's 81/2. It's the story of a filmmaker (Daniel Day-Lewis) and his many, many women: his wife (Marion Cotillard), his mistress (Penélope Cruz), his mom (Sophia Loren), his film star (Nicole Kidman), his costume designer (Judi Dench), a lover from his youth (Stacy Ferguson, aka Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas), and a fashion journalist (Kate Hudson). (Dec. 18.)

Did You Hear About the Morgans? A Manhattan couple (Sarah Jessica Parker and Hugh Grant) in a rocky marriage find new twists in their relationship after they see a murder and are hustled into witness protection. (Dec. 11.)