As 20th Century Fox Animation’s Horton Hears a Who! continues to charm moviegoers, Paramount and DreamWorks are out to induce screams with The Ruins, a new horror movie featuring CG-animated killer plants and other supernatural phenomena. Also opening in wide release today is 20th Century Fox’s family fantasy flick Nim’s Island, an effects-laden adaptation of the novel by Wendy Orr and Kerry Millard. Despite playing in fewer theaters, Universal’s heavily promoted period football comedy Leatherheads my actually pull off a weekend win with George Clooney captaining the team.
The Ruins is based on the best-selling horror novel by Scott B. Smith, who also penned the screenplay. His brother, Carter Smith, directed the film about a group of young American tourists whose vacation in Mexico turns deadly when they visit an ancient pyramid and discover that the locals have set them up to be sacrificed to a supernatural force. Featuring visual effects by Rising Sun Pictures, Pixel Playground and Frantic Films, the flick is generating some positive buzz, but will have to contend with comparisons to Turistas, a nail biter that came out last year and was largely dismissed as a knock off of Eli Roth’s Hostel.
Nim’s Island stars Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine) as a little girl who lives with her scientist father on a deserted island where her imagination runs wild. When her father turns up missing, she sends and S.O.S. to a reclusive author played by Jodie Foster, asking for help from a fictional adventurer named Alex Rover (Gerard Butler). Adding to the fun are animated critters and other visual effects created by Eden FX, CafeFX, Digital Dimension, Digital Dream and Lola Visual Effects.
