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Well it seems Christopher Nolan had a few tricks up his sleeve this weekend, as The Prestige out-dueled The Departed and Flags of Our Fathers for the top spot at the box office with $14.8 million. Pic, which stars Christan Bale, Hugh Jackman and Scarlett Johansson opened to mixed reviews (our own Ryan Stewart said, "This isn't a movie, it's a game of Concentration" ), though that didn't stop people from shelling out the dough.

However, in the case of Clint Eastwood's film, negative reviews and a cast full of folks with the name, "Who is that again?" might have hurt its numbers, seeing as it failed to knock Martin Scorsese's Irish mob drama (currently in its third week) out of the weekend's second spot ($13.7 million), a place it seems to feel secure in. Eastwood's World War II epic settled for a somewhat disappointing third place with $10.2 million, though it held its own against the openings of his previous two films (Mystic River $10.4 million and Million Dollar Baby $12.3 million). (See, that's what happens when you don't have Tom Hanks in your war movie.) In its fourth week, the animated family comedy Open Season continued to do damage, securing the weekend's fourth spot with $8 million, bringing its total gross thus far to $69.6 million. Unfortunately, last week's number one flick The Grudge 2 ($7.7 million) took a scary dive at the box office and fell into a tie with Flicka (7.7 million) to round out the top five.

Full numbers after the jump.

With only two feature films (The Grudge and The Grudge 2) under his belt (both of which are adaptations of someone else's screenplay), writer Stephen Susco is about the make a leap into the director's chair. Hey, anything to keep the guy's mind off of The Grudge 3 is just fine by me.

Mr. Susco will be writing and directing a film called White for the folks at Rogue, aka Focus, aka Universal Pictures. Based on the novella by Tim Lebbon, White is (according to Variety) "an apocalyptic tale centering on a band of people trapped in a blizzard and systematically picked off by mysterious phantoms." So ... no freaky Asian kids who hang around in attics? Cool.

Also on Susco's plate are the indie horror Zero Dark Thirty and a new spec script he just unloaded called Sanctuary.

Welcome to yet another edition of Cinematical's podcast, Coming Distractions. As ever, I'm your host, Cinematical editor-in-chief James Rocchi, and this week's co-host is Cinematical's Scott Weinberg. This week, we're talking about everything from Google's acquisition of YouTube to the upcoming Oscar season -- as well as DVD picks and Pans, how it feels to be out of the Movie stream for a week while traveling and Todd Fields' Little Children. You can download the whole podcast right here, and, as ever, let us know what you'd like more of -- or anything you think we should be talking about!

(Music: "Overdose," Dumb)

Well, it looks like a Friday the 13th in the middle of October put folks in the mood for a good scare, as The Grudge 2 (which our own Jeffrey M. Anderson felt was "frigid and lifeless") knocked Martin Scorsese out of the top spot at the box office this weekend. Thanks, in part, to Sony's decision not to screen the sequel for critics beforehand, audiences shelled out $22 million and helped provide the studio with their 12th number one film this year. However, those numbers came nowhere near the $39 million The Grudge took home in its opening weekend back in 2004. Let's see if the late critical lashing hurts the film as it enters its second week.

Speaking of films in their second week, The Departed put up a good fight but ultimately failed to repeat its number one performance of last week, settling for a second place finish and $18.7 million. We're not sure whether he's Man of the Year, but we definitely know he's not Man of the Week, as Robin Williams' new political comedy opened in third place with $12.5 million. Hmm, that can't be -- were all the ballots counted? The animated comedy Open Season continued to do well in its fourth week, dropping one spot to fourth and scoring $11 million. Rounding out the top five was last week's number two film, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning ($7.75 million). Seems the only thing scary about that flick is its 58% drop from week one to week two.

Full numbers after the jump.

What makes The Grudge 2 so bad? It goes without saying that it's a sequel, a remake and a remake of a sequel, which -- as far as Hollywood is concerned -- makes it a safe bet three times over. Probably less obvious is that the film continues an almost 30-year tradition of trying to re-create the success of John Carpenter's groundbreaking Halloween (1978), a pared-down scare flick in which the only thing that happens is a supernatural being hunting down and killing innocent characters.

But there's something else going on here. Horror movies are the ultimate in "body" cinema, or cinema that we experience physically, rather than mentally or spiritually. Because of this, nudity and sex have always gone hand-in-hand with the genre -- even before nudity could be shown. Look at Cat People (1942), in which the heroine turns into a murderous feline when sexually aroused, or the shower scene in Psycho (1960), the ultimate in vulnerability.

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Okay, so how many times today has someone said to you, "Hey, be careful out there -- it's Friday the 13th ya know?" Yeah, we know. And there's nothing better than a Friday the 13th only a couple weeks before Halloween. It feels right. The cold, crisp October air (well, for those of you in places where the seasons actually change) sets a nice, spooky mood for what has to be one of my favorite days of the year, if only because it's easy and fun to freak people out. In the spirit of Friday the 13th, here are a few things you film freaks can do to celebrate the day:

• First, why don't you start by reading up on the history of Friday the 13th? No, not the movie -- the actual day. For example, some feel the original Friday the 13th (or Black Friday) was when hundreds of Knights Templar were simultaneously arrested on Friday October 13, 1307. Oh, and cherish the fact that today's Friday the 13th is taking place in the month of October, because this will not happen again until 2028 2017. Our next Friday the 13th will come in April of next year.
• Okay, now that you're done with that, you can finally go and check out the history behind the movie version of Friday the 13th. Do you know what year Jason Voorhees was born? How about the identity of his first victim? Does Camp Crystal Lake have a nickname? If so, what is it?
• By now, you're probably dying to watch Friday the 13th, or one of its many sequels. Friday the 13th: The Website lists a few theater locations throughout the country that are screening various parts of the classic horror franchise tonight. Too superstitious to leave the house? Bravo will be airing the original Friday the 13th tonight at 8pm and midnight, followed by Friday the 13th, Part VII: The New Blood.
• For those of you not in the Jason Voorhees kind of mood, The Grudge 2 (which opens in theaters today) should enable you to get your spook on.
• Sarah Michelle Gellar doesn't do it for ya, huh? Well, in anticipation of Saw III (slicing its way into a theater near you on October 27), why don't you pick up parts 1 and 2 and have yourself a little Saw marathon. Afterwards, make sure to check out the third installment's final trailer and that much-talked about movie poster featuring actor Tobin Bell's blood.
• And finally, all these horror movies probably have you itching to make your own. First, you must watch American Movie. Afterward, it might be a good idea to read, "How to Make a Horror Movie That Doesn't Suck."

Am I leaving anything out? How will you be celebrating Friday the 13th?

In an ultimate cage fighting match between Sarah Michelle Gellar and Martin Scorsese, my money is on Sarah Michelle Gellar. After all, she did kick some serious butt as Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Plus, as much as I love Scorsese and his movies (let's face it, he's a great director), he is an old man so I'm pretty sure she could take him in a fair fight. Or maybe even in a less-than-fair fight. She's just that good.

Apparently, that same kind of butt-kicking logic can be applied to Sarah Michelle Gellar's newest film release, a sequel to 2004's The Grudge and cleverly named The Grudge 2, when it goes up against Scorsese's current film and box office champ, The Departed. Gellar's film is opening on Friday the 13th (that's today kids -- prepare to be scared) and according to the prognosticators at Daily Variety, is posed to knock Scorsese's pic out of the top spot on the box office charts.

What are their reasons for this prediction? Sadly, its not because Gellar could beat the crap out of Scorsese, although it would be funny if it was. No, for some reason they think it has something more to do with horror films opening well during Halloween. Or, the fact that the first Grudge's opening weekend box office haul was an impressive $39.1 million -- the biggest ever for a horror film.

They also think Grudge 2 will take the top spot because it has little competition from other horror films this weekend except for Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning. Plus, Grudge 2 is rated PG-13 and can attract that all-important teen audience, while Texas Chainsaw is rated R so only adults over 18 can (theoretically) see it. Yet another reason, according to Variety, that The Grudge 2 is simply destined to be number one.

So Mr. Scorsese, if you want to hang onto the top spot at the box office this weekend, you better make a call to some friends of ours, gather your goodfellas and prepare to go to the mattresses. If you don't, cute little Sarah Michele Gellar may just kick your butt.

If we've learned anything from the collected works of master thespianette Sarah Michelle Gellar, it's this: Gellar + Remake = Cinematic Bliss. Between her remakes and her horror films, Ms. Gellar has graced the universe with entertainments as dazzling as I Know What You Did Last Summer, Scream 2, Scooby-Doo, Scooby-Doo 2, The Grudge and the impending Grudge 2. (Hell, even Buffy was a remake, if you want to be anal about it.) She also has The Return coming soon, a project that looks as generic as its title.

Convinced she still has a whole lot left to offer the expansive genre of Horror/Remake, Ms. Gellar has signed on to star in Addicted, a "psychological thriller" (which nowadays means "a PG-13 horror film") that's based on a 2002 Korean film called Jungdok. (Screenplay by the man who penned Queen of the Damned.) The plot centers on a woman whose husband and brother-in-law go comatose, but when the latter guy wakes up ... he's convinced that HE is her husband! Dun-dun-dunnnnnnnn!

Not even remotely surprising is that fact that Addicted will come from Vertigo Entertainment, the outfit that jammed American actors and English dialogue in Grudge, Grudge 2, Ring and Ring 2. Because the production house would probably implode from the effort expended on writing an original screenplay. (Don't believe me? Vertigo Remake Inc. also did Dark Water, The Lake House and The Departed, plus they're also working on the remakes of The Eye, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Oldboy, Ikiru, The Entity and Creepshow.)

Not a whole lot of juicy new happenings have fallen out of the horror machine recently, so (since I'm bored and they pay me to blog) I thought I'd just share a couple of small-sized exclusives from the Bloody-Disgusting boys.

1. Brace yourselves: Sony's slapping together another direct-to-video semi-sequel. This time it's The Craft that gets the unwanted little sister. Yep, that flick about teenage witches who do very little with their evil powers besides torture boys, color their hair and fight with one another. No word yet on whether Fairuza Balk will be returning to play "that creepy witch girl who lives down the street," but I'm guessing she might.

2. More word from Sonyville's Horror Department: Apparently there's all sorts of problems with the mildly-anticipated The Grudge 2, and also big buckets of reshoots being done on The Pang Brothers' The Messengers as well. (Y'know, between Ghost House (The Grudge, Boogeyman) and Dark Castle (Gothika, House of Wax) I don't think they've put together one completely solid horror movie yet. What gives?)

3. Speaking of Dark Castle movies that probably aren't any good, WB rescheduled The Reaping's release for next March. Oh, and (as mentioned earlier) both Lucky McKee's The Woods and John Gulager's Feast have earned DVD dates, cover art and copious supplemental doo-hickeys.

Thanks to BD.com and Dread Central for the terrifiying tidbits.