After a morning packed with Christmas presents, consider this Movie News Cheat Sheet a bit of an after dinner drink to the main meal. Okay, not every item on this week’s list will bring you comfort and joy, but the good most certainly outweighs the not so good. Not a fan of 3D? It pains me to report that both The Avengers and Star Trek 2 will go under the post conversion knife. On the bright and unrelated side, the big screen adaptation of Ender’s Game just snagged a slew of new cast members including Harrison Ford and Abigail Breslin. In other casting news, Lovelace picked up four and might…

Title: New Year’s Eve Director: Garry Marshall Starring: Jessica Biel, Jon Bon Jovi, Abigail Breslin, Josh Duhamel, Zac Efron, Katherine Heigel, Seth Meyers and Michelle Pfeiffer People often think their lives are going in one direction, and don’t realize the impact someone they don’t know, or haven’t recently connected with in a long time, can have on them. But once they do make that connection with a stranger, they start to question their choices and what they can do to improve themselves. The new ensemble comedy ‘New Year’s Eve’ is an amusing reminder of the potential everyone has when they start to reflect on their choices. The multiple story-lines featured…

Abigail Breslin earned $65,000 for four hours’ worth of work on the upcoming animated film ‘Zambezia,’ TMZ is reporting. According to the payment agreement she signed with the film’s producers, the 15-year-old actress was paid an hourly rate of $16,250. The payment was for voicing the bird Zoe in a one four-hour recording session. The high payment comes after Breslin received another massive payment for a short period of work. For this week’s new romantic comedy ensemble film, ‘New Year’s Eve,’ she signed a one-week contract in May 2011 for $275,000. In the movie, she plays Hailee, the daughter of Sarah Jessica Parker’s character, Kim. Written by: Karen Benardello

Title: Janie Jones Director: David M. Rosenthal Starring: Abigail Breslin, Alessandro Nivola, Elisabeth Shue, Peter Stormare, Joel David Moore, Frances Fisher, Brittany Snow, Frank Whaley If Abigail Breslin stars in a film these days, it’s more than likely that she is going to be playing someone that acts considerably older than her age. Since her breakout Oscar-nominated turn in Little Miss Sunshine, Breslin has made precociousness her specialty, presenting herself as equal in maturity to the adults in films as diverse in tone and genre as Definitely, Maybe and Zombieland. Breslin herself is only fifteen, and that fact only makes it slightly easier to remember that her characters are supposed…

Title: Janie Jones Directed By: David M. Rosenthal Written By: David M. Rosenthal Cast: Abigail Breslin, Alessandro Nivola, Elisabeth Shue Screened at: Broadway, NYC, 10/13/11 Opens: October 28, 2011 At first glance, “Janie Jones” looks like the perfect picture for the Lifetime series, all about sweetness and light with little cynicism. However, stay with it and you’ll discover that the movie deserves far more credit than you’d think given two superb performances. This is not say that there’s anything in “Janie Jones” that’s unpredictable or that takes us away from the typical trajectory of good news, bad news, good news. Besides, there’s an array of fourteen original songs which are…

“There’s going to be more celebrities here than rehab,” says Katherine Heigl’s cahracter in the newly-released “New Year’s Eve” trailer. While the character was talking about people being in Times Square for New Year’s Eve, that statement could have applied to the movie itself. Just like its predecessor “Valentine’s Day,” it seems like everyone who’s alive in Hollywood is in this movie. The trailer, which is embedded below, shows a lot but really nothing at all except for fluffy, happy, easy-going rom-com movie tidbits. Basically, the story is the same as “Valentine’s Day,” except that Ashton Kutcher and Jessica Biel are playing two different characters (I assume Hector Elizondo, who…

After fans of the successful Suzanne Collins novel The Hunger Games eagerly awaiting for months to see who director Gary Ross is going to cast in the lead role of Katniss in the highly anticipated film adaptation, he is now close to signing Jennifer Lawrence, Collider.com is reporting. It’s widely believed that the casting of Katniss in the film, which is set to hit theaters on March 23, 2012, will determine how successful the movie will be. Ross has said that he’s been looking for an actress who can portray Katniss’ strength, assuredness, defiance and compassion. The director and Lionsgate, the studio that will distribute ‘The Hunger Games,’ have presumably already…

Tribeca Films has confirmed via a press release that it has picked up the U.S. rights to Unified Pictures’ new film, ‘Janie Jones,’ and will release it theatrically, as well as video-on-demand, during the summer of 2011. The movie, which is being described as a rock ‘n’ roll road trip drama, tells the story of a father and daughter who find each other through music. ‘Janie Jones’ stars Abigail Breslin, Alessandro Nivola, Elisabeth Shue and Brittany Snow. The life experiences of David M. Rosenthal, who wrote and directed the film, inspired the story for ‘Janie Jones.’ The movie, which garnered praise after premiering last year at the Toronto International Film…

Variety reports that actors Maria Bello, Abigail Breslin and Samuel L. Jackson have signed on for indie drama Rape: A Love Story. Domestic Disturbance director Harold Becker will helm with Michael Mendelsohn producing and financing through his Patriot Pictures banner. Rape: A Love Story is based on a 2003 Joyce Carol Oates novella that centers on a mother (Bello) who is recovering from a brutal gang rape and is stalked by the perpetrators when a sympathetic cop (Jackson) comes to her rescue. Breslin will play the woman’s 12-year-old daughter who witnesses the attack. John Mankiewicz, a writer and co-executive producer for hit TV drama “House M.D.”, adapted the screenplay. Bello,…

Check out some recent stills from the upcoming fantasy film “Nim’s Island” by directors Jennifer Flackett and Mark Levin starring Gerard Butler, Jodie Foster and Abigail Breslin. Synopsis: Anything can happen on Nim’s Island, a magical place ruled by a young girl’s imagination. It is an existence that mirrors that of her favorite literary character, Alex Rover – the world’s greatest adventurer. But Alexandra, the author of the Rover books, leads a reclusive life in the big city. When Nim’s father goes missing from their island, a twist of fate brings her together with Alexandra. Now they must draw courage from their fictional hero, Alex Rover, and find strength in…