DAN’S MOVIE DIGEST 92

‘CBBC Newsround’ spoke with Harry Potter producer David Heyman, who revealedthat actor Brendan Gleeson will play Defense Against The Dark Arts TeacherMad-Eye Moody in the next movie.

Gleeson previously co-starred with Daniel Radcliffe in 2001’s The Tailor ofPanama and can currently be seen in Troy as King Menelaus.

Also cast is Madame Maxime, headmistress of French wizardry schoolBeauxbatons, will be played by sitcom actress Frances de la Tour (right) – mostfamous for her role as Miss Jones in classic BBC sitcom Rising Damp.

HIS DARK MATERIALSDirector Chris Weitz (About A Boy) is in talks to direct His Dark Materials,the first instalment of Philip Pullman’s children’s fantasy book, says ‘TheHollywood Reporter’.

The written trilogy – The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife and The AmberSpyglass – revolves around two children who live in parallel worldssurrounded by a cast of shape-shifting creatures. Described as darker intone than the Harry Potter books, the series tackles themes of childhood,innocence and sin, and combines magic, science and theology.

MASTER OF SPACE AND TIME’Variety’ reports that French director Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine OfThe Spotless Mind) is directing an adaptation of the sci-fi thriller MasterOf Space And Time, by Rudy Rucker, about two mad scientists who discover howto control reality.

Jack Black (School Of Rock) is attached to star in the film.

MEET THE FOCKERS’USA Today’ have revealed the first official photograph of the Meet TheParents sequel starring Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman andBarbra Streisand. (see right)

The sequel has De Niro’s family, the Byrneses, meeting Stiller’s family, thetitular Fockers. Director Jay Roach (Austin Powers) revealed that Streisandherself created a great scene: “Dustin is giving a toast, and Barbra startsto sip. He tells her, ‘You can’t drink yet,’ so she spits out the drink, icecube and all, into her glass and says, ‘Oh, sorry.’ It was a little bit ofcontrolled chaos but in the most delicious way.”

THE POLAR EXPRESS’USA Today’ spoke with director Robert Zemeckis (Back To The Future) abouthis latest movie The Polar Express, starring Tom Hanks.

The movie, which arrives in U.S cinemas on 19 November, showcases a newstyle of special-effect, described by Zemeckis as like an oil painting.

Zemeckis: “I wanted it to look like a movie in an oil painting, then haveall the warmth, immediacy and subtleties of a human performance.”

All figures are weekend box-office gross.

• 1. Shrek 2 ($108m)
• 2. Troy ($23.9m)
• 3. Van Helsing ($10.6m)
• 4. Mean Girls ($6.9m)
• 5. Man on Fire ($3.6m)
• 6. Breakin’ All the Rules ($2.8m)
• 7. 13 Going On 30 ($2.5m)
• 8. New York Minute ($1.3m)
• 9. Kill Bill Vol.2 ($1.0m)
• 10. Super Size Me ($0.9m)

UK TOP 10 (CINEMA)

• 1. Troy (£6.01m)
• 2. Van Helsing (£1.55m)
• 3. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (£0.34m)
• 4. Kill Bill Vol.2 (£0.23m)
• 5. La Mala educacion (£0.23m)
• 6. Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (£0.142m)
• 7. Laws of Attraction (£0.140m)
• 8. The Football Factory (£0.13m)
• 9. 50 First Dates (£0.11m)
• 10. Secret Window (£0.10m)

All dates are U.K release dates, and are subject to change.