Robert Zemeckis is changing his focus for his next animated project.

After taking on the holidays for two of his first three animated films — The Polar Express and A Christmas Carol (the other being a classic of a different sort — Beowulf) — Zemeckis is turning to a different kind of classic, the music of the Beatles, and one of their best known songs and films.

Zemeckis is rebooting Yellow Submarine, the animated film which introduced the world to the Blue Meanies. And it’ll be in 3-D!

According to Paste magazine’s Web site, in Zemeckis’ version, Cary Elwes (The Princess Bride) will give voice to George Harrison. Adam Campbell will play Ringo Starr, Dean Lennox Kelly will take on John Lennon, and Paul McCartney will be played by the estimable Peter Serafinowicz.
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James Cameron launched his science-fiction epic “Avatar” into a safe orbit as the costly film soared to No. 1 with $73 million domestically and $159.2 million overseas, for a $232.2 million worldwide total.

With that big a start, distributor 20th Century Fox was quick to proclaim it made a good investment with the estimated $400 million spent to make and market the film, which is Cameron’s first narrative feature since 1997′s “Titanic,” the king of modern blockbusters.

“Absolutely. No question,” said Chris Aronson, head of distribution for the studio, which reported stellar reaction in exit polls from audiences after seeing “Avatar.” ”The word of mouth is something that I don’t know I’ve ever seen in this business before.”

“Avatar” was a test case for the future of digital 3-D projection, which until now has been a hit with audiences mainly on animated family films.

The film fell short of the record for December debuts of $77.2 million set two years ago by Will Smith’s “I Am Legend.” But it did break the record for a film opening in 3-D, previously held by last summer’s “Up” with $68.1 million.

“What they spent on this movie was totally justified, and they’re going to more than earn it back,” said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com.

“Avatar” stars Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana in a love story amid human-alien conflict on a distant moon in the 22nd century.

Storms on the East Coast kept many people at home, cutting into weekend movie business.

“The weather really, really hurt,” said Rory Bruer, head of distribution at Sony, whose comedy “Did You Hear About the Morgans?”, opened at a weak No. 4 with $7 million. Sony had expected the movie to debut at about $8 million.

The movie stars Sarah Jessica Parker and Hugh Grant as a couple whose crumbling marriage gets a fresh jolt after they see a murder and are sent into witness protection.

The overall box office shot up on the strength of “Avatar.” Hollywood’s domestic revenues came in at $134 million, up 51.5 percent from the same weekend last year, when “Yes Man” opened at No. 1 with $18.3 million, according to Hollywood.com.

The previous weekend’s No. 1 movie, Disney’s animated musical “The Princess and the Frog,” slipped to second place with $12.2 million, raising its total to $44.8 million.

Paramount’s recession story “Up in the Air,” which led last Tuesday’s Golden Globes announcement with six nominations, broke into the top 10 as it widened to more theaters ahead of its nationwide expansion Wednesday.

“Up in the Air” came in at No. 8 with $3.1 million. The film stars George Clooney as a man addicted to the frequent-flyer life as he travels the country firing people at downsizing companies.

Two music-themed films had strong starts in limited release as they position themselves for Academy Awards attention. The Weinstein Co. musical “Nine” opened big with $246,933 in four theaters, for an average of $61,733 a cinema, compared to an average of $21,147 in 3,452 theaters for “Avatar.”

Based on the stage musical that was inspired by Federico Fellini’s film masterpiece “8 1/2,” ”Nine” has an all-star cast that includes Daniel Day-Lewis, Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz and Kate Hudson. “Nine” goes into nationwide release Christmas Day.

Fox Searchlight’s “Crazy Heart,” starring Jeff Bridges as a boozy country singer trying to turn his life around, pulled in $84,204 at four theaters in New York City and Los Angeles, averaging $21,051 a cinema. The film expands to four more markets on Christmas Day.

No one expects “Avatar” to be another “Titanic,” which started with a modest $28.6 million opening weekend domestically but held on at No. 1 for months. The film finished with a record $600 million domestically and $1.8 billion worldwide.

Before “Avatar” opened, Cameron had said the movie might not have a “slam-dunk opening weekend” but that its profitability hinged on how well it held up in subsequent weekends.

Unlike other Hollywood franchises, which usually are based on comic books, TV shows, toys or other existing stories and ideas, “Avatar” was an original tale whose concept was not pre-sold to audiences.

Much of the action takes place among 10-foot-tall, blue-skinned aliens created by digital cameras that captured actors’ performances, with computer animation adding the details of the characters, along with the exotic backgrounds and other effects.

Some reviewers found the story and characters two-dimensional, but critics generally were wowed by the dazzling images Cameron created.

“I think it is the must-see film event of recent memory,” Fox executive Aronson said. “I do believe it is a game-changing movie. It will change the way people think about movies, the way they see movies, what they want to see in movies.”

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. “Avatar,” $73 million.

2. “The Princess and the Frog,” $12.2 million.

3. “The Blind Side,” $10 million.

4. “Did You Hear About the Morgans?”, $7 million.

5. “The Twilight Saga” New Moon,” $4.4 million.

6. “Invictus,” $4.2 million.

7. “Disney’s a Christmas Carol,” $3.4 million.

8. “Up in the Air,” $3.1 million.

9. “Brothers,” $2.6 million.

10. “Old Dogs,” $2.3 million.

Disney’s “The Princess and The Frog” has made a lot of news for its groundbreaking animated princess, Tiana, their first of African decent. But there’s a lot of tradition here as well, and a lot that will remind moviegoers, even the little ones, of past fantastical films. There’s the rich, old-school hand drawn animation, and story and visual elements that recall the self-reliant spunk of “Beauty And The Beast”‘s Belle, the fast-talking side characters similar, say, to “Aladdin”‘s Genie or “The Lion King”‘s Timon, and the shadowy Hell beasts that dragged Tony Goldwyn’s evil villain into the dark ominous netherworld in “Ghost.”

We’ll get to that later.

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Related: Local fans weigh in on Jackson film.

Photos: Premieres around the world.

The best thing about Michael Jackson’s “This Is It” is how its breathlessly exciting rehearsal footage makes you anticipate the larger-than-life series of shows to follow.

And the worst thing about Michael Jackson’s “This Is It” is that it makes you anticipate the series of shows to follow…because there aren’t ever going to be any shows.

The movie, which shares the name of the 50-concert series in London that the late King Of Pop had planned for last summer, is part behind-the-scenes glimpse, part fan “Thank You” and part genuine revelation, because the Michael Jackson seen putting various dancers, musicians and personnel through their paces often bears little resemblance to the one we thought he knew. This Michael is more grown-up, more masculine, deeper of voice, professional but perfectionist and generally more…normal than the whispering, ashen-faced Peter Pan of tabloid and stand-up comedian lore.

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The disc: Every Little Step

The details: If Michael Bennett had thought of it, he might have made a documentary about the making of A Chorus Line. But as it happened, he was too busy mounting his show. It was left to the producers of the 2007 revival to make a documentary, and Every Little Step (Sony) is never less than compelling, despite its plot of examining the lives of dancers competing for parts in a show that examines the lives of dancers. Read the full story

A quick update – In today’s paper we noted that Kriyss Grant, who was to have been one of Michael Jackson’s backup dancers for his ‘This Is It” shows, was scheduled to perform at the opening night of the “This Is It” concert movie at CityPlace at 11:45 p.m. Tuesday, as well as over the coming weekend.

Unfortunately for us, but very fortunately for Kriyss and the folks in Los Angeles, he will be headed there to perform at the movie’s premiere there. But he will be back for the weekend performances on Friday and Saturday night.

Vanessa Hudgens

The key difference: “Bandslam,” due in theaters in August, is being released by the new studio behind “Twilight,” well outside the tween hit-making machine that made her a star. Now 20, the actress-singer says she’s ready for roles that mark a departure from her shy and geeky Gabriella Montez character — and from Disney.

“It definitely is a love-hate thing, you know,” Hudgens said in a recent interview. “Disney is incredible. And ‘High School Musical’ did wonders and I could not be more thankful. But at the same time, people see me as my character, Gabriella. And I’m just excited to kind of branch out of that and have people see me in a new light.”

“You can put yourself in a hole in the ground if you continue to do the same thing. And that’s kind of why I want to branch out,” Hudgens said. “But yeah, of course it’s always something that’s somewhat frightening.”

Her biggest leap: Playing a lead in Zack Snyder’s next film. The director of “300″ and “Watchmen” wrote and is directing “Sucker Punch,” about girls trying, at least inside their heads, to break out of a mental institution.

“People I think are going to be genuinely shocked,” Hudgens said. “It’s about these girls in a mental institution that in their heads gets turned around to be a brothel. And in the meanwhile they are kicking serious ass.

“They’re killing people with machine guns. It’s crazy. But I’m a big fan of Zack Snyder’s. And I feel like everything he does is so beautiful and visual. And I can’t wait to see what he’s going to do with it.”

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