Opening in just under 700 theaters, Woody Allen’s romantic comedy Vicky Cristina Barcelona (MGM/Weinstein), starring Scarlett Johansson, Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz, rounded out the Top 10 with $3.7 million, becoming Allen’s biggest opening movie since 2000’s Small Time Crooks as well as the second-biggest opening of his 35-year career.

1. Tropic Thunder
2. The Dark Knight
3. Star Wars: The Clone Wars
4. Mirrors
5. Pineapple Express
6. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
7. Mamma Mia!
8. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2
9. Step Brothers
10. Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Source: ComingSoon.net

I’ve updated the gallery with a couple of new stills from Vicky Cristina Barcelona and a new one from The Spirit, which comes from Entertainment Weekly’s August 29th issue, the fall movie preview special. Big thanks to our forum members and Mycah for their contributions!

The press archive has also been updated with four new articles.

“I would do craft service [movie catering] for Woody. I would do anything for him. He is so much fun to work with because, you know, we’re friends, and it’s like I come into work every day and you’re working with people that you love, and you know, we have almost a silent communication between us.”

“You know we’re going into this really intimate relationship, all three of us, and we all fell so easily into that pattern. Penelope and Javier are both the sweetest. Of course, every woman on the side is charmed by Javier. He’s so charismatic … and Penelope’s like this little firecracker. So the three of us just had such a wonderful time and really just enjoyed the scenes that we had together because we were able to improvise. We were able to really have an interesting dynamic between us.”

GALLERY LINKS:
- The Spirit: Production Stills
- Vicky Cristina Barcelona: Production Stills

Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona hits North American cinemas today. Be sure to go and see it and tell us what you thought of the film and Scarlett’s performance as Cristina. I have a wait a week myself to see it so I’d love to hear some comments from the fans.

Scarlett looked flesh and happy at the Vicky Cristina Barcelona Press Conference on August 4 in Beverly Hills. 30 MQs can now be found in the gallery from this event.

GALLERY LINKS:
- Public Events: Vicky Cristina Barcelona Press Conference

It seems Penelope Cruz had the best of both worlds filming Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona as she got hot and heavy with real-life beau, Javier Bardem, and screen siren Scarlett Johansson.

While relationship questions regarding Bardem were off-limits at the film’s Los Angeles press day over the weekend, Cruz (who also brought her big dog to the interviews) admitted that kissing Johansson wasn’t anything special.

“We didn’t talk about it much, then Woody told us how the shot was going to be, but Scarlett and I don’t have any funny stories to tell about it,” Cruz said. “It felt [like] nothing, nothing happened.”

Scarlett, on the other hand, seemed to prefer her girl-on-girl smooch to kissing Bardem.

“Well, Javier was hairier,” she admitted when asked whether kissing Bardem or Cruz was more pleasurable. “I understand the hype around it, but I think it’s just because people are so conservative.”

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Scarlett Johansson can laugh about it now, but the actress says she was embarrassed by the media coverage of her so-called “e-mail relationship” with Barack Obama.

“It seemed to me to be like a product of extreme sexism, and I kept thinking to myself, ‘God, if this was just, like, Kal Penn or George Clooney or any of the other (Obama) surrogates or supporters … there wouldn’t be (any) question about it. Nobody would even talk about it,” she said.

Johansson, a vocal supporter of Obama, told the Web site Politico.com in June that she and the Democratic presidential hopeful had been trading e-mails. Obama later told reporters that Johansson doesn’t have his personal e-mail address, and that his assistant forwarded one message from Johansson to which he replied.

“I was merely trying to express my delight at Obama’s commitment to his campaign in every aspect and his interest and his support (in) his surrogates and his staff and his fellows, and how wonderful and refreshing that is. And it was manipulated into such an unfortunate media frenzy of kind of a nonstory,” the 23-year-old actress said Tuesday in an interview from Los Angeles, where she was promoting her new Woody Allen film Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

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Scarlett Johansson, who in May announced her engagement to Canadian-born actor Ryan Reynolds, says she’s eager to become an honorary Canadian – and hopefully pass through the border quickly from now on.

“I’m very excited,” the Vicky Cristina Barcelona star, 23, tells Entertainment Tonight Canada in an interview airing Tuesday. “I’ve had wonderful times in Canada. It’s a lovely country. It’s a beautiful country and hopefully I’ll be able to get through immigration faster now!”

When jokingly told by ET Canada’s Roz Weston that Reynolds, 31, is “a prince up there,” Johansson responded, “Wow. That’s fantastic. Do I get anything from it?”

Weston quipped that Johansson may receive a crown “made out of beaver” or “possible moose,” to which Johansson responded, “Okay, that’s creepy – an animal on my head. If it’s alive, maybe. Um, I guess so. I don’t know! I’ll take it!”

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Woody Allen’s new film, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, may be a sexy romp about a ménage-à-trois, but none of its stars — Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz and Scarlett Johansson — wanted to talk romance at the premiere Monday night at the Mann Village Theater in Westwood.

Bardem and Cruz, who reportedly have been dating since last fall, walked the red carpet separately. The pair first worked together on the Spanish film Jamon, Jamon.

“That was 17 years ago, a long time,” was all Bardem would say of working with Cruz again.

Johansson worked the press line minus fiancé Ryan Reynolds and was testy when asked if she has made any wedding plans yet.

“I just got engaged!” she protested. “Give me a little time!”

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