03.24.08: 'Horton' Stays On Top, Gandolfini’s The Mayor & Spielberg Finds Tintin

Horton Hears A Who refused to budge from its perch atop the box office, adding another $25.1 million to its $86.5 million haul and knocking newcomers Tyler Perry’s Meet The Browns, Thai horror rehash Shutter and Owen Wilson comedy Drillbit Taylor into second, third and fourth place with $20 million, $10.7 million and $10.2 million respectively. Drillbit’s debut was particularly disappointing, the second letdown in a row for the Judd Apatow comedy factory after Walk Hard’s Christmas season flop-out. More at Variety

Tintin Cast?
The UK’s Daily Mail newspaper is reporting that Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson have cast their Tintin, the precocious, cowlick-afflicted reporter at the heart of Herge’s Belgian comic-book series. According to the Mail, it’s 17-year-old British actor Thomas Sangster, who’s appeared in Love, Actually, Nanny McPhee and Tristan + Isolde besides playing a 10-year-old incarnation of Adolf Hitler in the 2003 CBS mini-series Hitler: The Rise Of Evil. Andy Serkis, already on board as Tintin’s grumpy, globetrotting buddy Captain Haddock, recently revealed that he’s about to start working on back-to-back Tintin features, the first directed by Spielberg and the second by Jackson. More at The Daily Mail

Gandolfini’s The Mayor
James Gandolfini will cross over from Jersey mafia boss to mayor of New York City in Tony Scott’s remake of heist thriller The Taking Of Pelham 123. The post-Sopranos star will play a politico under immense pressure after John Travolta and his gang of baddies hijack and hold to ransom a packed subway car, with Denzel Washington as the copper trying to head JT off at the proverbial pass. More at Variety