Miley Cyrus signs on for more "Hannah"

"Hannah Montana" will shine on. Disney Channel has closed a deal for a fourth season of the blockbuster series starring Miley Cyrus.

The cable channel also has ordered a second season of its breakout new comedy series "Sonny With a Chance," starring Demi Lovato, and has tapped Jeffrey Hornaday, choreographer of such movies as "Flashdance" and "A Chorus Line," to direct and choreograph the fourth "High School Musical" movie.

There had been questions about whether Cyrus would return to the series that made her a global star, with the teen actress-singer recently expressing her intention to continue her small-screen duties as Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana for one more year.

As part of the deal, Cyrus will get a long hiatus to work on the feature "The Last Song," with production on the fourth season of "Hannah Montana" slated to begin next year. (Filming of the show's third season wraps this week.)

The series will change settings next season, during which the Stewarts will grapple with saying goodbye to their beachfront Malibu home.

"That will provide the catalyst for wonderful new characters and further expand the storytelling opportunities," said Disney Channel Worldwide president Gary Marsh.

"Hannah Montana" -- which also stars Cyrus' dad, Billy Ray Cyrus, Emily Osment and Jason Earles -- draws an average of 4.4 million viewers per episode.

A 2007 episode of the show still ranks as the highest-rated basic cable series telecast ever with 10.7 million total viewers.

"Hannah Montana" has generated two double-platinum soundtracks, a No. 1 box-office movie, DVDs, a junior novel series, apparel, accessories, videogames and a Miley Cyrus concert tour, which spawned a 3-D film version that became the No. 1 concert film of all time.

"Hannah Montana" was created by Michael Poryes, Rich Correll and Barry O'Brien.

Since its premiere in February, "Sonny," toplined by rising star Lovato, has become TV's top program for kids 6-11.

Written by Peter Barsocchini, "High School Musical East Meets West," about the cross-town school rivalry between the East High Wildcats and West High Knights, is scheduled to premiere in 2010.

http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSTRE5507R020090602

Box Office Report: 'Hannah Montana: The Movie' wins the weekend

Miley Cyrus' Hannah Montana: The Movie jumped out to a big lead at the box office and never looked back on this competitive holiday weekend. The Disney Channel adaptation took first place with a hefty, better-than-anticipated $34 million gross, according to early estimates from Media by Numbers.

That total exceeds the $31.1 mil that Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert opened with a year ago (although this film played in many more theaters), and it amounts to one of the top April debuts ever. Among live-action G-rated fare, this premiere ranks second all time, behind the $42 mil that High School Musical 3: Senior Year banked on its first weekend about six months ago. And Hannah Montana: The Movie did it all on the strength of a solid A CinemaScore review from a crowd that, not surprisingly, was 91 percent female and 77 percent under age 25.

Coming in at No. 2 was Fast & Furious, which earned a solid $28.8 mil on an expected 59 percent drop. Vin Diesel's car-franchise film has grossed $118 mil domestically -- and about $200 mil globally -- in 10 days. Monsters vs. Aliens (No. 3) was next with a strong third-weekend take of $22.6 mil.

Seth Rogen's Observe and Report disappointed in fourth place, with just $11.1 mil. Despite critical huzzahs, the R-rated mall-cop comedy drew a bad C CinemaScore review from a crowd that was two-thirds male. Next stop for it: home video.

Knowing rounded out the top five with $6.7 mil. And the weekend's other big new release, Dragonball: Evolution, was, as many predicted, a non-factor, bringing in $4.7 mil at No. 8 (and drawing a woeful C+ CinemaScore grade of its own).

Overall, the combined strength of the weekend's top three films pushed the frame up nearly 50 percent over the same period a year ago, when the Prom Night remake ruled the returns. Thus, this is the third "up" weekend in a row -- and second straight hugely up weekend -- and, with a $137 mil overall domestic take, it's also the biggest Easter weekend ever. Certainly, in Hollywood, that'll be something to celebrate on this holiday. Have a good one!

http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2009/04/borept-hannah.html

'Hannah Montana' grosses a stellar $17.4 mil on Friday

Miley Cyrus' Hannah Montana: The Movie jumped out to an early lead at the weekend box office, banking a huge $17.4 mil on Friday. That's the best opening-day gross for a (live-action) G-rated movie ever. The Disney Channel adaptation is on pace to bring in more than $30 mil this Easter weekend, which should put it ahead of reigning champ Fast & Furious. Vin Diesel's car-franchise flick earned a strong $10.6 mil on Friday. The weekend's other big new releases garnered first-day grosses that were in line with expectations: Seth Rogen's Observe and Report laughed up $4.8 mil and Dragonball: Evolution conjured just $2.1 mil. Friday's rankings are below, and please check back here on Sunday for a full weekend recap in the Box Office Report.

1. Hannah Montana: The Movie -- $17.4 mil
2. Fast & Furious -- $10.6 mil
3. Monsters vs. Aliens -- $9.1 mil
4. Observe and Report -- $4.8 mil
5. Knowing -- $2.4 mil
6. The Haunting in Connecticut -- $2.4 mil
7. I Love You, Man -- $2.3 mil
8. Dragonball: Evolution -- $2.1 mil
9. Adventureland -- $1.2 mil
10. Duplicity -- $1 mil

http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2009/04/hannah-saturday.html

Racers too "Fast" for Hannah Montana at box office

Miley Cyrus and her fabulous alter ago, Hannah Montana, likely will be no match for hot-rod racers and cartoon aliens at movie theaters across North America this Easter holiday weekend.

Walt Disney Pictures' "Hannah Montana: The Movie," the first nonconcert feature starring the 16-year-old starlet, is expected to open at No. 3 across the United States and Canada, behind reigning champ "Fast & Furious" and former No. 1 "Monsters vs. Aliens," according to studio projections.

Box office watchers think another new release, the Seth Rogen comedy "Observe and Report," will take the No. 4 spot.

Disney hopes "Hannah Montana" will perform in the same range as 2003's "The Lizzie McGuire Movie," another big-screen vehicle for a Disney Channel star, in that case Hilary Duff. "Lizzie" opened to $17.3 million in 2003, and ended its domestic run with $42.7 million.

"We would love to be in the high teens," said Chuck Viane, president of domestic theatrical distribution at the Walt Disney Co-owned studio.

Business will get a boost from the Easter holiday, with three-quarters of children out of school on Friday and half of them also off on Monday, Viane said.

As in her TV series, Cyrus plays a regular schoolgirl by day and a pop star by night. But her father (real-life dad Billy Ray Cyrus) decides she needs to get back to her small-town roots, so takes her on a surprise trip to her old Tennessee home where love and other complications ensue.

TEENS HIT HURDLES

"Hannah Montana" reaches theaters six weeks after the disappointing launch of a concert movie by Disney stablemates the Jonas Brothers. Last week, the "Hannah Montana" movie soundtrack ended Cyrus' impressive hat trick of chart-toppers, opening at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 with sales that were a fraction of those for her previous releases.

But Viane brushed off any suggestions that the latest teen idol might be losing some steam.

"I don't see this as being anything other than a terrific little movie by Miley," he said. "Until it opens you don't know, but I think you're going to see extremely good scores on this picture. It plays great to her fan base. It plays great to parents."

He pointed out that "Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience," with total sales of about $19 million, is still the No. 2 concert movie of all time, behind "Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour," which finished with $65 million early last year.

"Fast & Furious," meanwhile, should earn in the low $30 million range for Friday-to-Sunday period, observers said. The fourth film in Universal Pictures' fast-car franchise scored the biggest opening of the year last weekend with a $71 million haul. Universal is a unit of General Electric Co.

Viacom Inc's Paramount declined to forecast the performance of the DreamWorks Animation SKG-produced "Monsters vs. Aliens," which made about $33 million during its second round in theaters last weekend. Another drop of 45 percent should place it in the $18 million range.

"Observe and Report," starring Rogen as a security guard at a shopping mall, hopes to ring up an opening in the $14 million to $15 million range, said Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner Inc.

Rogen did quite a bit better with such movies as last year's "Pineapple Express" ($23 million) and 2007's "Superbad" ($33 million), although both were summer releases. Earlier this year, TV comedian Kevin James' similarly themed "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" opened to $32 million.

http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSTRE5391MY20090410