Disney's Moana Set to Dominate Holiday Box-Office Weekend

Moana, the new Disney Animation Studios feature about a Polynesian princess, is looking to make $75 million or more over the next five days in the U.S., with the R-rated WWII drama Allied, the R-rated comedy Bad Santa 2 and the PG-13 Rules Don't Apply serving as counter-programming. Moana's closest competition will be the second weekend of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which skews somewhat older. Good reviews may help — Moana currently has an outstanding 99% rating at Rotten Tomatoes. (The lone dissenter? Mark Dujsik, who gripes that while the film is beautiful and features a new kind of Disney princess, many of its trappings feel stale.) It took in $2.6 million on tuesday night, doubling the figure logged last year by The Good Dinosaur. [The Hollywood Reporter]

Rogue One Is a Different Kind of Star Wars Movie

For one thing, it's the first Star Wars feature without a John Williams score. For another, it probably won't feature the series' trademark narrative crawl at the head of the first reel. Lucasfilm studio boss Kathleen Kennedy calls it a traditional WWII-style adventure … that happens to be set a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. [Variety]

Lost Paul Newman Directorial Debut Resurfaces

tobacco

Through the years, one Paul Newman film has remained stubbornly obscure — his first film as director, a 25-minute short based on the Chekhov play On the Harmfulness of Tobacco. It's unclear why, exactly, it became a forgotten film, but plans are afoot to debut it on Turner Classic Movies early next year (assuming the channel can resolve any rights issues that might crop up between now and then). [Forward]

MoonlightAmerican Honey, Moonlight Lead Film Independent Spirit Awards Nominations

English director Andrea Arnold's first U.S.-set feature, American Honey, earned six nominations, while writer-director Barry Jenkins' Moonlight earned five, plus the special Robert Altman Award recognizing a film's "director, casting director and ensemble cast." The Independent Spirit Awards have never been Oscar precursors; while the much-talked-about Moonlight may well earn plaudits on Oscar night, American Honey performed poorly in theaters and is likely to slip under the Academy's radar. [Film Independent]

Scientists May Have Reached a Breakthrough in Battery Technology

In a development that could have welcome and widespread implications for technology of all kinds, scientists at the University of Central Florida say they have created a prototype of a supercapacitor battery that could last 20 times longer than today's lithium-ion version. Keep in mind, though, that while researchers regularly get charged up about promising new power prototypes, fundamental advances in post-lithium-ion battery technology have been difficult to refine and expensive to commercialize. [Engadget]