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Horton Hears A Who! tops box office chart

Katherine Heigl stars in 27 Dresses, which is a romantic comedy playing on the tale of 'always the bridesmaid, never the bride'.

Dr Seuss' Horton Hears A Who! has entered the UK box office chart at No 1, with takings close to £3 million in its first week.

The animated film saw of stiff competition from fellow family adventure The Spiderwick Chronicles, which raked in £2.5 million in ticket sales.

The two movies are proving top choices for parents and their children over the school holidays.

Romantic comedy 27 Dresses, starring Katherine Heigl, is released in cinemas today and is also expected to do well among the spring blockbusters.

The traditional romantic comedy plays on the classic tale of "always the bridesmaid, never the bride" but is said to be a sure-fire hit that pushed all the right buttons.

Other new spring releases due out in the next couple of weeks include 80s coming-of-age movie Son Of Rambow, about a young boy who is banned from watching TV, but decides to make his own version of Rambo: First Blood, after seeing the action classic on pirate video.

Leatherheads, starring George Clooney and Renee Zellweger, is also out soon.

Freddie the wonder kid

At just 16, Freddie Highmore is one of Britain's best known child actors, thanks to a string of lead roles in hits like Charlie And The Chocolate Factory and Finding Neverland.

But while he may still look like the little boy who played the humble Charlie, he sounds so much wiser than his years.

Take the following on the challenge of playing twins in his new film The Spiderwick Chronicles: "I think it's important to do new things for every film you do. You don't want to always play the same character. So obviously this was something I had never done before and that was really enticing."

The Spiderwick Chronicles, based on illustrated books by American children's authors Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black, follows the adventures of nine-year-old twins Jared and Simon and their 13-year-old sister Mallory, who have moved to the rundown Spiderwick Estate with their mum.

When Jared starts hearing strange noises in the house, the children investigate and are soon drawn into a world of good and bad fairies.

Freddie, real name Alfred, was approached to take on the double part and flown out to America for a screen test, despite being seven years older than the characters in question.

"Originally they were trying to get real twins to do it. I think it would have been a lot easier, you know, logistically, because I could not be in two places at one time," he laughs.

"But we went to see if that would work out and if playing two people together could work technically, as well as using the CGI creatures, and try and put them all together."

Shooting took place over a period of four months in Montreal ("It was pretty cold but I got to practice my French") with Freddie's main challenge being the costume changes between twins.

"We got it down to sort of Ferrari pit-stop time in the end," he says. "I would go and quickly change in a tent and come out as the other character and shoot the reverse."

But it didn't always go so smoothly.

"Sometimes it went wrong and it would look like I was walking into myself when we played the two images back next to each other. But it was great fun to do and it worked out in the end."

Another obstacle for Freddie was acting with the non-existent fairies, like Hogsqueal and Mulgarath.

"Often you are just acting to a blue ping pong ball or a long pole in the sky and pretending that they are the CGI creatures," he reveals.

"They tried to make it a bit easier for us and showed us animations of how they would look and often they had the voiceover that the artist had recorded, so they could play it over the loud speaker. They also had cardboard cut outs of the creatures so we knew their size."

The young actor has now signed up for two animated films - Eddie Dickens And The Awful End and Astro Boy - and maturely concludes that although he's happy to keep acting, for now, he wants to keep his options open.

"I think it is important to keep going at school and do A-levels and then maybe university, so you have got another choice and if you wake up one day and think, 'Oh, I would like to try something else', you can go and do medicine or something.

"It would be a shame to have just set everything on acting and not kept your options open and been a bit sensible in that way."

Family Films released for Spring break

Easter may be over but the holidays are still here and there are plenty of family films to go and enjoy in the cinema.

We take a look at some of the highlights of the films released over the next couple of weeks.

:: The Spiderwick Chronicles (Out now)

Based on Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi's bestselling children's book, this fantasy adventure stars Charlie And The Chocolate Factory's Freddie Highmore as twins Jared and Simon.

When their mother moves to her old Aunt Lucinda's remote country house, Jared is blamed by his family for a series of strange goings on in the ramshackle building.

But when he discovers an old book, his Great-Great-Uncle Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to faeries, he learns who is responsible for all the odd occurrences as it explains all the secrets of the mystical creatures living around him.

But an evil ogre named Mulgarath, played by Nick Nolte, wants the book so he can learn how to rule the human world. The family's arrival at the house gets Mulgarath's attention and Jared must use the book to master spells and charms to protect himself, his mother and brother and sister Mallory.

This is an action-packed adventure that kids will love.

:: Dr Seuss' Horton Hears A Who! (Out now)

This is the latest Dr Seuss book to hit the big screen in this animated movie and features the voices of funny men Jim Carrey and Steve Carrell.

Elephant Horton is on a mission to save Whoville, the town where all the Who people live which exists on a tiny speck of dust.

After hearing a tiny call for help from the speck as it floats by, Horton sets out to take Whoville to the safest place he can think of, while protecting it from other creature in his jungle who want Whoville for themselves.

The moral message of this sweet and funny adventure, "A person's a person, no matter how small", becomes Horton's faithful motto.

The enchanting world of Dr Seuss is bound to entertain younger children while keeping their parents amused.

:: 27 Dresses (Out now)

Katherine Heigl stars in this "always the bridesmaid, never the bride" romantic comedy.

Perpetual bridesmaid Jane (Katherine) is in love with her boss, who doesn't return her affections, while all her her friends seem to have found love and be tying the knot.

When she meets journalist Kevin Doyle he decides to write about her plight, but while getting to know her he falls in love with her. It's easy to guess the ending of this traditional rom-com.

While it is an old story there are some funny moments, some terrible dresses and this is a great chick flick film to enjoy after a day's shopping with the girls.

:: Leatherheads (Out April 11)

George Clooney's new romantic comedy is set in the world of 1920s football.

Dodge and Carter, played by George and John Krasinski of the US Office, are team mates who both want to help their team do well. But they become rivals in love for journalist Lexie Littleton, played by Renee Zellweger, who is determined to find the secrets behind their golden-boy images.

This film is both funny and glamorous, with sporting action for the boys and George Clooney for the girls.

:: Son of Rambow (Out April 4)

Will's strictly religious parents have forbidden him from watching films or television.

But when Lee Carter, the naughtiest boy in school shows him a pirate copy of Rambo: First Blood the two youngsters are inspired to make their own version of the gory action thriller.

This 80s coming-of-age comedy is sweet and funny.

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