First Look At ‘Barney’s Version’; ‘Precious’ Goes Nationwide Nov. 20; ‘Twilight’ Gets Gothier; ‘Avatar’ Upsets Hindu Group

-“Barney’s Version,”a Canadian film starring Paul Giamatti and Rosamund Pike, has wrapped just over two months of shooting, and the Montreal Gazette has given us our first look (top) at the film. Based on the novel by Mordecai Richler, the story concerns an aging TV producer (Giamatti) who, when accused of a variety of salacious doings by a former acquaintance’s autobiography – including murder – decides to write his own memoir (hence the title of the film) to set the record straight about his life and loves. The all star cast for this dramatic comedy includes Dustin Hoffman, Jake Hoffman (his son), Minnie Driver, Maury Chaykin and Bruce Greenwood while Richard J. Lewis (no relation to the comedian), who is best known as the producer of “CSI,” will make his directorial debut. We would guess the film will make the regular festival rounds next year before getting a theatrical release.

-Playing on a mere eighteen screens, “Precious” raked in a cool $1.8 million, averaging 100k per screen, the 12th highest per screen average on record. Lionsgate isn’t going to waste any time capitalizing on what looks like a breakout hit for the studio. On Nov. 13, the studio is going to expand the screens the film is on in the cities where it’s already playing, while adding showings in Philadelphia, Washington, Houston, Dallas and San Francisco, bringing it’s total screen count to 100. Then, a week later on Nov. 20, the film will open nationwide. We can’t remember the last film that went from limited to national release in two weeks, but power of Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry seems to be unstoppable. Three Playlisters have seen the film and words like “con job,” “ghetto drama porn” and “overrated” have all factored in our reviews and two of us predicted it could wind up as this year’s “Crash” in more ways than one. You can read our thoughts on the film – here, here and here – or spend $12 and find out for yourself when it opens near you.

-Peter Murphy of Bauhaus has filmed a cameo for “Twilight: Eclipse” making that franchise even more lame than we originally thought. The Godfather of Goth will be appearing in a flashback sequence playing, naturally, a vampire predecessor of the warring Volturi and Cullen factions. Actor Billy Burke explains what fans can expect of the scene, “Billy Black’s talking and telling the story of the werewolves, how they evolved, and how they met the vampires and stuff. [Murphy’s cameo is] in a sequence that involves that.” We’re not sure what the producers or director David Slade is thinking with this one. The preteens with Robert Pattinson all over their bedroom wall are going to have no idea who the creepy weirdo is in the flashback sequence that the camera seems to be lingering on too long, and if this is some attempt to lure older males into the franchise — mission: failed.

-“Avatar” hasn’t even hit theaters yet and one group – that isn’t a bunch of sweaty-palmed fanboys – is already demanding changes. Kind of. Rajan Zed, president of The Universal Society Of Hinduism is asking that James Cameron put a note at both the beginning and end of the film, before the film opens in India, advising that the film has nothing to do with Hinduism. In the faith, which has nearly one billion followers worldwide, “avatar” is the term used to describe “incarnation,” a central notion to the belief. Listen Zed, we see where you’re coming from, sort of, but you must think very little of the followers if you really believe they’re going to confuse a big budget special effects film about oddly shaped blue aliens with some kind of statement about Hinduism. And the fact that this got you on TMZ is probably far more damaging than anything in Cameron’s film, including Giovanni Ribisi’s acting.