Some serious stuff this week, from a sci-fi movie looking at a devastated Earth to Quentin Tarantino's Oscar-winning slavery movie to a new look at a political scandal.

TUESDAY: 'Django Unchained' on home video
Quentin Tarantino has won two best screenplay Oscars, one for the legendary "Pulp Fiction" and one for "Django Unchained." The controversial "Django" comes to home video this week, and whether you want to see what all the fuss is about or need to see it again, now's the time. Christoph Waltz won the Oscar for best supporting actor for his role as Dr. King Schultz, a German-born bounty hunter who teams up with the slave Django (Jamie Foxx). The two set out to bring in numerous wanted men while searching for Django's sold-away wife (Kerry Washington). The film's filled with Tarantino's legendary action, extreme violence and snappy dialogue -- it's not for everyone, but there's no denying its impact. (On home video April 16.)

FRIDAY: 'Oblivion'
The first of three devastated Earth films opens this week. In "Oblivon," Tom Cruise stars as a drone mechanic who believes he's helping to scrape the final resources from an abandoned planet. But when he finds a woman in a crashed spaceship and is kidnapped by a team led by Morgan Freeman, he learns that he's been working under false premises all along, and may have no real idea what's going on in his world. Cruise has re-established himself as a believable action hero thanks to "Mission: Impossible" and "Jack Reacher," and this plot is intriguing. (Opens April 19.)

SUNDAY: 'All the President's Men Revisited'
The Watergate scandal that led to President Richard M. Nixon resigning was 40 years ago, and the landmark movie, "All the President's Men," came out in 1976. Now Robert Redford, who played Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward in the film, has taken another look at that dramatic moment in American history with "All the President's Men Revisited." Redford's co-star, Dustin Hoffman, as well as the real Woodward and partner Carl Bernstein, are in the new film, along with Jon Stewart, Rachel Maddow and others. (April 21, 8 p.m., Discovery Channel)

Related content:

• 'Django Unchained' pulled from Chinese theaters
• 'Oblivion' just one of three similar sci-fi movies to come

Jason Lee / REUTERS

A poster for "Django Unchained" in Bejing, China.

It all seemed a little too good to be true, and perhaps in the end it was: Seconds into its first screenings in China, Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained" was abruptly pulled from cinemas on Thursday. It would have been the first time a Tarantino movie was given an officially sanctioned release in the country.

Movie theater operators in China are saying the film was pulled for "technical reasons."

PHOTOS: Cut, censored, changed: 10 Hollywood films tweaked for international release

"We got the notice from our headquarters around 10:00am this morning but it was too late to cancel two viewings," an official from a Shanghai theater told Reuters.

"We were only told that it was due to some technology problems and were told to cancel it. They didn't tell us when the film would be shown again."

A spokesperson for Sony China told the Hollywood Reporter that they cannot currently comment on the film's China release. The film had been promoted heavily in Chinese cities during the weeks leading up to Thursday's planned opening.

Various cinemagoers who attended the abruptly suspended screenings wrote on Weibo -- China's version of Twitter -- that the film had just begun to roll when it was stopped and they were told to exit the theater. The Chinese press has quoted several unnamed industry insiders as saying the film was held up because of its brief nude scenes.

STORY: "Django Unchained" to open in China with less vivid blood

China's State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television (SARFT) pre-screens and censors all films that are show in the country's cinemas. Many China-watchers had hailed the approval of "Django" for Chinese exhibition as a small sign of increased tolerance in the country.

Scattered after-midnight screenings were held in major Chinese cities early Thursday morning, before SARFT issued the suspension order.

Tarantino is said to have made limited changes to the film to get State approval for the release, including muting the color of blood in its many violent sequences.

Scores of Weibo users and film bloggers in China were posting strongly-worded messages about the film's suspension Thursday afternoon.

The blogger behind Chinese webportal Dianyingpiaofang -- one of the most popular sites specializing in box office figures in the country -- wrote this afternoon: "It doesn't matter whether this is a 'technical problem', as this is going to become a joke. It doesn't matter whether they cut 'Django' or not, (officials) have already cut themselves."

Another Weibo user writing under the handle "Cfcu" lamented how "Django" is actually more politically tame -- in China -- than Hong Kong director Johnnie To's narco-thriller "Drug War,"  which opened in China last week and features scenes of a policeman snorting cocaine, righteous police detectives getting brutally killed, and the antagonist being given the death penalty by lethal injection. "This kind of non-uniform, lying-with-eyes-wide-open, approve-and-rescind censorship is undoubtedly making (the system) a big pile of dog s---," he wrote.

Related content:

• Why Will Smith quit 'Django Unchained': 'I need to be the lead'

AFP - Getty Images file

Will Smith.

Will Smith has a need ... to play the lead. The actor told Entertainment Weekly as much in a recent interview, explaining why he wouldn't take the title role that ultimately went to Jamie Foxx in "Django Unchained."

"Django wasn’t the lead, so it was like, I need to be the lead," he said. "The other character was the lead!"

Smith is referring to the role of bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz, played by Christoph Waltz. 

He may have a point: Waltz waltzed out of February's Oscars with a trophy (for supporting actor) while Foxx, who would have competed in the lead actor race, was not nominated. But it's hard to imagine that a character whose name is part of the title of the film isn't lead enough for Smith.

Apparently so. Smith revealed that before he left the project, he asked director Quentin Tarantino to give Django more of a role. (Spoiler alert!)

"I was like, 'No, Quentin, please, I need to kill the bad guy!'" said Smith. (Schultz shoots Calvin Candie, played by Leonardo DiCaprio.)

Still, Smith did like the finished film, saying, "I thought it was brilliant. Just not for me."

Smith's newest film, "After Earth," comes to theaters June 7.

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• Video: Christoph Waltz on nominees, 'Django'

Many of this year's Oscar-nominated films are based on true stories ("Lincoln," "Zero Dark Thirty," "Argo") or on well-known novels ("Les Miserables," "Life of Pi"). And as you can imagine, it's easy for those stories to put a twist on a tale -- often intentionally, for drama's sake -- not telling it the way it was in real life or in an earlier book.

Those changes mostly go unnoticed unless you're really familiar with the source material, but we found five notable ones.

Sony Pictures

The SEALs in "Zero Dark Thirty" made too much noise, says a man who should know.

1. Osama bin Laden raid was too noisy in 'Zero Dark Thirty'
Who can you believe about the death of Osama bin Laden if not the man who killed Osama bin Laden? That former Navy SEAL spoke to Esquire magazine and saw the movie for the first time with Phil Bronstein, who wrote the Esquire article. He pointed out some minor errors -- the dog on the real mission was a Belgian Malinois, not a German Shepherd and the night-vision goggles worn by the SEALs in the film didn't exist when bin Laden was killed. But his biggest correction? The real SEALs went about their mission in silence. In the movie, a SEAL loudly yells "Breacher!" when he wants someone to blow a door at the compound, and characters call out bin Laden's name. In real life, the SEALs storming the Pakistan terrorist compound tried to keep as quiet as possible, for obvious reasons.

2. No one chased the plane onto the runway in 'Argo'
Kathleen Stafford, one of two women among the six Americans rescued from Iran in the events that inspired "Argo," told the Washington Post that the film Hollywooded up her actual experiences. "Argo" is full of fictionalized sections -- in real life, the six were split between two homes, not just the Canadian ambassador's, for one thing, and Canada's role is downplayed in the film in order to make the CIA look like more of a player. But perhaps the most dramatic scene in the film, where Iranian revolutionaries drive out on an airport runway chasing a departing plane just as it lifts off, never happened. Tony Mendez, the real CIA operative played by Ben Affleck, reports that the airport departure was "smooth as silk," with only a minor mechanical problem slightly delaying takeoff, not gun-waving revolutionaries.

Warner Bros.

"Argo" added drama to its airport scene.

3. Connecticut wasn't pro-slavery as shown in 'Lincoln'
Unless you live in the Nutmeg State, you probably didn't notice how Connecticut voted on the Thirteenth Amendment in the movie "Lincoln." But Rep. Joe Courtney sure did. He wrote a letter to director Steven Spielberg complaining that two out of three Connecticut votes are seen being cast against abolishing slavery. In real history, all four votes from his state were pro-abolition. (The film's screenwriter acknowledged he changed the facts.) A Lincoln historian pointed out that the film actually got a lot of things right, including Lincoln's enjoyment of a certain bathroom joke. The historian's quibbles were minor: Mary Todd Lincoln's teeth were too white, the word "sniper" would not have been used, General Lee did not surrender from horseback, and Abe Lincoln didn't swear so much.

4. Was that song really in 'Les Mis'?
Fans of the "Les Miserables" musical know it backwards and forwards. They know what someone who's never seen "Les Mis" on stage wouldn't -- that the song "Suddenly," about Valjean's love for adopted daughter Cosette, isn't in the stage show. But that's hardly a goof, it's an intentional addition. Since it was an original piece for the film, "Suddenly" was the one song eligible to be nominated for a best original song Oscar. (We're guessing it will lose to Adele's "Skyfall.") Fans seem to like the new song. As theologian Mark Roberts points out, it's smartly written and the title hearkens back to a word in Victor Hugo's novel.

5. Samuel L. Jackson's favorite swear word didn't exist in 'Django' days
Much of the controversy surrounding "Django Unchained" was about its near-constant use of the n-word. But another term drew attention too. You know it: Starts with "mother," incorporates a famous f-word. Samuel L. Jackson, who plays Leonardo DiCaprio's creepy slave-hating slave Stephen, says it four times in "Django," but according to IMDb.com, that expression was unlikely to have been used until World War I. Mother--oh, never mind.

Weinstein Company

Samuel L. Jackson's favorite swear word wasn't around in slavery times.

What's your pick for best picture? Vote in our poll, and tell us on Facebook.

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Quentin Tarantino's latest film "Django Unchained," nominated Thursday for three Oscars, bears the director's trademark: it is rife with violence. In an interview to promote the film, Krishnan Guru-Murthy of Britain's Channel 4 News attempts to ask Tarantino about what link there might be between violence in films and the proliferation of real-life violence -- and Tarantino wasn't having it.

"Why are you so sure that there's no link between enjoying movie violence and enjoying real violence?" Guru-Murthy asked Tarantino.

"Don't ask me a question like that -- I'm not biting," Tarantino responded. "I refuse your question."

"Why?"

"Because I refuse your question," Tarantino repeated. "I'm not your slave and you're not my master. You can't make me dance to your tune. I'm not a monkey."

Ever persistent, Guru-Murthy pressed the issue, until Tarantino decided it was time to put an end to the line of questioning. "I'm here to sell my movie. This is a commercial for my movie, make no mistake. I don't want to talk about the implications of violence ... I've said everything I have to say about it. If anyone cares what I have to say they can Google me ... I haven't changed my opinion one iota ... and I am shutting your butt down!"

And yet Guru-Murthy still pressed on about the relationship between violence in films and in society. And again, Tarantino fought back.

"It's none of your damn business what I think about that!" he exclaimed. Guru-Murthy, again: "Well, it's my job to ask you why you think that because ..." And for the final time, Tarantino said, "And I'm saying no! And I'm shutting you down."

Before things got heated, however, Tarantino was very comfortable parsing out the types of violence he chose to portray in "Django Unchained." 

"Why do you like making violent movies?" Guru-Murthy asked.

"It's like asking Judd Apatow 'Why do you like making comedies?' ... I think it's good cinema. I consider it good cinema," Tarantino said. "There's two types of violence (in 'Django'). There's the brutality of the violence in the day, put upon the slaves during the time, that hasn't been dealt with in America to the extent I deal with it. There was two holocausts in America, this is one of them. Then there's a cathartic violence of 'Django' paying back blood for blood."

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Chris Pizzello / AP file

"Lincoln" director Steven Spielberg.

Steven Spielberg ("Lincoln"), Tom Hooper ("Les Miserables"), Kathryn Bigelow ("Zero Dark Thirty"), Ang Lee ("Life of Pi") and Ben Affleck ("Argo"): There were no surprises in Tuesday's nominations for the 65th Annual Directors Guild of America Awards.

Unless, that is, you're a fan of "Django Unchained," "The Master" or "Silver Linings Playbook," in which case there were unhappy surprises.

Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson and David O. Russell were among those who failed to rate in the most critical of Oscar tuneups.

'Silver Linings Playbook' has better luck with Writers Guild

The DGA class of 2013 runs the gamut of past winners to Affleck, who has his first-ever nod from the filmmaking group.

All five nominees and their films have long been counted as safe bets for the Academy Awards. Nominations for the big show of big shows are due out Thursday.

The DGA Awards is unsurpassed as an Oscar predictor: It's been more than a decade since a DGA winner didn't rate the same prize from the Academy.

Just how sad is 'Les Mis'?

The exclusions of Tarantino, Anderson and Russell are notable, but not necessarily surprising, with only Russell's "Silver Linings Playbook" considered a top-tier Best Picture candidate.

If the DGA field holds at the Oscars, then the road gets even longer for those on the outside looking in. The last film to win Best Picture without a nominated director was 1989's "Driving Miss Daisy."

The 65th DGA Awards are scheduled to be presented Feb. 2.

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The movie "Django Unchained" is Quentin Tarantino's blood-and-guts look at slavery and revenge. And now, thanks to the National Entertainment Collectibles Association (in conjunction with studio The Weinstein Company), it has spawned a series of action figures, available for purchase on Amazon. 

And that has led to a brewing controversy over the six poseable, 8" figures, which feature clothes, weapons and accessories. Slaves Django and his wife Broomhilda are featured, along with cruel slaveowner Calvin Candie (played by Leonardo DiCaprio in the film) and his equally evil slave, Stephen (played by Samuel L. Jackson). Christoph Waltz's bounty hunter, Dr. Schultz, also has a figure, as does James Remar's Butch.

EurWeb.com reports that Project Islamic Hope and "a coalition of African-American community leaders" are calling a press conference Tuesday to announce a boycott.

African-American film critic Tim Gordon told The Daily Beast he first thought the dolls were just memorabilia, but then expressed some concerns over the lack of reaction to dolls based on slaves and slavemasters. "People don't speak up. People have gotten so -- I don't know if the word is 'comfortable' or 'naive.' We just want to go along to get along and it's very frustrating."

The existence of the dolls are not entirely news; the announcement that they would be released in conjunction with the movie was made last fall, said the Beast. The publication quoted the NECA's president at the time as saying he was "very excited to bring the stellar cast of 'Django' to life and honored to be working with another Tarantino masterpiece." (NECA also created action figures for Tarantino's "Kill Bill.") 

NECA's dolls are not made for playing with by young children; on Amazon the "Django" dolls are listed as being designed for ages 15-and-up, and other toys from the company include characters from "Rambo," "Carrie" and "Friday the 13th." But there are also dolls from movies geared to a teen audience, such as "Hunger Games" and "E.T."

This isn't "Django's" first brush with controversy; the film has been cited for its use of the N-word (common in Tarantino films) and shunned by luminaries such as Spike Lee, who called it "disrespectful." 

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• 'Django's' Samuel L. Jackson won't discuss word that critic can't say
• Review: Blood-soaked 'Django' not for everyone
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• Leonardo DiCaprio: 'Django' character is 'deplorable'

"Django Unchained" has five Golden Globe nominations (best picture, two best supporting actor nods, best director and screenplay) but the film continues to deal with some controversy thanks to its prolific use of a racial slur.

Film critic Jake Hamilton sat down with Samuel L. Jackson, who has a leading role in "Django," and attempted to broach the subject without actually using the N-word. "There's been a lot of controversy surrounding the usage of the N-word in this movie," Hamilton asked. Jackson stopped him right there. "No? Nobody? None? ... We're not going to have this conversation unless you say it,"  he said to Hamilton, who ultimately refused.

The exchange comes during this lengthy interview video which also features director Quentin Tarantino and cast members Jamie Foxx, Kerry Washington and Christoph Waltz. Fast forward to the 13:55 mark for Jackson.

It's an interesting approach to not talking about something everyone is talking about. (Gawker originally pointed out the Hamilton/Jackson interview; for a recap of the controversy itself, check out this piece by Slate).

Ultimately, the language and Tarantino's raw approach to the film is not having a negative effect on the film's performance at the box office. "Django Unchained" has made more than $68 million since opening Dec. 25. During opening weekend itself, "Django" made $30 million and took the No. 2 spot. "The Hobbit" barely edged it out for No. 1 ($31 million), and "Les Miserables" was No. 3, with $27 million. 

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• Video: Christoph Waltz talkes 'Django' Golden Globe nod

The dwarfs and elves of "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" prevailed at the North American box office again over the weekend, as its $32.9 million in ticket sales topped both the star-packed musical "Les Miserables" and the western "Django Unchained."

James Fisher / Reuters

Actor Martin Freeman is shown in a scene from the film "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey."

Despite surging past "The Hobbit" on Christmas day with an $18.1 million opening, "Les Miz" managed only third place in U.S. and Canadian sales with $28 million as Christmas shoppers returned from the malls to boost Hollywood's box office, according to studio estimates.

"The Hobbit," in its third week of release, has now grossed $222.7 million domestically, Warner Bros said.

Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained," a western starring Jamie Fox as a slave turned bounty hunter, took second with an impressive $30.7 million.

Tom Cruise's crime drama "Jack Reacher," which features author Lee Child's former military investigator solving a fatal sniper attack, landed in fifth with $14 million, outpaced by "Parental Guidance," the Billy Crystal-Bette Midler as grandparents comedy which took in $14.8 million to nab fourth.

Chris Aronson, president of domestic distribution for Fox, said the "Parental Guidance" performance was "just a tremendous result for our little engine that could."

Backed by a musical score that made it a Broadway icon, "Les Miz" surged past "The Hobbit" on Christmas day, collecting $18.1 million to pass "High School Musical 3: Senior Year" with the biggest midweek opening day by a musical.

But it was not enough to conquer the "Hobbit" juggernaut, which scored its third straight box office weekend win.

Universal's president for domestic distribution Nikki Rocco called the "Les Miz" $28 million take "phenomenal, especially considering we went into the weekend with $40 million," an unexpectedly strong figure for its first few days in release.

"People really love this movie, which is even more rewarding and gratifying," Rocco said.

"Les Miserables," which stars Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe and Anne Hathaway, benefited from Oscar buzz and its star power, said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Hollywood.com's box office division, who said he wouldn't be surprised to see the musical pass $200 million before it's done.

That would put it among the Hollywood's Top 20 best-selling musicals. It would pass the 1972 film "Cabaret," which grossed $191 million in box office sales adjusted for higher ticket prices, and put it close to "Camelot," which sold $204.5 million in 1967, according to the web site the-numbers.com.

The most successful musical is "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," which grossed more than $6.3 billion but has been re-released by Walt Disney nine times since its 1937 premiere, according to the site.

A rush of high-profile films in December is expected to push 2012 to a domestic box office record. The current record is $10.6 billion, set in 2009.

"Jack Reacher" debuted just days after the Newtown, Conn., school shooting sparked new debate about the impact of movie violence. "Reacher" begins with a sniper killing a handful of seemingly random victims. A red-carpet premiere and a screening to promote the $60-million production were postponed after the Dec. 14 Newtown tragedy.

Adult comedy "This is 40" starring Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann as a middle-aged couple was sixth with $13.2 million. The Judd Apatow $35 million film totaled $37 million after two weeks. The seventh spot went to Steven Spielberg's historical film "Lincoln," with $7.5 million for a $132 million domestic total.

Comedy "The Guilt Trip," starring Barbra Streisand and Seth Rogen as a mother and son on a cross-country drive, pulled in $6.7 million for eighth.

Also this week the latest James Bond hit "Skyfall" topped $1 billion in worldwide sales, despite falling out of the week's top 10 films at the box office.

"The Hobbit" was distributed by Time Warner Inc's Warner Bros studio. Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc released, "Jack Reacher" and "The Guilt Trip." Comcast Corp's Universal Studios released "Les Miserables" and "This is 40." "Django Unchained" was released in the United States by the Weinstein Company.

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He famously played doomed sweetheart Jack Dawson in 1997's "Titanic," but all trace of that charm and kindness is gone in Leonardo DiCaprio's current role, as cruel slaveowner Calvin Candie in Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained."

"He's the most deplorable human being I've ever read in a screenplay in my life," DiCaprio told Willie Geist on TODAY Thursday. "He was rotting from the inside. He was, you know, a young Louis the XIV that had been brought into a world of entitlement and lived his life ... essentially owning other people."

DiCaprio has said that he was uncomfortable using the N-word in the film, and told Geist that his co-stars encouraged him to do what was right for the role despite his own feelings. "It was Sam Jackson and Jamie Foxx that said, 'You really have to go all the way with this man.'"

Even filmmaker Tarantino, who created Candie's character, said the plantation owner, who forces slaves to fight to the death, was the first villain he'd written who he didn't like. Still, DiCaprio says he had to take the role.

"It was an incredibly colorful character and I just had to ... I had to play him," DiCaprio told Geist.

But he really got into the role; at one point, when Candie is making his point by pounding his hand on a table, DiCaprio actually broke a wine glass and impaled himself on the stem. But he considered going on with the scene: "The choice was I supposed to go on and finish my speech or not, and then I noticed that blood was pouring everywhere," he said. "It was very interesting to see Quentin's and Jamie's reaction off screen."

The film marks the first collaboration for DiCaprio and Tarantino, and the actor had praise for the "Pulp Fiction" filmmaker. "It really takes a director like Quentin Tarantino to say, 'Look, this is ... the time period that I want to do a film about and I want to go to these extremes,'" DiCaprio said. "'And it's also going to be an incredibly entertaining movie.'"

DiCaprio also mused on his sudden fame after his "Titanic" role, joking that he should have taken advantage of his fame then to make more movies, but noting that the success of the film gave him leverage in his career. Still, he says, he doesn't recognize the young man proclaiming himself "king of the world!" on the doomed ship.

"When you see yourself at that age, and I look at some of my earlier films, it's ... you see a different person," he told Geist. "I don't know what would it be like to have a conversation with that young man."

Slideshow: Life and times of Leo

Carl De Souza / AFP - Getty Images

Launch slideshow

• Kate Winslet marries in a secret ceremony
• Spike Lee: 'Slavery was not a Spaghetti Western'
• Review: Blood-soaked 'Django' isn't for everyone
• 'Django' stars rolled up 'N-word shield' during filming

LOS ANGELES -- A strong Christmas-day box office performance by musical "Les Miserables" and western "Django Unchained" put Hollywood on pace to set an all-time box office record with $10.8 billion in annual revenue, box-office tracker Hollywood.com said on Wednesday.

Universal via AP

Hugh Jackman and Isabelle Allen in a scene from "Les Miserables."

Universal Pictures' star-studded "Les Miserables" took in a weekday Christmas record of $18.2 million in the United States and Canada when it opened on Tuesday, according to studio estimates of weekday ticket sales.

Quentin Tarantino's spaghetti western "Django Unchained," starring Jamie Foxx and Leonardo DiCaprio, hauled nearly $15 million for The Weinstein Co.

Studios "are definitely on the road to a record year with $10.8 billion expected (up 6 percent over last year and beating the previous record of $10.6 billion in 2009)," Hollywood.com analyst Paul Dergarabedian told Reuters in an email, adding that the number of tickets sold should climb 6 percent from 2011 to 1.36 billion.

Dergarabedian credits a successful marketing year for studios as a chief reason for the projected box-office record, as well as spring and summer smashes "The Hunger Games" and "The Avengers" helping boost revenue.

"It was not just the fact that most of the movies delivered, it was the timing of their release dates and the marketing was obviously effective as well with social media continuing to provide an outlet for the movie-going peer group to talk about their favorite flicks," Dergarabedian said.

"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," based on the J.R.R. Tolkein classic fantasy novel, brought in $11.4 million on Christmas day after ruling the box office with nearly $37 million in sales over the weekend.

Billy Crystal family film "Parental Guidance" debuted in fourth place with about $6.4 million in Christmas sales while Tom Cruise's "Jack Reacher," which featured author Lee Child's character in an investigation into a sniper shooting, was fifth with some $5.3 million.

"The Hobbit" was distributed by Time Warner Inc's Warner Bros. Studio. News Corp's 20th Century Fox released "Parental Guidance" and Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom, released "Jack Reacher." Universal Pictures is owned by Comcast Corp.

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