Can It Be OK to not Love 'The Muppets'?

I loved 'The Muppets.' I didn't love 'The Muppets.' I still jeered enough to consider it money sensibly spent, nevertheless the movie had serious script problems that got if this involves it a really great comeback. I don't think I'm saying anything especially mean-spirited, why does it appear like I'm uttering unforgivable heresy? Everybody loves the Muppets they have decades of fans that are ecstatic these figures have came back round the silver screen in the prominent way. However when you are some of the people who thought the big-screen comeback was under perfect, you have to duck and cover. We're not allowed to accomplish anything under love 'The Muppets,' and if we are just apt to be so negative, we ought to not say anything whatsoever. Just what exactly were my difficulties with 'The Muppets'? (SPOILERS) I believed the film spent more hours telling us the Muppets used to be funny instead of just showing them be funny. I don't think Jason Segel can be a perfect film author, and perhaps his sentimentality got if this involves crafting an account the Muppets required to have the ability to make certain they're strongly related a period new to them sometimes the film feels as if a fawning love-letter to how 'The Muppet Show' familiar with make Segal feel when he will be a little kid. It's a busy script. The film tries to address the conflicts of: brothers and sisters Gary and Walter maturing and growing apart, Gary moving his relationship forward along with his girlfriend Mary (Could Be), Walter obtaining a place nowadays where they can blossom, the Muppets coming back together carrying out a break-up and saving their old theater. It doesn't spend the required time addressing each conflict anytime 'The Muppets' bounces around, departing problems unaddressed for extended periods, but apparently that's OK as it is the Muppets also keep in mind how they made you're feeling if you were eight years old? It (unintentionally) shores relating to this concept that the wistful nostalgia for your Muppets will lead you to be worried about them now. I better understand Frank Oz's complaints in regards to the script not consistent with the figures you possibly can make a movie that asks, "So what can happen once the Muppets all changed into jaded cynics who elevated apart from each other?" It really calculates that the answer then is kind of boring for extended intervals and pushing to discover a joke. As well as the record, it doesn't make Frank Oz a "sourpuss," it will make him the guy that may discuss the completely new corporately-possessed direction from the creative project he gave 30 years of his existence to. Watch a clip for 'The Muppets' I sitting inside an audience filled with kids and so they elevated restless for huge portions in the first hour they didn't develop with 'The Muppet Show' plus they didn't have this connection their parents required to it. They just preferred to start to see the cute, colorful speaking animals do funny things, plus it really does not occur prior to the last third in the movie after they finally positioned on another Muppets revue. That telethon segment can be a blast, and there has been other funny jokes through the path from the film (I really loved 80s Robot), but "assisted me laugh" and "excellent movie" aren't synonymous. My concern, though, is always that anyone who freely offers criticisms of 'The Muppets' -- together with other beloved characteristics -- can get labeled a grouch, a cynic, impossible to thrill, or -- typically the most popular -- becoming an over-thinker. Our world doesn't address any theoretical problems the film might have it attacks the critic and ignores the criticisms. This is often a growing challenge with movie fans as well as the conversation about movies. Let's all just admit there's no original ideas left in Hollywood every movie relies off a pre-existing franchise: a comic book, a vintage cartoon, the sunday paper series, videos game, a toy, an amusement park ride or it's a follow-up, a prequel or possibly a reboot to something we already saw and loved. These franchises all include built-in fanbases, and people fanbases provide the product no matter what -- because after they discovered people figures, it meant something to their personal self improvement. Each time a dissenter arrives and will be offering their objective ideas round the defects from the new movie version of people figures you prefer, the fans go just like a personal attack. Since the Internet has given everyone an chance to appear off and instantly get validated getting a friend's "like" or "upvote" or "retweet," we don't ever want to get into debates safeguarding the products we love to any more. All we must do is find people that already agreed around. Another pleasure from the web: due to its anonymity, you'll be able to personally attack anyone who didn't start to see the movie while using identical perspective as yours. If this is why popular culture goes, what's the point any more? You've your factor, I'll have my factor, we'll never share. Nobody new will uncover it because we're afraid being confronted with defects in this particular factor meaning a great deal to us. So we'll only share it with other people just like us who've a slavish devotion in it -- rather than new or youthful audiences finding their very own pleasure within it. And will also die out when our generation dies because new kids won't understand that "factor" we loved a great deal once we were what their ages are. Approach to totally understand Jim Henson's message! 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The CW's Marketing Chief Ron Haskins Remaining Put With Broadened Responsibilities

The CW's marketing chief Wealthy Haskins is going to be remaining put in the end.our editor recommendsCW Nabs Female Treasure Hunter Drama ScriptThe CW Sets Midseason LineupThe CW Ink Five-Year Cope With Hulu The network's longtime marketing chief will stay using the network within the recently produced position of executive v . p . of selling and digital programs, where his responsibilities will include developing and creating original content its the network's digital platforms in addition to his managing the network's marketing efforts. After news broke last spring the network veteran could be departing his publish this summer time, he spent several weeks exploring other available choices. Ultimately, he states he found nothing as compelling because the chance that CW offered. The CW cheif executive Mark Pedowitz managed to get much more desirable by addingcreative duties to his purview. Particularly,Haskins works using the creative community to build up and convey new entertainment content customized for that network's other platforms, including online, mobile and social networking. "I love the audience, I love the programming and that i such as the attitude that people have that you want to be first available on the market in trying new and various things," states Haskins. "We have been as much as exploring what is next, and also to me that's exciting." So that as he sees it, the choices are plenty. "In my experience, what's awesome is it may be lengthy form or short form it may be daiy or weekly," he adds, observing he's considered things like a five-minute daily show, something which a conventional TV platform wouldn't allow. Additionally to making new digital programming, he'll work carefully using the CW's creative professionals and producers to build up digital extensions from the network's series including Gossip Girl and Vampire Journals, each of which possess some ten million Facebook fans.He'll also still lead every aspect from the network's marketing and digital initiatives, because he has been doing because the network's beginning. "Under his creative direction and leadership, his team has formed a obvious, distinct brand for that CW within an incredibly competitive media landscape, and that we are thrilled he will still be an element of the CW family for many years,Inch states Pedowitz. "Ron can also be our foremost authority within the digital space, helping us extend The CW's presence across different digital platforms, therefore it only is sensible he oversee our foray into creating and creating original CW content for online, mobile and social networking." Related Subjects The CW

British people Dominate BAFTAs Orange Rising Star Longlist

The longlist for BAFTA’s 2012 Orange Rising Star Award remains introduced. The crowd includes 4 British people, 2 Us citizens, an Irishman plus an Aussie who're typically the most popular up-and-comers of year – though many of them are very high-profile already, it’s difficult to consider them as beginners. Available are: Thor stars Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston, Constantly‘s Felicity Manley, My Week With Marilyn‘s Eddie Redmayne, Bridesmaids‘ Chris O’Dowd, last year’s Best Actress Oscar nominee Jennifer Lawrence, Tree Of Existence‘s Jessica Chastain and actor/rapper Adam Deacon, who’s mostly proven to Uk auds for photos like Kidulthood, The adult years and Anuvahood. A knowing panel including Sienna Burns, Simon Pegg and Harry Potter director David Yates emerged while using initial group because the British public will election to whittle this list lower to 5 runners up who’ll be introduced Jan 11. Another election follows while using champion introduced within the BAFTA ceremony on Feb 12. The special prize has formerly attended the type of Tom Sturdy, Billy Burke, Shia LaBeouf and James McAvoy.

'Radiance' extended at Geffen

"Radiance: The Passion of Marie Curie" remains given single-week extension in the present run within the Geffen Playhouse. While using extra dates added, the expansion will explain 12 ,. 18. Play, put together by Alan Alda and directed by Daniel Sullivan, stars "Breaking Bad" actress Anna Gunn inside the lead role. Hugo Remedy, Serta Donohue and Leonard Kelly-Youthful co-star. "Radiance" is presently being staged inside the Geffen's Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater. Round the venue's mainstage is "Next Fall," which runs through 12 ,. 4. The expansion was nominated for just about any 2010 Tony Award for top play. Contact Stuart Levine at stuart.levine@variety.com

Serkis being feted at Whistler fest

Andy Serkis can get Variety's Tech Pioneer Award within the Whistler Film Festival on 12 ,. 1. Serkis look utilizing a live Skype conference incorporated inside a Whistler Summit interactive narrative master class Carrying out a relieve "Kung Fu Panda 2," fest may even recognize helmer Jennifer Yuh Nelson having its first Trailblazer in Animation Award within an In Conversation event on 12 ,. 3. Fest runs November. 30 to 12 ,. 4. Contact Bobbie Whiteman at bobbie.whiteman@variety.com

Wim Wenders on Until the End of the World at 20, Its Amazing Soundtrack, and Loving LuLu

Director Wim Wenders has made his best-received film in years with Pina, a bold, beautiful 3-D tribute to his late friend and collaborator, the German choreographer Pina Bausch. But 2011 also marks the 20th anniversary of an even more ambitious — if eminently troubled — Wenders work loaded with cutting-edge visuals, music and concepts. Until the End of the World was conceived over most of the ’80s, filmed on four continents (including video smuggled out of China), and foresaw a future abetted by such diversions as mobile viewing devices, proto-GPS and a highly sought-after contraption that records images for the blind. Starring William Hurt, Sam Neill, Solveig Dommartin, Jeanne Moreau and Max von Sydow among an international ensemble of actors, the film also skyrocketed to a $23 million budget and found its distributors — including Warner Bros. in the United States — requiring cuts that reduced it to barely a quarter of Wenders’s original vision. Later locked in at just under five hours, it’s the type of material that today would be a shoo-in for a cable miniseries that could probably win Emmys for everyone involved. Twenty years on, however, it’s relatively lost to the mainstream, with Wenders’s directors cut as yet unreleased outside two territories in Europe. A handful of screenings over the years have exposed Until the End of the World to contemporary audiences, but at least we’ll always have its soundtrack — a moody pop collage of Lou Reed, U2, R.E.M., Talking Heads, Patti Smith, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Elvis Costello, Depeche Mode and other artists that hasn’t aged a bit in 20 years. Talking to Wenders last week about Pina (which opens next month; look for more on the film here at that time), I asked the director to reflect on the epic that remains embattled to this day. Two decades on, what are your thoughts on the reception and legacy of Until the End of the World? Well, it is still by far the most ambitious thing I ever did. I look at it like that. It’s a work that’s very dear to me, though I must that I was forced by the studios worldwide and my co-producers at the time to shorten it down to something that was like a Reader’s Digest of the movie. The film that’s in distribution ever since 1991 is a far cry away from what was actually shot. The only film that represents that is my director’s cut, which is twice as long — which is five hours. The film has strange insights into the future. If you look at the people running around looking at their little monitors in front of them all the time, that’s what you see in the streets today everywhere — that sort of addiction to the computer image. You’ll find that in many young people today. It’s a real disease. And the main technology in the film — to make a blind person see, or to extract images from the brain of a person — that’s what scientists do. It’s the very same technology today, in 2011. I’ve had several scientific reports of the first images drawn out of a person’s brain, strictly represented by brainwaves. And they gave imagery that looked exactly like what we’d done in the film. So it’s funny how science fiction eventually becomes reality. Do you feel like that film is underappreciated, or that there’s a way you might try to revive that director’s cut somehow — particularly considering what you just mentioned? I hope that one day that the long version comes out on Blu-ray. I’m not really into reviving the Reader’s Digest because of the way I feel about it. I had to do it myself. If I hadn’t cut it down to two and a half hours myself, somebody else would have done that. I thought I’d rather kill my own baby then let somebody else slaughter it. I never saw that short version after that. I didn’t even go to any screenings when the film was released. I didn’t want to see it. It was too painful. So I made the director’s cut two years later, but it was hard to impose it because the distributors had the rights to the other one, and there was no director’s cut foreseen in the contract. So I could only really release it in the two territories I controlled, which at the time was Germany and Italy. But I hope eventually the film will see the light of day in other territories — at least on Blu-ray. I don’t think a film of five hours realistically has any chance to have theatrical distribution. There’s a beautiful print of it at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. They have the only print of mine, and I’m very grateful that they have it. It’s there, and anybody who would want to screen it could get it from the Academy. But realistically a film like this doesn’t have any chance to be seen on the screen. But I hope one day for a Blu-ray. Probably its most enduring legacy is its soundtrack. I’ve got it represented on almost every playlist of mine. How did that come together? It sounds like it was 10 times more successful than the movie. If as many people bought the soundtrack had watched the movie, I would have been very happy! It really is one of the best ever. It’s a beautiful soundtrack. It was made in sort of an adventurous way, because all these bands that I was listening to when I was making the movie, a lot of them were my friends. So that was the music I carried with me during the making of this science-fiction film. And when I was editing it, I figured that was contemporary music. I mean, U2 and R.E.M. and Lou Reed and all the stuff that was in the film that I was looking to, I figured I can’t put it into the film if the film takes place in the year 2000. I’d better ask these guys if they could project themselves 10 years into the future and write a song that, like the movie itself, made an effort to look into the future. I asked… Let me think. I asked 18 bands to consider a proposition of writing a song that could represent their music 10 years from then, really thinking that only half of them would respond if I was lucky. But they all responded except two, and I got 16 tracks — one more beautiful than the other. That was one of the heartbreaking things about the Reader’s Digest version: Some of these beautiful songs, in that version, only appear for 10 seconds. So another reason to make the full version of the film was to let the music blossom and finally show what the intention was with all that fantastic music. That’s so weird about envisioning 10 in the future. R.E.M.’s song (“Fretless”) doesn’t even have drums, and they lost Bill Berry around the end of the decade. It’s funny. And there are some other things like that, where bands actually did something that had something to do with what they were making in 2000. It was adventurous, and I’m eternally grateful to all these guys to take my proposition seriously and really project themselves. Even U2’s title track, “Until the End of the World” — if they released that today, people would say, “Wow.” Even today it’s a little futuristic. Have you heard Lou Reed’s new collaboration with Metallica? Oh, yes. I’m listening to it every day! I rented a different car, because I realized… [Laughs] I’m here in L.A., and I’m staying in this hotel, and I don’t have a sound system. So I needed a car with a good stereo system to allow me to play LuLu loud, because it’s ridiculous to hear LuLu in a regular car. So I rented a much more expensive car so that it would have a good sound system so I could actually listen to LuLu loud. So I’m driving around the city with LuLu very loud! It’s fantastic! I love it. Really? It is a funky thing. I’ve never heard Lou Reed sing like this! And I’ve known him for so long, and I love The Velvet Underground. But Lou Reed was never belting out like that. It’s like he finally was carried by another force that let him sing like this. And of course there is a little retro thing to the sound of Metallica. I mean, I like them, but they haven’t really changed their sound. But the combination is still really utterly fascinating. [Top photo of Wim Wenders on the set of Until the End of the World: Corbis] Follow S.T. VanAirsdale on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.

'Breaking Dawn' Red Carpet: We're Live!

We already brought you an exclusive chat with "Twilight" stars Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner during "MTV First: 'Breaking Dawn,'" but that's simply not enough "Twilight" goodness for the MTV Movies team. The first half of the vampire saga's epic finale hits theaters this week, and right now, we're live on the red carpet for the "Breaking Dawn - Part 1" premiere in Los Angeles! Tune in to MTV.com from 8:00 - 10:00 PM EST as we present Rob, Kristen and the rest of the "Breaking Dawn" cast with our questions and yours, all live from the carpet. As always, you can follow our red carpet coverage on Twitter using the hash-tag #TwilightLIVE.

'Breaking Dawn': Billy Burke, Taylor Lautner, Rachelle Lefervre Pick 'Twilight' Props for that Smithsonian (VIDEO)

.publish-content img The 'Twilight Saga' is a seminal experience for Generation Y, therefore it would go to reason why the flicks themselves deserve a location within the Smithsonian for those Millennials to determine. In the end, the Smithsonian's mentioned vision would be to shape "the near future by protecting our heritage, finding new understanding, and discussing our assets using the world." Within 2011, our heritage is 'Twilight'! What in the saga should find itself inside the walls of among the world's most well-known museums? Moviefone requested that very question to Billy Burke, Taylor Lautner, Rachelle Lefervre and also the relaxation from the 'Breaking Dawn' cast. Watch above, and make a world where your preferred 'Twilight' paraphernalia would really end up in a museum. (Fans can dream, no?) Return to Moviefone through the week for additional on 'Breaking Beginning,' together with a live-stream of tonight's premiere in La, in addition to exclusive video interviews with Billy Burke, Taylor Lautner and Rachelle Lefervre. Interviews carried out by Sharon Knolle RELATED: 'Breaking Dawn' stars cast the 1980s version of 'Twilight' RELATED: 'Twilight' premiere photos over time Follow Moviefone on Twitter Like Moviefone on Facebook

BSkyB professional backs James Murdoch

LONDON -- The deputy chairman of U.K. paybox BSkyB, Nick Ferguson, put his weight behind the satcaster's unhappy chairman, James Murdoch, on Friday.Ferguson mentioned that Murdoch attempted a "top quality job" within the feevee, adding that BSkyB's independent company company directors have given Murdoch their unanimous backing before an expected election on his future at BSkyB within the annual meeting on November. 29.His public letter was launched the following day of Murdoch was requested having a British committee of pols for your second in time four several days concerning the the phone-hacking scandal inside a News Intl. paper throughout his tenure as topper of News Corp.'s British posting arm. Ferguson mentioned the phone-hacking scandal within the now defunct Sunday tabloid, what is the news around the world, had not had a bad impact on BSkyB -- even though it scuppered New Corp.'s $14 billion bid to buy the 61% of BSkyB this did not already own."We percieve no effect on sales, clients or companies throughout the final five several days," Ferguson written. "We percieve no effect on the proportion cost. Finally, we percieve no damaging effect internally."Ferguson mentioned he and also the fellow independent company company directors have been amazed by Murdoch's focus on BSkyB, they went before father Rupert promoted him with a bigger role that incorporated responsibility for News Intl."We've known James for a lot of eight years, and throughout that time he's always socialized with integrity inside the eyes of both board as well as the senior management. If the new sony ps change, clearly the independent company company directors would re-measure the position," Ferguson mentioned.At his second appearance before pols on Thursday, Murdoch again was adament he wasn't told that phone hacking was common when he approved a payment of 725,000 ($1.1 billion) in 2008 to U.K. soccer official Gordon Taylor, whose phone was jeopardized.As recently as late 2010, News Intl. blamed the practice on a single rogue reporter.But former News Intl. lawyer Tom Crone mentioned that Murdoch's latest evidence was "disingenuous" he mentioned he'd told Murdoch in the extent in the practice three years ago.Meanwhile U.K. media commentator Roy Greenslade, writing inside the Protector, the British paper that broke the phone-hacking story, mentioned: "Which kind of company boss one factor doesn't show any passion for a massive payment in questionable conditions? A deceitful one or possibly an incompetent one?" Contact the number newsroom at news@variety.com

'Skyfall' adds to cast

LONDON -- Helen McCrory and Ola Rapace have joined the cast of James Bond pic "Skyfall." News was announced on the official Bond Twitter account on Monday. Brit thesp McCrory has been seen in the last three "Harry Potter" pics and features in Martin Scorsese's "Hugo." She also voiced the character of Mrs. Bean in "Fantastic Mr. Fox" and played former Prime Minister Tony Blair's wife, Cherie Blair, in "The Queen" in 2006. Swedish thesp Rapace (who was once married to Noomi Rapace, star of the Swedish version of "The Girl With a Dragon Tattoo") has starred in an array of pics native to his home territory, including "Beyond" and "Jag Saknar Dig." Both will join a stellar cast including Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, Judi Dench, Ralph Fiennes, Albert Finney, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris and Berenice Marlohe. Sam Mendes is at the helm of the 23rd Bond pic, which is skedded to be released Oct. 26, 2012 in Blighty. Contact Diana Lodderhose at diana.lodderhose@variety.com

Seven Arts, GFM acquire Cassavetes pic

Nick Cassavetes' dark comedy "Yellow" has been acquired by the newly minted distribution venture between Seven Arts Entertainment and GFM Films."Yellow" centers on a young woman who comes to terms with her family's shadowed past. The ensemble cast features Sienna Miller, Melanie Griffith, Gena Rowlands, Ray Liotta and Heather Wahlquist. The film has completed shooting and is expected to be ready in the spring. Seven Arts and GFM said they expect the film to premiere at a major film festival next year.Peter Hoffman of Seven Arts and Michael Ryan of GFM negotiated the terms with Manu Kumaran of Medient for the acquisition of worldwide rights. Jeff Berg of ICM will sell the film for the USA. Contact Dave McNary at dave.mcnary@variety.com

Box Office Preview: Brett Ratner's Star-Packed 'Tower Heist' Hopes to Steal $30 Mil Opening

Universal's broad PG-13 action-comedy Tower Heist is poised to top the domestic box office in its debut, but the big question is whether it can hit $30 million.our editor recommendsTower Heist: Film ReviewA Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas: Film ReviewEddie Murphy in 'Tower Heist': What the Critics Are Saying Eddie Murphy Says Brian Grazer Saved 'Tower Heist' (Video)Universal Backs Off 'Tower Heist' Premium VOD Test The $85 million pic has plenty of star power in a cast led by Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy and Matthew Broderick. Murphy, whose live-action career has suffered in recent years, in particular should see better numbers than usual. Casey Affleck, Alan Alda, Tea Leoni, Michael Pena and Gabourey Sidibe also star in the film, about a group of non-crooks who set out to rob the man who swindled them out of their pensions. PHOTOS: Where Are the 'Ben Stiller Show' Alumni Now? Imagine Entertianment's Brian Grazer and Kim Roth produced the film with Murphy, while Relativity Media helped finance. A year ago on the same weekend, Warner Bros.' comedy Due Date opened to $32.7 million at the domestic box office, and while Universal is using that film as a comp, the studio is lowering its weekend estimate to between $25 million and $30 million because of the soft marketplace. Rivals suggest Universal needs the movie to open to at least $30 million. COVER STORY: Why Is Funnyman Ben Stiller Not Laughing? Tower Heist also opens day and date in 21 countries overseas, including the U.K., Germany, Spain, Hong Kong and India. In the U.S., tracking -- which has popped in recent days, due to a flurry of publicity by Stiller and Murphy -- is strong among males of all ages followed by older women. Tower Heist also should play well with African-American and Hispanic audiences because of Murphy and Pena, according to Universal. However, Tower Heist could lose young men to Warner Bros. and New Line's more modestly budgeted A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas. Conservative estimates show the R-rated stoner comedy opening in the $18 million range, but it could hit $20 milion, thanks in part to the 3D factor. (Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay opened to $14.9 million in April 2008.) Played by John Cho and Kal Penn, Harold and Kumar go on the search for the perfect Christmas tree after Kumar destroys the original. The film, also starring Niel Patrick Harris, is packed with 3D gimmicks (think smoke rings). A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas cost in the low $30 million range to produce. DreamWorks Animation and Paramount's 3D toon Puss in Boots has a good shot of besting Harold & Kumar for the No. 2 spot domestically, and is predicted to gross in the low $20 million range in its second weekend. The pic opened to $34.1 million last weekend after losing business because of the freak storm on the East Coast. Puss in Boots has grossed just north of $40 million through Wednesday at the domestic box office, and nearly $20 million overseas, where it enjoyed a record-breaking debut in Russia last weekend. But big story internationally will continue to be Steven Speilberg's The Adventures of Tintin: Secrets of the Unicorn, which debuted to a dazzling $56 million last weekend as it rolled out in its first key territories, smashing records in France and Belgium, home country of the beloved comic book character. Sony and Paramount are partners on Tintin, and sharing foreign distribution duties. Paramount releases the film in North America over Christmas. At the specialty box office, Anchor Bay opens The Son of No One in 10 theaters in select U.S. cities. The Sundance Film Festival title stars Channing Tatum, Al Pacino and Katie Holmes. The Weinstein Co. is re-releasing Kristin Scott Thomas indie hit Sarah's Key in 300 theaters across the U.S. this weekend in a move to drum up attention as awards season gets underway. The film has grossed north of $7 million domestically to date. Related Topics Brett Ratner Eddie Murphy Ben Stiller Puss in Boots Matthew Broderick Tower Heist A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas

Justin Bieber's Voice on Christmas Album is 'Obviously Different, but Rich,' Says Producer

Justin Bieber's Christmas album Under the Mistletoe hits retailers today, and along with the first helping of new music since last year's My World 2.0 comes a new round of expectations. How much will he sell out the gate (pre-orders were at a healthy 164,000 at the end of last week)? How fast will it reach gold? Platinum? How will his older, deeper voice be received?our editor recommendsJustin Bieber to Collaborate with Kanye West, Drake on Upcoming AlbumJustin Bieber Picks the 5 Songs That Inspire Him Justin Bieber Reveals Christmas Album Inspiration PHOTOS: Justin Bieber's 'Never Say Never' Premiere "His voice is obviously different, but it's rich," says producer Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, who worked on two tracks from Mistletoe and was also responsible for Bieber's smash hit "Baby." "The complaint he had early on in his career was that he sounded too much like a kid for radio," he continues. "They didn't want to play him when we first started dropping records on Justin. Now, he's got that radio voice." To wit: the song "Mistletoe" debuted at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 and his duet with Usher, "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)," is expected to chart this week. PHOTOS: The Most Watched Holiday Specials of 2010 As production goes, it was a family affair. Kuk Harrell, Stewart's cousin and a wizard of vocals who worked on Rihanna's "Umbrella" and Katy Perry's Teenage Dream album, served as the overall producer for Under the Mistletoe. Stewart describes their time in the studio as "a little hectic" while acknowledging, "It's a really big album for us as a company and for him as my partner." (Harrell is represented by RedZone Entertainment, the company Stewart founded in 1995.) Stewart has no doubt that the album will land at No. 1 and hopes that the collaboration will continue on Bieber's next album. Recently, Bieber's manager Scooter Braun told The Hollywood Reporter that in a perfect world, Bieber's forthcoming full-length Believe would be ready for release in the summer." As for what it should sound like? Stewart says the key is being age-appropriate. PHOTOS: Justin Bieber's Top 10 THR Outtakes "He should make music for 17-year-olds," the producer tells THR. "That culture is alive and well. His relationship with Chris Brown taps him into a part of musical culture that he's not been in before and I think he's going to make an album that's for young people and has a real cool factor to it. He's a creative kid and he's coming his space as a creator and as a writer." Indeed, adds Tricky, Bieber's best days are yet to come: "This guy has had a lot of success at a young age, but I still think he's underrated because people don't really know how good he's going to be long term." Related Topics Justin Bieber Scooter Braun