Emma Stone insists she’s no no Pretty Woman.

The Easy A and Spiderman star is the hottest young actress in Hollywood right now with some dubbing the 22-year-old as the new Julia Roberts. But Emma is having none of it.

“Julia Roberts is still around so that’s horrible thing to say,” insists Emma.

“Julia Roberts is the new Julia Roberts. She’s awesome. That’s really flattering but I think people who say these things are nuts.”

Emma recently revealed she is over her crush on Leonardo DiCaprio after finally meeting him.

“I had a huge crush on Leonardo DiCaprio in his Titanic and Romeo + Juliet time,” she said.

“I really thought it was so cool. Then as time goes on and you get a little closer to those people or you meet those people, you go, ‘Oh everyone is completely normal all the time and every human being is exactly alike.’ Now, everything feels different.”

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The maids of “The Help” didn’t take the Labor Day weekend off. The surprise summer hit held firm at the top of the domestic box office for the third straight week with $19 million in ticket sales.

The drama about white women and their black maids in Civil Rights-era Mississippi polished off three new films based on four-day estimates released by movie studios on Monday, the U.S. Labor Day holiday that ended a record summer at U.S. and Canadian theaters. “The Help,” a critics favorite that debuted a month ago in the No. 2 spot, was produced by DreamWorks and distributed by Walt Disney Co.

Newcomers including two horror flicks generated modest sales on a weekend traditionally slow for movie-going.

Spy thriller “The Debt,” starring Helen Mirren, took second place with a better-than-expected $12.6 million in the North American (U.S. and Canadian) market. The film tells the story of the hunt for a Nazi war criminal and how the mission haunts a trio of secret agents three decades later. The film drew an older audience with 70 percent of moviegoers over age 40, distributor Focus Features said.

The studio released the movie on Wednesday, and estimated domestic sales since it debuted reached $14.5 million.

Space mystery “Apollo 18,” a new release that purports to use “found footage” of an ill-fated trip to the moon, came in third for the weekend with $10.7 million. That fell within studio projections for a film that cost less than $5 million to make, said Erik Lomis, president of distribution for The Weinstein Co, which released the film.

Following behind at No. 4 was new thriller “Shark Night (3-D),” a tale of nightmarish fresh-water shark attacks at a Louisiana lake house, with $10.3 million, at the higher end of industry expectations. Aimed at teens, the film drew 57 percent of its audience from an under-25 crowd.

Sci-fi flick “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” stayed strong, rounding out the top five with $10.3 million during its fifth weekend in theaters.

“Apes,” a revival of the classic tale of chimps launching a revolution, and “The Help” stood out as two surprise summer hits. “Apes” has rung up $162.5 million in domestic sales and $186.5 million in international markets, for a combined total of $349 million.

“The Help” has pulled in about $123.4 million since it hit U.S. and Canadian theaters, exceeding forecasts from box-office watchers. The film is an adaptation of a best-selling novel by Kathryn Stockett.

The two movies helped Hollywood rack up record sales for the four-month summer season measured from early May through Labor Day, when studios bring in as much as 40 percent of annual revenue. Domestic totals hit an estimated $4.4 billion for the period, a 0.7 percent increase from last year, according to figures from Hollywood.com Box Office.

The revenue gain was helped by slightly higher average ticket prices as movie attendance fell 1.4 percent.

“Though attendance figures are down, the performance is still impressive given the intense competition” for audiences posed by a range of entertainment options, said Paul Dergarabedian, head of Hollywood.com Box Office.

Summer hits included big sequels such as “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2″ and “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” plus superhero tales such as “Captain America: The First Avenger” and family film “The Smurfs.” Adult comedies, including “Bridesmaids” and “The Hangover 2″ also scored with audiences.

“The Debt” was released by Focus Features, a unit of Comcast Corp’s Universal Pictures. Privately held Weinstein Co released “Apollo 18.” Closely held Relativity Media released “Shark Night (3-D)” in the United States and eOne distributed the film in Canada.

“Rise of the Planet of the Apes” was released by 20th Century Fox, the film studio of News Corp.

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The Help star Emma Stone has said that the film has been a surprise hit because audiences can really identify with the characters.

The movie, adapted from Kathryn Stockett’s novel about African American maids during the early sixties, is currently top of the US box office and has taken a domestic total of $100m since its release.

“It’s human,” Stone told The Hollywood Reporter, following the film’s French premiere on Friday.

“Everyone wants to talk about the race issues, feminism and the themes the movie touches on,” she explained. “But even more than that, it’s the story of three woman who come together in an unlikely way to create positive change.

“Everyone has the ability to be extraordinary. It’s about ordinary people brave enough to want to be extraordinary.”

Stone recently said that she chose to star in The Help in an effort to move towards more mature film projects.

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The Disney film’s stars spoke to The Hollywood Reporter at the Deauville American Film Festival in France.

The stars of this summer’s breakout hit The Help headed from Jackson, Mississippi to the beaches of Normandy for the French premiere of the film at the Deauville American Film Festival on Friday night. The film’s stars Viola Davis and Emma Stone took refuge from the rainy weekend to sit down with The Hollywood Reporter’s France Correspondent Rebecca Leffler and talk about the film’s reception across the Atlantic. The Help, still at the top of the U.S. box office and already far across the $100 million mark stateside, will be released in France on Oct. 26th.

The Hollywood Reporter: The film just premiered in Deauville to a thunderous round of applause and the buzz around the festival has been positive. It’s a very American subject, so what is it about the film that makes it appeal to an international crowd?

Emma Stone: It’s human. Everyone wants to talk about the race issues, feminism and the themes the movie touches on. But even more than that, it’s the story of three women who come together in an unlikely way to create positive change. Everyone has the ability to be extraordinary. It’s about ordinary people brave enough to want to be extraordinary. Every human being can relate to that. My character Skeeter also deals with being different and not having the same mentality as the people around her.

THR: How did the story touch you personally?

Viola Davis: When I was growing up, we were the only black family in our town in Rhode Island. All of the images I saw in school were black people in the cotton fields. I remember telling my teacher when I was 15: “Black people never did anything,” He took me to the black historical society where we saw writing from black intellectuals and influential people. I remember that day so clearly. We sat for about an hour and just cried.

THR: Do you think the fact that this film is so popular shows that there’s been a shift in thinking in America?

Davis: I have a fantasy that people are intrigued by the topic and that they’re attracted to the wide range of characters. My fear is that the movie is popular because the book was popular. It is my fantasy and my hope that more movies with black people in them will become more mainstream and not just movies dealing with race.

THR: The Help has obviously affected many people, but how did this film influence you personally?

Stone: This story is the first one where what we’re discussing during the promotion is enriching my life. When I was younger, all I really wanted was to make my parents laugh. At the end of the day, I was just dancing in my living room. I still am. But now, I understand the power of storytelling now beyond just being a childhood ham.

PHOTOS: The Help’s Retro, Southern Style

THR: How was the response here in Deauville different from the reaction in Hollywood?

Davis: It was different from the premiere in Los Angeles. People clapped, but not with as much uninhibited joy. It was just enormous here last night.

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The long Labor Day weekend is providing some help to “The Help.”

The historical drama grossed $3.6 million so far this weekend, on its way to $14 million for the frame. The film, starring Bryce Dallas Howard, Viola Davis and Emma Stone, is closing in on $120 million after three weeks.

Meanwhile, Weinstein Company’s low-budget found footage thriller “Apollo 18″ scared up a decent $2.8 million, and is projected to earn $11 million for the weekend, just below the studio’s expectations.

Another debut, “Shark Night 3D,” earned $2.8 million, aided by playing on 3D screens. The film should earn around $8 or $9 million over the three-day.

However, the more specialized thriller “The Debt,” powered by Helen Mirren and Sam Worthington, may give “Shark Night” a run for its money. The film earned an impressive $1.9 million Friday, from significantly less screens.

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Earlier today, Emma Stone was photographed with her co-stars from “The Help” during a photocall at the Deauville Film Festival in France. I have just added 43 photos from the event into our photo gallery!

GALLERY LINKS:
Emma Stone Photo Gallery > Appearances > From 2011 > 37th Deauville Film Festival – “The Help” Photocall

On September 2nd, Emma Stone was photographed at the opening night ceremony and screening of “The Help” at the Deauville Film Festival in Paris, France. I have just added 50 HQ and MQ photos from the event into our photo gallery!

Also, Emma Stone was photographed on September 1st out in Paris and I have added 5 photos of her from that.

GALLERY LINKS:
Emma Stone Photo Gallery > Miscellaneous > Candids > September 1, 2011 – Paris
Emma Stone Photo Gallery > Appearances > From 2011 > 37th Deauville Film Festival – “The Help” Screening

DreamWorks’ “The Help” helped itself to the $100 million mark at the domestic box office, the studio announced Wednesday.

The $25 million period drama starring Emma Stone has been one of the summer’s surprise breakout hits, winning the domestic box office during its second and third weekends of release.

“We went from opening not No. 1 to being No. 1, which is unusual in itself,” Dave Hollis, Disney’s executive VP of distribution, told TheWrap. Disney handles distribution for DreamWorks.

Three weeks into its run, “The Help” is actually adding locations: It opened with 2,534 theaters in the U.S. and Canada, expanded by 156 in its second week, by another 88 in its third and is going up by some 65 more this weekend, Hollis said.

And as time goes on, the demographics of its audience are changing.

Hollis said that during the first weekend, the movie played well in urban, heartland and upscale theaters, but skewed older and female.

In the weeks since, it has expanded its reach and is now drawing old and young, male and female, Hollis said.

“We hope that what we’ve seen to date is something that can continue into the end of summer and into fall,” he said. “We’ve been fortunate to have what I can only describe as the movie to see in recent weeks.”

The movie opens in its first international territory, Australia, this weekend.

“The Help” is the story of friendship among African American maids in 1963, and offers an unsparing look at the way their employers treat them.

In a written statement, writer-director Tate Taylor said, “We never imagined this film, which began its journey inspired by the enthusiasm of a small group of Mississippi friends, would ever even get made. Now to have it seen and embraced by so many people is just beyond our wildest dreams.”

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