Updated the gallery with some posters and promotional stills from Yes Man.

New York press and movie critics got their first glimpse at an animated Jim Carrey as Ebenezer Scrooge in a presentation of 3-D footage from Disney’s “A Christmas Carol” at the Regal E-Walk Theatre this week.

Two scenes were shown from the performance capture-driven film, directed by Robert Zemeckis (”Polar Express“), along with a montage of clips and a teaser trailer. Publicists were showing the footage every half hour from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., with Christmas cookies and pastries on offer outside the theatre after each showing.

In the first scene, Carrey as Scrooge argues with Bob Cratchit (Gary Oldman) over the meaning of Christmas. It is immediately clear that the animated characters are made to look like the actors voicing them, as was the case in “Polar Express.” Carrey as Scrooge looked like a wrinkly, crusty version of himself, though the actor doesn’t sound like himself. There are no echoes of Ace Ventura, The Riddler or any of the other iconic characters he’s played in Scrooge’s voice. If Carrey’s name wasn’t headlined on the poster, you wouldn’t know he was in the film.

The second scene shown sees Jacob Marley’s ghost crashing in on Scrooge during the night. It is here that the film shows off its high tech special wizardry. Thanks to the 3D effects work, Marley’s ghost hovers off the screen and glows with incandescent color. There’s a gross moment as well, when Marley’s jaw falls off and he has to re-attach it with a white cloth.

The publicist in charge of the event said the scenes were still unfinished and that Zemeckis & Co. are still fixing the lighting and color. You get to see Jim Carrey as crusty Scrooge in Disney’s “A Christmas Carol” on November 6th of this year.

Last week we told you about actor Sean Penn’s sudden departure from acting, when he pulled out of two projects simultaneously. Penn has decided not to star in the crime drama Cartel, or the high profile Farrelly Brother’s comedy, The Three Stooges. He was set to star opposite Jim Carrey and Benicio del Toro as one third of the legendary comedic trio, but with him gone the film’s fate is uncertain. There have been several conflicting reports about whether or not Penn will be recast or if the film will go on.

Check out what’s been said after the jump.

Hitflix recently posted a few quotes from a close source stating that “the picture is still a “go” for MGM with Benicio Del Toro (Moe) and Jim Carrey (Curly) already on board.  The studio may wait for Penn or may recast depending on how much time the actor really decides to take off.” This may sound like they’re moving forward as planned, but over at FirstShowing they’ve posted some choice words from one of the film’s directors Peter Farrelly, and they don’t sound as reassuring. He stated that because of Penn’s departure he fears “a domino effect now.” What’s going on here? Who do we believe?

The director didn’t elaborate on further casting, but he did give some details about the film’s story. The Three Stooges will not be a biopic, as a lot of us thought. Instead it will be similar to watching a long episode of the classic TV series.

“It will be three half-hour episodes rolled into an hour-and-a-half movie,” he said. “Each part picks up where the other one left off. They look the same, talk the same and act the same, but it takes place in the present, and we wrote new material.”

That sounds like a sign of promise, but Alex Billington goes on to say that he’s heard from a close source that the film’s script is “terrible.” Once again I ask the question, who do we believe? I was already shaky about this film from the beginning, but I was blinded by the amount of talent involved so I rolled with it. Now, we’re in a funky situation where we don’t know what will happen next! Hollywood is such a soap opera. Am I the only one who can totally see Johnny Depp creeping in to steal this role? I know there were rumors early on about him starring, but he could definitely do it.

Jim  has been nominated for 2 Teen Coice Awards for his performance in Yes Man, the movie also got itself a nominated. You can go here to vote.

Remember to tune in on Monday, August 10, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on FOX when the Teen Choice Awards 2009 will be broadcast.

Choice Movie Actor: Comedy
Jim Carrey – Yes Man
Zac Efron – 17 Again
Will Ferrell – Land of the Lost
Seth Rogen – Observe and Report and Pineapple Express
Ben Stiller – Night at the Museum and Tropic Thunder

Choice Movie: Rockstar Moment
Jim Carrey – Yes Man
Zac Efron – 17 Again
Anne Hathaway – Bride Wars
Paul Rudd and Jason Segel – I Love You, Man
Mike Tyson, Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis – The Hangover

Choice Movie: Comedy
The Hangover
Land of the Lost
Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian
Paul Blart: Mall Cop
Yes Man

Celebrities win domain names through arbitration.

As a follow up to Domain Name Wire’s earlier stories, both Jim Carrey and Cameron Diaz have won their respective domain names through arbitration proceedings.

Actor and comedian Jim Carrey filed his case in April with World Intellectual Property Organization to get the domain name JimCarrey.com. According to Compete.com, JimCarrey.com gets a few hundred unique visitors per month.

Actress Cameron Diaz filed a case with National Arbitration Forum in April to get CameronDiaz.com.

Carrey and Diaz join several other celebrities to pick up their domain names through arbitration lately. Jay Leno has filed to get several domain names (some of which were handed over already), Alien Star Sigourney Weaver won SigourneyWeaver.com, and the owner of ElizabethTaylor.com gave Elizabeth Taylor the domain name after she filed a complaint.

Continuing with the photoshoots. I have added another 8 to the gallery.

REDWOOD CITY — A planned stop in the city for a train on a nationwide tour to promote the upcoming holiday movie “Disney’s A Christmas Carol” has been canceled due to safety concerns related to maintenance work currently being done on the tracks.

City officials had been enthusiastic about the June 26 to 28 train stop, which was intended to generate buzz for the animated movie starring Jim Carrey.

In addition to the four-car train, Disney promised to erect a state-of-the-art 3-D theater near the tracks at the Port of Redwood City Marina, where the public would have been able to see a free sneak preview of the movie and other exclusive behind-the-scenes footage.

According to city spokesman Malcolm Smith, Union Pacific Railroad is in the process of performing major maintenance work on the tracks near the Port.

Despite earlier assurances that the tracks would be available for the Disney train, last week Union Pacific announced that, for safety reasons, they would not provide the Disney train with access over the tracks where the work is taking place.

As a result, Disney has moved the event for that weekend to the Port of Oakland, Smith said.

It’s just too funny, check it out.

Sean Penn recently announced he has opted out of several film projects to focus on family life.

Multiple Academy Award-winner Sean Penn has announced recently that he is pulling out of two films in order to focus more on family and his personal life. He has dropped out of the comedy, “The Three Stooges,” also starring Jim Carrey and Benicio del Toro, as well as “Cartel,” a crime thriller about a man’s conflict with Mexican drug cartels. His absence could last up to a year, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

This follows news that Penn has withdrawn divorce papers with his wife, actress Robin Wright Penn, the third withdrawal in 18 months, according to Entertainment Tonight News.

Variety reports that Penn has recently completed two projects, “Fair Game,” co-starring Naomi Watts, and “The Tree of Life,” alongside Brad Pitt, both due out next year. Penn most recently starred in the Gus Van Sant directed “Milk,” for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor.

Jim appeared at the Sneak Peek of the Brand New Madame Tussauds Hollywood on thursday.