. >> omar epps is the guy that grew up next door and would love to rekindle his relationship with gabrielle. >> with her pain and flaws. i of flaws. >> cut, i like that. i like that! >> back to the football game, almost christmas is from director david talbot and producer will packer and it was time to bring in a ringer. >> can you play football? >> yeah. >> are you all right? had. >> i quit in ninth grade, and i was the quarterback. >> ninth grade don't count. >> ooh! >> i'm just glad that j.b. smoove could catch the ball almost christmas will duke it out with the sci-fi thriller arrival and dr. strangelove. if almost christmas can win the top spot it would be the ninth number one opening for super producer will packer since 2007. >>> remember when scott hamilton skated to olympic glor ney 198 4shgs but since then scott has proven what it means to be a hero and a fighter. >> i love that, nancy and so incredibly true. skwot has battled a brain tu learned, he has to fight for a third time. >> when kids ask, did you have a brain tumor? i do, and it's okay. i've got this. ?? ?? >> 2004, then 2

almost christmas, danny glover is the patriarch of an all star family, including gabrielle union, omar epps, and monique, coming together to celebrate the holidays, with football, food, and some dysfunctional family fun that anyone can identify with. (sot: mo'nique/actre ss) you see the sisters, who are going at it back and forth, (nat sot from "almost christmas"/universal pictures) hey walter, is the family coming for christmas? every single one of them! (nat sot from "arrival"/param ount pictures) there are days that define your story beyond your life, like the day they arrived (narr:) and in arrival, amy adams is a translator recruited by the u.s. military to decode alien messages when earth is threatened. communicating with the creatures behind the scenes was a challenge itself, because adams and her co-stars were actually talking to puppet stand ins during filming! (sot: amy adams/actress) sometimes when you're like by yourself doing self conscious. you get used to it but, but it was always nice to sort of be in that environment of awe. that kind of you know. but you always had to make

and then there is lots of twists and turns, particularly with omar epps' character. it is very different. people who enjoy the book and the movie will also enjoy the series but it is not a retelling. >> it stands on its own. >> absolutely. >> that's awesome. what was it like training for the role of a former marine? i'm sure the mental has as much to do with it as just the physical? >> it absolutely does. especially if you talk about the technique behind being a sniper. it is very zen, very meditative. focus on your breathings, even your heartbeat can throw off accuracy of the shot. i shot with the chief of the sniper school in the marine corps. i hit a 12-inch target at 900 yards. >> you did? >> yeah. >> hello! >> so it's legit. what you are seeing is real. i worked hard. >> do you transfer any of that zen behavior to your every day life? it seems like after training for something like that i would go to my zen spot every day. >> little bit. i'm trying to meditate a little bit here and there. . i think it is a positive thing. you got an announcement to make. >> yeah