Eddie Murphy falls to Earth in misguided comedy
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The last time Eddie Murphy visited from outer space, the result was the spectacular 2002 misfire, “The Adventures of Pluto Nash.”
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New “X-Files” movie the latest Hollywood reboot
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The truth is still out there — on billboards, in sci-fi chat rooms and, on July 25, in a few thousand movie theaters.
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Just a Minute With Kyra Sedgwick
LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) - Kyra Sedgwick has enjoyed a long career in Hollywood since her first work in the mid-1980s in small roles on U.S. television and later in low-budget films such as 1990’s “Mr. & Mrs. Bridge.”
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Moviegoers will go straight to “Hellboy” sequel
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Welcome to the July crush. Eight wide releases will hit North American theaters during the next three sessions, including three on Friday: the superhero sequel “Hellboy II: The Golden Army,” the 3-D adventure release “Journey to the Center of the Earth,” and the Eddie Murphy comedy “Meet Dave.”
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Christie Brinkley settles divorce case
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former supermodel Christie Brinkley’s sensational divorce to her fourth husband ended abruptly on Thursday with a settlement, a spokeswoman for Brinkley said.
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Larry David primed for more “Curb”
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Larry David is bringing back “Curb Your Enthusiasm” for a seventh season, HBO said on Thursday.
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The Who and friends to play special show in LA
Roger Daltrey, vocalist for the Who, is taking a break from doing “delightfully nothing” for the past year to reunite with bandmate Pete Townshend for a concert in Los Angeles on Saturday.
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High oil prices may be good for Hollywood
NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Oil crisis? What oil crisis? As energy prices hit historic highs, studios have been forced to shoulder higher production costs. But the spike at the local Exxon doesn’t spell bad news for everyone in Hollywood. For some, it’s actually a boon.
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“Pregnant man” documentary in the works
LONDON (Reuters) - A British film and TV studio has won worldwide rights to produce a documentary about Thomas Beatie, who was born a woman but after surgery and hormone treatments lives as a man and gave birth last month in Oregon.
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Tarantino going into battle with next film
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Quentin Tarantino will start shooting his next film, the World War II action tale “Inglorious Bastards,” in October, with hopes of having it ready in time for the Cannes Film Festival next May.
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Latest “Hulk” may not spawn a sequel
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - It’s a tale of two movies, with an oddly similar ending.
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TV performers ratify Hollywood labor deal
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The smaller of Hollywood’s two performers unions ratified a new prime-time TV contract on Tuesday, undermining a last-ditch bid by the larger, more militant Screen Actors Guild to secure a richer deal.
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Mystery of Nicole Kidman baby name solved
CANBERRA (Reuters) - The mystery of Oscar-winner Nicole Kidman’s name choice for her daughter has reportedly been solved, with Kidman’s father saying “Sunday Rose” was inspired by an Australian arts patron notorious for her lurid love life.
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“Hancock” director a superhero of sorts
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - In the past four years, Peter Berg has directed three features, starred in three other films, and served as an executive producer of NBC’s critical darling “Friday Night Lights.”
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After years of chaos, Motley Crue still no “Saints”
NEW YORK (Billboard) - When author Neil Strauss first met Motley Crue, the scene could have been ripped right from “The Dirt,” the 2001 band autobiography he co-wrote with the group that became a New York Times best seller.
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Colombian hostage rescue heads to big screen
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Colombian movie director Simon Brand is teaming up with producers in Hollywood and his native country to bring to the big screen the story of last week’s dramatic rescue of Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other hostages in Colombia.
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Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban welcome daughter
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Oscar-winner Nicole Kidman gave birth on Monday to her first biological child, a daughter named Sunday fathered by her husband and country music star Keith Urban.
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“Kinky Boots” marching to Broadway
NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - “Kinky Boots” could be strutting to Broadway. The British comedy feature, which starred Chiwetel Ejiofor as a drag queen, has been acquired for the stage by veteran Broadway producers Daryl Roth (”August: Osage County”) and Hal Luftig (”Movin’ Out”), who aim to turn it into a musical.
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“Hancock” joins legion of box office superheroes
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Welcome to the Summer of the Superheroes. The international appeal of Will Smith and the overseas market’s fondness for action heroes saw “Hancock” open to a mighty $78.6 million from 55 territories during the weekend, according to final data issued Monday.
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Nickelback joins Live Nation in global deal
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Canadian rock band Nickelback has signed a global recording, touring and merchandising deal with concert promoter Live Nation Inc that an industry source said was worth between $50 million and $70 million.
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McConaughey’s girlfriend has baby boy
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Matthew McConaughey’s Brazilian girlfriend has given birth to a boy, People magazine reported on its Web site on Tuesday.
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“Generation Kill” tests appetite for war on TV
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The team behind critical hit television drama “The Wire” brings the Iraq War into U.S. living rooms this Sunday in HBO’s “Generation Kill,” taking on what has proven to be a dangerous minefield for Hollywood.
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Reunited rockers Fabulosos Cadillacs in high gear
LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - If last year’s reunion mania is any indication, the highly anticipated return of Los Fabulosos Cadillacs this fall stands to be a major fourth-quarter bright spot for the music business. The band will also be able to take advantage of modern tools of promotion not available in its heyday.
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Village People singer has surgery on vocal cords
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Victor Willis, the original lead singer of disco-era band Village People, underwent surgery at a San Diego hospital on Monday to remove nodules from his vocal cords, his spokeswoman said.
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“Dark Knight” a gripping character study
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - “The Dark Knight” is pure adrenaline. Director Christopher Nolan, having dispensed with the introspective, moody origin story of 2005’s “Batman Begins,” now puts the Caped Crusader through a decathlon of explosions, vehicle flips, hand-to-hand combat, midair rescues and pulse-pounding suspense.
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Osbournes head back to TV as variety show hosts
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - British rocker Ozzy Osbourne and his raucous family — former stars of MTV — are headed back to U.S. television as hosts of a prime-time variety hour in the works for the Fox network.
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Ex-”Idols” Young and Lewis take indie route
NEW YORK (Billboard) - Arguably the biggest asset that “American Idol” grants is exposure. Contestants go from unknown hopefuls to household names in a matter of weeks, and with that comes pressure to remain in the spotlight by rushing to release an album after the show airs.
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Ringo Starr has “peace and love” birthday
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Ringo Starr held a “peace and love” fest on a rainy Chicago sidewalk to mark his 68th birthday on Monday. “What could be wrong? Peace and Love. What a great birthday gift,” the former Beatle said. “It’s a happening.”
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Phish members jam together at Michigan festival
ROTHBURY, Michigan (Billboard) - Phish fans, long hoping for a reunion of the defunct jam band, got their wish — or at least a portion of it — at the inaugural Rothbury Festival in Michigan on Sunday.
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Skaggs puts new spin on country hits
NASHVILLE (Billboard) - Everything old is new again for Ricky Skaggs, whose latest set, “The High Notes,” is a collection of some of his biggest country hits, rerecorded “from a bluegrass perspective,” as the album cover states.
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Kidman and Urban celebrate daughter’s birth
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Actress Nicole Kidman gave birth on Monday to a girl, her husband Keith Urban told fans on his Web site.
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Bill Clinton on tap for Elvis Costello talk show
TORONTO (Hollywood Reporter) - Former president and saxophonist Bill Clinton will be featured in an episode of the new Elvis Costello-hosted talk/music series set to air on the Sundance Channel in the United States.
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Authors get rock-star treatment at Brazil festival
PARATY, Brazil (Reuters) - Paulo Cavalcante rode buses for 46 hours from the dusty Brazil northeast to this coastal town for the chance to rub literary shoulders with British dramatist Tom Stoppard and other famous writers.
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“Time” is right for R&B singer-songwriter Gourdin
LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - Before signing his major-label contract, Noel Gourdin caught the attention of no less a music authority than Dr. Dre. After meeting through a mutual acquaintance, the super producer invited the R&B newcomer into his studio to record several tracks.
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Madonna denies affair and says not seeking divorce
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Pop star Madonna denied having an affair with Yankee slugger Alex Rodriguez and said in a statement to People magazine on Sunday she is not planning to get divorced from her British husband Guy Ritchie.
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Will Smith rules box office with ‘Hancock’
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Will Smith, the closest thing to a sure bet in Hollywood these days, flew to the top of the worldwide box office with his critically mauled superhero saga “Hancock,” distributor Columbia Pictures said on Sunday.
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Man rips head from Hitler wax figure
BERLIN (Reuters) - A man tore the head from a controversial waxwork figure of Adolf Hitler on the opening day of Berlin’s Madame Tussauds museum on Saturday, police said.
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“Kung Fu Panda” prompts soul-searching in China
BEIJING (Reuters) - More than just a box-office hit in China, animated Hollywood comedy “Kung Fu Panda” has led Chinese artists to find fault with their own film industry and call for fewer government controls on culture.
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Baseball star Alex Rodriguez and wife split: report
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Baseball star Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees and his wife, Cynthia, have broken up, according to the New York Daily News, amid media speculation that he has been seeing pop star Madonna.
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Paparazzi feel the heat in California
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - For years Hollywood’s paparazzi have hounded celebrities, but now — with help from local politicians, a lawyer in the Monica Lewinsky case, and even Malibu surfers — they are the ones feeling the heat.
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Just a Minute With: Josh Peck for “The Wackness”
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actor Josh Peck has spent much of his teenage and young adult life in front of television cameras portraying the chubby, goofy character Josh in the Nickelodeon cable TV series “Drake & Josh.”
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Bozo the Clown’s Larry Harmon dead at 83
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Larry Harmon, the alter ego behind Bozo the Clown for more than 50 years, died on Thursday of congestive heart failure at age 83, his spokesman said.
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Call girl in Spitzer case drops “Gone Wild” suit
MIAMI (Reuters) - The call girl linked to the sex scandal that prompted the resignation of then-New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer in March has dropped a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against “Girls Gone Wild” founder Joe Francis.
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ABBA foursome make rare appearance
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - All four members of supergroup ABBA appeared together on Friday at the Swedish premiere of the film “Mamma Mia!”, delighting fans with their first public showing for years.
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Sex Pistol says it’s all about family, community
LONDON (Reuters) - He and his band have been the scourge of the British establishment for decades, whether by swearing on television in an age when it still shocked or mocking the monarchy.
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“10,000 BC” clubs the DVD competition
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The prehistoric epic “10,000 BC” scored a triple victory on the latest home video charts, topping the national DVD sales and rental charts as well as the Blu-ray Disc sales chart its first week in stores.
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Sacha Baron Cohen, Will Ferrell team up for sleuth film
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Sacha Baron Cohen will star as detective Sherlock Holmes and Will Ferrell as his loyal assistant, Watson, in an upcoming film comedy inspired by tales of the fictional English sleuth, Columbia Pictures said on Wednesday.
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Bruce Lee’s last HK home may become museum: report
HONG KONG (Reuters) - A mansion that once belonged to Kung Fu legend Bruce Lee in Hong Kong may be preserved as a museum, giving belated recognition to one of the city’s most famous sons, a newspaper reported on Thursday.
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Kylie Minogue receives OBE
LONDON (Reuters) - Kylie Minogue, the former soap actress who become one of the world’s most famous female recording artists, was honored for her services to music on Thursday.
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New Hunter S. Thompson film focuses on writings
NEW YORK (Reuters) - When Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney began filming the story of drug-addled U.S. journalist Hunter S. Thompson at the late author’s funeral, he says it was one of his “greatest failures” in making the documentary.
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