Laurence Fishburne by Jordan Strauss/ WireImage.com
Film vet Laurence Fishburne is close to signing a deal to join CBS' CSI, sources tell TVGuide.com. Fishburne would fill the considerable void being left when series front man William Petersen steps down after this season's 10th episode.Fishburne will play a doctor/scientist who comes into the CSI as an outsider, and not as the team's new boss, CBS Entertainment president Nina Tassler revealed at the TCA press tour. As a DNA expert, this new character has identified a common profile among serial killers — and it's even in his own genes.Petersen — who will continue on as an executive producer as well as put in the occasional "special" appearance — is the third original cast member to leave the show, following Jorja Fox and Gary Dourdan (each of whom will briefly resurface this season). — Matt Mitovich, with reporting by Craig Tomashoff and Mickey O'ConnorPOLL: Is Fishburne a good fit? Vote here.Related:• CSI: Who Should Replace Grissom?• Matt Roush: CSI E...
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Laurence Fishburne by Jeffrey Mayer/ WireImage.com
Harvey Weinstein is producing the film adaptation of Paolo Coelhos The Alchemist which begins production in the next several weeksLaurence Fishburne is also on board as a producer as well as director and the films starThe movies budget is estimated at 60 million The rights to the project were originally sold to Warner Brothers in 1994 for 250000 but it sat on the shelf for several years Fishburne himself eventually acquired the rights along with indie production house A-Mark Entertainment JR Whalen
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Milo Ventimiglia by Mitchell Haaseth/NBC Photo
Milo Ventimiglia, Laurence Fishburne and Jean Reno have signed on to join Matt Dillon and Skeet Ulrich in the heist film Armored.... Tom Wilkinson is in talks to reteam with Michael Clayton director Tony Gilroy for Duplicity, a corporate thriller headlined by Clive Owen and Julia Roberts, and also starring Billy Bob Thornton.... Walt Disney Studios is bringing new 3-D versions of Toy Story and Toy Story 2 to theaters on Oct. 2, 2009, and Feb. 12, 2010, respectively, setting up the June 2010 arrival of Toy Story 3.
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Laurence Fishburne is adapting the best-selling novel The Alchemist into a feature film fancied as "Harry Potter meets Indiana Jones." Fishburne will also direct.... Rapper 50 Cent is in final talks to join Robert De Niro and Al Pacino in the crime thriller Righteous Kill, playing a drug dealer who helps track a serial killer.... Djimon Hounsou is a mixed-martial-arts coach in Get Some, an indie drama also starring Sean Faris, Amber Heard (Hidden Palms) and Cam Gigandet (The O.C.).... Alfred Hitchcock's first film, The Lodger, is being remade as a modern-day urban thriller set in Los Angeles.... Oliver Platt will play television exec Bob Zelnick in Ron Howard's Frost/Nixon film.
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Brad Pitt, Ben Affleck and Laurence Fishburne have each donated fancy-shmancy motorcycles to an online charity auction to help Morgan Freeman Jr. erect a 30-foot-tall memorial to Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in Washington, the Associated Press reports. Groundbreaking on the site is scheduled to begin this year with hopes of completing construction by 2008.
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Whale Rider's Keisha Castle-Hughes has been cast as Mary in Nativity, a look at the Virgin Mary's life before the birth of Christ.... Universal has optioned the James Sallis novel Drive, about a stuntman by day/getaway-car driver by night, as a starring vehicle (no pun intended) for Hugh Jackman.... The Weinstein Co. has bought the domestic rights to Bobby, writer-director Emilio Estevez's drama about the 1968 assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. The film's cast includes Estevez, Anthony Hopkins, Lindsay Lohan, Demi Moore, Sharon Stone, William H. Macy, Laurence Fishburne, Christian Slater, Helen Hunt and Martin Sheen.
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Scarlett Johansson and Jonathan Rhys Meyers in Match Point
Jonathan Rhys Meyers had no idea what he was getting into — literally — when Woody Allen cast him in the romantic thriller Match Point, now in select theaters. "I had never read the script when Woody offered the role to me," the actor tells TVGuide.com. "And I just accepted. For any young actor to be in a Woody Allen film, you're just going to do it regardless of what it is."
Once Rhys Meyers did peruse the script, he was hit with another surprise. "I was like, 'If I get four or five good scenes, I'll be gold.' And then it dawned on me how much work I had to do in this!"
And how. Match Point features Rhys Meyers as Chris, a former tennis champ who latches on to new Brit bud Tom (Matthew Goode
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Question: Last night the dinner discussion was Pee-wee's Playhouse and we were trying to recall who was who on the show. We remembered that Samuel L. Jackson was the cowboy, but was he also the King of Cartoons? Phil Hartman was the genie, but who made up the rest of the cast? Also, wasn't the show cancelled after Paul Reubens' arrest in Florida? It was a great show (except the cartoons were rather dumb, in our opinion). Thanks.
Answer: One can only hope your food was better than your memory, Laura, for your facts are just slightly off (though I commend you on your taste — the show was indeed great and I'm betting you folks make for an entertaining dining experience).
Since there were way too many characters and cast members for my fingers (and your eyes) to cover in this column, I'll just hit the most recognizable players. First off, you've fallen victim to the same phenomenon that, according to re
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