Because nothing is sacred at Walt Disney Pictures anymore, the studio is developing Snow and the Seven, a live-action take on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in which an English girl trains for battle with seven Shaolin monks. Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend) has just come aboard to direct.... Disney Pictures has also bought the rights to the upcoming graphic novel — and, judging from the title, merchandising bonanza — Pet Robots.
Crushing pretty much the world's entire heterosexual male population, Scarlett Johansson has let it be known that she will not be playing X-rated movie star Jenna Jameson in Heartbreaker, a movie about Jameson's checkered past. "Scarlett… has no interest in playing this role," sniffs her rep. Not even if our own Matt Webb Mitovich would consider her nuanced portrayal of the adult-film scorcher, like, totally the best birthday present ever? In other casting news, Ryan Reynolds is thisclose to playing the underling that brittle boss Sandra Bullock strong-arms into marriage to avoid deportation in The Proposal.... Also, ABC has signed Party of Five alum Scott Wolf to a development deal. All of which will be cold comfort to Matt.
American Idol also-ran and all-around stand-up guy Corey Clark has been… wait, no! There must be some mistake! He's been arrested on charges that he was in possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia. He's also in hot water because last year he skipped a court date in which he was supposed to address charges of violating a court order and trespassing. Gee, and he always seemed so with-it. In other reality-TV news, America's Next Top Model kook Jael Strauss has filed an invasion-of-privacy lawsuit against her former agent for publishing risqué pics of her on the Internet and in the 2001 book Beautiful: Nudes by Marc Baptiste. Although while she was on the show, the girl couldn't keep her top on for five minutes in a row, she's still miffed that these photos of her as an uninhibited 16-year-old have been released without her parents' consent.
Apparently having learned nada from the atrocity that was From Justin to Kelly, American Idol judge Simon Cowell is working on a movie that will be based on his U.K. hits X Factor and Pop Idol, according to the Sun. "It's going to be the modern-day version of Fame, although set [at] a talent show rather than a talent college," he told the paper. [Insert the name of your fave reality-TV has-been here], call your agent!
Or so The Simple Life simpleton tells Diane Sawyer on Good Morning, America in an interview to air tomorrow and Friday. "I'm almost four months," she adds, noting that boyfriend Joel Madden of Good Charlotte is the babydaddy. As for the four-day jail sentence she received after pleading guilty to DUI last week, she says, "If I could personally apologize to every single person that has lost a loved one from drunk driving, I would. Unfortunately I can't, but this is my way of paying my dues and taking responsibility and being an adult." It certainly beats her original statement that she wasn't plastered, merely high on pot and prescription drugs. Does that count as "growth"?
You just know this isn't going to end well. During a routine encounter with the paps in Vegas on Tuesday, Wynn hotel security turned away the shutterbugs, at which point the retired singer's own bodyguard jumped one of the photographers. He now faces up to six months in prison. For her part, Brit hurled a baby bottle at the cameraman and yelled, "I am going to kill you!" No, this isn't going to end well at all. And in unfortunately related news, sources tell Us magazine that — shocking — Spears' maternal instincts may be off. Supposedly, 22-month-old Sean is already having dental problems because whenever he cries, Mom gives him a bottle of juice. And Jayden's chompers aren't safe, either: La Spears reportedly asked an L.A. dentist if he would whiten both her kids' teeth. (He said no.) Furthermore, a Britney insider alleges that the boys' diet consists largely of soda, Doritos and bubblegum — a choking hazard for wee ones. Bedtime, the source adds, may involve ice cr...
What a week — first Ingmar Bergman, now this. According to officials in Rome, one of Italy's, if not the world's, greatest directors, Michelangelo Antonioni, has died at the age of 94. Among his languidly paced but widely admired films are L'Avventura, La Notte and L'Eclisse. "In the empty, silent spaces of the world, he has found metaphors that illuminate the silent places in our hearts, and found in them, too, a strange and terrible beauty," said Jack Nicholson, the star of Antonioni's 1975 movie The Passenger, when he presented him with a Lifetime Achievement Oscar in 1995.
Perhaps sensing that American Idol has peaked (thanks a lot, Sanjaya), the reality juggernaut's producers have come up with a new show, titled The Next Great American Band, which seeks to discover not merely the heirs apparent to Madonna and Michael Jackson but tomorrow's Heart and Journey. The battle begins with a two-hour episode on Oct. 19 (and will air every Friday thereafter). Brooke Band, get your audition song ready, 'cause they're finally ready for you! Tuesday's Today's News was written by Ben Katner.
After 12 years of marriage, Jenna Elfman and husband Bodhi (what, you were expecting me to say "Greg"?) welcomed their first child into the world on July 23. Son Story Elias weighed in at 7 pounds, 2 ounces, and, in a statement released by Mom's publicist, said he "wants to give big props to his mom for all the hard work." He's also said to be a fan of "classical music, a clean diaper... and long naps." But then, aren't we all?
Yesterday the rights to O.J. Simpson's If I Did It book were passed along to relatives of murder victim Ron Goldman. The family said they plan to exploit the theoretical tell-all in order to collect the $33.5 million they were awarded in a wrongful-death judgment against the bankrupt football star turned bogeyman in 1997. TMZ.com reports that So You Think You Can Dance judge Nigel Lythgoe has hooked up with Bobby Ewing's and Elvis' ex, Priscilla Presley. Pass it on! On Friday Pirate Master contestant Cheryl Kosewicz was found dead in her home, an apparent victim of suicide. Her boyfriend took his own life just two months earlier. FX will rerun the first two episodes of the new Glenn Close legal drama Damages on sister cabler MyNetworkTV on Wednesday. If that means one less day that we ever have to see American Heiress, I'm all for it.
Blair Underwood is in talks to join ABC's new prime-time soap Dirty Sexy Money, playing Donald Sutherland's archenemy.... Hairspray hoofer Nikki Blonsky has signed on to play the best bud of a balding teen in the adolescent comedy Harold, costarring Ally Sheedy and Colin Quinn.
With his sentence on charges ranging from vehicular manslaughter to felony DUI being handed down on Thursday, Prison Break's Lane Garrison has taped a particularly graphic PSA in hopes of dissuading folks from drinking and driving. According to TMZ.com, the recorded spot has the actor recalling the events of the night his actions took the life of a teenage companion, and viewers will see re-created footage of the car wreck. The only thing that could possibly be more effective would be a picture of Lindsay Lohan. Pretty much any picture of Lindsay Lohan.
Wow. I'd think the cabler would be pretty stoked about all the drama it's getting out of its reality show Fashionista Diaries... except, um, the series doesn't even debut until tomorrow. What's the problem? The serial was supposed to be about six semi-glam assistants, some of whom worked at Jane magazine. The late Jane magazine. So now the pair who saw Jane fold will punch the clock at CosmoGIRL! instead. Does it make me old, male or both that I'm not at all sure I'll know the difference? Perhaps to further distract from the emergency recast (for those of you who will know the difference), Fashionista has announced that Bree Williamson — aka One Life to Live crackpot Tessica — will make a cameo in the Aug. 15 episode.
At last! Two years after the hip-hop bad boy released the uncategorizable soap opera/music video/freaky indie flick Trapped in the Closet Chapters 1-12, he's finished with Chapters 13-22. Starting Aug. 13, a new chapter a day will go live; the DVD collection of the new webisodes will hit stores on Aug. 21. Don't know what the hell I'm talking about here? Not a problem. IFC.com will be running Chapters 1–12 beginning Aug. 6, and the cabler will broadcast the entire series as a feature on Sept. 7 at 9 pm/ET. This will be followed by a 30-minute Q&A with Kelly.
Bless you, Drew Barrymore! Apparently the last person in the world (well, besides you and me) who remembers the golden age of MTV (you know, back when the M stood for music, not mind-numbing), she is exec-producing a new VH1 series called Clash of the Music Videos. In each episode, two contestants will be given a shoestring budget to remake a classic '80s music video, with the victor being chosen by the stars of the original. Top that, Ashton Kutcher! Elsewhere on the cabler, allegedly legendary lothario Mystery will transform eight benchwarmers into playahs in the new how-to dating show The Pick-up Artist, bowing Aug. 6.
It's just like the sleazy mayor in Jaws says: "You yell, 'Barracuda,' everybody says, 'Huh? What?' You yell, 'Shark,' you've got a ratings smash in the middle of summer!" Discovery Channel's Sunday-night Shark Week special, Ocean of Fear: The Worst Shark Attack Ever, brought the cabler its best numbers ever for the annual feeding frenzy. The Richard Dreyfuss-narrated Shark Attack hooked 3.9 million total viewers, way more than 2003's Anatomy of a Shark Bite (which scared up 3.2 million). The 20th "Shark Week" runs through Saturday. In related news, Daryl Hannah, John Schneider and Armand Assante have signed on to star in Hallmark Channel's three-hour Shark Swarm, about... oh, come on. Read the title.
They said it wouldn't last, and when they're right, boy are they ever right. After two years of tabloid headlines — er, togetherness — Britney Spears and Kevin Federline's divorce came through yesterday. And as the ink dried, the hotmess' attorney filed papers to keep details of the custody arrangement under wraps to insure that the info couldn't be used by kidnappers. Because if the young-'uns wound up not in Brit's "care," that would be a bad thing? In other relationship news, Usher's babymama Tameka Foster tells People, "No one knows why we canceled the wedding [Saturday], but I can tell you that all of the reasons that everyone is speculating and writing about are completely untrue." Well, that narrows it down. She also admits that "we had a scare" regarding preterm labor, "but I am fine and the baby is fine."UPDATE: So R&B hottie Usher and his preggers fiancée Tameka Foster called off their wedding last weekend. Big deal, they've told Us. They're still gonna...
No, that isn't a quote from Paris. (The jailbirds made up, remember?) Rather, that's what a source at E! told Us. "Paris carried the show. She was the one willing to do anything," the insider insisted. "Nicole was the diva." Additionally, the spy added, "We felt like the real-life drama of their lives overshadowed anything happening on the show. It just was too played out." Gee, ya think? Unfortunately, the Fox castoff could rise from the ashes yet again, should another network want to see just how low it can go.
It's a good thing Jimmy Fallon is used to working late, because when Conan O'Brien replaces Jay Leno as host of The Tonight Show in 2009, the SNL alum is likely to replace O'Brien as host of Late Night. "He is at the top of our short list," admitted NBC's late-night prez Rick Ludwin, adding that we shouldn't start holding our breath for an announcement until early '08. Fallon has also gotten a vote of confidence from his former Weekend Update coanchor, Tina Fey. He's really funny and loves to talk to people," she observed. "It must be that Irish charm." If nothing else, he'd certainly give Carson Daly a run for the up-past-bedtime TRL audience. Tuesday's Today's News was written by Ben Katner.
The late-late night Johnny Carson, Tom Snyder died Sunday of leukemia at the age of 71. From 1973 to '81, the ciggie-puffing funnyman hosted The Tomorrow Show, which, natch, used to follow The Tonight Show. In '95 he staged a witching-hour comeback, emceeing The Late Late Show with Tom Snyder after David Letterman's Late Show broadcasts. In '98, he was replaced by Craig Kilborn, but to many, he remains irreplaceable.
On Saturday, the Imagen Awards, which honors work by and about Hispanics, doffed its sombrero to Ugly Betty. The ABC hit went in with 11 nominations and won best prime-time TV show, best TV actress (for America Ferrera, who was also awarded the Imagen Foundation's Creative Achievement Award), and won the best-supporting-actress for Ana Ortiz's work as Hilda. On the feature side, Pan's Labyrinth came out on top, scoring the prize for best picture and best actress (Ivana Baquero). Dalia Hernandez and Gerardo Taracena (from Mel Gibson's Apocalypto) won best supporting actress and actor on the big screen.Monday's Today's News was written by Ben Katner.
Stop me if you've heard this one. On Thursday, Fox's So You Think You Can Dance came in first in the 18-49 demo, with a 3.3 rating. Don't Forget the Lyrics came in second with a 3.0 rating in that age group. CBS' lineup brought up the rear, with Big Brother 8 (2.7, third in the demo), CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2.6, fourth in the demo) and Shark (2.1, fifth in the demo). Because, really, what says "young" and "hip" and "now" like cranky ol' James Woods?
