November 16, 2006

At last a writer is found for "The Monstrous Memoirs of a Mighty McFearless." Variety revealed that "Calendar Girls" scribe Tim Firth has been confirmed to work on the flick's script for Jerry Bruckheimer Films and Walt Disney Pictures.

Based on Ahmet Zappa's children book of the same title, the picture has been floating around since Disney picked up the rights to film the work last year. It tells about a young brother and sister who learn that their family is part of a long line of monster hunters and have to team up fighting against the most diabolical creature in the universe.

Talk is heating up that Kristanna Loken is dating Michelle Rodriguez.

The two actresses are co-stars in the action, horror, fantasy flick "BloodRayne".

David Banda, the one-year-old Malawian Madonna has just adopted, is a boy. And now the pop icon is wanting a girl, but still a Malawian.

Asked in an interview if she wanted another child, the singer replied, "Yes, absolutely. I'm going to adopt another Malawian child very quickly. A baby girl this time, in order to redress the balance."

A country music crooner, Reba McEntire earns a new predicate. The singer was on Wednesday November 15th honored as the first Country Music Television's "Giants."

In a 2 1/2-hour special to air Saturday night, there will be the likes of Dolly Parton, Trisha Yearwood, Wynonna Judd, Martina McBride, Faith Hill, LeAnn Rimes, Jennifer Nettles, Megan Mullally and Kelly Clarkson, all of them will sing McEntire's songs.

Peter Weir is bracing himself to deal with sea again, only this time he will go deep down the surface, if everything goes smooth. The "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World" helmer is reportedly engaged in talks to both produce and direct "Shadow Divers" for Fox 2000, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

Adapted from Robert Kurson's best-selling nonfiction book "Shadow Divers: The True Adventure of Two Americans Who Discovered Hitler's Lost Sub", pic follows two deep-sea wreck divers as they risk their lives to identify a sunken U-boat they have found 60 miles off the coast of New Jersey.

Whitney Houston as yet make a comeback to music industry, but the actress is facing bankruptcy. Is she? Not that worse though.

The six-time Grammy winning singer will, sad to say, have her 10-acre New Jersey estate sold at a sheriff's sale on January 4th next year because she reportedly is more than $1 million behind on the mortgage and taxes have not been paid this year.

A three-time Super Bowl champion, Emmitt Smith has proven he is a good dancer as well. The former American football player won the 3rd season of ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" Wednesday November 15th.

"It is awesome! It is awesome!" cried Smith after hugging his professional dance partner, Cheryl Burke. "We came a long way, we really have."

Comic actor Jack Black and the team from Channel101.com are working together with VH1 to executive produce "The Department of Acceptable Media".

It is a weekly comedy sketch show that will feature user-generated content as well as short films occasionally starring the actor himself.

U2 won a legal battle, Wednesday November 15th, against their former stylish Lola Cashman. Dublin's High Court ruled that day that Lola must return the items, which according to the band she acquired without permission during their "Joshua Tree" tour in 1987.

U2 had been fighting with Ms Cashman over the ownership of a Stetson hat, a pair of metal-hooped earrings, a green sweatshirt and a pair of black trousers. All those items were estimated to be valued at 5,000 euros (£3,400).

Back to big screen producing field after their latest outing in "The Ringer", Peter and Bobby Farrelly are partnering with National Lampoon Inc. via their Conundrum Entertainment to produce a comedy feature entitled "National Lampoon's Bag Boy", Variety has learned.

Intended to begin production before the end of the year, the project focuses on an underdog teen who discovers that he has the talent to excel in the world of competitive grocery bagging. Mort Nathan is in charge to direct as well as rewrite the script originally penned by Hans Rodionoff as Champion Fill.

Nicole Richie has no gastric surgery. At least that's what she says.

The super tiny celeb denies recent rumors pointing her as the subject of New York Post's article, published on Monday November 13th, claiming "a Hollywood starlet" underwent gastric bypass surgery and then, after slimming down too much, had it reversed.

Screenwriter Russell Gewirtz should be getting busier by now. Already being tapped to work on the script of the sequel to Spike Lee's "Inside Man", the man will also carry out the same job to an untitled thriller from "X-Men: The Last Stand" helmer Brett Ratner, Los Angeles Times has reported.

Assigned to build the screenplay from Bill Collage and Adam Cooper's first draft which was based on an original idea of comic actor Eddie Murphy, Gewirtz will develop a story involving "an unsuccessful, oh-so-last-millennium high-tech heist that is pointedly juxtaposed against the decidedly low-tech but no less artful plot of a couple of blue-collar guys with much more to gain and more believable motives."

Jaime Pressly makes it official during a taping of "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" on Wednesday November 15th that she's pregnant.

The actress, who is four months pregnant, told Leno she's expecting a boy. She knew the fact when her doctor showed her an ultrasound.

Not yet done with the lawsuit placed by the two college students, "Borat" is about to face a legal action again, this time from the local people of a Romanian village named Glod who were featured as stand-ins in it.

Outraged that the movie has ridiculed their simple ways of life, the Gypsy citizens of the village are threatening to sue producers of the flick for paying them a pittance to put farm animals in their homes and perform other crude antics.

The King of Pop took the stage, again, after he was acquitted of child molestation charges in June 2005.

Michael Jackson made a musical comeback on Wednesday November 15th at the World Music Awards in London, which was honoring him with an award commemorating the 25th anniversary of his hugely popular album, "Thriller."

"Now That's What I Call Music! 23", the latest hits compilation boasting tracks from Stacy Ferguson, Justin Timberlake, Nelly Furtado, Christina Aguilera, Jessica Simpson, and Nickelback just to name a few, debuts at No. 1 on the US pop album charts Wednesday November 15th. The Sony-distributed set sold 337,000 units during the week ended November 12, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Classical pop singer Josh Groban's latest LP, "Awake" opens at number 2 with 270,000 units. Following behind at the 3rd spot is country crooner Keith Urban, who is now still in rehab, whose latest effort "Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing" sold 270,000 copies. Another popular country act, Sugarland lands at number 4 with its second album "Enjoy The Ride" selling nearly 211,000 discs during its first week in stores.

"The Flying Scotsman" is about to make a safe landing in the States. MGM has picked up the distribution rights to this inspiring British film, an adaptation of Scottish cyclist Graeme Obree's autobiography of the same title published in 2003.

Plotted to be released on December 29, the picture depicts Obree's struggle in breaking world records on a bicycle he designed from scrap metal and old washing machine part despite his mental illness. Johnny Lee Miller, Billy Boyd, and Laura Fraser are all starring under the direction of British TV director Douglas Mackinnon.

While their soon-going-to-happen marriage makes the gossip pages everyday, there they go the bride and groom made a late-night visit to City Hall on Wednesday November 15th.

Tom Cruise and fiancee Katie Holmes made a late-night visit to City Hall with the actor escorted Holmes, who had their baby in tow. Rumors on the street said that the couple paid a visit to Mayor Walter Veltroni who is a big movie buff and was the driving force behind Rome's first international film festival this year.

Both making a turn into horror genre, Dominic Purcell and Jesse Metcalfe have given agreement to highlight "Town Creek", a vampire-themed film project of Gold Circle production, The Hollywood Reporter has revealed.

Eyeing a March 1 start date, the picture will bill the twosome to play brothers who are trapped in a terrifying occult experiment that dates back to the Third Reich. Joel Schumacher is on board to direct with Paul Brooks producing alongside Tom Lassally and Robyn Meisinger.

It is bad news of course for fans of Bloc Party that the UK rockers have to unfortunately cancel their North American tour due to illness in the band.

According to the band's official Website, on November 9 "drummer Matt Tong was admitted to hospital in Atlanta with a collapsed lung." That time around, Bloc Party canceled a week's of shows saying, "Doctor's at the hospital in Atlanta say Matt is in a comfortable condition and not in any danger, he will however be staying in hospital for at least the next three days for observation."

Being consistent in film producing, Will Ferrell is about to develop one more big screen feature under his Gary Sanchez Productions banner. The Hollywood Reporter learned that the funnyman has picked up the rights to make "King Dork" based on Frank Portman's debut novel of the same title.

As part of their overall first-look deal with Paramount Vantage, the Paramount Pictures' art-house division, Ferrell will produce with Adam McKay, his producing partner at Gary Sanchez. It is still unclear yet whether the actor will also take a starring part in the project.

Last year he was sexy, and as for now on he's still sexy. At least people still consider him so. George Clooney is charming, but most of all he is sexy, and apparently the actor has been named People's Sexiest Man Alive for 2006. This is the second time that he gets the predicate after he was given the honor a year ago for the same title.

"Brad's going to be upset," the 45-year-old Oscar winner told People in its special issue. Also two-time winner, Brad Pitt sadly only makes it at number 15. Listed on People magazine's annual survey including actor Patrick Dempsey who comes in second spot, and Ashton Kutcher in third. Taye Diggs, to follow, secures the 4th position ahead of Johnny Depp at number five.

"The Practice" star Rhona Mitra has landed a big acting stint. The actress will topline a futuristic action thriller entitled "Doomsday" which is set to be Neil Marshall's follow-up to his acclaimed horror flick "The Descent."

Scheduled to begin filming early 2007, the project will see Mitra as the leader of an elite group assigned to go to a country infected with virus known as the Reaper. Unexpectedly, the troupe find themselves shut off from the rest of the world there and must battle through a landscape that has become a waking nightmare.