February 23, 2007

Names onboard to be the "Passengers" are growing. Variety has learned that four more actors namely David Morse, Andre Braugher, Clea DuVall, and Dianne Wiest have all nabbed starring parts in the supernatural thriller flick.

Currently in production in Vancouver, British Columbia, the picture is developed under Mandate Pictures banner for Columbia Pictures to distribute domestically. Meanwhile, the story concerns a grief counselor who tries to seek the truth behind the mysterious disappearances of six patients of hers who all are plane crash survivors.

Set to wear the earphones and stand in front of the microphones, George Clooney and Cate Blanchett are both in negotiations to provide voices for the lead characters in animated feature "The Fantastic Mr. Fox", The Hollywood Reported has revealed.

An adaptation of Roald Dahl's classic children's tale, the project is a stop-motion film about a clever fox who must outwit three mean, dimwitted farmers who try their hardest to hurt him and his family. If deals are reached, Clooney will likely to voice the title character while Blanchett his wife.

The nominees have been unveiled early before, and now its time to announce the musical performers for the forthcoming 79th Academy Awards show. Telecast producer Laura Ziskin has announced the names booked to perform during the awards show.

Among the many names mentioned, there are the likes of Beyonce Knowles, Jennifer Hudson, Anika Noni Rose, and Keith Robinson. As of Beyonce, the R&B goddess is set to perform "Listen", one of the three Original Song nominees from the musical "Dreamgirls." Hudson, additionally, will be singing "Love You I Do", while Rose, Robinson and other cast mates performing "Patience".

Keeps adding names to the burgeoning list, telecast producer Laura Ziskin revealed yesterday, February 22 that John Travolta, Queen Latifah, and Jodie Foster have also been tapped to be the presenters at this year's Oscar ceremony.

Taking the same duty with fellow stars like Penelope Cruz, Jack Black, Reese Witherspoon, and Steve Carell, all three have been named the nominees at the past events, but only Foster who successfully took home a trophy, winning best actress title in 1992 for her role in "Silence of the Lambs."

Preparing things in its effort to once more bring up the story of Focker family, Universal Pictures has renewed its deal with Tribeca Productions for another two years in order for them to start developing "Little Fockers", which previously was thought to be "Meet the Little Focker."

The third installment in the hit comedy series, the project has already had Teri Polo onboard to reprise her role as Pamela Byrnes and Larry Stuckey to write the screenplay. The film's producers are said to work once again with director Jay Roach to develop ideas for the movie while intending to bring back all principal cast members as well as Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand from the sequel.

It is absolutely unfortunate for Tool that they have to postpone their forthcoming North American tour after drummer Danny Carey injured his arm.

On the cancellation, the band's Web site reported Wednesday Feb 21st Carey tore a bicep over the weekend and underwent surgery Wednesday morning. The surgery went well, but Carey won't recover in time for the planned start of the tour on March 15 at the Pearl in Las Vegas.

Picking up perfect time to release its long-awaited project of "Avatar", the 20th Century Fox has announced that the sci-fi epic will come to the theaters on Memorial Day weekend in 2009 which means that it is not until late May of the year that moviegoers finally can see the flick on the silver screen.

Described to be a hybrid with a full live-action shoot in combination with computer-generated characters and live environments, the ambitious feature centers on a wounded ex-marine who gets involved in a battle for survival when he is assigned to exploit an exotic planet rich in bio-diversity.

The long and tough trial concerning Anna Nicole Smith's death has yet over, but here we bring you good news. It has been decided that the former Playboy Playmate's body will be buried in the Bahamas, alongside her son Daniel Smith who died last year.

The decision, came Thursday Feb 22nd, was not the end of everything but at least one of the many cases has been solved, thus ending two weeks of bizarre wrangling over the remains of the busty blonde. Florida Circuit Court Judge Larry Seidlin ruled that day that he'd like Smith to be buried in the Bahamas next to Daniel, saying "I want her buried with her son. I want her buried with her son in the Bahamas. I want them to be together."

Apparently determined to get its two high-profile projects on the move as soon as possible, New Line Cinema is holding final talks with Neil Jordan and Mark Waters to helm its "Killing on Carnival Row" and "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past", respectively.

Written by Travis Beacham, "Carnival" is a future fantasy set in a city called the Burgue where humans live side by side with other mythical creatures like faeries, elves, and vampires of which some become the target of a serial killer. "Ghosts", on the other hand, is a rom-com flick revolving around a bachelor who goes to his younger brother's wedding and gets visited by the ghosts of his past girlfriends.

In the wake of the announcement made public by ABC on the plan to release a "Grey's Anatomy" spin-off with Dr. Addison Montgomery-Shepherd, the role played by Kate Walsh, as the lead character, Taye Diggs is a new addition to the cast.

It has been confirmed that Diggs has been tapped to star opposite Walsh in the ABC's new project. "Grey's" creator/executive producer Shonda Rhimes is writing the episode and is expected to shepherd the potential series.

It seems that Sienna Miller already gets over from her break up with former boyfriend Jude Law. The actress has been photographed sunbathing topless on a Mexican beach with model Jamie Burke, thus confirming speculation they are dating.

On that encounter, an eyewitness said, the twosome were seen kissing and cuddling up during a holiday on the coast of Mexico. "They were like a couple of love-struck teenagers," said a source.

It's been some time since Julia Stiles was heard to make her directorial debut in a short feature titled "Raving" of which script she also wrote. Good news is that the trailer for the drama is now available on the web at http://raving.elle.com.

Inspired by a feature in ELLE's October Personal Style issue, the picture not only marks Stiles' venture into directing field but the beginning of ELLE's foray into original branded entertainment as well. Starring well-known names like Zooey Deschanel and Bill Irwin, it explores the emotional connection between a bright, rebellious young woman and a lonely, disassociated older man after a chance encounter on a New York street corner.

This just in. Usher is engaged. The R&B star reportedly is engaged to his longtime girlfriend and stylist Tameka Foster.

"It's 100 percent official. She is wearing a beautiful ring and he's been introducing her as his fiancee," a source said.

The wedding bell rang, but none of us hear it until now when the secret wedding is revealed. Nick Cannon, a rapper and actor as well, has reportedly married Victoria's Secret model Selita Ebanks in Las Vegas last weekend after just three weeks of dating.

Cannon, 26, and Ebanks, 24, met at a Super Bowl weekend party in Miami February 4th, and were inseparable since then. On the hush hush marriage, it is reported that the pair was staying at the Palms Casino Resort Hotel and enjoying NBA All-Star Weekend when they decided to wed.

Turning into rather unusual direction for his next acting stint after that in drama feature "The Kite Runner", Shaun Toub has been confirmed to land a starring slot in superhero flick "Iron Man", the first Marvel Studio-produced movie under its alliance with Paramount Pictures.

Based on the fictional Marvel Comics character, the project has already constructed stellar cast consisting of Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Jeff Bridges who will play the title character/Tony Stark, Jim Rhodes, Pepper Potts, and Stark's business associate, respectively.

Country recording artist Brad Paisley and his wife, Kimberly Williams, happily welcomed the arrival of their first child ever Thursday morning Feb 22nd. The newlyborn, a baby boy, was born at 5 a.m. CST in a Nashville-area hospital.

The baby boy, who has yet given a name, weighed 7 pounds, 7 ounces, the singer's father Doug Paisley told CBS-TV affiliate WTRF in Wheeling, W.Va. Mom and baby are resting comfortably in Nashville, according to the couple representative.

Extending their solid collaboration, Warner Bros. Pictures and Graham King's Initial Entertainment Group are set to develop a family feature titled "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" with a hope for Martin Scorsese to helm.

An adaptation of Brian Selznick's best-selling book of the same name, the project revolves around a 12-year-old orphan who lives in the walls of a Paris train station in 1930 and a mystery involving the boy, his late father and a robot. No word yet on production schedule, but it is revealed that "The Aviator" scribe John Logan has already been tapped to pen the screenplay.

Constructing a promising cast lineup, Jason Bateman and Allison Janney have both given their agreement to take part in Mandate Picture's coming-of-age flick "Juno", set to be released under Fox Searchlight Pictures banner.

Joining the likes of Ellen Page, Jennifer Garner, and Michael Cera, Bateman will portray an emotionally stunted husband of Garner's character while Janney is plotted to play the stepmother of the titular character, played by Page. Meanwhile, Cera has already been billed as Juno's loyal best friend.

David Beckham and Victoria Adams, each has become an icon in Britain. Now that the god of soccer has decided to play for the Los Angeles Galaxy, talk is heating up among people in the US concerning his every single aspect of life.

Shortly following his decision to join the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer, numbers of exorbitant offers come toward him, like the Disney's World's Year of A Million Dreams Campaign and the Fox TV network's show, to be called "Living with the Beckhams" just to name a few. Judging from such fact, it safe for us to say that not only Beckham is a soccer star but an artist as well.

The Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart sees the victory of Justin Timberlake as the Jive Records recording artist scores his third No. 1 hit from his latest album "FutureSex/LoveSounds". The single, titled "What Goes Around … " bounces from No. 8 to the 1st spot in its 11th week on the Hot 100.

Follows in the footsteps of his two other hits "My Love" and "Sexyback", the video for "What Goes Around …" was recently released on iTunes, and during the first four days on iTunes, fans purchased and downloaded the video in excess of over 50,000 downloads and broke all records.

Britney Spears has experienced another change of heart, and has reportedly returned to the Promises Malibu Treatment Center late Wednesday Feb 21st. It is said further that in order to make sure this one sticks, the pop star was driven to the facility by her mother Lynne Spears.

Her going back to rehab, which is her third time, thus temporarily halt a court action seek by estranged husband Kevin Federline concerning the custody of their two sons, Sean Preston and Jayden James, who both have been in the rapper's custody since last week.