May 03, 2007

Justin Timberlake's showcase in Madison Square Garden on August 16 will mark the comeback of HBO special series. The singer's concert will be tapped by the cable network for the first time since The Rolling Stones' 2003 show.

Vice President of HBO Entertainment stated, "The concert specials always have been icing on the cake, but the series were so important. When Justin said he was going on tour, it was a no-brainer. It just felt right -- he is a classic HBO star, it feels like the right time, and he's the right guy."

Bette Midler will carry the baton now that Celine Dion has completed her contract of performing 160 shows a year in Las Vegas' Caesars Palace. Midler will headline the highly reputable venue with 100 runs per year at the rate of 5 nights a week.

In reaction to this replacement, Midler is both excited and nervous. "I'm looking forward to it, but also I'm terrified because it's huge. That's giving me the vapors," she said. At the same time, they also give you a lot of toys to play with. They give you the lifts and you can fly people in, you can fly them out. There's all this wing space and hydraulics and stuff, and the dressing rooms are staggering. It should be an opera house somewhere in the Black Forest."

Ready to present a different take of Noah's Ark story on the big screen, Columbia Pictures is on the track to develop "The Ark", a film adaptation of a tale featured in the anthology series "Dark Horse Presents."

Likely to closely follow the premise of the original which marries the story of Noah's Ark with a UFO crash, the project has already tapped the tale's creator Mark Verheiden to adapt with Original Films' Neal H. Moritz producing alongside Dark Horse's Mike Richardson.

With "Black Rain" coming out on May 22, Ozzy Osbourne managed to take some time off thinking about Black Sabbath. Though is strong as a solo artist, the quirky singer is longing for the band's reunion that he believed only coming to sense when he fronted it.

"It would be so easy for us to get in and out of a studio and make an album. But if it's not up to the par of when I left, why do it? It will destroy the f***ing legacy of Black Sabbath, and the legend of Black Sabbath," he said in an interview. Ozzy was asked to leave the band in 1979 after internal conflicts and an evident lack of commitment occurred. Rainbow's Ronnie James Dio then filled in his position.

Nurturing his writing skills, George Clooney is reported to have teamed up with his Smoke House partner Grant Heslov to co-write a drama comedy feature titled "Escape From Tehran" for Warner Bros. Pictures to develop.

Based on a real-life story written by Joshuah Berman for a Wired magazine article of which screen rights Warner recently acquired, pic will present details on how the CIA, with help from Hollywood, used a fake movie project to smuggle six Americans out of Tehran during the 1979 hostage crisis.

All set to stand together in one frame, Cillian Murphy, Sienna Miller, Max Minghella, and Emma Booth have agreed to highlight a new production of Universal Pictures and Working Title Films entitled "Hippie Hippie Shake", Variety has learned.

Adapted from Richard Neville's memoir "Hippie Hippie Shake: The Dreams, the Trips, the Trials, the Love-ins, the Screw Ups: The Sixties", the picture will use a famous obscenity trial involving the Australian satirical magazine Oz as a metaphor for a journey through the swinging '60s in London.

About 70 people auditioned on Tuesday to show what they got in front of 7 judges whereby Aretha Franklin was one of them. In search for the right person playing Aretha at various ages and some people within the singer's circle of friends, some people did impress the panel of judges.

"I'm not hard on anybody. I'm just here to listen. I try to make them comfortable coming in the door," said Aretha during a break. The soul diva even found a man perfect enough to play Sam Cooke but refused to reveal details as she had two more days to land the choice. One contestant from Pasadena, Calif named Ciara Roberts, 25 also gave an electrifying performance and received praise from the judges.

Allowing himself to dwell a little longer in drama genre after those of "Resurrecting the Champ" and "August", Josh Hartnett has given his commitment to take part in a film feature of the kind entitled "I Come with the Rain."

The Hollywood hunk reportedly is poised to play a private detective who, haunted by a past encounter with a serial killer, heads for the Far East to search for a missing heir possessing the power to heal with his touch.

Helmed by MySpace, a project is being baked for bands like Panic! At the Disco, 30 Seconds to Mars, +44 and The Academy Is... to record their favorite songs from The Smashing Pumpkins' collection.

Each band will post their version of Pumpkins' songs on their respective MySpace blog on May 14. The covered-songs will then be molded into CD that will be available along with July edition of Spin Magazine. The magazine will also feature each band's personal comment on the Pumpkins.

Finally able to strike a promising collaboration after 2004's "The Aviator", Leonardo DiCaprio and Michael Mann are reportedly joining forces to work on a film noir project which is still unnamed yet with the former being plotted to topline and the latter hoping to make it his next directorial effort.

Said to take place on the old MGM lot in the 1930s, the picture will likely concern a private detective who is hired by the studio to investigate a scandal involving a starlet who may have murdered her own husband. It has already been revealed that the flick will have one of its major shootouts taken in the Trocadero nightclub on Sunset Boulevard.

First time solo touring, Taylor Hicks seems to be getting the rhythm. His five-month US promotional tour for self-titled debut album that starts Feb 21 and wraps up May 12 is stretched to the end of August.

The extended date will begin June 2 in Tupelo, MS and visit several others in South and East Coast areas before concluding at the prestigious Dallas' House of Blues on August 31.

Bon Jovi is given the honor to take the first taste of "The Rock". The arena that is being built to accommodate NHL's New Jersey Devils team will be ready for the band's performance on October 26.

"Bon Jovi is synonymous with the best in New Jersey," Devils owner Jeff Vanderbeek said during a press release. While it is yet unknown how many Bon Jovi's concerts will be held there, the band did mention that group would do "10 nights at our local arena in New Jersey."

Continues showing its generosity to reveal more about its highly anticipated summer flick "Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End", Walt Disney Pictures has eagerly provided a pair of new look on the movie on the web following the online releases of its trailer and "competing captain" clip back in March.

Yes, the company has placed online two new TV spots for the movie on Yahoo! Movies for every fan of the series to take a sneak peek of. It is also learned that the studio will launch the picture a little bit earlier from its official release date of May 52, 2007, screening it at 8 pm on Thursday, May 24 in theaters around North America region.

A musical, what a brilliant idea. Following the success of hit TV series "Ugly Betty," producers are now working on its musical.

America Ferrera, who plays the series' lead role, claims she and her cast mates already asked writers and producers to create an all-singing, all-dancing episode of the show.

After receiving the plague for 200th show on April 21, Los Angeles' very own rock n' roll band Buckcherry has been continuously hitting the road. The US trek has begun since April 24 in Shreveport, LA and will stretch up to July 9 in Calgary, ALB.

The band's MySpace also revealed three European dates that will visit Bournemouth, Cheltenham and Derby on June 5, 6, 8 respectively. This leg of tour is held in support of last year's "15" that consistently remained in Billboard Top 200 for 52 weeks. The band is now boasting third and latest single from the album titled "Everything" which video clip can be seen here for Windows Media Player and here for Quicktime format.

Completing its success in Asia, "Spider-Man 3" also opened grandly in European territories as it amazingly broke first-day records in both Italy and France while scoring superb income in Germany besides setting new records in Austria, Belgium, Holland, and Switzerland.

Debuted on 900 Italian screens Tuesday, May 1, the Columbia Pictures release triumphantly smashed the country's all-time opening record after satisfyingly garnering $4 million, a number that tripled the day-one takes of its two predecessors.

This just in. Neve Campbell and boyfriend John Light are planning to marry in secret this Saturday May 5th.

The actress and man are allegedly preparing to exchange vows at an undisclosed Malibu location, it has been reported. Close family and friends invited to the wedding have been told to not reveal the location and time.

Charlotte Church, who is pregnant with her boyfriend Gavin Henson's child, was involved in a minor car crash that left her shaken. Luckily she was fine.

The 21-year-old singer and television presenter, who is due to give birth to her first baby in the autumn, was driving behind Henson's car Sunday evening April 29th when someone crashed into the back of her car pushed her vehicle into the back of Henson's car.

His latest vehicle "The Lookout" has just made its way into theaters in late March and now Joseph Gordon-Levitt already has another big screen stint to undergo.

Yes, the former "3rd Rock from the Sun" star has been poised to be the romantic lead in "The Frog King", one of the early film productions of the newly-named IM Global in association with Intermedia and GreeneStreet Films. Pic will see him play an assistant editor whose penchant for messing up threatens a relationship with the girl of his dreams.

My Chemical Romance and its supporting act Muse had to come to halt after several of their tour crew went sick over food poisoning. A couple of dates within the North American trek came to an effect and had to be cancelled.

The musicians and crew that were supporting the bands began vomiting and had to be rushed to the hospitals on April 28. The next day's show in State College, PA immediately was cancelled leaving the Colombus, OH gig on May 1 doubtful. In the end the Colombus night was postponed instead of cancelled to May 2. For that, Pittsburgh, PA had to give up its slot.

A singer, songwriter, and fashion designer, Gwen Stefani knows how to dress herself, husband Gavin Rossdale, and their son Kingston in a best way in any occasions that the clan is chosen as Hollywood's Best Looking Family.

The family is the No. 1 on the poll conducted by In Touch Weekly, besting Chris Martin, who alongside wife Gwyneth Paltrow and their two kids Moses Martin and Apple Blythe Alison Martin, come in 2nd spot. The 3rd Hollywood's Best Looking Family is Will Smith and wife Jada Pinkett Smith and their children, Trey, Willow, Jaden.

Sure there will be plenty of chances to see John Cusack on the big screen as the actor has just added one more coveted role into his acting credits.

The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that the dark-haired thesp is attached to play the lead in action thriller "Stopping Power", which is one of the six new projects coming from the new Intermedia-backed sales and distribution outfit IM Global.

Good things seemingly keep happening to young starlet Emma Roberts. Following her role in "Nancy Drew", the beauty reportedly has landed another starring slot in "Wild Child", a new comedy feature from Universal Pictures and Working Title Films.

Here Roberts is plotted to play a spoiled Malibu princess whose penchant for wildness drives her father to send her to a strict, all-girls English boarding school. The story is based on the experiences of the film's screenwriter, Lucy Dahl, the daughter of Welsh author Roald Dahl also a boarding school alumna.

Keira Knightley hits the bottom line of becoming a celebrity, sensationally revealed in an interview with ELLE magazine she wants to quit acting.

The movie beauty told the publication, "The celebrity thing's completely crazy. I think I just have to move away or give it up altogether."

Three big rock acts have joined forces in a leg of tour that will boast the music genre and serve the fans right. Papa Roach, Buckcherry, and Hinder are rolling together this summer in a jaunt dubbed "Badboys Of Rock Tour".

The preliminary dates to this trek have been announced on liveDaily.com. So far the tour is limited up to 7 dates with July 13-night in Lansing, MI as the kick-start. They will visit mostly country fair stages in Dubuque, IA, Lima, OH and Allegan, MI and stretch it to Sept. 12 date in York, PA.

Enjoying working on his way as director and producer besides being a renowned actor, Mel Gibson is reportedly in deep consideration to spark not only one, but two more big screen features from his skilled hands.

The first one is the follow-up to his 1994 starring vehicle "Maverick", which found him appear alongside James Garner and Jodie Foster as a wisecracking gambler attempting to raise $25,000 to enter a major five-card draw poker tournament.

She doesn't always do something in biggest way possible, but when it comes to party Lindsay Lohan undoubtedly wants the biggest one. The young celebrity is planning a very BIG 21st birthday party.

Turning 21st on July 2nd, Lindsay "going to milk it because it's a big birthday," so she said on Wednesday's "The Ellen DeGeneres Show." Becomes old enough to legally go to clubs, no wonder the actress plans to celebrate the big day partying in Sin City and having dinner in Malibu, Calif., with family and friends.

It took less than 24 hours for Gisele Bundchen to secure another major deal following her part ways with lingerie company Victoria's Secret. The Brazilian supermodel, approvingly, has inked a multi-million dollar deal to become the new face of cosmetic giant Cacharel's new fragrance Liberte.

On why she is chosen to model their new product, Alexander Keller, a spokesperson for Cacharel Perfumes Germany, says, "Gisele Bundchen embodies perfectly our fragrance Liberte. She stands for the freedom and independence of young women."

Already becomes a household name in the music industry, Ludacris is now jumping into reality show bandwagon, helps to produce a new one.

Alongside Chaka Zulu of Disturbing Tha Peace recording company and Jeff Dixon, the threesome are teaming up with DuBose Entertainment to produce a new reality show that will focus on the process of creating and maintaining a new music label.