May 07, 2007

The morning on Sunday, May 6 became blindingly bright as a number of Hollywood celebrities cheerfully walked down the green carpet to attend the world premiere of "Shrek the Third", the latest installment of the kind-hearted ogre tale slated for a theatrical release on May 18.

Original voice cast members delightfully gathered with the new ones to attend the event with cameras whirring and reporters posing questions endlessly, but it was former hot couple Cameron Diaz and Justin Timberlake who gained most attention there since the screening marked the first major media event at which they've been photographed together since the breakup.

Sure there will be plenty of time to laugh together with Walt Disney Pictures as the company has just added one more comedic flick to be sparked under its banner.

According to Variety, the studio is on the move to develop a new feature entitled "Yosemite Three" and will make it as a starring vehicle for Tim Allen. Writing duo Michael Carnes and Josh Gilbert have been hired to pen the screenplay with Mandeville partners David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman both serving as producers.

Bringing Gordon Gekko back to the big screen, 20th Century Fox is in the process to make a follow-up to Oliver Stone's 1987 drama "Wall Street", which won Michael Douglas an Academy Award in 1988 for his role as the cold-hearted takeover artist.

Entitled "Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps", the picture will take off with Gekko out of jail and "resuming his machinations on a global scale in the hedge-fund era." While Stone has declined offer to return to the director's seat, Douglas has delightfully confirmed to The New York Times that he will once again portray Gekko for the project.

Completing the missing piece in "John Rambo", TV star Julie Benz has come onboard to play the female lead in this latest installment of "Rambo" series, which is currently filming in Thailand under Millennium Films/Nu Image banner, Variety has revealed.

Bringing back Sylvester Stallone as the titular character, the flick this time sees the renegade Vietnam War veteran come out of his retirement to track down missionary aid workers who have disappeared in the jungles of impoverished Myanmar. Apart from starring, Stallone is also in charge to write the script and direct as well as produce.

Corinne Bailey Rae was about to take the role as young Aretha Franklin in "From These Roots" musical production when she failed to impress the diva. Rae stumbled down at the last stage when a screen test raised Aretha's 'doubt'.

"I almost cast her as one of the characters in my play and in the movie, but when I saw her on TV... well, her pictures look one way and when I saw her on TV she looked a little different so I don't think so," Aretha said.

More than half a year have gone by since Universal was reported to set up "Choke", and now comes good news on the project that it is about to enter its filming process soon.

Chuck Palahniuk, the author of the book which the flick is based on, has informed to ChuckPalahniuk.net that production on the movie will begin on June 18 this year with Sam Rockwell to be the leadstar under the direction of first-time helmer Clark Gregg.

Ten pop songs have been listed through BBC 6 Music ballot to reign the worst lyrics chart. Des'ree's "Life" came out the ultimate 'winner' by sitting at the 1st post through a 30 per cent votes.

Announcing the top ten list, the radio presenter Marc Riley says, "Bad lyrics can come in all forms - some acceptable, some less so. Dumb is sometimes OK, but pious and pretentious and pompous are obviously never to be encouraged nor tolerated." In defense to this, Martin Fry from English band ABC who sat at #4 said, "I have been waiting for this kind of accolade for years. The most memorable lyrics are often the stupidest."

Amy Winehouse can never have enough of publication. The jazz and soul singer is said planning to have a traditional Jewish wedding soon following her engagement last month.

The songstress' fiance Blake Fielder-Civil reportedly has converted to Judaism to fulfill her dream of being married under the religion of the Jewish people this summer.

Country star Dolly Parton will be reunited on one stage with her old time buddy Porter Wagoner. They will be celebrating Porter's 50 years career in music industry by conducting a tribute show on May 19 at Nashville, Tennessee's Grand Ole Opry.

Within the show, there will also be the launching of Martin Issues guitar that is specially constructed in honor of Porter. Honky-tonk singer Marty Stuart will also be present as the host of a one-hour fragment exclusively for Great American Country network.

That of Paris Hilton's 45-days jail sentence drama keeps rolling on. The celebrity heiress has fired longtime publicist, Elliot Mintz, whom she considered as the one responsible for the unfortunate.

Mintz announced the parting ways in an email to People magazine Sunday night May 6th, claiming he sent Paris an e-mail the day after the hearing, expressing his sadness over the ruling while also offering his sincerest apology for any misunderstanding regarding the terms of her probation.

One more single is pulled out of Arcade Fire's chart-topping album "Neon Bible". Single "Intervention" stands next in line and will be released May 21 in UK via Rough Trade Records and on July 10 in US under Merge Records.

Like preceding single "Keep the Car Running", the second set will be available in 7" vinyl and as digital download. The second single will feature song "Ocean of Noise" by alt country band Calexico on the B-side.

Drawing in a similar premise presented in "Ghostbusters", Warner Bros. Pictures is about to develop a new comedy feature entitled "Weekend Warrior" with Andrew Lazar to produce via his Mad Chance.

The project concerns an armchair home-repair enthusiast with no construction skills who unwittingly becomes the one who fights supernatural forces bent on destroying the world. Names to direct and star have not yet been revealed, but it is reported that Bill Birch, an actor attached to Warner's other flick "Pre-Astronauts", will write the screenplay.

While his fellow rocker Mick Jagger already gave up the idea of writing an autobiography, Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones has just started working on one.

The guitarist reportedly is writing an autobiography about his time in the band and his turbulent relationships with drugs and alcohol. The autobiography is expected to be a frank memoir, in which Richards is expected to give out honest details of his wild life.

In what has become a tradition, the American Idol top 10 finalists this season will visit several states in US for a summer tour. The trek will begin one month after the ultimate winner is announced on May 23.

Still competing runners like Melinda Doolittle, LaKisha Jones, Blake Lewis and Jordin Sparks will be joined by their eliminated fellow contestants to hit the road for three months. They will be performing individual sets as well as collaborations of the songs made popular during the season.

Being a very dedicated thespian who has played various roles both in small and big screen since late '70s, Robin Williams was delightfully named by San Francisco Film Society the recipient of Peter J. Owens Award in the organization's celebration of its 50th annual San Francisco International Film Festival.

Honored so for his work that "exemplifies brilliance, independence and integrity", the actor-comedian received the prize during the gala evening held Thursday, May 3 at Union Square's Westin St. Francis Hotel, accompanied by the big names behind the screen like George Lucas, Peter Morgan, and Ron Howard, who all were also recognized by the Society for their devotion to film industry.

Sure it's not that hard to guess which title is coming as the top-grossing movie this time with the grand return of the web-slinging superhero on the big screen.

Yes, in its follow-up to the huge commercial success it has gained across European and Asian territories, "Spider-Man 3" effortlessly spins it web on the domestic box-office to come out as the champ for weekend ended May 6, 2007. Blasting the blockbuster season off to a super-high earning start, this third installment of the wall-crawler tale fantastically nets $151.1 million, breaking the previous record set by "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest", in the meantime also smashing international record for a tally of $230.5 million in 107 foreign countries.

Brandy is facing a second lawsuit stemming from a fatal December 30th, 2006 car crash.

Marouane Hdidou, the husband of Awatef Aboudihaj, a woman killed in the accident, filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Wednesday May 2nd against Brandy and other motorists involved in the accident, seeking unspecified damages to cover medical and funeral expenses, as well as legal costs and other damages.

Evanescence is going through another line up change as guitarist John LeCompt and drummer Rocky Gray bid their goodbye to the band. Though not obviously showing any clash especially after recent release of "The Open Door" (2006), both LeCompt and Gray speak up about vocalist Amy Lee's management that stands against them.

First statement released by LeCompt on May 4 revealed that he was fired from the band without given any time to defend the situation. He said, "I'm done and I'm pretty upset about it. Amy called and fired me today. There's absolutely no loyalty in this band." He continued by writing on his blog that Amy gave him no chance for negotiations or even early warning.

Wanna walk in Jessica Simpson's boots? Yes you can. The singer-actress put the "Boots Made For Walkin" on eBay, beginning on April 11th.

The knee length, size seven boots have four-and-a-half inch heels and both feature the singer's signature in flowery silver handwriting, with a few kisses.

In just seven days, Ben Harper and his band Innocent Criminals finished the follow up of 2006's "Both Sides of the Gun". Taking Paris as the post to record this eleventh studio album, Harper comprised 11 tracks into an album named "Lifelines".

"I had always wanted to make a record in Paris ... because it's Paris," Harper said. "And I had always wanted to make a record directly coming off of a tour. It just makes sense. You've got all your best equipment and your musical abilities are never as sharp or as heightened as when you've been consistently on the road."

After sometimes, new rumors on Madonna's marriage break up are heating up again. It is said that the diva's marriage to director husband Guy Ritchie is on the rocks due to her plan to expand the family with another adoption.

The couple, who has been married for seven years, has allegedly been fighting since Madonna's latest visit to Malawi. Ritchie reportedly is not keen to expand his family because of the uproar over their adoption of one-year-old Malawi boy David Banda last year.

Trouble has approached Lindsay Lohan again. The troubled celeb was filmed allegedly taking cocaine, less than two months since leaving rehab.

The video was filmed in the toilets of Teddy's within the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood in early March, just three weeks after she left rehab.

While announcing that their hiatus will last until 2008, the members of Slipknot revealed that there would be at least one more album before "we don't know what happen". Frontman Corey Taylor who is busy with his Stone Sour band speaks up about the possibility of Knot's project this year.

"Nothing's really been written yet, and it's just kind of up in the air right now," Corey said. "We're definitely going to do at least one more Slipknot album, let's put it that way. But after that, who knows? You get to a point in life where you've said all you can really say with one thing, and I've still got some stuff I want to say with Slipknot. But who knows where I'll be after that. So I want to at least make one more, and then I don't know what's going to happen."