July 09, 2007

Gathering together to accompany Kevin Costner in the cast list, Dennis Hopper, Nathan Lane, Kelsey Grammer, Stanley Tucci, George Lopez, and newcomer Madeline Carroll have all landed deals to take part in populist comedy "Swing Vote."

While Costner has been confirmed to play an apathetic working-class single dad thrust on the world stage when the presidential election comes down to his vote, Hopper and Grammer are reported to become the Democratic candidate and Republican incumbent with Lane and Tucci potraying their respective campaign managers. Lopez, in the meantime, is billed as the local TV station manager whose town is descended upon by the political machinery of both parties.

Enhancing their bond in movie-scripting, duo John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky have both given commitment to work together on the screenplay of "Brothers of Invention" for Universal Pictures and Strike Entertainment.

Story focuses on a TV psychologist who finds out that his recurring dreams are repressed memories, which leads him to discover a twisted family he never knew about. Onboard to produce are Strike's Eric Newman and Marc Abraham, who last carried out the same task in Alfonso Cuaron's "Children of Men."

Eyeing to spark another hit after the "Bourne" series, renowned producer Andrew R. Tennenbaum is on his way to develop "Water for Elephants" that turns out to be a big screen adaptation of the Sara Gruen Depression-era circus novel of which film rights he has successfully secured.

The book, published last year in May, centers on a young man named Jacob Jankowski who leaves his life as a Cornell University veterinary student to join a second-rate traveling circus called Benzini Brothers after his parents are killed in an automobile accident. It stayed in New York Times Best Seller list for twelve weeks in 2006 while being nominated for General Fiction slot at the year's Quill Awards also winning the 2007 BookBrowse Award for most popular book.

After creating disappointment for some of her fans who think she is selling her credibility, Stacy Ferguson aka Fergie denies her involvement with Candy's musically. The Black Eyed Peas singer indeed tied a deal with the clothing line but not for a commercial song.

A spokesperson for the singer announced, "She does have a commercial deal with the clothing brand Candie's, but it has nothing whatsoever to do with the creation of her music."

Breaching into the world of espionage, Warner Bros. Pictures is set to develop a new flick entitled "The Brotherhood of the Rose" based on the David Morrell novel which previously was turned into an NBC miniseries in the late 1980s.

Published in 1984, the original version tells about the story of two orphans who get raised by a CIA operative to be assassins only to become targets themselves. The miniseries followed five years later with Robert Mitchum, Peter Strauss, and Connie Sellecca toplining.

Toni Collette has on Monday July 9th publicly confirmed that she's expecting her first child ever.

The Aussie actress who married her husband, Dave Galafassi on January 11, 2003 said "We're very happy. We are completely over the moon".

Opts to head for smaller production in spite of the success of his latest starring vehicle "Deja Vu", Val Kilmer is poised to be the male lead in "Conspiracy", an indie drama feature set to be directed by Connecticut-born filmmaker Adam Marcus which Jennifer Esposito also stars in.

Kilmer will play a special-ops United States Marine Corps member who takes his retirement after getting wounded during combat operations in Iraq while Esposito is cast as the hardworking single mother of an 8-year-old daughter and the survivor of an abusive marriage. Their paths cross when Kilmer's character learns that his friend has disappeared without a trace upon coming to the town where Esposito lives.

The date 07/07/07 brought good luck charm for Venus Williams. The American tennis player has on that day taken home her 4th Wimbledon title, beating Marion Bartoli of France in straight sets 6-4, 6-1 in the women's final.

It reportedly took only 90 minutes for Venus to beat Bartoli, who won over world number one Justine Henin of Belgium in the semifinals. The winning was Venus' first grand slam victory since winning at Wimbledon in 2005. She also won in 2000 and 2001.

Someone please tell Amy Winehouse she's in great danger. The British singer herself doesn't even realize the fact, but her close pals do and thus urge her to check into rehab.

Talk is heating up on the street that Winehouse's close friends are worried about her condition, one of them even told her to ditch her wild ways and seek some help while meeting her at London's Mem and Laz restaurant last Thursday July 5th.

Well, this no doubt can be another great starring vehicle for Beyonce Knowles following that of "Dreamgirls" if the report is proven true.

Jim Hill Media has brought in an interesting tidbit claiming the "Irreplaceable" singer is being courted by Walt Disney Studios to take part in "Aida", the company's big screen version of Disney Theatrical's 1998 musical stage production adapted from Giuseppe Verdi's Italian-language opera of the same name.

Lionel Richie does his daddy duty, defending daughter Nicole Richie on the drink driving case that could send her to jail.

Refused to answer questions about his beloved daughter's DUI case after his performance Saturday night July 7th at the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans, the singer simply claimed "She's just in an unfortunate situation."

Breaking a pop barrier with his hit "Grace Kelly", it must have been a pretty disappointing news when Mika pulled off two gigs in Denmark. He was forced to cancel the concerts after suffering from ear infection.

Mika came all prepared for the July 7 event but he complained of a pain in his ear and was quickly rushed to London's Wellington House Hospital where he was diagnosed with ear infection. A spokesperson said, "He has been suffering from a viral ear infection which means he can't sing. He has had to cancel a couple of appearances in Denmark but he is on the mend."

Stunning special effect plus engaging action sequences sure are few of major aspects moviegoers look for in watching a piece of filmmaking and that's what "Transformers" has offered to easily come out as the new top-holder of the weekend domestic box office ended Sunday, July 8, 2007.

One of the highly-anticipated pictures of the year, the DreamWorks/Paramount Pictures' big-screen take on the Hasbro toys makes no difficulty in scooping up $70.5 million in its first weekend, bringing a total tally of $155.4 million so far since its preview screenings on Monday night, July 2.

Tech N9ne is in preparation to release his first collaborative record. Album "Misery Loves Kompany" will span his work with fellow indie musicians such as Yukmouth, Big Krizz Kaliko, Kutt Calhoun, Skatterman, Snug Brim, Prozak, Big Scoob, T-Nutty and Dalima.

The most requested rapper in Kansas City would not stop at party theme for this piece and insisted on a variety of issues. "There's a lot of stuff on this album," Tech N9ne said. "It's a variety. It's not just sexual. It's not just party. It's just like the normal Tech N9ne rollercoaster. There's something on there for everybody."

Paris Hilton is back on the town in LA. The hotel heiress hits the club, made her club debut since being released from jail last week at Los Angeles hotspot Les Deux on Friday night July 6th for a girls' night out.

Paris and her companion, including sister Nicky Hilton and Erin Foster, the daughter of music producer David Foster, arrived at the club just before midnight. She wore a gray sleeved shirt and black fedora, People magazine reported.

For what can be predicted, Avril Lavigne responded to the claim that she had plagiarized a 1979 song for her hit "Girlfriend". The Canadian singer posted a blog entry on her official site, defending her pure talent and revealing her absence knowledge of who The Rubinoos is.

She wrote, "You may have heard some news that two guys who wrote for some band from the 1970s I have never in my life heard of called the "Rubinoos" are trying to sue me. They have a song called "I Want To Be Your Boyfriend" that has no musical similarities to the song "Girlfriend" that Luke Gottwald and I wrote together."

Clay Aiken got involved in an airplane spat, it has been reported. The 2003 "American Idol" runner-up got involved in a dispute with a female passenger Saturday July 7th, during a flight to Tulsa International Airport.

The dispute took place on a Continental Airlines flight when Aiken was traveling morning that day for an evening performance at the Brady Theater. Speaking on that encounter, FBI Special Agent Gary Johnson said there was a dispute between a male passenger and a woman on the flight but won't confirm the passenger was Aiken. He explained the dispute was over the male passenger's foot resting on the woman's armrest.

Things got worse between Britney Spears and Lynne Spears. After a restraining order, the troubled pop star now reportedly changes her will, with the intention to keep her mother away from her two sons, Sean Preston and Jayden James.

The mother-daughter became estranged one to another when the "Toxic" singer discovered Lynne had been criticizing her parenting skills to friends and associates, it has been claimed. In her new will, Spears appointed her younger sister Jamie Lynn Spears to inherit her estate and to get the full custody of the boys if she dies.

Live Earth may not bring imminent climate change, but at least it waved a white flag for two bands. Kasabian has put an end to their ongoing feud with fellow British act Keane after both appeared on the "go green" event.

Kasabian frontman Tom Meighan said, "I'm over arguing about Keane. I'm trying to grow up in this world, man and that's like the green message." The vocalist had an argument with Keane frontman Tom Chaplin when he called Chaplin a "posh boy" and allegedly revealed that he lived on a diet of pies and Quavers. Prior to that, Meighan's band mate Serge Pizzorno also made fun of Chaplin entering rehab for an addiction to port.

Newlyweds Eva Longoria and Tony Parker celebrated the second stage of their wedding extravaganza Saturday July 7th at Paris' Eglise Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois, a church opposite the Louvre Museum that used to serve French royals, just one day after they made it official in a civil ceremony at the Mairie (city hall for the 4th Arrondissement) in Place Baudoyer, not far from Notre Dame.

Security was tight, but it is confirmed that the bride wore a gown designed by Angel Sanchez. The wedding dress reportedly was a silk wool and silk gazar scoop-back mermaid gown embroidered with silver metallic with a 5-foot-long train. The groom, meanwhile, wore French menswear label De Fursac, which he models for.