February 29, 2008

"Astro Boy" now has a voice. Variety reported that the star of "The Spiderwick Chronicles" Freddie Highmore has been set to fill in the lead character's voice in the 3-D animation film.

"Boy" is a lonely robot tale adapted from a classic Japanese comic book created by Osamu Tezuka. The Warner Bros. Pictures' film is said to be made with the budget of $50 million and handled under the direction of "Flushed Away" director David Bowers.

Is an expert in his field, Ang Lee is set to be honored with the 2008 ShoWest/NATO Freedom of Expression Award, thanks to his drama thriller "Lust, Caution." A film director and producer as well, Lee is set to receive the honor March 11 later this year alongside Focus CEO James Schamus, with whom he has collaborated on the big screen project.

"One year ago at ShoWest, I called upon cinematic artists to take the NC-17 rating seriously," National Association of Theatre Owners president and CEO John Fithian said in a statement on Lee and James' winning. "Ang Lee and James Schamus answered that call with 'Lust, Caution,' demonstrating uncompromising integrity in their filmmaking and, by accepting the NC-17 rating, that same integrity in clearly labeling a film intended for adults as what it was. NATO and our members congratulate Ang and James on a legacy of integrity in filmmaking."

A new movie inspired by John Hughes' 1985 film "The Breakfast Club" is going to be developed. According to Variety, "Bumped" has been set to be a modern-day version of the '80s film.

The film will be produced by veteran producer Bridget Johnson. Scripted by Lizzy Weiss, it has McG protege Anna Mastro attached to the feature film project. If Mastro is indeed signed to be the film's helmer, she would make her directorial debut with this film.

The 20th Century Fox have let out two clips of the horror thriller film starring Joshua Jackson "Shutter". The two clips each last less than one minutes, the first one runs for 52 seconds, while the second runs for 54 seconds.

"Shutter" is a remake of a classic Thai horror film that will hit theaters on March 21. Directed by Masayuki Ochiai, the films follows the story of a newly married couple who starts to investigate unsolved mysteries of ghostly images after the pair finds the disturbing images appearing in their photographs.

"Should've Been a Cowboy" hitmaker Toby Keith is said to be heading to the big screen once again. According to Variety, the country singer has joined the on-going production of "Beer for My Horses" as the film star.

For the comedy movie, the 46-year-old singer will portray a small town deputy. He will also act as the film's co-writer as well as co-producer. Further, he is going to work together with Rodney Carrington, Ted Nugent, Willie Nelson, Claire Forlani, Barry Corbin and Tom Skerritt.

Paramount Pictures have released the trailer of the upcoming Jessica Alba comedy movie "The Love Guru". The video footage runs a bit over two and a half minutes.

Slash Film commented that the trailer gives out promises that this comedy film looks about as funny as the upcoming Adam Sandler's comedy "You Don't Mess with the Zohan" as well as the upcoming Will Ferrell's comedy "Step Brothers". Aside from Alba, the film itself features Mike Myers, Justin Timberlake, Ben Kingsley and Meagan Good.

Known for their love of the Earth, Radiohead refused to play at one of British biggest annual music events. While fans are anticipating for their appearance at the Glastonbury this year, the band had to squash their dreams, reasoning that the stage is not eco-friendly.

Speaking to The Sun, frontman Thom Yorke said, "What we're trying to do is only play in areas that have a public transport infrastructure in place, so that rules out Glastonbury for this year." People who come to the three-days festival usually take private cars as means of transportation rather than boarding a bus or any other public transportation.

Kingston rapper Elephant Man will release his new album under P. Diddy's Bad Boy Records. The Jamaican musician who had made a collaboration with Kat DeLuna in her hit single "Whine Up", will release "Let's Get Physical" on April 8.

Quite star-studded, the album boasts contributions from Rihanna, Busta Rhymes, Shaggy, Wyclef Jean, Chris Brown and Diddy himself. "A true entertainer is versatile and makes music for the world," Elephant Man commented on his own presence in the music industry.

Though has been nominated and won many prestigious awards, the drama comedy "Juno" was left out at the 28th Annual Genie Awards' nominations. The ineligible reportedly made the film's director Jason Reitman to be extremely upset towards the people behind the awards claimed to be the Canadian Oscar.

According to press release, the director was reportedly enraged with the reason given for the ruling out of his film. Reportedly, though the Ellen Page-starring film features Canadian theps, it wasn't considered for the nods because it wasn't financed by Canadian dollars. Agitated Reitman said, "How are we not eligible for a Genie when David Cronenberg's film about Russians living in London, shot in England with a British crew and British cast, is eligible? I'm sorry, but somebody is going to have to explain that to me; I don't get it."

Though it has been revealed earlier that three Hollywood actors have been cast to fill the gap left by late Heath Ledger in "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus", it seems that the fantasy drama film still needs another actor. According to press release, people behind "Imaginarium" are still looking for a Ledger's lookalike to replace the 28-year-old actor.

Reports stated that the movie bosses have sent request for Ledger's lookalike to actors' agents. The request letter allegedly read, "Please only suggest actors who look like Heath Ledger and are between five foot 11 inches and six foot three inches." Reportedly, the lookalike actor is needed because Ledger passed out while he was midway through the filming.

Starting from July 30, Rod Stewart will hit the road for a North American tour that promotes his 2007 release "Still the Same: Great Rock Classics of Our Time". Opening the tour is Bryan Adams who will be available for the first seven dates.

The 30-dates tour will visit outdoor amphitheaters in cities like Chicago, Toronto, Atlantic City and Atlanta. The tour will wind down August 28 in Tampa, Fla. The tickets meanwhile, will be sold starting from Saturday, March 1.

Carly Simon is the latest musician to join Starbuck's newly-established label, Hear Music. On April 29, her album "This Kind of Love" will be released via the label which is also the home of Paul McCartney and Joni Mitchell.

Simon opts Brazilian sound in the album that sees the come back of producers Jimmy Webb and Frank Filipetti. "You don't have to be singing bossa nova or samba to get the essence of Brazilian music," Simon said. "There are songs that fit no one rhythm or generic type or song progression."

Never to shy away from putting her name on any product possible, Halle Berry is about to launch her own fragrance. The expectant celebrity has signed a deal with Coty Beauty U.S. to design her own fragrance and star in the advertising campaign.

Joining the likes of Jennifer Lopez, David Beckham, Victoria Adams, Sarah Jessica Parker and Gwen Stefani in the Coty stable of celebrity scents, Halle is having her fragrance to be released in the Spring next year. Name of the scent hasn't been confirmed though.

Alyssa Milano is the next "lettuce lady" for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). The actress and fashion designer dons the organization's lettuce outfit in a bid to support its new campaign, entitled "Let Vegetarianism Grow on You."

PETA's "Let Vegetarianism Grow on You" campaign sees Alyssa sporting a gown, entirely made out of lettuce, asparagus and other greens, designed by Mia Gyzander. "The world has so much suffering in it already - choosing to be vegetarian is one thing you can do to reduce the suffering on a daily basis," so she said in a statement.

Now on his own, UGK rapper Bun B whose bandmate Pimp C died on December 4, will release an album with support from other rappers. His first release as a solo called "II Trill" will be released on April 29.

According to Billboard.com, those jumping behind this album are Chamillionaire, Lil Wayne, Lupe Fiasco, Rick Ross, Mya, Lupe Fiasco, Mike Jones, 8Ball & MJG, Travis Barker, Webbie, Slim Thug and many more. Meanwhile in the production panel, there are Scott Storch, Jazze Pha, Bigg Tyme, Mr. Lee and a couple more.

As if his divorce to wife Linda Hogan has not yet created enough media abuzz, Hulk Hogan makes another headline with an affair report. The wrestling superstar, whose real name is Terry Bollea, was reported to have cheated on Linda with one of their daughter's friends.

Hulk was accused of having an affair with daughter Brooke Hogan's close friend, Christiane Plante, 33. Rumor has it that while none of the family members, Linda, Brooke, or brother Nick Hogan, are aware of the affair, it was reportedly common knowledge among some of the crew of his reality series "Hogan Knows Best."

In the awards event presented by NME Shockwaves this year, Arctic Monkeys won the coveted title of Best British Band after beating Babyshambles, The Cribs, Klaxons and Muse. The winning gave the Sheffield rock act a third trophy since they had pocketed Best Track for "Fluorescent Adolescent" and Best Video for "Teddy Picker" earlier that night.

"Thanks everybody and thanks everybody upstairs too," said Alex Turner addressing the other contenders in the category who sat upstairs. "Ta ta!" The frontman took the prize from model Agyness Deyne, who joked that he was late to the stage because his girlfriend Alexa Chung had food poisoning.

Her recreation of Marilyn Monroe's "Last Sitting" for New York Magazine has arguably become very popular and so Lindsay Lohan is being offered to pose nude for Playboy. The men's magazine's boss Hugh Hefner wants her to pose nude as Marilyn Monroe for the publication.

Hefner reportedly wants the actress-singer to recreate Monroe's famous naked swim from her unfinished film "Something's Got to Give". Lindsay thus will get another chance to strip off as Marilyn Monroe should Hefner gets his way.

Kate Hudson and Owen Wilson have both fueled further rumors of a rekindled romance. While none of them commented on the persistent rumors just yet, another evidence has emerged on them getting close together.

The former couple, as reported by People, appeared very cozy at the Oscars over the weekend. What's more, they were also reported to have flirted near the souvenir booth at Madonna's exclusive post-Oscars party on Sunday night, February 24.