May 17, 2008

The past few months following the release of the hit monster movie "Cloverfield", buzzes about the making of its sequel have been coming in and out in the media. Back in April, producer J.J. Abrams has hinted that the possibility of a sequel has been discussed. However, lately the filmmaker has come out with a contrasting comment.

Commenting on the sequel at a New York press conference on May 15, the "Star Trek" director confessed that he is more interested on working on another project with writer Drew Goddard and director Matt Reeves than making the sequel. "So my dream is to work with [Goddard and Reeves] again, but do something that's [new]," explained the "Mission: Impossible III" director and co-writer. "We're talking about it. But the truth is there's another idea that I'd rather do with the same people than do a sequel. It's a whole new thing."

Bringing the action closer to the future audience, the forthcoming Timur Bekmambetov's movie "Wanted (2008)" has gotten a brand new featurette. The nearly five minutes long video posted on the net by Empire Online, gives an exclusive behind the scenes' look into the film starring James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman and Angelina Jolie.

Combining the live action clips with its original comic strips, the featurette is filled with many explosive action sequences cut off from the movie. The featurette also contains bits of comments as well as explanations from people behind it, including producer Marc Platt, director Bekmambetov, Wesley Gibson's depicter McAvoy, as well as from Mark Millar, the original author of the graphic novel the movie is based on.

After Jennifer Hudson's song "All Dressed In Love", which is one of the songs for "Sex and the City" movie spin-off, has previously leaked on-line, another single of hers has also been streamed on the net. The singer's new track is called "Spotlight" and it will be the first single from her new album.

The upcoming LP will be Jennifer's debut album, but it hasn't had a title or a release date. The only details about the upcoming set is that for the record she will asked Alicia Keys and India.Arie to become her mentors.

In a bid to prove that she is not only a singer in the studio, Scarlett Johansson made a deal with AOL to appear and perform live in its regular sessions program. The "Lost in Translation" actress who will release her debut album "Anywhere I Lay My Head" on Tuesday, May 20, have come to showcase the effort and promote the album that contains mostly Tom Waits' cover songs.

Out of the 11 tracks in the album, Johansson in total brought five songs to the stage. They are first single "Falling Down", "Green Grass", "Who Are You", the iTunes bonus track "Yesterday Is Here" and the title track "Anywhere I Lay My Head" which can be seen below.

Just before The Pussycat Dolls introduce their new song "When I Grow Up" live to fans, the audio has been leaked. The Dolls' new single, which previously has been planned to be exclusively performed by the girls on Jimmy Kimmell Live! on May 20 and MTV Movie Awards on June 1, has been streamed on the net.

The new single has been confirmed by the Dolls as their first from the group's upcoming LP. The song is an up-tempo dance track and was produced by Rodney Jenkins. The upcoming album has just been confirmed its title, which is "To Those Who Wait" and itd release date which will be on August 5 via Interscope.

Her ex-fiance Lance Armstrong has been reported to have been secretly dating actress Kate Hudson for a few weeks, and while rumors are abuzz on that matter new claim emerged from Life & Style Weekly that said Sheryl Crow has found herself a new boyfriend. The songbird, as stated by the publication, is dating a restaurateur from Birmingham, Alabama, identified as John Cassimus.

Crow and John first met through a mutual friend, Jay Barker, who's a football star turned radio personality in Birmingham. "Jay got them together in March. John, who's also a pilot, has been flying his plane to Nashville to see her. They've kept it pretty low-key - cooking together, riding horses, going up in his plane," so said an insider.

The whip-cracking archaeological professor Indiana Jones has become one of the legendary feature film characters since he first took center stage with "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark" and his highly expected new adventure in "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" is coming out in less than a week. The left over question now is whether or not another sequel will come following after. According to the franchise creator George Lucas, the possibility of a fifth film has been left open, but this time Jones won't be the main attraction.

Hinting about the possible fifth "Indiana Jones" movie at the Cannes Film Festival, the Academy Award-winning filmmaker stated that he may put Jones aside as the sidekick instead of the main character. Adding to the much surprise given, he revealed that he has idea on making Mutt Williams, the character played by Shia LaBeouf in "Crystal Skull", as the center of the story. "I haven't even told Steven [Spielberg] or Harrison [Ford] this," Lucas confessed to Fox News. "But I have an idea to make Shia the lead character next time and have Harrison come back like Sean Connery did in the last movie. I can see it working out."

Justin Timberlake plans to give a special gift to his friend Ellen DeGeneres for the talk show host's upcoming marriage with her partner Portia de Rossi. Justin reportedly is willing to sing at the wedding and also make a special song for the couple.

The pop star said his plan, on the tapping of Ellen's talk show which was aired on May 16. While answering the actress' suggestion that he should also get married with his girlfriend Jessica Biel, Justin said, "No... but I'll sing at your wedding."

What happens if a bunch of talented comedians and acclaimed actors gather up to make a feature film together? Moviegoers will get the laughable "Tropic Thunder" movie and that is exactly what the film's red band trailer wants to send across. Describing most of its main characters in a unique way, the trailer presents many unseen footages from the film.

Opened like the earlier released trailer with two U.S. army helicopters hovering above the green field, the restricted-rated footages continue by taking a different look from the earlier trailers. It moves on showing Ben Stiller's character being ambushed and shot many times. Then, the clips go on explaining about the particular character and two other notable characters in the movie by using the footages from their characters' works in the pretentious film industry.

Having a prominent name in Hollywood entertainment industry, both as an actor and rapper, Will Smith is invading the world of education. The movie star is the latest to start his own private school, leasing a campus near his California home for about $1 million to set up the New Village Academy of Calabasas.

It reportedly will cost people $12,000 a year to attend Will's New Village Academy. The academy, which will be run privately for kindergarten kids up through sixth grade, will provide a laptop for every child, and an all-organic, low-fat sugar-free menu.

Following previous reports saying that her hit song "Rockstar" was a rip-off from L.A. band Lustra's single, now Miley Cyrus has answered back to the accusation. Miley hit back at the band's allegation, refusing to take part on the blame, because she was not the one who wrote the song.

Answering to the press, Miley's spokesperson said, "She doesn't write the songs - she sings them. We have referred this to Disney." The band themselves, have yet to make a reply to the teen pop star's answer.

The Hollywood rumor mill goes into overdrive again as it's been reported that Kate Hudson has, amidst claim that she has split from on-again off-again boyfriend Owen Wilson, been quietly dating Lance Armstrong. The movie beauty and the cyclist have "been dating quietly for a few weeks now," a source close to the couple tells Perez Hilton.

The alleged new lovers are said to have flown via private jet from N.Y.C. to Austin, Texas Friday, May 16 to spend the weekend together. No words from either of them concerning the fresh dating report.

Reunited boy band New Kids On The Block finally marked their official comeback with a special performance after 15 years of absence at the "Today" show on May 16. The group performed in front of an estimated 4,000 crowd on a windy and rainy condition.

The bad weather didn't stop the band from entertaining their fans by singing a medley of their hit songs such as, "Step by Step", "Hangin' Tough", "Please Don't Go Girl", "You've Got It (The Right Stuff)", "Tonight" plus their new single "Summertime". The boy band even attempted to do their trade mark dance moves, despite the wet stage. Commenting on their dance attempt, one of the New Kids, Donnie Wahlberg said, "It's a little bit like Al Roker in a hurricane."

Bad news keeps on coming to Peter Berg's upcoming superhero movie "Hancock". After twice given the restricted rating by MPAA rating for its sexual and violent scenes, it is now said that the movie is in jeopardy of being able to be finished on the time for its theatrical debut on July 2.

The speculation of the trouble behind the latest Will Smith-starrer film sparked after Cinema Blend reported that the world premiere event of the action drama movie in Sydney, Australia which is scheduled sometime in June has been quietly put in the back burner. Allegedly, the canceling off of the premiere has something to do with the heavy re-shooting of the film since it is said to be eyeing the PG-13 rating at least.

With reports on her ex-boyfriend John Mayer's new love life with his new girlfriend Jennifer Aniston has been dominating the news media, Minka Kelly apparently is trying to steal the spotlight, getting up close and personal with actor Topher Grace. The twosome fuel dating rumors as they were seen "all over each other and making out" Thursday night, May 15 at Stonefire Pizza Co. in L.A.

Sources who witnessed their togetherness told OK! magazine they saw both actors sharing a pie and locking lips. A representative for Minka was quick to pour cold water on the dating rumors, insisted "She is not dating Topher Grace and was not kissing/making out or any of the sorts last night with him," adding that "They were at Stonefire Pizza, however they are just friends."

When M. Night Shyamalan decided to give one mind-troubling film that would haunt you, he definitely can deliver that. In a new restricted teaser trailer of his upcoming thriller flick "The Happening", movie lovers can get more than a glimpse of the film's disturbing scenes. Though relatively short, the video footage is enough to bring an agitating vibe through.

The footages shown in the red band teaser very much give out idea how gruesome the movie will be. It opens with men in a construction site joking around and behind them an object is falling making an eerie banging noise. The object turns to be another construction worker falling from the top of the building. The grisly-looking teaser do not end there. It continues by showing a man gets run over by tank, another man is brutally attacked by a lion, several people hanging themselves on a tree, and many others.

Having yet revealed any details regarding her upcoming album, a new song from Beyonce Knowles has leaked on-line. The new single is titled "Should Have (Now I Know)" and reportedly will be one of the songs for her new LP.

The upcoming album itself hasn't had any confirmation regarding its title, release dates or the songs that will be on it. Previous reports only claimed that the R 'n' B diva has started the work for her new record which will be assisted by Chris Stewart and Kuk Harrell.

With the release of its first three feature films in the period of five years, franchise is garnering more and more success. Hence, it is obvious that the studio want to quickly jump on this superhero next movie project and the latest report coming from the action fantasy movie brings even greater news for the fans with a saying suggesting that "Spider-Man 4" and "Spider-Man 5" will be shot at the same time.

Bringing the speculation to the surface, Cinematical reported that "Zodiac" screenwriter James Vanderbilt hired to develop the latest installment of the spider-like superhero has brought in a working draft of the fourth movie and apparently it contains works for two movies. Quoting what their source informed to them, the movie site noted, "[Vanderbilt's] story arc has encompassed two films, making Spider-Man 5 shootable at the same time. The studio saw dollar signs and is in the process of reworking his deal to snatch up the story arc." Still, further details about the matter is still put in a dark.

Reaping success in both movie and music industries, Beyonce Knowles has set her sight on small screen. The singer-actress is prepping to add more resume into her acting career as she, according to reports, is in talks with producers of "Desperate Housewives" in a bid to land a starring role in the hit ABC show.

Greater than that, her father Matthew Knowles who as well serves as her manager reportedly has been looking forward to make his daughter a more prominent role on the show. A source in the Knowles camp tells MediaTakeOut, "They've already agreed to give Beyonce a cameo appearance. But (we're) hoping that (she) could be written in for a recurring role, or possibly even a permanent one."

After the behind the scenes of the clip was aired on-line earlier this week, The Game's official music video for "Game's Pain" has finally got premiered at Yahoo! Music on May 16. On the video that was directed by well-known director Dale "Rage" Resteghini, Game is accompanied by Keyshia Cole.

The single itself is being confirmed by the rapper as the first from his upcoming album "L.A.X.". On the lyrics, Game raps about his admiration to his hip-hop idols. On a recent interview with MTV, Game also explained the reason he taps Keyshia to join him on the single saying, "Me and Keyshia came up around the same time. We always wanted to get in the studio together but never had the chance because both our careers took off at the same time. She blew to superstar status on the R&B side. I blew up on the rap side. I knew she would come in and kill it. And she did."

Though director Rob Cohen claimed that he is to be the first to unveil his latest film's first look, Universal Pictures apparently came out with the official teaser trailer of "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" well before him. The teaser brings the exploding action sequences and exciting adventure closer to the audience.

Bringing Brendan Fraser back as the daring explorer Rick O'Connell to the silver screen, the video footage begins with a brief aerial shot of the Great Wall and then cuts off to a band of man coming into a used to be sealed room full of terra cotta army. Accompanied with the explanation about the Dragon Emperor by the narrator, the clips go on showing O'Connell's now grown up son, Alex, trying to unearth the clues lays in front of him. Little that he knows, what he is about to do is going to awaken the terra cotta warriors along with their merciless leader with the dream of conquering the world.

T.I. is a father for one more time. The hip hop hit-maker and his longtime girlfriend Tameka Cottle welcomed the arrival of their second son together after midnight Friday morning, May 16.

A representative for T.I. exclusively confirmed the good news to People, quoted the star as saying, "God has blessed us with another miracle." The newborn baby boy, according to the representative, was named Major Harris, and he weighed in at 5 lbs., 15 oz.