June 30, 2008

This past week has been filled with many reports about various sequels on the work. One of them speculated about the development of sequel/prequel to the Greek warriors movie "300". But, words circulating around the epic drama won't be a mere rumor any longer.

Recently, Legendary Pictures have given out confirmation that the studio have been developing the follow-up of "300" for Warner Bros. Pictures. The production company further announced that they will team up with Frank Miller, the original creator of "300", for the script of the second movie and is looking forward to sign director Zack Snyder once again to take the behind-the-lens role as helmer.

Britney Spears could be heading for her third MTV Video Music Awards performance at this year's event, to be held on September 7 in L.A., as the latest news stated that the TV channel bosses would still give her the chance to do it. Speaking in a phone interview with AP, the music channel's president Van Toffler said, "Everyone deserves a second or third chance, right?"

Moreover, when the reporter asked Van whether he was joking, he said "Sorta. Who knows?" The president then also added, "I'm not sure how we top Britney opening the show. We are working on it every minute of every day."

As promised earlier, the first real look into the latest James Bond movie, "Quantum of Solace", has been unearthed through the release of its teaser trailer. Giving more to the previously revealed snippets, the video footage serves to be the linkage of the snippets as well as the one which provides background story to the action film.

Picking up the story right after Vesper Lynd's betrayal to Bond, the teaser opens up with Bond meeting one of the men from the organization which blackmailed his former lover. The interesting compilation of clips is stressed on M questioning Bond of his motivation in revealing the crime syndicate and what the agent 007 has to face to get the truth. It also exposes more of the action sequences as well as the super spy's new romance.

In mid-July, the highly anticipated superhero flick "The Dark Knight" will be striving to wow moviegoers everywhere with its theatrical release. Having been introduced through various video footages previously, the film now brings fans and movie lovers alike to get deeper understanding to it with one-on-one interview with some of its cast and director.

Sitting down with IESB for a chat about the movie were Lucius Fox's depicter, Morgan Freeman, Bruce Wayne/Batman's portrayer Christian Bale and director Christopher Nolan. Freeman discusses about justice and crime fighter term, while Bale talks about the difficulties faced by Bruce with the power he has as Batman and the underlying tone hinted by Nolan in the movie. Additionally, Nolan opens up about the maturity of Batman compared to the first film, "Batman Begins" and the negative consequences the superhero has to deal from his crusade for justice.

A new and unique collaboration is about to be made by Panic! At the Disco as they plan to team up with rap star Snoop Dogg on a new record. The news was confirmed by the band's vocalist Brendon Urie who stated to the press that Snoop was the one who asked them to do the recording together.

Announcing the news, Brendon also explained that the idea for the collaboration came up after his band and Snoop shared the stage together at a recent gig in Germany, where they played the rapper's hit "Gin and Juice". "We played with Snoop in Germany and performed Gin And Juice with him. He said he'd like to sort out some recording time together," Brendon said. Unfortunately, there is still no further explanation either from Panic or Snoop on whether they will be recording for the band's next album or for the rapper's.

Charlotte Church's baby daughter Ruby Megan Henson has been baptized in a small family ceremony. The Welsh singer and her longtime partner, rugby player Gavin Henson, had their daughter Ruby christened at St Mary of the Angels Catholic Church in Cardiff on Saturday afternoon, June 28.

Church was seen wearing a cream coat and she brought Ruby into the church in a carry-cot covered with a white blanket. Henson arrived separately from the mother-daughter duo and was spotted sporting a navy suit.

It might not be long before fans of Alicia Keys won't be seeing the singer performing and also releasing an album as the latest report claims that the singer could be retiring soon. According to the news Alicia could be retiring by the time her age reaches 30 and plannig to travel around the world after that.

The R 'n' B singer hinted her retirement plan in a statement to the press saying, "I am working hard now so I have the choice to retire when I want." Moreover, confirming the reason for her retirement she said, "I would like to travel the world and stay in places instead of having to move on like I do now. I want to experience difference cultures."

Helena Bonham Carter, the depicter of Mrs. Lovett in the Golden Globe-winning musical "Sweeney Todd" apparently has been putting her interest in the battle saga between men and robots, "Terminator Salvation". Words are the 42-year-old is in negotiations to land a role in the McG-directed film.

Though it is still unclear what part she will be playing, it is said that her role would be small but holds key element of the action movie. If indeed cast, the Bellatrix Lestrange of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" will be enlisted among the already signed cast ensemble that include Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Anton Yelchin, Bryce Dallas Howard, Moon Bloodgood and Common.

Vanessa Hudgens does play her life well. At the age of 19 she has achieved more than regular teens can imagine. The "High School Musical" (HSM) star will release a second studio album titled "Identified" on July 1 and premiere two of her new big screen movies, "Rock On" as well as "High School Musical 3: Senior Year".

On the heels of the charting 2006 album "V", Hudgens releases a sophomore set that has a stellar cast behind it. The new LP boasts productions from Dr. Luke (Kelly Clarkson, Avril Lavigne), Emanuel Kiriakou (Nick Lachey, Celine Dion), J.R. Rotem (50 Cent, The Cheetah Girls) and many more. It has spawned a first single called "Sneakernight" which music video received thousands of hits following its premiere in mid-June.

Has been booked to be the celebrity endorser of Davidoff's famous perfume Cool Water, Evangeline Lilly apparently is taking her role very seriously and totally. The "Lost" star gets wet and hot for the latest ad of the scent, wearing a sexy black swimsuit during the shooting of the campaign.

Not much is mentioned about Lilly's Cool Water ad, except that she's following in the footstep of her "Lost" co-star Josh Holloway to appear in commercials for Davidoff fragrances. Watch the shooting of the ad after this news.

In lights of "Hellboy II: The Golden Army", Universal Pictures have presented two more video footages related to the action fantasy sequel. One of the videos provides fans with a background story to the Golden Army itself, while the other gives out the behind-the-scene look into the film focusing on Hellboy and Abe Sapien.

The first video footage posted below is an animated prologue which is said to open "Hellboy II". It serves to help fans and movie lovers understand the origins of the Golden Army itself and why the truce is made in the first place. Meanwhile, the featurette shows the transformation of the two main actors, Ron Perlman and Doug Jones, to be Hellboy and Abe Sapien. The compilation of clips is accompanied with explanation given by director Guillermo del Toro, producer Mike Richardson, make-up supervisor Mike Elizalde and Perlman himself.

Promoting her new album "Permission to Fly", teen pop singer, Jordan Pruitt has now premiered her new music video for her latest song "One Love". The singer launched the new clip from her sophomore set on her official YouTube channel on June 26.

It seems that the video was shot in one of her concerts as the scenes showed her performing a gig in a packed crowd. The clip itself started with the promotional scene of the song and her new LP, which is being set to drop on July 22.

Announced her third pregnancy and the sex of the forthcoming baby way back in January, it was not until last Saturday, June 28 that Chantal Kreviazuk gave birth to her third son. And she was quick to share the good news to the fans, made public some of her baby's pics in a posting to the Celebrity Baby Blog.

The newborn baby boy was named Salvador Daniel Maida. He was born at 4:48 A.M.

Giving a follow-up story to the hit action blockbuster "Transformers", DreamWorks have managed to bring many of its original cast ensemble back to reprise their role in the sequel, "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen". Still, opposite to what has been suggested previously, veteran actor Jon Voight would not return as U.S. Secretary of Defense John Keller in the second movie.

Revealing the truth on the casting part, the father of actress Angelina Jolie confirmed his exclusion through an interview with Collider at the 34th Annual Saturn Awards on Tuesday, June 24. On the occasion, he confessed that though he was surprised with the success of the first movie, he is not coming back to work on the sequel instead he is going to portray the newest foe for Jack Bauer in the next season of television series "24".

The broken love relationship is fixed and the couple are back together again. Sarah Harding and DJ Tom Crane are back on, it's been claimed.

On June 20, report broke out that the Girls Aloud singer has been dumped by Crane who suspected she has cheated on him with one of her band's back up dancers Jackson Williams. The split caused the blonde beauty to feel "devastated".

Not long after receiving praises for her performance at the Nelson Mandela 90th Birthday concert on June 27, on the next day (June 28), Amy Winehouse made another mess on her Glastonbury gig. The troubled singer was seen lashing out into one of her fans at the festival and also dissing Kanye West by calling him a "c**t".

The incident with the fans happened when Amy was heading down to the pit to get closer with her fans while singing her hit single "Rehab". It was at that time when she appeared to throw an elbow to a fan in the front row. The incident didn't stop her performance though, as she kept on singing after that.

On Sunday, June 29, New Line Cinema and Walden Media have presented the world premiere of their latest adventure movie, "Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D". Holding the special event in Los Angeles, California, the studios rolled down its conventional red carpet in front of Mann's Village Theatre in Westwood.

Being a part of the Los Angeles Film Festival's annual Family Day celebration, the special 3D screening was kicked off with stars strolling down the red carpet starting at 2 P.M. and then followed by the screening itself an hour later. Grazing the red carpet were the film's stars, Brendan Fraser, Josh Hutcherson, Anita Briem and Seth Meyers, the filmmakers, director Eric Brevig and producers Charlotte Huggins and Beau Flynn, as well as celebrity guests that include Amy Yasbeck and Dominique Swain.

It appears that Sienna Miller won't wait any longer to find herself a new lover after breaking up with Rhys Ifans. The actress, according to News of the World, has reportedly embarked on a secret romance with oil heir and actor Balthazar Getty, a married man and father of four children.

Miller and Getty reportedly were introduced to each other by her friend and "The Edge of Love" co-star Matthew Rhys. News of the couple's affair has left Getty's wife Rosetta Millington "devastated", it's been claimed.

Jay-Z shuts down all the critics on his selection as one the headliners at Glastonbury Festival on June 28 by delivering a sound performance at the event. The rapper even surprised the crowd as he started his set by covering Oasis' song "Wonderwall".

Jay-Z's cover over the English rockers' hit song seems being intended to answer recent comment from Noel Gallagher who didn't approve the rapper's inclusion on the festival. "They say you don't want me here, Glastonbury, Now tell me, where is the love?" the rapper shouted after playing "Wonderwall".

Proving to be the one summer movie to be watched, "Wall-E" lives up to the industry experts' prediction and does even more than that with its amazing run for the crowned #1 slot at the North American box office. With $63.1 million, the family comedy animation has secured its place at the top of the weekend box office and is well ahead of its competitor "Wanted (2008)", which also has an impressive opening, debuting second on the chart.

Raking in more than $60 million, "Wall-E" has become Pixar's ninth consecutive movie to land No.1 and is the studio's third highest grossing movie after "The Incredibles" with $70.5 million and "Finding Nemo" with $70.2 million. Before the final tally came out, the newest Disney's animation grossed a bit behind "Monsters, Inc." which earned $62.6 million on its opening weekend. Still, it finally secured the third place with the outing of the official revenue count. Additionally, it is Pixar's biggest opening-day movie scoring $23.1 million from its Friday, June 27, screening.

Ruben Studdard said "I Do." The American Idol season 2 winner married his fiancee Surata Zuri McCants at Canterbury United Methodist Church in his hometown of Birmingham, Ala., Saturday, June 28.

Ruben, as it's been reported earlier, had 20 groomsmen by his side. He and his groomsmen wore black Joseph Abboud tuxedos from local outfitter Mr. Burch Formal Wear. The groomsmen's shirts and vests were black, whereas Studdard had a white vest and a white bow tie.