July 03, 2009

There is a slight possibility that Gerard Butler will return to reprise his King Leonidas role in "300" sequel. In a chat with MTV, producer Mark Canton hints that King Leonidas may well be brought back from the dead. "Never assume anything; never assume anything," he said when responding to the question if the original cast of "300" were gone for good.

Canton further explained, "It'll be what it'll be. But if we really do it, in this case, we have a visionary creator and a visionary filmmaker." Aside from addressing the casting possibility, the "Land of the Dead" producer also revealed that the sequel is moving forward well. "Things are always looking good with '300,' it's a blessing and a gift," he said.

Foo Fighters and Jimmy Fallon have been billed to make live performances for the 44th U.S. President Barack Obama, according to Rolling Stone. They are plotted to sing on the South Lawn of the White House this Saturday, July 4 as part of the Independence Day festivities.

Another musical guest tapped to take the stage for the upcoming event is Michelle Branch. As for its attendants, more than 1,200 U.S. troops and the military family members are expected to come to the bash.

A short but rich-in-meaning promo for "Sons of Anarchy" season 2 is released. Jackson 'Jax' Teller (Charlie Hunnam) is challenging his stepfather Clarence 'Clay' Morrow (Ron Perlman) in a head-to-head race on top of the Harleys.

The rift between Jax and Clay has been one of the major issues in the fist season. Jax is the son of John Teller who was the creator and actual owner of SAMCRO. After John's death, Jax's mom Gemma married Clay who later became the president of the motorcycle club. Discovering his father's old journal, Jax found out the original manifesto of SAMCRO and the friction between him and Clay began from there.

A representative for Holly Madison has put the brake on report of her rekindling romance with ex-boyfriend, illusionist Criss Angel. "There is no truth whatsoever to the story that she is back with Criss. Not sure where it came from or why but they haven't been in contact for months," the rep tells Hollyscoop.

On July 1, Star Magazine reported Holly began seeing Criss again ever since she moved to Sin City earlier this summer to replace Melanie Brown and Kelly Monaco as the new star of the famed "Peepshow" at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino. Criss was also said performing at the same venue.

A photo of Tony Stark's Grand Prix race car from "Iron Man 2" has been published by Road & Track magazine. Said to be taken from the set of the "Iron Man" sequel, the picture gives out first look at how Stark Industries-sponsored vintage race car driven by Tony Stark during a racing scene will look like.

"This is the Stark Industries-sponsored vintage race car that the movie's main protagonist - genius inventor and swashbuckling lady's man Tony Stark - will be driving in a scene that depicts him racing in the Grand Prix de Monaco Historique, a vintage race held in Monte Carlo," read the article that accompanies the photo. The magazine furthermore explained, "The scene is not being filmed on the actual streets of the tiny, glamorous seaside principality near the south of France, but on an elaborate set that replicates the Monaco circuit."

Lil Wayne has delayed his several planned concerts in Europe because he gets sick. "Multi-platinum selling, Grammy Award -winning artist Lil Wayne regrets to announce the postponement of his forthcoming European shows due to illness," so it is announced by his camp.

"Wayne, his band and crew arrived in Europe with full intention of performing but were forced to cancel the dates due to doctor-mandated rest," it is explained further. "Management is actively working on rescheduling the shows and expects to have a new set of dates confirmed for later in year."

After releasing "Mixed Up" and "Just a Girl" music videos, Disney Channel now makes public a music video for "Supergirl", "Hannah Montana" theme song. Like previously-premiered videos, this new one also captures Miley Cyrus appearing as Hannah Montana during a live concert in Irvine, California.

Along with the arrival of "Supergirl" video, a music video for "Let's Get Crazy", another soundtrack of the Mouse House's TV series, has also been found. This video mostly features similar scenes to "Supergirl" video.

Rumer Willis is expanding her TV experience by guest starring in "90210". The CW confirms the casting report to Access Hollywood, informing that Rumer will play an outspoken lesbian named Gia in at least one episode.

In the casting call, Gia is described as "Punky, cute, lesbian. Not afraid to speak her mind. A little bit of a spitfire." Rumer will be sharing scenes with Michael Steger who plays Navid, Jessica Lowndes who plays Adrianna and Jessica Stroup who plays Silver. This group of people will be working on the school's paper, Blaze News.

"There's a lot of advice that I could give but what works for one person might not work for another. I just exercise regularly and try to eat healthy," Kellan Lutz tells Social Life magazine when asked to give some tips on how to stay fit just like him. "There's no method to my madness. High protein meals are important and I love eggs and chicken so I try to eat that almost every day that I can," he adds.

Besides, "I love fruits so I always have fruit in my kitchen to snack on. I would suggest finding some sort of cardio that you enjoy. I hate running so for me it's swimming," the Emmett Cullen of "Twilight" continues revealing. "Stay as active as possible and don't just sit in front of the television; do push ups or sit ups during the commercials. Even a little hard work goes a long way."

In the big screen version of Osamu Tesuka's manga, Astro Boy will apparently get one sassy friend. Kristen Bell, the actress who fills the voice of the sassy friend, brings the matter into public attention when discussing with Sci Fi Wire about her animated character in 3-D animated movie "Astro Boy".

"I play Cora, who is a girl who befriends Astro when he comes down from Metro City onto the surface of Earth," 28-year-old Bell revealed. The actress, who confessed of having no idea about the manga until she worked on the project, moreover described her character, saying "She runs a little kind of like Peter Pan group of kids. She's pretty tough, pretty sassy."

"Sin City" actress Alexis Bledel has acknowledged the script for "Sin City 2" is completed and claimed that the movie is going to be a prequel. Talking to MTV News, the 27-year-old believes that the second movie could be a prequel after she found out that her character will make a return in the sequel.

"I don't know what their source was, but they said they read the second script," Bledel first addressed on the saying that the script for the sequel has been finished. The actress who plays a young prostitute named Becky then added, "Apparently, [I'm] back because it's a prequel. Because [I'm] supposed to die in the first one. But you don't see it, so maybe she doesn't."

Disney Channel's Summer of Stars program continues in July. The new promo for the seasonal event reveals what TV shows will be coming on screen this month, and which movies are getting its TV screening.

Coming this Saturday as part of the movie night is Oscar-winning animated film "Happy Feet". Disney's Original Movie "Another Cinderella Story" which is starring Selena Gomez will take over on July 11. TV series "Sonny with a Chance", "J.O.N.A.S!", "Hannah Montana", "Wizards of Waverly Place" as well as "Phineas and Ferb" will come up with new episodes throughout the month.

After Black Eyed Peas' member will.i.am admitted he and Michael Jackson had crafted a new dance music album before the King of Pop died, recent news arrived, suggesting that Michael actually worked on two albums. According to Billboard, Michael cooked up an instrumental classical composition and pop effort.

In getting the instrumental pieces done, Michael reunited with composer David Michael Frank with whom he collaborated in a tribute show to late Tony Award-nominated actor Sammy Davis Jr. "He had two demos of two pieces he'd written, but they weren't complete," David said of their studio project.

Miley Cyrus and Demi Lovato were among the first people who congratulated Kevin Jonas soon after his engagement to girlfriend of two years, Danielle Deleasa, was made public. "Congrats Kevin :)" Miley wrote on her Twitter account. As for Demi, she tweeted, "Congrats to Kevin and Dani!!!!!!! Love you both. Sooo happy for you!!!"

In addition to both Disney stars, fellow singer Jordin Sparks also sent Kevin her best wishes. The winner of "American Idol" season 6 wrote on her Twitter account, "BTW ... CONGRATS KEVIN & DANI!"

Zac Efron and Megan Fox set tongue wagging after it was reported that they enjoyed a romantic dinner date at Pace, an upscale restaurant in Los Angeles' woodsy Laurel Canyon neighborhood, on Tuesday, June 30. "They were very friendly and their faces were close when they talked," a fellow diner told Celebuzz.

There has been no picture provided by the site as evidence of the twosome's togetherness. Besides, neither of the film stars has commented on the report, which is soon to provoke speculation that both of them are embarking on a love relationship despite the fact that he is still dating actress girlfriend Vanessa Hudgens.

It turns out that the planned funeral for Michael Jackson, which according to earlier report will be held next Tuesday, July 7 at Staples Center in L.A., will serve as a memorial service opened for public. And while official confirmation on that matter is expected to be made by the late singer's family on Friday, July 3, speculation has just emerged that there will be 11,000 free tickets given for fans to attend the service.

Representatives for the Jacksons announced Thursday, July 2, a press conference will be held at 10 A.M. PT Friday, during when Tim Leiweke, the president and CEO of AEG, the parent company that owns the Staples Center, will share with the press details of the public memorial service. Further information on how fans can register for the tickets will also be outed during the press conference.

A music video filmed to support "Everything I Own", a theme song for Vanessa Hudgens-starring movie "Bandslam", has just been outed. It mostly highlights Vanessa's character, Sam, rocking the stage during a live concert with scenes from the movie intercepting.

"Everything I Own" is a song penned by David Gates in 1972 as a tribute to his late father. The track has been covered by a number of singers, including Ken Boothe, Boy George and The Remmingtons.

Newly coupled dancers, Karla Garcia and Vitolio Jeune, have to swallow bitter pills of elimination when the judges of "So You Think You Can Dance" decided that it was time for them to go. Karla and Vitolio were in the bottom three along with the couples Kayla Radomski-Kupono Aweau and Jeanine Mason-Phillip Chbeeb.

During the solo effort to get a second chance, Karla danced to 'Blackbird' by Dionne Farris but Head Judge Nigel Lythgoe said the Jazz/Contemporary dancer did not ooze the star quality that they thought she possessed at the beginning. Meanwhile, Vitolio did a routine to "Here Comes Goodbye" by Rascal Flatts. Nigel said the Contemporary dancer offered nothing but his presence.

The planned trilogy of "The Last Airbender" won't be filmed back-to-back and may take as long as six years to complete. Speaking up about the matter was producer Frank Marshall who told Starlog that the filmmakers will be working on the trilogy project one by one. "We're shooting them one at a time, because they're being written one at a time," insisted the five-time Academy Award-nominated producer.

Ruling out the possibility for the three parts of "Airbender" shot like Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings", Marshall noted that director/scribe M. Night Shyamalan is currently in the process of developing the second film. "Night is now working on the script for the second movie, but he hasn't had time to write the second or third ones," he explained. "He's looking at the arc of all three."

Jermaine Jackson had an exclusive interview with Matt Lauer of the "TODAY" show on Thursday, July 2, during when he asked media to stop speculating about the cause of Michael Jackson's sudden death. Sitting down on the grounds of Neverland Ranch for an in-depth interview about the late icon, Jermaine said on-going claims that his younger brother died of drug use are "very damaging" to his grieving family.

"For people to come forward and say things that they don't have the facts to is very damaging to the family, to me, to us, because we don't know. After having the physical and proved to be completely healthy..." he stated. Asked what if the allegations turn out to be true, the elder Jackson replied, "I would be hurt because Michael has always been a person who was against anything like that, but I'm not saying it's right because it's not right, but in this business, the pressure, the things that you go through, you never know. I really don't know (if he was taking drugs), but I do know that Michael was always concerned about everybody, and to have that burden on your shoulders, and to have that pressure ... I don't know."

A brand new song entitled "I Didn't Know My Own Strength" from Whitney Houston has hit the web. "I didn't know my own strength/ And I crashed down and I tumbled," so part on the song's lyrics read. "But I did not crumble/ I got through all the pain/ I didn't know my own strength."

The new track reportedly is written by Diane Warren and produced by David Foster. It is said to be released as the lead single from Whitney's upcoming studio album "I Look to You" which will be made available for purchase in U.S. market on September 1.

Confirmation of Eminem's involvement in the upcoming comedy "Funny People" has come out in form of a production still. Published by MTV, the first look at the Grammy-winning rapper's cameo sees him having a chat at a Hollywood restaurant with dying stand-up comedian George Simmons, who is played by Adam Sandler. Though the photo serves as a confirmation, it is still unclear what kind of role Eminem tackles in the feature film.

Earlier, the 36-year-old confessed to VIBE magazine that he is taking a part in the comedy movie and has just done the filming for his cameo. "I just did a cameo a few months ago with Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen in a Judd Apatow produced film. It's called Funny People," he said. "I kinda do a little cameo in that which was fun by the way. And 8 Mile was not a fun movie to shoot."

To preserve Michael Jackson's legacy, FOX is planning to air "The Simpsons" episode where the King of Pop contributed a voice. On Sunday, July 5 at 8/7c, the network will re-run "Stark Raving Dad", the first episode of season 3 that originally aired in September 1991.

Michael voiced the character of Leon Kompowsky, an overweight brick-layer whom Homer met during his stint at Mental Institution. Leon made Homer believe that he was Michael Jackson. Not recognizing the famous name, Homer brought Leon home to Springfield where many had anticipated the arrival of the star.

High profile couple, David Beckham and Victoria Adams, is photographed nearly naked for Emporio Armani's autumn/winter 2009-2010 underwear campaign. Renowned fashion photographers, Mert Alas and Marcus Piggot, lent a helping hand to shoot the black-and-white ads that see the husband and wife striking some steamy poses.

In one ad, David and Victoria are seen donning matching black Armani underwear. The soccer stud is caught on camera lying on a giant rope, with Victoria lying sideways on top of his body and putting her left palm on his bare chest. The other ad, meanwhile, witnesses David wearing white undies and Victoria posing in black bra and panties. Both ads are available for peek at Celebrity Mania.

Eminem's music video for his new single "Beautiful" has finally made its way out after being previewed through a clip. It shows the rapper performing in Detroit's Tiger Stadium, old Packard Motor Car company plant and once-grand Beaux-Arts train station Michigan Central Station.

Commenting on the video, Eminem previously said, "Tiger Stadium is being torn down, and the train station is supposed to be demolished too. This video is one of the last times anybody outside of Detroit is going to see them." He added, "I wrote 'Beautiful' when I was really down, during a difficult time struggling with my addiction."

Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning are currently involved in the principal photography of "The Runaways", portraying their rock 'n' roll characters, Joan Jett and Cherie Currie. On Wednesday, July 1, the two leading actresses were spotted jumping on a car and kicking over a garbage can on the set during the shooting.

Both of the starlets were dressed in the full '80s gear. Black-haired Stewart was seen sporting leather pants and her co-star Fanning was captured wearing platform boots. This is the first time Fanning was spotted as Currie. The set photos posted below are outed by Just Jared and were taken from the movie's Los Angeles set Wednesday, July 1.

A video footage showing Michael Jackson's last rehearsal for his London's O2 Arena concerts has been released via CNN. It captures the late singer singing two songs, one of which is his 1996 track called "They Don't Care About Us", at Los Angeles' Staples Center, and also sees him dancing energetically through the session. This video then refutes previous idea that the singer was too frail to perform.

It was reported that Michael Jackson's final rehearsal has been taped and will be released as a CD/DVD set by Michael's concert promoter, AEG Live. Besides, in a bid to honor Michael, the company also plans to hold a tribute concert filled with performances from the late singer's family and "the stars that were influenced by him."

Post the famous assault done by ex-boyfriend Chris Brown, Rihanna is facing a new problem as she is put under investigation for illegal tattooing. The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has confirmed the matter to MTV News.

Rihanna, who is an avid tattoo fan, was spotted visiting East Side Ink in New York on Wednesday night, July 1, accompanied by a few friends and a bodyguard. There, she met her longtime tattoo artist, BangBang, and ended up etching a tattoo on his body.

After being "in talks" to be the host of Primetime Emmy Awards this year, Neil Patrick Harris is now officially on duty to lead the event on Sunday, September 20. Sources are telling EW that the "How I Met Your Mother" star has signed the contract.

No statement is made yet from Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, but a formal announcement is expected to be made "early next week". The annual event, which enters its 61st year, will be held at Los Angeles' Nokia Theater and broadcast live by CBS. The nominations, meanwhile, will be revealed on Thursday, July 16.