Entertainment News Page 4513

Is it a bad luck or merely bad news? You decide. Hard rock jam band The Black Crowes lost two of its members. Last week, the group's keyboardist Eddie Hawrysch, who had played with the band since 1991, exited the band for "personal issues". And on Wednesday September 6th, just one day before the band set to kick of their massive fall tour, guitarist Marc Ford also called it quit.

On Ford's resignation, the man's spokesperson claims health issues as the reason the musician called it quits, saying "All the difficult work he has done to gain his longest period of sobriety ever was in jeopardy while touring." On the other hand, Crowes manager, Pete Angelus, claimed Ford's departure as less than amicable for the guitarist was "immediately terminating his agreement" with the Crowes without giving 12 weeks notice required by his contract.

People, get ready for the new "Comic Relief". The live stand-up comedy benefit, which ran on HBO from 1986-1998, will return to the premium cable network Nov. 18 later this year after a seven-year absence.

Besides, it will also be simulcast on TBS as well. On top of that, comedian Robin Williams will return as host of the three-hour event, bringing also his companion Billy Crystal and Whoopi Goldberg.

The line-up is fixed at last. Quentin Tarantino has ultimately finalized the cast of his "Death Proof" segment of Dimension Films' "Grindhouse" with the addition of Michael Bacall of "CSI" fame, "Hostel" helmer Eli Roth, and newcomer Omar Doom in the list, the filmmaker and the studio announced Friday, September 8.

A slasher flick, "Death Proof" is one of the two pictures which make up "Grindhouse", the other being Robert Rodriguez's zombie movie titled "Planet Terror." It previously rounded up stars like Kurt Russell, Rosario Dawson, and Vanessa Ferlito in the cast with Tarantino also penning the scripts.

Green Day and U2 both are having a music project together. Both bands are set to go into the studio to record a track on a cover of "The Saints Are Coming", a song which was originally released by the Scottish punk band The Skids.

Record producer Rick Rubin will join the bands to work on the track, which is expected to raise money for Music Rising, a charity seeking to benefit the musicians devastated by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

Do not expect that wedding bells will soon ring for Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. The Hollywood's most-talked couple will only tie the knot when all couples can legally wed. In other words, they won't get married until the restrictions on who can marry whom are dropped.

The hunk reveals all to Esquire magazine's October issue, on newsstands Sept. 19. He said "Angie and I will consider tying the knot when everyone else in the country who wants to be married is legally able." That statement represents one of the "fifteen things" Pitt thinks everyone should know.

Jon Bon Jovi is invading fashion world. The rock star has partnered with American clothing designer Kenneth Cole to design a limited-edition outerwear collection.

To mark their partnership, Jon Bon Jovi wore one of the designer jackets on the red carpet of this year's Fashion Rocks event on September 7th, during which he was one of its many performers.

Landing another propitious deal, 20th Century Fox has secured the film rights to a spec script by writer Adam Sztykiel, The Hollywood Reporter has revealed. Shawn Levy has been confirmed to produce the project, titled "Matchbreaker", through his 21 Laps Entertainment with an eye to direct.

The basic idea of the movie originally was generated internally at 21 Laps before it was developed into a screenplay by Sztykiel. Plot details are being kept secret, but Levy delightfully has given a hint about the flick, saying it as a "high-concept comedy about two guys and a girl set against a vibrant cultural backdrop, which we haven't seen in a movie before."

Here's one more celebrity creating abuzz. As for now on it's 50 Cent who's provoking media frenzy.

The rapper was pulled over by police Friday afternoon at around 2:00PM in New York City, cited for making an unsafe lane change, as well as driving without his license, vehicle insurance and registration. NYPD spokesperson Det. Madelyne Galindo says law enforcement officials in an unmarked car pulled over the star's silver Lamborghini at the corner of 8th Ave. and 35th Ave. in Midtown New York after they saw him made a turn without signaling.

Give applause to British police for they've done their best that their hard work could at last result in the return of Lindsay Lohan's stolen Hermes handbag in a very short time. Greater than that which maybe a good news for the actress-singer is that nothing is missing from her orange handbag.

The actress' attorney, Michael David Heller, issued a statement representing his client saying "Lindsay wants to say a massive thank you today to [Big Pictures chairman] Darryn Lyons for handing back her bag to her today after his crew of paparazzi helped to catch the thief and return her belongings...She feels that maybe justice has been served and karma may have played a role in the return of her bag today given that the paparazzi are usually a pest to her, and today they have been a godsend."

Making great move in taking its next project, Warner Bros. is set to finance and distribute Rob Reiner's new big screen project of "The Bucket List", Variety has reported.

Following this, the company has also reached deals with Reiner and the film's two leading actors, Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, to start production by late October with Justin Zackham penning the script. In the meantime, Zackham will also become the flick's executive producer alongside Traviz Knox while Reiner, Craig Zadan, Neil Meron, Alan Greisman are seating as producers.

Rick O'Connell will be back onscreen. According to TMZ.com, Brendan Fraser has been signed up to once again play the character following Universal's decision to make "The Mummy 3" of which production is expected to begin early next year.

While plot details of the movie remain undisclosed, it has been confirmed that "Smallville" creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar are set to pen the script. As for the director, Universal is reported to have made an offer to "Jurassic Park III" helmer Joe Johnston, so the return of Stephen Sommers on the director's seat seems unlikely to happen.

Glowing talents are coming down to highlight "Smart People." Dennis Quaid, Rachel Weisz, and Thomas Haden Church have been reported to give positive sign to share scenes together in the picture which will be a directorial big screen debut of Noam Murro.

Set to begin production on November 6 in Pittsburgh with Mark Poirier penning the script, the movie centers on a professor, played by Quaid, who turns into a bitter eccentric following his wife death, but later learns to reconnect with people after falling for a former student.

Already signed a one-year, first-look deal with Los Angeles-based Underground Films, the Weinstein Company now sets out to put more attention to comedies. The studio has announced that the first materialization of this pact will be "Rising Son", of which basic idea came from Underground's production president William Lowery.

The movie's story takes a look on a young American who struggles hard to win the respect of her Japanese-American girlfriend's estranged family after delivering a proposition to the girl. Martin Sweeney is handling the script with Lowery executive producing and Nick Osborne plus Trevor Engelson producing.

Still staying close to dramatic feature, David Strathairn has joined the cast of "Hereafter", a project set amid aftermath of the tsunami disaster happened in Southeast Asia two years ago, Variety has learned.

Scheduled to start filming in Thailand by early next year, the movie focuses on an American clothing designer who tries to find his wife and children upon being separated from them after tsunami hit a remote area of Thailand they are visiting. Michael Patwin has been tapped to both direct and write the screenplay with Chris Bender, Ben Katz, and Madeline Ryan taking producers' seat.

The dynamic duo is returning. Shifting from book to screenplay, "The Nanny Diaries" authors Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus have been selected to pen the script of Paramount's new project, "Five Men Who Broke My Heart", Variety has revealed.

Intended to be a romantic comedy, the movie is based on Susan Shapiro's romance memoir of the same title which follows the writer as she faced her midlife crisis that later led her to seek out five boyfriends who dumped her to find out why she didn't measure up. Blumhouse's Jason Blum and Rachael Horovitz of Specialty Film are both seating as the producers.