In today's Hollywood Ink ... Arnold will be back ... Angelina adopts a franchise ... Ali G. gets off scot-free ...
· Arnold Schwarzenegger told poli-blogger Bill Bradley that he met with Terminator Salvation director McG to discuss the possibility of him appearing in the film without actually having to show up on set. After McG rejected his idea of Skyping in his "best of luck" wishes to John Connor from the Governor's office, the director instead set about exploring the possibility of digitally manipulating images of Schwarzenegger from the original Terminator movie for the new film. "They would basically take technology out of Terminator I, and use that walk of mine and somehow bring it in [to the new film]," says Schwarzenegger. "It's just a brief scene." [EW]
· While dismissive of many types of modern Western medicine, when it comes to one physician sub-specialty -- the Doctor of Script -- Tom Cruise is behind their work completely. His team, which includes Scott Frank, Richard Curtis, and Paul Attanasio, can earn upwards of $250,000 for a major procedure like a villainplasty or third-act bypass. [Variety]
· Fox 2000 is purchasing the rights to Patricia Cornwell's 16 Kay Scarpetta books as a possible franchise for Angelina Jolie. None of the actual books will be filmed, but rather the character will be placed into a series of new situations, a la Bourne movies. [Variety]
· American Idol : The Passion of Matt Giraurd proved a resurrection story the public could really get behind, as 24 million tuned in to see if Pontius Cowell would take mercy on the Timberalkeian white-soul crooner. The gospel managed to crush the competition last week in the ratings, despite being a "little karaoke." [Variety]
· Kings, NBC's ballsy and failed experiment to see if there's an audience out there for a sci-hist-fi retelling of the David and Goliath story set in a monarchized America, has been moved to summer, returning to its Saturday 8 p.m. slot June 13th and finishing its run through July 25. [THR]
· As a new crop of Bruno litigants prepares to decry all the humiliating things the man with the highlights and funny accent made them do with a bottle of poppers, the courts are still sifting through the last batch of Sacha Baron Cohen cases. An L.A. judge has dismissed an The Ali G Show claim from a woman the comedian allegedly referenced in an interview with Gore Vidal. The offending statement: "Ain't it better sometimes, to get rid of the whole thing rather than amend it cos, like me used to go out with this bitch called [Plaintiff's name] and she used to always be trying to amend herself. Y'know, get her hair done in highlights, get like tattoo done on her batty crease, y'know gave the whole thing shaved n very nice but it didn't make any more differnece. She was still a minger and so, y'know, me had enough and once me got her pregnant me said alright, laters, that is it. Ain't the same with the Constitution?" The judge concluded that "it is obvious that the Ali G character is absurd, and all his statements are gibberish and intended as comedy." [THR]