· I don't pretend to know the politics or trajectory of Ryan Seacrest's relationship with his longtime agents at William Morris or their new partners from Endeavor. But to openly exclude them from his lucrative American Idol contract negotiations, pay zero commission and then jump to CAA (also no commission) to give the Death Star locks on himself, Simon Cowell and Simon Fuller -- thus putting AI's nuts firmly, even more permanently in CAA's loving grip? Well, that's just not very nice at all. But cheer up, Ari! Aretha Franklin just signed on! [DHD]
Kate Bosworth goes to the Dogs, DreamWorks finds money, and more Hollywood Ink after the jump.
· Rod Lurie apparently wasn't joking about his planned updating of Sam Peckinpah's rape-revenge classic Straw Dogs, unless newly cast Kate Bosworth and Alexander Skarsgard are playing along with the gag. One can only hope. [Variety]
· DreamWorks finally squared away its initial $850 million financing for its venture with Disney and India's Reliance BIG Entertainment. Dinner with Schmucks, here we come! [THR]
· Four Christmases director Seth Gordon may follow up his hit Hollywood debut with King Dork, the Will Ferrell-produced adaptation of Frank Portman's acclaimed young-adult novel. [THR]
· Yet another adaptation in the works: Auto-racing hobbyist Patrick Dempsey will star in The Art of Racing in the Rain, which Universal is adapting from a novel, and I quote, "driven by the reminiscences of Enzo, a family dog with a near-human soul and a philosopher's mind, who evaluates his life through the lessons learned by his human owner, the race-car driver Denny Swift." Like five hydrant pit stops in one lap around the block? Bad idea. [Variety]