So much for that plan to boycott American Idol now that Paula Abdul is gone. The show's ninth season premiered to 30 million viewers last night and an 11.8 preliminary rating among the 18-49 age group, meaning that Idol's audience actually increased by 1 percent from last year. Fox chief Mike Darnell celebrated by popping some bubbly into a giant, plastic Coca-Cola mug and commending guest judge Victoria Beckham for performing the "yeoman's job" beautifully. Traitors! [THR]
What intrigues about Vera Farmiga -- and what gives her performance in Up in the Air that extra oomph -- is the look in her eyes like she may be the smartest person in the room, but she's not going to divulge what she knows easily. She'll have a chance to work that vibe even more in the Duncan Jones thriller Source Code, where she plays a "hands-on communications officer" who supervises Jake Gyllenhaal's Groundhog Day-like revisiting of a terrorist attack. She knows more than she's telling you, Jake! Interrogate Vera! [THR]
This is probably just the first example of pro-Leno propaganda surfacing after NBC's mistreatment of Conan O'Brien, but PopEater is reporting that the denim deity is getting cold feet about the network, considering what they did to his Tonight Show successor. Says the report, "How can he possibly trust the same network that canceled Conan after only seven months?" [PopEater]
Conan O'Brien wasn't the only one Tuesday rebuffing a media conglomerate. Summit Entertainment production president Erik Feig -- the man who plucked Twilight out of Paramount's turnaround bin not long before acquiring an Oscar war horse in The Hurt Locker -- reportedly turned down Disney chief Rich Ross's invitation to run production at the studio. While Feig plans to uphold his long-term deal at Summit, another report suggests Ross may look in-house to Disney Channel head of production Susette Hsiung, who seems as likely a favorite as anyone at this point to replace Oren Aviv. More as it develops... [LAT]
· Paul Rudd and Zach Galifianakis are set to star in Will, a Paramount comedy about the title character (Rudd) and his "life writer" (Galifianakis) in Heaven who suddenly decides to stop guiding Will's existence. Thus Will is forced to adapt to a new, directionless perspective without a script -- not so unlike a Judd Apatow movie, with which Rudd thankfully has plenty of past experience. Little Miss Sunshine directors Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton are in line to direct. [THR]
Kevin Spacey orders Chinese, Chris Rock goes back to Europe, and more Hollywood Ink after the jump.
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· This historic day of crimes against orange-pompadoured humanity shall live in infamy. We present then a full The Last Word dedicated to our Coco solidarity. It's hate NBC Day, everyone! Let's celebrate. (Click image to embiggen, use elsewhere.)
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Back in November, you heard it right here from the horse's mouth that Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck was still attached to Angelina Jolie/Johnny Depp thriller The Tourist, even though trades had reported he'd left the project. Now it looks like the The Lives of Others director finally has a green light: Producer Graham King's GK Films has confirmed it. [EW]
The utterly delightful Details cover story on Channing Tatum has been heavily promoted using an anecdote about Tatum's water-scalded penis (and hey, I don't blame 'em!), but we shouldn't let that obscure the fact that writer Craig Marks also asked Tatum about his male stripping past. Surprisingly, the G.I. Joe star couldn't wait to defy his publicist by discussing the clothing-optional job, which he took at age nineteen. "I've been wanting to talk about this forever!" he told Marks. "I met some of the most insane characters...I'm gonna make a movie about it. I've talked to a couple of directors."
In a noble attempt to help Hollywood greenlight Tatum's banana-hammocked biopic, here are five auteurs who we hope he's set up meetings with:
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When I spoke to Peter Sarsgaard back in October, I asked him about the notable lack of sequels and superhero films on his resume. "A franchise is either great or a golden handcuff," Sargaard replied candidly then. "If I were just to do something for money, I would make sure that it didn't take an enormous amount of time out of my life. So, yeah. No comic book villains for me."
Oh hey, on a related note: You will never guess who's playing the bad guy in Green Lantern!
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NY Times profiles Gilberto Sanchez, the 47-year-old Bronx glass installer better known as the Wolverine leaker, who Fox representatives once pledged to "string by the legs and gut like a fatted goose" for posting an early cut of the terrible X-Men spinoff to the web. He's out on bond and waiting for sentencing. Sanchez, who sought not to turn a profit but just wanted to share the bootleg with friends, turned down an invite from Late Show with David Letterman to meet Hugh Jackman, which he described as a "setup." [NY Times]
· Megan Fox is stripping down for the new Emporio Armani Underwear campaign. One more after the jump, kids!
· LIBBY and MICHAEL are coming back to Lost! (Or, as they're otherwise known, ex-Losties Cynthia Watros and Harold Perrineau.) I'd like to believe it's Michael's Shooting Gallery that convinced them.
· Ugly Betty's Michael Urie has finally revealed that he dates men, like you'd figured.
· Contrarian film critic Armond White has made the shortlist for Keith Olbermann's Worst Person in the World.
· Lea Michele is reuniting with her Glee guest star Kristen Chenoweth to voice the animated Dorothy of Oz. Gaysplosion!
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Conan O'Brien just released the following statement concerning NBC's offer of pushing The Tonight Show ahead to 12:05 a.m., following Jay Leno. In summary: He's pissed, and the answer is a firm no.
People of Earth:
In the last few days, I've been getting a lot of sympathy calls, and I want to start by making it clear that no one should waste a second feeling sorry for me. For 17 years, I've been getting paid to do what I love most and, in a world with real problems, I've been absurdly lucky. That said, I've been suddenly put in a very public predicament and my bosses are demanding an immediate decision.
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Whether you want to liken Rich Ross's regime change at Disney to a garden-variety housecleaning metaphor or something more extreme -- say, forcibly flushing out Mickey Mouse's colon through brute executive strength -- the studio's front-office purge continued today as production boss Oren Aviv was sent packing.
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Two franchises are enough for Robert Downey Jr., thank you very much. The actor backed out of Jon Favreau's graphic-novel adaptation Cowboys & Aliens on Monday because of conflicts with the forthcoming Sherlock Holmes sequel, which will be here before maybe anyone outside the Warners lot expected: Both films reportedly have June production starts. Assuming, of course, Holmes's literary custodian signs off on all that pesky gay subtext, so don't cast Tobey Maguire just yet, Favreau. [EW]
Spider-Man usually triumphs over his adversaries, but should he keep a closer eye on his friends? The entire franchise is at a critical point after Sony's decision yesterday to jettison director Sam Raimi and the cast in order to reboot the story in high school. Movieline's already taken a look at who could fill Tobey Maguire's spandex super-suit; since then, here are three things we know conclusively about the new direction of the series, and three questions that could make or break it.
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