Stalwart Variety columnist, industry insider, gossip and long-time Academy Awards greeter Army Archerd died today after an extended battle with cancer. He was 87. Known both inside and outside Hollywood by the "Good Morning" greeting that preceded his daily column -- particularly those containing groundbreaking scoops like Rock Hudson's 1985 AIDS treatment -- Archerd covered the film business for 60 years after seeing combat in World War II. His influence was such that he was tagged "Hollywood's Original Blogger" upon moving online in 2005. His final blog post appeared July 27.
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· Give your inner 16-year-old goth the equivalent of a V Juice trip with this specially made music video for Depeche Mode's "Corrupt," featuring the stars of True Blood dabbing blood on each other's noses when not gazing lustily at the camera. If anyone knows about living among the undead, it's Dave Gahan, who's cheated the Reaper so many times, L.A. paramedics nicknamed him The Cat.
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After tackling the yellow-toothed, morally askew world of tobacco lobbyists in Thank You For Smoking and the shenanigan-heavy misadventures of a pregnant teen in Juno, it would appear Jason Reitman has made it three-for-three with Up in the Air, whose world premiere at Telluride left breathless critics grasping for oxygen masks as they attempted to capture just how witty, well-acted, and downright zeitgeisty Reitman's latest effort is.
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What would be the best way for Jay Leno to rebut criticism that by adding five "comic correspondents" to his new late-night endeavor, he's ripping off The Daily Show? Why, by adding seven more! In addition to the already announced D.L. Hughley crop, Leno's hiring Liz Feldman, Brian Unger, Nick Thune, Owen Benjamin, Marina Franklin, Sebastian Maniscalco and Ross "the Intern" Mathews. Why, he's almost got one correspondent per car! [THR]
Now that The Green Hornet's got its slimmed-down star, aged-up love interest, and freeballing sidekick in place, it's time to get shooting! Still, Hornet's got to distinguish itself from its Green competition, and what better way to do that than by attempting to kill off several CAA agents in its first set piece?
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· If you're a swoony New Mooner who gets lost in Taylor Lautner's eyes, now you can do so literally, as a Utah corn maze features the actor's face. Still, it's missing something without an abs labyrinth.
· The Weinsteins have quickly brought Patrick Lussier on board to direct Halloween 3D. Perhaps Lussier was the "French" name Scout Taylor-Compton told us was originally attached to Halloween 2 before Rob Zombie stepped in?
· Rejoice, for the Tolkien estate has settled its lawsuit against New Line, allowing the two new Hobbit films to proceed as planned.
· Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, the credited writers of Children of Men, are currently at work scripting the live-action adaptation of Akira.
· Megan Fox has revealed that she'll be starring opposite Mickey Rourke in the upcoming film Passion Play. A couple of shrinking violets, that cast.
Movieline has just obtained official confirmation that Kristen Wiig will not be joining Seth Meyers this season as a Weekend Update co-anchor on Saturday Night Live. On top of last week's additions and subtractions to the Studio 8H cast, rumors circulated quickly yesterday that Wiig would take Amy Poehler's vacated seat.
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Unfamiliar with Rampage Jackson, the former UFC champion chosen to fill the giant shoes of a one Mr. T, and don the trademarked 40 lbs. of gold jewelry, afrohawk and denim vests of beloved The A-Team member Bosco A. Barracus in the big-screen adaptation of the classic '80s action series? No worries: Movieline has compiled this handy side-by-side comparison guide. It's after the jump.
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San Diego Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman claims that he was only trying to keep Tila Tequila, the bisexual reality star of A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila, from leaving his house because he was "concerned about her welfare given [her] intoxicated state." Tequila signed a citizen's arrest early Sunday morning after calling the police and Merriman was taken into custody on suspicion of battery and false imprisonment. Merriman posted bail two and a half hours later and "is convinced that he'll be cleared." Sunday evening, Tila Tequila tweeted that she had not been drinking because of an allergy to alcohol before thanking her fans for support and turning on the privacy setting on her Twitter page. James Brennan, owner of the club Tequila visited Saturday night, says that the reality star consumed "shots of tequila and drank from a bottle of vodka." [USA Today]
Pop Quiz! Sometime this week, Titanic and Lord of the Rings: Return of the King will be joined by a new film that's supplanted all comers to become the third-highest grossing movie ever overseas. Think you can guess it?
Here's a hint: It's not whatever you just guessed.
Here's hint two: The movie didn't even crack the domestic top five this year. In fact, by the end of December, it might not even remain in the top ten.
Give up?
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· Steven Soderbergh is going the non-pro route once more, casting mixed martial arts superstar Gina Carano in his forthcoming spy thriller Knockout. The filmmaker relates the project to a full-on James Bond film, featuring Carano as a woman from the proverbial wrong side of the tracks whose fighting skills are tapped for ass-kicking espionage. Perhaps most notably, Soderbergh will forgo his fee in exchange for profit participation with financiers Relativity Media, so no pulled plugs a week before shooting. Yay! [Variety]
Nicolas Cage gets Hungry with Tobey Maguire, the Weinsteins reinvent, and more Hollywood Ink after the jump.
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Join us now as we bid a fond farewell to Summer 2009, and load our Up backbacks with G.I. Joe Trapper Keepers, G-Force scented erasers and Monsters vs. Aliens Edition Elmer's Glue in time for the first day of school. The four-day weekend numbers are after the jump.
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The Labor Day movie doldrums made for a relatively quiet Friday at the box office, where last week's winner The Final Destination dueled the disastrously reviewed All About Steve for first place. At press time, a margin of $5,000 separated the two titles at the top of the chart, with Destination narrowly claiming the top spot. Gamer edged Inglorious Basterds with a little more clearance in third place, while Mike Judge's Extract slumped out of the top five with an underwhelming $1.36 million. Check out the full Top 10 after the jump.
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You've got about 72 hours of summer left -- why not spend a couple minutes of it (a mere 1/2160th of the entire weekend! That's like no time at all!) reminiscing about the final week of the season? Your barbecue party will wait, trust us. Have a great holiday, and see you Tuesday!
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· Pop quiz! Whose gnarled, pale hand is this? The answer is after the jump!
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