· All systems are go on Fox's Wall Street sequel, with Oliver Stone set to direct Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko maneuvering through the free market's collapse, and whose catchphrase has been tweaked slightly to reflect the times. ("Food ... is good.") Greased-back-hairdo aficionado Shia LaBeouf is also "in the mix." [Variety]
More Ink lies beyond ...
When a Fox source last week told Movieline that studio co-chair Tom Rothman wasn't lying about the incompleteness of the leaked Wolverine work print, we heard a much more complex defense than the one offered yesterday by Fox's publicity chief. For example, all that talk about unintegrated footage and extra cuts? We're hearing something a lot different now.
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· Here's the video of Julia Roberts's potty-mouthed prepared statements at Film Society of Lincoln Center's tribute to Tom Hanks last night. Honestly, we thought she managed to keep things more funny than offensive, until the Sleepless in Seattle line about not wanting "to f**k Meg Ryan with Rosie O'Donnell's d**k."
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Before Fox aired Mitch Hurwitz's animated comedy Sit Down, Shut Up, it ran ads that apologized to the showrunner for previously canceling his Arrested Development. Sadly, highlighting the fact that Hurwitz would return to the network that screwed him hasn't prevented Fox from doing it all over again, as THR reports.
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On a day when the Republican party is upheaval following Sen. Arlen Specter's decision to become a Democrat, it's good to know that conservatives can still count on their base: Southerners, and a random helping of yesteryear's C-listers. Who need a measly, filibuster-proof congressman when you've got Shannen Doherty and Kathy Ireland on your side, right guys? And both ladies have got somethin' to say!
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Whether she's playing a jacuzzi-dwelling nymphomaniac (The 40-Year-Old Virgin), or the less-dimwitted half of a couple forced into the sex trade after losing their jobs (W.), Elizabeth Banks has never been one to shy away from blue material. So it might come as a surprise that the appealing actress has come out against 17 Again for sending out questionable messages to its young audiences. It's not the film's central, "Matthew Perry wakes up one morning to find himself inside Zac Efron" premise that bothers her so much as it is the lazy way with which it deals with the subject of teen pregnancy.
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The seminal 90's comedy Clueless has certainly spawned some spiritual sequels, but it's never had an actual one -- though that hasn't stopped rumormongers and wishful thinkers from gossiping about the possibility from time to time. Lately, though, a weirdly specific Star story has spread like wildfire online, claiming that Alicia Silverstone and writer/director Amy Heckerling were spotted in Tarzana (the valley?!) discussing a new chapter in the life of Cher Horowitz. Movieline got in touch with reps for both parties to find out what's up.
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Welcome to the first full day of the WME Entertainment regime. While the votes have been tallied and the butt-sniffing has already begun in the glassy corridors of power, observers peering in from the outside have come away with few revelations about the new company. Is it a "game-changer"? Of course. Does it "reshape the town"? Obviously. And does it raise more questions than it answers? Without a doubt.
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· MTV has announced that The Hills will indeed return in the fall despite the exit of star Lauren Conrad, a move that effectively promotes the far more storyline-cooperative Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt to show leads.
· Speaking of revamped renewals, ABC might pick up Scrubs for another season if it can secure some of the sitcom's supporting cast.
· Jamie Foxx will be tonight's guest mentor on American Idol (sure, why not). No word on whether his advice to young ingenue Allison Iraheta will include questionable, STD-ridden bicycle seat maneuvers.
· Ridley Scott might be willing to direct an Alien prequel, provided the alien can slim down about thirty pounds before shooting.
· Attention, Michael Jackson: Larry Wachowski would like his wardrobe back.
Terminator: Salvation director McG has flourished for years now in the fauxteur firmament, but don't expect him to be happy about it. In a new interview with Details, the filmmaker who made unlikely Hollywood springboards out of helming Sugar Ray and Smash Mouth videos refuses to accept his place in the hackiverse -- and, moreover, is willing to expose his outermost self to break away from the pack for good.
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· Yes, it's come to this: Drop Dead Fred, the 1991 Phoebe Cates comedy about a woman and her rambunctious, imaginary childhood friend, is being remade by Universal as a vehicle for Russell Brand. Land of the Lost and SNL writer Dennis McNicholas will tackle the script just as soon as he's done with his H.R. Pufnstuf reimagining for Columbia. [THR]
More Ink after the jump...
Shoulda bought that ticket to Duplicity, Hanks! At last night's Film Society of Lincoln Center tribute to Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts mistook the occasion for, perhaps, the Friar's Club roast of John Stamos, and proceeded to work very blue (and get in a jab at Hanks's The Terminal along the way). Says People:
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The industry-threatening swine flu contagion was apparently the least of anyone's worries last night in Sydney, where someone's brilliant idea to host sneak previews of Star Trek and Wolverine in the same multiplex resulted in a vortex of security haggles for the films' dueling fanboy constituencies.
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· Linda Evans has won Hell's Kitchen U.K. 2009, a victory she savored by immediately pronouncing a fatwa on "cloven-hooved harlot, Joan Collins."
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First it was piracy. Then came a cover-up. And, now, despite Fox's most fan-friendly intentions, the Wolverine Curse has struck once again in a way that not even the best-placed inside source can mitigate: An global swine flu outbreak threatening to keep theatergoers home all weekend -- if theaters are even open at all.
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