Ah, memories: "I was a fish in Noah's ark in the school play, and now I'm in Harry Potter. It's a big step. I first found out about the auditions in Newsround. They said to send in some information about yourself and a photograph. So I sent one in and waited weeks and weeks and weeks, and nothing happened. I really wanted this part because I was the biggest Harry Potter fan at the time. I went on the website of Newsround, and some of the kids had been sending in videotapes of themselves reading from the book. So I made a videotape. First, I dressed up as my drama teacher, who's a girl, so that was kind of scary. Then I made this rap song of how much I wanted to be in the film." [Moviefone]
Step aside, Hannah and Her Sisters. Thanks to $1,891,000 in ticket sales over the weekend, Midnight in Paris has become Woody Allen's biggest domestic hit ever. The time-twisty comedy has earned $41,793,000 to date, a little over $1.7 million more than Sisters did in 1986. Of course, Hannah sold more tickets, and Midnight in Paris still trails Vicky Cristina Barcelona by almost $20 million in worldwide receipts, but, hey: congrats, Woody! [Box Office Mojo]
What's up in Vanessa Hudgens's world? "I have been so stupidly busy working on Gimme Shelter. I'm so excited and proud of the work I've been doing and let me tell you, you all are going to be SHOCKED with how I look in this movie," she wrote on Facebook. In the film, Hudgens plays a pregnant teen runaway who goes looking for her father (Brendan Fraser). "It's crazy sauce." And how! We're not in Sucker Punch anymore. [Facebook via People]
Our not-very-long national nightmare is over. Despite some reports to the contrary, it appears Friends With Benefits star Mila Kunis will accompany Sgt. Scott Moore to the Marine Corps Ball in November. Access Hollywood first cast doubt on the planned date because of Kunis's busy year-end schedule, but her representatives were able to work things out. Can't wait for the prom pics! [Fox News]
Based on the worldwide box office returns for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 so far, it looks like Warner Bros. might want to invest in another vault at Gringotts. The highly anticipated Harry Potter finale earned $43.6 million on its opening day overseas, setting records in France, Italy, Sweden, Norway, Holland, Denmark, Belgium, Finland and Australia. Per the Los Angeles Times, the opening day sales are 82 percent higher than what The Deathly Hallows Part 1 earned in the same territories last year. Goodness. It's as if Potter tickets have been hexed with a Gemino curse. [LAT/Company Town]
Or not -- he'll do the imagining for you: "I remember also wondering if I should go in for the Bradley Cooper role in Wedding Crashers. That's actually one that I kick myself over as well. I mean, everything works out, and I'm happy with where I'm at... I'm probably being way more honest than I should in an interview." [VF.com]
Just in time for the millions of Muggles awaiting this weekend's Harry Potter finale comes this delightful story from the Time archives, dated Sept. 7, 1931: "Ten cents' worth of a certain bird seed, planted in any back yard, will grow into a yardful of marijuana. Its leaves can be dried, ground and rolled into cigarets, which are bootlegged under the name of 'muggles,' 'reefers,' or 'Mary Warners.' Thinner, shorter than standard cigarets, 'muggles' are made from the small delicate leaves of the female marijuana plant. [...] In New Orleans many a schoolchild is said to be an addict; prison authorities find muggle-smuggling a perplexing problem." Muggle-smuggling! Anyway, now you know. [Time via The Atlantic Wire]
Say what you will about L.A. gangs, but they know how to step it up for a guest: "Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena got a front row seat to Los Angeles gang violence. The actors, who were on riding along with police on patrol in South Los Angeles, were on the scene of a gang shooting late Wednesday. The actors are researching police work for their roles in the upcoming movie End of Watch.. Sgt. Angela McGee says a gang member shot a rival, who is hospitalized with a grazing bullet wounds above his lip and on an arm. Two suspects walked away and there are no arrests." [AP]
If you don't already have tickets for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, get cracking! Fandango reports that 5,000 screenings of the Potter finale have already sold out, making it the second-biggest pre-seller in company history, behind The Twilight Saga: New Moon. Not that you should worry too much about missing the conclusion because of pre-sold tickets: Warner Bros. is opening The Deathly Hallows Part 2 in a Potter-record 4,375 theaters. That's 11,000 screens if you're keeping score at home. [Deadline]
It looks like you're going to have to mail that copy of Crash back to Netflix. The online rental site announced new pricing plans on Tuesday, which effectively phase out DVDs for the frugal consumer. Gone is the unlimited streaming plus one DVD for $9.99 per month option, replaced with two separate $7.99 options -- one for DVDs and one for streaming. If subscribers want the choice of both, the package costs $15.98. Begin shaking your fist at the sky... now. [The Netflix Blog]
It seems Oscar producers weren't the only people James Franco threw under the bus in his new Playboy interview. "They haven't shown me the movie yet, so I don't know what the result is," Franco said about Rise of the Planet of the Apes. "I did reshoots, and it sounds to me the final movie will be different from the screenplay, which had a lot of character development. The movie seems to be more action now. I went and did my job, and I'm supposed to be a scientist. I feel pretty confident that I did that." [Playboy]
Back in April it was revealed that Arnold Schwarzenegger was in talks to take the lead role in the The Last Stand, a Western about a broken down sheriff who must stand-up to a drug cartel and save his town. That project got pushed aside by Cry Macho, the fifth Terminator film, and some screaming infidelities, but now Deadline reports it's back on -- with a start-date scheduled for September. It looks like Arnold is back. Again. [Deadline]
What to Expect When You're Expecting wouldn't be an ensemble rom-com in the vein of He's Just Not That Into You and Valentine's Day without a cast of dozens. As such: Elizabeth Banks is the latest actress to sign on, joining Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, Brooklyn Decker and Anna Kendrick. Banks will star as a "baby-crazy" expectant mother and children's book writer who has militant views on breast feeding. Sounds not too screechy at all. [Coming Soon]
It's the pop culture marriage you never wanted! "Hey Harry Potter fans!!!" Larry King excitedly wrote on Twitter. "You could win pair of suspenders signed by me & Daniel Radcliffe!" Well, then. The giveaway will happen during King's Potter special on CNN this Sunday, where fans will be encouraged to tweet the answer to a trivia question at the semi-retired host, accompanied by the hashtag #larrypotter. If you're muttering some unforgivable curses right now, it's understandable. [@kingsthings]
Nicholas Braun, who starred in a movie you didn't see called Prom, is toplining a new comedy called Gay Dude. The premise concerns a high schooler named "Michael (Braun), who makes a pact with friend Matty to lose their virginity before graduation -- until Matty comes out of the closet." The good news is that Parks and Recreation scribe (and Mouse Rat band member) Alan Yang handled the script. The bad news is the following analogy could be true: American Pie: Gay Dude :: Road Trip: Boat Trip. Frightening. [Variety]
