March 10, 2009

Basically another take similar to "Band of Brothers", "The Pacific" is a miniseries coming from Steven Spielberg that will air on HBO in 10 parts. Involving also Tom Hanks in the production team, it will tell intertwined stories of three Marines, Robert Leckie, Eugene Sledge and John Basilone during their defense against Japanese attack in the Pacific during World War II.

"The Pacific" is adapted from the memoir book of Eugene Sledge, "With the Old Breed" which was first published in 1981. The memoir is based on notes Sledge kept tucked away in a pocket-sized Bible he carried with him during battle.

Gwen Stefani's eldest son Kingston is still two-year old, but he is a big fan of Britney Spears' music. Speaking about his love for the singer's songs, Gwen told Arizona's Kiss FM radio station in a recent interview, "He's really into anything that's popular and he's really into Britney's songs... because she actually lives on my street and he would go over there... He thinks she's really great. And he flirts with her and stuff."

"He likes hits, he's like his mum, he likes just all the hits. Any song that comes on [the radio], he'll be like, 'That's my song, that's my song!'" Gwen continued gushing about her little boy. "He's just into popular music. He's into music that's for sure," the singer and mother of two concluded.

Kate Voegele is gearing up to release her second studio album titled "A Fine Mess" in May. In getting the record done, she works with producer Mike Elizondo, who has worked with the likes of Rihanna, Maroon 5 and Pink, in Los Angeles.

In between her tight schedule in recording booth, Voegele manages to fly back and forth between Los Angeles and Wilmington, North Carolina to shoot new episodes of The CW's hit TV series "One Tree Hill". Reprising her role as a singer/songwriter named Mia Catalano, she will be giving audience sneak previews of songs from her upcoming album, beginning with March 16 episode, when she will premiere a brand new track titled "Manhattan From the Sky".

Having spilled the bean on the possibility of two "The Chronicles of Riddick" sequels being developed previously, action movie star Vin Diesel gives updates on the proposed films status. "Maybe we're too tight-lipped about the next Chronicles of Riddick film," he told GameSpot of when details could be coming out, "and I think circa the release of [Assault on Dark Athena] that's probably when you'll start hearing more about the next Riddick film."

"It is underway and I almost think it's a coincidence that we haven't heard anything, that there hasn't been a lot of public stuff on the Riddick movie," the 41-year-old added during the interview for the upcoming release of "The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena" game. "But it's interesting that you've made that comment."

Singer Pink and British comedian Ricky Gervais team up, lending their voice for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)'s anti-fur new ad campaign dubbed "Stolen for Fashion." In the 30-second spot, Pink provides the voice for an alligator without its skin, while Gervais voices a rabbit without its coat.

Pink and Gervais' computer-generated skinned animals are shown in the TV spot demanding their skins back from a man and a woman who are leaving a party. The woman is seen holding a clutch made from alligator's skin, while the man is seen holding a coat made from rabbit's fur. Fighting with the two persons in a bid to get their skin back as the other partygoers are watching, Pink and Gervais' computer-generated skinned animals at last are seen winning both the clutch and coat.

Bravo TV's "Make Me a Supermodel" has had its run for weeks and the claws are definitely out. On the March 11 episode of the reality series, the models are required to sweeten themselves up while the drama off the scene keeps escalating.

As the new crop of models get used to life in the house, personalities already start to clash as a few contestants show their disrespectful colors early on. In the first clip, Branden opens up about not being able to be close men.

Ten concert dates for Michael Jackson's gigs at London's O2 Arena have been announced. Described as a "big budget, grand, highly technical, incredible show", the concerts will begin on July 8 and will be wrapped up on July 28.

On what fans can expect from the upcoming concerts, Randy Phillips, a chief promoter of AEG Live tells BBC that since Michael is a perfectionist, he will come up with a new idea. "Michael Jackson is a perfectionist, so it's going to be amazing," Randy says. "He'll try a lot of new things."

Russell Brand has finally given his response to the rumor of him to portray Jack Sparrow's brother in "Pirates of the Caribbean 4". To Billy Bush of Access Hollywood and of "The Billy Bush Show", the "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" actor confessed that talks of the matter have indeed been done, but he's not sure if he has the time.

"There's been some talk of doing a 'Pirates' movie," Russell confessed. "But, I've got eight other things to do [including] 'Get Him to the Greek' with Judd Apatow...So I don't know if there'll be time to be a pirate, I've got enough of that in me private life." In spite of his 'not-sure' remark, the 33-year-old still pointed out that there is a chance that he may end up starring in the movie, saying "A possibility, yes. I think it's a possibility."

Ciara will be joining Britney Spears in "Circus Starring Britney Spears" tour aimed to promote Britney's sixth studio album "Circus", Ciara confirms through a short message on her SayNow. "I will be touring with Britney Spears overseas in Europe. It's gonna be a lot of fun," so she says.

Beside announcing her appointment as Britney Spears' tour mate, Ciara also spills the beans that she has pushed back her upcoming third studio effort "Fantasy Ride". Previously planning to drop the album in U.S. on April 7, she is now set to release it across U.S. on May 5.

Comedy Central is back with its 13th season of "South Park" and the show has decided to take on Jonas Brothers in the first episode. The animated satire will have the three brothers as its object of ridicule in the episode called "The Ring" which is aired on Wednesday, March 11.

In a bid to get lucky, Kenny McCormick takes his new girlfriend, which is allegedly a Miley Cyrus lookalike, to a Jonas Brothers concert. His plan is quickly squashed when he and his girlfriend are given purity rings by the brothers. The real life Jonas Brothers have been the center of the town's talk when they were known to wear a promise ring to keep themselves virgins until married.

Britney Spears took time in between her hectic touring schedules on Saturday, March 7, to pay a surprise visit to a group of sick children at Miami Children's Hospital. Accompanied by her father Jamie Spears, the songstress showed up at the hospital around 3:30 P.M. She was seen dressing in head-to-toe cream and wearing bright red lipstick.

In addition to making a surprise visit, Britney also donated $100,000 to the hospital's Big Apple Circus Clown Care program, which aim is to help entertain children at 19 pediatric facilities across the country by sending in medically-trained clowns to visit the kids. The pop singer, who didn't talk much during her visit because she wanted to save her voice for her Miami concert that night, took time to strike some poses with young patients at the hospital. "Say cheese," she told the kids before posing for photos.

New York City has become a host for the premiere of "Knowing". On Monday night, March 9, the city that never sleeps saw red carpet being rolled out outside the AMC Loews Lincoln Square and Hollywood actors and filmmakers coming to the venue for the special screening event of the forthcoming thriller.

Among the cast ensemble, Nicolas Cage, Chandler Canterbury, Lara Robinson and Rose Byrne were out to attend the premiere, giving their time to pose individually and collectively with director Alex Proyas for the press line. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer, TV actresses Bernadette Peters and Jill Hennessy, and "Madea Goes to Jail" actress Keke Palmer were also present.

A music video for Keri Hilson's single "Make Love" has got its sneak peek. The video preview reveals Kanye West portraying Keri's love interest. Kanye is captured nervously rubbing his hands while waiting for her in the bedroom. As soon as Keri walks in the room and joins him on the bed, they are hooking up in a romantic set.

"Make Love" is a song produced by Timbaland and Polow Da Don. Having ballad sounds hanging on the hook, the track will be listed in Keri Hilson's debut studio album "In a Perfect World..." due for U.S. release on March 24.

Judy Greer guest stars in the next episode of "House M.D.", playing a nursing home worker named Morgan who brought in the story of a cat with 'ability'. Morgan fakes sick to get House's attention after the home's pet cat sleeps next to her but it seems that the cat only pays a visit to people if they are about to die and does so with alarming accuracy.

While House dismisses Morgan as a nut job, he is intrigued by her theory on the kiss-of-death cat, and sets out to disprove it. When Morgan falls seriously ill, he and the team are forced to get to the bottom of both mysteries.

Director James Cameron is reportedly displeased with any of the "Avatar" trailers being made. According to MarketSaw, eight trailers have already been made for the upcoming sci-fi movie, but none of them gets the approval from Cameron, forcing the filmmaker to develop one himself.

"EIGHT trailers have already been made for AVATAR and all of them failed the test with James Cameron," so MarketSaw reported on the matter. Giving further explanation on the reason, the trade wrote, "He is hard at work prepping his own trailer for the masses as he knows the first trailer has to be done right."

Starring alongside Robert Pattinson in hit vampire movie "Twilight", Nikki Reed shares to Access Hollywood's Maria Menounos some fun facts that people may not know about the British actor, praising him as "really talented, really smart, and really musical." "Quite frankly, I'm tired of being asked about Rob," she jokingly says, before then adding that Robert is "an intellectual".

"That's the side that I wish people would [ask about.] I don't know if anyone necessarily even knows him ...that side of him," Nikki tells Maria about Robert's reading habit. In line with Nikki, another "Twilight" cast member Rachelle Lefevre also sings praises for Robert, claiming his superstar status doesn't make him a big head on the set. "We got to know him in a different environment," Rachelle describes. "I don't feel any differently about Rob than I do about the rest of the cast."

Soulja Boy continues to fight for his existence with an appearance on Snoop Dogg's "Dogg After Dark", and a preview of it has been available. The 18-year-old rapper was invited by the older rapper to talk about his coming of age and what comes next after being an Internet sensation in 2007.

Snoop asked Soulja how his success from producing his own music and moves through the Internet takes effect later on. Soulja said, "We're dealing with Hip-Hop in general. I think you know the Internet is the way to go, you know what I'm sayin'. Ever since I came on the scene, with 'Crank That', on YouTube, MySpace, all different Internet sites, we got all other rapper following me."

An interesting tidbit in relation to Batman has been unraveled as Sam Worthington's name has been tossed in as the depicter of the bat-costumed hero for the next installment of "Batman" film. The Herald Sun was the first to break the news, suggesting that Worthington could be filling the shoes of his "Terminator Salvation" co-star, Christian Bale, in "Batman 3".

"Industry gossip now suggests the rising Australian star could score the part of Batman in the third installment of the successful prequel franchise," so read the report. "That could mean replacing Bale, his Terminator co-star and The Dark Knight lead, whose profile was damaged after his infamous "me, me, me" meltdown on the Terminator set, which recently hit the internet."

On-and-off-screen lovers Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens re-enact "Sleeping Beauty" famous characters, Prince Phillip and Princess Aurora, in the latest installment of a popular Disney ad campaign titled "What Will You Celebrate?" Their photo, which was dubbed "Where Romance Is Celebrated," was snapped by famed photographer Annie Leibovitz back in December 2008.

The picture, which can be seen at Celebrity Mania, shows Zac's Prince Phillip giving Vanessa's Princess Aurora a kiss on her cheek that awakens her from her long sleep. The image will appear in Disney Twenty-Three, a new entertainment and lifestyle magazine that will be launched on March 10 at Disney.com/D23.

The-Dream has debuted a music video to support remix version of his single "Rockin' That Thang". In the video, he is seen singing the song alongside Fabolous, Juelz Santana, Rick Ross and Ludacris, each of whom is captured in a magazine's page with beautiful girls accompanying them.

"Rockin' That Thang" is explicitly titled "Rockin' That S***". Produced by Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, its original version appears in The-Dream's sophomore studio album "Love vs. Money", which arrives in U.S. stores on March 10.

Carrie Underwood announced at her official site that she will provide the farewell theme song to the eight season of "American Idol". The singer who graduated from the show's class of 2005, has re-recorded Motley Crue's "Home Sweet Home" which will be played each time one contestant leaves the show.

Apart from used in the show which will start its Top 13 performance round on Wednesday, March 11, the single will be available for digital download. The sale which is available exclusively to iTunes until March 16, will benefit The Humane Society of the United States.

Being rumored as one of the potential directors for the second sequel of "Twilight", actress/director Drew Barrymore has finally given her response to the circulating speculation. In a recent interview, the 34-year-old actress confirmed that she is indeed being considered for the directing part for "Eclipse".

"I'm one of the directors that is being talked about, which is great, because I'm a director now," as quoted by Associated Press, the "Whip It!" helmer shared when addressing on the rumor thrown out by Entertainment Weekly earlier. In addition to that, the "Charlie's Angels" actress/producer added, "But, you know, they'll make their choice."

TV actress Anne Heche and her estranged husband Coleman Laffoon are officially single on the eyes of the law as a judge has signed their divorce off on Wednesday, March 4, ending their two-year divorce battle. New details in addition to the twosome's previous settlement regarding custody of their son and split of their assets have been reached.

And according to the Los Angeles Superior Court documents obtained by E! News, Anne agrees to continue paying Coleman $3,700 a month in child support. She also agrees to pay him a $515,000 lump sum cash payment and to let him own half of all their community property, including more than $700,000 worth of stocks and other assets. Anne herself will keep her multimillion-dollar home in Vancouver, B.C. Both of them will share 50-50 physical and legal custody of son, Homer.

Jamie Lynn Spears has reportedly walked into studio to make a country music album. The sister of pop singer Britney Spears is said to have recorded a demo track in Nashville last fall.

The rumor starts to swirl after a source close to Spears' family says that Jamie "has been quietly working on a country album since last fall". She hasn't signed to any label just yet and her management team are "trying to get Jamie Lynn a record deal," according to another insider.

Ashlee Simpson is making a big transition from singing to acting. The younger sister of Jessica Simpson has been confirmed on board of "Melrose Place" spin-off which is yet to have a title. The series will air on The CW later this year.

She will play Violet, a "small-town girl and recent L.A. transplant who has come to town with a secret" according to MTV. Her character is also described as very manipulative, using her girl-next-door charm to get what she wants, very much like Sandy Harling in the original series.

Casting reports for "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" keep on coming with the news that Andy Linden is being tapped as Mundungus Fletcher. The actor's involvement with "Deathly Hallows" has been confirmed by his agent Polly Andrews when contacted by Univers Harry Potter about the circulating speculation of him playing the Order of the Phoenix member in the film.

The confirmation of Andy Linden's involvement with the last two installments of the "Harry Potter" series came days after it was reported that actress Michelle Fairley has been picked up to star as Mrs. Granger, the Muggle dentist and the mother of Emma Watson's Hermione Granger. He will also be joining original actors, Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson and Helena Bonham Carter, who are set to reprise their roles.

Though whispers have been swirling that Robert Pattinson may be dating actress Natalie Portman, the rumor mill goes on with a new claim that the movie heartthrob has been spending intimate evenings with big screen hottie Megan Fox. Both of them reportedly were seen at the Palihouse Hotel in West Hollywood, where she's been staying since moving out of ex-fiance Brian Austin Green's Hollywood Hills home following their split last month.

Pattinson and Fox are claimed to be spending two straight nights at the Palihouse Hotel bar and they remained in the bar until the early hours, prompting people to speculate that they are dating. The single status of both movie stars has added fuel to the dating rumors, but neither of them has commented on the on-going talks though.

A music video aimed to promote Jazmine Sullivan's single called "In Love With Another Man" has been brought out. Starting with a message saying, "Passion makes the world go round, love just makes it a safer place", the black-and-white video captures a dilemma a girl faces when she has to choose between two guys.

Insisting that she wants to deal with it alone, the girl finds it hard to tell a man she used to love that she has a crush on another man and has to leave at once so that he can move on with his life. When things are over, time moves backward, narrating the time she first met the guy she is in love now and how the relationship is built behind her ex-lover's back.

The season of dancing has begun with the premiere of "Dancing with the Stars" on Monday, March 9. On the heels of the exit news of Jewel Kilcher and Nancy O'Dell from the competition due to injury, the show announced on the premiere night that "The Girls Next Door" star Holly Madison and "The Bachelor" dumpee Melissa Rycroft will step in for both.

Rycroft's participation is a rather abrupt decision that only allows her to practice within 48 hours while the others except for Madison, were given 3 weeks. Apart from that, the show has introduced a new rule, the bottom two couples will be given another chance to dance off against each other to determine who will be out. Thus, next week, all the contestants are back dancing and this week's score will be added to next week's.

"Fantastic Four" could be getting a reboot treatment. IESB has reported that the 20th Century Fox are looking forward to give a fresh start for their commercially successful comic book movie with the plan of taking it into a more serious territory using an approach described as "less bubble gum" and more like "Iron Man" than "The Dark Knight".

The reboot news came in following Fox's option to remake "Daredevil" and develop a "Planet of the Apes" prequel. Furthermore, for this new start, the studio reportedly put director Tim Story and original cast, Michael Chiklis, Ioan Gruffudd, Chris Evans and Jessica Alba, out of the equation.

Mischa Barton took to her blog on Monday, March 9, to announce her separation from boyfriend Luke Pritchard. "I'm sure you guys are all going to hear about it soon enough so I just wanted to tell you what is real first -- I broke up with Luke when I got to London," she confirmed in a statement.

"Things just didn't feel quite right," she explained further. "There was no cheating or anything terrible, the bad just started to outweigh the good and a long distance relationship is never an easy thing to do."

Rihanna apparently needs a way out to distract herself from her violent experience with Chris Brown and she sees there is no better way to do that than getting back to work and recording new songs for her new album. Telling the news to HipHollywood, music producer Adonis Shropshire says that Rihanna tries her best to avoid paparazzi by "sending fake cars with nobody in them" during the recording sessions.

"You have to remember, she's a kid still," Adonis explains further. "So with anybody who goes through something in the world, you have to bring yourself out of it so I guess her refuge is her music."

Sharing in her just-released autobiography "Miley Cyrus: Miles to Go" about her becoming the target of bullying in her pre-teen years and also about her break-up with ex-boyfriend Nick Jonas, Miley Cyrus told MTV News she found it hard to open up about the two topics. "I would say that it was hard, but it was also the best thing I ever did and the best thing I will ever do because I think it's a good thing that you get, like, a flashback and really remember all those moments," she said during a Los Angeles book signing.

"I think it's important not to grow up so much that you forget about your heart and what's important for your heart," the Disney teen sensation continued. "There's a lot about being bullied and a lot about breakups, and that's something that is really hard to write about and stuff that's easy to relate to. And I wanted my fans to always be able to relate to me, so I think that was really important."

Off to a decent-but-not-spectacular start with an estimated $4.6 million, "Watchmen" followed it through by securing both the #1 slot at the North American as well as the overseas box office. The highly-anticipated live-action movie from director Zack Snyder opened solidly with $55.2 million from the U.S. and Canadian markets, and with $27.5 million from the overseas market.

While "Watchmen" sales was far behind Snyder's another impressive movie "300" on its first weekend, the Warner Bros. Pictures film has secured the 12th place for the highest-grossing opening weekend for a comic book movie, trailing behind "Fantastic Four", at the North American box office. Still, if ticket-price inflation is calculated, it will be in the 20th position.

A music video in support of "My Love", The-Dream's collaborative song with Mariah Carey, has made its way out. Directed by Mariah's husband Nick Cannon, it teams up The-Dream and Mariah as a couple. Though the video is about performance, some scenes manage to show how the two singers cope with their in-video love life.

Appearing as the second single off The-Dream's sophomore studio album "Love vs. Money", "My Love" is written by Mariah and T. Nash and produced by Carlos "LOS Da Maestro" McKinney. Since making its way out in U.S. on February 24, it debuted at number 62 on Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

Longtime lovers Sarah Silverman and Jimmy Kimmel have separated, US Weekly reports in an exclusive post on its site. "Sarah initiated the split this time," a source tells the publication. "He's bummed."

Reason for the pair's split isn't mentioned though, but it is confirmed that the break-up happened within the last two weeks. "He's really blue -- very down," another source tells US Weekly about Kimmel. "Seems like it's over for good this time. He's sad because he just bought a new place and now has nobody to share it with."