Adam Sandler Weds Jackie Titone in Calif.
MALIBU, Calif. - Actor Adam Sandler wed Jackie Titone on Sunday in an outdoor ceremony that was attended by celebrity friends and his pet bulldog dressed in a custom tuxedo.
"Sandler got married," the comic's Web site said. "Woopity Doo!" No other details were immediately available.
Calls to Sandler's publicist Cindy Guagenti were not immediately returned Sunday night.
Photographs of the nuptials showed the "Wedding Singer" star in a black tuxedo and white yarmulke, and Titone in a white gown with spaghetti straps, standing among hanging pale rose bouquets and chairs draped with pink satin.
Sandler's dog, Meatball, was shown in one picture in a black tuxedo jacket.
It was the first marriage for Sandler 36, and Titone, 28.
Titone has appeared in Sandler's movies, including as a waitress in "Big Daddy," and an angel in "Little Nicky."
Pamela Anderson's Anime Alter Ego: 'Stripperella'
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Former "Baywatch" beauty Pamela Anderson is making her animation debut as a superhero who dances in a strip club, but she demanded and received a no-nudity clause for her cartoon alter ego.
As a result, the upcoming cable series "Stripperella" features lots of cartoon cleavage and sexual innuendo -- she is after all "Secret Agent 69" -- but Anderson insists the show could be rated PG.
"It's harmless. It's only a cartoon," the actress told Reuters in a recent interview to promote the series, created by Marvel Comics icon Stan Lee, the man who beefed up the Hulk and had Spider-Man climbing walls.
"We came up with a concept, and we just kind of made it really, really silly, and we both can't believe it's going to be on the air."
The series is due to premiere June 26 on TNN, the Viacom Inc.-owned cable channel planning -- despite a legal challenge -- to relaunch itself this month as Spike TV, with a new slate of programming tailored to men.
The show's concept is pretty simple. It centers on buxom exotic dancer Erotica Jones, an Anderson-esque character voiced by the actress who leads a double life as the masked superhero Stripperella. She's a stripper by night, a crime fighter by later at night and the cartoon character even has the same tatoos as the real-life Anderson.
BUXOM CRIME FIGHTER
Using her sex appeal to cloud the minds of male crooks, she comes equipped with special gadgets, such as her lipstick laser and wall-climbing stiletto heels. Her breasts are natural lie detectors and her legs are powerful weapons she wraps around the heads of her foes in a move she calls the "scissor-ella."
"I'm very proud of Stripperella," Anderson says. "She's my alter ego -- strong, smart and sexy and, let's face it, a bit of a slut."
In the premiere episode, Stripperella battles the evil plastic surgeon Dr. Cesarian, who is deliberately ruining the figures of supermodels and has "booby-trapped" his latest victim with an exploding breast implant.
Still, Anderson said the series is far from pornographic and at her insistence contains no nudity -- employing cartoon pixilation and other devices to keep the body parts blurred and the animation tasteful.
For example, "I do a dance in a martini glass, and the bubbles are strategically placed," she said.
A number of celebrities lend their voices to some of the recurring characters, including Mark Hamill of "Star Wars" fame and Anderson's "boyfriend" Kid Rock, who also wrote and performs the theme song.
Canadian-born Anderson, 35, sprang to world fame as lifeguard CJ Parker on the TV series "Baywatch" and went on to produce and star in the syndicated TV series "V.I.P.," playing a beautiful celebrity bodyguard.
LICENSING IMAGE
This week, she signed a partnership agreement with United Licensing Group to develop brand merchandise such as lingerie, jewelry, swimsuits and jeans that will carry a Pamela Anderson designer label, according to her manager, Hedda Moye.
Moye said the licensing deal and a new Web site are part of Anderson's plan to develop business ventures that allow her to cash in on her celebrity while spending more time at home with her two young sons, Brandon, 7, and Dylan, 5.
Anderson said her kids have seen early clips from her cartoon series but take it all in stride, with Brandon comparing her unfavorably to "Rugrats" character Angelica Pickles. "He said, 'Angelica is a very good actor, a very good character, and she's much more famous than you, Mom,"' Anderson recalled with a laugh.
ROCK THE CASH REGISTER
Streetcore, the final album from late Clash frontman Joe Strummer, scheduled to hit record stores on October 7.
The Lord Comes A Calling
Leading off this week's news are more details on what is sure to be one of the biggest DVD releases of the year, if not the biggest, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - Extended Edition. Replicating the same release pattern as The Fellowship of the Ring last year (if it ain't broke, don't fix it), New Line Home Entertainment will release the theatrical cut as a two-disc set in August, followed by this four-disc behemoth on November 18th.
In addition to a newly-expanded cut of the film featuring over 40 minutes of new material, the extras are vast. The feature is spread over the first two discs, with four audio commentaries by director Peter Jackson and the writers, the second with the design team, the third with the production team and the four with the cast. The feature is presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby Digital Surround EX and DTS 6.1 ES Discrete soundtracks.
Disc three features The Appendices: Adapting the book into a screenplay and planning the film, the design and inspiration for locations in Middle-earth storyboards to pre-visualization, a Weta Workshop visit to see the sculptors in action as they create the weapons, armor, creatures and miniatures from the film, an "Atlas of Middle-Earth," an additional interactive map of New Zealand highlighting the location scouting process, multiple featurettes including "Sending Actors to Battle" (preparation for sword fighting), "Post-Production" (editing it all together) and "Principal Photography" (stories from the set), a look at the digital effects including motion capture and "Massive" (a program to create armies of Orcs), additional "Bigatures" (a close-up look at the detailed miniatures used in the film), a sound design demonstration, still galleries of art and slideshows with commentaries by the artists plus additional behind-the-scenes photographs and personal cast photos. Also included are extensive ROM extras to be announced. Retail is $39.95.
Last but not least, New Line will also release a special Gift Set of the Extended Edition, which also streets on November 18th. Expect the same great extras above plus a Collectible Gollum polystone statue created by Sideshow Weta, "The Evolution of Gollum" exclusive documentary on the Weta Workshop and how the Gollum statue was created, a printed companion piece showing how Gollum evolved from pencil sketch to sculpted maquette to digital character, and collectible packaging.
'Hulk' Transforms Into Box Office Champ
LOS ANGELES - "The Hulk" was a monster at the box office in its debut weekend, with the comic-book adaptation taking in a June opening record of $62.6 million.
The action flick about a scientist turned into a raging green beast by a lab accident took over the top box-office spot from the animated fish tale "Finding Nemo," which slipped to second place with a weekend take of $20.5 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
The weekend's other new wide releases opened quietly. Rob Reiner's romantic comedy "Alex & Emma," starring Kate Hudson and Luke Wilson, debuted at No. 7 with $6.2 million.
"From Justin to Kelly," a romance starring "American Idol" winner Kelly Clarkson and runner-up Justin Guarini, opened at No. 11 with only $2.9 million.
"The Hulk" had the highest gross ever for a June opening, surpassing the previous record of $54.9 million for "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me." But taking today's higher admission prices into account, "Austin Powers" sold slightly more tickets in its opening weekend than "The Hulk."
"The Hulk," starring Eric Bana, Jennifer Connelly and Nick Nolte, was directed by Ang Lee, best known for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." Many critics credited Lee with bringing a deeper sense of brooding character to the movie than other comic-book adaptations have had.
Distributor Universal Studios said the opening-weekend audience was evenly split between people under and over 25, as the movie drew the young action-flick crowd as well as adults who remember the comic book and "Incredible Hulk" TV series.
Despite the June record, revenue for "The Hulk" came in well below that of last month's Marvel Comics adaptation, "X2: X-Men United," which grossed $85.6 million in its opening weekend.
"The Hulk" did exceed the numbers for the first "X-Men" movie, which opened with $54.5 million.
"The Hulk" continues a string of comic-book successes. Last year, "Spider-Man" opened with a record $114.8 million debut weekend, while other hits include "Daredevil" and the "Blade" movies. Coming next year are a "Spider-Man" sequel and "The Punisher," also based on Marvel comics.
"The comic-book genre seems to be one of the most consistent performers," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations. "Audiences are pretty satisfied with what they're seeing, and they keep going back. I don't know if that'll last forever, but it emboldens the creative types at studios to keep making these."
Here are the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at North American theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures will be released Monday.
1. "The Hulk," $62.6 million.
2. "Finding Nemo," $20.5 million.
3. "2 Fast 2 Furious," $10.3 million.
4. "Bruce Almighty," $10 million.
5. "The Italian Job," $7.2 million.
6. "Rugrats Go Wild," $6.7 million.
7. "Alex & Emma," $6.2 million.
8. "Hollywood Homicide," $5.8 million.
9. "Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd," $4.3 million.
10. "The Matrix Reloaded," $4.05 million.
Kid Critics in Early Returns Call Potter a Winner
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The early U.S. returns are in andyoung Harry Potter fans are declaring the latest book on the boy wizard a winner.
A three-year wait for the fifth installment of the blockbuster series, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," ended on Saturday and a survey on Sunday of avid fans showed it was like Christmas on the first day of summer.
"I loved it," said 10-year-old Paige Morschauser of Fayetteville, North Carolina, who had read 273 pages of the 870-page tome. "I had such a hard time putting the book down, my mom had to scream, 'Put that book down, it's time to eat."'
More than a dozen avid young readers among the first to get a copy of J.K. Rowling's latest Potter edition agreed to give Reuters early reactions.
"I've been rereading Harry Potter books for so long I'd forgotten how great it is to read new Harry Potter adventures," said 10-year-old Rachel Berkrot of Stamford, Connecticut, after the first 200 pages.
Evan Mahoney, 10, had to interrupt reading for a drive-in movie Saturday night, but he used a flashlight to resume in between the feature films.
"It's really good so far," said Mahoney, of Durham, Maine, who read 86 pages. "It's very different. He's got a lot of bottled-up rage. I think he's really turning into a teen-ager."
Evan's 11-year-old sister, Mollie, said the book was a lot different from earlier ones. "I'm really curious about what's going to happen," she said, undaunted about navigating such a long book. "The length is OK because it's not boring."
Claire Bunschoten, 11, from the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois, noticed some changes in Harry after reading about 200 pages.
"He's a lot more hot headed. He has trouble controlling his anger," she said. "Harry's growing up. He's braver than I am, but I also think we are kind of in the same place. He loses his temper a lot and I'm getting mad at my mom and dad lately."
Lev Pravda, an 8-year-old from New York, said it was "more like an adventure," and Anna Premo, 13, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, agreed.
"There are more twists and unexpected things happening," Premo said.
SOME RESERVATIONS
Some expressed a few reservations.
"I think it's good, but kind of confusing," said Adam Frank, 9, of Bethesda, Maryland, after about 90 pages. "It's kind of hard to tell what's going on."
Mary-Louise Howell, 10, of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, said "it didn't have as much of an exciting part" as the others, but that she liked it so far.
Among other Vineyard critics, Kira Shipway, 9, said Harry seemed more "self-centered" in this book, and Josh Pitt, 12, said, "It seems more complicated and a little darker."
And Will Cretsinger, 9, of McLean, Virginia, was worried about who dies in the book, as Rowling revealed before it was released.
Julie Theriault, 14, of Bakersfield, California, finished the book by midafternoon on Saturday and gave it a thumbs up.
"It's my favorite one so far," she said.
"At the very end, you're kind of looking forward to the next book. You're happy and kind of sad."