Brian Linehan, Canadian celebrity interviewer, dies at 58 of lymphatic cancer
TORONTO (CP) - Brian Linehan, the puckish, always-confident TV personality and interviewer of both Canadian and Hollywood stars, is dead.
The snowy-haired Linehan, a native of Hamilton, Ont., died Friday at his home after being diagnosed two years ago with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system. He last entered hospital May 2 and had been undergoing what a friend described as a "brutal" round of chemotherapy.
He was 58.
A CBC spokesman said a private funeral is anticipated and that details of a public memorial service will be released at a future date.
Not so Bad Santa
One of last year's biggest hits, the $176-million grossing comedy Elf will at last hit DVD on November 16th. The latest in New Line Home Entertainment's Infinifilm line, this two-disc set will presented in anamorphic widescreen with DTS and Dolby Digital tracks and plenty of extras. Goodies include separate audio commentary tracks with director Jon Favreau and star Will Ferrell, a subtitle Fact Track, no less than nine making-of featurettes (both "All Access Pass" and Inifinifilm-exclusive "Beyond the Movie" varieties), deleted scenes, a soundtrack music cue index, theatrical trailers, and ROM exclusives including a Script Viewer and more to be announced.
She's a Big Girl Now
Only one film this year dared to ask the question: what if Tom Hanks was reincarnated as Jennifer Garner? The answer? She would be 13 Going on 30, which gave the Alias Emmy-winner a modest little sleeper hit this past winter. Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment will release the film on August 3rd, complete with an anamorphic widescreen transfer, Dolby Digital 5.1 surround track, two audio commentaries with director and actors Garner and Mark Ruffalo, the "Making of 13 Going on 30" and "I Was a Teenage Geek" featurettes, 18 deleted and extended scenes, two music videos, a gag reel, the "80s Outfit Challenge" and "Then And Now" interactive games, and theatrical trailers.
Seeing Green
Universal Studios Home Video will release the box office bomb Envy on August 10th. Directed by Barry Levinson and starring (in his 1,247th film this year) Ben Stiller, the DVD will feature both anamorphic widescreen and full screen versions, a Jack Black scene index, still gallery, filmographies and theatrical trailers.
"Shrek 2" Out-Ogres Original
Shrek 2 is a mean green money machine.
As of Thursday, the ogre-iffic sequel has officially raked in $271 million since opening May 19, propelling it past the $267.7 million domestic gross of its predecessor, 2001's Shrek. If the big guy keeps up his pace, DreamWorks is betting the CGI flick will race past the $300 million mark this coming weekend and will ultimately have a shot at passing bitter rival Disney-Pixar's Finding Nemo as the top-grossing 'toon of all time with $340 million.
Already, Shrek 2 owns the records for widest opening weekend, highest grossing opening weekend for an animated film ($108 million), biggest five-day opening ($128.5 million), the all-time single-day ticket sales record ($44.8 million on May 22) and the biggest ever Memorial Day weekend ($95.6 million from last Friday to Monday).
With the dysfunctional fable follow-up ringing up boffo box office, DreamWorks has already given the green-light to not one, but two more sequels, a studio rep has confirmed.
DreamWorks is fast-tracking Shrek 3 and Shrek 4 and is expected to begin talks soon to secure the voice talents of Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz and Eddie Murphy to reprise their roles for the follow-ups. Each scored a $5 million payday for Shrek 2, which was a substantial increase over the sum they made for the first Shrek, and they are expected to make even more on a third installment. Antonio Bandreas, who steals many a Shrek 2 scene as Puss-in-Boots, is also going to be invited back for the new sequels.
According to Daily Variety, the studio has tapped the writing duo of Peter Seaman and Jeffrey Price to fracture the next fairy-tale installment. The plot is expected to follow everyone's favorite ogre as he embarks on a new quest and ends up having a run-in with King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table.
Seaman and Price previously wrote the screenplay for Universal's Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas and did some uncredited script doctoring on the studio's Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat, which also starred Myers but bombed at the box office.
It's likely that several of Shrek's original scribes (a half-dozen screenwriters helped with the story) will also lend a hand in polishing the new editions. Additionally, DreamWorks has hired writer Jon Zack to act as a creative consultant.
If all goes as planned, expect Shrek 3 to hit theaters sometime around the 2006 holiday season.
Nickelback frontman praises initiative to curb illegal music downloading
TORONTO (CP) - Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger showed up for a fast-food promotion Thursday, hoping to raise awareness about illegal music downloading.
Kroeger spoke at Toronto's Eaton Centre as McDonald's and Sony Music launched a joint worldwide campaign to give out free music downloads through Puretracks with every Big Mac sold.
"I'm the co-owner of a label, and illegal downloading is hurting us there and I'm a producer trying to get new music out there ... it's hurting every single facet of the music industry," Kroeger said in an interview.
Due to confidentiality agreements, officials refused to say how the costs of the promotion are being borne by the parties involved.
Kroeger says he didn't show up at the news conference to sell hamburgers. "I'm here to promote awareness and try to get people to change their mindset. Instead of stealing music, hopefully, they're going to go to more sites like this (Puretracks) and download it."
According to an Ipsos-Reid poll released last month, Canadians appear to be downloading songs less than they have in past years over fears of being slammed by a lawsuit, like those in the United States.
Kroeger says while it's wonderful that people are thinking twice about downloading, their attack of conscience is for the wrong reason.
"Somebody's saying 'geez, I shouldn't go do this because I might get caught' instead of saying 'geez, I shouldn't do this because it's the wrong thing to do."'
But Larry LeBlanc, Canadian bureau chief of Billboard Magazine, says he doesn't believe a promotion like the Big Mac Meal Tracks will have much of an impact on illegal downloading activity because he thinks many people will simply do both. LeBlanc points out not every song in the world is available through Puretracks.
"How many people are going to download just one track? They're going to download more tracks," LeBlanc said Thursday. "So how many hamburgers can these people eat? They're not going to eat 40 hamburgers to get 40 tracks downloaded."
Overall, LeBlanc says a promotion like this is a win-win situation for everybody involved and it will benefit the music industry, the artists and the fast-food chain because it will help bring legal downloading into mainstream culture.
"Eventually what you're going to see is ... probably within a three- to five-year period of time every music retailer will have this kind of service where you walk into stores and have a legal download of some sort. We're moving toward that kind of model," he said.
The McDonald's campaign will be up and running in Canada, the U.S. and Puerto Rico as of June 8 and is expected to run until the end of July. The same campaign will be launched in Britain, Germany and France next month.
Nicole Kidman May Need Padding for 'Producers' Role
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Rail-thin, but sexy, Nicole Kidman will need a little help making the transformation to a buxom Swedish secretary for her next role with Matthew Broderick, in the film version of Mel Brooks' stage hit "The Producers."
"Mel says we'll pad her," said Broderick. "I think we should pad her, I guess."
Broderick also stars with Kidman in the updated, dark-comedy version of "Stepford Wives," a film he was promoting on Thursday in advance of its opening next week.
Kidman's slim, fashion-model frame is shown to advantage in her "Stepford Wives" role as Broderick's wife. For "The Producers," she will be play statuesque Swedish secretary Ulla, whose bountiful bosom inspires numerous jokes in the Brooks farce.
Broderick will be reprising his role as meek accountant Leo Bloom in "The Producers," opposite Nathan Lane, who created the stage role of devious Broadway producer Max Bialystock.
"She could look like a Swede. She's psychotically tall, which I think will be good. I think it's a good part for her. I can't wait. I think she'll be great," Broderick said.
Kidman said Broderick helped bring her into the project during their work together on the "Stepford" movie. The new Brooks film is set to begin shooting in February.
Physical augmentation for a film role would not be entirely new for Kidman, who had a prosthetic nose put on her face for the 2002 movie "The Hours." The Australian beauty won an best-actress Oscar for her portrayal of writer Virginia Woolf in that film.