Winslet to Star in New Gervais Sitcom -Report
LONDON (Reuters) - "Titantic" star Kate Winslet is to appear in British comedian Ricky Gervais's follow-up to cult sitcom "The Office," The Sun newspaper reported on Saturday.
British actor Jude Law will also star in the sitcom "Extras," which is set in the world of bit-part movie players and sees Gervais playing aging film extra Andy Millman.
"It's great to have Kate Winslet and Jude Law on board as we have so few British people who have made it big in Hollywood, but these are two who have," Gervais told The Sun.
"In 'Extras' Jude and Kate play twisted versions of themselves," Gervais added.
Winslet, 29, has been nominated for Academy Awards for her roles in "Titanic," "Sense and Sensibility" and "Iris."
Last year "The Office" won two Golden Globe awards as well as dominating Britain's BAFTA television awards for a third consecutive year.
The Daily Mirror newspaper also reported Gervais had been offered a part in "Mission Impossible III" by director Jeffrey Abrams.
"I know the director well and he said: 'Do you want a part?' I just replied: 'Yeah, that will be great'," Gervais told the Daily Mirror.
Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston Separate
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Superstar Hollywood couple Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston have separated after 4 1/2 years of marriage, but they remain "committed and caring friends," they said on Friday.
The announcement of their split followed months of tabloid stories about spousal ups and downs, including reports that Pitt, 41, wanted to become a father but Aniston, 35, was reluctant to start a family.
Aniston had been photographed recently without her wedding ring, but just two days ago the New York Post splashed a picture of the couple on its front page with a circle around Aniston's hand and the headline: "The Ring's Back On!"
Pitt, one of Hollywood's most sought-after leading men, and Aniston, who became a household name on the long-running NBC television comedy "Friends," met on a dinner date in 1998.
They were married in a lavish, celebrity-studded wedding in the seaside California resort of Malibu on July 29, 2000.
News of their breakup came in an understated announcement released late on Friday afternoon through People magazine.
"We would like to announce that after seven years together we have decided to formally separate," they said. "For those who follow these sorts of things, we would like to explain that our separation is not the result of any of the speculation reported by the tabloid media.
"This decision is a result of much thoughtful consideration. We happily remain committed and caring friends with great love and admiration for one another. We ask in advance for your kindness and sensitivity in the coming months."
Aniston's spokesman said the pair spent the New Year's holiday weekend vacationing together in the Caribbean with her former "Friends" co-star Courteney Cox and her husband, David Arquette.
Pitt, currently starring in the crime caper "Ocean's Twelve," and Aniston, best known for her TV role as Rachel Green in "Friends," also are partners in film production company, Plan B, whose first movie, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," is due out later this year from Warner Bros.
Sixth Oasis Album Due In May
In an interview Friday morning with BBC Radio 1's Jo Whiley, Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher revealed that May 16 will be the international release date of the band's sixth studio set, its first since 2002's "Heathen Chemistry." Gallagher said the Epic album is finished and has a title, but he declined to unveil it.
The album will feature 12 songs written by all four current members -- Noel, singer Liam Gallagher, bassist Andy Bell and guitarist Gem Archer. Among the tracks Noel said will appear on the album are "The Importance of Being Idle," "Guess God Thinks I'm Able" and "Part of the Queue."
"It's my favorite one of the last four," Gallagher said of the album, "Because we're all contributing to the songwriting now, there's a different feel to it. The only songs that actually sound like Oasis are Andy Bell's."
Gallagher added that the group hasn't yet decided on an initial single. "There was an obvious first single," he said, "but I was singing it. After 12 years of Oasis, Liam thought that might sound a bit odd; people might think he'd have left the band."
Oasis has already confirmed three outdoor stadium shows for this summer in the United Kingdom: June 29 in Glasgow, July 2 in Manchester, England, and July 9 in London. Additional tour plans have yet to be announced.
LORDS OF THE BUNGLE
Hollywood loves lists, especially in awards season - but there's one list it isn't going to be happy about: the Top 15 Biggest Movie Mistakes of 2004.
The British Web site moviemistakes.com, which delights in spotting continuity goofs, says the No. 1 mistake of the year came during the famous train scene in "Spider-Man 2":
At one point, Spidey's mask gets a dirty mark on it, but when the camera cuts away and returns, the spot is mysteriously gone.
You may have never noticed it, but the site's 25-year-old Web master, Jon Sandys, has been making note of such film flubs since he was 17.
He's even published a "Movie Mistakes" book, which includes classic big-screen glitches such as the gas tank that's visible in the back of one of the Roman chariots in "Gladiator."
Sandys' site gets more than 20,000 hits a day, he says, and as of yesterday, visitors had helped him identify 43,466 mistakes from 3,969 films.
They also helped compile the top 15 list by voting for their favorite mistakes, although Sandys admits that he fudged some of the voting, "so that 'Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban' and 'Spider-Man 2' didn't fill the list themselves."
Here are some more of Sandys' favorite 2004 movie blunders:
* "Kill Bill, Vol 2." After The Bride arrives in Bill's house, there's a moment when he's cutting the crusts off a sandwich - at least at first. When the camera angle changes, he's cutting the sandwich in half.
* "Secret Window." When John Turturro pins Johnny Depp's character against a tree with a shovel, you can see that the shovel is made of rubber, because it's bending around Depp's neck.
* "Mean Girls." After a party scene, a character gets frightened and tosses all the popcorn out of a bowl. But in the next shot, the popcorn is back in the bowl.
* "Starsky & Hutch." During the disco scene, Hutch picks up Starsky's badge and waves it at the crowd, but the next moment, the badge is back on the floor.
* "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban." When Harry's feet are getting chomped by the magical book with teeth ("The Monster Book of Monsters"), the room's proportions grow and shrink to accommodate the action.
* "Hellboy." At one point, Hellboy tosses Dr. Manning underneath a swiftly closing door that's open just enough for him to roll under. Then Hellboy does battle with a menacing pendulum for about 30 seconds and dives for the door himself, which is still open just as wide.
* "Along Came Polly." There's a miraculously mobile loofah sponge in the scene when Ben Stiller visits Jennifer Aniston's apartment for the first time. The sponge's handle wobbles back and forth in her purse from shot to shot.
CBC on-air personality Wendy Mesley undergoing treatment for breast cancer
TORONTO (CP) - Wendy Mesley, the Gemini-winning CBC journalist and host of the network's investigative consumer show Marketplace, has been diagnosed with breast cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy treatment.
"It sucks," Mesley said during an interview on CBC Radio on Friday morning.
"She's working in between her treatments," said CBC spokeswoman Ruth-Ellen Soles. "She's in great spirits and is handling it the way she handles everything else, with gusto and guts and energy and a very positive attitude."
Soles said Mesley learned the news a few months ago. While she has reduced her workload at the CBC, she will be doing Marketplace this week and continues as a backup news reader for The National.
Mesley began her broadcast career in 1976 as a radio reporter in Toronto. She moved to television in '79 with CTV Montreal affiliate CFCF, then to CBC-TV as a legislative reporter in Quebec City. In 1985 she moved to Ottawa as a parliamentary correspondent for The National and later became the anchor for Sunday Report. In 1994 she helped create and host CBC's Undercurrents, a series that looked at the Media and marketing worlds.
In 2001 she switched to CBC's new investigative program Disclosure and in 2002 to Marketplace.
Keaton Brings the 'Noise' at Weekend Box Office
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The paranormal thriller "White Noise," which bows in theaters Friday, marks the first wide release to hit the marketplace in two weeks.
As such, the Universal Pictures release might provoke more interest from moviegoers than it normally would. In addition, the poor weather around the country that has been keeping people indoors might encourage some to seek a change of venue at the multiplex.
"White Noise," starring Michael Keaton and directed by British TV veteran Geoffrey Sax, centers on electronic voice phenomenon, a process whereby the dead communicate with the living through household recording devices.
Industry insiders are placing the film's reception in the $12 million-$14 million range, but many suggest that it could do better because it is the only new release in the market. Bowing in 2,258 theaters, it should arrive in either second or third place -- either ahead of or behind Paramount Pictures' "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events."
Set to dominate the box office for a third weekend is Universal's "Meet the Fockers." The Ben Stiller-Robert De Niro comedy sequel has generated more than $170 million after only 14 days in release. The film is likely to drop 50% from the previous frame, putting its weekend gross somewhere in the $20 million range. "Fockers" already has outgrossed its predecessor, 2000's "Meet the Parents," which had a $166.2 million domestic tally, and is currently the eighth-highest-grossing film of 2004.
Many limited releases again are expanding this frame to take advantage of the slowdown in the market.
New Line's "Birth," starring Nicole Kidman, will add 400 playdates to its release schedule. The film, which opened to 550 theaters but subsequently dropped to only five screens, has generated $4.7 million since it bowed Oct. 29. It now can boast of a Golden Globe nomination for Kidman's performance.
Warner Bros. Pictures' "Million Dollar Baby" broadens to 108 theaters from nine. The PG-13 film, from director Clint Eastwood and starring Eastwood, Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman, has generated $1.1 million since its Dec. 15 release.
Fox Searchlight will add 500 runs to Bill Condon's "Kinsey," which has been playing most recently on 228 screens. Released Nov. 15, the biopic about the controversial sex researcher Alfred Kinsey has earned $6.8 million to date.
United Artists will expand "Hotel Rwanda" by about 100 screens. The film, which has screened in seven theaters since Dec. 22, has earned $465,832. Starring Don Cheadle, "Hotel Rwanda" follows the true story of Paul Rusesabagina, a hotel manager who housed and protected more than 1,000 Tutsi refugees from the Hutu militia in Rwanda.
ThinkFilm will add screens to its indie release "The Assassination of Richard Nixon," starring Sean Penn. The film, released Dec. 29 in five theaters, has earned $55,255. Newmarket's Sundance acquisition "The Woodsman" expands as well. The R-rated drama starring Kevin Bacon has earned close to $200,000 since its Christmas Eve release.
Samuel Goldwyn Films/ Roadside Attractions will re-expand its cult hit "What the #$*! Do We Know!?" The film rang in the New Year by crossing the $10 million mark.
Also, three new films bow in limited release this weekend.
Zeitgeist opens "Travellers and Magicians" in San Francisco and New York before expanding to Los Angeles at the end of the month, Castle Hill bows the Canadian drama "Emile" in New York, and Indican Pictures opened the drama "Solitude" on Thursday in New York.
Sox First Baseman Won't Give Up Ball
BOSTON - Calling it "my retirement fund," Boston first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz stashed in his safe deposit box the ball used in the final out that sealed the Red Sox's first World Series championship in 86 years. Now, his boss wants it back.
"We want it to be part of Red Sox archives or museums so it can be shared with the fans," Red Sox CEO Larry Lucchino told The Boston Globe on Thursday. "We would hope he would understand the historical nature of it."
Mientkiewicz seems to understand it very well, which is exactly why he held on to it.
Historic baseballs have recently fetched impressive sums. The baseball Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk banged off the foul pole in the 1975 World Series sold for $113,373. The ball Barry Bonds hit for his 73rd home run went for $450,000. The most expensive baseball of all time is Mark McGwire's 70th homer, which went for $3 million.
Mientkiewicz said he thinks the Boston's World Series ball has more value than a home run ball.
"Those are important and all, don't get me wrong, but there are always going to be more home runs," he said. "This is something that took 86 years, and 86 years is a long time. Personally, I went through hell and back this year. But winning the World Series is something I'm going to remember for a long time."
Mientkiewicz came to Boston from Minnesota in a three-team midseason deal that sent Boston shortstop Nomar Garciaparra to the Chicago Cubs.
Mientkiewicz, who batted .215 for Boston, was used primarily as a late innings defensive replacement, and has indicated his unhappiness with the role.
Boston broke its championship drought by beating the New York Yankees in seven games in the AL championship series, then sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals in four games in the World Series.
After the game, Mientkiewicz said he put the ball in his locker, then gave it to his wife, Jodi, who put it in her purse. The next day, the ball was authenticated by Major League Baseball.
Carmine Tiso, spokesman for MLB, told the Globe that Mientkiewicz owns the baseball, though Joe Januszewski, Red Sox director of corporate partnerships, said he thinks the team owns it.
Mientkiewicz couldn't be reached for comment Thursday by the Globe after Lucchino said the club wanted the ball back. But on Wednesday, he left no doubt that he believes the ball belongs to him.
"I know this ball has a lot of sentimental value," Mientkiewicz said. "I hope I don't have to use it for the money. It would be cool if we have kids someday to have it stay in our family for a long time. But I can be bought. I'm thinking, there's four years at Florida State for one of my kids. At least."