Willie: Dixie Chicks 'got a raw deal'

NEW YORK - Willie Nelson says the Dixie Chicks "got a raw deal" from a disapproving public following their criticism of President Bush.

"I think the fact that they were overseas and onstage had a little bit to do with it because you're speaking to other people about our business," the 73-year-old country crooner said in an interview in this week's Time magazine.

The trio caught harsh criticism after lead singer Natalie Maines told a London audience in 2003 that the group was "ashamed" Bush was from their home state of Texas.

Nelson said he was surprised his remarks about Bush a year earlier during an overseas news conference didn't incite a similar controversy.

"I said 'He's not from Texas and he ain't a cowboy, so let's stop trashin' Texans and cowboys.' It got a little chuckle, but I didn't get run out of the country," Nelson told the magazine.

Nelson recently launched his own XM Radio channel and published "The Tao of Willie," in which he offers his philosophy on subjects ranging from marijuana to war.

Hollywood split over Mel Gibson's future

LOS ANGELES - A stunned Hollywood debated the future of one of its biggest stars Sunday as a sheriff's watchdog launched an investigation into a possible cover up of a leaked report that quoted Mel Gibson unleashing a tirade of anti-Semitic remarks during a drunken driving arrest.

One media expert said Gibson irreparably damaged his career with his "crazy" behavior following his arrest by Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies in Malibu early Friday. Charges of anti-Semitism were also leveled against the actor-director with the release of his 2004 blockbuster "The Passion of the Christ."

"It's a nuclear disaster for him," said publicist Michael Levine, who has represented Michael Jackson and Charlton Heston, among others. "I don't see how he can restore himself."

The entertainment Web site TMZ posted what it said were four pages from the original arrest report, which quoted Gibson as launching an expletive-laden "barrage of anti-Semitic remarks" after he was stopped on Pacific Coast Highway.

According to the report, in addition to threatening the arresting deputy and trying to escape, Gibson said, "The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world," and asked the officer, James Mee, "Are you a Jew?"

The report has not been made public, but the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday that it had independently verified its authenticity.

Gibson's publicist, Alan Nierob, would not elaborate beyond a nonspecific apology Gibson issued Saturday. Sheriff's sources also declined to comment on Gibson's alleged remarks.

Studio executives, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the matter, were divided on how Gibson's behavior would affect his career. One noted that people have short memories, including filmmakers who might want to profit from Gibson's star power.

Filmgoers, too, could overlook much if the film is perceived as worthwhile.

"Usually it comes down to the marketing of the movie and does the average person want to see the film," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations.

The Office of Independent Review, a department watchdog panel, has opened an investigation into whether authorities gave Gibson preferential treatment by covering up his alleged inflammatory comments, said its chief attorney, Mike Gennaco.

"Assuming that the report was excised, then the question is was it done for a good reason within regulations," he said.

Gibson has filmed public service announcements for Sheriff Lee Baca's relief committee dressed in a sheriff's uniform.

"There is no cover-up," Baca told the Los Angeles Times. "Our job is not to (focus) on what he said. It's to establish his blood-alcohol level when he was driving and proceed with the case. Trying someone on rumor and innuendo is no way to run an investigation, at least one with integrity."

Gibson said in his apology that he said "despicable" things to deputies during his arrest.

"I acted like a person completely out of control when I was arrested and said things that I do not believe to be true and which are despicable," Gibson said.

Abraham H. Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, called Gibson's apology "unremorseful and insufficient."

"It's not a proper apology because it does not go to the essence of his bigotry and his anti-Semitism," he said in a statement on the organization's Web site. "We would hope that Hollywood now would realize the bigot in their midst and that they will distance themselves from this anti-Semite."

This is not the first time Gibson has faced accusations of anti-Semitism. Gibson produced, directed and financed "Passion," which some Jewish leaders said cast Jews as the killers of Jesus.

In a 2004 interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer, Gibson said he was not anti-Semitic.

"To be anti-Semitic is a sin," he said. "It's been condemned by one Papal Council after another. To be anti-Semitic is to be un-Christian, and I'm not."

Days before "Passion" was released, Gibson's father Hutton Gibson was quoted saying the Holocaust was mostly "fiction." The younger Gibson has said that he will not speak against his father.

Gibson, 50, was arrested after deputies stopped his 2006 Lexus LS 430 for speeding at 2:36 a.m. Friday. Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said deputies clocked him doing 87 mph in a 45 mph zone.

A breath test indicated Gibson's blood-alcohol level was 0.12 percent, Whitmore said. The legal limit in California is 0.08 percent.

Gibson posted $5,000 bail and was released hours later.

In his statement, Gibson also said he has struggled with alcoholism and had taken steps "to ensure my return to health."

He won a best-director Oscar for 1995's "Braveheart." He also starred in the "Lethal Weapon" and "Mad Max" films, "What Women Want" and "The Man Without a Face," among other films.

Fire chars British set of new Bond film

LONDON - A large fire seriously damaged the set of the latest James Bond movie Sunday, caving in the roof of a sound stage transformed into a replica of Venice for the production of "Casino Royale."

Pinewood Shepperton, the studio complex where the fire erupted, said filming for the Bond production had been completed.

"Its film sets were in the process of being removed," the studio said in a statement.

The cause of the fire was unknown. Three people who had been inside Pinewood Studios, about 20 miles west of London, were not hurt.

The Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service said several cylinders of flammable gas exploded during the blaze, which took eight fire engines to extinguish.

Television footage showed a thick cloud of black smoke rising from the building, whose roof burned and at least partly collapsed.

"It is just a complete mess," fire department spokesman Fraser Pearson said from the scene. "I would say the whole building has been damaged by the fire. It is still smoking quite badly."

"Casino Royale" is the first Bond film featuring actor Daniel Craig in the title role, replacing Pierce Brosnan.

The 007 soundstage, which was built for the filming of Bond film "The Spy Who Loved Me," burned down when gasoline canisters exploded in 1984. It was rebuilt two years ago.

In 2005, a Pinewood Shepperton studio soundstage served as a replica of the Louvre art museum for the "Da Vinci Code."

'Miami Vice' takes $25.2M, sinks 'Pirates'

LOS ANGELES - The "Miami Vice" speedboat overtook the "Pirates of the Caribbean" juggernaut to capture the top spot at the weekend box office.

The film, which pairs Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx as the iconic TV characters Sonny Crockett and Ricardo Tubbs, took in $25.2 million, compared to $20.5 million for "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," according to studio estimates Sunday.

"It's nice to be number one," said Nikki Rocco, president of distribution at Universal Pictures.

The gritty, dark action film was directed by Michael Mann, who created the 1980s TV show. The movie was especially attractive to older audiences, with 62 percent of the audience over 30, according to the studio's exit polling.

The audience was pretty evenly split between men and women, the polling showed.

"It's what our expectations were," Rocco said. "We tried to do something different. There has been a lot of criticism regarding unoriginal product. We took a TV series and made it very different."

The news was not necessarily bad for The Walt Disney Co., which produced "Pirates."

In its third week, "Pirates" has earned $358.4 million to become the highest grossing film in Disney's history, passing the $339.7 million earned by the Pixar Animation Studios film "Finding Nemo."

"After posting the biggest opening weekend of all time, it is living up to the promise created that opening weekend," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations.

"Pirates" is on track to break the $400 million mark in the coming weeks, Dergarabedian said.

The Pixar film "Cars" has also raked in $234.6 million to date. And while the film is no longer in the top 10 at the box office, its cumulative gross makes it the second highest grossing film of the year, giving Disney the top two spots so far.

"It's a very happy weekend," said Chuck Viane, Disney's head of distribution.

The teen flick "John Tucker Must Die" from 20th Century Fox debuted in third place with a respectable $14 million.

The film, with a budget of about $18 million, attracted a predominantly young female audience with its story of four high school girls who seek revenge against an unfaithful boyfriend.

"The Ant Bully," an animated film from Warner Bros., opened with a mere $8.1 million.

The film featured the voice talents of Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts and Nicolas Cage and was produced by Tom Hanks. But it just couldn't compete against a crowded field of family pictures.

"It's much less than what we had wanted," said Jeff Goldstein, general sales manager at Warner Bros. "The marketplace is crowded. The kids have been bombarded."

The independent film "Little Miss Sunshine" opened strongly in limited release.

The quirky film starring Greg Kinnear and Steve Carell, took in $356,863 in only seven theaters in New York and Los Angeles for a per screen average of $50,980.

Overall, box office revenue was up 6.3 percent and attendance was up 3 percent.

Here are the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Miami Vice," $25.2 million.
2. "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," $20.5 million.
3. "John Tucker Must Die," $14 million.
4. "Monster House," $11.5 million.
5. "The Ant Bully," $8.2 million.
6. "Lady in the Water," $7 million.
7. "You, Me and Dupree," $7 million
8. "Little Man," $5.1 million.
9. "The Devil Wears Prada," $4.8 million.
10. "Clerks II," $3.9 million.

ABC pulls plug on 'The One'

TORONTO (CP) -- The One: Making a Music Star -- the American reality show that grabbed headlines last month for bumping CBC's The National from its usual time-slot -- has been cancelled less than two weeks after its debut.

U.S. broadcaster ABC announced the decision in a note posted Friday on its website: "There are no plans for additional episodes. Thanks to all who participated in and supported The One."

CBC created a ruckus earlier this summer when it announced plans to move The National from its 10 p.m. ET slot on some Tuesdays and Wednesdays in order to air The One.

Critics were vicious, arguing that the public broadcaster has a mission to explain Canada to Canadians -- not to import reality TV shows from the United States.

CBC, in turn, said it was simply trying to lay the groundwork for a Canadian version of The One, which followed a format similar to Canadian Idol and Rock Star: Supernova.

But the show floundered from the get-go, and critics were quick Friday to seize on its cancellation as proof of poor decision-making at CBC.

"The senior leadership at the CBC has to have egg on its face. They made this extraordinary and, I would say, indefensible decision," said Ian Morrison of Friends of Canadian Broadcasting.

"Why would Canadian taxpayers subsidize a public television network in order to see it pre-empt their national news?"

Arthur Lewis, executive director of the advocacy group Our Public Airwaves, said the cancellation "emphasizes what an incredibly stupid decision it was for CBC to import an American reality show in the first place."

"I'm willing to bet CBC was praying for ABC to cancel it and get them off the hook," he added.

For her part, Kirstine Layfield, CBC-TV's executive director of network programming, called ABC's decision "disappointing."

"But it's understandable," she said. "ABC is in a very tough marketplace. It's having a very tough summer ... They don't have the luxury of waiting around for a show to grow over time."

She said the public broadcaster may still go ahead with a Canadian edition of The One in the fall.

"It's too early to tell. We're not under any pressure to make immediate decisions."

Hosted by CBC-TV personality George Stroumboulopoulos, The One's debut last week grabbed the attention of a mere 236,000 Canadians.

And on Tuesday this week, according to Nielsen Media Research, just 150,000 Canadians tuned in to the singing contest, despite the marketing fanfare and high hopes at CBC.

By contrast, BBM says Rock Star: Supernova pulled in 1.2 million Canadian viewers Tuesday night in the same 9-10 p.m. ET slot on Global.

CTV's Canadian Idol finished the night with 1.65 million viewers in the 8-8:30 p.m. ET slot, said Nielsen.

The One's numbers south of the border were also abysmal. An article in the trade magazine Media Life reported that the show was the lowest-rated new summer reality series this season.

Reached in Los Angeles on Friday, Stroumboulopoulos was philosophical about the show's demise, blaming it on "market saturation."

"I suspect that (TV viewers) had already invested themselves in Canada in Idol," he said, adding he had no regrets about doing the show.

He also defended CBC's decision to air it.

"It was the exact right decision ... Canadians have demonstrated an awesome appetite for programs from all over the world."

The Canadian version of The One is still "in early development," said Layfield, adding that the CBC has learned from the U.S. show and will make a decision on its future in the next few weeks.

For his part, Stroumboulopoulos reiterated that he will not be hosting a Canadian version of The One because of his commitment to his own CBC current affairs program, The Hour.

Owen Wilson says 'Dupree' is no rip-off

LOS ANGELES - Owen Wilson has denied any connection between his new movie, "You, Me and Dupree," and '70s supergroup Steely Dan, a spokesman for the actor said Friday.

The band recently posted a letter on their Web site claiming that Wilson's Dupree character was based on their Grammy-winning song, "Cousin Dupree," about a couch-hopping houseguest.

In a statement released by his spokeswoman, Ina Treciokas, Wilson said: "I have never heard the song `Cousin Dupree' and I don't even know who this gentleman, Mr. Steely Dan, is. I hope this helps to clear things up and I can get back to concentrating on my new movie, `HEY 19.'"

Larry Solters, a spokesman for the band's management company, did not immediately return a call for comment.

Steely Dan released a string of hits in the '70s, including "Hey Nineteen," "Reeling in the Years" and "Rikki Don't Lose That Number."

"There are some pretty heavy people who are upset about this whole thing and we can't guarantee what kind of heat little Owen may be bringing down on himself," band leaders Walter Becker and Donald Fagen wrote in the letter.

The band asked Wilson, 37, to appear at a concert to apologize to their fans.

"You, Me and Dupree" co-stars Kate Hudson and Matt Dillon as a newlywed couple annoyed by Dupree, a friend who crashes on their couch.

In 2001, "Cousin Dupree" won a Grammy for best pop performance by a duo or group from Steely Dan's album "Two Against Nature," which snagged album of the year.

Mel Gibson arrested on suspicion of DUI

MALIBU, Calif. - Mel Gibson was arrested early Friday for suspicion of driving under the influence, a Sheriff's Department spokesman said.

Gibson's vehicle was speeding eastbound on the Pacific Coast Highway when officers stopped him at 2:36 a.m., Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said.

Gibson, 50, was booked at the Lost Hills Sheriff's station at 4:06 a.m., according to department records. The actor-director was cited and released, Whitmore said. Bail was set at $5,000.

"The investigation is ongoing," Whitmore said. "As we would do with anyone, we don't want to release any more since the information is fragmentary."

Gibson's spokesman, Alan Nierob, said he was looking into the matter.

Gibson won a best-director Oscar for 1995's "Braveheart."

Like his 2004 religious blockbuster, "The Passion of the Christ," which was shot in Aramaic and Latin, his new film, "Apocalypto," was done in an ancient tongue, Yucatec Maya.

Gibson has starred in the "Lethal Weapon" and "Mad Max" films, "What Women Want" and "The Man Without a Face," among other movies.

Adventures of Brisco County Jr., The - Canadians: Missing your booklet? Here's what to do...

Warner Canada has issued a press release about the missing booklet in the recent release of The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. Canadians were the only ones affected by this issue, so this information relates to Canadian residents only.

July 26th, 2006

Dear Valued Customer,

Thank you for purchasing the Adventures of Brisco County Jr. (DVE 76833 - UPC 0-12569-76833-8 - street date July 18th, 2006).

WHV has determined that, due to an error, the episode guide booklet was not inserted into the package.

WHV is dedicated to customer service and apologizes for any inconvenience this error may have caused you. Effective until August 31st 2006. WHV will remedy the situation by sending you the missing episode guide booklet at no additional cost to you.

To obtain the booklet, please contact us immediately at one of the following numbers:

Phone: 1-888-603-8888
email: warner@unigistix.com
fax: (905) 458-8275

Once you contact us, you should receive the booklet within 10 days.

Thank you for your understanding.

Sincerely,
Warner Home Video Canada

Kiefer up for a new day on '24'

PASADENA, Calif. -- When we last saw Jack Bauer, the 24 action hero was being beaten to a pulp and hauled off to a Chinese torture cell.

Bauer, or rather actor Kiefer Sutherland, looked tanned, relaxed and -- very unlike Jack -- happy at Tuesday night's Fox press tour party, an All-Star affair that Hugh Laurie (House), David Boreanaz (Bones), Courteney Cox Arquette and David Arquette (the upcoming FX series Dirt, about dishy tabloids), David Foster (the upcoming reality show Duets), Brad Garrett ('Til Death) and JR himself, Larry Hagman (guesting next season on Nip/Tuck) all attended.

Sutherland, who stood with his requisite pack of Camel cigarettes in his pocket, figures 24 will pick up about a year-and-a-half from when we last saw Bauer. "We just got the first scripts," he told a scrum of reporters.

He was typically sketchy on other details, but admitted things look pretty grim for Jack. "He's at the end of his line. Something's going to have to really rejuvenate him from the position that he's in," said Sutherland, "otherwise he's just going to be dead."

He added that it will be interesting this coming season, which starts again in January, "to come from a really deep dark place and actually try to come up instead of starting from an up position and trying to go down."

Asked if Kim Raver, who played Jack's lost love Audrey Raines, is through with 24 (she's joined the cast of ABC's The Nine), Sutherland said don't count her out yet. "She's contractually free to do both shows," he said. "We'll have to see what happens."

Some reporters were surprised Sutherland was at the press tour at all. His show is going into a sixth season and he's made his millions from syndication and DVD sales. This is usually the point where a big shot like Sutherland bails, at least until that farewell season is announced.

Still, the Emmy-nominated actor feels a certain loyalty to TV critics. "We wouldn't have been picked up if it wasn't for this group five years ago," he said. "We were on the fence and teetering off it in the wrong direction." He added that 24 "has been the most amazing experience of my career to date."

I had to ask him about one nagging detail from last season's finale that to me at least just didn't ring true. Why, given that Bauer was reachable via cell phone from all over the world, was he lured to a pay phone to take a call from his daughter? (It was all a set up; after saving the world yet again, Bauer was ambushed there by Chinese terrorists).

"That's interesting," said Sutherland, who attempted an explanation. He pointed out that Bauer had been estranged from his daughter Kim (Elisha Cuthbert) and when they briefly reunited last season they didn't exchange numbers. "In fact, she wants nothing to do with me," he said.

However, Sutherland admitted, "why CTU couldn't route her to my cellphone, that's a problem, yeah."

Is Heath Ledger The New Joker?

Heath Ledger could soon be donning a big smile for the upcoming Batman Begins sequel, as The Joker.

IMDB.com says press reports in Australia have pegged the Casanova star as Batman's famous foe in the hit-movie's follow up, which is scheduled for theatrical release in 2008.

While it's widely known Academy Award-winning actor/comedian Robin Williams is hoping to land the role of the comic bad-guy, filmmakers apparently don't want an age gap between hero and villain.

Confirmation on the news however, has yet to be announced.

In the meantime, Ledger can be seen in the dark Australian romance/drama Candy, as a poet with love for an art student, and heroin, followed by another movie featuring Christian Bale, the Bob Dylan biopic, I'm Not There.

"Miami Vice" set to heat up box office

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - This weekend is all about gambles at the box office. Will Universal Pictures' costly gamble on director Michael Mann and "Miami Vice" pay off? Will Warner Bros. Pictures' second partnership with Tom Hanks on an animated movie, "The Ant Bully," be as successful as its first? And just how many teenage girls will show up to see John Tucker, a fictional high school Romeo, die?

Bolstered by positive reviews and enough heart-pumping action scenes to lure in young males, "Miami Vice" could open in the mid-$20 million range, insiders say. Some think it could earn $30 million, which would set up a strong run for the film and help fuel the second half of the summer box office.

Either way, "Miami Vice" will end the three-week reign of "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," which is on track to earn $20 million.

With a budget reportedly in the neighborhood of $135 million, Mann has reimagined the "Miami Vice" television show he executive produced in the 1980s as a dark, stylized drama with laconic dialogue and impressive action scenes. Rated R, the film version of the series stars Jamie Foxx and Colin Farrell as undercover narcotics officers.

Mann's films, while well-regarded, never have grossed more than $101 million; 2004's "Collateral," starring Tom Cruise and Foxx, holds that honor. It kicked off with $24.7 million.

Warners' PG-rated "Ant Bully" is expected to open at No. 3 in the mid-teen ranged. It was produced by Hanks, the star of "The Polar Express," the studio's bold animation foray from 2004. Its high-pedigreed voice talent includes Julia Roberts and Nicolas Cage.

Directed by "Jimmy Neutron" creator John A. Davis, "The Ant Bully" enters the crowded animated family space sandwiched between Sony Pictures' "Monster House," which bowed last weekend, and Paramount Pictures' "Barnyard," opening next week.

"Bully" has a similar feel to two previous animated films about bugs: Pixar's "A Bug's Life" and DreamWorks Animation's "Antz," both released in 1998. That is a generation ago for the young audiences of animated films, and "Bully" does have a 3-D Imax release going for it as well.

20th Century Fox's "John Tucker Must Die" is on track to open in the low teens. Starring "Desperate Housewives"' hunky gardener Jesse Metcalfe as the three-timing Tucker, the movie is sure to lure teenage girls. The PG-13 was directed by Betty Thomas. Fashioning itself after Paramount's successful "Mean Girls," "Tucker" will get up to that film's gross of $86 million only if it proves smarter than the typical fare aimed at its target demographic.

In limited release, Fox Searchlight opened the Sundance Film Festival hit "Little Miss Sunshine" on seven screens Wednesday. The indie acquired the picture for a record $10.5 million at January's festival, and high hopes are riding on the film starring Greg Kinnear, Steve Carell and Toni Collette. An R-rated road trip comedy about a dysfunctional family, the film is directed by husband-and-wife music video veterans Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris from a script by Michael Arndt.

Focus Features will open Woody Allen's "Scoop" in 537 theaters. Starring Allen's latest muse, Scarlett Johansson, and Hugh Jackman, "Scoop" centers on a journalism student who receives the scoop of a lifetime. Allen co-stars as his neurotic self. The film hopes to reach the levels of Allen's previous hit, "Match Point," which grossed $23 million. Reviewers haven't been as kind to Allen's latest release, though, which is likely to hamper the film's draw.

Dixie Chicks documentary to hatch at Toronto fest

TORONTO (Hollywood Reporter) - A documentary about the firestorm that greeted the Dixie Chicks' anti-Bush comments will make its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, organizers said Thursday.

"Dixie Chicks -- Shut Up and Sing," from Oscar-winning director Barbara Kopple ("Harlan County," "American Dream") and Cecilia Peck, will receive a high-profile gala screening.

It documents the fury faced by the country music trio after singer Natalie Maines made an off-the-cuff comment about President Bush during a London concert three years ago.

Other world premieres in Toronto's Real to Reel documentary sidebar include U.S. filmmaker A.J. Schnack's "Kurt Cobain About a Son" and French filmmaker Jerome Laperrousaz's "Made in Jamaica," a portrait of Jamaican reggae and dancehall artists struggling to the top.

Toronto also has booked a North American premiere for U.S. documentary "The U.S. vs. John Lennon," David Leaf and John Scheinfeld's archival portrait of the Beatles star's move from musician to war activist. Paul Rachman's "American Hardcore," a look at the 1980s hard-core punk music scene, will receive a Canadian premiere.

Also receiving world premieres as part of Real to Reel are Asger Leth's "Ghosts of Cite Soleil," about Haitian slum gang leaders, and Macky Alston's "The Killer Within," a portrait of a respected psychology professor who attempted a murderous shooting spree in his college dorm many years prior.

"It was stunning to find a Columbine-type story that happened 50 years before Columbine. It felt like an unearthing project," Alston said. The documentary is told from the perspective of the aging professor's daughter, who must cope with her newfound knowledge about her father's past.

Other world premieres for Toronto include British filmmaker Lucy Walker's "Blindsight," a film about a blind Mount Everest climber; directors Petra Epperlein and Michael Tucker's "The Prisoner or How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair," and "Shame," Mohammed Naqvi's portrait of a Pakistani woman who dares to break her silence after being gang-raped during a village dispute.

Other documentaries bound for Toronto include:

= "Lake of Fire" from Tony Kaye;

= Italian director Davide Ferrario's "Primo Levi's Journey";

= Japanese director Takayuki Nakamura's geisha girl portrait "Yokohama Mary";

= "Sari's Mother," a world premiere about an Iraqi mother searching hospitals for her HIV-positive son, from U.S. director James Longley.

= Camila Guzman Urzua's "The Sugar Curtain";

= Dutch filmmaker Alexander Oey's "My Life as a Terrorist: The Story of Hans-Joachim Klein";;

= French director Namir Abdel Messeeh's "Toi, Waguih";

= Vincenzo Marra's "The Session Is Open";

= Jeff Garlin's "This Filthy World," about John Waters' one-man show.

= British director Liz Mermin's "Office Tigers";

= Bradley Beesley and Sarah Price's "Summercamp!";

= Sophie Fiennes' "The Pervert's Guide to Cinema";

= Nader Takmil Homayoun's "L' Iran: Une Revolution Cinematographique."

The Toronto International Film Festival, which runs September 7-16, will make additional announcements in the coming weeks.

"X-Men" DVD set for October 3 release

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The year's second-biggest movie is going to kick off the fourth-quarter DVD-selling season.

20th Century Fox is expected to announce Friday that "X-Men: The Last Stand," which grossed $233 million at the box office, will arrive on DVD on October 3 in two extras-laden editions.

The highlight of the third "X-Men" movie's DVD debut: three alternative endings, each with optional commentary by director Brett Ratner. The single-disc DVD release also includes 10 deleted scenes; audio commentaries from Ratner, the writers and the producers; a preview of the upcoming Ben Stiller movie "A Night at the Museum;" and two hidden "Easter eggs," one of the Beast reciting Shakespeare and the other of the X-Jet landing in Washington.

Fox also is preparing a collector's edition that includes an exclusive 100-page commemorative book with an all-new story penned by Marvel Comics master Stan Lee. It is his first original Marvel Comics book in five years.

In addition, Fox is packaging all three "X-Men" movies into a trilogy pack.

Paramount has already slotted "Over the Hedge" (box office: $151.7 million, No. 7 for the year) for October 17, while Fox has snagged the lucrative pre-Thanksgiving date of November 21 for "Ice Age: The Meltdown" ($194.9 million, No. 5).

Of the year's seven other top 10 theatrical releases, "Mission: Impossible III" ($133.5 million, No. 8), "Click" ($129.4 million, No. 9) and "The Break-Up" ($117.1 million, No. 10) are likely contenders for October, sources said.

"Superman Returns" ($180.2 million, No. 6) is a good bet for November, sources said, as are "The Da Vinci Code" ($215.9 million, No. 4) and "Cars" ($230.8 million, No. 3).

The wild card: "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," the year's box office champ with theatrical earnings of $330.4 million -- and counting. While observers predict a December DVD release date, as was the case for "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" in 2003, they said nothing is certain, particularly if the film's box office momentum continues.

Scarlett Johansson denies divalike demands

LONDON - Scarlett Johansson has denied claims that divalike demands cost her the lead role in a big-budget revival of "The Sound of Music," a spokesman for the actress said Thursday.

Johansson, 21, had been targeted to play Maria von Trapp in Andrew Lloyd Webber's production of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, set to open in London's West End in November.

"Her people were not `pro' the idea. It became clear that it wasn't going to work because the demands were so ridiculous," Lloyd Webber was quoted as saying in The Times newspaper.

He said Johansson's representatives "couldn't understand why she would want to appear in the West End for $18,500 a week when she could be earning $10 million for a movie."

"It was annoying because she really wanted to do it," Lloyd Webber was quoted as saying.

Publicist Marcel Parisbeau said it was a busy work schedule and not pay demands that sank the actress' chance to play the role made famous by Julie Andrews in the 1965 film version of the musical.

"It is true that there were some discussions regarding Scarlett and the production of `The Sound of Music.' But Mr. Webber's statement regarding the demands is extremely exaggerated," Parisbeau said in a statement. "Her management team was simply asking for terms that an actress of her stature would ask for."

Lloyd Webber said he was also told that Johansson would need two assistants stationed backstage at all times, according to the report.

The role of Maria will now be played by an actress to be chosen from a new British Broadcasting Corp. reality TV show. The Aug. 15 finale of "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria" will award a six-month contract to one of 10 finalists.

Johannson stars in Woody Allen's new movie, "Scoop," set to open Friday. Her screen credits also include roles in "Lost in Translation" and "Girl With a Pearl Earring."

Beasties working on 'hot' new album

TORONTO – The Beastie Boys are in the midst of writing and recording material for their next album.

The trio confirmed they've begun work on the yet-to-be-titled disc.

Adam Yauch (a.k.a. MCA) said the band's follow-up to 2004's "To The 5 Boroughs" will most likely be another self-produced effort.

Pressed for details, Adam Horowitz (a.k.a. Ad-Rock) promised the new set of songs will be the Beasties' "best ever."

"Wait 'til you hear the new shit that we’re working on. The shit is hot."

Refusing to say when the disc might reach stores, Michael Diamond (a.k.a. Mike D) said the band is in the "messing around" stage.

After its premiere earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival, the Beasties were in Toronto earlier today to promote the DVD release of their first-ever concert film – "Awesome; I Fu**in' Shot That!"

Recorded at Madison Square Garden during 2004's Challah At Your Boy world tour, the feature-length picture captures the Beasties' entire live performance using footage shot by fans on 50 different cameras.

Saying that the unconventional move was prompted by their desire to "do something different," the film was one of the most critically praised in the days following its January debut.

Metallica Caves, Joins iTunes

They may have been dragged kicking and screaming, but Metallica has finally joined the digital revolution.

After famously decrying online downloading as the death of the album format, and filing a few lawsuits in the process, the head-banging quartet has finally acquiesced to Apple and made available their back catalog on the iTunes Music Store Tuesday.

"From the 'It's about f---ing time!' file, comes this...," the group said on its Website Monday.

"Over the last year or so, we have seen an ever-growing number of Metallica fans using online sites like iTunes to get their music. So, in continuing with the tradition of offering our albums for sale online (which we've been doing for a few years through various sites), as well as making our live concerts available for download in their entirety (through the livemetallica.com site), we are now offering fans the opportunity to obtain our songs individually."

Metallica had previously made available their music for downloading on Yahoo! Music, MSN Music and Rhapsody, but the iTunes collaboration marks the first time listeners can purchase a single song rather than an entire album.

As of Tuesday, each of the band's 10 albums were available for download, along with a handful of previously unreleased live songs, included as bonus tracks on Metallica's first four discs, Kill 'Em All, Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets and ...And Justice for All.

"We chose these four because, unlike the more recent releases, we were only capable of writing 8-9 songs for each of these albums!" the band said.

The iTunes deal marks a significant turning point for the foursome of James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett, Lars Ulrich and Robert Trujillo, who had became the poster boys for the luddite music industry during the Napster wars.

The thrashers waged a high profile and vicious legal battle against the file-swapping service in 2000, blaming the network for "hijacking" their music. In a particularly fan-unfriendly move, Ulrich even went so far as to hand deliver a list of names of roughly 30,000 Napster users to a Redwood City, California, court house.

In 2003, when the iTunes Music Store launched, the group declared it would not allow Apple to hawk its tunes, saying it would "contribute to the demise of the album format."

As it is, Metallica's entire catalog was available for download Tuesday morning on iTunes' U.S. and Canada editions only.

"This is unfortunately due to the fact that our record company overseas doesn't seem to want to play ball with us on this at the moment," the band posted online. "Enjoy iMetallica!"

Although Metallica is finally on board, iTunes still has some major holdouts.

The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Radiohead and Garth Brooks are the biggest artists refusing to partner with the download service. And with the Beatles' recent loss to Apple in a trademark infringement cases, it's unlikely the Fab Four will strike a deal anytime soon.

James Bond's License to Rock

There may be lingering doubts about the viability of 007's latest alter ego, but regardless of what sort of James Bond Daniel Craig turns out to be, one thing's for sure: The movie's gonna rock.

Audioslave frontman and former Soundgarden mastermind Chris Cornell has been tapped to write and perform the theme song for the spy franchise's upcoming 21st installment, Casino Royale.

"You Know My Name," which, by virtue of its title alone practically begs the refrain "Bond, James Bond," was written in collaboration with the longtime 007 music man, composer David Arnold.

"I've always loved Chris' work, both as a writer and as an artist, and had hoped someday to find the right film to inspire him," Lia Vollack, president of worldwide music for Columbia Entertainment, the studio behind the film, said in a statement.

"His work is both soulful and tough. It was the perfect complement to Daniel Craig and Casino Royale."

Cornell hopes his tune enters the pantheon of great Bond themes, which includes Paul McCartney & Wings' "Live and Let Die," the first Bond theme to crack the Top 10, and classic songs by Carly Simon (whose "Nobody Does It Better" from The Spy Who Loved Me has since become a nightclub staple), Shirley Bassey ("Goldfinger," "Diamonds Are Forever," "Moonraker") and Tom Jones ("Thunderball"), all from the 1970s-era 007 films.

Aside from Duran Duran's "A View to a Kill," the 1980s were less kind to Bond, saddling him with a string of clunky themes, bottoming out with a-Ha's inexplicable "The Living Daylights."

There was a turnaround in the '90s, with Tina Turner ("GoldenEye"), Sheryl Crow ("Tomorrow Never Dies"), Garbage ("The World Is Not Enough") handling the chores.

The most recent outing, 2002's Die Another Day, featured Madonna singing the techno-infused title track.

Casino Royale is based on the first 007 novel from Ian Fleming and follows Bond's early years. The film centers on a game of high-stakes poker (is there any other kind?) between Bond and terrorist banker Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen) at the Casino Royale. French beauty Eva Green stars as the requisite Bond babe.

The film is slated for worldwide release Nov. 16.

Lance Bass of 'N Sync reveals he's gay

NEW YORK - Lance Bass, band member of 'N Sync, says he's gay and in a "very stable" relationship with a reality show star. Bass, who formed 'N Sync with Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, Joey Fatone and Chris Kirkpatrick, tells People magazine that he didn't earlier disclose his sexuality because he didn't want to affect the group's popularity.

"I knew that I was in this popular band and I had four other guys' careers in my hand, and I knew that if I ever acted on it or even said (that I was gay), it would overpower everything," he tells the magazine.

'N Sync is known for a string of hits including "Bye Bye Bye" and "It's Gonna Be Me." The band went on hiatus in 2002. Bass has also found headlines for undertaking astronaut training and failing to raise money for a trip into space.

Bass says he wondered if his coming out could prompt "the end of 'N Sync." He explains, "So I had that weight on me of like, `Wow, if I ever let anyone know, it's bad.' So I just never did."

The singer says he's in a "very stable" relationship with 32-year-old actor Reichen Lehmkuhl, winner of season four of CBS' "Amazing Race."

Bass and Fatone, 29, are developing a sitcom pilot inspired by the screwball comedy "The Odd Couple," in which his character will be gay.

"The thing is, I'm not ashamed — that's the one thing I went to say," Bass says. "I don't think it's wrong, I'm not devastated going through this. I'm more liberated and happy than I've been my whole life. I'm just happy."

"Hedge" set for October 17 video release

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The barnyard cartoon "Over the Hedge" is set for DVD release on October 17.

The DreamWorks Animation video will be released by Paramount Home Entertainment, whose Viacom Inc. parent bought DreamWorks on February 1.

"Hedge," with a $151.7 million domestic gross, is the year's No. 7 movie. The DVD will come with a "hibernating content" feature that will allow consumers to unlock additional bonus materials, already loaded onto the disc, after November 28 by accessing a Web site and typing in a code.

Out of the box, the DVD will come with an all-new, four-minute minimovie. "Hammy's Boomerang Adventure" brings back all of the film's characters and voice talent for a parody of reality television.

The DVD also includes "Behind the Hedge," a look at the real-life animals that inspired the film's critters; filmmaker commentaries; a mock "infomercial" spoofing the career opportunities of pest control; a "making-of" documentary; cast interviews; and a virtual drawing lesson by a DreamWorks animator on how to sketch Hammy.

While most of the major spring and summer theatricals likely will be released on video before Christmas, only one other big title has a firm date: Fox's "Ice Age: The Meltdown" on November 21.

Fraggle Rock Season 2 on track for September release

The second season release from HIT Entertainment will include twenty-four episodes, cast and crew interviews and the original Fraggle Rock pitch book by Jim Henson with designs by Michael Frith.

Get ready to laugh your cares away, Fraggle fans. Straight from the mouths of HIT Entertainment representatives, the Fraggle Rock Season 2 DVD box Set is going to hit the shelves September 5th as was announced in January.

Selling at $49.98 and sporting a feature running time of 680 minutes total, the collection comes with a replica the original pitch book by Jim Henson and illustrated by Michael K. Frith, measuring 4.5” wide by 6.5” high. More organized than the notepad scribblings reproduced for the Season 1 set, the pitch book illustrates a more finely formed world of the Fraggles, yet one still not quite fully-evolved.

The DVD special features include a whole new round of exclusive interviews with the following participants: producer Lawrence S. Mirkin; writers Sugith Varughese, David Young, Robert Sandler, David Young and Susan Juhl; performers Karen Prell, Steve Whitmire, Dave Goelz, and Jerry Nelson; creative consultants Duncan Kenworthy and Jocelyn Stevenson; and composer Phil Balsam. A special tribute to the late Jerry Juhl will also be included.

Karen Prell, performer of Red Fraggle, reflects on a particular episode from Season 2. "In 'A Cave of One's Own,' Mokey and Red become roomates, which leads to my favorite love-hate relationship of the whole series, Red vs Lanford, Mokey's cranky plant."

"Red and Lanford may have hated each other, but Lanford's puppeteer, Rob Mills, and I had an absolute blast playing off each other and coming up with violent ways for the characters to attack each other. Rob was also the body performer for Junior Gorg in the first three seasons. He got the job performing Lanford because he had an arm long enough to reach from a hole in the cave wall WAY out to where Lanford's head had to be. Good thing - he was the perfect performer for the job!"

The episodes found on the DVD collection are as follows:

Wembley’s Egg
Boober Rock
The Trash Heap Doesn’t Live Here Anymore
Red’s Sea Monster
Uncle Matt Comes Home
Boober’s Dream
Mokey and the Minstrels
All Work and All Play
Sir Hubris and the Gorgs
A Friend in Need
The Wizard of Fraggle Rock
The Doozer Contest
Red’s Club
The Secret of Convincing John
Manny’s Land of Carpets
Junior Sells the Farm
Fraggle Wars
The Day the Music Died
Doomsday Soup
A Cave of One’s Own
Wembly and the Great Race
Doozer Is As Doozer Does
Boober’s Quiet Day
The Invasion of the Toe Ticklers

Bugs Bunny/Looney Tunes Comedy Hour, The - More Gold coming this November

In this 4-disc set are 60 more of the most looneytic Looney Tunes cartoons ever conceived! Each disc is devoted to a theme or character that features fan favorites plus some rarities.

Disc 1 showcases the long-eared star extraordin-hare with 15 Bugs Bunny cartoons, including 1958's Oscar-winning Best Cartoon Short Subject Knighty Knight Bugs.

Disc 2 (Porky Pig) celebrates animation legend Frank Tashlin, who brought a filmmaker's eye for angles, editing and style to his creations.

Disc 3 zips along pronto with fast-acting Speedy Gonzales and includes Tabasco Road, Mexicali Shmoes and Pied Piper of Guadalupe, all of which were nominated for Academy Awards. And cats may have 9 lives but they also have 15 cartoons in Disc 4's batch of feline follies. The fur's gonna fly.

The 4 disc set will include 60 classic shorts, fully remastered and uncut. Special features will include documentaries, "Behind the Tunes" featurettes, commentaries, music only tracks, selections from the vault and other rare shorts. The set will cost $64.92 when it's released on November 14.

Warner Bros will also release the "Spotlight Collection Volume 4" on the same day. This 2 disc set will contain 28 classic cartoons and carries a $26.99 suggested retail price.

November 14 will also see the release of "Bah Humduck," a new take on an old classic:

In a hilarious take on the holiday classic, "A Christmas Carol," "A Looney Tunes Christmas" follows the exploits of Daffy Duck, the "Scrooge-like" proprietor of the "Lucky Duck" mega-mart. To take financial advantage of last minute shoppers, Daffy demands that his employees, including his long suffering manager, Porky Pig, work on Christmas Day instead of spending the holiday with their families. Its up to Bugs Bunny and the ghosts of Christmas past (Tweety and Granny), present (Yosemite Sam) and future (Taz) to make sure that Daffy realizes the error of his ways and saves Christmas for the Looney Tunes gang.

Buena Vista Home Entertainment is bringing extended version of Narnia to DVD

An Extended Edition of The Chronicles Of Narnia is in production as a 4-disc DVD set that is slated for release this winter from Buena Vista Home Entertainment.

The set will be available for only a very limited time.

A way too long journey of imagination and one of Walt Disney Pictures’ most successful live-action films of all time, Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media present “The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe” the spectacular live-action/CGI motion picture adaptation of C.S. Lewis’s beloved literary classic.

In World War II England the four Pevensie siblings -- Lucy, Edmund, Susan and Peter -- enter the world of Narnia through a magical wardrobe while playing a game of ‘hide-and-seek’ in the rural country home of an elderly professor.

Once there, the children discover a charming, peaceful land inhabited by talking beasts, dwarfs, fauns, centaurs and giants that has become a world cursed to eternal winter by the evil White Witch, Jadis. Aided by the wise and magnificent ruler, the lion Aslan, the children fight to overcome the White Witch’s powerful hold over Narnia in a spectacular, climactic battle that will free Narnia from Jadis’ glacial powers forever.

Disc 1 of the set will contain the extended version of the film with enhanced special effects and extended battle scene. Also included on this disc is a Commentary Track featuring Director Andrew Adamson, Production Designer Roger Ford, and Producer Mark Johnson. A Second Commentary Track will feature the delightful child stars Georgie Henley (Lucy), Skandar Keynes (Edmund), Anna Popplewell (Susan) and William Moseley (Peter) that was recorded when they had just screened the film for the first time. The result is a fresh, witty and lively commentary track, joined by director Andrew Adamson.
Narnia Fun Facts and Bloopers Of Narnia are also included on this disc.

Disc 2 of the set contains Creating Narnia, a multipart documentary covering various aspects of the movie’s production, such as the director’s personal diary, a behind-the-scenes tour by the child stars from the film, which includes wonderful moments when the children get a first look at the amazing ‘Narnia’ sets.

Evolution Of An Epic is another multi-part documentary included here, that covers topics such as “Anatomy Of The Scene: The Melting River,” “Cinematic Storytellers,” “C.S. Lewis: From One Man's Mind,” and “Creating Creatures.”
Creatures, Lands & Legends is another multi-part documentary that will cover subjects, such as “Creatures Of The World,” “Explore Narnia (3d Map),” “Legends In Time,” and “C.S. Lewis – The Dreamer Of Narnia.”

The third disc of the DVD set will contain an all-new feature length film while the fourth disc contains various additional segments, such as Visualizing The Lion, The witch And The WardrobeAnatomy of a Scene: Behind The Battle,” giving viewers a look at a crucial battle scene from the film. From pre-visualization computer images to storyboards, here is the exciting process of creating one of the key scenes in the film.

And lastly, the disc will contain an extensive Image Gallery filled with stunning imagery, a special museum full of superb images from the film, practically.

This 4-disc Extended Edition of “The Chronicles Of Narnia” will be in stores on December 12 and will be available for only seven weeks, making it the perfect Holiday gift. It will carry a $42.99 suggested retail price. For $79.99 you can also purchase a Gift Set of the release, which also includes a pair of heirloom-quality bookends from the master creative artists at WETA Ltd.

New Releases, July 18: Sammy Hagar, Tom Petty, Michael Franti, New York Dolls

Sammy Hagar "Livin' It Up!"

The Red Rocker is set to release his fifth set of all-new material since he first split from Van Halen in 1996. The first single from the album--which features Hagar's current band, The Wabos--is "Sam I Am."

The album title and Hagar's current tour share the same name--"Livin' It Up." For these shows, the vocalist/guitarist will lead The Wabos through an opening set that consists of both his recent solo material and classic hits, stretching back to his '70s-era days fronting Montrose. In the second set, Hagar will take the stage with Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony, Wabos-drummer David Lauser and guitarist Vic Johnson--a quartet dubbed The Other Half--to perform Van Halen numbers.

* * *
Tom Petty "Highway Companion"

The celebration of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' 30th anniversary continues with the release of this highly anticipated new CD. Ironically, the new record is not a band effort--it's Petty's third solo collection.

The singer/songwriter/guitarist did call on some old pals to help him with the disc; Jeff Lynne--who was Petty's mate in the Traveling Wilburys--produced the set with help from Heartbreaker guitarist Mike Campbell. The album's first single is "Saving Grace," which was world-premiered last month in front of 20-million people on ABC-TV's NBA Finals.

Petty is supporting "Highway Companion" with a lengthy, multi-leg tour--which, the singer told Rolling Stone magazine, could be his last. The next leg of the trek starts with three dates in Washington. Such artists as Trey Anastasio, John Mayer, Frank Black and The Strokes are pulling opening duties.

* * *
Michael Franti and Spearhead "Yell Fire!"

Like most everyone else in the United States, Franti got his first dose of information about the troubles in Baghdad, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip by watching TV news. Back in 2004, however, the guitarist/vocalist decided he wanted more and embarked with a team to visit those spots.

From those journeys, Franti created the documentary "I Know I'm Not Alone" and a reflective batch of original songs entitled "Yell Fire!" (The documentary will also be released on DVD July 25.) These new songs, which Franti has been road-testing in concert for several months, mix folk, jam-rock, reggae and hip-hop styles.

Michael Franti and Spearhead are currently scheduled to make a handful of North American appearances in support of the album. Notably, the band will perform as part of Northern California's huge Reggae on the River festival on Aug. 6.

* * *
The New York Dolls "One Day It Will Please Us to Remember Even This"

The New York Dolls, inarguably one of the most influential American rock bands of all time, are set to release their first collection of new tunes since 1974's "Too Much Too Soon."

The 13-track disc features surviving founders David Johansen (vocals) and Sylvain Sylvain (guitar), as well as guitarist Steve Conti, drummer Brian Delaney, bassist Sami Yaffa and pianist Brian Koonin. The CD also features guest appearances by Iggy Pop and Michael Stipe.

* * *
Raul Malo "You're Only Lonely"

Malo, the vocalist for the highly acclaimed country-roots-rock band The Mavericks, returns with a follow-up to 2004's "The Nashville Acoustic Sessions." The album features a diverse array of cover material, including the Everly Brothers' "So Sad" and The Bee Gees' "Run to Me." Malo also duets with country vocalist Martina McBride on the album's closing track, "Feels Like Home."

* * *
Flogging Molly "Whiskey on a Sunday"

This live package, which includes a 10-song CD as well as a DVD, captures the L.A.-based Irish-punk darlings during a sold-out hometown gig at the Wiltern Theater. Always a raucously entertaining live band, Flogging Molly performed such fan favorites as "Black Friday Rule" and "Drunken Lullabies" at this show.

* * *
Various Artists "Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man"

This soundtrack to the Lian Lunson-directed "Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man" film, which hit theaters on July 14, features several notable singers covering the great songwriter's tunes. Artists include Martha Wainwright, Nick Cave, Teddy Thompson, Rufus Wainwright and Beth Orton.

* * *
More new releases:
Randall Bramblett, "Rich Someday" (New West)
Edie Brickell & New Bohemians, "Stranger Things" (Fantasy)
Boy Kill Boy, "Civilian" (Island)
Gaelic Storm, "Bring Yer Wellies" (Megaforce)
Bruce Hornsby, "Intersections 1985-2005" (RCA)
Jurassic 5, "Feedback" (Interscope)
LeToya, "LeToya" (Capitol)
Toby Lightman, "Bird on a Wire" (Lava)
Midlake, "The Trials of Van Occupanther" (Bella Union)
Pharrell, "In My Mind" (Star Trak/Interscope)
Pimp C, "Pimpalation" (Rap-a-Lot)
Puffy AmiYumi, "Splurge" (Tofu)
The Rippingtons, "20th Anniversary Celebration" (Peak)
Linda Ronstadt and Ann Savoy, "Adieu False Heart" (Vanguard)
Silversun Pickups, "Carnavas" (Dangerbird)
Vienna Teng, "Dreaming Through the Noise" (Zoe)
Ali Farka Toure, "Savane" (Nonesuch)
Various Artists, "Buzz Ballads" (Razor & Tie)

Soundtracks and scores:
"Miami Vice" (Atlantic)

"Fletch" lives as "Scrubs" duo eye comedy revival

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - The creator of "Scrubs" is writing and directing a prequel to the '80s feature franchise "Fletch," and if he has his way, the show's star Zach Braff will take over Chevy Chase's title role.

The Weinstein Co. has signed Bill Lawrence to adapt Gregory Mcdonald's 1985 comic-mystery novel "Fletch Won," which follows the irreverent detective from his early days as a ne'er-do-well junior newspaper reporter to his partnership with a crime reporter to solve a murder.

Mcdonald's best-sellers were brought to the screen in 1985's "Fletch" and 1989's "Fletch Lives."

"Zach is perfect for the role," Lawrence said in an interview from his Los Angeles office, where Braff sat laughing in the background. "I'm going to use all my pull trying to make him do it."

Filming is expected to start in April once the current season of "Scrubs" completes filming. No cast members have been signed yet.

Braff helped bring Lawrence on board by suggesting his boss to Weinstein principal Harvey Weinstein, leading to talks between the pair over the past six months.

"Zach knows I can recite the original 'Fletch' movie line for line," said Lawrence, who also has read all of Mcdonald's "Fletch" novels.

The director is well aware of the cult surrounding the books and films, which seems to weigh heavily on him. "My closest friends from high school don't care about my career," he said. "This is the only job I've ever gotten where every one of them said, 'Congratulations,' and then said, 'Don't f--- it up."'

Lawrence plans to make his "Fletch" with a bit more edge. "There were definitely broader, sketchier parts in the earlier films," he said. "I'd compare this one more to 'Beverly Hills Cop,' where there was a sense of real jeopardy. Like 'Batman Begins,' I (also) think people will enjoy seeing how Irwin Fletcher became Fletch."

"Fletch" lives as "Scrubs" duo eye comedy revival

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - The creator of "Scrubs" is writing and directing a prequel to the '80s feature franchise "Fletch," and if he has his way, the show's star Zach Braff will take over Chevy Chase's title role.

The Weinstein Co. has signed Bill Lawrence to adapt Gregory Mcdonald's 1985 comic-mystery novel "Fletch Won," which follows the irreverent detective from his early days as a ne'er-do-well junior newspaper reporter to his partnership with a crime reporter to solve a murder.

Mcdonald's best-sellers were brought to the screen in 1985's "Fletch" and 1989's "Fletch Lives."

"Zach is perfect for the role," Lawrence said in an interview from his Los Angeles office, where Braff sat laughing in the background. "I'm going to use all my pull trying to make him do it."

Filming is expected to start in April once the current season of "Scrubs" completes filming. No cast members have been signed yet.

Braff helped bring Lawrence on board by suggesting his boss to Weinstein principal Harvey Weinstein, leading to talks between the pair over the past six months.

"Zach knows I can recite the original 'Fletch' movie line for line," said Lawrence, who also has read all of Mcdonald's "Fletch" novels.

The director is well aware of the cult surrounding the books and films, which seems to weigh heavily on him. "My closest friends from high school don't care about my career," he said. "This is the only job I've ever gotten where every one of them said, 'Congratulations,' and then said, 'Don't f--- it up."'

Lawrence plans to make his "Fletch" with a bit more edge. "There were definitely broader, sketchier parts in the earlier films," he said. "I'd compare this one more to 'Beverly Hills Cop,' where there was a sense of real jeopardy. Like 'Batman Begins,' I (also) think people will enjoy seeing how Irwin Fletcher became Fletch."

"Lost" Lands New Star, Reveals Numbers

Lost has added another bad guy to the island mix. Or, actually, he could be a good guy. Really, the odds are 50-50 either way.

Rodrigo Santoro, the South American import dubbed by press as the "Brazilian Tom Cruise"--a reference to his heartthrob status only and not to any off-screen antics--is joining the cast of the Emmy-snubbed drama next season.

It's unknown whether Santoro, who acted as theatrical eye candy opposite Laura Linney in Love, Actually and Demi Moore in Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, will be a regular addition to the cast or simply a recurring character, though neither would be a guarantee of his character's longevity.

Show producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof remained characteristically mum on the details of the 30-year-old actor's role, confirming the casting to TVGuide.com, but refusing to divulge whether Santoro's alter ego will be an Other, part of a character's flashback or a member of the off-island world.

"We don't really want to be at all specific about what we're doing with the character or what he's going to play," Cuse told TVGuide.com. "Part of the surprise and the enjoyment of watching the show is sort of getting a chance to meet a new character and see how his role is going to unfold in relation to the rest of the cast."

Still, says Cuse, Santoro, who is so critically lauded in his native country that "Brazilian Tom Hanks" may be a more accurate nickname, will play against the expectation of his character, at least in terms of his pinup-worthy looks.

"The ladies like it when he takes his shirt off--not to say he'll be competing with Sawyer in that category," Lindelof told the Website. "On Lost, what you see is never what you get."

Despite his more than established career abroad, Lindelof said Santoro's relative anonymity Stateside made him an ideal match for the show.

While the producers clammed up about the show's new character, they did shed some light on what's coming up for some of the old ones.

The writer-producers spoke about the upcoming third season at San Diego's Comic-Con Saturday.

Cuse said the run-up to the season's first hiatus--the show takes a 13-week break after the airing of its first six episodes--"will look a little like a miniseries." Lindelof added, "Something happens midway through the year that will fry everybody's brain."

The Lost masterminds also said that they'll be amping up the adventure elements of the show this season and will revisit the off-island world they tapped into with the season finale.

"We're laying the seeds for a whole new element," Cuse said.

As for the characters themselves, Desmond, played by lone Lost Emmy nominee Henry Ian Cusick, will return. Lindelof also promises that the two-seasons-strong love triangle among Kate ( Evangeline Lilly), Jack ( Matthew Fox) and Sawyer ( Josh Holloway) will have a resolution.

"Within the first six episodes, she'll be officially making her selection," he said.

Meanwhile, fans of Hurley ( Jorge Garcia) will be happy to know that the lovelorn island dweller will be getting some extra face time, albeit on the very small screen.

Producers will be rolling out 13 two-minute mobisodes--i.e., mobile phone episodes--through Verizon this fall titled The Lost Diaries. The series will focus on Hurley as he finds a video camera--that Dharma Initiative really did think of everything--and chronicles different events on the island.

"It has been hard to get it off the ground because we don't want them to be...lame," Lindelof said.

It's proving to be a banner week for Lost fans. As if details of the new season spilling out weren't enough, one of the show's most-hyped mysteries will soon be solved.

The Lost Experience, the online interactive game launched last spring to give fans clues to the island, will spill the meaning behind Hurley's lottery numbers--4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42--which are prevalent throughout the show. Their importance will be revealed to gamers who complete the third phase of the challenge.

The show's third-season premiere, "A Tale of Two Cities," airs Oct. 4.

Oasis to release hits compilation

Manchester bad boys Oasis are set to release a greatest hits compilation "Stop the Clocks" on November 20, NME reports.

The 18-track double album will be culled from their album and single releases.

"Unlike most albums of this nature, Oasis have sat down and undertaken the almost impossible job of picking what they consider to be their finest moments ever," the band said in a statement.

Some of the tracks will include "Supersonic," "Wonderwall," "The Importance of Being Idle" and the popular B-sides "Acquiesce" and "Half a World Away."

One new track, "Stop the Clocks," a leftover from 2005's "Don't Believe the Truth" recording sessions, is expected to be included as well.

The rest of the songs have yet to be revealed.

Elizabeth Hurley to star in Jordache ads

NEW YORK - Elizabeth Hurley stars in new print ads for Jordache, the company that became famous during the 1970s designer-label jeans craze.

The ads, shot by Michael Thompson, show the 41-year-old model-actress wearing the Jordache Vintage line, sold in high-end retail stores, and the new Jordache Legacy line, launching exclusively at Macy's stores across the country this fall.

Jordache said the first ad will run in national publications beginning in September and will continue through the holiday season.

In one ad, Hurley is shown with the signature Jordache horse. Another shows her with riding gear.

"With success as an actress, model, businesswoman and mother, Liz represents everything the Jordache brand is about," said Liz Berlinger, president of Jordache Enterprises, in a recent statement. "We chose her because she is the true modern woman."

Brittany Murphy, whose movie credits include "Sin City" and "8 Mile," starred in a series of Jordache jeans print ads last year.

Stones to roll into Halifax, Regina and Vancouver

After weeks of rumours, the Rolling Stones have confirmed that they will play their first-ever concerts in Regina and Halifax this fall as part of their current world tour.

In Halifax, the Stones will perform Sept. 23 at Halifax Common, the large city park where 80,000 people gathered for a visit by Pope John Paul II in 1984.

The veteran British rockers then move on to Taylor Field in Regina, where they will play Oct. 8.

The tour also includes a stop in Vancouver's B.C. Place on Nov. 3.

Speculation in Regina and Halifax about the concerts was finally put to rest Tuesday at a news conference in Germany.

The Stones have played for 4.5 million fans on the A Bigger Bang tour, which has taken them to China, Rio and Australia. Last year, they performed in Moncton for the first time, before a crowd of some 80,000 people at Magnetic Hill.

The tour, which is currently in Europe, was temporarily stalled when guitarist Keith Richards underwent emergency brain surgery after falling from a tree in Fiji earlier this year. Fifteen concerts were cancelled while he recovered, but the tour still took in £79.7 million ($159 million) in the first six months of this year.

The band returns to North America Sept. 20 with a date in Boston and will go on to Chicago, Seattle, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Las Vegas.

Halifax, Regina and Vancouver are the only Canadian dates confirmed so far.

"Most of the shows are going to be on the big stadium stage, with fans in the balconies behind us," said singer Mick Jagger, who turns 63 on Wednesday.

"We're going to play many cities we didn't get to before and also return to some of our favourite places."

Rumours of the Stones coming to Regina and Halifax had been swirling for weeks.

Asked about those rumours Monday, Saskatchewan Premier Lorne Calvert would only say that a Stones concert would be a big deal for his province.

"Never before in the history of the province have we been able to attract the largest show on earth," Calvert said.

"This is the largest show on earth."

Stones rumours were ignited in Halifax earlier this month after a closed-door meeting of city councillors. They voted to spend $100,000 on an outdoor rock concert to be held Sept. 23 by a band that they did not identify.

The money is for extra policing and cleanup of the outdoor concert area in central Halifax. Moncton's Stones concert cost $1.2 million for crowd control and cleanup.

VIP tickets for the shows in Halifax and Regina go on sale Wednesday, while tickets will be available to the general public starting July 31.

Young contemporary artists will open for the Stones, but their names have yet to be announced.

The Couch Potato Report - July 29th, 2006

This week The Couch Potato Report shines the spotlight on some amazing stories, an incredible hulk, the Beastie Boys and a Frenzy.

To paraphrase Gershwin's immortal lyrics; “it’s summertime, and the livin' is easy.”

When it comes to The Couch Potato Report summertime means that the movie studios aren’t releasing their biggest titles of the year because they know most people - including me - aren’t sitting at home watching movies. We are enjoying ourselves outside because it is summertime and the livin' is easy.

But even though studio releases are down, and my time spent outdoors is up, I do still have some reviews for you this week.

The most notable is the 4-DVD box set for the first season of the classic 1980s television series AMAZING STORIES.

This superb anthology show ran from 1985 to 87 and it was produced by Steven Spielberg, who by 1985 had been responsible for the box offices hits JAWS, CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK and E.T. - THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL. Spielberg also came up with many of the show’s story ideas, especially in this first season.

Each week on the show there was a new, separate, very interesting and usually "amazing" story. These stories ran the gamut from hilariously weird to fantastic fantasy to awe inspiring.

And because each week had a separate story - not unlike THE TWILIGHT ZONE - some of the best filmmakers in the business worked on the show. In today’s world filmmakers work on TV all the time, but in the 1980s that was almost unheard of.

Danny DeVito, Clint Eastwood, Martin Scorsese, Robert Zemeckis, Burt Reynolds, Timothy Hutton, Steven Spielberg himself, Harvey Keitel, Kiefer Sutherland, Charlie Sheen, Tim Robbins, Kevin Costner and John Lithgow are just some of the people who helped make AMAZING STORIES a show to look forward every week.

Now, AMAZING STORIES - THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON is available on DVD! It includes all 24 episodes from the series’ 1985-86 season and over twenty minutes of deleted scenes.

Admittedly, not every single episode is actually amazing, and when the show is bad it is truly bad, but for the most part they are AMAZING STORIES.

From the 1985 to 1987 TV series AMAZING STORIES, lets rewind back a bit farther to the 1978 to 82 show that was made out of THE INCREDIBLE HULK comic books.

If you are unfamiliar with Stan Lee’s classic comic book character, well, I am not.

After being accidentally exposed in his laboratory to a massive dosage of gamma radiation, David Banner - as he is called in the TV show - finds out that once angered, he turns into the Incredible Hulk, a huge, powerful seven foot greenish, manlike monster of immense strength and primitive passions.

Don’t get him angry. You wouldn’t like him when he is angry!

The mild mannered Banner can't remember what happens once he becomes The Hulk so he begins traveling around the country in search of a cure for his affliction as well as an escape from a prying reporter.

In THE INCREDIBLE HULK - THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON you get all ten first season episodes, plus the two original feature-length films.

In my mind THE INCREDIBLE HULK was one of the best adaptations of a comic book, but before I sat down to watch this new 4-DVD Box Set it had been years since I had seen the show.

In reality, now that I have watched them again, it remains one of the best. I really enjoyed this set!

If you are familiar with THE INCREDIBLE HULK but you were never a fan of the show, well just don’t tell David Banner. That might get him angry. And wouldn’t like him when he is angry!

No one is angry in the new concert film AWESOME...I SHOT THAT from the Beastie Boys. In fact, everyone on screen seems to be having the time of their lives!

The place is New York’s Madison Square Garden. The date is October 9, 2004.

Prior to the show 50 fans who have seats in various parts of the Gardens are given Hi-8 cameras to shoot the band in concert and they are told that once the show starts they should not turn the camera off.

And they don’t. At one point we even get to witness one fan's bathroom break.

I’ll be the first to admit that the Beastie Boys’ music isn’t for everyone, and neither is this concert film, especially if you don’t like to see footage shot with shaky hands by excited fans.

But if you know who Mike D, Adrock, MCA and Mix Master Mike are then it is for you because the Boys always put on a great show, and the concept is so unique that there are so many things to see, in addition to the group of guys on stage.

The BEASTIE BOYS - AWESOME...I SHOT THAT is one of the most unique concert films of all time, and I highly recommend it, even though I am fully aware that it isn’t for the majority of people who are reading this right now.

But then again, the films of Alfred Hitchcock aren’t for everyone either, and they have done extremely well over the years.

In the early 1970s, after the box office failure of MARNIE, TOPAZ and TORN CURTAIN, Hitchcock decided to go back to London to make his next film.

FRENZY was the director's first film shot in the UK since he left during the 40's and it was a huge success.

In the film a serial killer is raping women and strangling them with ties.

After his ex-wife turns up murdered, the police start to suspect Richard Blaney. Blaney is innocent and he turns to his friend Rusk for help.

As more of Blaney's acquaintances turn up strangled, the pressure turns up on him to find the real killer.

FRENZY is a very interesting murder mystery, even if - at times - it doesn't feel like a Hitchcock movie.

Still, I am happy that this summer’s tribute to ALFRED HITCHCOCK’S FILMS ends on a high note with the very entertaining FRENZY.

In fact, FRENZY also ends this week’s Couch Potato Report!

FRENZY, the BEASTIE BOYS - AWESOME...I SHOT THAT, THE INCREDIBLE HULK - THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON and the superb AMAZING STORIES - THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON are all now available on DVD.

Coming up on August 19th in the next Couch Potato Report

The also superb INSIDE MAN is director Spike Lee’s film about a cop who is trying to talk a bank robber into surrendering, but in the end he might not be a bank robber after all. Denzel Washington, Clive Owen and Jodie Foster star in one of 2006’s best films.

SCARY MOVIE 4 isn’t one of the year’s best films, but if you need a laugh, the latest film in the series will give you at least one or two.

Or you can just watch THE SIMPSONS - THE COMPLETE EIGHTH SEASON and laugh a lot!

I'm Dan Reynish. I'll have more on those, and some other releases, in twenty-one days.

For now, that's this week's COUCH POTATO REPORT.

Enjoy the movies and I'll see you back here next time on The Couch!

Madonna tops MTV's list of groundbreaking videos

The controversial 1989 video for Madonna's hit song Like a Prayer, which drew criticism for its use of burning crosses and use of Catholic imagery, has topped MTV's list of groundbreaking videos.

The U.S.-based youth culture and music network released a list Monday of the Top 10 "videos that broke the rules," compiled in advance of the channel's 25th anniversary celebrations set for August 1.

Madonna beat out her junior pop star collaborator Britney Spears, who placed second for her naughty school girl debut Baby One More Time.

Michael Jackson, the self-proclaimed King of Pop, placed third for his monster-movie video epic Thriller, which was directed by John Landis (director of An American Werewolf in London) and — at a total length of 13 minutes — currently holds the record for the longest music video.

Condemned by Vatican

"Featuring burning crosses, statues crying blood and Madonna seducing a black Jesus, [the Like a Prayer video] even brought condemnation from the Vatican for its use of religious imagery," MTV said, according to Reuters.

The controversial video was directed by Mary Lambert, who also directed the videos for Madonna's Borderline, Like a Virgin, Material Girl and La Isla Bonita.

Two other songs by the headline-grabbing Madonna also made it into the Top 10: the techno-influenced dance track Ray of Light placed fourth, while Vogue, in which Madonna brought the gay subculture dance form to the mainstream, placed fifth.

Considered among MTV's early icons, Madonna has frequently courted controversy with her videos, including for her songs Justify My Love, Erotica and What It Feels Like For a Girl.

Robbie Williams, Spice Girls make list

Others who made the cut include:

- Robbie Williams's Rock DJ, a special effects-laden video in which the Britpop singer begins peeling off his clothing and then continues by tearing off his flesh, muscles and organs.

- The Spice Girls hit Wannabe, which simulates one continuously shot video clip following the manic pop quintet as they cause mischief in a hotel.

The full list is as follows:

1) Madonna, Like a Prayer (1989)
2) Britney Spears, Baby One More Time (1999)
3) Michael Jackson, Thriller (1983)
4) Madonna, Ray of Light (1998)
5) Madonna, Vogue (1988)
6) Michael & Janet Jackson, Scream (1995)
7) Robbie Williams, Rock DJ (2000)
8) Eric Prydz, Call on Me (2004)
9) Jamiroquai, Virtual Insanity (1997)
10) Spice Girls, Wannabe (1996).

More than 10,000 viewers voted in the poll. As part of its anniversary broadcasts on Aug. 1, MTV will air its Top 100 videos as well as a new 20-minute video by British rapper Mike Skinner (also known as The Streets) that is poised to break Jackson's Thriller record for video length.

Will Whedon's "Wonder Woman" Win-Over Fans?

Can writer/director Joss Whedon's Wonder Woman break the female superhero box-office curse?

Comingsoon.net reports after a lengthy search for a good story, producer Joel Silverman has given his approval for Whedon's Wonder script.

"We have a script and we know where we're going," says Silverman. "It's the origin story. It has mythology. Steve Trevor crashes on the island and they go back to Man's World."

While the highly-anticipated role has yet to be cast, Silverman hints, "She'll probably be someone you never saw before, because she's very young, but I think we'll have a good time with it."

Despite the fact that fans rarely show interest in movies about 'super-women,' starting from 1984's Supergirl to more recent sleepers, Catwoman and Elektra, if anyone can pick-up the slack, Whedon can.

Cuthbert Gets 'Sassy'

She used to be "The Girl Next Door," but now Elisha Cuthbert is ready to play a "Sassy Girl."

The beloved "24" co-star, who battled cougars and C. Thomas Howell on the FOX drama, is in final negotiations to take the lead in "My Sassy Girl," a Gold Circle Films remake of a South Korean romantic comedy.

According to Variety, Vic Levin has adapted the screenplay and Yann Samuell will direct.

As one might imagine, the plot revolves around a sassy girl who gets involved with a significantly less sassy small-town boy somewhere in the Midwest.

Production is expected to begin in October.

Cuthbert followed her head-spinning "Girl Next Door" work with a supporting part in "House of Wax." She'll next be seen (at least in a few limited markets) in "The Quiet," followed by already completed turns in "He Was a Quiet Man" and "Captivity."

Latest On "Star Wars" & Indy 4

Lucasfilm's Steve Sansweet appeared at the San Diego Comic-Con and confirmed that the "Star Wars" animated series is now scheduled to premiere in 2008 whilst the live action series will begin sometime before 2010.

"We've been spending the last couple of years building from scratch two new state-of-the-art digital animation companies, one at Skywalker Ranch and one in Singapore. The scripts for the first batch of shows have been completed, and Animation is hard at work on the first episodes" says Sansweet.

The animated series is set late during the Clone Wars after Anakin Skywalker has achieved the rank of Jedi Knight. Anakin, Obi-Wan, Yoda, Count Dooku, Palpatine and General Grievous are expected to appear in the animated show.

He finally added David Koepp's script for Indiana Jones 4 is a couple of months away from finishing with hopes pre-production can begin before early 2007.

Dr. Phil, White Stripes on 'Simpsons'

PASADENA, Calif. - Natalie Portman, Kiefer Sutherland, the White Stripes and Dr. Phil McGraw will be among the guest voices on the upcoming season of "The Simpsons."

Joe Mantegna will reprise his role as Springfield's infamous mob boss Fat Tony when the animated Fox show begins its 18th season Sept. 10. Joe Pantoliano and Michael Imperioli guest-star as Fat Tony's main thugs, the network announced Monday.

The White Stripes voice themselves in the Sept. 17 episode when Bart organizes a benefit concert to repair his arm that was mangled by a tiger Lisa rescued from the local pound.

McGraw, Fran Drescher and comedian Richard Lewis guest-star in a Halloween episode on Nov. 5.

Sutherland voices a hard-nosed colonel when Homer lands in basic training on Nov. 12.

Also paying a visit to Springfield will be authors Tom Wolfe, Gore Vidal, Michael Chabon and Jonathan Franzen.

In May, the Emmy-winning series will air its 400th episode.

Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean names 77 to the Order of Canada

OTTAWA (CP) - Fiddler Natalie MacMaster, retired Maj.-Gen. Lewis MacKenzie, former newspaper columnist Michele Landsberg and sociologist Reginald Bibby are among 77 people named to the Order of Canada.

Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean, named 25 officers and 52 members to the order Monday.

Recipients will accept their insignia at a later ceremony, Jean said in a statement.

The Order of Canada was established in 1967 to recognize outstanding achievement and service in various fields of endeavour. It is Canada's highest honour for lifetime achievement and has three different levels of membership: Companion, Officer and Member.

Named Officers:

Frederick Andermann, Hampstead, Que., health care;

A. Charles Baillie, Toronto, industry-commerce-business;

H. Douglas Barber, Dundas, Ont., industry-commerce-business; Reginald W. Bibby, Lethbridge, Alta., social sciences; Edward Burtynsky, Toronto, arts-visual.

George D.B. Butterfield, Toronto, industry-commerce-business; William (Bill) Comrie, Edmonton, industry-commerce-business; Janet M. Davidson, Vancouver, voluntary service; Bernard M. Dickens, Toronto, law; David Dolphin, Vancouver, science.

B. Brett Finlay, Richmond, B.C., science; Constance R. Glube, Halifax, law; Norman Horrocks, Dartmouth, N.S., heritage; Julius Isaac, Victoria, law; Chantal Juillet, Pointe-Claire, Que., arts-music.

Michele Landsberg, Toronto, communications; William L. Marshall, Inverary, Ont., social sciences; C. David Naylor, Toronto, health care and education; John W. (Jack) Poole, Vancouver, industry-commerce-business; D. Gregory Powell, Calgary, health care.

Vithal Rajan, Hyderabad, India and Montreal, voluntary service; Mary V. Seeman, Toronto, health care; Denis Stairs, Halifax, education; Endel Tulving, Toronto, health care;

Sheila Watt-Cloutier, Iqaluit, Nunavut, social service.

Named Members:

Margaret-Ann Armour, Edmonton, science; Ralph MacKenzie Barford, North York, industry-commerce-business; Gerald K. Barr, Toronto, labour relations; Frederick P. Blackstein, Pembroke, Ont., voluntary service; Esther Braden, Yellowknife, voluntary service.

M. Suzanne Bradshaw, Toronto, arts-music; Susan Butler, Miramichi, N.B., voluntary service; David M. Campbell, Toronto, philanthropy; Brian A. Canfield, Vancouver, industry-commerce-business; Frederick T. Cenaiko, Wakaw, Sask., health care.

Pierre Daloze, Mont St-Hilaire, Que., health care; John Herbert Dirks, Toronto, education;

Clifford H.C. Edwards, Winnipeg, education; Anne Fanning, Edmonton, health care; Bernard Finkelstein, Toronto, arts-music.

Jean-Robert Gauthier, Ottawa, public service; Serge Godin, Montreal, industry-commerce-business; Claude Gosselin, Montreal, arts-visual;

M.A. Grete Hale, Ottawa, voluntary service; Linda Haynes, Toronto, philanthropy.

James Deverell Horsman, Medicine Hat, Alta., public service; James B. Hunter, Sherwood Park, Alta., voluntary service; Rev. Sister Estelle Lacoursiere, Trois-Rivieres, Que., education; Zaheer M. Lakhani, Edmonton, voluntary service; Aldea Landry, Moncton, N.B., industry-commerce-business.

Ann C. Macaulay, Montreal, health care; George F. MacDonald, Cantley, Que., heritage;

Maj.-Gen. (Ret'd) Lewis W. MacKenzie, Bracebridge, Ont., protective service; Natalie MacMaster, Lakefield, Ont., and Troy, N.S., arts-music; Lalita Malhotra, Prince Albert, Sask., health care.

Donald Meeks, Toronto, education; Roy A. Miki, Vancouver, voluntary service and arts-writing; John Neville, Toronto, arts-stage; Cornelius Nutarak, Pond Inlet, Nunavut., heritage; Ron O'Donovan, Winnipeg, voluntary service.

Dennis G. Osmond, Manotick, Ont., health care; Walter Ostrom, Indian Harbour, N.S., arts-visual; Elizabeth Pacey, Halifax, heritage; John (Jack) Pelech, Hamilton, sports; John A. Rae, Montreal, voluntary service; John D. Redfern, Beaconsfield, Que., industry-commerce-business.

Fiona Reid, Toronto, arts-stage; Robert Schad, Woodbridge, Ont., industry-commerce-business; David P. Silcox, Toronto, arts-visual; Janice Gross Stein, Toronto, education; Harvey V. Thommasen, Masset, B.C., health care.

Otto Tucker, St. John's, NL., heritage; Denise Verreault, Les Mechins, Que., industry-commerce-business; Roy H. Vickers, Hazelton, B.C., arts-visual; Sheila Weatherill, Edmonton, health care; Norman J. Whitney, Fredericton, N.B., education; Stanley H. Zlotkin, Toronto, health care.

Space, the final frontier for "Star Trek's" Scotty

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The remains of actor James Doohan, who played the starship Enterprise's chief engineer "Scotty" on "Star Trek," will be blasted into space in October, the company organizing the flight said on Monday.

The actor who inspired the catchphrase "Beam me up, Scotty" -- even though it was never actually uttered on the show -- died a year ago at the age of 85.

On the program, when Capt. James Kirk ventured off the spaceship Enterprise and faced peril, he would demand Scotty "beam" him back up to the safety of the ship.

Houston-based commercial company Space Services originally planned to blast Doohan's remains into space last year but the flight was delayed to allow more tests on the rocket.

Space Services spokeswoman Susan Schonfeld said the new launch date was set for October. Doohan's ashes will be blasted up along with the remains of around 100 other people, including astronaut Gordon Cooper, who first went to space in 1963.

After a short flight the rocket will return to earth with the capsules holding the remains. A second flight in December or January will send a capsule containing Doohan's remains into orbit where it will remain for several years, Schonfeld said.

"Whatever goes up must come down," Schonfeld said, adding that the capsule would eventually drop out of orbit and burn up in the earth's atmosphere.

To mark the flight to his final frontier, Doohan's family will hold a service for fans on the day of the launch to pay tribute to him, and Schonfeld said thousands were expected to turn up, many in costumes from "Star Trek."

"Fan clubs from all over the world, including as far away as Africa, they're ready," Schonfeld said.

The company previously blasted the remains of "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry into space in 1997.

Tarantino hires Russell for slasher film

SAN DIEGO (Hollywood Reporter) - Kurt Russell will star as Stunt Man Mike in Quentin Tarantino's upcoming slasher film "Death Proof," the writer-director said.

"Death Proof" is Tarantino's half of the "Grindhouse" double feature he is shooting with Robert Rodriguez for Dimension Films.

"I've always wanted to work with Kurt Russell," Tarantino said Saturday at the annual Comic-Con International convention in San Diego. "One of the things that was so great about his John Carpenter movies is the fact that there are a lot of serious actors who wouldn't do them. There's a playfulness about him going that way. Snake Plissken (in Carpenter's 'Escape From New York') is one of the most iconic characters in the last 20 years. I think Stunt Man Mike is one of the best characters I've ever written."

Mickey Rourke was originally envisaged for the role.

Tarantino plans to start production on "Death Proof" in four weeks.

Rodriguez showed footage from "Planet Terror," his half of the "Grindhouse" feature, which he hopes to finish filming in Austin in a few days. The purposefully scratched digital footage, featuring Rose McGowan wearing a machine gun leg, earned a standing ovation from the 6,500 fans on hand.

"You guys are really special, you come down here, stand in line, and it's so hot down here," Rodriguez said, "that we wanted to show you something special."

In addition to Russell and McGowan, Tarantino's half of "Grindhouse" also will star Zoe Bell, Rosario Dawson, Vanessa Ferlito, Jordan Ladd, Sydney Tamiia Poitier, Marley Shelton, Tracie Thoms and Mary Elizabeth Winstead. Rodriguez's half of the double-featured film will include Freddy Rodriguez, McGowan, Josh Brolin, Naveen Andrews, Shelton, Michael Biehn, Stacy Ferguson, Jeff Fahey and Michael Parks.

The film is scheduled to be released April 6.

Tarantino also elaborated on his long-rumored pet project in downtown Los Angeles: "I've got the rights to one of the last Chinese-language movie theaters: the Tsing Lee," he said. "I plan on showing Chinese-language films there."

Tarantino also plans to make one "Kill Bill" anime feature prequel about Bill, as well as another about the Bride.

Come Home To Beverly Hills, 90210 This November! ! !

Although the pilot episodes came to DVD two years ago, fans have been clamoring for season sets of this landmark primetime soap opera! Shannen Doherty (Charmed), Jason Priestley (Tru Calling), Luke Perry (Windfall), Gabrielle Carteris (Palmetto Pointe), Tori Spelling (So NoTORIous), Ian Ziering (upcoming Biker Mice From Mars), Brian Austin Green (Freddie), Jennie Garth (What I Like About You), James Eckhouse (upcoming 2006 film Half-Life), Carol Potter, Douglas Emerson and Joe E. Tata star in the initial season of the series, where the action mainly takes place at West Beverly Hills High School with new kids Brandon and Brenda Walsh moving into the upscale neighborhood, and making lots of new friends.

You would think with that zip code, there would be a ton of guest stars in the first season of this show. But really there weren't. But you will be able to spot upcoming Friends star Matthew Perry, singer Debbie Gibson, and even '80s Playboy playmate Julie McCullough among these 22 episodes.

Beverly Hills, 90210 - The Complete 1st Season will be a 6-DVD set that runs 17 hours and 48 minutes. Please stand by for extras (if any) and box art! Melrose Place - The Complete 1st Season has been announced for the same release date of November 7th, and we've heard that the long-awaited Twin Peaks - Season 2 will hit US shores a couple of weeks after that. Stay tuned!

Early Don Messer fiddle sold for $11,750 at Nova Scotia auction

HALIFAX (CP) - A 77-year-old fiddle that was played by Don Messer years before he became a Canadian television icon was sold for $11,750 on Sunday at an auction in Nova Scotia.

The winning bid at the auction in Coldbrook came over the phone from a man in St. Stephen, N.B., who didn't want to be identified.

The bidder was one of a half-dozen people vying for the fiddle, which Messer bought for $105 in 1930, a year after the instrument was built.

"It felt great, it was wonderful," auctioneer Blain Henshaw, who also sold another of Messer's fiddles two years ago, said by phone from Coldbrook.

"When I was a kid, I grew up on Don Messer's music, I respected his music. And twice now, I've had the privilege - and it is a privilege - to sell fiddles that were owned by Don Messer."

Messer played the auctioned-off fiddle in the 1930s on a radio show in Saint John, N.B. Two decades later, he started hosting the hugely popular CBC-TV program Don Messer's Jubilee, which ran from 1958 to 1969 and introduced Canadians to his trademark style that he called "way-down East."

The fiddle that was auctioned Sunday was handed over to the Nova Scotia Archives after Messer died of a heart attack in 1973.

It attracted bids from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Edmonton, and brought in far more than the $7,000 organizers initially predicted.

The starting bid for the fiddle was $2,000, and about five minutes later - a long time as far as auctions go - all but two bidders had bowed out.

A young Nova Scotia man, who was in Coldbrook for the auction but also didn't want to be identified, put in his final bid of $11,500. The fiddle's new owner won after offering $250 more.

Sunday's auction also featured other Messer memorabilia, such as his pocket watch and a native headdress given to him by Alberta's Stoney Nation.

"Don Messer is revered as a fiddler, and the bidders are people that are big fans of his and they appreciate the history of what this man did for Canadian music," said Henshaw.

Messer's daughter, Dawn Messer Attis, decided to sell the fiddle after another of his fiddles sold for $8,000 two years ago. Some of Messer's 14 fiddles have been given to friends, while Attis has kept one of her father's favourites.

"His daughter agreed that this was a good time for some of his items to come back to his fans to enjoy some things of his," said Henshaw.

Before the fiddle was sold, Nova Scotia fiddler Keith Ross gave the 400 people who packed the auction house a demonstration, playing some of Messer's songs on one of his first instruments.

"I've been playing fiddle along time, and he's one of my fiddling heroes," said Ross, who also played the fiddle that was sold two years ago. "He was a very, very talented musician, and he invented a new style of playing."

Ross said he actually preferred playing the first fiddle that was sold, but added that the instrument auctioned over the weekend still has promise - if its new owner decides to try it out.

"It's been 30 years or more since it's been played, so it's going to take some playing to bring it back to where it was."

It's not clear when the winning bidder will pick up the fiddle. Until that happens, it will stay at Henshaw's home in Cole Harbour, N.S.

Fans get first look at 'Spider-Man 3'

SAN DIEGO - "Spider-Man 3" isn't due until next summer, but about 5,000 fans got an early look at the film Saturday at Comic-Con, the country's largest comic book convention.

Director Sam Raimi, producer Laura Ziskin and key members of the cast — Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Topher Grace, Bryce Dallas Howard and Thomas Haden Church — came to the San Diego Convention Center to answer fan questions and unveil never-before-seen, unfinished footage of the much-anticipated movie.

So is this the final installment of the franchise?

"There will be some conclusions, though I wouldn't say it's necessarily the end," said Maguire, whose words were nearly drowned out by thunderous applause. "We're going to leave it open-ended. If there are stories worth telling, then we'll tell them."

The brief teaser footage blended live-action scenes with animation and computer graphics. It showed Sandman, a new villain played by Church, and offered a quick glimpse of Venom (Grace), Peter Parker's spider-like nemesis.

"He's more of a doppelganger to Peter," Grace told the crowd. "It's kind of a case study in if someone very similar to Peter got the same powers but didn't have a good upbringing."

Raimi also revealed that Harry Osborn ( James Franco) would become a third villain, taking on some of the powers of his father, the Green Goblin ( Willem Dafoe), who was killed in the first "Spider-Man" film.

Actor Bruce Campbell, a Raimi-film regular, also makes an appearance in "Spider-Man 3," the director said. He'll play a new character, who fans believe will be the villain Mysterio.

As the director of all three "Spider-Man" films, Raimi has been immersed in Spidey's world for more than six years. A longtime fan of the comic books, Raimi said it's been a "super-dream" to make the movies, but also a "great responsibility to tell the story of this character that kids look up to as this great hero."

"Certainly you don't want to make anything that isn't worthy of their admiration," he said.

Based on early reaction at Comic-Con, Raimi has nothing to worry about. He delivered what fans wanted: Venom.

"It was way better than I expected because you got to see Venom. He looked awesome," said John McCracken, 22.

"He made the entire world happy by putting Venom in it," said Nora McGuirk, 26, manager of Beach Ball Comics in Anaheim, Calif. "Sam Raimi hasn't disappointed us yet."

Chastity Vicencio, 20, said it was even more exciting to see Spider-Man face his own demons.

"Superheroes are cool and all, but when they hit a dark side, that's really great," she said.

Spider-Man creator Stan Lee has his own ideas of what makes the movie a winner.

"I have a cameo in it, and I think it's my best cameo," said the 83-year-old Marvel Comics master. "That's probably the high point of the movie. After that, you know, it's all a letdown."

Fey, Dratch leaving 'SNL' for '30 Rock'

PASADENA, Calif. - Tina Fey is leaving the anchor chair at "Saturday Night Live."

Fey says she's quitting the show after six seasons as head writer and co-anchor of the "Weekend Update" fake news segment to focus on her new NBC prime-time series, "30 Rock," which debuts Oct. 11.

"I'm out of the fake news business now," Fey told the Television Critics Association's summer meeting Saturday.

She announced her "SNL" departure on Friday night's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno."

"If you're asking if I'm happy about it, no," said Lorne Michaels, executive producer of "30 Rock" and "SNL." "Tina disappearing is a huge hole in the writing staff."

Michaels said various individuals and duos would be tested in September to decide who will replace Fey on the "Weekend Update" segment.

Also leaving "SNL" is regular Rachel Dratch, who plays a sketch actress on Fey's new sitcom about a fictional late-night show.

Fey, 36, first joined "SNL" as a writer in 1997 and became head writer in 1999.

She is writing, starring and executive producer of her new show.

"I'm going to go nuts," she said Saturday. "I do not understand the train that is about to hit me. We're trying to get as much done in the writers' room now before we start and I tried to gather a staff of writers who are experienced so they can proceed when I'm on the set."

"30 Rock" also stars Alec Baldwin and former "SNL" regular Tracy Morgan.

"Superman" director sees sequel for 2009

SAN DIEGO (Hollywood Reporter) - If director Bryan Singer has his way, Superman will take to the air a second time.

Singer, who directed the current "Superman Returns," told fans Friday at Comic-Con International, that he has had discussions with Warner Bros. Pictures about directing a sequel for release in the summer of 2009.

"Superman Returns," starring Brandon Routh as the Man of Steel, has grossed $169 million domestically to date, a figure that has been regarded by some observers as a disappointment given the movie's production costs of more than $200 million.

But while Singer stressed that plans for the sequel are still tentative, he expressed his interests in keeping the franchise aloft.

"I plan to get all 'Wrath of Khan' on it," Singer said -- a reference to 1982's "Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan," which is generally considered as having breathed life into the "Star Trek" franchise after 1979's "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" suffered critical barbs.

"We haven't concluded a deal. That's always iffy," Singer added. "The intention is to do it for 2009."

'Pirates' salts away $321.7M over 17 days

LOS ANGELES - Johnny Depp and his pirate friends are keeping all the box-office treasure for themselves. Depp's "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" remained the top movie for the third straight weekend, hauling in $35 million and lifting its total to $321.7 million after just 17 days, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The Disney sequel passed the $305 million domestic total that its predecessor, 2003's "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," rang up during its entire six-month run.

"Dead Man's Chest" easily beat back a rush of new movies, which were led by Sony's family film "Monster House," a spooky animated tale that debuted at No. 2 with $23 million. The movie follows the adventures of a group of children at a mysterious neighbor's scary home.

Opening in third was M. Night Shyamalan's "Lady in the Water," an adult fairy tale from Warner Bros. that took in $18.2 million. Starring Paul Giamatti as an apartment manager who discovers a water nymph (Bryce Dallas Howard) living beneath his complex's swimming pool, the movie was the weakest debut for writer-director Shyamalan in a string of wide releases since 1999 that included the blockbusters "The Sixth Sense" and "Signs."

Kevin Smith's "Clerks II," a Weinstein Co. and MGM follow-up to his 1994 independent-film hit about two slackers on the job, premiered at No. 6 with $9.6 million.

Uma Thurman and Luke Wilson's "My Super Ex-Girlfriend," a 20th Century Fox comedy about a superhero taking revenge against the boyfriend who jilted her, debuted at No. 7 with $8.7 million.

Overall movie business rose, with the top 12 movies taking in $143.2 million, up 11 percent from the same weekend last year, when "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" was the No. 1 movie with $28.3 million.

Hollywood continued its modest rebound after a 2005 slump in which movie attendance fell 8 percent from the previous year's. So far this year, attendance is up 3.8 percent compared to 2005, according to box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations.

Summer attendance had been running slightly behind 2005's but now is 4 percent ahead because of a surge the past three weekends.

"That's really attributable to the strength of `Pirates of the Caribbean,' because that's when the tide turned," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations.

On its 16th day of release Saturday, "Dead Man's Chest" became the fastest movie to cross the $300 million mark, beating the previous best pace of 17 days set last year by "Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith."

Within a week, "Dead Man's Chest" is expected to top the $339.7 million domestic take of "Finding Nemo" to become Disney's top-grossing movie.

"There are lots of plateaus for us to continue to strive for," said Chuck Viane, Disney's head of distribution.

Here are the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," $35 million.
2. "Monster House," $23 million.
3. "Lady in the Water," $18.2 million.
4. "You, Me and Dupree," $12.8 million.
5. "Little Man," $11 million.
6. "Clerks II," $9.6 million.
7. "My Super Ex-Girlfriend," $8.7 million.
8. "Superman Returns," $7.46 million.
9. "The Devil Wears Prada," $7.43 million.
10. "Cars," $4.9 million.

You, Me, Dupree & Steely Dan's Wrath

Something "kind of uncool" has come to Steely Dan's attention.

Band members Walter Becker and Donald Fagen are requesting an in-person apology from Owen Wilson for playing the annoying titular character in You, Me and Dupree, which, the musicians point out, happens to share the name found in the Steely Dan song "Cousin Dupree." The duo won a Grammy with that tune in 2001 for Best Pop Performance.

In a profanity-laced mock-angry letter posted on the band's Website, Becker and Fagen suggest that the film character of Dupree rips off their song, which tells the tale of a slacker--named Dupree, of course--who is staying on his aunt's couch and starts lusting after his cousin.

"When it came time to change the character's name or whatever so people wouldn't know what a rip the whole thing was, THEY DIDN'T EVEN BOTHER TO THINK UP A NEW F---ING NAME FOR THE GUY!" the rockers wrote.

The pair offered Wilson a chance to redeem himself--show up at their July 19 concert in Irvine, California, and "apologize to our fans for this travesty." (Apparently no such thing went down Wednesday night.)

The letter, dated July 17, was typed on hotel stationery from the Residential Suites at Longworth in Corpus Christi, Texas--where they were obviously extremely bored on their day off between shows--and addressed to Wilson's brother, Luke, whose new film My Super Ex-Girlfriend opened Friday.

Becker and Fagen at first gave kudos to Luke for his work with his older brother in Wes Anderson's Bottle Rocket, but then proceeded to get down to business, which for the most part consisted of bashing You, Me and Dupree and warning Owen Wilson that he's thisclose to losing his coolness factor for appearing in such tripe.

The film, starring Wilson as a slacker who shacks up with his best buddy, played by Matt Dillon, and his buddy's new bride (Kate Hudson, looking pretty disgusted), made a respectable $21.5 million at the box office last weekend to come in at number three (behind the juggernaut that is Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and the Wayans brothers comedy Little Man).

But we'll see how the film that the Washington Post called a "formulaic, shockingly sloppy and virtually laugh-free star vehicle for Wilson" does in its second week out.

Anyway, the Steely ones went on to say that while they meant Wilson no harm, "there are some pretty heavy people who are upset about this whole thing and we can't guarantee what kind of heat little Owen may be bringing down on himself."

Despite their purported rage, the Two Against Nature rockers seemed to lose themselves here and there when it came to separating fact from fiction.

"We realize what a drag it is for you [Luke] to have people coming to you about [Owen's] lameness all the time and we're really sorry to be doing the same thing," they lamented, but "you don't owe him anything, after the way he and Gwynnie Paltrow double-timed you in The Royal Tenenbaums."

Yes, we certainly hope Luke isn't still nursing that grudge.

While we don't see Wilson up in arms over Steely Dan's comments, the Wedding Crashers star has been known to not take criticism sitting down.

In February 2005 Wilson took New Yorker critic David Denby to task for his unfavorable synopsis of pal Ben Stiller's career.

"I've acted in two hundred and thirty-seven buddy movies and, with that experience, I've developed an almost preternatural feel for the beats that any good buddy movie must have," Wilson wrote in a letter to the venerable publication. "And maybe the most crucial audience-rewarding beat is where one buddy comes to the aid of other guy to help defeat a villain. Or bully. Or jerk."

But Steely Dan isn't playing the part of the bully. No, the guys just want to help, and in doing so offered this advice:

"Let's just help Owen do what's right, let's play past this particular screwup, and then he can get back to his life and his family and his beautiful moviestar-style pad or whatever, none the worse for wear and with some groovy new tee's and hoodies and maybe a keyring or a coffee mug in the process. Alright? Well, alright!"

"Superman II" 2.0

Superman Returns sequel or no, Man of Steel fans are getting a new movie. Make that, a new old movie.

A reconstructed version of 1980's Superman II, largely featuring footage shot and ditched nearly 30 years ago, including 15 minutes worth of Marlon Brando espousing fatherly advice from "Kryp-tin," will be released on DVD on Nov. 28, Warner Home Video announced Friday.

Not a "special" or "expanded" edition, Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut, named after the film's original director, is billed as an unprecedented do-over.

"With this DVD release, Richard Donner has become the first director in history to be able to complete a film he left during production," Warners said in a statement.

Donner was shooting Superman II along with 1978's Superman: The Movie when, as Warners delicately put it, "creative differences...became irreconcilable." Translation: Donner was fired--after he finished Superman, but before he finished Superman II.

The Superman II that subsequently opened in theaters, played on TV, got issued on video, and reissued on DVD is credited to A Hard Day's Night's Richard Lester, who reshot, reworked and finished the movie.

Not to be pushed aside, Lester's version (which contains more than a few feet of the Donner footage, but none of the Donner-directed Brando scenes) is also getting a new DVD release.

In fact, in Lucasfilm fashion, Warners will be issuing--or, rather reissuing--all four Christopher Reeve-led Superman movies, from the original 1978 opus to 1987's Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. The films were issued separately and as a four-disc set just five years ago.

This time out, the movies will all feature commentary tracks; last time out, only Superman: The Movie did. And, this time out, there will be two Superman IIs to choose from.

"This looks like the holy grail. It does," Barry Freiman of SupermanHomepage.com said of the Donner Superman II. "From what I've seen so far, it looks like it's going to be what anybody wants."

In a recent interview with iFMagazine.com, Superman Returns director Bryan Singer said he'd seen the first 20 minutes of the Donner cut, "and it was awesome."

Singer told the site one sequence he saw was recreated using Reeve's and Margot Kidder's old screen tests for Clark Kent and Lois Lane, respectively.

"It was such an impressive thing to watch," Singer said.

According to Warners, the Donner Superman II features a different opening and ending than the Lester Superman II. The reinstated Brando appears in "three pivotal scenes," according to Superman Cinema (www.supermancinema.co.uk). And the "Lester Humour," as the fan site put it, has been "reduced or completely cut out."

Among those presumably pleased is Kidder, who last year raved about Donner's "really, really fabulous" lost film to a Canadian comic convention audience.

"So, there is somewhere, in a vault, wonderful Dick Donner Superman II scenes with Christopher and I, and I'd love you to write Warner Bros. and ask where it is," Kidder said, according to ComicsContinuum.com.

While the Donner vision is now realized, the future of the big-screen Superman franchise is unclear.

TMZ.com reported this month that Warners will pass on a Superman Returns sequel unless the movie, reported to have cost as "little" as $204 million or as much as $260 million, cracks $200 million at the domestic box office. (Like Warners, TMZ.com is part of Time Warner.) As of Thursday, per BoxOfficeMojo.com, the film stood at $171 million.

Emmy-winning actor Jack Warden dead at 85

LOS ANGELES - Jack Warden, an Emmy-winning and Academy Award-nominated actor who played gruff cops, coaches and soldiers in a career that spanned five decades, has died. He was 85.

Warden, who lived in Manhattan, died Wednesday at a hospital in New York, Sidney Pazoff, his longtime business manager, said here Friday.

"Everything gave out. Old age," Pazoff said. "He really had turned downhill in the past month; heart and then kidney and then all kinds of stuff."

Warden was nominated twice for best supporting actor Oscars — for the 1975 movie "Shampoo" and in 1978's "Heaven Can Wait."

He won a supporting actor Emmy for his role as a coach in the 1971 TV movie "Brian's Song" and was twice nominated in the 1980s for best leading actor in a comedy for his show "Crazy Like a Fox."

Adventures of Brisco County Jr., The - Poor Canadians - Missing a booklet?

It appears the dreaded booklet goblin has struck The Adventures of Brisco County Jr sets in Canada. We've received reports that ALL the sets are missing the booklets, and we've passed the information on to Warner Bros.

Unfortunately we don't expect to hear anything back until next week due to people being out of the office for Comic Con, but we'll post another news item when we have someth