Wii shortages will continue for six more months!
GameStop reports that Wii shortages will continue for at least the next six months. Is this 2007, or 2008?
Still looking for a Wii? Well keep looking, because video game retail giant GameStop revealed this week that it expects shortages of the console to persist until at least September.
You read that right. While GameStop executives said in a conference call this week that the company was seeing an end to the post-holiday shortages that affected the Xbox 360 and DS in January, the Wii was having no such luck.
GameStop COO Dan DeMatteo confirmed, saying that with the Wii, the company anticipated the console's supply "won't meet demand for the next 2 quarters," at the very least. The estimate would put the duration of the Wii shortage at almost the two-year mark since its launch in November 2006.
Additionally, the GameStop call did not address what could happen to the Nintendo supply chain in the wake of the Mario Kart Wii and Wii Fit US launches on April 27 and May 19, respectively. If they are successful, and early indications from Japan and US media circles say that they will be, the two quarter estimate could very well become much longer.
On a final note, GameStop CFO David Carlson said the company was still anticipating shortages with the PSP; was "not seeing any problems with PS3"; and expects "good [PS3] stock when GTA IV launches."
Sarah Jessica Parker Hurt by 'Unsexiest Woman' Label
The life of a celebrity isn't always fun, especially when the media takes pot shots at your sex appeal.
Sarah Jessica Parker was extremely upset that Maxim magazine had named her the "unsexiest woman alive" last fall.
In an interview with Grazia magazine, the "Sex and the City" star commented, "Am I really the unsexiest woman in the world? Wow! It's kind of shocking."
The popular lad mag had compared her features to a horse's: "How the hell did this Barbaro-faced broad manage to be the least sexy woman in a group of very unsexy women and still star on a show with 'sex' in the title? Pull your skirt down, Secretariat, we´d rather ride Chris Noth."
Not only was Parker "filled with rage and anger" after hearing these comments, but her husband Matthew Broderick was upset "because it has to do with his judgment too."
Despite her outrage, Parker isn't going to let the comments change her own opinion of herself.
"I really like the choices I've made. I am who I am," she says. "Do I have big fake boobs, Botox and big lips? No. Do I fit some ideals and standards of some men writing in a men's magazine? Maybe not."
Amy Winehouse, "Grey's Anatomy" star Sandra Oh, Madonna and Britney Spears also landed on the Unsexiest List.
The "Sex and the City" movie will be released on May 30.
Series Four begins 5th April
The BBC has confirmed that Series Four of Doctor Who will launch on BBC One in the week beginning 5th April 2008.
The day and time slot for the programme are still to be confirmed but it will almost certainly be shown around 7pm on Saturday 5th April.
Episode One, Partners In Crime, reunites the Doctor with Donna Noble, played by Catherine Tate. It also stars Sarah Lancashire as Miss Foster.
Marley Biopic: No Music No Cry?
Los Angeles (E! Online) - Is this love? From the looks of it, maybe not.
The late Bob Marley's heirs are jamming the Weinstein Company from licensing the music of the reggae icon for an upcoming movie about his life and career that his widow, Rita Marley, is executive producing.
The reason for the snub, per the Hollywood Reporter: The clan's Tuff Gong Pictures is backing another project—a documentary by Martin Scorsese about Marley.
The family had already agreed to license the musician's hit-laden catalog for the Scorcese film—the first time the estate has granted such blanket rights—and is concerned that the Weinstein's biopic, set to unspool in late 2009, would conflict with the documentary's release in February 2010 around Marley's birthday.
"Martin Scorsese doesn't want to go out with a competing project, and [producer] Steven Bing has made deals with companies [that are now compromised]," Blue Mountain Music head Chris Blackwell told the Reporter. "The Weinstein project has put the documentary into jeopardy."
Blackwell founded Island Records, the label responsible for bringing Bob Marley and the Wailers as well as reggae in general to the masses, and now runs Blue Mountain Music, the "Stir It Up" singer's music publisher.
Marley's son, Ziggy, an executive producer on the untitled Scorsese expose, added that he and other family members' main priority is protecting his father's legacy.
"All our efforts and support are currently directed toward the documentary," Ziggy, a reggae star in his own right, told the trade. "We believe that this project is the best way to represent our father's life from his perspective, and any other film project pertaining to our father will be empty without his music to support it."
The problem for moguls Harvey and Bob Weinstein is that they apparently were willing to get up, stand up for the story, but failed to get music rights.
"When I sold the film rights to my book [to the Weinsteins], the contract did not include any rights to use my husband's music," said Rita Marley.
Neither a rep for Tuff Gong Pictures nor the London-based Blackwell was available for comment.
Marley family attorney Terri Dipalo told the Reporter the clan categorically rejects any suggestions that they were holding back the tunes to get a better deal out of the Weinsteins. At the same time, she didn't rule out his songs from eventually being licensed for the drama, noting "anything's possible."
Weinstein Company spokesman Matthew Frankel indicated that the brothers believe everything will work out in the end.
"We have great respect for the Marley family and Chris Blackwell and are in discussions to look at ways to mutually benefit both projects," he said.
Blackwell, who's reportedly pushing for the company to postpone the biopic until at least 2015, had a phone conversation with Harvey Weinstein earlier this month in which the two discussed the potential conflict, but so far had not settled the issue. One idea the former is bandying about is possibly having the Weinsteins receive a stake in the Scorsese doc in exchange for delaying the Rita Marley-produced flick.
A source close to that project however insisted to E! Online that the 2009 date for the biopic was never set in stone in the first place because the film does not even have a script yet and remains in development so all the talk regarding a possible collision is premature.
Or good PR.
Lawsuit settled over Beach Boys name
LOS ANGELES - Two former members of the Beach Boys settled a five-year legal dispute over use of the band's name, a lawyer said.
Al Jardine and Mike Love reached an agreement after a two-day conference in Superior Court, attorney Lawrence Noble, who represents Jardine, said Thursday. Details of the settlement were not disclosed.
"Mr. Jardine feels very happy and feels that this is a friendly settlement that allows them to focus on the talent and future of this American iconic band," Noble said.
Love sued Jardine in 2003, claiming he fronted a group that used various versions of the Beach Boys name. The lawsuit said Love was the sole licensee to perform under the name, and that Jardine was denied use because he did not agree to abide by terms of a proposed license.
Love was seeking $2 million in court costs and $1 million he said Jardine collected from using the name.
A judge ruled in January that the case could go to trial. It was set to begin April 14.
The Beach Boys were founded in 1961 by brothers Brian, Carl and Dennis Wilson, their cousin Love and Brian Wilson's friend Jardine.
Dennis Wilson died in 1983 and Carl Wilson died in 1998.