Guitar Hero 5 Full Song Set List

Activision has pulled the wraps off the complete 85 song set list for this fall's Guitar Hero 5 on Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, and Nintendo Wii gaming consoles.
New bands to any music video game are Arctic Monkeys with "Brainstorm" and Dire Straits with "Sultans of Swing." Considering the plethora of add-on song packs that will commence after the game's September 1 release, "Money For Nothing" cannot be too far behind.

Here's the full list of Guitar Hero 5 songs, broken down by newly announced artists and songs and then previously announced ones.

New Tracks
3 Doors Down - "Kryptonite"
Arctic Monkeys - "Brianstorm"
Blink-182 - "The Rock Show"
Dire Straits - "Sultans Of Swing"
Jimmy Eat World - "Bleed American"
Johnny Cash - "Ring Of Fire"
Megadeth - "Sweating Bullets"
Mötley Crüe - "Looks That Kill"
Muse - "Plug In Baby"
Nirvana - "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
Queen & David Bowie - "Under Pressure"
Stevie Wonder - "Superstition"
The Killers - "All The Pretty Faces"
The Raconteurs - "Steady As She Goes"
TV On The Radio - "Wolf Like Me"

Previously Announced Tracks
A Perfect Circle - "Judith"
AFI - "Medicate"
Attack! Attack! UK - "You And Me"
Band Of Horses - "Cigarettes, Wedding Bands"
Beastie Boys - "Gratitude"
Beck - "Gamma Ray"
Billy Idol - "Dancing With Myself"
Billy Squier - "Lonely Is The Night"
Blur - "Song 2"
Bob Dylan - "All Along The Watchtower"
Bon Jovi - "You Give Love A Bad Name"
Brand New - "Sowing Season (Yeah)"
The Bronx - "Six Days A Week"
Bush - "Comedown"
Children Of Bodom - "Done With Everything, Die For Nothing"
Coldplay - "In My Place"
Darker My Love - "Blue Day"
Darkest Hour - "Demon(s)"
David Bowie - "Fame"
Deep Purple - "Woman From Tokyo ('99 Remix)"
The Derek Trucks Band - "Younk Funk"
The Duke Spirit - "Send A Little Love Token"
Duran Duran - "Hungry Like The Wolf"
Eagles Of Death Metal - "Wannabe In L.A."
Elliott Smith - "L.A."
Elton John - "Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)"
Face To Face - "Disconnected"
Garbage - "Only Happy When It Rains"
Gorillaz - "Feel Good Inc."
Gov't Mule - "Streamline Woman"
Grand Funk Railroad - "We're An American Band"
Iggy Pop - "Lust For Life (Live)"
Iron Maiden - "2 Minutes To Midnight"
Jeff Beck - "Scatterbrain (Live)"
John Mellencamp - "Hurts So Good"
Kaiser Chiefs - "Never Miss A Beat"
King Crimson - "21st Century Schizoid Man"
Kings Of Leon - "Sex On Fire"
Kiss - "Shout It Out Loud"
Love and Rockets - "Mirror People"
My Morning Jacket - "One Big Holiday"
Nirvana - "Lithium (Live)"
No Doubt - "Ex-Girlfriend"
Peter Frampton - "Do You Feel Like We Do? (Live)"
The Police - "So Lonely"
Public Enemy Featuring Zakk Wylde - "Bring the Noise 20XX"
Queens Of The Stone Age - "Make It Wit Chu"
Rammstein – "Du Hast"
The Rolling Stones - "Sympathy For The Devil"
Rose Hill Drive - "Sneak Out"
Rush - "The Spirit Of Radio (Live)"
Santana - "No One To Depend On (Live)"
Scars On Broadway - "They Say"
Screaming Trees - "Nearly Lost You"
Smashing Pumpkins - "Bullet With Butterfly Wings"
Sonic Youth - "Incinerate"
Spacehog - "In The Meantime"
Sublime - "What I Got"
Sunny Day Real Estate - "Seven"
T. Rex - "20th Century Boy"
The Sword - "Maiden, Mother & Crone"
Thin Lizzy - "Jailbreak"
Thrice - "Deadbolt"
Tom Petty - "Runnin' Down A Dream"
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - "American Girl"
Vampire Weekend - "A-Punk"
Weezer - "Why Bother?"
The White Stripes - "Blue Orchid"
Wild Cherry - "Play That Funky Music"
Wolfmother - "Back Round"

David: 'Seinfeld' cast to reunite on 'Curb'

PASADENA, Calif. – Larry David says the on-screen reunion of the "Seinfeld" cast will be "tough to beat." The "Seinfeld" co-creator and "Curb Your Enthusiasm" creator-star says the cast will appear together in the finale of the upcoming seventh season of the HBO comedy series.

It marks the first time in 11 years that Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander and Michael Richards have appeared together on screen.

David says the "Seinfeld" stars will appear in five "Curb" episodes during the season in a storyline about the cast reuniting. He says he worked closely with Seinfeld on the show-within-a-show script.

He also says an actual "Seinfeld" reunion is unlikely.

The comments were made at a meeting of the Television Critics Association.

Johnny Reid leads field with 6 country award nods

Scottish-born, Toronto-bred singer Johnny Reid leads the field going into this year's Canadian Country Music Association awards with six nominations.

Reid received nods for top single, album, songwriter, video, male artist and for the fans' choice prize.

This year's show, to be held Sept. 13 at GM Place in Vancouver, will be hosted by actor Jason Priestley.

Reid's latest album "Dance With Me" was released in March and was certified gold in less than 48 hours.

The singer moved to Canada when he was 16, and went on to attend Bishop's University in Sherbrooke, Que., where he met his wife. He now lives in Nashville with his wife and three sons.

Following close behind Reid are George Canyon and Victoria Banks, with five nominations apiece. Last year's winner of the top new male talent award, Gord Bamford, nabbed four nominations this year.

Newcomer Dean Brody is also up for four awards including the Rising Star award and top single, video and songwriter.

Along with Reid and Canyon, Doc Walker, Jessie Farrell and Aaron Pritchett are up for the fans' choice award.

Voting can be done online at www.cmt.ca until the end of the day on Sept. 6.

Country superstar Reba McEntire is scheduled to perform at this year's show, along with Reid, Doc Walker, American chart topper Martina McBride and Montreal's Terri Clark.

Priestley shot to fame playing Brandon Walsh in the 1990s teen soap "Beverly Hills, 90210," but later turned to directing.

Recently, he directed CMT Canada's "The Road Hammers," which followed the country band of the same name.

The 2009 CCMA awards will be broadcast on CBC-TV with encore broadcasts on CMT in Canada.

Tickets for the event, which is part of Country Music Week, are available through Ticketmaster.

CBC plans 90-minute TV newscasts for 5 p.m.

CBC News will begin running 90-minute, early-evening TV newscasts in every region of Canada, beginning at the end of August.

The public broadcaster plans the change, taking effect Monday, Aug. 31, as part of its news renewal — which includes refocusing on local news.

"It's really quite thrilling to be able to expand our local news coverage to better serve Canadians in an economic environment where the inclination could be to retreat," Jennifer McGuire, general manager and editor-in-chief of CBC News, said Wednesday in a release.

The supper-hour broadcasts will vary by region, but include the top national and international stories, followed by local and regional coverage.

They will start at 5 p.m. local time and news, especially local news, will be updated each half hour throughout the broadcast.

Sources said CBC is juggling resources internally to create the extended newscasts at a time when the English-language service must make up an $85-million budget shortfall.

CBC Television has rejigged its schedule around the supper hour newscasts.

The popular British soap opera Coronation Street will begin airing at 6:30 p.m. in each market, a half hour earlier than now.

CBC spokesman Chris Ball said the change of time means the show will suffer fewer pre-emptions for other events.

Wheel of Fortune has been scheduled for 7 p.m. and Jeopardy for 7:30 p.m. Ghost Whisperer will be broadcast at 4 p.m., replacing The Simpsons and Wheel of Fortune.

Joan Rivers bashes Jay Leno at critics confab

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Don't look for Joan Rivers to be a guest on Jay Leno's new talk show anytime soon.

The ribald comedienne ripped Leno when asked about the prospects of his upcoming 10 p.m. weekday outing on NBC.

"I think it's brilliant that Leno is at 10 p.m., because America can get bored more easily and go to sleep earlier," Rivers told reporters at the Television Critics Assn confab Wednesday. "When was the last time you heard, 'Did you hear what Leno said last night?'"

Rivers, of course, frequently subbed as guest host for Leno's "Tonight Show" predecessor, Johnny Carson. She also is a Leno competitor since her new TV Land cable TV show "How'd You You Get So Rich?" will debut in the 10 p.m. slot on August 5.

'The Hobbit' films still in limbo

Director Peter Jackson has warned Lord Of The Rings fans not to get too excited about The Hobbit prequels - because they have yet to receive the go-ahead from movie studio executives.

Jackson has signed on to co-write and co-produce two Hobbit movies, based on the fantasy novels by J.R.R. Tolkien, which will be directed by Guillermo del Toro.

Reports suggest the first film is slated for release in 2011, while the second part will follow in 2012.

But Jackson insists the projects are still in their very early stages - and they've yet to come up with a script, let alone secure funding for the movies, reports Starpulse.

Speaking at Comic-Con in San Diego, California at the weekend, Jackson said, "I mean, people assume that we have a green light and we're making the movie which we don't. I mean, we have to deliver the script. The studio obviously has to approve the script and then we have to budget that script because we have no budget yet. They're not going to make the film with an open cheque book so we have to figure out how much it's going to cost and if that's going to be okay."

And Jackson is refusing to begin speculating about casting until the script is finished - despite Lord of the Rings actors Sir Ian McKellen and Andy Serkis already expressing their desire to reprise their roles in the franchise.

He adds, "We have a process to go through that really, once we get the script delivered, we can break it down, we can do the budgeting, we can figure out schedules and we can move onto the second script that we have to obviously start writing immediately (after) the first one's done. Then we can start casting the movie once we have a budget and once the studio greenlight the movie."

'Potter' film tops bloopers list

Eagle-eyed filmgoers have named and shamed the newest Harry Potter release as the most error-filled movie of 2009 so far.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the sixth instalment of the wizard franchise, was released to North American theatres less than two weeks ago on July 15 but has already notched up a whopping 57 mistakes, each detailed on website MovieMistakes.com.

In one scene, Rupert Grint's character Ron Weasley can be heard speaking but his mouth doesn't move, while in another, Daniel Radcliffe's Harry Potter appears with a windswept and messy hairstyle just seconds after his locks were neatly combed.

The number of blunders means the latest Harry Potter movie is leading a list of the year's most mistake-ridden films, toppling Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, which was littered with 53 bloopers.

“The Simpsons” Adds Coldplay’s Martin to List of Musical Guests

Over the past 20 seasons, The Simpsons has recruited the biggest names in music to guest-voice on the show, and Season 21 will continue the tradition: EW’s Hollywood Insider reports Coldplay’s Chris Martin will lend his voice to an upcoming episode. Martin and Coldplay will appear as themselves as Homer Simpson, after winning the lottery, hires the band to play a private performance for himself and Bart. “When Bart goes to the bathroom, Coldplay has to stop,” Simpsons executive producer Al Jean told EW.

One of The Simpsons‘ first musical guests was Michael Jackson, who guested — under the alias of John Jay Smith — as a mental patient named Leon Kompowsky whose convinced he is Michael Jackson. Jackson also had a hand in penning two songs that featured on The Simpsons, “Do the Bartman” and “Happy Birthday, Lisa.” (On the Sunday following Jackson’s death, The Simpsons reaired the “Bartman” video, and followed that with Jackson’s Kompowsky episode the following week.)

Green Day played a large role in The Simpsons Movie, performing the show’s iconic theme song and ultimately getting killed after playing a concert that kick-started the film’s garbage-fueled plot line. The show has also featured appearances by three Beatles: Ringo Starr, George Harrison (in the Homer’s Barbershop Quartet episode) and Paul McCartney, who along with his wife Linda taught Lisa about the wonders of being a vegetarian.

Episodes have also featured U2, Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Who, R.E.M., Phish, Sting, the Ramones, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, Elvis Costello, Tom Petty, Blink-182, David Byrne, the White Stripes (more on that here), Aerosmith as endorsers of “Flaming Moe’s” and Johnny Cash as a Guatemalan Insanity Pepper-induced coyote that talks to a hallucinating Homer. But perhaps the most memorable music-related episode of The Simpsons was “Homerpalooza,” which featured appearance by Smashing Pumpkins, Sonic Youth, Cypress Hill and Peter Frampton.

Bruce Springsteen Playing All of “Born to Run” in Chicago

A source close to Bruce Springsteen has confirmed what two Chicago newspapers (the Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune) are reporting: that Bruce and the E Street Band will perform their landmark 1975 album Born to Run in its entirety when the tour touches down at the city’s United Center on September 20th.

It’s unclear whether the band plans to do any full-album performances on other dates on the tour, like Aerosmith, Mötley Crüe and more bands have been doing recently. Last year Springsteen performed Born to Run and Darkness On The Edge of Town at a fundraiser show at New Jersey’s Count Basie Theater. Earlier this year Rolling Stone magazine asked E Street guitarist Steve Van Zandt what album he’d like to perform straight through. “It’s gotta be The River,” he said. “I’d want to include the outtakes on the Tracks collection. Then you have a hell of a show. You don’t have to do anything else.”

Completely unsubstantiated Internet rumors that should be taken with a huge grain of salt claim that Springsteen will do one album a night during his five-night stand at Giants Stadium this September and October. But in the off chance the rumors are true — and based on very little (but our Springsteen intuition) — we predict he’ll do Greetings From Asbury Park, The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle, Born To Run, Darkness On The Edge Of Town and Born In The USA.

Springsteen, who turns 60 in September, was recently asked by Italian Vanity Fair about his plans beyond this tour. “I think that the E Street Band will probably take a rest for a little while,” he said. “But it all will happen again. We’re lifers, we’re gonna go on forever.”

Jamie Bamber is coming to Joss Whedon's 'Dollhouse'

It's a "Battlestar Galactica" reunion, courtesy of our boy, Joss Whedon.
"BSG"'s Jamie Bamber will guest star in the season premiere of "Dollhouse" and his character will not only share scenes with Eliza Dushku's Echo, but with fellow "BSG" alum Tahmoh Penikett (Paul Ballard) as well.

Per FOX, Bamber's role has him heavily involved in an engagement that Echo and Ballard are assigned to.

Heavily involved, hmm?

Will he be an ally or foe?

Whatever the case, Apollo and Helo sharing the small screen once again? We're good with that.

Mariah Carey, Diddy, Lil Wayne Albums Delayed

Some of the most highly-anticipated albums of the summer have been delayed, including Mariah Carey's "Memoirs of An imperfect Angel," Sean "Diddy" Combs' "Last Train To Paris" and Lil Wayne's proprter rock and roll album "Rebirth."

Carey's "Memoirs," first slated for an August 25th release via Island Def Jam will now be available on September 15th according to the Universal Music Group business-to-business website. Carey's new single, "Obsessed," is at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 this week.

Combs said via a video interview with MTV News release last week that his project's been delayed partially because it's "Jay-Z time and Drake time -- enjoy those guys. But the 'Train' is coming, baby," he warns. "Get your ticket, you don't want to be left out."

Lil Wayne's label publicist confirmed to Billboard.com that his release date has also been moved, although a new date hasn't been scheduled yet. "Rebirth" was last slated for a June 23rd street date.

In addition, Amerie's long-awaited return, "In Love & War," which was originally slated for an August 11th release, will now be available on September 8th. Lead single, "Why R U," reaches No. 62 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart this week.

Doctor Who sets 2nd Guinness record

Guinness World Records has named Doctor Who the most successful science-fiction series, the second Guinness record for the much-loved BBC-TV production.

The new honour was based on a combination of ratings, DVD sales, book sales and dowloading popularity for the show, which has had several incarnations since it first ran in 1963.

"It is too good a show to have just one record," Guinness editor-in-chief Craig Glenday said after handing over the award Sunday to Russell T. Davies, the show's current producer and chief writer.

Doctor Who also holds the Guinness record for longest-running sci-fi TV series, though that honour is controversial. Stargate SG-1, which ran 10 years, has received the record for longest-running consecutive sci-fi series.

The latest incarnation of the series, launched in 2005, is about to get a new lead actor. Matt Smith is to succeed David Tennant, who succeeded Christopher Eccleston as the doctor-cum-alien who travels through time in his ship, the Tardis. Smith will be the 11th Time Lord since 1963.

Mila Kunis dances to 'Swan' song

At long last, we'll know: Is Mila Kunis for real?

Kunis has joined the cast of Darren Aronofsky's "Black Swan" as a mysterious (and possibly not real) dancer, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The role will place Kunis opposite Natalie Portman, who signed on in June to play a New York ballerina contending against a possibly supernatural rival.

"Black Swan" is a bit of a pet project for Aronofsky, whose films ("Pi" and "The Fountain," among others) had largely languished in arthouse theaters until the mainstream popularity of 2008's "The Wrestler."

Filming begins this fall in New York City.

Foreigner Comeback To Be A Wal-Mart Exclusive

Can Wal-Mart work its magic for yet another '70s rock act?

The retail giant's exclusive September 29 release of Foreigner's "Can't Slow Down" will be its first major exclusive since AC/DC's "Black Ice" in October. The album (Foreigner's first since 1995's "Mr. Moonlight") has much in common with Journey's 2008 Wal-Mart-only release, "Revelation." Like its predecessor, "Can't Slow Down" will be a three-disc set that features a CD of new material, a concert DVD and a best-of collection. But whereas "Revelation" included a CD of rerecorded Journey favorites, Foreigner remixed the band's original master recordings to make its hits sound more contemporary.

Perhaps most noticeable to longtime fans of both bands, each release features a replacement lead singer -- in Foreigner's case, Kelly Hansen, who takes the place of original frontman Lou Gramm.

Despite the absence of original Journey lead singer Steve Perry, "Revelation" sold 633,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. In its debut week that ended June 8, 2008, it sold nearly 105,000 copies, good enough to reach No. 5 on the Billboard 200 album chart. "Black Ice" sold 2.1 million U.S. copies, including 784,000 in its debut week that ended October 26, 2008.

It won't be easy for "Can't Slow Down" to match the success of "Revelation" or "Black Ice." During the past year, overall U.S. recorded-music sales have continued to tumble, with CD sales plunging 21.2 percent in the first half of 2009 from a year earlier.

And despite being a regular chart fixture in the '70s and '80s, Foreigner doesn't have a synch-licensing hit like Journey's 1981 single "Don't Stop Believin'," which has helped keep the band in the public eye through its use in hit movies and TV shows, most memorably the June 2007 series finale of HBO's "The Sopranos."

But Foreigner boasts its own potential source of hip cachet: founding guitarist Mick Jones' stepson, Mark Ronson. Ronson, who has collaborated with Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen and Kanye West and is a BRIT Award-winning performer in his own right, co-produced the new songs on "Can't Slow Down" with Marti Frederiksen.

Foreigner also has a catalog of hits that instantly register with fans, even if they don't remember who performed them. "When Foreigner played at the company's annual shareholders meeting, the band's (appeal) was reinforced by how much our associates loved it," said Wal-Mart senior music buyer Tom Welch.

"People know all of Foreigner's songs," the group's manager, Phil Carson, said. "But the band has so many hits -- nine top 10 hits and 16 top 30 -- they aren't aware that they are all by the same group ... With the album at Wal-Mart's entrance, we can get people to associate the band with their songs."

Tron's time has finally come

SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- There's a term for movies that are ahead of their time.

Flops.

Take, for instance, 1982's Tron, heavily hyped for its groundbreaking computerized graphics only to be snubbed at the box office by the then-pre-digital masses.

Still, the film managed to cultivate a fanbase so enthusiastic that reports have long persisted of a possible sequel.

Even star Jeff Bridges remembers hearing recurring rumours of a Tron 2.

"Over the years, somebody would say, 'So I hear they're making a new Tron' and I'd say, 'What are you talking about?' They'd say, 'Oh yeah, you're kind of lost in the world, kind of Apocalypse Now -- you're (Marlon Brando's) Kurtz or something' and I'd say, 'What are you talking about?' And here it is, 30 years later. It's quite amazing."

First announced at last year's Comic-Con, Tron Legacy, which has been shooting in Vancouver, is due out in the fall of 2010.

Bridges returns -- as multiple versions of himself, no less -- alongside Garrett Hedlund and House's Olivia Wilde.

"It's kind of bizarre," says Bridges, 59. "I'm kind of reticent to discuss this stuff because it's like a magician shows up and tells you how he's going to do his trick."

Behind the camera is Joseph Kosinski, a commercial director who is making his feature-film debut under the aegis of Tron creator Steven Lisberger.

Kosinski believes the plot -- in which Hedlund, as Bridges' son, enters the cyber-scape to locate his missing father -- will appeal to more than just the die-hards that have been salivating decades for a sequel.

What both demos -- newcomers and fans -- will discover is that "the world of Tron has evolved kind of on its own like an aquarium, disconnected from the outside world for 20, 25 years," Kosinski says. "The simulation has gotten more perfect and more realistic so the scale of the world is much bigger than it was before ... The line between what's real and what's not should be blurred so that you can't tell the difference."

All of which should please Lisberger most of all. What does he think of this chance at a better-appreciated version 2.0? "It's a generational thing," he says philosophically. "Part of the reason Tron is happening now is that it feels like the generational wheel has aligned."

'G-Force' topples `Harry Potter' at box office

LOS ANGELES – An elite squad of guinea pigs has worked its own brand of magic at the box office, taking the No. 1 spot from boy wizard Harry Potter.

The 3-D "G-Force" was the top movie at the box office this weekend, opening with $32.2 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. The Walt Disney release from producer Jerry Bruckheimer, with its mixture of live action and computer-generated animation, is a "Mission: Impossible"-style adventure. It features voiceover work from Nicolas Cage, Sam Rockwell, Tracy Morgan and Penelope Cruz as resourceful rodents.

Last week's No. 1 film, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," came in a close second with an estimated $30 million. That's a whopping 61-percent drop from its huge opening last weekend of $79.5 million.

Coming in third was another of the week's wide releases, the battle-of-the-sexes romantic comedy "The Ugly Truth," which had a $27 million opening.

The sixth installment in the Harry Potter franchise has now made $222 million total, which is $14 million ahead of where part five, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," was after 12 days in theaters in 2007. And this week, "Half-Blood Prince" will start showing on 166 IMAX screens, which the last "Harry Potter" movie did from the start.

"So we're coming in with this one (in IMAX) a little bit late, but it's going to be a great addition and it'll keep our momentum going," said Dan Fellman, Warner Bros.' head of distribution.

"G-Force" triumphed in a crowded summer marketplace with its combination of 3-D effects and the Disney and Bruckheimer brands, said Mark Zoradi, president of Disney's motion-picture group.

"You never go into a situation where you're competing against two important movies — the second weekend of 'Harry Potter' and the opening weekend of 'The Ugly Truth' — you never go in cocky," Zoradi said.

The one-two of PG-rated movies reinforces the fact that summer is prime family movie time, said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com.

"This summer is all about packaging and escapism," Dergarabedian said of the strong showing for "G-Force." "People were scratching their heads and dragging their kids to go see this thing. They were watching the trailers with absolute shock going, 'Is that really happening?' But as a kid you're like, 'I gotta go see it.' This is a testament to the fact that Jerry Bruckheimer, like ('Transformers' director) Michael Bay, knows exactly what summer movie audiences want."

With $27 million, "The Ugly Truth" performed at the high end of Sony Pictures' expectations, said head of distribution Rory Bruer.

"The chemistry between Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler is a blast. It's really a lot of fun, everything we'd hoped it would be," Bruer said. "From sneak previews to word-of-mouth screenings we had on the movie, we knew people liked the movie."

Critics weren't so enamored, though: "The Ugly Truth" received just 15 percent positive reviews on the Rotten Tomatoes Web site.

"If I have a choice of deciding between what the audience's opinion is going to be versus the critics', I'll definitely go with the audience's every day, and they spoke loud and clear," Bruer said.

Also opening nationwide this weekend was another Warner Bros. release, the horror movie "Orphan," about a couple who adopts a little girl who's not nearly as sweet as she seems. It came in fourth place with $12.8 million.

Expanding in its second week of limited release, the Fox Searchlight romantic comedy "500 Days of Summer" made $1.63 million. Going from 27 screens to 85, it's grossed just over $3 million. The critical hit stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel in an out-of-order tale of boy-meets-girl.

On the other end of the cinematic spectrum, the dominant movie of the summer, "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," is now the 10th-highest grossing film of all time with just over $379 million. The Paramount sequel made $8 million this weekend, pushing it past 2003's "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," which made just over $377 million.

Dergarabedian said movies like "Transformers," "Harry Potter" and the R-rated, surprise-hit comedy "The Hangover," which has now made over $247 million, have kept this summer's revenues right in line with 2008, when "The Dark Knight" was all the rage.

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

1. "G-Force," $32.2 million.
2. "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," $30 million.
3. "The Ugly Truth," $27 million.
4. "Orphan," $12.8 million.
5. "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs," $8.2 million.
6. "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," $8 million.
7. "The Hangover," $6.5 million.
8. "The Proposal," $6.4 million.
9. "Public Enemies," $4.2 million.
10. "Bruno," $2.7 million.

Oldman dishes on `Dark Knight' sequel shooting

SAN DIEGO – Gary Oldman had come to Comic-Con to support "The Book of Eli," but is dishing about "The Dark Knight" instead.

The 51-year-old actor says the sequel to Batman the mega-hit will start shooting next year and likely be released the following.

"But you didn't hear it from me," he quipped.

Oldman stars opposite Denzel Washington in "The Book of Eli," set to open in January of 2010.

Comic-Con continues through Sunday at the San Diego Convention Center.

Eddie Van Halen Recovering After Hand Surgery

Eddie Van Halen is said to be on the mend after undergoing surgery to treat increasing pain in his left hand.

“During the last leg of our tour, I started developing pain in my thumb and my pinky. I didn’t think much of it at the time,” the guitarist says. “It got progressively worse to the point that about three months ago I wasn’t able to play at all. My pinky and my thumb were totally locked up and felt like there was something broken.”

Van Halen sought out specialists in Düsseldorf, Germany, who initially began treating the guitarist for arthritis, but soon discovered a bone spur, twisted tendon and a cyst in the joint of his left thumb.

“They said the only way to fix it was surgery, which of course scared the shit out of me, but I was told it was the only way to fix it,” Van Halen says. “Surgery was a success, now I just have to let it heal. I am totally jazzed that they found the problem, fixed it and in about four months my hand will feel like I am 18 again. Thank God.”

Van Halen is said to be recovering nicely, having already regained his reach and full spread of his hand. He’s said to be taking his recovery slowly, however, to insure he heals properly. His rehabilitation should be complete in 4-6 months.

“In the meantime I am able to write a bit, but can not overexert my hand because it needs to heal properly,” the guitarist says.

His stitches come out in a few days, and he’s confident he’ll be able to play at maximum intensity when he completes his recovery.

Johnny Depp Crashes Comic-Con—Then Splits!

Los Angeles (E! Online) – There had been murmurs that Johnny Depp, one of the stars of Tim Burton's way weird live-action adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, would drop by this morning's Disney 3-D panel.

And—would you look at that!—he did.

In fact, Depp stopped by, said five words and then totally just left.

Here's what went down:

After screening a custom-made trailer for his Comic-Con fans, director Burton asked the crowd if they would like to meet the "imaginary friend" that follows him around.

The crowd cheered and Depp, who plays the Mad Hatter, walked onstage in a button-up shirt and fitted black vest. He had long bangs sweeping the side of his face, and wore a thick leather bracelet.

After several moments of cheering, Depp whispered into the mic:

"Hey. Happy to be here."

And then, poof, he was gone.

Moderator Patton Oswalt told the crowd that Depp could reappear later in the day, so "be nice to every guy you see dressed like Jack Sparrow."

Meanwhile, Burton said he's still filming the CGI-heavy fantasy flick, due next spring, and that he feels there's a "white rabbit with a stop watch" timing him.

In terms of plot, he also dished that there was an effort to make Alice (Mia Wasikowska) more active in the story rather than a bunch of "weird scenes" happening to her. Oh, and remember that Depp isn't the only person in this movie: Anne Hathaway and Helena Bonham Carter also star.

"Potter" prepared to fend off trio of newcomers

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" is on course to be crowned king of the domestic box office again this weekend.

With $200 million in its cauldron at the start of just its second weekend, Warner Bros.' "Prince" could fall 60 percent from its first-frame tally and still produce a $31 million sophomore session. Bolstering the film's prospects is its expansion from four high-grossing Imax venues to 162.

Although three films opening in wide release Friday are expected to do solid business, none is likely to compete for the weekend title.

Sony's romantic comedy "The Ugly Truth," helmed by Robert Luketic ("21") and starring Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler, might be the strongest of the new pictures, with prerelease tracking surveys showing prospects for an opening north of $20 million.

Produced for less than $40 million, "Truth" carries an R rating but is likely to draw best among older females, who executives hope will rope in a few guys for a date-night outing. Sony offered 160 sneak previews of "Truth" last weekend and attracted 90 percent capacity audiences.

Meanwhile, Disney's Jerry Bruckheimer-produced family action-comedy "G-Force," featuring a mix of CGI and live action, also is looking good amid signs that its hefty marketing campaign is taking hold.

Helmed by effects supervisor-turned-director Hoyt Yeatman, "G-Force" also could top $20 million this weekend. Premium ticket prices in more than 1,600 3D auditoriums will help the cause. The studio's May release of Pixar's "Up" boasted 1,540 3D locations.

But there's little doubt the still-strong interest in the Potter pic will affect "G-Force," which carries the same PG rating. The question is whether the impact will be minimum or severe. "Prince" and "G-Force" target a similar audience, but the latter plays much younger.

Set for 3,693 playdates, "G-Force" totes a negative cost of $80 million-plus.

Warners' R-rated horror film "Orphan" should do midteen millions this weekend, with solid interest evident among younger moviegoers. The story of a demon-seed orphan on a tear is female-oriented, but the question remains whether young female moviegoers will be turned off by the restricted rating. "Orphan" was directed by Jaume Collet-Serra ("Goal II: Living the Dream").

Cronkite eulogized as newsman, friend, father

NEW YORK – Walter Cronkite was remembered as a great journalist, sailor, friend and father during services that, despite the grandeur of the setting, felt remarkably comfortable — like the man.

"I was often asked, `What he's really like?' And I would always answer, `He's just the way you hope he is,'" said Mike Ashford, a sailing comrade of more than 30 years and one of the speakers at Thursday's funeral.

Another speaker, longtime CBS newsman and "60 Minutes" commentator Andy Rooney, recalled meeting Cronkite when they both were in England covering World War II.

"You get to know someone pretty well in a war," said Rooney, describing Cronkite as "such a good friend."

"I just feel so terrible about Walter's death that I can hardly say anything," he admitted, excused himself and left the pulpit.

The services were witnessed by a near capacity crowd at the elegant, enormous St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church in midtown Manhattan, where the Cronkite family has worshipped for years.

Broadcast journalists — co-workers, competitors, successors — were on hand, including Connie Chung, Bob Schieffer, Diane Sawyer, Brian Williams, Dan Rather, Barbara Walters, Charles Gibson, Matt Lauer, Tom Brokaw, Morley Safer and Meredith Vieira. Comedians-actors Anne Meara and Jerry Stiller were also in attendance.

But there was also room for members of the public to pay their respects.

James Huntsburg and his wife, Sylvia, visiting from Canada, had heard about the funeral. Admitted to the sanctuary, they took their place in one of the pews.

Huntsburg said he grew up watching Cronkite, who, he said, "touched me."

When he heard of Cronkite's death last Friday at 92, Huntsburg and his wife hadn't yet left from their home near Toronto for their Manhattan vacation.

"I feel blessed to be here," said Huntsburg, visibly moved.

For his reporting, Cronkite came to be called "the most trusted man in America" and was widely considered the premier TV journalist of his time. He anchored "The CBS Evening News" from 1962 until 1981 — a period that included the Vietnam War, the space race, the assassinations of John and Robert Kennedy as well as Martin Luther King Jr. and Watergate.

Sanford Socolow shared anecdotes from his many years working with Cronkite as a producer.

"Once," Socolow recalled, "he had this bizarre idea that he would ad-lib the newscast without a script." As Cronkite's cue for the control room to roll each film clip, he would gently brush his nose with his hand.

"It was utter chaos," said Socolow. "It lasted for two days."

But repeatedly during the ceremony, Cronkite's passion for sailing his beloved boat, the Wyntje, was celebrated.

Ashford offered vivid memories of their sailing adventures.

"Walter, hunched over the helm, would catch my eye, grin, and over the racket of the wind, holler, 'Sen-sational!'"

And veteran TV producer Bill Harbach, a Cronkite friend for a half-century, recited the John Masefield poem "Sea-Fever," movingly addressed to Cronkite.

Chip Cronkite affectionately gave thanks to his father for a host of things — on the water and off.

"Thanks," he said, "for rushing to the side of the boat when a boom knocked me overboard. You stood there ready to jump in after me, and then were glad you didn't have to. Thanks for getting ready to take out my appendix yourself with a sharpened spoon on the African plains, two days' drive for a hospital. That time, I was glad you didn't have to."

A separate memorial will be held within the next few weeks at New York's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Cronkite is to be cremated and his remains buried next to his wife, Betsy, in the family plot at a cemetery in Kansas City, Mo.

Blunt rejects Yankovic parody

James Blunt has refused comedy singer 'Weird’ Al Yankovic the right to sell a parody of his single You’re Beautiful, vowing he will "never approve" its release.

Yankovic has written and recorded You're Pitiful, his light-hearted take on Blunt's 2005 hit, and had hoped to include it on his upcoming greatest hits album Essentials, scheduled to hit shelves later this year.

But the funnyman - best known for his satirical takes on Michael Jackson's hits - has had to axe the song after Blunt failed to see the humour in the joke track.

Yankovic tells fans on his Twitter.com page, "In case you were hoping for You're Pitiful to be included on my Essentials collection, sorry, this just in from Blunt's manager: Thanks for your email, but both James and I will never approve this parody to be released on any label."

Taco Bell ad star Gidget the Chihuahua dies at 15

LOS ANGELES – Gidget the Chihuahua, the bug-eyed, big-eared star of 1990s Taco Bell commercials who was a diva on and off the screen, has died. She was 15. Gidget suffered a massive stroke late Tuesday night at her trainer's home in Santa Clarita and had to be euthanized, said Karin McElhatton, owner of Studio Animal Services in Castaic, which owned the dog.

Although she was hard of hearing, Gidget was otherwise in good health up to the day of her death, eating well and playing with her favorite squeaky toys at the home of trainer Sue Chipperton, McElhatton said.

"She was retired. She lived like a queen, very pampered," McElhatton said.

Gidget was found at a kennel and wasn't show quality, McElhatton said; she had an undershot jaw and huge ears.

But Gidget knew she was a star, McElhatton said.

"She was a prima donna, basically. She absolutely knew when she was on camera," McElhatton said.

In a 1997 Taco Bell television commercial, Gidget was seen as a male dog who, through the magic of special effects and a voice actor, proclaims in a richly accented voice: "Yo quiero Taco Bell" — Spanish for "I want Taco Bell."

Viewers were charmed. What was supposed to be a single ad became a campaign that ran from 1997 to 2000.

The ads made the Taco Bell mascot wildly popular, although they provoked criticism from activists who accused them of promoting Hispanic stereotypes.

While other Chihuahuas had bit parts, McElhatton said it was Gidget who got the closeups and the quips (Carlos Alazraqui was the voice).

Gidget traveled first-class, opened up the New York Stock Exchange and made an appearance at Madison Square Garden, McElhatton said.

In later years, she did other acting work, appearing in a 2002 commercial for the insurance company GEICO and in the 2003 movie "Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde."

She remained the object of affection after her retirement, going on hikes and beach visits with her trainer. She aged gracefully, and liked nothing more than to snooze in the sun.

"She was like a little old lady. She'd kind of gotten smaller," McElhatton said.
Gidget will be cremated, McElhatton said. Her owners had not decided on a final disposition of her remains. Taco Bell Corp. said in a statement Gidget would be missed by many. "Our deepest sympathies go out to her owners and fans," the company said.

Jays GM sets loose deadline for Halladay trade

TORONTO - J.P. Ricciardi set a loose deadline of next Tuesday for completing a Roy Halladay trade, sending potential suitors a clear message that if they want the ace right-hander they had better ante up soon to get him.

The Toronto Blue Jays general manager also turned up the posturing by saying "at this point it's probably unlikely we'll trade Doc," after both he and Halladay recently pegged the chances for a deal at "50-50."

"If we don't have him traded by the time his last start gets here it's probably not going to get done," Ricciardi said before Tuesday's series opener with the Cleveland Indians.

"As you get closer and closer to the deadline, no-one's really stepped up yet and at that point I think time starts running out on you. And, like I've said, we've got to be highly motivated to move him. We haven't been highly motivated yet."

Ricciardi said some sort of cutoff is necessary in order to give the teams enough time to tie up all the loose ends a deal of such magnitude brings, from physicals for all the players involved to appropriate signoffs from ownership.

Halladay also has a full no-trade clause so his approval will be needed, as well. He has two starts remaining before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, Friday at home versus Tampa Bay and July 29 at Seattle.

Ricciardi added that he'd like Halladay to pitch against the Mariners with some type of resolution to the matter, but next Tuesday is not a drop-dead date by any means.

If the Blue Jays and another team are making progress at that point, talks could extend right up to the last minute July 31. However, if no preliminary work is in place by then, talks aren't likely to get started then or afterwards.

The Blue Jays are seeking a high-end package of prospects that includes elite young pitching for the 2003 Cy Young Award winner. They're more likely to get it now rather than if they wait until the off-season.

"History tells you if a guy has more service time for a team, he's probably going to be more valuable to that team at that point," said Ricciardi. "If the off-season comes and someone feels the same way and wants to blow you away, I guess you can get something but history tells you having a guy for a year and a half is more important than having him for a year."

Halladay, who is making US$14.25 million this season and is due $15.75 million in 2010 before his contract expires, has been on the open market for a couple of weeks now.

The Philadelphia Phillies are considered the favourites to land him, with Boston, Milwaukee, San Francisco, the Yankees, Dodgers and Angels all in the mix to varying degrees.

Asked how many teams had expressed serious interest, Ricciardi declined comment, offering only, "there's been enough."

Ricciardi also hinted that if Halladay is moved, the stripping down of the team won't end there. Shorstop Marco Scutaro, catcher Rod Barajas and infielder John McDonald will all be free agents after the season while third baseman Scott Rolen, first baseman Lyle Overbay and closer Scott Downs are all signed through 2010.

"Everything feeds off if we do something with Doc," said Ricciardi. "The first thing we're concentrating on is if we're going to trade Doc, obviously. If we are trading him, then we'd be open to doing other things."

Royalty rates may silence bars

TORONTO - Canadian restaurants, bars and clubs are warning they may have to turn down the music if a proposed royalty increase becomes a reality, but the non-profit organization seeking the raise for performers says it's time they paid up.

The Neighbouring Rights Collective of Canada wants to increase its royalty fee for background music by more than triple the current rate, a move it says will properly compensate performers and engineers.

It also has a proposal before the Copyright Board of Canada that would change how venues pay to play music that customers dance to.

"It's about ascribing the proper values to music," said collective president Ian MacKay, who argues that songwriters and publishers have been getting paid better royalties for decades while performers and producers have been given short shrift.

"It's to compensate the performers for the use of their music. Imagine a dance club without music being played, people want music to dance to and that certainly adds value to the business of running a night club."

But the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association says the proposals would force many business owners to reconsider whether playing music is worth the cost.

In particular, the association is highlighting the implications of higher fees for venues that feature dancing, which could result in annual fee increases between $6,000 and $30,000.

"It's exorbitant in the extreme and it will force many operators to consider dropping music altogether, or at least have them rethink the use of dance music," said association spokesman David Harris.

The proposed tariff is going before the Copyright Board of Canada and Harris said he will "vigorously argue that this proposal is unfair and that it is financially devastating."

But MacKay claims those figures are at the high end of the range and would only apply to mega-clubs, while smaller establishments would have fees in the hundreds, not thousands.

Businesses pay similar fees to the Society of Composers Authors and Music Publishers of Canada, which collects about $1.4 million in royalties every year for background music from around 31,000 businesses, including restaurants, hotels, shopping malls, banks, retail stores, factories and professional offices.

In releasing its reasons for certifying SOCAN's most recent set of tariff rules, the Copyright Board of Canada stated "background music touches practically every aspect of our daily lives, from the tunes we hear in the elevator, to the jazz we listen to over dinner at a restaurant."

An expert who testified as the proposed tariff was being debated said research suggests background music "favourably impacts customers' mood and perception of their environment."

"As a result, they are likely to stay longer in a store, to buy more and to have a positively enhanced perception of merchandise and customer service," said Prof. Richard Michon of the Ted Rogers School of Retail Management at Ryerson University in Toronto.

"The right background music can even foster a stronger sense of customer loyalty."

MacKay said businesses should be budgeting for music just as they budget for other expenditures.

"A restaurant has many suppliers of food, flowers, decor - all these things that go into the dining establishment," he said.

"Well one of the things that definitely goes into the value of a dining establishment is the music they're playing in the background, which sets the mood as much as the decor."

“The Beatles: Rock Band” Announces 15 New Tracks

The debut of The Beatles: Rock Band is still well over a month away, but early glimpses of the video game suggest another wave of Fab Four hysteria can’t be far off. On his current tour, Paul McCartney has already revealed some charming animated footage from the game. And at a recent preview session at MTV in Santa Monica, California, Rolling Stone got an up-close look at the most exciting version of Rock Band yet.

As has been previously reported, the game comes with 45 remastered tracks, and Abbey Road will become available for download at the same time as the title’s September 9th release for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii. Fifteen more tracks — and their venues — have been announced today, including “Can’t Buy Me Love” at the Ed Sullivan Theater, “Paperback Writer” at Budokan and “I’ve Got A Feeling” at the rooftop concert (full list below).

A hands-on test of the game suggests it could sometimes be a challenge to keep up with George Harrison’s guitar on “Day Tripper” and “Here Comes the Sun.” And your luck singing along (and actually hitting the right notes) with John Lennon and McCartney is measured within the game. As previously reported, The Beatles: Rock Band allows for three-part harmony (a vocal training session in the game will help with that) and rocking on the Beatles’ signature instruments: a Höfner bass, Rickenbacker and Gretsch guitars and Ludwig drums.

Fans will also find rare bits of Fab ephemera otherwise unavailable on the albums embedded in the game. According to a spokesman for MTV Games/Harmonix, McCartney personally did some unofficial fact-checking for the game, making small adjustments in the chronology. Before now, the Beatles have been totally unavailable to fans of Rock Band (or rival Guitar Hero), but the delay has led to a Beatles version of the game that pushes the technology further, finally offering a digitized magical mystery tour that is a vivid, multi-layered experience for a new era.

Confirmed songs for The Beatles: Rock Band:

“Twist And Shout” / Cavern Club
“Do You Want To Know A Secret” / Cavern Club
“Can’t Buy Me Love” / Ed Sullivan Theater
“I Wanna Be Your Man” / Ed Sullivan Theater
“Eight Days A Week” / Shea Stadium
“Paperback Writer” / Budokan
“And Your Bird Can Sing” / Budokan
“Yellow Submarine” / Abbey Road Dreamscape
“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” / Abbey Road Dreamscape
“With a Little Help from My Friends” / Abbey Road Dreamscape
“Within You Without You” / Tomorrow Never Knows / Abbey Road Dreamscape
“Revolution” / Abbey Road Dreamscape
“Birthday” / Abbey Road Dreamscape
“Dig A Pony” / Rooftop Concert
“I’ve Got A Feeling” / Rooftop Concert
“I Saw Her Standing There”
“I Want To Hold Your Hand”
“I Feel Fine”
“Taxman”
“Day Tripper”
“Back In The USSR”
“I Am The Walrus”
“Octopus’s Garden”
“Here Comes The Sun”
“Get Back”

Katherine Heigl’s First Day back at Grey’s Was ‘Cruel and Mean’

Katherine Heigl may be back to work on the set of Grey’s Anatomy, but according to the actress, it hasn’t been a super-happy homecoming.

“Our first day back was Wednesday and it was — I’m going to keep saying this because I hope it embarrasses them — a 17-hour day,” Heigl told David Letterman during a visit to the Late Show on Monday, “which I think is cruel and mean.”

One reason for her lack of pep: her good pal T.R. Knight’s departure from the show.

“It was actually kind of really great to be back,” she said. “All my friends are there and at this point, they’re sort of like family, but it was a little weird because [T.R.]’s not there anymore.”

As open as she is about her feelings about the show, Heigl remained tight-lipped about the fate of her character, who was last seen in an ambiguous scene after undergoing surgery for a brain tumor. “You last saw Izzie, you know, flatlining,” she told Letterman. “So, I won’t give it away but, you know, I’m there so I’m either there as a ghost, on the other side or I survived a disease no one survives.”

“I’m guessing if you’re working 17 hours, that means you’re not dead,” Letterman observed.

Heigl’s reply: “What if, however, Dave, I was in a bed in a coma for 17 hours, they could do that to me.”

Despite the long days shooting the medical drama, Heigl said she hopes Grey’s Anatomy, which returns to ABC on Sept. 24, will stick around for a while.

“We have another two years, I think, at least in the contract,” she said. "Hopefully the show goes, you know, ER time, which would be cool.”

Fogerty enlists Springsteen, Eagles for covers set

NEW YORK (Billboard) – John Fogerty's "The Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again," a new collection of some of the veteran rocker's favorite classic songs, is set for release September 1.

The Verve Forecast project, recorded under the guise of the mythical group of his 1972 solo debut, includes guest spots from Bruce Springsteen and members of the Eagles.

It features covers of songs by John Prine, Buck Owens and John Denver, among others, as well as Fogerty's own "Change in the Weather."

Fogerty produced "...Rides Again" with help from former Warner Bros. executive Lenny Waronker at The Village Recorder studio in West Los Angeles. Rather than the one-man-band affair of the original "Blue Ridge Rangers" album, the new set features studio pros such as drummer Kenny Aronoff, guitarists Buddy Miller and Hunter Perrin, and former Jane's Addiction bass player Chris Chaney.

"Those guys are just fantastic players," Fogerty told Billboard. "They really captured or understood what the Blue Ridge Rangers vibe is. It's a really cool record."

The Eagles' Don Henley and Timothy B. Schmit harmonize on Rick Nelson's "Garden Party," while Springsteen duets with Fogerty on the Everly Brothers' classic "When Will I Be Loved."

Fogerty hopes to put the Blue Ridge Rangers on the road once the album is out.

"Lord knows we played it great live in the studio -- it's probably more live than many rock 'n' roll records," he said. "I think it really needs to be presented that way to an audience. We'll have to wait and see how everything shapes up."

The full track list for "The Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again" is:

"Paradise" (John Prine)
"Never Ending Song of Love" (Bonnie Bramett/Delaney Bramlett)
"Garden Party" (Rick Nelson)
"I Don't Care (Just As Long As You Love Me)" (Buck Owens)
"Back Home Again" (John Denver)
"I'll Be There (If You Ever Want Me)" (Ray Price/Rusty Gabbard)
"Change in the Weather" (John Fogerty)
"Moody River" (Gary Bruce)
"Heaven's Just a Sin Away" (Jerry Gillespie)
"Fallin' Fallin' Fallin'" (D. Deckleman/J. Guillot/J.D. Miller)
"Haunted House" (Robert L.Geddins)
"When Will I Be Loved" (Phil Everly)

Sony bids $50 million for Jackson rehearsal film

LOS ANGELES – Sony Corp.'s movie studio has bid $50 million to acquire the worldwide distribution rights to a film based on rehearsal footage for Michael Jackson's "This Is It" comeback concert series, according to a person familiar with the bid.

The person said Monday that the bid came after several studios, including Paramount, Universal and 20th Century Fox, were shown footage starting early last week. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the bidding had not been completed. None of the studios would comment on the record.

The winning studio would produce the film with Jackson's concert promoter, AEG Live, and his estate. It would go a long way to helping AEG Live recoup some of the $30 million to $32 million it spent producing the concert before Jackson died June 25.

The bidding was reported earlier by the Los Angeles Times and industry blogger Nikki Finke.

Sony Pictures has a leg up on other bidders because Sony Music distributes Jackson's music and is in a 50-50 partnership with his estate in Sony/ATV Music Publishing. Sony's bid is on par with the cost of making a mid-range budget movie, and is offset by the fact that the Sony group of companies would benefit from the music licensing rights attached to the film.

There is also massive interest in Jackson material worldwide. An estimated 31 million viewers in the U.S. alone watched the Jackson memorial service live earlier this month, according to Nielsen Media Research. That's just shy of the 33 million U.S. viewers who watched Princess Diana's funeral.

"This type of a story, if put together right, could be very compelling and draw a very, very wide audience," said Mark Fleischer, an entertainment attorney with Venable LLP and former executive at MGM Studios.

The estate and AEG Live are also negotiating with several television networks and pay-per-view outlets on a TV special that would be a stage show featuring Jackson's music and dancing. It would be directed by "This Is It" director Kenny Ortega.

The selling price being discussed for the rights to show the TV special is also in the tens of millions of dollars.

General Electric Co.'s NBC has been in talks on the TV show, but the concept, air date and cost for the rights has not been finalized, said NBC spokeswoman Rebecca Marks.

"We have no deal for the rights to the Michael Jackson special," Marks said.
The special administrators of Jackson's estate, attorney John Branca and former music executive John McClain, have been moving quickly to secure Jackson's assets and cut deals to capitalize on the surge in interest in the pop star since he died.

Last week, Branca and McClain received signed court papers authorizing them to act on his estate's behalf until another hearing Aug. 3. McClain has been sorting through unreleased Jackson recordings, while Sony Music is interested in releasing a commemorative album. Music sales have soared.

Jackson's 2002 will named Branca and McClain as executors and directs all of his assets to be placed in a trust that will benefit his mother Katherine Jackson, his three children, and unnamed children's charities. The estate is estimated to be worth more than $500 million.

But Katherine Jackson's lawyers on Friday sought a judge's ruling on whether she can challenge the authority of the men without triggering a "no contest" clause in the trust that would cause her to be disinherited.

Beastie Boy Adam Yauch has 'very treatable' cancer

NEW YORK – Beastie Boy Adam Yauch has what is described as a "very treatable" cancerous tumor in his salivary gland.

An announcement came Monday from the group, which is canceling its tour dates and postponing an album release.

A statement says the tumor was found early. It's confined to one area and is considered very treatable.

He will need surgery and other treatment, but the statement says his vocal cords will not be affected.

The 43-year-old Yauch is not only part of the pioneering rap group, but has also emerged as a film producer.

New Pirate Bay owners to introduce fees

One of the world's largest file sharing websites, The Pirate Bay, is going legal through a series of give-and-take payment models that in some cases may even earn its users a bundle of cash, the new owners said Saturday.

"The more you give, the more you get," said Hans Pandeya, chief executive of Swedish software firm Global Gaming Factory X, which announced last month it was buying the site and would start paying both content providers and copyright holders.

The change in ownership was met with skepticism by the file sharing community who feared that, by taking The Pirate Bay legal, its new operators would start charging them for downloading content such as films, music and computer games, which they had previously accessed for free.

In April, four men connected with the site were sentenced to one-year prison terms for abetting violations of copyright law, and ordered to pay a fine totalling 30 million kronor ($4.28 million). At least three of the men claim they haven't owned the site for years.

Pandeya said his company bought the site from a foreign company through lawyers and he doesn't know who the current owners are, but that none of the prosecuted men seemed to be involved.

When the deal was announced, Pirate Bay spokesman and one of defendants, Peter Sunde, said however that he and his associates were pleased with GGF's plans for the site since they felt they couldn't take it any further — lacking both money and resources to do so. Sunde could not be reached for comment Saturday.

Pandeya said The Pirate Bay, whose domain name and related websites were bought by Global Gaming Factory X for 60 million kronor ($8.56 million), will not become like pure pay sites, such as the iTunes Store and Napster.

"For the great majority it will be free of charge, for a minority it will actually make them money, and for a small portion it will cost them," he said.

'File sharers are our best friends,' new owner says

Pandeya said plans are underway to introduce a monthly fee to be able to use The Pirate Bay, but he said the fee could be worked off by, for example, sharing downloaded content or lending storage capacity to others on their PCs in exchange.

"We know that unless we're able to create revenues for the file sharers they'll just move on to the next free site," he said. "File sharers are our best friends."

Pandeya also said other give-and-take packages were in the works, but declined to elaborate, saying more details would be revealed in the next few weeks.

The site, under its new management, is expected to be launched in about a month's time. It will also raise money through advertising and by making network data traffic cheaper and more efficient for internet service providers.

This would be done by making the file sharing more local, allowing users in the same city to be interconnected as opposed to swapping data across multiple borders.

GGF claims the site will fully address the legal issues that troubled it before because income will be distributed between file sharers, copyright holders and others involved.

Pandeya said that although no deals have been struck yet, his company is currently in negotiations with some of "the world's largest players" within the music industry. "It's been positive," he said, declining to name the companies involved in the talks.

Marshmallow 'moon' marks NASA anniversary

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA is celebrating the 40th anniversary of man's first steps on the lunar surface with a giant moon pie.

The concoction of marshmallow squeezed between two round graham crackers and dipped in chocolate is normally made in a hand-sized portion.

NASA's oversized treat will be available a slice at a time to visitors Monday to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Cape Canaveral
The anniversary moon pie is 40 inches in diameter, six inches high and weighs 55 pounds. That includes six pounds of chocolate and 14 pounds of marshmallow.

BBC announces plan to share archives

The BBC has launched a massive program to share its film, audio and document archives with other arts institutions in Britain, marking a new direction for the public broadcaster.

Alan Yentob, the BBC's creative director, announced Saturday the new initiative will provide archival access, historic materials and even technical assistance in collaboration with the Tate art gallery, the British Film Institute and the British Library.

"As an organization we have to make the most of the downturn by responding to it … the BBC has an obligation to share what we have got," he told the Guardian newspaper. Yentob said the corporation was also in talks with the Royal Opera House and the National Theatre.

"I see the BBC as a broker in these times," responded Yentob. "It is the next stage for us. We must make sure culture remains confident in this country."

Yentob's news also has the BBC signing a three-year agreement with the Arts Council of England, which will provide wider access to the arts and support young talent.

The broadcaster is also expanding its collaboration with the British Museum, which is already working with BBC Radio on a 100-part series titled A History of the World in One Hundred Objects, presented by the museum's director, Neil MacGregor.

Yentob's announcement comes only a day after British media had a field day listing the spending practices of BBC executives, including Yentob who was revealed to have spent £1,500 ( $2,700) on a staff Christmas dinner.

Other executives were also exposed, spending hundreds of pounds on sending flowers to talent, lunches with colleagues or actors and presenters, or sending cases of Champagne to television stars.

Report: Abdul's return to 'American Idol' doubtful

NEW YORK – Paula Abdul's new manager says she may not be returning to "American Idol."

According to a Los Angeles Times report, David Sonenberg says he doesn't have a proposal for a new contract for Abdul. He says it doesn't appear she'll be back.

Sonenberg began representing Abdul a few weeks ago.

Auditions for the ninth season of the highly rated Fox talent competition begin next month.

Abdul said recently she'd been invited to remain as an "American Idol" judge and was optimistic about negotiating a new contract.

Earlier this year, Fox entertainment president Kevin Reilly called Abdul "an integral part of the show."

The other "American Idol" judges are Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and newcomer Kara DioGuardi.

'Angela's Ashes' author McCourt dies in NYC at 78

NEW YORK – Frank McCourt, the beloved raconteur and former public school teacher who enjoyed post-retirement fame as the author of "Angela's Ashes," the Pulitzer Prize-winning "epic of woe" about his impoverished Irish childhood, died Sunday of cancer.

McCourt, who was 78, had been gravely ill with meningitis and recently was treated for melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer and the cause of his death, said his publisher, Scribner. He died at a Manhattan hospice, his brother Malachy McCourt said.

Until his mid-60s, Frank McCourt was known primarily around New York as a creative writing teacher and as a local character — the kind who might turn up in a New York novel — singing songs and telling stories with his younger brother Malachy and otherwise joining the crowds at the White Horse Tavern and other literary hangouts.

But there was always a book or two being formed in his mind, and the world would learn his name, and story, in 1996, after a friend helped him get an agent and his then-unfinished manuscript was quickly signed by Scribner. With a first printing of just 25,000, "Angela's Ashes" was an instant favorite with critics and readers and perhaps the ultimate case of the non-celebrity memoir, the extraordinary life of an ordinary man.

"F. Scott Fitzgerald said there are no second acts in American lives. I think I've proven him wrong," McCourt later explained. "And all because I refused to settle for a one-act existence, the 30 years I taught English in various New York City high schools."

The book has been published in 25 languages and 30 countries.

McCourt, a native of New York, was good company in the classroom and at the bar, but few had such a burden to unload. His parents were so poor that they returned to their native Ireland when he was little and settled in the slums of Limerick. Simply surviving his childhood was a tale; McCourt's father was an alcoholic who drank up the little money his family had. Three of McCourt's seven siblings died, and he nearly perished from typhoid fever.

"Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood," was McCourt's unforgettable opening. "People everywhere brag and whimper about the woes of their early years, but nothing can compare with the Irish version: the poverty, the shiftless loquacious father; the pious defeated mother moaning by the fire; pompous priests, bullying schoolmasters; the English and all the terrible things they did to us for 800 long years."

The book was a long Irish wake, "an epic of woe," McCourt called it, finding laughter and lyricism in life's very worst. Although some in Ireland complained that McCourt had revealed too much (and revealed a little too well), "Angela's Ashes" became a million seller, won the Pulitzer and was made into a movie of the same name, starring Emily Watson as the title character, McCourt's mother.
Author Peter Matthiessen, who became friendly with McCourt after "Angela's Ashes" came out, said he was "stunned" when he read it.

"I remember thinking, 'Where did this guy come from?" Matthiessen said. "His book was so good, and it came out of nowhere."

The white-haired, sad-eyed, always quotable McCourt, his Irish accent still thick despite decades in the U.S., became a regular at parties, readings, conferences and other gatherings, so much the eager late-life celebrity that he later compared himself to a "dancing clown, available to everybody." His friend and fellow memoirist Mary Karr once kidded him that her idea of a rare book was an unsigned copy of "Angela's Ashes."

McCourt told The Associated Press in 2005 he wasn't prepared for fame.

"After teaching, I was getting all this attention," he said. "They actually looked at me — people I had known for years — and they were friendly and they looked me in a different way. And I was thinking, `All those years I was a teacher, why didn't you look at me like that then?'"

But the part of it he liked best, he said, was hearing "from all those kids who were in my classes."

"At least they knew that when I talked about writing I wasn't just talking through my hat," he said.

Much of his teaching was spent in the English department at the elite Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan, where he defied the advice of his colleagues and shared his personal stories with the class; he slapped a student with a magazine and took on another known to have a black belt in karate.

After "Angela's Ashes," McCourt continued his story, to strong but diminished sales and reviews, in "'Tis," which told of his return to New York in the 1940s, and in "Teacher Man." McCourt also wrote a children's story, "Angela and the Baby Jesus," released in 2007.

More than 10 million copies of his books have been sold in North America alone, said Scribner, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Inc.

"We have been privileged to publish his books, which have touched, and will continue to touch, millions of readers in myriad positive and meaningful ways," Simon & Schuster CEO Carolyn Reidy said in a statement.

McCourt was married twice and had a daughter, Maggie McCourt, from his first marriage.

His brother Malachy McCourt is an actor, commentator and singer who wrote two memoirs and, in 2006, ran for New York governor as the Green Party candidate. At least one of his former students, Susan Gilman, became a writer.

McCourt will be cremated, his brother said. A memorial service is planned for September.

'Potter' conjures up $159.7 million in 5 days

LOS ANGELES – Harry Potter continues to work box-office alchemy, turning his latest movie adventure into an overnight blockbuster. The sixth installment, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," took in $79.5 million domestically over opening weekend and $159.7 million since debuting last Wednesday, according to estimates from distributor Warner Bros. on Sunday.

With some of the best reviews of any "Harry Potter" movie, "Half-Blood Prince" was off to the fastest overall start in franchise history.

The sixth movie about the young wizard came in $20 million ahead of the last movie, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," which grossed $139.7 million in its first five days two years ago.

The new film had the second-highest start ever for a movie premiering on Wednesday, trailing the $200 million five-day opening for last month's "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen."

"Half-Blood Prince" already has surpassed the $157.3 million "Order of the Phoenix" pulled in during its entire first week. By the end of its seventh day Tuesday, "Half-Blood Prince" will be in the $180 million range on its way to becoming the franchise's first $300 million domestic smash since the original movie, 2001's "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," said Dan Fellman, Warner head of distribution.

The audience was a bit older for the new movie, with more elder teens turning out to see Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) and pals Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint) as they deal with adult concerns such as heartache, jealousy and romantic triangles.

Fans have grown up with the franchise, from young readers whose parents had to debate whether the early movies might be too intense for their children to see.

"When the first movie came out, they fought to go. The mother was like, well, should I take them, should I not take them?" Fellman said. "Now they're driving themselves to this and going to the midnight show."

Sacha Baron Cohen's mock documentary "Bruno" plummeted after its No. 1 debut the previous weekend. The Universal Pictures comedy fell to fourth-place with $8.4 million, down a whopping 73 percent from its $30.6 million opening.

Crowd-pleasing movies typically dip 50 percent or less in their second weekends. But "Bruno" has had mixed reviews and failed to earn the audience buzz that made a $128 million hit out of Baron Cohen's 2006 comedy "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan."

After 10 days in release, "Bruno" has climbed to $49.6 million and will finish far below $100 million domestically.

While "Harry Potter" had a healthy start, the overall box office plunged compared to the same weekend last year, when the Batman juggernaut "The Dark Knight" had its record opening weekend of $158.4 million.

The top-12 movies this weekend combined for less than that, taking in $153.9 million, down 39 percent from a year ago.

"We got kind of slaughtered even with the 'Potter' movie, but we knew that was going to happen," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. "When one movie last year makes more than what the top-12 movies did this year, you're going to have a down weekend."

Fox Searchlight's romantic comedy "500 Days of Summer," starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel, got off to a big start in limited release with $837,588 in 27 theaters. That amounted to an average of $31,022 a cinema, compared to $18,376 in 4,325 theaters for "Half-Blood Prince."

A hit with critics, "500 Days of Summer" expands gradually into wide release over the next few weekends.

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

1. "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," $79.5 million.
2. "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs," $17.7 million.
3. "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," $13.8 million.
4. "Bruno," $8.4 million.
5. "The Hangover," $8.32 million.
6. "The Proposal," $8.3 million.
7. "Public Enemies," $7.6 million.
8. "Up," $3.1 million.
9. "My Sister's Keeper," $2.8 million.
10. "I Love You, Beth Cooper," $2.7 million.

Legendary CBS anchor Walter Cronkite dies at 92

NEW YORK – Walter Cronkite, the premier TV anchorman of the networks' golden age who reported a tumultuous time with reassuring authority and came to be called "the most trusted man in America," died Friday. He was 92.

Cronkite's longtime chief of staff, Marlene Adler, said Cronkite died at 7:42 p.m. at his Manhattan home surrounded by family. She said the cause of death was cerebral vascular disease.

Adler said, "I have to go now" before breaking down into what sounded like a sob. She said she had no further comment.

Cronkite was the face of the "CBS Evening News" from 1962 to 1981, when stories ranged from the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to racial and anti-war riots, Watergate and the Iranian hostage crisis.

It was Cronkite who read the bulletins coming from Dallas when Kennedy was shot Nov. 22, 1963, interrupting a live CBS-TV broadcast of the soap opera "As the World Turns."

Cronkite was the broadcaster to whom the title "anchorman" was first applied, and he came so identified in that role that eventually his own name became the term for the job in other languages. (Swedish anchors are known as Kronkiters; In Holland, they are Cronkiters.)

"He was a great broadcaster and a gentleman whose experience, honesty, professionalism and style defined the role of anchor and commentator," CBS Corp. chief executive Leslie Moonves said in a statement.

CBS has scheduled a prime-time special, "That's the Way it Was: Remembering Walter Cronkite," for 7 p.m. Sunday.

His 1968 editorial declaring the United States was "mired in stalemate" in Vietnam was seen by some as a turning point in U.S. opinion of the war. He also helped broker the 1977 invitation that took Egyptian President Anwar Sadat to Jerusalem, the breakthrough to Egypt's peace treaty with Israel.

He followed the 1960s space race with open fascination, anchoring marathon broadcasts of major flights from the first suborbital shot to the first moon landing, exclaiming, "Look at those pictures, wow!" as Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon's surface in 1969. In 1998, for CNN, he went back to Cape Canaveral to cover John Glenn's return to space after 36 years.

"It is impossible to imagine CBS News, journalism or indeed America without Walter Cronkite," CBS News president Sean McManus said in a statement. "More than just the best and most trusted anchor in history, he guided America through our crises, tragedies and also our victories and greatest moments."

He had been scheduled to speak last January for the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala., but ill health prevented his appearance.

A former wire service reporter and war correspondent, he valued accuracy, objectivity and understated compassion. He expressed liberal views in more recent writings but said he had always aimed to be fair and professional in his judgments on the air.

Off camera, his stamina and admittedly demanding ways brought him the nickname "Old Ironpants." But to viewers, he was "Uncle Walter," with his jowls and grainy baritone, his warm, direct expression and his trim mustache.

When he summed up the news each evening by stating, "And THAT's the way it is," millions agreed. His reputation survived accusations of bias by Richard Nixon's vice president, Spiro Agnew, and being labeled a "pinko" in the tirades of a fictional icon, Archie Bunker of CBS's "All in the Family."

Two polls pronounced Cronkite the "most trusted man in America": a 1972 "trust index" survey in which he finished No. 1, about 15 points higher than leading politicians, and a 1974 survey in which people chose him as the most trusted television newscaster.

"He was the most trusted man in America and he was a reporter. Imagine. Who could we say that about today?" said Jeff Fager, executive producer of "60 Minutes," who began working at CBS News the year Cronkite stepped down from the anchor job.

Like fellow Midwesterner Johnny Carson, Cronkite seemed to embody the nation's mainstream. When he broke down as he announced Kennedy's death, removing his glasses and fighting back tears, the times seemed to break down with him.

And when Cronkite took sides, he helped shape the times. After the 1968 Tet offensive, he visited Vietnam and wrote and narrated a "speculative, personal" report advocating negotiations leading to the withdrawal of American troops.

"We have been too often disappointed by the optimism of the American leaders, both in Vietnam and Washington, to have faith any longer in the silver linings they find in the darkest clouds," he said, and concluded, "We are mired in stalemate."

After the broadcast, President Johnson reportedly said, "If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost middle America."

In the fall of 1972, responding to reports in The Washington Post, Cronkite aired a two-part series on Watergate that helped ensure national attention to the then-emerging scandal.

"When the news is bad, Walter hurts," the late CBS president Fred Friendly once said. "When the news embarrasses America, Walter is embarrassed. When the news is humorous, Walter smiles with understanding."

More recently, in a syndicated column, Cronkite defended the liberal record of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry and criticized the Iraq war and other Bush administration policies.

But when asked by CNN's Larry King if that column was evidence of media bias, Cronkite set forth the distinction between opinion and reporting. "We all have prejudices," he said of his fellow journalists, "but we also understand how to set them aside when we do the job."

Cronkite was the top newsman during the peak era for the networks, when the nightly broadcasts grew to a half-hour and 24-hour cable and the Internet were still well in the future.

As many as 18 million households tuned in to Cronkite's top-rated program each evening. Twice that number watched his final show, on March 6, 1981, compared with fewer than 10 million in 2005 for the departure of Dan Rather, Cronkite's successor.

A vigorous 64 years old, Cronkite had stepped down with the assurance that other duties awaited him at CBS News, but found little demand there for his services. He hosted the shortlived science magazine series "Walter Cronkite's Universe" and was retained by the network as a consultant, although, as he was known to state wistfully, he was never consulted.

He also sailed his beloved boat, the Wyntje, hosted or narrated specials on public and cable TV, and issued his columns and the best-selling "Walter Cronkite: A Reporter's Life."

For 24 years he served as on-site host for New Year's Day telecasts by the Vienna Philharmonic, ending that cherished tradition only in 2009.

After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Cronkite was selected to introduce the postponed Emmy awards show. He told the audience that in its coverage of the attack and its aftermath, "television, the great common denominator, has lifted our common vision as never before."

Cronkite joined CBS in 1950, after a decade with United Press, during which he covered World War II and the Nuremberg trials, and a brief stint with a regional radio group.

At CBS he found a respected radio-news organization dipping its toe into TV, and it put him in front of the camera. He was named anchor for CBS's coverage of the 1952 political conventions, the first year the presidential nominations got wide TV coverage. From there, he was assigned to such news-oriented programs as "You Are There" and "Twentieth Century." (He also briefly hosted a morning show, accompanied by a puppet named Charlemagne the Lion.)

On April 16, 1962, he replaced Douglas Edwards as anchor of the network's "Evening News."

"I never asked them why," Cronkite recalled in a 2006 TV portrait. "I was so pleased to get the job, I didn't want to endanger it by suggesting that I didn't know why I had it."

He was up against the NBC team of Chet Huntley and David Brinkley, which was solidly ahead in the ratings. Cronkite lacked Brinkley's wry wit and Huntley's rugged good looks, but he established himself as an anchorman to whom people could relate.

His rise to the top was interrupted just once: In 1964, disappointing ratings for the Republican National Convention led CBS boss William S. Paley to dump him as anchor of the Democratic gathering. Critics and viewers protested and he was never displaced again.

Cronkite won numerous Emmys and other awards for excellence in news coverage. In 1978, he and the evening news were the first anchorman and daily broadcast ever given a DuPont award. Other honors included the 1974 Gold Medal of the International Radio and Television Society, a 1974 George Polk journalism award and the 1969 William Allen White Award for Journalistic Merit, the first ever to a broadcaster.

His salary reportedly reaching seven figures, he was both anchorman and star — interviewed by Playboy, ham enough to appear as himself on an episode of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." But Cronkite repeatedly condemned television practices that put entertainment values ahead of news judgment.

"Broadcast journalism is never going to substitute for print," he said. "We cannot cover in depth in a half hour many of the stories required to get a good understanding of the world."

The evening news program expanded from 15 minutes to half an hour in September 1963, 17 months after Cronkite took over, but it never got to the full hour he said he needed to do a proper job.

Cronkite denied rumors that he had been forced out by Rather, but chastised him upon his 2005 departure as anchor in the wake of a disputed "60 Minutes" story about President Bush's military service.

"Dan gave the impression of playing a role, more than simply trying to deliver the news to the audience," Cronkite said. He apparently felt more warmly about Katie Couric, providing a voiceover to introduce the former "Today" show host when she debuted as the CBS anchor in 2006.

Walter Leland Cronkite Jr. was born Nov. 4, 1916, in St. Joseph, Mo., the son and grandson of dentists. The family moved to Houston when he was 10. He joked years later that he was disappointed when he "didn't see a single damn cowboy."

He got a taste of journalism at The Houston Post, where he worked summers after high school and served as campus correspondent at the University of Texas. He also did some sports announcing at a local radio station.

Cronkite quit school after his junior year for a full-time job with the Houston Press. After a brief stint at KCMO in Kansas City, Mo., he joined United Press in 1937. Dispatched to London early in World War II, Cronkite covered the battle of the North Atlantic, flew on a bombing mission over Germany and glided into Holland with the 101st Airborne Division. He was a chief correspondent at the postwar Nuremberg trials and spent his final two years with the news service managing its Moscow bureau.

Cronkite returned to the United States in 1948 and covered Washington for a group of Midwest radio stations. He then accepted Edward R. Murrow's invitation to join CBS in 1950.

In 1940, Cronkite married Mary Elizabeth "Betsy" Maxwell, whom he had met when they both worked at KCMO. They had three children, Nancy, Mary Kathleen and Walter Leland III. Betsy Cronkite died in 2005.

In his book, he paid tribute to her "extraordinarily keen sense of humor, which saw us over many bumps (mostly of my making), and her tolerance, even support, for the uncertain schedule and wanderings of a newsman."

Crowe considering new Master & Commander movie

LONDON – Russell Crowe is in the early stages of negotiations to reprise the role of Jack Aubrey as a British sea captain in a new movie version from the Master & Commander series of novels.

Crowe told The Associated Press on Friday that a script based mostly on the eleventh novel of Patrick O'Brian's 20-novel series, The Reverse of the Medal, had been written, but that discussions were at a very early stage.

"There's still a long way to go," the New Zealand-born actor told AP at a cricket match between England and Australia in London. He said talks had been taking place with the owner of the rights to the novels.

The 44-year-old Crowe, who won a best actor Oscar for his starring role in Gladiator, is a keen cricket fan. His two cousins, Jeff and Martin, are former captains of the New Zealand national team. Jeff is now a senior cricket official and is in charge of the team of officials at the England-Australia match.

The AubreyMaturin novels consists of 20 books and one partly written before his death in 2000 by O'Brian, all set during the Napoleonic Wars.

The 2003 movie Master and Commander took material from several of the novels. The Reverse of the Medal, published in 1986, sees Aubrey in the Caribbean in his ship HMS Surprise, where he meets his illegitimate son Samuel Panda, a Catholic priest born from an illicit liaison.

Crowe gave no indication of when filming could start but said it was one of a number of projects he is considering.

Jorja Fox returning to CBS' `CSI' as Sara Sidle

LOS ANGELES – Sara Sidle is coming back to "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation."
Actress Jorja Fox, who left the CBS crime drama as a regular two years ago, will return as Sara for the 10th-season debut and other episodes, CBS said Friday.

"We're thrilled for Jorja's return to `CSI,'" said executive producer Carol Mendelsohn, adding that viewers will "discover where life has taken Sara Sidle and what brings her back to the `CSI' team in Las Vegas in our premiere episode."

The show returns Sept. 24.

Fox, part of "CSI" since the show started, left during its eighth year. She was seen briefly last season, including one episode in which her character reunited with ex-colleague and romantic interest Gil Grissom, played by William Petersen.

Petersen left the series last season, with Laurence Fishburne joining the cast. CBS didn't say whether Petersen might drop back in next season along with Fox.

NASA restores moon landing video

With the help of Hollywood, those historic, grainy images of the first men on the moon never looked better.

NASA unveiled refurbished video Thursday of the July 20, 1969, moonwalk restored by the same company that sharpened the movie Casablanca.

NASA lost its original moon landing videotapes and after a three-year search, officials have concluded they were probably erased. That original live video was ghostlike and grainy.

NASA and a Hollywood film restoration company took television video copies of what Apollo 11 beamed to Earth 40 years ago and made the pictures look sharper.

NASA emphasized the video isn't "new" — just better quality.

"There's nothing being created; there's nothing being manufactured," said NASA senior engineer Dick Nafzger, who's in charge of the project.

But some details seem new because of the sharpness.

Original tapes likely erased

Originally, Armstrong's face visor was too fuzzy to be seen clearly. The refurbished video shows his visor and a reflection in it.

The $230,000 US refurbishing effort is only three weeks into a months-long project, and only 40 per cent of the work has been done.

But it does show improvements in four snippets: Armstrong walking down the ladder, which includes the face visor image; Buzz Aldrin walking down the ladder; the two astronauts reading a plaque they left on the moon; and the planting of the flag on the moon.

The original videos beamed to Earth were stored on giant reels of tapes that each contained 15 minutes of video, along with 13 other channels of live data from the moon. In the 1970s and 1980s, NASA had a shortage of the tapes and erased about 200,000 tapes and reused them. That's apparently what happened to the famous moon landing footage.

Nafzger praised the restored work for its crispness. The restoration company, Lowry Digital of Burbank, Calif., also refurbished Star Wars and James Bond films, along with Casablanca.

The company noted that the latter film had a pixel count 10 times higher than the moon video, meaning the moon footage was fuzzier than that vintage movie and more of a challenge.

Lowry president Mike Inchalik said of all the video the company has dealt with, "This is by far and away the lowest quality."

Big Letterman win in late-night

NEW YORK – There could be a new king emerging in late-night television.
David Letterman's CBS "Late Show" whipped NBC's "Tonight" show in the ratings last week by nearly 800,000 viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research. Letterman generally lost to "Tonight" when Jay Leno was the host, and he hasn't had this big a victory margin since returning from heart surgery in 2000.

A late-night generation gap also appears to be emerging: the median age of O'Brien's audience last week was more than 10 years younger than Letterman's. NBC says that's good news, since advertisers pay a premium to reach youthful audiences.

In the 18-to-49-year-old age demographic for which NBC sells advertising, O'Brien won each night last week, NBC said.

Still, Letterman has won two of the last three weeks among all viewers during which both men competed with original programming. And the "Late Show" received another boost Wednesday with an attention-getting appearance by Paul McCartney.

"We feel we've got the momentum going for us right now and we feel very confident," said David Poltrack, CBS' chief researcher.

He said network executives had privately been hoping that Letterman could gain ground against O'Brien and be able to take over first place in the fall. The situation is still fluid, but changes seems to be happening faster than they expected, Poltrack said.

Significant numbers of the traditional late-night audience have made the switch, even though O'Brien continues to be very popular with young viewers who liked him when he was on a later time slot.

Last week Letterman averaged 3.68 million viewers, compared to O'Brien's 2.82 million, Nielsen said.

'30 Rock' leads Emmy nominations with 22 bids

LOS ANGELES – Tina Fey's satire-rich sitcom, "30 Rock," received a leading 22 Emmy Award nominations Thursday, while the '60s retro series, "Mad Men," led the drama pack with 16 bids.

The shows were honored last year as best comedy and drama and have a chance to repeat the performance at September's awards.

The TV movies "Grey Gardens," with 17 nominations, and "Into the Storm," with 14 nods, were among the front-runners. Chandra Wilson of "Grey Anatomy's" and Jim Parsons of "The Big Bang Theory" helped make the announcement at the TV academy's theater — and both proved to be among the lucky.

"No! ... This is some sort of trick fest," said Parsons, when his nomination for lead actor in a comedy series for the CBS show was announced.

"I'm going to the party" was Wilson's response to her bid for outstanding lead actress in a miniseries or movie for "Accidental Friendship." She was also nominated for outstanding supporting actress in a drama series for "Grey's Anatomy."

The number of contenders in series and acting categories were expanded this year, which may have allowed room for some unexpected bids, including a rare best-comedy series nomination for an animated series, "Family Guy."

The series fields are especially crowded, with seven contenders in both drama and comedy categories. Joining "Mad Men" are fellow cable dramas "Big Love," "Breaking Bad," "Damages" and "Dexter." Two network dramas, "House" and "Lost," also made the cut.

Among comedies, the nominees besides "30 Rock" and "Family Guy" include other network series "How I Met Your Mother" and "The Office." Cable contenders include "Entourage," "Flight of the Conchords" and "Weeds."

In announcing that the traditional five nominees would grow to six in top categories, the TV academy noted that a tie could expand the field even more.

Affection was scarce for series that came to an end last season, including long-running medical drama "ER," "Boston Legal" and "Battlestar Galactica." There was a scattering of nominations among them, but nothing in the marquee categories of acting or best series. Another just-ended series, "The Shield," was shut out.

Vampire saga "True Blood" and its star Anna Paquin, who won a Golden Globe earlier this year, were shut out of the major categories.

Fey, the executive producer as well as star of "30 Rock," had a chance to repeat as lead actress in a comedy series. Other contenders in the category are Christina Applegate for the canceled "Samantha Who?", Toni Collette for "United States of Tara," Julia Louis-Dreyfus for "The New Adventures of Old Christine," Mary-Louise Parker for "Weeds" and Sarah Silverman for "The Sarah Silverman Program."

Joining last year's winner Alec Baldwin of "30 Rock" and Parsons in the comedy category for lead actor is Steve Carell of "The Office," Jemaine Clement of "Flight of the Conchords," Tony Shalhoub of "Monk" and Charlie Sheen of "Two and a Half Men."

Bridget Jones 3 Is Happening For Some Reason

Back in 2008 when asked about the possibility of a third Bridget Jones movie Renee Zellweger had this to say: “It rather depends on there being another book, of course.” She was wrong. There’s not another book but there will be a third movie.

Variety says Working Title is developing an as of yet untitled third entry in the Bridget Jones series. Renee Zellweger is of course, set to star. Since there’s not another book to adapt they’ll likely mine more material from the newspaper columns of Helen Fielding, which were originally put together into the first book which of course, they made into the first movie. It’s sort of like a snake eating it’s own tail.

This time they’ll take the 2005 edition of Fielding’s columns in which, of course, Bridget tries to have a baby even though she’s much too old to have one. That’s really all there is for women on film, they’re either chasing men, losing weight, or bitching about their empty wombs. Really after the tepid reception of Bridget Jones 2 you’d think they’d have given up on this thing. The first movie was cute but one was more than enough.

Leonard Cohen's heard enough of Hallelujah

If Leonard Cohen gets his wish, other people will stop singing this song.

In an interview with the CBC, Cohen called for a temporary moratorium on new versions of his song Hallelujah.

Cohen said he read a review of the movie Watchmen and the reviewer asked for a moratorium on Hallelujah in movies and TV shows.

He said he feels the same way.

"I think it's a good song, but too many people sing it," he said.

The Montreal poet and songwriter admits he is pleased to see the song take on new life — so many years after he recorded the original version.

Hallelujah was part of the album Various Positions that was rejected by his label, Sony.

The song has been sung by Jeff Buckley, k.d. lang, Rufus Wainwright and recently by X Factor and American Idol contestants.

The version of the song featured in Watchmen is Cohen's own.

Recession hits Toronto film festival, filmmakers

TORONTO (Reuters) – The effects of the global recession are forcing big cutbacks in the world of film and could also hamper independent filmmaking for years to come, organizers of the Toronto International Film Festival said on Tuesday.

Festival chief executive Piers Handling said sponsorship funding is down from previous years, meaning cuts to travel and entertainment budgets.

"We've actually had to make some very, very hard decisions, some very difficult decisions," Handling told a news conference announcing some of the top movies.

"We literally looked at every single part of the organization, every facet, and we tried to squeeze every single piece of money."

But Handling said the stars will still show up at the premiere-studded 10-day event, which starts on September 10, and the internal cuts would likely not be obvious to audiences.

He hoped the same number of international stars and filmmakers would attend.

Last year, more than 500 stars and special guests attended the festival, which showed over 300 features and short films.

The organizers broke with tradition this year, picking a British film to open the festival, rather than a Canadian selection.

"Creation" tells of Charles Darwin and his struggle to bring the idea of evolution into a world still rooted in faith. It stars real-life husband and wife Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly as Mr. and Mrs. Darwin, and pits them on opposite sides of the divide between reason and faith.

"We fell in love with this movie and this is the one we felt really sets the tone for the conversations we hope will happen around the films at the festival," said festival co-director Cameron Bailey.

The films showing this year were in production before the global recession hit and the organizers had plenty to choose from. But Handling said that is about to change as funding dries up for mid-sized productions in the $5 million to $30 million range.

"It's those smaller, more personal works by filmmakers in mid-career ... established film makers. They are having a tough time right now funding their projects for next year," he told Reuters.

The recession is not hitting blockbuster movies and low budget works as hard, he said.

Fate of 'Corner Gas' site up in the air

REGINA - The Saskatchewan government is wading into the discussion over the future of the set of the hit TV show "Corner Gas."

Tourism Minister Dustin Duncan says a meeting is to be held next Tuesday to talk about the potential development of the site in Rouleau, Sask. - the town that stood in for the fictional community of Dog River.

Rouleau officials say the exterior set for the show's filling station is falling into disrepair since production ended last fall and tourists are disgusted.

But the show's producers say the filling station was designed as a set, not as a tourist destination, and it would be expensive to renovate.

Duncan, who visited the "Corner Gas" set as a tourist, says there's a lot of interest in the site and pride in the show.

The minister says it's early, but he hopes a compromise can be reached that would satisfy the community, the production company and Tourism Saskatchewan.

Courteney Cox, David Arquette 'Scream' for more

We were pretty sure Courteney Cox had a career.

Husband David Arquette has confirmed he and Cox are signed on for a fourth installment in the "Scream" horror series.

"We are going to be doing 'Scream 4,'" Arquette told E! Online. "Kevin Williamson is writing the script at this moment, and hopefully Wes Craven is going to direct."

Arquette and Cox met and fell in love on the set of the first three films, where he played a bumbling deputy and she played a scoop-hungry television reporter.

The movies featured Neve Campbell running from various murderous types; the first movie was notable for killing off Drew Barrymore in its opening moments.

Campbell has (smartly) declined to return to the series.

Cox, meanwhile, can be seen this fall on ABC's "Cougar Town."

Some final words coming from George Carlin

NEW YORK – Some final thoughts are coming from George Carlin.

Free Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, said Tuesday that the comedian's book "Last Words" will be published in November.

Carlin died in June 2008 at age 71 and worked on the book for the last decade of his life. He collaborated on it with author and humorist Tony Hendra.

Hendra is best known for the memoir "Father Joe."

Carlin's other books included "Brain Droppings" and "Napalm and Silly Putty."

Russell Brand returns to host the VMAs

NEW YORK – MTV liked Russell Brand so much, they called him back for more.
The British comedian-actor — known for his deadpan, off-kilter humor — will host the Video Music Awards for the second year in a row, MTV announced Tuesday.

Brand, 34, says he feels "invigorated" to return as master of ceremonies for the live event, which will be held in New York on Sept. 13.

"It's very bracing, like stepping into a warm — no, a cool — powerful ocean," he said, poetically.

Brand, whose film roles include a scene-stealing role as a rock star in "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," famously mocked the Jonas Brothers' purity rings at last year's show in Los Angeles.

"I'm gonna personally invite them because I love those boys," he quipped, noting "there will be some controversy" this time around.

The telecast will be staged at different venues, including Radio City Music Hall, where the VMAs were broadcast in 2006. MTV said country superstar Taylor Swift will perform; the nominees and other performers will be announced later.

"There's gonna be huge performances all over New York City," Brand said. "On Brooklyn Bridge, there will be a performance. You know that spike on top of the Empire State Building? Someone is gonna perform on top of that. ... Its gonna be mind-blowing ... get ready. I don't know if you're wearing a hat, but if you are, you should hold on to it."

Natalie Portman Abandons Art House, Thunders to Thor

Los Angeles (E! Online) – Natalie Portman is nothing if not an equal-opportunity fanboy pleaser.

Both comic-book nerds and summer blockbuster connoisseurs have reason to rejoice today, as the actress—not one typically associated with the grand tradition of green screen, save for her reign as Queen Amidala in Star Wars and surprisingly flattering foray into head shaving in V for Vendetta—has formally signed on to star as the requisite damsel-in-distress love interest in Marvel Studios' upcoming Thor.

Portman will play Jane Foster, the nurse who develops romantic feelings for the Norse god of thunder's earthbound alter ego, Donald Blake. Aussie star Chris Hemsworth, who recently honed his action-star skills as James Kirk the elder, will play the titular superhero.

The film is due out May 20, 2011.

Michael Jackson concert merchandise for sale

LOS ANGELES – Michael Jackson's comeback concerts will never happen, but you can still get the T-shirt.

Merchandise from Jackson's "This Is It" tour, which was scheduled to begin Monday in London, will be available online and at retailers across the United States.

Jackson helped design the concert T-shirts and other show souvenirs, said Peter LoFrumento, a spokesman for the merchandising company, Bravado.

"Michael was very adamant about not just doing T-shirts and posters and key chains," he said. "He wanted to do something special and make it really innovative and different, things that were functional and fun and that his fans would like."

Among the items for sale: T-shirts commemorating the first and second nights of the concerts at London's O2 arena, belt buckles, caps, sunglasses and mugs. A varsity jacket modeled after the one Jackson wore in the "Thriller" video will also be available.

Jackson died June 25 in Los Angeles while preparing for the 50-date concert tour.

On the Radio: Casey Kasem made the top 40 really count

Casey Kasem wasn't on the radio for quite as long as Paul Harvey. But when Kasem didn't have a new countdown show on the radio this weekend, for the first time since 1970, it felt almost as strange as it felt when Harvey died.

Casey Kasem is still alive, happily. He turned 77 in April. But he has stepped away from his two remaining countdown shows - "American Top 20" and "American Top 10" - to "pursue other projects."

That familiar phrase doesn't completely explain why the countdowns ended. As Tom Taylor noted in the newsletter T-R-I, Kasem always seemed like Harvey in the sense that you didn't imagine him ever voluntarily stepping down.

"He still sounds great," says Rob Durkee, author of the 1999 book "American Top 40: Countdown of the Century" (Schirmer). "His voice is as good as ever."

Durkee, who has stayed in periodic touch with Kasem, says he doesn't have any inside information on why the shows ended. But he notes that radio, like all media, has an inevitable pull toward youth.

Kasem's own career underscores that evolution. Seventeen years ago, in 1992, he began supplementing his long-running top-40 pop countdown with the two "adult contemporary" countdowns.

"With those shows, he could keep appealing to the older audience that had grown up with him," says Durkee.

When Kasem turned over the top-40 countdown to Ryan Seacrest in 2004, says Durkee, "that was a natural transition. The younger audience that listens to top 40 could all relate to Seacrest because of 'American Idol.'"

By the way, Durkee doesn't hear much of Kasem when he listens to Seacrest. "I hear a lot of Casey in Bob Kingsley, but not much in Ryan," he says. "Ryan's a great air talent, he just has a different style."

But then, he adds, so does almost everyone.

"Casey was one in a trillion," says Durkee. "What made him so great was the way he talked to the listeners. When he told a story, you'd swear he was sitting right next to you. It takes years to understand how to do that, and no one does it like Casey."

The one thing Kasem couldn't do, however, was make himself 30 again. So although his '70s and '80s shows continue in syndication, last weekend he quietly stepped away.

At the end, he talked briefly about his radio years, played "Thank You for Being a Friend" by Andrew Gold, and told everyone "to keep reaching for the stars."

Neil Patrick Harris to host CBS' Emmycast

NEW YORK – Neil Patrick Harris, who won critical acclaim hosting last month's Tonys, will fill the same role for the prime-time Emmys.

He had been rumored for more than a week to have the job. CBS made it official Monday.

"After having had such a hoot hosting the Tonys, I was thrilled to get the call about the prime-time Emmys," said Harris, adding that he looks forward to "adding my own voice" to the ceremony: "But which voice to choose? I'm torn between gangsta, foppish Brit, and robot. Really proud of my robot. We'll see what happens on the night."

Harris, 36, will also serve as a producer for the CBS broadcast, which will air live Sept. 20 from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles.

Harris, who begins his fifth season on the CBS comedy "How I Met Your Mother" in the fall, has landed a Golden Globe nomination and two Emmy nominations in his role as womanizing Barney Stinson.

He has appeared on Broadway in "Cabaret" and "Proof," and won a Web following in Joss Whedon's zany "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog." He first gained stardom in the title role of the ABC comedy "Doogie Howser, M.D." (1989-1993), playing a genius teenage doctor.

Penguin to release last Green Gables book in its entirety

Penguin Canada says it will publish the final volume of the Anne of Green Gables series in its entirety for the first time ever.

The Blythes Are Quoted was slated to be the ninth title in Lucy Maud Montgomery's popular series about head-strong orphan Anne Shirley, but it was never published during the author's lifetime.

A shortened version of the book — which left out about 100 pages of poems, short stories and vignettes — was published in 1974.

Now, Penguin says it will release the entire book this October, which will feature 15 short stories about Anne, as well as poems that Montgomery concocted "by" the heroine and her son Walter, who dies during the First World War.

Penguin said the book, set before and after the war, has Montgomery "experimenting with storytelling methods in ways she had never attempted before."

Montgomery, who died in 1942, blends dialogue, prose and poetry in the book.

According to the announcement, The Blythes Are Quoted could surprise a few Anne fans with its dark themes of "adultery, illegitimacy, misogyny, revenge, murder, despair, bitterness, hatred, and death — usually not the first terms associated with L.M. Montgomery."

The Anne of Green Gables series of books hit its 100-year anniversary in 2008. The original book, first published in June 1908, has since been translated into 33 languages.

A prequel — Before Green Gables by Budge Wilson — was published last year with the consent of Montgomery's heirs.

There have been two movies for the big screen, six for television and three TV series. The Charlottetown Festival's stage version of the story is the longest-running musical in Canadian history.

Spinal Tap visits Stonehenge

Fans of metal mockers Spinal Tap will be thrilled to hear the band members visited the ancient site of Stonehenge recently after performing at Britain's Glastonbury music festival.

News of the surreal visit comes courtesy of Canadian band Metric. Singer Emily Haines posted news and photos of the art-meets-life-meets-art happening on Metric's blog.

In the 1984 mockumentary, This is Spinal Tap, band members — played by actors Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer and Michael McKean — create a bizarre tribute to Stonehenge in their act, complete with a tiny reproduction of the prehistoric site along with dancing dwarves.

The film has since become global cult hit and resulted in a reunification of the mock band for a real tour this year.

Haines says she and her band wanted to see the monument but were disappointed when they discovered the entrance was closed.

"We were staring at the stones through the fence and halfheartedly watching various generic families wander toward their cars when [drummer Joules Scott-Key] said the words we will remember forever: 'Um, guys, that's … Spinal Tap!" wrote the singer.

"We descended upon them immediately."

Band members only managed to catch up with Shearer, who obliged for a photo op.

"The best part is, it was Spinal Tap's first trip to Stonehenge as well," Haines notes.

"According to Shearer, they were just making their way back to London when they spotted the source of their most memorable joke in in the distance and decided, 'This would be the time to see the full-scale version."

Mel Gibson To Star In Jodie Foster’s ‘Beaver’

Fifteen years ago Mel Gibson and Jodie Foster starred together in Maverick. Now the pair are set to reunite in The Beaver.

It is believed that Foster will also direct the quirky drama that is expected to shoot this Fall in New York.

According to Variety:

“Gibson will play a depressed man who finds solace in wearing a beaver hand-puppet. On top of helming, Foster will play the role of the man’s wife.

The budget for the film is $18-19 million, which is pretty economical when you consider that Gibson and Foster could conceivably each ask for that kind of salary when making a studio blockbuster. Financing for the film isn’t in place yet; it could be made independently or shopped to a studio now that the two A-listers are attached.

The much-lauded script by Kyle Killen has been included on “the black list” (a list of Hollywood’s best unproduced screenplays) and has made rounds around town with Steve Carrell and Jim Carrey both circling the project at various stages.

The Beaver sounds like an odd film (the script has been compared to Charlie Kaufman’s work), but Gibson has enough screen presence and quirky personality to make the role work, while Foster should have the required directing chops for it, having directed Little Man Tate and Home for the Holidays.

Gibson will next be seen in Edge of Darkness, his first film as an actor since 2002’s Signs.

The Beaver is tenatively slated for release in 2011.

Ryan Reynolds cast as "Green Lantern"

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – After an intense months-long search, Warner Bros. has chosen Ryan Reynolds to play the title character in "Green Lantern," the studio's live-action movie based on the DC Comics hero.

Reynolds and his representatives entered negotiations for the part Friday, after the studio held two rounds of screen tests for the actor, Bradley Cooper and Jared Leto. Justin Timberlake also did a screen test.

The film is being directed by Martin Campbell and produced by Donald De Line and Greg Berlanti.

One reason for the lengthy search process was that De Line, Campbell and the studio each had a different favorite among the finalists, making it difficult to come to a consensus.

If the deal is completed, it would make Reynolds the only actor to have played heroes for both Marvel and DC. He recently starred in a comic-book movie, 20th Century Fox's "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," in which he played Deadpool, also known as the Merc with a Mouth. The character is being developed for a spin-off in which Reynolds will star. He also played Marvel's vampire hunter Hannibal King in "Blade: Trinity."

"Lantern" is Reynolds second stab at a DC Comics hero. A few years ago, he was attached to play the comic company's speedster "The Flash."

'Bruno' sashays to box-office fame with $30.4M

LOS ANGELES – Gay Austrian fashion devotee Bruno has landed the No. 1 spot at the weekend box office, though it's uncertain how much staying power he has.

Sacha Baron Cohen's "Bruno" started big on opening day Friday but had a huge drop the rest of the weekend, with the Universal Pictures mock documentary finishing with $30.4 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The movie took in nearly half of its weekend total — $14.4 million — on Friday, then tumbled with just $8.8 million Saturday and an estimated $7.2 million Sunday.

Revenues for hit movies typically go up on Saturday, so the nosedive for "Bruno" could be a sign that it lacks the shelf life that made Baron Cohen's "Borat" a $100 million smash.

"It is unusual for a film to drop on Saturday. Normally, you expect the film at least to be even on Saturday or above compared to Friday, because Saturday is the biggest moviegoing day of the weekend," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. "It's going to be interesting to see how it does over the long run."

"Bruno," which features Baron Cohen as a wannabe going to extremes to achieve celebrity, finished ahead of 20th Century Fox's "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs," which took second with $28.5 million. The "Ice Age" sequel raised its domestic total to $120.6 million.

Finishing third after two weekends in the No. 1 spot was Paramount's sci-fi blockbuster "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" with $24.2 million, raising its domestic haul to $339.2 million. The sequel passed the $319 million total of 2007's "Transformers."

The weekend's other new wide release, 20th Century Fox's romantic comedy "I Love You, Beth Cooper" opened weakly with $5 million, finishing at No. 7. The movie centers on a high school valedictorian who uses his graduation speech to declare his love for a bombshell classmate (Hayden Panettiere).

"Bruno" outpaced the $26.5 million opening weekend for Baron Cohen's surprise 2006 hit "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan." "Borat" started with $9.2 million on opening day Friday then climbed to $10.1 million Saturday, a sign that fans were talking it up to friends.

That good word-of-mouth propelled "Borat" to a long run at theaters, the movie climbing to a $128.5 million domestic total.

"Borat" also scored its big opening weekend in far fewer theaters. "Bruno debuted in 2,756 cinemas, more than three times the number for "Borat."

Nikki Rocco, head of distribution at Universal, said comedies such as "Bruno" typically drop off over opening weekend this time of year, while "Borat" opened in November, when audiences are less fickle than summer crowds.

The studio will have to wait until next weekend for a sense of how well "Bruno" can hold up for the long haul.

"I don't know. That crystal ball just isn't on my desk this morning," said Nikki Rocco, head of distribution for Universal. "Zany comedies tend to be like that, so I'm hoping that in the scheme of things, it just plays out the way zany comedies will play out."

Reviews on "Bruno" were not as strong as those for "Borat," which critics generally liked. There also had been questions about whether Baron Cohen's flamboyantly gay persona might prove off-putting to audiences.

"Bruno" did most of its business in cities on the East and West coasts, while revenues were "softer, much softer in middle America," Rocco said.

Even if revenues continue to plunge, "Bruno" is well on its way to turning a profit for Universal, which paid $42.5 million for rights to distribute it domestically and in eight other territories. "Bruno" took in $25 million in overseas markets so far, including $20 million in those Universal acquired, among them Great Britain, Australia and Germany.

Modi Wiczyk — co-chief executive officer of Media Rights Capital, which financed "Bruno" — said the movie exceeded the company's expectations. Wiczyk said he had anticipated "Bruno" would finish in the range of $25 million domestically for the weekend.

"We don't have talking robots or karate in our film," Wiczyk said. "For that increasingly small subset of films that don't have robots, we did terrific."

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

1. "Bruno," $30.4 million.
2. "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs," $28.5 million.
3. "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," $24.2 million.
4. "Public Enemies," $14.1 million.
5. "The Proposal," $10.5 million.
6. "The Hangover," $9.9 million.
7. "I Love You, Beth Cooper," $5 million.
8. "Up," $4.7 million.
9. "My Sister's Keeper," $4.2 million.
10. "The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3," $1.6 million.

Sakic hangs 'em up And Retires after 20 NHL seasons

DENVER - Stoic Joe Sakic finally cracked, allowing for a rare show of emotion.

Delivering a speech that had kept him up most of the night fretting, the longtime Colorado Avalanche captain broke down, his voice betraying him as he stared into a room packed with family, friends and teammates - even the governor of the state.

Sakic officially hung up his skates Thursday, ending his standout 20-year career. Try as he might, he simply couldn't get through his prepared speech without choking up.

"So many great memories," Sakic said, fighting back tears.

The pride of Burnaby, B.C., Sakic had hoped to play one more season, possibly culminating his career by suiting up for Canada at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

His body simply wouldn't allow it.

Sakic missed most of the 2008-09 season with an aching back that required surgery to repair a herniated disk. He tried to make his way back onto the ice before the end of the season, but couldn't.

That's when he suspected his career was finished.

"I didn't think I could be the player I wanted to be," said the 40-year-old Sakic, who has been the face of the franchise since the team moved to Denver in 1995. "I always said to myself that the minute I thought I'd slipped, and not be the player I wanted to be, it was time for me to go."

Sakic announced his retirement in the same room of a Denver hotel where John Elway did. Only fitting, since both were icons in the Mile High City.

"We can't put into words what he meant to this franchise and to our hockey fans," Avalanche president Pierre Lacroix said.

Sakic's No. 19 sweater will also be retired, getting raised to the Pepsi Centre rafters during a ceremony at the season opener, which is not yet scheduled.

It will be just the third in the 14-year history of the Avalanche, joining Patrick Roy (33) and Ray Bourque (77). The organization also retired four when they were the Quebec Nordiques.

"He's such a great leader. He made the team top-notch," Paul Stastny said.

Sakic once played alongside Paul Stastny's father, Peter, the two on the same power-play unit in Quebec.

"He was a complete player and one of the greatest in history," Peter Stastny said in a statement.

Sakic certainly had an impressive resume.

He wore the captain's "C" for 16 straight seasons and guided the team to Stanley Cup titles in 1996 and 2001, won league MVP honours in 2001, was a 13-time all-star and led Canada to an Olympic gold medal in 2002.

Sakic also won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for sportsmanship in 2001, showing his true character by handing the Stanley Cup over to Bourque after winning the title and letting the longtime defenseman hoist the trophy.

It was a moment that friend and longtime teammate Adam Foote mentioned in his speech Thursday.

"A humble superstar that you are, you stood back, you let a gray-bearded, 22-year seasoned veteran, who was waiting patiently like a young boy on Christmas morning, hoist his first Stanley Cup," Foote said.

"That class act of yours might go down in history as one of the NHL's most memorable moments that united the entire hockey world."

Foote will remember Sakic as much for his class as his clutch play on the ice.

So will Lacroix, who choked up repeatedly when giving his speech. Sakic waited to announce his retirement until Lacroix was healed following complications from a knee replacement surgery.

"My family and I are privileged to know you. We're better people because of that," Lacroix said. "You make everyone around you so much better."

Known for his lethal wrist shot and precision passing, Sakic leaves the game among the NHL's career scoring leaders. He's eighth in points (1,641), 11th in assists (1,016) and 14th in goals (625).

He was never an intimidating presence - he's only five-foot-11 and 195 pounds - but made up for it with determination and intelligence.

There are only four players in league history that have scored more points with one franchise than Sakic: Gordie Howe (1,809) and Steve Yzerman (1,755) with Detroit, Mario Lemieux with Pittsburgh (1,723) and Wayne Gretzky with Edmonton (1,669).

Sakic was originally taken by Quebec with the 15th pick in the 1987 draft. He made his NHL debut on Oct. 6, 1988, picking up his first assist against the then Hartford Whalers. Two nights later against New Jersey, he scored his first goal.

That would be a familiar occurrence for the quiet superstar.

"I'm sad to see him leave the game," former teammate Peter Forsberg said in a statement. "I'm glad I got the chance to play alongside him for many years ... He's a very classy person and a great team leader."

First Details of Watchmen Ultimate Edition BD Emerge

Early copies of the 'Watchmen: Director's Cut' Blu-ray are surfacing, and the release contains a flier with some early details of the Ultimate Collector's Edition of the movie. It will be released in December and will only be available through June 2010. Over two hours of bonus content will be included.

The movie version in this edition will be the director's cut, augmented with the animated comic 'Tales of the Black Freighter' woven into the narrative. The total length of the cut is not known yet; the theatrical cut was 162 minutes long, whereas the director's cut featured in the first-edition Blu-ray is 186 minutes long. As we reported, Paramount is releasing the theatrical cut in the UK.

The special features will also include the mockumentary 'Under the Hood' (already released as a companion to 'Tales of the Black Freighter') and 'Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic'.

The Ultimate Collector's Edition will not include most of the special features available on the upcoming Director's Cut, such as the "walk-on" Maximum Movie Mode. However, it will include a new audio commentary with Snyder and artist Dave Gibbons.

Get ready to be milked for this, repeatedly!!

Jackson skit officially cut from 'Bruno'

The filmmakers behind Sacha Baron Cohen's new comedy Bruno have officially axed scenes featuring La Toya Jackson from the movie's final cut in the wake of her brother Michael Jackson's death.

Jackson made an accidental cameo in the film after British funnyman Cohen convinced her he was an Austrian fashion journalist, called Bruno, for a skit in his new film.

During La Toya's appearance, the comedian jokes about the Thriller hitmaker and attempts to steal his contact details from his sister's cell phone.

Producers omitted the scene when it was screened at the Los Angeles premiere on June 25 - the same day the King of Pop died.

And they've decided to leave it out altogether, fearing its inclusion would be in bad taste.

A spokeswoman for the Bruno movie says, "Out of respect for the Jackson family, the filmmakers have decided to remove a small scene involving La Toya Jackson."

Meanwhile, a similar move has been made by producers of new Bollywood movie Short Kut: The Con Is On - they've removed a scene ridiculing Jackson's dance style after receiving complaints about the sketch.

Disused Corner Gas set becoming eyesore, Rouleau mayor says

The buildings once used to depict the fictional Saskatchewan town of Dog River in the popular television comedy Corner Gas have fallen into a worrisome state of disrepair, says the mayor of Rouleau, where the series was filmed.

The small community about 45 minutes southwest of Regina was the main backdrop for comedian Brent Butt's show, which ran for six seasons on CTV. Its final episode aired in April.

Filming of the last episode wrapped up in fall 2008, and since the production left town, the set has become an eyesore, Rouleau Mayor Allen Kuhlmann told CBC News on Thursday.

Kuhlmann said windows were covered with plywood boards, and untended grass had overgrown the areas around the buildings, including the primary set of the gas station and Ruby's Cafe.

Kuhlmann said it was not a very welcoming site, especially considering the set continues to attract fans of the show.

"We have a lot of tourists that are coming and looking and seeing [that] this set has been allowed to deteriorate," Kuhlmann said. "There's no pumps, there's no signs, there's no maintenance."

Kuhlmann pointed out that the town of Rouleau has been specifically barred from entering the property or resurrecting any of the familiar signs associated with the program.

"We don't own the property," Kuhlmann said, noting that the production company had rented the space from private owners.

Kuhlmann said the town has tried to meet with people associated with the production, to address concerns but have been put off.

"We have a nuisance bylaw," Kuhlmann added, indicating that the town could insist on some action if the property remained neglected.

Ultimately, Kuhlmann said attending to the property would require money.

"Do we need to get together a group called The Friends of Corner Gas?" Kuhlmann mused, suggesting that some sort of fundraising effort might be required. "I guess that would be ideal. And then you could have a tourist attraction that was open, and people could tour between, maybe, the first of May and the September long weekend."

The head of the company that produced Corner Gas told CBC News that a part of the old set would be painted some time this week, but there were no plans to do anything more.

"We're not in the tourism business," said Virginia Thompson, president of Verité Films. "We've been able to raise funds independently to be able to make [the old set] as attractive as possible for our fans, but we can't go beyond that."

Kuhlmann said he does not understand why people associated with the site and the program are not interested in its value as a tourist destination. The town itself does not have the capacity to develop the site, he said.

"It's something to look at and take pictures of," Kuhlmann said, if only the windows were intact and the familiar signs were restored. "Admission could be charged, and people could take a tour and … get information. I'm sure that if we had this in the United States, they would have long since figured out how they were going to keep making money from it."

Kuhlmann is especially bothered because prior to the program ending, the town had been promised that even after the departure of the production, there would be a legacy for the locals. However, he could never get details on what that would be.

"We were constantly stonewalled and told to wait and that there would be a wonderful legacy for Rouleau," Kuhlmann said.

"Since they filmed their last episode, absolutely nothing has been done."

Liability an issue

Thompson told CBC News that it would cost a minimum $250,000 to renovate the site to make it suitable for tourists.

"We've explained that to make it safe for tourists, it has to be rebuilt," Thompson said. "It wasn't built as a tourist destination. It must be safe, and that is expensive."

Thompson was also concerned about liability issues if someone was injured while touring the sets.

"If a fan gets hurt on our premises, that would not be good for Corner Gas," Thompson said. "We're not going to get involved in something unless it's going to be really safe for the public."

“Guitar Hero 5 ” Adds Bob Dylan, Kings of Leon To Eclectic Set List

Activision has revealed two dozen songs from Guitar Hero 5’s massive 85-song on-disc set list, including tracks by Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Coldplay and John Mellencamp. The game will also feature a bunch of newer tracks, like Kings of Leon’s “Sex on Fire,” Beck’s “Gamma Ray” and Wolfmother’s “Back Round,” a fresh tune from the Australian rockers that’s available now as a free download up on the GH5 Website.

Rock Daily took a test drive with GH5 at this year’s E3 convention, trying out new features like the RockFest option and the instrument-swapping Party Mode. Guitar Hero 5 will be released on September 1st, giving it an eight-day head start on Harmonix/MTV Games’ The Beatles: Rock Band. As previously announced, GH5’s eclectic set list will also feature the Rolling Stone’s Sympathy for the Devil, Nirvana’s “Lithium,” the White Stripes’ “Blue Orchid,” TV on the Radio, Kiss and many more. For the latest batch of songs on the GH5 track list, including songs from the Beastie Boys, Tom Petty and Vampire Weekend, keep reading.

Band Of Horses - “Cigarettes, Wedding Bands”
Beastie Boys - “Gratitude”
Beck - “Gamma Ray”
Billy Squier - “Lonely Is The Night”
Blur - “Song 2″
Bob Dylan - “All Along The Watchtower”
Children Of Bodom - “Done With Everything, Die For Nothing”
Coldplay - “In My Place”
Darkest Hour - “Demon(s)”
David Bowie - “Fame”
Deep Purple - “Woman From Tokyo (’99 Remix)”
Elliott Smith - “L.A.”
Iggy Pop - “Lust For Life (Live)”
Jeff Beck - “Scatterbrain (Live)”
John Mellencamp - “Hurts So Good”
Kings Of Leon - “Sex On Fire”
Queens Of The Stone Age - “Make It Wit Chu”
Rose Hill Drive - “Sneak Out”
Santana - “No One To Depend On (Live)”
The Bronx - “Six Days A Week”
Thrice - “Deadbolt”
Tom Petty - “Runnin’ Down A Dream”
Vampire Weekend - “A-Punk”
Wolfmother - “Back Round”

The Swell Season announces new album

Oscar-winning duo The Swell Season will follow its gold-certified 2007 soundtrack "Once" with a new studio album entitled "Strict Joy," which will hit shelves in September.

The pair--Frames frontman Glen Hansard and classically trained Czech vocalist/pianist Marketa Irglova--recorded the majority of the 12-track set last year at producer Peter Katis' Tarquin Studios in Bridgeport, CT.

The new effort's title comes from a piece by Irish poet James Stephens and features members of The Frames--violinist Colm Mac Iomaire, bassist Joe Doyle and guitarist Rob Bochnik--along with guitarist Javier Mas (Leonard Cohen), percussionist Chad Taylor (Chicago Underground Duo), pianist Thomas Bartlett (Doveman) and horn players Steven Bernstein and Clark Gayton from Levon Helm's band.

Hansard and Irglova first collaborated on the 2006 album "The Swell Season," and again in 2007 for the soundtrack to the indie film "Once," which featured the pair acting opposite one another in the lead roles. "Falling Slowly," a song from "The Swell Season" and included on the soundtrack, won an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2008.

A fall tour of the US is in the works, according to a press release, as well as a documentary about the pair's sold-out world tour behind "Once."

'Maggie May' and more arrive in 'Rod Stewart Sessions'

Every disc tells a story in The Rod Stewart Sessions 1971-1998, a four-CD box set spanning nearly three decades of the rock legend's career in studio tracks, outtakes and ephemera. The set, out Sept. 29 on Warner Bros. for $65 (physical) and $30 (digital), opens with an early, ragged version of Maggie May, the hit that launched his solo career in 1971.

The set boasts unreleased versions of Scottish rocker Frankie Miller's When I'm Away From You and Python Lee Jackson's In a Broken Dream, featuring Pink Floyd's David Gilmour and Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones.

The unfinished Think I'll Pack My Bags, which later resurfaced as Mystifies Me on Ron Wood's solo debut, made the cut, along with alternate takes of Sailing, Tonight's the Night (It's Gonna Be Alright) and You Wear It Well, plus acoustic renditions of You're in My Heart and Rosie.

Rarities from the '80s include unreleased song Thunderbird and a spare Forever Young. The collection closes with such shelved '90s tracks as covers of Bob Dylan and The Band's This Wheel's on Fire, Oasis' Rockin' Chair and Bobby Womack's Looking for a Love.

Lohan turned down 'Hangover' role

Lindsay Lohan is reportedly reeling after turning down a starring role in hit comedy The Hangover - because she believed the script had "no potential".

The star has struggled to land work in Hollywood since her days as Disney's golden girl following her wild partying ways and arrests for drinking under the influence.

She was also reprimanded by movie bosses on 2006's Georgia Rule for "irresponsible and unprofessional" behaviour as her personal life became front page tabloid news.

But director Todd Phillips was reportedly set to take a risk on Lohan by asking her to play stripper Jade in his bachelor party movie.

However, Lohan wasn't impressed by the film's screenplay, and rejected the part, which eventually went to Heather Graham, according to Us Weekly.

A source tells the magazine that the star's agent "tried hard to get Phillips to consider her," but "Lindsay said she didn't like the script".

And it seems Lohan made a huge mistake - the movie has been a surprise smash hit at the box office, pulling in over $265 million worldwide.

Beastie Boys Reveal Ill Communication Reissue Details, Bonus Tracks

The Beastie Boys' 1994 LP Ill Communication has sort of an ignominious place in history: It's the first Beastie Boys album to sound a whole lot like the previous Beastie Boys album (Check Your Head, in this case). By the time the Beasties recorded their fourth long-player, their building blocks were all fully in place. They'd built an aesthetic out of near-randomness, but this album was fairly predictable: The retro hardcore punk nostalgia trips, the instrumental funk vamps, the densely allusive snot-rap bangers. (Plus all those ill-advised joints with the chanting Buddhist monks.)

Regardless, even if Ill Communication didn't achieve greatness as often as its predecessors, it still had some great moments: "Sabotage", "Sure Shot", "Get It Together", the part from "B-Boys Makin' With the Freak Freak" where the guy yells about sticking his dick in the mashed potatoes.

On July 14, Capitol will reissue Ill Communication in the same deluxe multi-format style that they gave Paul's Boutique and Check Your Head. The original album has been augmented with a 12-track bonus disc of rarities and B-sides.

Awesome!!

New Carrie Underwood album on the way

Just announced: Carrie Underwood will release her third album this fall. The as-yet-untitled CD from Season 4's American Idol is slated to come out Nov. 3, with the first single hitting the airwaves sometime this summer, says 19 Recordings/Arista Nashville.

Michael Jackson hailed as greatest entertainer, best dad

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Mariah Carey, Stevie Wonder and Usher sang emotional farewells Tuesday to Michael Jackson, who was hailed as "the greatest entertainer that ever lived" and described by his tearful 11-year-old daughter Paris as "the best father you could ever imagine."

Some 18,000 fans, family members and friends took part in a public memorial for Jackson in the Los Angeles sports arena where the singer had rehearsed the day before his death for a highly anticipated series of comeback concerts.

Jackson's brothers, each wearing a single sequined glove in homage to his signature look, carried the singer's golden casket into the downtown Staples Center.

Carey performed Jackson's 1970 ballad "I'll Be There," Usher's voice cracked as he sang "Gone Too Soon" and the King of Pop's three children made a rare public appearance without veils used for years by Jackson to shield them from the media.

But it was Jackson himself who loomed larger than life, shown in old concert footage, music videos and news clips, singing, dancing his moonwalk and surrounded by adoring crowds.

"The more I think about Michael, and talk about Michael, the more I think that 'King of Pop' is not good enough," said Motown Records founder Berry Gordy, who signed The Jackson 5 to a recording contract in 1968. "I think he is simply the greatest entertainer that ever lived."

The two-hour memorial focused on Jackson's musical achievements, overshadowed in the last 10 years by the darker side of the singer's life, including his humiliating 2005 trial and acquittal on charges of child sex abuse.
Jackson's sudden death from cardiac arrest in Los Angeles on June 25 at the age of 50 stunned fans across the world and sent sales of his biggest hits from albums such as "Thriller" and "Off the Wall" back to the top of music charts.

President Barack Obama, on a visit to Russia, said he was "one of the greatest entertainers of our generation, perhaps any generation," and added: "I think like Elvis, like Sinatra, like The Beatles, he became a core part of our culture.

The memorial focused on Jackson's 45-year musical career in which he was awarded 13 Grammys, his charity work for childrens' groups and his role in opening the mainstream pop and celebrity world to African-Americans.

It was broadcast live on U.S. national TV networks and Internet company Akamai, which handles 20 percent of the world's Web traffic, said it was the most widely viewed event on the Web since the inauguration of Obama in January.

Gordy was among the few who referred obliquely to Jackson's recent troubles.

"Sure there was some sad times and maybe some questionable decisions on his part, but Michael Jackson accomplished everything he dreamed of," said Gordy.

"NOTHING STRANGE" ABOUT DADDY

Jackson was on the eve of a comeback after his career collapsed in the 1990s. The exact cause of his death is still awaiting toxicology results amid reports of abuse of prescription drugs, including the powerful narcotic Diprivan.

Civil rights leader Al Sharpton, who has lashed out at media coverage of the bizarre aspects of Jackson's life, had a message for the singer's three children.

"Wasn't nothing strange about your daddy. It was strange what your daddy had to deal with," he said.

The children, Prince Michael, 12, Paris and Prince Michael, 7, joined the family on stage for a mass chorus of Jackson's inspirational hits "We Are the World" and "Heal the World."

Paris, in tears, took the microphone to say: "Ever since I was born my daddy has been the best father you can ever imagine and I just wanted to say I love him, so much."

Jackson's family and close friends held a brief private ceremony earlier Tuesday at a Los Angeles cemetery before the memorial and were reported afterwards to have gathered at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel.

But the destination of the singer's body remained unknown with speculation that he could yet be laid to rest at his beloved ranch, Neverland, in central California.

Police had estimated more than 250,000 people would gather at the arena but the orderly crowds were much smaller than expected.

Police, security, escorts and sanitation for the memorial are expected to cost cash-strapped Los Angeles city council nearly $4 million and the city council Tuesday launched a website asking for fans to make donations toward the costs.

Rumor: Indiana Jones 5 in 2012

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen's release has brought about numerous Indiana Jones 5 rumors that started when Shia LaBeouf said in an interview that Steven Spielberg had "cracked the story" on the next archaeological adventure.

The newest unconfirmed but logical rumor is actually twofold. First, the Uselessplace.com blog is claiming an unnamed source states Harrison Ford is "set" to reprise the role of Dr. Jones in the fifth installment. "Harrison has kept himself in good shape and could still do a lot of the stunts in the last film," says the source. "But it's obviously not going to get any easier the older he gets. He certainly would never have imagined playing Indiana Jones when he was nearing 70!"

The second part of the rumor, whose origin I was unable to track down, suggests Indiana Jones 5 will begin shooting in 2011. To cross-reference the rumor, I headed over to IMDB Pro and sure enough there is an Indiana Jones 5 listing with a 2012 release time frame.

With a potential release three years out the only news we're likely to see in the next 12 months or so is confirmation that a script is underway. By then Harrison will be nearing the age where he could be someone's great grandfather. Is that a good thing? Or should Indy hang up the whip so we can look forward to Mutt Williams and the adventures of a greaser?

Former T.O. radio DJ found dead

Longtime Toronto radio personality Martin Streek has died.

Streek, who worked at modern-rock station 102.1 the Edge for decades, was found dead in his apartment yesterday. Foul play is not suspected, police said.

The news broke on an Internet message board post by David Marsden, who was a driving force behind of CFNY - the call letters of the station - in its early years.

It is believed Streek committed suicide.

According to Marsden's post, Streek's Facebook status was updated yesterday and read: "So...I guess that's it...thanks everyone...I'm sorry to those I should be sorry to, I love you to those that I love, and I will see you all again soon (not too soon though)... Let the stories begin."

As of 9 a.m. today, a Facebook memorial page set up to honour Streek had more than 800 members.

He was a victim of restructuring at the Edge. Both Streek and fellow station veteran Barry Taylor were let go in May.

Streek most recently hosted the station's weekly countdown program as well as live-to-air broadcasts from the Phoenix Concert Theatre on Saturdays and Velvet Underground on Sundays.

After 39 years, a final countdown for Casey Kasem

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Casey Kasem has done his final countdown.

The 77-year-old DJ told American Top 20 listeners across the country Saturday that the program would be his last.

Kasem launched his weekly countdown of the nation's most popular songs, the American Top 40, on July 4, 1970. Ryan Seacrest took over the show in 2004, and Kasem went on to host two syndicated spinoffs, the American Top 20 and American Top 10.

Kasem said he "loved every minute" of his broadcasting career, but that he was leaving the show to "free up time I need to focus on myriad other projects."

Jackson memorial performers announced as LA braces

LOS ANGELES – The stage was set Monday for Michael Jackson's final act as the world capital of make-believe braced for what could be the biggest, most spectacular celebrity send-off of all time.

Ecstatic fans who won the lottery for seats at Tuesday's memorial received the tickets and spangly wristbands that will get them into the 20,000-seat Staples Center downtown. The family announced the participants will include Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, Usher, Lionel Richie, Kobe Bryant, Jennifer Hudson, John Mayer and Martin Luther King III.

The legal maneuvering that marked Jackson's extraordinary and troubled life also continued on Monday, with his mother losing a bid to control his enormous but tangled estate. And in one of the few reminders of Jackson's darkest hours, a New York congressman branded Jackson a "pervert" undeserving of so much attention.

More than 1.6 million people registered for free tickets to the 10 a.m. memorial, which will be broadcast live worldwide. A total of 8,750 people were chosen to receive two tickets each. The lucky ones picked up their passes Monday at Dodger Stadium amid heavy police presence.

"I got the golden ticket!" one fan screamed out of his car window in a Willy Wonka moment as he drove out of the parking lot.

"My mother loves Elvis. This is my Elvis," said ticket winner Mynor Garcia, 29.

Downtown hotels were quickly filling. Police, trying to avoid a mob scene, warned those without tickets to stay away because they would not be able to get close to the Staples Center.

British Airways reported a surge of bookings as soon as the memorial arrangements were announced. Virgin's trans-Atlantic flights to San Francisco, Las Vegas and Los Angeles were all packed with fans and VIPs, spokesman Paul Charles said.

"I think this is America's version of Princess Diana. People want to be in the vicinity. People from the UK and elsewhere want to share their emotions together," Charles said.

About 50 theaters across the country, from Los Angeles to Topeka, Kan., to Washington, D.C., were planning to broadcast the memorial live, said Cinedigm Digital Cinema Corp. spokeswoman Suzanne Moore. Admission will be free — first-come, first-served.

Jackson's friend Elizabeth Taylor will be mourning in private. She said on her Twitter feed Monday that she would not attend the memorial.

"I just don't believe that Michael would want me to share my grief with millions of others," she tweeted. "How I feel is between us. Not a public event."

In Los Angeles Superior Court, meanwhile, a judge appointed Jackson's longtime attorney and a family friend as administrators of his estate over the objections of his mother, Katherine. Attorney John Branca and music executive John McClain had been designated in Jackson's 2002 will as the people he wanted to oversee his empire.

Mrs. Jackson's attorneys expressed concerns about McClain and Branca's financial leadership.

"Frankly, Mrs. Jackson has concerns about handing over the keys to the kingdom," said one of her attorneys, John E. Schreiber.

Another one of her attorneys, Burt Levitch, told Judge Mitchell Beckloff that Branca had previously been removed from financial positions of authority by Jackson. Branca's attorney said he was rehired by Jackson on June 17, days before Jackson's death.

Branca and McClain will have to post a $1 million bond on the estate, and their authority will expire Aug. 3, when another hearing will be held.

"Mr. Branca and Mr. McClain for the next month are at the helm of the ship," the judge said.

Jackson died at age 50 with hundreds of millions in debts. But a court filing estimates his estate is worth more than $500 million. His assets are destined for a trust, with his three children, his mother and charities as beneficiaries.

On eBay, bids for memorial tickets were reaching as high as $3,000, and prices on Craigslist were in the thousands, although both sites were removing postings attempting to sell memorial tickets.

Debbie Rowe, Jackson's ex-wife and the mother of Jackson's two oldest children, had planned to attend the memorial but backed out Monday.

"The onslaught of media attention has made it clear her attendance would be an unnecessary distraction to an event that should focus exclusively on Michael's legacy," her attorney Marta Almli said in a statement. "Debbie will continue to celebrate Michael's memory privately."

In New York, Republican Rep. Peter King released a YouTube video calling Jackson, who was acquitted of child molestation charges, a "pervert" and a "low-life."

But the memories of Jackson's problems were far from the minds of fans preparing to say goodbye.

"It's the passing of a great soul," said Matt Tyson, 31, of Ojai, Calif. "He brought people together, helped express something that's in us all."

The family was expected to hold a private funeral at some point at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Los Angeles. No public funeral procession through city streets was scheduled, and it was not known whether Jackson's body would be at the Staples Center memorial.

In a symbolic convergence of events, however, the circus will be there.

Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey starts a run at Staples Center on Wednesday. In the predawn hours before Jackson's memorial, the elephants will walk from the train station to the arena.

Fans celebrate winning Michael Jackson memorial passes

LOS ANGELES–Like a modern-day Willy Wonka tale, fans began to celebrate Sunday after winning coveted tickets to Michael Jackson's memorial service at Staples Center.

More than 1.6 million fans registered online for free in the random drawing of only 8,750 names. Each person selected will receive two tickets to Tuesday's memorial. The odds of getting a ticket were about 1 in 183.

"I'm in shock that it has happened," said Deka Motanya, 27, of San Francisco. "It's surreal." She received an email message at 4:35 p.m. notifying her, "Congratulations, your application was successful."

She immediately Twittered: "OMG OMG OMG OMG i got tickets to the michael jackson memorial service!!!''

Soon after receiving his invitation, David Gobaud, 25, who studies computer science at Stanford University, was scrambling to find his way down to Los Angeles.

"It's amazing. It's quite a surprise. I didn't believe it was real in the beginning," he said. "It's Michael Jackson, one of the greatest musical stars of all time.''

The tickets will admit 11,000 people to the Staples Center plus 6,500 in the Nokia Theater overflow section next door. The streets around the stadium will be closed to prevent those without tickets from trying to attend, police said Sunday.

Assistant Police Chief Jim McDonnell warned the ticketless to stay away: "You'll be standing in the hot sun on a city street with a lot of other people ... but not within eyeshot of Staples.''

At the Wilshire Grand Los Angeles hotel about a half mile from the Staples Center, more than 90 per cent of the hotel's 1,000 rooms were booked for Monday and Tuesday night, up from about 60 per cent last week.

"There's a lot of demand right now," said spokesperson Marc Loge. "We are going to sell out."

Jackson died at age 50 on June 25 after going into cardiac arrest in the bedroom of his rented mansion. The cause of Jackson's death has not been determined. Autopsy results are not expected for several weeks.

Also Sunday, a judge signed search warrants connected to the investigation of Jackson's death, Los Angeles County Superior Court spokesperson Allan Parachini said. The warrants were sealed and Parachini would not discuss any details.

Authorities are investigating allegations that Jackson had been consuming painkillers, sedatives and antidepressants. The powerful sedative Diprivan, which is usually administered by anaesthesiologists in hospitals, was found in his home. It was not known what drugs, if any, Jackson obtained from doctors.

Jackson's family was planning a private ceremony at the Forest Lawn cemetery in the Hollywood Hills, McDonnell said. He did not provide further details.

More than a week after his death, tributes and accolades keep coming. Madonna had a Jackson impersonator dance to "Wanna Be Starting Something" at her concert Saturday in the same London arena where he was to stage his comeback.

The Rev. Al Sharpton called for nationwide "love vigils" for Jackson, asking people to gather in schools, community centers and churches to watch the memorial service and talk about the pop star's "message" instead of the "mess" surrounding his death.

The memorial service will be broadcast on five television networks, after NBC executives changed their minds Sunday and decided to air the service live. NBC joins ABC, CNN, MSNBC and E! Entertainment.

Winners received a unique code and instructions on how to pick up their tickets Monday. When they pick up their tickets, a wristband will be placed on their wrists.

To prevent ticket scalping, fans must have both the ticket and the wristband to enter Staples Center on Tuesday. Wristbands that have been ripped, taped or tampered with will be voided.

City officials are preparing for huge crowds. McDonnell, the assistant police chief, would not say how many police would be on the job, but alluded to the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and the recent championship celebration for the Los Angeles Lakers at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

The ceremony will not be shown on Staples' giant outdoor TV screen and there will be no funeral procession through the city.

No details were available about the actual memorial events.

Beatles, Stones ex-manager Allen Klein dies

Record label executive Allen Klein, who once managed the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, has died at age 77.

Bob Merlis, a publicist for Klein's company, ABKCO Music & Records, said Saturday the music mogul died of Alzheimer's disease in his New York City home.

Klein was one of the most influential, and sometimes most reviled, figures in the world of music in the 1960s.

Known for his business acumen, he managed a high-performing stable of talent that included Bobby Darin, Connie Francis, Herman's Hermits and Sam Cooke.

His music company also produced the music of the Animals, Bobby Womack, Marianne Faithfull, Chubby Checker and the Kinks.

He is perhaps most famous for signing the Stones and then the Beatles. Both agreements, however, would end in acrimony and lawsuits.

Klein ended up owning the rights to the recordings of the Rolling Stones and the copyrights from the band's performances from the 1960s, including hit singles such as (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction and Jumpin' Jack Flash.

Klein was often described as ruthless. Stones guitarist Keith Richards would deem Klein's affiliation with the band as "the price of an education."

The New Jersey-born accountant admitted to his hard-boiled attitude.

"Don't talk to me about ethics," he once told Playboy magazine. "The man you beat is likely to call you unethical. So what?"

Klein is also the person often accused of triggering the demise of the Beatles. John Lennon, Ringo Starr and George Harrison decided to bring Klein on their management team in 1969 over the protestations of Paul McCartney.

That disagreement led to a court battle and the eventual dissolution of the band.

During that time, a New York Times article called him "the toughest wheeler-dealer in the pop jungle."

A funeral for Klein will be held in New York City on Tuesday.

"Ice Age" sequel heats up worldwide box office

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – In a rare tie, reigning champ "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" and the new cartoon "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" shared the top spot at the holiday weekend box office in North America.

According to studio estimates issued Sunday, the movies each sold about $42.5 million worth of tickets during the three-day U.S. Independence Day holiday weekend.

But "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs," the third movie in 20th Century Fox's family franchise, was clearly the top pick on a worldwide basis. It earned $148 million from 101 foreign markets, which the News Corp-owned studio said was the sixth-biggest opening overall.

Including its North American tally of $67.5 million since opening Wednesday, the global total stands at $215.5 million.

Paramount's "Transformers" sequel earned $55 million from 62 markets during its second weekend, taking the foreign haul to $298 million. The global total stands at $591 million, taking the robot sequel past Columbia Pictures' "Angels & Demons" ($474 million) to become the biggest film of the year.

In North America, the lucrative summer season is 5 percent ahead of last year's record-setting haul in terms of ticket sales with $2.3 billion banked so far, said industry analyst Paul Dergarabedian, president of Hollywood.com Box-Office. But he doubted the number of tickets sold (currently 319 million) would exceed the modern record of 653 million set in 2002.

He said it appeared to be unprecedented for two films to be tied, but noted that an eventual victor will be determined on Monday, when the studios release their final data.

Johnny Depp's gangster saga "Public Enemies" got off to a strong start at No. 3 with $26.2 million, a rare adult-oriented drama in a summer field dominated by effects-driven action movies. As with "Ice Age," Universal Pictures' $100 million release opened Wednesday to get a foothold ahead of holiday distractions. Its five-day total stands at $41 million.

Both Fox and Universal declared themselves thrilled with the initial results.

Comparisons with the first two "Ice Age" movies, released in 2002 and 2006, are difficult because they came out on Fridays in March. They eventually earned $176 million and $195 million domestically, respectively. The new film cost $90 million to make, said Fox.

Some question marks did surround director Michael Mann's "Public Enemies," in which Depp plays Depression-era bank robber John Dillinger, because moviegoers have opted for fantasy over serious dramas in recent months.

"Good news for people who like films about grown-ups. The genre is not dead," said Adam Fogelson, Universal's president of marketing and distribution.

"Transformers" has earned $293 million after 12 days of release in the United States and Canada, about $100 million more than its 2007 predecessor had earned in the same period. The sequel also surpassed Paramount's "Star Trek" ($250 million) to become the biggest movie of the year in the markets.

Television networks planning Jackson coverage

NEW YORK – NBC executives changed their minds Sunday and decided to join other networks that will televise Michael Jackson's memorial service live this week.

NBC joins ABC, CNN, MSNBC and E! Entertainment in offering the ceremony live. It's set for 10 a.m. PDT at Los Angeles' Staples Center.

NBC had initially planned only a one-hour prime-time special on Tuesday night, but said Sunday it would also cover the event live. It was not immediately clear who would anchor.

Charles Gibson will anchor coverage for ABC, which is setting aside its typical daytime programming.

CBS anchor Katie Couric will be at the Staples Center, although the network had not yet said whether it was offering live coverage of the memorial.

CNN has seen its ratings soar with the Jackson story, and it will show the memorial on the main network and HLN (formerly Headline News). CNN International will air the ceremony to the rest of the world. Anderson Cooper, Larry King and Don Lemon are the anchors for CNN coverage. Robin Meade, A.J. Hammer and Jane Velez-Mitchell will anchor at HLN. CNN en Espanol also will cover it.

Chris Jansing will anchor live coverage of the memorial on MSNBC. Shepard Smith will anchor live coverage of the ceremony on Fox News, with Megyn Kelly anchoring coverage of the event on the Fox network.

E! Entertainment and TV Guide will cover the ceremony on their television networks and Web sites.

MJ, Freddie Mercury songs leaked

Guitarist Brian May is furious after "music thieves" exploited Michael Jackson's death by releasing previously unheard tracks by the King Of Pop and Queen's late frontman Freddie Mercury on the Internet.

Jackson, who passed away last week, and Mercury worked together in the 1980s on a number of tracks that have never been heard by the public.

May revealed the existence of the songs earlier this week, saying, "He (Jackson) used to come and see us when we were on tour in the States. He and Freddie became close friends, close enough to record a couple of tracks together at Michael's house, tracks which have never seen the light of day."

But the rocker has been left incensed after two tunes by the pair, State Of Shock and There Must Be More To Life Than This, ended up on video sharing website YouTube.com.

He fumes, "The music thieves at work as usual."

Montreal publisher starts printing updated Michael Jackson biography

MONTREAL - A Montreal publishing house has started printing an updated biography of Michael Jackson, a week after abruptly stopping the presses following the sudden death of the King of Pop.

Transit Publishing president Pierre Turgeon says author Ian Halperin's book, "Unmasked: The Final Years of Michael Jackson," went to press Thursday.

The biography, originally titled "Michael Jackson: Return from Exile," is scheduled to hit Canadian shelves next week.

"I stopped the presses and the author added some material to put the book up to speed," Turgeon said Thursday.

"Obviously, we had to change the ending."

The book initially ended with Jackson's expected return to the stage for 50 shows at London's O2 Arena, a much-anticipated series that had been scheduled to begin this month.

Turgeon said the final chapter now includes details of Jackson's death. It also features material Halperin got from a meeting with the pop star, which had been protected by a non-disclosure agreement.

That deal expired after Jackson's death, the publisher added.

In December, Halperin, who recently released a controversial, unauthorized biography of Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte, publicly predicted that Jackson had six months to live.

Turgeon said the printer, Transcontinental, sent the Montreal writer's book to press around the same time officials confirmed Jackson's death.

"I was very stressed because everybody from the office at Transcontinental had left for the evening," said Turgeon, who eventually tracked down the plant's night foreman.

The book will be released in the United States and the United Kingdom on July 14 and in France on July 17.

Around 300,000 copies will hit stores in the U.S., 100,000 in England, 100,000 in France and 40,000 in Canada.

David Carradine's death: asphyxiation, but not suicide

David Carradine's sudden and mysterious death in June finally has some answers ... but not all of them.

A private autopsy has determined that the "Kung Fu" star died from asphyxiation, but the medical examiner is ruling out suicide, reports Reuters.

Carradine's family hired forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden to do a second autopsy following up on the Thai investigation after he was found dead with a rope around his neck in a Bangkok hotel room on June 4.

"He didn't die of natural causes, and he didn't die of suicidal causes from the nature of the ligatures around the body, so that leaves some kind of accidental death," says Baden, who also hosts HBO's "Autopsy" series.

The doctor also says that Carradine's hands were tied above his head, not behind his back as had been previously reported. Baden estimates that maybe a week more is needed to get to the bottom of how the actor accidentally died.

Neil Patrick Harris closes in on Emmys gig

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – CBS is close to signing "How I Met Your Mother" co-star Neil Patrick Harris to host this year's Emmys.

The two-time Emmy nominee is fresh off a well-received stint as host of the Tonys, telecast by CBS in June.

The 61st annual Emmys will be broadcast September 20.

The event is under pressure to stage a turnaround this year. Ratings for the Academy Awards, MTV Awards, Tonys, Grammys and Country Music Awards have increased during their most recent airings, while the perpetually sinking Emmys last year hit an all-time viewership low.

Jackson funeral set for Tuesday in downtown L.A.

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Michael Jackson's funeral is being scheduled for 10 a.m. on Tuesday, July 7, at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles, sources said.

AEG Live, which owns the basketball arena and the adjacent Nokia Theater, will use both facilities and the surrounding plaza. There's no word yet on how ticketing will be handled.

Earlier speculation had the funeral being held everywhere from Neverland to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Oscar-winning actor Karl Malden dies at 97

LOS ANGELES (AFP) – Oscar-winning actor Karl Malden, known for his distinctive nose and roles opposite Marlon Brando in "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "On The Waterfront," has died, officials said Wednesday. He was 97.

Malden's passing was announced by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), where he served as president from 1989 to 1992.

A statement distributed by the Academy said the actor, who starred in more than 50 films, died at home surrounded by family members. No cause of death was disclosed.

Born Mladen Sekulovich in Chicago in 1912 to a Serbian father and Czech mother, Malden was the eldest of three sons and grew up in Gary, Indiana.

He developed a love of acting after appearing regularly in school plays and in productions organized by his father at a local church.

Malden worked in Gary's steel mills from 1931 until 1934 before accepting a scholarship to Chicago's Goodman Theater.

Another scholarship student, Mona Greenberg, became his wife in 1938. The couple celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary last year.

After tying the knot Malden forged a successful Broadway career, appearing in landmark productions such as Arthur Miller's "All My Sons" and Tennessee Williams's "A Streetcar Named Desire."

During this time he developed working relationships and lifelong friendships with director Elia Kazan and co-star Brando.

Malden's recreation of the role of Mitch in "Streetcar" earned him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1951, and he scored another nod in that category for playing Father Barry in "On the Waterfront."

After moving to Los Angeles in 1959 to pursue his film career, Malden landed roles in films including "One-Eyed Jacks," "The Cincinnati Kid," "Birdman of Alcatraz," and "Patton."

In the 1970s, Malden made a transition to television, starring in the popular series "The Streets of San Francisco" which introduced Michael Douglas. Douglas credited Malden as his mentor ever since.

Besides his work on stage and screen, Malden was equally famous for a string of TV commercials for American Express travelers checks in the 1970s and 1980s in which he famously implored: "Don't leave home without them."

Of his American Express ads, in which he invariably sported a Trilby hat and came over as a hard-nosed detective who'd seen it all, Malden once said: "It was a pleasure. It was a joy. I loved every minute of it."

"I'm a workaholic," Malden said. "I love every movie I've been in, even the bad ones, every TV series, every play, because I love to work. It's what keeps me going."

O Canada!

O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.

With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!

From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

Weaver Out Of Ghostbusters Sequel

Sigourney Weaver has pulled out of the second Ghostbusters sequel.

The actress was reported to be joining former co-stars Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd in a spooky new movie, 20 years after Ghostbusters II - but she insists she isn't part of producers' plans.

The actress tells TVSquad.com, "I think they're trying to create something new completely with the Ghostbusters, although I know Bill is in it. I don't expect to have anything to do with it, although I wish them well."

Aykroyd has suggested the new film, in which the original Ghostbusters hand over control of their spook-chasing responsibilities to a team of hot young ladies, could start shooting before the end of the year.

...'I'm not dead yet,' say stars killed off in online rumour frenzy

For those struggling to keep track:

Dead: Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Ed McMahon, Billy Mays and David Carradine.

Not Dead: George Clooney, Miley Cyrus, Rick Astley, Jeff Goldblum, Britney Spears, Ellen DeGeneres and Natalie Portman.

The recent spate of celebrity deaths has fuelled fake alerts of dead stars, who have had to issue denials about the exaggerated reports of their demise.

There are three main ways these arise. First, there are several long-running rumours that seem to be recycled every few years. Jeff Goldblum dying on a set in New Zealand seems be an old rumour – in the past, Tom Hanks was targeted – that resurfaces every few years.

New technology is also causing problems, as people pass along breaking news, often without verifying the information. There are many websites where it is possible to plug in a celebrity's name and it will spit out a realistic parody news story that looks like a real web news page. TMZ.com says the site fakeawish.com was responsible for the false Clooney rumours.

Then there are the hackers, who are also getting in on the action. Twitter accounts seem to be particularly sensitive, as Spears, DeGeneres and Cyrus reportedly had their accounts on the microblogging service hacked, with fabricated tweets of their demise.

Luckily, there is also a cottage industry of websites in the business of debunking these false reports. Snopes.com is a repository of urban legends and how these rumours come about. Museumofhoaxes.com is another good site examining this phenomenon and recently had a blog post noting it's not just an Internet thing: a news story in The New York Times in April 1945 detailed a flood of celebrity death rumours following president Franklin D. Roosevelt's death.

The dubious claims of death are so pervasive, they have already been co-opted by malware writers.

"Every time a disaster happens or news about some celebrity reaches the media, malware writers try to take advantage of it," wrote McAfee researcher Guilherme Venere in a blog posting. "Watch out for spam offering links to `news' or `pictures' of deceased celebrities."

The lesson here is, when in doubt, use a search engine to confirm first and forward later.

Funeral held for Farrah Fawcett

The life of Charlie's Angels star Farrah Fawcett was celebrated Tuesday at a private funeral in the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles.

Her longtime companion, Ryan O'Neal, was among pallbearers who accompanied the casket, covered in yellow and orange flowers, into the Roman Catholic cathedral.

Fawcett's friend Alana Stewart and Charlie's Angels co-star Kate Jackson were among early arrivals before the hearse pulled up, accompanied by 10 motorcycle officers.

Fans and news media watched from across the street. The service was closed to the public. Fawcett died Thursday at age 62 after a public battle with cancer. O'Neal and Stewart were at her side.

"After a long and brave battle with cancer, our beloved Farrah has passed away," O'Neal said in a statement last week. "Although this is an extremely difficult time for her family and friends, we take comfort in the beautiful times that we shared with Farrah over the years and the knowledge that her life brought joy to so many people around the world."

Farrah Fawcett poses for photographers on the red carpet before a 2006 Comedy Central event in Los Angeles. (Associated Press)
Diagnosed with a rare cancer in 2006, Fawcett's battle with the disease was documented in Farrah's Story, which aired last month on NBC.

Stewart, a producer of the documentary, said Fawcett was "much more than a friend; she was my sister."

"Although I will miss her terribly, I know in my heart that she will always be there as that angel on the shoulder of everyone who loved her," Stewart said in a statement.

Fawcett and O'Neal, 68, have a son, 24-year-old Redmond, who has been jailed since April 5 on drug charges.

Last week, a judge granted his request to attend Fawcett's funeral.

Michael Jackson Breaks Billboard Charts Records

As predicted, Michael Jackson is once again the King of the Pop charts.

Based on preliminary sales numbers from Nielsen SoundScan, the entire top nine positions on Billboard's Top Pop Catalog Albums chart will house Jackson-related titles when the tally is released in the early morning on Wednesday (July 1). Nielsen SoundScan's sales tracking week ended at the close of business on Sunday (June 28) night.

Jackson himself has a record eight out of the top 10, while a Jackson 5 compilation also finds its way into the upper tier.

The King of Pop's "Number Ones" will fittingly lead the pack at No. 1 with 108,000 (an increase of 2,340%) while "The Essential Michael Jackson" and "Thriller" are in the Nos. 2 and 3 slots with 102,000 and 101,000, respectively. Last week "Number Ones" was the only Jackson title on the chart, at No. 20 with 4,000 copies; both "Essential" and "Thriller" re-enter the tally this week.

Additionally, his classic 1979 studio set "Off the Wall" re-enters at No. 4 with 33,000 while his 1987 album "Bad" returns at No. 6 with 17,000. At No. 5, the Jackson 5's "The Ultimate Collection" debuts with 18,000. Jackson's fourth studio album for Epic Records, 1991's "Dangerous," re-enters at No. 7 with 14,000 while his 2001 compilation "Greatest Hits: HIStory -- Volume 1" also comes back to the list at No. 8 with 12,000. Finally, Jackson's 2004 box set "The Ultimate Collection" charts its first week on the Pop Catalog chart, arriving at No. 9 with 11,000.

The lone non-Jackson-related set in the top 10 is a reissue of the "Woodstock" movie soundtrack, which bows at No. 10 with 8,000.

Collectively, Jackson's solo albums sold 415,000 this past week. That's extraordinary, since his titles sold a combined 10,000 in the week that ended June 21. Of the 415,000 total, 58% were digital downloads.

Additionally, the 415,000 albums sold just last week is nearly 40% more than what Jackson's catalog had sold the the entire year up through June 21 (297,000).

Speaking of digital albums, on the Top Digital Albums chart, Jackson has a record six out of the top 10 slots, including the entire top four. "The Essential Michael Jackson" leads the Top Digital Albums list with 80,000 downloads sold, while "Thriller" is No. 2 with 57,000.

With the Black Eyed Peas' "The E.N.D." moving back to the No. 1 slot on the Billboard 200 chart with 88,000, this week marks the first time that a catalog album has sold more than the No. 1 current set on the Billboard 200 albums chart. (All three of Jackson's top sellers on the Pop Catalog chart outsell "The E.N.D.")

Ironically, the feat almost occurred when Jackson re-issued "Thriller" in February 2008. The set relaunched with 166,000, re-entering at No. 1 on the Top Pop Catalog chart. That week, Jack Johnson's "Sleep Through the Static" led the Billboard 200 chart with 180,000 while Amy Winehouse's "Back to Black" was at No. 2 with 115,000.

Catalog albums are ineligible to appear on the Billboard 200 albums chart, though they can chart on the all-encompassing Top Comprehensive Albums list. On the latter chart, Jackson's "Number Ones," "Essential" and "Thriller" are at Nos. 1-3, followed by the Black Eyed Peas' "The E.N.D." at No. 4.

Jackson places a record 25 songs on the 75-position Hot Digital Songs chart (21 solo hits and four with his siblings), smashing the mark of 14 charting titles established by David Cook in the June 7, 2008 issue. Jackson's Halloween radio staple, "Thriller," moves 167,000, which is good for second place on the chart behind the 203,000 shifted by the Black Eyed Peas' "I Gotta Feeling."

"Thriller" was also Jackson's best seller in the week before his death with 5,000 downloads, which translates to a 3,551% jump. Jackson's total volume of downloads this week -- including his tracks with the Jackson 5 and the Jacksons -- account for 2.6 million downloads, a remarkable number considering last week's cumulative sum was 48,000. Moreover, Jackson becomes the first act to sell more than 1 million song downloads in a week.

Besides "Thriller," Jackson places five other songs in the top 10 including "Man In The Mirror" (No. 3, 165,000), "Billie Jean" (No. 4, 158,000), "The Way You Make Me Feel" (No. 6, 136,000), "Beat It" (No. 7, 134,000) and "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" (No. 8, 125,000).

Not surprisingly, each of the tracks in the top 10 of Hot Digital Songs were among the top 10 most-played Jackson selections at radio following his passing. According to research provided by Nielsen BDS of monitored airplay from over 1,600 terrestrial and satellite radio stations and cable music channels, "Billie Jean" was the Jackson track with the most spins for the week ending June 28 with 4,540 -- 97% of which occurred after news of his death became public. The track posted only 318 plays in the prior week.