Category: Rumours

Kutcher reportedly joins Sheen sitcom
LOS ANGELES – Actor Ashton Kutcher was reported Thursday to have signed a deal to replace Charlie Sheen in a revamped version of top-rated U.S. television comedy ìTwo and A Half Men.î
Deadline Hollywood said Kutcher, 33, the husband of actress Demi Moore, had signed a deal to join the cast of the CBS show when it returns for a ninth season.
The Hollywood Reporter said the ìThat ë70s Showî actor was in final negotiations on Thursday night.
CBS and ìTwo and a Half Menî producers Warner Bros. Televison declined to comment on the reports, which came a week before CBS ó the most-watched U.S. broadcast network ó presents its new season line-up to advertisers in New York on May 18.
Sheen was fired in March from his starring role as a womanizing bachelor after weeks of erratic behavior and for publicly insulting the producers. Production was also shut down for the remaining eight episodes of the 2010-11 TV season.
Producers have since been scrambling to retool the money-spinning show without Sheen, or add new characters. On Wednesday, industry sources said British actor Hugh Grant had pulled out of negotiations citing ìcreative differences.î
Kutcher is best known for his role as a dim-witted stoner in ìThat ë70s Show,î a comedy that aired for eight seasons on Fox and remains popular in syndication. His movie career has been less successful. He was last seen in the January romantic comedy ìNo Strings Attachedî opposite Natalie Portman. He was an early adopter of Twitter, with a huge following of 6.8 million people.
ìTwo and A Half Menî is the most-watched TV comedy in the United States with about 15 million regular viewers and has been a lucrative source of advertising revenue for CBS, and syndication fees for Warner Bros.
Sheen, 45, who has been in and out of drug rehab for the last 12 months, was the highest-paid actor on U.S. television, earning more than $1.2 million per episode.
Warner Bros. last month strongly denied claims by Sheen that the studio was in talks to reinstate him, and said there was no chance of him returning to the show.

Hugh Grant instead of Charlie Sheen on ‘Two and a Half Men’?
Warner Bros. was hoping to woo Hugh Grant to replace Charlie Sheen on “Two and a Half Men,” the hit sitcom that the studio produces for CBS.
Grant, who is no stranger to playing a bit of a rogue (“About a Boy”) was in serious negotiations to take the part, but now talks have cooled, according to the entertainment industry website Deadline Hollywood, which broke the news.
The clock is ticking for Warner Bros. and CBS to find the right person to replace Sheen. Next Wednesday, CBS announces its fall schedule to advertisers. Although CBS does not have to unveil what is happening with “Two and a Half Men” then, it would clear up a lot of uncertainty about the network’s Monday night comedy block, of which “Two and a Half Men” is the anchor.
Although Sheen is the highest-paid TV star with a salary of $1.2 million per episode plus his cut of rerun money, Warner Bros. is not looking to spend that kind of dough on his replacement, a person familiar with the situation said.

Jeremy Renner Offered Lead Role in Bourne Legacy
Jeremy Renner has been offered the lead role in The Bourne Legacy, Deadline.com reports.
The spin-off film follows a new operative (Renner) from a covert government program, similar to the character of Jason Bourne that Matt Damon originated in the series. Tony Gilroy will return to direct.
Renner was nominated for back-to-back Oscars on The Hurt Locker and The Town. He can be seen next in Thor, out May 6.

Dancer still upset over ‘Black Swan’
Ballet star Sarah Laneís allegations that she, not Natalie Portman, was the star of hit film Black Swan appear to ring true if new face replacement footage on the DVD is to be believed.
The American Ballet Theater star was hired to perform the most complex Swan Lake dance scenes in the film, but whereas Portman has claimed she performed 75% of what is seen in the movie, Lane insists all the dancing in the film was her, and the actress only featured in five per cent of the ballet sequences..
The dancer caused controversy when she first came forward with her claims and sheís not backing down – in a new 20/20 news special, which aired on American TV on Friday, Lane sat down with the DVD of the film and picked the intricate ballet scenes apart, stating, ìThis is all me, you can actually see my face sometimes… The full body shots with actual dancing is me.î
And the DVD release appears to back up her claims – it features bonus footage of how Portmanís face was superimposed onto hers.
Lane accepted she wouldnít be credited for her major role in the film, but felt she had to speak out when moviegoers started to believe Portman was the sole star of the movieís ballet scenes.
She added, ìI didnít do the movie to get fame or recognition, or anything… (but) Iíve been dancing for 22 years and to say that someone trained for a year and a half and did what I did… itís degrading, not only to me, but to the entire ballet world.î
Lane told 20/20 she was approached by one of Black Swanís film producers after she first came forward to dismiss Portmanís dancing claims he asked her not to speak to the press until after the Oscars, where the actress won gold.
She recalled, ì(He said) it was bad for Natalieís image.
ìBut they were trying to create this facade that Natalie had done something extraordinary, something thatís pretty much impossible – to become a professional ballerina in a year and a half.î
Lane was not surprised when Portman didnít mention her in her acceptance speech: ìI expected it. At that point I knew what was going on.î
The dancer insists she still thinks Portman deserved the Best Actress prize at the Oscars: ìI think she is a really beautiful actress and I loved working with her.î
For the record, director Darren Aronofsky appears to side with his leading lady and not the ballet star, insisting Portman performed 80 per cent of the dance scenes in his film, and his editor, Andy Weisblum, tells 20/20, ìThere are about 35 shots that are full body shots in the movie… Of those 35 shots, 12 are Natalie and the rest are Sarah, but, of the overall film, Natalie did a lot more than that she did most of the other shots. It was sometimes hard for me to tell the difference… It was so close.î

Catherine Tate lined up to replace Steve Carell on ‘The Office’
Catherine Tate has emerged as front-runner to take over from Steve Carell on the US version of The Office.
Carell is leaving his role as Michael Scott, boss of paper company Dunder Mifflin. The character was inspired by Ricky Gervais’ original David Brent.
Now the UK comedienne has been tipped to replace him, according to AOL. Tate makes a guest appearance in the final episode of the current series, due to air in the US on April 28, as an applicant for the boss position at the company.
Her character will be going against other guest stars Ray Romano, Will Arnett, James Spader and Will Ferrell.

Bill Murray Finally Signs On to ‘Ghostbusters 3’ … and ‘Ghostbusters 4’
Who ya gonna call? The answer is “all of your friends,” because the Ghostbusters are putting the proton packs back on for a new case.
In an exclusive interview with franchise director Ivan Reitman, sources say that Bill Murray has finally agreed to reprise the character of Dr. Peter Venkman and team up with Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson and Harold Ramis for not just one, but two ‘Ghostbusters’ adventures. They are set to be filmed concurrently and released back-to-back for Christmas 2012 and Christmas 2013.
The development of ‘Ghostbusters 3’ has been brewing for years, but news about the project really started to heat up in the past 12 months. For quite some time, the delay in getting the movie made has been Murray, who was vocal in his displeasure with the previous draft of the screenplay written by Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg. But back in the fall, Dan Aykroyd told Vanity Fair that he had taken over scripting, and then last month, while promoting ‘No Strings Attached,’ Reitman revealed that Murray had seen the newest draft, and going forward with a new ‘Ghostbusters’ installment would come down to his approval.
“Bill loves these characters as much as we all do, and it was simply a matter of nailing the timing,” Reitman explained.
As was previously speculated, the plot of ‘Ghostbusters 3’ and ‘4’ will focus on Venkman, Egon and Ray Stantz training a new generation of Ghostbusters. If fans respond positively to the young cadets, Sony also has plans to move the series forward with their own movie in the future.
Reitman didn’t reveal much in the way of plot, but added, “Bill had a lot of say in how Venkman would return to the screen. He’s really excited to take the character in a new direction.” Given Murray’s previous statements on how he would like to play the smart-mouthed doctor, coupled with the news that he recently signed on to play FDR in a biopic, the early speculation is that Venkman will appear only in a supporting role — and as a ghost.
No word yet on who will play the young Ghostbusters, but given the release date, Sony will have to fast-track production by the summer, meaning we should hear some big casting updates soon. In the past months, Aykroyd and Reitman have talked up Anna Faris, Eliza Dushku and Ashton Kutcher as taking up the Ghostbusters mantle.
When asked for comment, Murray responded, “I came, I saw, I kicked this sequel’s ass.”

‘Black Swan’ double claims Natalie Portman only did ‘5 percent’ of full-body dance shots in the movie
The ballerina who served as a dancing double for Natalie Portmanís Oscar-winnning role in Black Swan tells EW she has been the victim of a ìcover-upî to mislead the public about how much dancing Portman actually did in the film. ìOf the full body shots, I would say 5 percent are Natalie,î says Sarah Lane, 27, an American Ballet Theatre soloist who performed many of the filmís complicated dance sequences, allowing Portmanís face to be digitally grafted onto her body. ìAll the other shots are me.î
Laneís claim follows a March 23 L.A. Times article in which Portmanís fiancÈ and Black Swan choreographer Benjamin Millepied said Laneís work in the film was far less significant. ìThere are articles now talking about her dance double [American Ballet Theatre dancer Sarah Lane] that are making it sound like [Lane] did a lot of the work, but really, she just did the footwork, and the fouettÈs, and one diagonal [phrase] in the studio,î he said. ìHonestly, 85 percent of that movie is Natalie.î
Lane disagrees. ìThe shots that are just her face with arms, those shots are definitely Natalie,î she says. ìBut that doesnít show the actual dancing.î Lane admits that she was never promised a particular title for her six weeks of work on the film, though she was disappointed to see that she is credited only as as ìHand Model,î ìStunt Double,î and ìLady in the Laneî (a brief walk-on role).
Lane also says that Black Swan producer Ari Handel specifically told her not to talk about her work to the press, even though she claims there was no such stipulation in her contract. ìThey wanted to create this idea in peopleís minds that Natalie was some kind of prodigy or so gifted in dance and really worked so hard to make herself a ballerina in a year and a half for the movie, basically because of the Oscar,î says Lane. ìIt is demeaning to the profession and not just to me. Iíve been doing this for 22 yearsÖ. Can you become a concert pianist in a year and a half, even if youíre a movie star?î
Reps for Portman, Fox Searchlight, and Handel have yet to provide comments on the matter.
Lane is barely seen in promotional materials for the movie, including a VFX reel posted by studio Fox Searchlight that appears to show all the digital alterations made to key dance sequences. An unverified version of that reel, leaked to YouTube, seems to shows how digital face replacement was used to put Portmanís head on Laneís body. (The clip was included in a blog post by Dance Magazineës Wendy Perron, who wrote about Laneís story earlier this month.)
According to Lane, Portmanís dramatic transformation into a ballerina ó a narrative firmly at the center of her successful Oscar campaign ó wasnít as impressive as the public was led to believe. ìI mean, from a professional dancerís standpoint, she doesnít look like a professional ballet dancer at all and she canít dance in pointe shoes. And she canít move her body; sheís very stiff,î says Lane. ìI do give her a lot of credit because in a year and a half she lost a lot of weight and she really tried to go method and get into a dancers head and really feel like a ballet dancer.î
In interviews, Portman didnít hide the fact that she had used a body double for key sequences in the film, though Laneís name, and the extent of her work, were played down. ìI do have a double for the complicated turning stuff,î Portman told EW last November. ìIt was not anything I ever could have done in a year, nothing I couldíve caught up with. But I think it was just better for all of us if I did as much as possible.î
Lane insists she isnít speaking out of jealousy over Portmanís acclaim. ì[Natalie] is an amazing actress, for sure,î she says. ìI know that itís not a personal thing against me. I know that itís just a political thing. Itís just unfortunate that I kind of lost credit.î

KStew injured on set of ‘Breaking Dawn’
Kristen Stewart is sporting a cast on her arm after injuring herself while filming The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, according to a U.K. report.
The actress flew in to Los Angeles earlier this week and was snapped at the airport with her left hand in bandages.
Rumours have been rife about the cause of Stewart’s injury, and Britain’s The People newspaper claims the star was hurt while shooting a scene for the latest installment of the Twilight franchise.
A spokesperson for Stewart has not commented on the injury.