• An audio recording of Christian Bale's obscenity laden tirade on the set of Terminator: Salvation has been released. (Language very NSFW) Bale's ire was raised after the film's director of photography accidentally ruined a take by walking on set. Turns out Bale's normal voice can be scarier than his hoarse Batman croak.

• SAG contract talks have halted while guild president Alan Rosenberg petitions to get ousted director Doug Allen reinstated.

• Spike Lee's movie about the Los Angeles riots has stalled due to budgetary reasons.

• Aaron Sorkin's The Challenge, based on a book about the Navy lawyer who represented Osama Bin Laden's driver, may score George Clooney in the lead. Clooney is also interested in directing, and could use some gritty subject matter after the lackluster Leatherheads.

• Roman Polanski will have to appear in a Los Angeles court to make an appeal for the dismissal of his 1977 statutory rape charge. Polanski filed papers in December to have the three decades-old case that caused him to flee the U.S. dismissed.

• Academy president Sid Ganis has promised to take risks with the Oscars this year, saying the categories will be presented in a completely new way. Ironically, this new way will still take up three hours.

• Bill Murray will join Robert Duvall in the period dramatic film Get Low. Lucas Black and Sissy Spacek will also star in the Southern-fried movie.

• The first photo from Robert Downey Jr.'s Sherlock Holmes has been released.

ENTERTAINMENT NEWS 2/3/09

BIZ

Legal threat halts SAG-AMPTP talks

from Hollywood Reporter by By Andrew Salomon and Jay A. Fernandez

Like a horror movie with one false ending after another, the SAG story continues to twist and turn but refuses to bend toward resolution.

Michigan To Open Full Frills Movie Studio

from Nikki Finke's Deadline Hollywood Daily by Nikki Finke

Tonight, in her State of the State speech, Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm will announce creation of a fully functioning movie studio to be known as the Motown Motion Picture Studios (MMPS). The $53M Pontiac, MI, project slated to be open for business in mid-2009 will be managed by L.A.-based Raleigh Studios with CEO Michael Moore

'Spider-Man 4' Filming In Michigan, Says Sam Raimi

from Splash Page by Brian Warmoth

"Spider-Man" franchise director Sam Raimi will be bringing a few cameras back to his home state of Michigan for "Spider-Man 4$B!m(B next year.

 

WMA Signs 4 Buzzed Sundance Directors

from Nikki Finke's Deadline Hollywood Daily by Nikki Finke

William Morris signed Emily Abt, the director of Toe To Toe; Cherien Dabis who wrote and helmed Amreeka; Dominic Murphy, director of White Lightning; and Lee Daniels, who helmed Push: Based On The Novel By Sapphire.

 

FESTIVALS

Springsteen, Phish head lineup for Bonnaroo

from AP Top Entertainment News At 11:05 ...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Bruce Springsteen, fresh off his Super Bowl halftime performance, has been announced as a headliner at this year's Bonnaroo Arts & Music Festival, along with the recently reunited Phish....

Babelgum online film festival boots up

from Hollywood Reporter by By Eric J. Lyman

The second Babelgum online film festival got under way Monday with some 630 entries that will vie for 100,000 euros ($128,000) in prize money split between four categories.

Post-Sundance Good News/Bad News

from Nikki Finke's Deadline Hollywood Daily by Nikki Finke

First, the good news: Lionsgate just bought this year's big Sundance Film Festival winner Push: Based On The Novel by Sapphire with no less luminaries than Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry using their friendship and production companies to get behind the pic. Perry, as you know, has a giant overall deal at the mini-major.

Laughs, love to lighten serious cinema in Berlin

from Reuters: Entertainment News

BERLIN (Reuters) - "The International," the opening movie at the Berlin film festival this year, is a thriller starring Clive Owen that tackles dubious banking practices, terrorist funding and the impact of globalization.

AWARDS

NAACP Image Awards to honor Muhammad Ali

from AP Top Entertainment News At 11:05 ...

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- This month's NAACP Image Awards ceremony could be a real knockout....

Oscar nominees be warned: Surprises lay ahead

from AP Top Entertainment News At 11:05 ... by By DAVID GERMAIN

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) -- Fans of this month's Academy Awards - and nominees themselves - are in for something new at Hollywood's biggest party, the show's overseers said Monday....

More secrets leaked about Oscars telecast

from L.A. Times - Movie News

Also leaked is news that producers have asked studios to provide footage of major releases due out next year.

Pre-telecast Grammy show to air on Web

from Entertainment News - UPI.com

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Feb. 2 (UPI) -- Organizers of the 51st annual Grammy Awards say a pre-telecast ceremony, during which many prizes are to be handed out, will be streamed on Grammy.com

Miley Cyrus & Taylor Swift to Duet at Grammys

from People.com Latest News

The duo will join U2, Coldplay and Carrie Underwood at the Feb. 8 awards

FILM

Uh Oh--Christian Bale's Meltdown On 'Terminator' Set Last Year Hits The Web

from Box Office Boffo

Warning: Do not play this if there are children in the vicinity.

Dozens in Mumbai slums protest against "Slumdog"

from Reuters: Entertainment News

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Dozens of residents of a Mumbai slum where "Slumdog Millionaire" was partly shot protested against the Oscar-nominated film Tuesday, hurling insults and hitting pictures of its cast and crew with slippers.

'G.I. Joe,' 'Transformers 2' & 'Star Trek' Movies: Super Bowl Trailers With Comic Book History

from Splash Page by Rick Marshall

This year's Super Bowl featured a trio of new trailers for some blockbuster films that have been on the collective radar of comics fans for quite some time now $B!=(B and we're not talking about "Watchmen," folks.

 

'Watchmen' ticks toward big-screen release

from CNN.com - Entertainment

A yellow smiley-face badge, smeared with blood, has become the trademark for "Watchmen," the most critically revered of all comic-books -- but it could also represent its troubled journey from page to big screen.

Oprah Gives Push to Sundance Winner

from E! Online - Movie News

Coming soon to Oprah Winfrey's couch: Mariah Carey. The daytime queen hasn't exactly announced the booking, but it's only a matter of time now that she is teaming up...

Lionsgate has N. American rights to 'Push'

from Entertainment News - UPI.com

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Feb. 2 (UPI) -- Lionsgate announced Monday it has acquired the North American distribution rights to the Sundance Film Festival hit "Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire."

Not much to get "Into" in ensemble romantic comedy

from Reuters: Entertainment News

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - It began, reportedly, with a line uttered during a "Sex and the City" episode: "He's just not that into you." That line became the title of a best-selling relationship book, and now it's a movie. But how can you turn a phrase, even one with a hint of gossip and nastiness, into a movie?

Poul to direct J.Lo movie for CBS Films

from Entertainment News - UPI.com

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- U.S. television director-producer Alan Poul is in final negotiations to direct "Plan B," a romantic comedy starring Jennifer Lopez, CBS Films said Monday.

Film argues Vicious didn't kill Spungen

from Entertainment News - UPI.com

LONDON, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- Director Alan G. Parker says his new U.K. film "Who Killed Nancy?" makes a strong argument that punk rocker Sid Vicious didn't stab Nancy Spungen to death.

Woody Allen's next finds a home

from EW.com: Movies

By Adam B. Vary

Sony Pictures Classics to release ''Whatever Works,'' with Larry David and Evan Rachel Wood, this summer

 

Ernest Hemingway biopic in the works

from Hollywood Reporter by By Jay A. Fernandez and Borys Kit

The King of Papa is heading back to the big screen. The Gotham Group and producer Kevin Fortuna have optioned film rights to A.E. Hotchner's biography "Papa Hemingway: A Personal Memoir."

Spike Lee nabs rights to WWII tale 'Hell'

from Hollywood Reporter by By Steven Zeitchik

Spike Lee's production company 40 Acres and a Mule has acquired rights to Brendan Koerner's nonfiction tale "Now the Hell Will Start" and will develop as a feature.

Spike Lee Says Film About LA Riots is Dead$B!D(BAt Least for Now

from MTV Movies Blog by Eric Ditzian

Few events in recent history seem a more perfect fit for director Spike Lee than the racially-charged Los Angeles riots in 1992. Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment thought so too, agreeing in 2006 to move ahead with a drama about the situation. Then Lee's ambitious aspirations met budgetary realities.

 

TV

What to Watch for week of February 2 to 8

from EW.com: TV

By Jessica Shaw

A day-to-day guide to notable programs*

 

Obama sets several interviews

from Hollywood Reporter by By Paul J. Gough

Two days after a Super Bowl exclusive with "Today" host Matt Lauer, President Barack Obama is extending his media profile with sitdowns with all the major networks.

 

Television ratings for Super Bowl fall just short of record

from L.A. Times - TV News

An average of 95.4 million viewers tuned in to NBC's telecast of the Steelers-Cardinals game, the second-highest rated Super Bowl to last season's game.

Networks get face time with Obama in Oval Office

from Reuters: Entertainment News

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Two days after a Super Bowl exclusive with "Today" host Matt Lauer, President Barack Obama is extending his media profile with sit-downs with all the major networks.

 

Study links TV and depression

from L.A. Times - TV News

The amount of time teenagers watch television increases their risk of becoming depressed as adults, researchers find.

Tori Spelling, Jennie Garth reunite on '90210'

from AP Top Entertainment News At 11:05 ...

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) -- The reunion of Tori Spelling's Donna and Jennie Garth's Kelly on the CW's "90210" is an attention-grabber for fans of the original drama....

Faye Dunaway to guest star on 'Grey's'

from Entertainment News - UPI.com

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- Hollywood film icon Faye Dunaway has signed up to guest star on the TV medical drama "Grey's Anatomy," ABC announced Monday.

Herskovitz and Zwick set CBS pilot

from Hollywood Reporter by By Nellie Andreeva

CBS has exchanged vows with "thirtysomething" creators Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick.

 

CBS orders 'Fish Tank' comedy to pilot

from Hollywood Reporter by By Nellie Andreeva

Former "King of Queens" executive producer/showrunners Kathy Yuspa and Josh Goldsmith are returning to the network with a new comedy.

'Necessary Evil' Comic Book To Become Live-Action Series On Cartoon Network

from Splash Page by David Press

Cartoon Network has picked up "Necessary Evil," Joshua Williamson and Marcus L. Harris' comic book series about two brothers who go to a school for supervillains after their mother, the greatest supervillain of all time, is murdered.

 

Aaron Sorkin set for WB's 'Challenge'

from Variety.com

Los Angeles: George Clooney's Smoke House to produce -- Warner Bros. has set Aaron Sorkin to write "The Challenge," a courtroom drama for George Clooney's Smoke House shingle.

HBO buys book about financial crisis

from Variety.com

TV News: NY Times, Vanity Fair writers penning project -- HBO is bringing the financial meltdown of 2008 to the smallscreen.

MUSIC

Tidbits: Britney will take her kids on tour

from MSNBC.com: Gossip

Monday night, Britney Spears confirmed on her Web site that she would be taking her young sons on tour with her.

 

British torch singer Adele headed for Vogue

from AP Top Entertainment News At 11:05 ... by By NATALIE ROTMAN

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Adele is in vogue, and soon to be in Vogue....

Hudson lip-synced at Super Bowl

from Entertainment News - UPI.com

TAMPA, Fla., Feb. 3 (UPI) -- The producer of this week's Super Bowl show in Tampa, Fla., said Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson lip-synced "The Star-Spangled Banner" before the game.

 

Jennifer Hudson plans six-week U.S. tour this spring

from Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider by Simon Vozick-Levinson

As the rave reviews roll in for Jennifer Hudson's national anthem rendition before Super Bowl XLIII last night -- her first public performance since tragedy struck her family in October -- the singer is already preparing to launch a full...

 

Howie Day returns to the road with new album

from Top Stories from LiveDaily.com

(LiveDaily.com) Singer/songwriter Howie Day [ tickets ] will preview music from his long-awaited forthcoming album during a spring tour of the US

Flight of the Conchords prepare for tour, album takeoff

from Top Stories from LiveDaily.com

(LiveDaily.com) Musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords [ tickets ] has unveiled huge tour plans for the spring to support the upcoming release of the group's sophomore full-length set.

ETC...

NYC Fashion Week to move after 17 years

from AP Top Entertainment News At 11:05 ... by By SARA KUGLER

NEW YORK (AP) -- New York Fashion Week is getting a new look....

'867-5309' bids up to $365,000

from CNN.com - Entertainment

Jenny's number -- scribbled on a fictional bathroom wall and burned into your mind by a 1982 pop song -- has ignited a fierce online bidding war.

Broadway box office continues to fall

from Variety.com

Legit News: Total sales slip to $11.9 million -- Broadway box office continued its late-January decline last week, with total sales slipping more than $750,000 to $11.9 million.