Source: Brian Gallagher

BOX OFFICE NEWS
This is never normally a powerful weekend at the box office, but damn. Disturbia closed out the month of April with a hat-trick, taking the number one spot for the third time in as many weeks. The Shia LaBeouf thriller has owned the top spot for each week it's been in release. While that normally would be fairly impressive, it mainly acheived this because its competition was so much more less impressive. Disturbia chimed in at the top spot with just over $9 million. That performance for that movie really wasn't that bad, as it dropped just 30.6% from last weekend, but it's just sad that the newcomers couldn't even come close to hitting an 8-figure mark. The top two newbies were quite close together at the second and third spots, even though their grosses were attrocious. The Invisible and Next were almost neck-and-neck in the silver and bronze spots, taking in $7.7 million and $7.1 million, respectively. Both posted very low per-screen averages as well, with The Invisible, showing in just 2,019 theaters, taking in $3,882 per screen and Next, bowing in 2,725 theaters, averaging a paltry $2,617 per screen.

CASTING NEWS

Jason Stratham revs up for Death Race. This very well could be a winner, folks. It looks like Paul W.S. Anderson is ready to let go of the whole Resident Evil thing (he wrote all three, but only directed the first) and move on, and this looks like a great one to move on with. Based on the 1975 Roger Corman cult classic, this movie sounds like a darker version of The Cannonball Run, with a New York to L.A. road race, but with a Grand Theft Auto sort of spin, where the racers actually get bonus points for killing innocent bystanders. I'm actually intrigued enough by this premise that I want to check out the orignal Corman flick, starring David Carradine and Sly Stallone, although it might be hard to find. Statham is a wonderful choice for this flick and it sounds like they're well on their way here.

Michael Douglas to star in Tragic Indifference. This sounds like another great courtroom winner and, finally, a big big win for Michael Douglas. He's been appearing in a bunch of duds since 2000, when he had two wonderful flicks come out: Traffic and Wonder Boys. Stephen Gerard has a REALLY sketchy filmography, but this just seems like such a cool story that it might even be hard to mess it up. Douglas will play an attorney who sues Ford at the behest of a Texas woman who nearly died after rolling her Explorer SUV. It sounds like Douglas and this Gerard could use a big win here, and this story just might give them one.

In PARIS, JE T'AIME, celebrated directors from around the world, including the Coen Brothers, Gus Van Sant, Gurinder Chadha, Wes Craven, Walter Salles, Alexander Payne and Olivier Assayas, have come together to portray Paris in a way never before imagined. Made by a team of contributors as cosmopolitan as the city itself, this portrait of the city is as diverse as its creators' backgrounds and nationalities. With each director telling the story of an unusual encounter in one of the city's neighborhoods, the vignettes go beyond the 'postcard' view of Paris to portray aspects of the city rarely seen on the big screen.

Racial tensions stand next to paranoid visions of the city seen from the perspective of an American tourist. A young foreign worker moves from her own domestic situation into her employer's bourgeois environs. An American starlet finds escape as she is shooting a movie. A man is torn between his wife and his lover. A young man working in a print shop sees and desires another young man. A father grapples with his complex relationship with his daughter. A couple tries to add spice to their sex life. These are but a few of the witty and serendipitous narratives that make up PARIS, JE T'AIME.

An outstanding host of actors including Natalie Portman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Fanny Ardant, Elijah Wood, Nick Nolte, Bob Hoskins, Juliette Binoche, Emily Mortimer, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Rufus Sewell, Barbet Schroeder, Ludivine Sagnier, Gena Rowlands, Miranda Richardson and Steve Buscemi, grace these vignettes with their larger-than-life personas. Their performances add even deeper resonance to this affectionate love letter to one of the world's most transcendent cities.

Britney Spears Almost Live

Britney was back at the Millennium dance studios today, it seems that Briteny’s comeback is advancing at warp speed. Reports leaked earlier this week are reporting that May 1st Spears will be playing the House of Blues in San Diego, May 2nd - Anaheim and May 3rd - the House of Blues on Sunset Strip.

Tuesday Britney was supposed to perform at Ivan Kane’s Forty Deuce in Hollywood but cancelled at the last moment. The Hollywood Bureau has obtained a very interesting statment regarding Britney’s almost live performance:

Britney Spears Almost Live!

At Ivan Kane’s Forty Deuce Hollywood “Britney Spears spent all day Tuesday rehearsing at Ivan Kanes Forty Deuce for a surprise performance at the famed club. Wednesday night’s performance of Royal Jelly, the new rock ‘n roll burlesque show at Ivan Kanes Forty Deuce, was to be the first public performance for Ms. Spears following her troubles of late. Plans to sing three songs with four backup dancers during intermission of the sexy Forty Deuce show were postponed at the last minute because “management decided it wasn’t the right time.” Owner Ivan Kane said “she came on stage during rehearsal, looking very hot, with four backup dancers and sang three songs. They ran through the set several times, the choreography was smoking and she sounded great. The backup dancers were beautiful as well, as a matter of fact, two of them perform at my club every week.” Ms. Spears, who had been to Forty Deuce twice recently to catch both the “classic” burlesque show and the new “rock n roll” burlesque show, felt Forty Deuce was the perfect spot to get back in front of an audience. The club, famous for being the gold standard of sexy burlesque shows in both Hollywood and Las Vegas, was “thrilled that Britney thought of us and look forward to rescheduling.” Ivan Kane’s Forty Deuce will open this fall in New York in a much publicized partnership with Sting and David Bowie.”

Kate Moss’s £5 million deal with Topshop to produce her own line is causing unrest among designers who feel that celebrities are cashing in on their territory - this summer alone Kate Moss, Lily Allen and Madonna will all have their own collections on the high street.

British designer Jeff Bank is the latest to criticize this trend:
“Can Kate sharpen a pencil or draw a matchstick man? I wouldn’t put money on it,” the disgruntled designer - who recently created clothes for London’s 2012 Olympic bid - said. “I’ll bet [Kate Moss] just grabbed one of her many Prada bags, rifled through her wardrobe … and turned up at TopShop’s head office in Oxford Street for a quick hour’s briefing with the in-house designers and buying staff.”

TopShop has been quick of the mark to respond to this latest criticism:
“Kate Moss has had a huge input in the range at every level, from the design concept of the garments to the fitting and the logo. The fashion industry may be a different place to one Jeff Banks is used to. Top designers like John Galliano don’t cut patterns, they have pattern cutters. That’s the industry.”

Disturbia Keeps Top Spot for 2nd Week

The face of Hannibal Lecter was no match for Shia LaBeouf in a box-office battle of murder thrillers. DreamWorks and Paramount's Disturbia, starring LaBeouf as a teen who suspects a neighbor of murder, took in $13.5 million to hold the top weekend movie spot for a second straight weekend, according to studio estimates today.

New Line Cinema's Fracture starring Anthony Hopkins — who played serial killer Lecter in three films — debuted at No. 2 with $11.2 million. Hopkins plays a sly defendant accused of killing his unfaithful wife, with Ryan Gosling co-starring as the prosecutor.

DreamWorks and Paramount's figure-skating comedy Blades of Glory, starring Will Ferrell and Jon Heder, was No. 3 with $7.8 million in its fourth weekend to cross the $100 million mark. Sony Screen Gems' horror flick Vacancy, starring Kate Beckinsale and Luke Wilson as a couple marked for grisly death at a sleazy motel, led a rush of other new wide releases, opening at No. 4 with $7.6 million.

The Palms Casino Resort celebrated a milestone in its history last night when the resort rolled out the red carpet with celebrity panache for the $80 million dollar state-of-the-art Pearl Concert Theater opening.

The evening began as celebrities including Luke Wilson, Nicky Hilton, Bruce Willis, Panic! At the Disco, Nicolette Sheridan and Tommy Lee walked the red carpet before heading into a private reception. Following the reception guests were led to their luxury skyboxes in the brand new theater, which include private bars, lounges and restrooms, to watch an amazing performance by none other than Gwen Stefani in the kick off to the icon’s 2007 world tour. Following the concert guests were escorted to Moon nightclub in the resort’s Fantasy Tower topping off a perfect night.

Alec Baldwin -- THE PIG!!!

Alec Baldwin released a statement today -- blaming everyone else but himself for his nasty behavior. The meassage that he left his daughter Ireland this past week stunned America. We do not like Alec Baldwin -- he is a PIG!!!!

“Thank you to everyone who has posted messages of support and understanding. Naturally, it is not best for a parent to lose their temper with their child. Everyone who knows me privately knows that I have endured a great deal over the last several years in my custody litigation. Everyone who knows me privately knows that certain people will go to any lengths to embarrass me and to disrupt my relationship with my daughter. In such public cases, your opponents attempt to take a picture of you on your worst day and insist that this is who you are as a person. Outside the doors of divorce court, I have friends, I have respect from people I work with and I have a normal relationship with my daughter. All of that is threatened whenever one enters a court room. Although I have been told by numerous people not to worry too much, as all parents lose their patience with their kids, I am most saddened that this was released to the media because of what it does to a child. I’m sorry, as everyone who knows me is aware, for losing my temper with my child. I have been driven to the edge by parental alienation for many years now. You have to go through this to understand. (Although I hope you never do.) I am sorry for what happened. But I am equally sorry that a court order was violated, which had deliberately been put under seal in this case. Once my book is published, I’m sure more people will understand the incredible strains created by parental alienation.”

Opens nationwide Friday, April 20th.

Madonna touched down in Malawi early this morning, for the first time since her adoption of her son David. Madonna wasted no time today by visiting the village of Gumulira where she and daughter Lourdes were greeted by locals singing native welcoming songs.

Madonna’s publicist Liz Rosenberg issued a statement last week stating that Madonna was in the African country “overseeing the building of a children’s health-care center. She is absolutely not adopting another baby,” Madonna’s mere presence in the region has prompted speculation that the mother of three may be itching to rescue another child through adoption.

Perfect Stranger focuses on Rowena Price (Halle Berry), a reporter for a major New York City newspaper who goes undercover to investigate the unsolved murder of one of her childhood friends. The path leads her directly into the office and the personal life of multi-millionaire Harrison Hill (Bruce Willis), CEO of a powerful advertising agency. Investigating him from all angles, Rowena assumes new identities in life and on line. She then harnesses the devastatingly effective tools of cyberspace in an attempt to bring her victim to justice.

Big news for Drew Barrymore. The 31-year-old actress is the new face of CoverGirl makeup! Rocking a gorgeous yellow Carolina Herrera dress and green Christian Louboutin pumps, she made her co-creative director with CoverGirl announcement at the Four Seasons today. Stay tuned for more on why Drew is so excited about the partnership, which has something to do with the photos on her bedroom walls when she was a teenager.

An action-adventure set in the time when Vikings tried to conquer North America, PATHFINDER tells the heroic story of a young Norse boy left behind after his clan shipwrecks on the Eastern shores. Despite his lineage, the boy is raised by the very Indians his kinsmen set out to destroy. Now, as the Vikings return to stage another barbaric raid on his village, the 25 year-old Norse warrior (Karl Urban) wages a personal war to stop the Vikings' trail of death and destruction. Forging his own path, his destiny is revealed and his identity re-claimed.

George Lucas talked to USA Today about the film, Indiana Jones 4, to be directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Harrison Ford and Cate Blanchett.

Lucas said shooting begins in Los Angeles this June and then it's on to several top-secret global destinations; Lucas teased that one will include a waterfall. Here's a little snip-it of what he said:

Lucas said that Ford's age (64) won't be a problem. "He's not running in any of the movies. He's either on a horse or driving a car or a motorcycle. And he'll play his age in this movie with what's appropriate. The chases are more suspenseful than speedy. Like the rolling ball in the first film - it's not that he's running that fast, it's that there's a giant ball coming at him. And he will get beat up, which is a tradition for us."

Lucas, who also is in pre-production on a "bare-bones, action-heavy" "Star Wars" live-action TV series, said there'll still be plenty of action in "Indy 4," the official title of which he hopes to keep under wraps until the first trailer hits theaters around Thanksgiving.

Sean Connery has yet to sign on as Indiana's father, Dr. Henry Jones, but Lucas said, "We're still trying."It wasn't his idea to cast Blanchett as Ford's new leading lady, he added. "That's who my director wanted, and I always bow to the wishes of my director," Lucas said of Spielberg. "I approved it because she seemed like a good idea. When I met her at the Academy Awards, I told her, 'Hey, you work for me now!"

The Reaping

In The Reaping, Hilary Swank plays a former Christian missionary who lost her faith after her family was tragically killed, and has since become a world renowned expert in disproving religious phenomena. But when she investigates a small Louisiana town that is suffering from what appear to be the Biblical plagues, she realizes that science cannot explain what is happening and she must regain her faith to combat the dark forces threatening the community.

HOT Betty

There is nothing ugly about America Ferrera a.k.a. ‘Ugly Betty’ in the May issue of W magazine.
America on what she wanted to do before falling in love with acting: “Acting was not something that they [America’s Honduran-born parents] came to this county to have me do. For a time I thought I could be a lawyer. Once I saw what it really meant to be a lawyer, I realized that it wasn’t for me. I thought it was like in the movies, like, ‘You can’t handle the truth!’
America on her atypical Hollywood body: “Of course I want to be at a weight where I’m happy. There are times when I go to the gym and really try, and there are times when I just don’t. I gain a pound; I lose a pound. But I think I’ve developed a really good sense of when I’m doing something for myself as opposed to when I’m doing something because of other people’s expectations of me. And honestly, even if I wanted to be anorexic, I just don’t have what it takes. After four hours of being anorexic, I’d be like, ‘It’s been four whole hours! Feed me!’