Entertaining Posts

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Gotti film casts John Jr. but Lohan role in doubt

LOS ANGELES | Tue Aug 2, 2011 7:55pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actor Ben Foster has landed the lead role in the upcoming movie about crime boss John Gotti and his son, producers said on Tuesday.

But Lindsay Lohan's role in "Gotti: In the Shadow of My Father" appeared to be in doubt after producers said she had not officially signed onto the movie and they were still in talks with her.

Foster, 29, best known for roles in "The Messenger" and 3:10 to Yuma", will play John Gotti Jr. opposite John Travolta, who has already been cast as the late head of New York's powerful Gambino family, John Gotti.

Lohan's casting as Kim Gotti, the wife of John Gotti Jr, was announced in May. But Steve Honig, a spokesman for both Fiore Films and Lohan said on Tuesday that "the producers of the film and Lindsay's representation have not yet worked out an agreement for her to appear in the movie. At this point, we cannot provide a definitive answer either way.

"Fiore is still very much in talks with Lindsay Lohan to play the role of Kim Gotti," Honig added.

Lohan, 25, whose career has been derailed by repeated trips to jail and rehab since 2007, has not had a movie role since the low-budget 2010 release "Machete." The Gotti film, because of its high profile and Lohan's ongoing recovery, was thought to be a positive step in her return to Hollywood's A-list.

Producers declined to comment on the apparent stumbling block. But it follows a change of director from Nick Cassavetes to Barry Levinson, and a lawsuit brought by actor Joe Pesci last week who claimed his part had been changed and his pay cut.

Lohan's legal woes -- she remains on probation for a January jewelry theft and has still to complete community service -- are not thought to be an issue.

Pesci's role is also undetermined following his lawsuit, which producers Fiore Films have said has "no merit". Pre-production on "Gotti: In the Shadow of My Father" starts in September and shooting is due to start in January.

Levinson described Foster as "one of the few young actors who can literary transform himself from role to role, from light comedy to a deadly gunslinger...I think he can bring something very memorable to the role of Gotti Jr."

Fiore Films acquired from John Gotti Jr. the rights to the story of his life with his father in what is the first deal between a Gotti family member and a major movie producer.

The senior John Gotti was known as the "Teflon Don" for his ability to evade conviction before eventually being convicted of murder, racketeering and extortion. He died of cancer in 2002 while serving a life sentence.

Al Pacino and Kelly Preston have also signed deals to appear in the film.

(Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

J.Lo says loved herself enough to quit marriage

LOS ANGELES | Tue Aug 2, 2011 1:56pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Jennifer Lopez remains a romantic despite her recent split with husband Marc Anthony, but she said finding a way to love herself is what gave her the courage to walk away from the seven-year marriage.

In her first interview since announcing their breakup in July, the actress and singer told Vanity Fair magazine that both she and Anthony had worked hard to keep the marriage alive and that he "will always hold a special place in my heart."

But it was Lopez who apparently decided to end it.

"I'm a hopeless romantic and passionate person when it comes to love," Lopez told the magazine in an interview for its September issue.

"It's not that I didn't love myself before. Sometimes we don't realize that we are compromising ourselves. To understand that a person is not good for you, or that that person is not treating you in the right way, or that he is not doing the right thing for himself if I stay, then I am not doing the right thing for me. I love myself enough to walk away from that now," she added.

The marriage was the third for Lopez, 42, and produced twins Emme and Max in 2008.

But the "On the Floor" singer and "American Idol" judge said she remains "an eternal optimist about love."

"It's still my biggest dream. I am positive -- determined to move forward with my life, bring up my babies, and do the best job I can as a mother, entertainer, and person. I now look forward to new challenges. I feel strong," she said.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

Charlie Sheen's "Men" character to get screen funeral?

Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.

NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.

Monday, August 1, 2011

Katharine Hepburn's former estate on sale for $28 million

NEW YORK | Mon Aug 1, 2011 4:26pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The former estate of legendary actress Katharine Hepburn who died in 2003, is up for sale with a $28 million asking price.

The large six-bedroom house in the shoreline community of Old Saybrook in Connecticut was sold by Hepburn's estate for $6 million and has undergone significant renovation and updating since 2005, listing agent Colette Harron said on Monday.

Hepburn, who died at age 96, spent her final years at the house, which was built in 1939 after the Hepburn family home was destroyed during the 1938 hurricane that devastated large sections of the southern New England coastline.

The three-story, 15-room brick Colonial features seven full bathrooms, a two-car garage, a dock and beach, and 680 feet of waterfront on Long Island Sound.

The four-time Oscar-winning actress once entertained Howard Hughes at the home, a scene that was dramatized in the 2004 film "The Aviator." Cate Blanchett's portrayal of Hepburn won the actress a best supporting actress Oscar.

"It's a great work of art," Harron said, adding that the seller, Frank Sciame, has loved living in the house for the past eight years but it has become too much for him.

Sciame, a New York builder whose firm has worked on restoring such landmarks as the New York Public Library and Guggenheim art museum, has great respect for the property's historic value, she said.

Those with more modest budgets might consider the house alone, which along with its property has an $18 million price tag. For $28 million two adjacent parcels are included, more than doubling the acreage.

(Reporting by Chris Michaud; editing by Patricia Reaney)

NBC calls "Playboy Club" a "fun soap opera"

By Bob Tourtellotte

LOS ANGELES | Mon Aug 1, 2011 4:43pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - NBC executives on Monday defended the network's controversial new drama "The Playboy Club", describing it as a "fun soap opera" and saying that its sexual content would be mild.

Stars of the drama -- set in the 1960s in the first Playboy Club -- also rejected criticism that the show will glamorize the porn industry and depict the club's Bunnie employees as exploited women.

"In terms of content, it will be mild," executive producer Ian Biederman told television reporters. "These are characters who are in a certain time and certain place. The show will be a lot of fun, it will have a ton of music and lots of energy."

Even before it begins airing in September, "The Playboy Club" has been targeted by the Parents Television Council, which last week said it "glorifies and glamorizes this insidious (porn) industry" and urged NBC affiliates not to broadcast it.

NBC's Salt Lake City affiliate has already announced it will not air the show when it starts on September 19.

NBC Entertainment chairman Robert Greenblatt said he wasn't surprised by that decision but said he thought every other affiliate will be airing the show.

"What it has going for it is a recognizable brand that's automatically going to draw attention to it, good or bad," Greenblatt said.

African American actress Naturi Naughton, whose character is referred to as "the chocolate Bunny," rejected the notion that the women working at the club in the early 1960s were merely sex objects.

"They went to school, they had houses, we show them using their resources," Naughton said.

Actor and comedian Joel McHale joked earlier on Monday that "The Playboy Club" was "'Mad Men' with boobs", referring to the Emmy-award winning drama on cable network AMC that is set in the advertising world in the early 1960s.

But Greenblatt said the era was all that the two dramas have in common.

"I don't think it will be like 'Mad Men'," he said. "I think it is a really fun soap. it has a mob element and a crime element and I think it is the right thing for us to try."