When news came out that Tobey Maguire would return to his role as Peter Parker in not only Spider-Man 4 but Spider-Man 5 as well I figured someone just got really paid. Sure enough, Maguire is going to be raking in the big bucks on this one.

Set to earn $50 million for his work on the back-to-back films, Maguire will move into the arena of some of the highest paid actors out there. Not only with Tobey pull in an average of $25 million per film he’ll be getting an incredible deal on his daily schedule.

One of Maguire’s hangups for returning to such a difficult workload was his 22 month old daughter. Not wanting to lose their web slinger over this, Sony offered up a controlled work schedule of mid-day only. He’ll have the mornings and evenings off from shooting so that he can spend more time with his family.

This will undoubtedly slow production, but the gain is locking in their leading man for an easily projected half billion dollars in box office earnings.

Think Tobey Maguire is worth the $50 million to the franchise? I do. Now I just can’t wait to hear Sony offer Dunst $500 thousand so she can hit the road and we start over with a new Mary Jane.

Source: /film

After ten years of daily top ten countdown, MTV is closing the shutters on “TRL”. Launched in September 1998, TRL brought a renewal of MTV with the return of music videos in a forum that included screaming fans and big names. So why shut down such a successful series? Dave Sirulnick, executive producer of TRL, thinks the time is right to let TRL take a breather:

“We want to close this era of `TRL’ in a big celebratory way, and 10 is a great number,” Sirulnick said. “And 10 is the number that `TRL’ counted down every single day for 10 years, and we hit this 10th (anniversary) and we thought, `You know what? This feels like the right time and let’s celebrate it and let’s reward it. And let’s let it have a little bit of a rest for a minute.’ Let it catch its breath! Been working hard — for 10 years!”

Interesting reasoning. If ratings were dipping and they were looking to recollect and start again stronger then that’s one thing. But stopping just to take a break? Hmm…

If you’ll be hurting for another teen-adrenaline series on MTV then turn your sights towards Pete Wentz’ “FNMTV” which, fittingly, airs on Friday nights. FNMTV returns in mid-November for its second season and just might add a “top 10” segment of its own.

Source: Associated Press

Last week Nicolas Cage told us all about his plans to renew the Ghost Rider storyline with a change of venue to Europe and the Vatican. From his talks things sound to be making a lot of progress in its very initial stages. Apparently those talks haven’t involved Eva Mendes and her possible return. When asked what she thought about a sequel, Mendes wasn’t as enthusiastic:

“No, I think ‘Ghost Rider’ had its moment,” co-star Eva Mendes told MTV, more or less echoing statements she made last May. “I don’t know about a sequel, but I don’t think it needs one.”

It’s nice to hear someone in Hollywood that’s not motivated by a paycheck alone. Fans of Mendes romp in Ghost Rider 1 shouldn’t be worried though. Despite not thinking it should happen, she’d be willing to return if she’s got company:

“I think it’s done,” she said. “But look, hey, if it’s Nicolas Cage again – I’ll do anything with him.”

Would you want to watch Eva Mendes ride again with Nic Cage?

Source: MTV

Brett Ratner is a hack director who puts out films like Rush Hour, Rush Hour 2, Rush Hour 3, and X-Men 3. So it should come as no surprise that he wants to keep that disappointing streak alive by bringing Guitar Hero to the big screen. Oh but wait, someone thinks that’s a terrible idea:

“I’d really like to do it, but they’re not letting me,” he tells EW.com. “I expressed my interest, but because it’s such a success, it’s like now there’s no reason to make a movie about it.”

What? That’s Ratner’s excuse? They won’t let him make a movie about something because its so popular? Right. Just like how they told J.K. Rowlings no one would ever make movies about a boy wizard because the books had sold millions of copies.

Wait, there’s more! We might not be in the clear just yet.

But despite the setback, Ratner is not giving up hope. “I might prevail,” he says. “I usually do.”

Did he say, “prevail”? I think he meant “fail”. Don’t do it, Activision. Say “no”.

Source: EW

Well that was short lived. After just a day of rumor-iffic tales that Johnny Depp would play the Riddler and Philip Seymour Hoffman would be the Penguin, half of that idea has been squashed. MTV talked with Hoffman yesterday at the Toronto Film Festival about if this rumor was true. The results were less than pleasing.

“No one has talked to me about it ever — never,” replied Hoffman. “It happened, like, five years ago, too. It was a rumor back then and it’s still a rumor. [laughs] It’s just in the press. It’s funny.”

I think I’m more interested in seeing someone else do it. I don’t know if I’d be a good Penguin to be quite honest. [laughs]”

Now that’s disappointing, but is it final? Not at all. This takes me back to my theory of the “well hello giant paycheck” willingness of Hollywood to bend to our wants and demands.

So if Hoffman isn’t interested who would make a good alternative? I heard Cher might do it if this Catwoman thing doesn’t work out. No I didn’t.

Source: /film

Sorry mates, but your time on the open waters with Keira Knightley have ended, so she says. Keira announced that she has no plans to return to Pirates of the Caribbean sequels number 4 through 18.

“I think it was wonderful and an amazing opportunity and those films were just extraordinary and I was extremely lucky to be a part of them. But no. I think my pirating days may be over.”

I don’t blame her. If you stick around too long in a single role, especially the one that made you famous, you’ll be stuck with that image. Kinda like me and how I used to pose for all those sexy book covers you see in the checkout aisle. I finally said enough was enough, there’s more to me than broad shoulders and a powerful chest. Now if we could only get Keira to talk with Kirsten Dunst and convince her that 3 and out is the way to go. Please??

Despite her announcement I wouldn’t be surprised to see Disney break out the checkbook on this one. Then again, how crucial is Knightley to the Pirates franchise? Do you think the story could go on with just Depp and Bloom at the helm?

Source: WENN

This weekend while I was enjoying “Disturbia” on a “Free HBO Weekend” some paperwork was being prepared for said movie, some not-so-nice paperwork at that. On Monday a lawsuit was filed in Manhattan’s federal court, alleging that Steven Spielberg and associated studios stole the story for 2007’s thriller, “Distubia”:

According to the lawsuit, filed by the Sheldon Abend Revocable Trust, the basis for Hitchcock’s 1954 film was “Murder from a Fixed Viewpoint,” a short story by Cornell Woolrich.

Hitchcock and actor James Stewart obtained the motion picture rights to the story in 1953. The lawsuit argues that Dreamworks should have done the same.

“What the defendants have been unwilling to do openly, legitimately and legally, (they) have done surreptitiously, by their back-door use of the ‘Rear Window’ story without paying compensation,” the lawsuit said.

I had no idea that Spielberg and company had not acquired rights to the plot. It was immediately evident that this movie borrowed heavily from Hitchcock’s work, so much so that I just assumed they were careful in the endeavor. Apparently not. Look for this one to be settled out of court. Nice going Dreamworks and Universal!

Source: Reuters

After watching Batman knock Harvey Dent off three stories to the ground below I assumed the villain Two-Face was dead. However, it seemed many people thought otherwise, especially considering the scene where Eric Roberts explained a fall from just a few stories wouldn’t kill anyone.

Two-Face wasn’t the most exciting of villains, but he had potential and considering Ledger’s return would be impossible it seemed feasible. Insert buzzkill here:

“He is dead as a door nail,” Eckhart confirms. “I asked Chris [Nolan] that question and he goes, ‘You’re dead’ before I could even get the question out of my mouth.”

“No, I’m not coming back. I think unfortunately, Heath [Ledger] was supposed to go on and that didn’t work out. I’m nobody. I’m a cog. I have no say over this sort of stuff. I’m sure that there’s so many other characters that they could whip together.”

Eckhart is right. There really are a ton of other options out there and if Batman is set to be chased for his ties to Dent’s death then it wouldn’t make much sense for him to be alive. Disappointed? I’m sure Nolan will make it up to you.

Source: FirstShowing

I am not a fan of Kirsten Dunst. At All. Her acting is flat and her attitude insufferable. So I find it as no surprise that she keeps the brat beat alive on the set of her latest film, “How To Lose Friends & Alienate People”. Apparently Dunst doesn’t take well to being told she doesn’t know what she’s doing:

Author Toby Young has said Kirsten Dunst had him banned from the set of the movie.

Commenting on his relationship with the cast, Young told The Spectator: “[Dunst] overheard me giving the producer a ‘note’ on her performance in a particular scene.

“At the time, I didn’t think of it as a criticism, more as a helpful bit of advice, and the producer took it in that spirit. But Kirsten overheard this exchange and interpreted it as a complaint about her acting ability.
“It was after this, apparently, that she took Bob [Weide, director] to one side and asked if I could be kept at arm’s length in future.”

Toby Young is the author of the book which the movie is based upon, so he probably has a decent idea of things like “this character feels this way in this scene” and “Kirsten Dunst shouldn’t be in my movie.” She sure showed him though! Despite the inclusion of Simon Pegg and Megan Fox, I will not be watching this one. You?

Source: WWTDD

In a surprise not nearly the size of Tyra Banks’ ego is the news that her modeling reality show, “America’s Next Top Model” on The CW, plummeted in its season debut. I guess getting a Tranny mixed into the bunch isn’t enough to save it!

After two days of glowing headlines for the CW, you just knew everybody’s favorite hard-luck network was going to have a change of fortune: Despite the CW’s stellar start this week with the return of “Gossip Girl” and unveiling of “90210,” Wednesday night’s “America’s Next Top Model” premiere was the lowest-rated in the network’s history.

The two-hour “Top Model” premiere (3.5 million viewers, 1.7 preliminary adults 18-49 rating and a 5 share) was down 11% from last February’s cycle, and down 32% from last September in the adult demo. Among the network’s 18-34 demo (1.9/6), the drops were steeper. It marks the lowest-rated premiere since the show debuted in 2003 on UPN.

I’m not surprised “Top Model” was eclipsed by The CW’s new soap dramas, Gossip Girl and 90210. Will CW try to overcompensate for its long running reality show or will Tyra eat her self-declared “fat ass” into submission? The world may never know care!

Source: THR