day 28

new moon, new stars

it looks like new twilight series director chris weitz may have found his perfect cast. while keeping the majority of the major players around, the character of jacob has been up for grabs.  taylor lautner, who plays the role in the first movie, is apparently not wanted back for the second - he's too "baby faced" for the leading man/werewolf role in the second installment.  the actor apparently very close to stealing the role is michael copon, known for his work on one tree hill, power rangers, and but can they sing?  the actor has nearly 10 years on lautner, coming in at 26.  but, is he too old to play the role? lautner is almost 17, the age the character is supposed to be in real life.  kristin stewart (bella) is only 19 and robert pattinson is 22.  to me, this seems like hollywood's unrealistic portrayal of teenagers.  a teenager can't play a teenager, but someone old enough to have a wife and kids can.  so what if lautner is so young.  it seems like copon and stewart would be too creepy together. the other role up for grabs is that of mind reading vampire aro.  narnia: prince caspian star ben barnes is apparently going after the role.  he seems to fit into the mix, but i'm not sold on copon.  with only 12 weeks until filming on the next movie begins, these decisions better be made fast.  

shenae grimes, headed for mental breakdown?

what is wrong with shenae grimes, former star of degrassi and current star of 90210.  click here to watch the chain-smoking starlet's recent appearance at canadian television awards show, the geminis.  it seems like shenae is either drunk or cracked out - she uses a variety of voices in the interview, appears to have lipstick on her teeth and smudged makeup, and slurs her words.  we do not need an amy winehouse meets lindsay lohan meets shannen doherty circa '94 breakdown with shenae.  i don't get it with these young stars - you're living "the dream," why ruin it? go to work, go home.  no need to go out partying and doing drugs.  i won't be surprised if shenae makes a "post-glitter mariah carey with an ice cream cart on trl" sometime in the near future...hopefully the canadimess won't ruin the newly restarted franchise and will get her act together.  

will smith, forever coming to a theater near you

even with the recent us economic woes, big hollywood studios aren't cutting back on big hollywood blockbusters.  2 will smith sequel vehicles have been green lighted.  first up is the i am legend prequel, which will follow the destruction of america due to the spread of the fatal disease that smith's character dies of in the fist film.  second is the hancock sequel, which is just waiting on charlize theron's signature on the contracts.  smith is known to be bankable on holiday weekends, so these films will probably be out in time for 4th of july of '09 or '10.  

small bits

none of these stories were really big enough to write whole pieces on so here's a few small bites - tom cruise apologized for his matt lauer-scientology rant from a few years ago today, on the exact location of the original confrontation, the today show...it looks like a lot of the tv and music rumors we've heard recently are completely fabricated - nicole richie is not recording an album or working with rihanna...mischa barton will not be guesting on ugly betty...the cw is not working on a gossip girl spinoff focusing on lily and rufus, but will be working on one (yay! georgina still has a chance!)...michelle williams is not planning on accepting any awards on behalf of her late baby daddy heath ledger this season...it looks like tr knight (george) will be let out of his grey's anatomy contract, though he is the third actor in the history of the show asked to be let out (any guesses to the other two? catherine heigl and sandra oh are my guesses - sandra close to the show's commencement - she was a burgeoning indie movie star [sideways] - and katherine last season - she is a "movie star"...in her head)...mark schwann, the big boss over at one tree hill, is in talks to helm the relaunch of melrose place for the ceedub (cw)