day 116

melrose loses mischa 

mischa barton will not be joining the cast of the cw's melrose place 2.0, despite reports that she was confirmed to star.  instead, mischa is headlining another cw pilot that sounds like it'll be quite scandalous.  from the mind of ashton kutcher, a beautiful life follows a group of models living in a co-ed co-op together in nyc. marton will be the focus of the series, playing sonja, a supermodel struggling to hold onto her career.  well mishca's been struggling for a while so this should be easy for her to do, right?  i can totally see a gossip girl cross over with the show.  they could even cast mischa's former oc sister willa holland to reprise her crazy model character from gg.  the show should go into production in the next month or so, with a pick up yes or no decision by august.  the show could be paired with melrose place in the fall, especially because it sounds a lot like the failed melrose spin-off models, inc.  it's just good that barton has realized that she's not a movie star, but a teen tv star - no matter what show she winds up on on the cee dub.  in other casting news, it seems like bond may finally be getting back to its roots.  casting for the past few bond girls has focused on unknowns, but the hollywood "it girl" (think halle berry, denise richards, teri hatcher) may be making a comeback in the form of frida pinto.  the slumdog millionaire actress caught producers' eyes when they were casting for quantum of solice, but was considered too young.  now that the next blonde bond installment is in the works, frida is everyone's first choice.  her being in the movie might actually make me want to see it.  and, finally, one of my favorite, the cult classic heathers (think mean girls with guns), is getting the broadway treatment. the dark teen flick is currently undergoing readings for a stage transition with veronica mars star kristin bell in the lead role. if the show does happen, it will hit the stage - at the earliest - in 2010, hopefully with bell attached to star.  

day 77

winehouse pulls a britney

amy winehouse is now under a conservatorship, much like fellow singer britney spears.  under her new arrangement, winehouse's parents are in charge of the grammy winner's $21 million fortune.  the money is still amy's, but her parents have to approve every transaction she makes.  this is apparently part of amy's recovery - she's given up drugs and is now on the straight and narrow path back to superstardom.  2009 is shaping up to be the year of the comeback for the british songstress, with a headlining role at the coachella music festival later this year.  hopefully amy makes it back into the studio soon to work on more new material (she's apparently been working with mega producer and dj mark ronson, samantha's brother) and will put out an album with another "rehab" style hit by the end of the year. 

slumdog star snags leading role

slumdog millionaire star dev patel has replaced jesse mccartney in the big screen adaptation of nickelodeon's avatar: the last airbender.  the film is about a young avatar, the spirit of the earth in human form, who has been woken up from a 100 year sleep to battle the world's demons.  m night shamalayan is set to direct the film and came under much controversy for casting white actors for almost every part in the series, which is rooted in asia.  dev will take the role of zuko, the avatar's main enemy.  jesse mccartney had to pull out of the project because his current tour dates conflict with pre production activities, including martial arts training necessary for the stunts in the film.  dev's casting should make critics of the film a little less angry, as he is an diverse addition to the movie.  this will be dev's first "big picture" aside from slumdog and his work on the british tv series skins.  and, if the film is a success, a trilogy is planned, guaranteeing dev work for the next few years.