Robert Pattinson Up For Lead In Romantic Drama 'Memoirs'

When looking for a male romantic lead, Summit Entertainment is sticking close to home. Robert Pattinson is currently in line to star in the studio's new romantic drama "Memoirs." Six-time Emmy nominee Allen Coulter ("Hollywoodland") is negotiating to direct.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, "Memoirs" is the story of two star-crossed young lovers whose new relationship is threatened by a string of family tragedies. As they struggle to cope, their love is put to the test. It's familiar territory for Pattinson, who made his name in the star-crossed romance of "Twilight," and it will undoubtedly be a popular choice among his female fans.

The original script was penned by Will Fetters and is currently undergoing a rewrite from "Rachel Getting Married" scribe Jenny Lumet. Considering what "Rachel" did for Anne Hathaway's career, this might be the wisest career move Pattinson has made since agreeing to play the immortal Edward Cullen.

While he has a large fanbase due to his role in "Twilight," the young heartthrob hasn't managed to capitalize on his new name recognition the way his co-star Kristen Stewart has. While she has gone on to win juicy parts like that of Joan Jett in "The Runaways," Pattinson has yet to land a major role. He was signed to co-star with Rosario Dawson in the promising "Parts Per Billion" but was forced to drop out due to his commitments for "New Moon." It's a difficult place for the young actor to be in, as he needs to establish a screen presence outside of the vampire franchise but has often been thwarted by his commitments to it.

Such a scheduling conflict is unlikely with "Memoirs," since it will also be a Summit picture and will undoubtedly be arranged around "New Moon" and "Eclipse." As he waits for "Memoirs" to come together, Pattinson will have to rely on two films he shot prior to his "Twilight" breakthrough: his highly anticipated Salvador Dalí biopic "Little Ashes," which sees limited release on May 8, and "How to Be," which is currently making its way through the festival circuit.

http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1607701/story.jhtml

Zac Efron Signs On For New (Non-Musical) Film

Just days after dropping out of the "Footloose" remake to pursue non-musical films, Zac Efron has been cast in "The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud," Variety reports. The film will be directed by Burr Steers, who worked with Efron on his upcoming release "17 Again," but has also directed more serious fare like "Igby Goes Down."

According to Variety, the film, based on the book by Ben Sherwood, is about "a caretaker at a cemetery who manages to have weekly meetings with a younger brother whose accidental death he feels was his fault."

Although negotiations for Efron are still under way, production is expected to start in July with Steers already finishing up the script. Variety goes on to report that Paramount is currently meeting with actors to replace Efron in "Footloose."

On Monday, Paramount released a statement that addressed Efron dropping out of the film. "Footloose is a project we've longed to see re-booted for a new generation. While Zac is no longer attached, we remain excited and committed to the collective brain trust of [director] Kenny Ortega, [producers] Neil Meron and Craig Zaden, who will reinvigorate the franchise," a Paramount Pictures rep told Usmagazine.com. "Their fresh take on the film will undoubtedly be filled with the same kind of breakout performances that we've come to expect from them."

In addition to the upcoming flick "17 Again," Efron also has the more serious "Me and Orson Welles" set for release sometime this year. The actor has expressed a desire to take on more mature roles. "As far back as I can remember, I couldn't understand or relate to a lot of kids," he recently told Elle magazine.

http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1607696/story.jhtml

Dennis Quaid and Julianne Moore to play the Clintons for HBO. Just hand them Emmys now.

As we've mentioned, Dennis Quaid will play Bill Clinton, Julianne Moore will play Hillary Clinton, and Frost/Nixon star Michael Sheen will play Tony Blair in The Special Relationship, a forthcoming HBO film set specifically around the time the former British Prime Minister first took office. The movie, it's said, has not been given a formal greenlight, to which I say, why? I promise you Emmy voters have already checked their names on their ballots. Plus, this will be swoon-worthy Sheen's third time playing swoon-worthy Tony Blair (see also: The Queen and The Deal). Quaid still looks hellagood in a suit, and I'd really like him to star in something that I'd actually like to watch (which hasn't happened in roughly five years). And who doesn't want to see what Moore does with Hillary? She's so good at stoic characters -- there's always something bubbling underneath.

Are you in? Does it help to know that it's written by Oscar nominee Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon, The Queen), who's also expected to direct? Emmys, people. Emmys.

http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2009/03/dennis-quaid-ju.html

Britney Spears sets up house in Alpine

Britney Spears is bringing her "Circus" to tony Alpine, a super-rich suburb in northeastern Bergen County, according to Life & Style Weekly, who spoke to the real estate agent for the brick Colonial mansion.

According the magazine, Spears settled on a secluded mansion with seven bedroom suites, a gym, a media room, playroom, two kitchens and a four-car garage. It's on sale for $8 million -- we believe this is the home -- but Jive apparently is paying the monthly rental of $30,000. (Yeah, but who's gonna foot the bill to get the Cheetos stains off the walls?)

LIFE & STYLE WEEKLYThis $8 million home in Alpine will be home to Britney Spears temporarily. Sean Combs lives in Alpine, and Mary J. Blige has a home in Cresskill, the next town over.

According to an agreement with ex-husband Kevin Federline, Spears gets to take sons Sean, 3, and Jayden, 2, on tour so long as she has secured appropriate, family-friendly bases around the country. Her East Coast stint comes to an end this week.

"It's very spacious, so there's lots of room for her kids to run around and play," says Dennis McCormack, a broker with Prominent Properties Sotheby's International Realty, who represents the home owner. "It has an understated elegance, with high ceilings and lots of bright light."

http://www.nj.com/entertainment/celebrities/index.ssf/2009/03/britney_spears_sets_up_house_i.html

'Twilight' star Robert Pattinson eyeing romantic drama 'Memoirs'?

Sources tell Entertainment Weekly that Summit Entertainment, the studio behind Twilight, is talking to its favorite vampire, Robert Pattinson, about starring in the project Memoirs. Neither the studio nor Pattinson's agents would confirm the star's involvement. The spec script, from young writer Will Fetters, which wound up on 2008's Black List, centers on two college students who have both experienced personal loss, who fall in love and heal their fractured families. Hollywoodland director Allen Coulter is negotiating to direct the script and screenwriter Jenny Lumet (Rachel Getting Married) is working on the rewrite. Pattinson is currently in preproduction on the Twilight sequel New Moon and is already signed on to the third film in the series, Eclipse.

http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2009/03/robert-pattinso.html?iid=top25-%27Twilight%27+star+Robert+Pattinson+eyeing+romantic+drama+%27Memoirs%27%3F

Streisand, Hoffman Back for ‘little Fockers’

The third chapter of the "Meet the Parents" trilogy is getting set for production.

I’m told the cast of "Little Fockers" — sequel to "Meet the Fockers" — has been set for an early July start date.

This means everyone — Ben Stiller, Robert DeNiro, Teri Polo, Owen Wilson, Blythe Danner. It also means Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand, who played Stiller’s parents in chapter two are being paged for the next edition.

The title suggests more than one baby for Stiller and Polo’s characters. So get ready possibly for twins, which also means DeNiro and Hoffman may have extra screen time as warring grandfathers. What’s still being worked out, they say, is Streisand’s role. Frankly, she was a hoot in "Fockers" and would only add to the sequel as a New Age grandma.

No matter what happens, "Fockers" has proved a bonanza for DeNiro who not only stars in the films but produces them as well with partner Jane Rosenthal. "Meet the Parents" grossed $330 million worldwide. "Fockers" did about $516 million. Not bad, all the way ‘round.

But one significant change for the comedy franchise: director Jay Roach is off to shoot a new film, called "Dinner with Schmucks." Roach, who also directed the "Austin Powers" movies, will be replaced, sources say, by Peter Segal ("Get Smart").

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,510440,00.html

Letterman's marriage: better 'Late' than never

Who says men are commitment-phobes? Weddings are all the rage: Just ask Bruce Willis, Ryan Reynolds, Josh Duhamel and Tom Brady, to name a few.

Now we learn that longtime bachelor David Letterman is a married man.

The late-night host, 61, announced Monday night on CBS' Late Show that he and Regina Lasko (the mother of his 5-year-old son, Harry) got hitched March 19 in the sticks of Montana.

Lasko and Letterman began dating in February 1986, when she was a production manager on his old show, NBC's Late Night with David Letterman. She's stuck with him through his nightmare with stalker Margaret Mary Ray -- who committed suicide in 1998 -- and bypass surgery in 2000.

Why the delay? ''I secretly felt that men who were married admired me,'' Letterman said, ``like I was the last of the real gunslingers.''

The former weatherman from Indiana did give marriage a try a long time ago -- with college (Ball State University) sweetheart Michelle Cook, back in 1969. They divorced after eight years.

http://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/people/story/966205.html

Gore Revisits Climate Crisis in New Book

Al Gore will return to the subject of global warming in a book to be released by Rodale, the publisher said in a news release. The book, “Our Choice,” will return to the milieu of Mr. Gore’s 2006 best seller, “An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It.” In a statement, Mr. Gore said the book would offer plans for addressing the climate crisis while creating jobs and promoting economic growth that were developed through meetings he held with scientists, engineers and policy experts. Rodale said that the book would be published on Nov. 3 and would be printed on 100 percent recycled paper, with all proceeds being donated to the nonprofit Alliance for Climate Protection.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/25/books/25arts-GOREREVISITS_BRF.html?ref=books

Lohan: Stop the rumors

Lindsay Lohan is sick of being tabloid fodder. In a chat with E!, LiLo reacts to recent reports that she is virtually broke, having wasted her $$$ on useless luxury items such as a $30,000 Rolex watch and a $100,000 Maserati (which her assistant dinged Monday in a crash). LiLo is incensed by rumors that she and lovemuffin Samantha Ronson fight.

"They need to stop saying we're fighting," the I Know Who Killed Me star tells E! News. "I'm really a good person and I have a good heart. . . . I don't drink, I don't do drugs and I don't lie."

LiLo, 22, who reportedly is having trouble getting acting jobs, says, "I want to help people by playing characters that can send a positive message out to whomever may need it."

http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/20090325_Sideshow__Lohan__Stop_the_rumors.html

Anne Hathaway could contend at Oscars and Tonys for playing Judy Garland

If you thought Anne Hathaway was brave for singing and dancing with Hugh Jackman on the recent Oscarcast, that was a walk in the park compared with her next performance — playing Judy Garland on both stage and screen. The Oscar-nominated actress ("Rachel Getting Married") is to star in upcoming film and legit adaptations of Gerald Clarke's 2000 biography "Get Happy: The Life of Judy Garland."

With the Weinstein Co. producing both these properties, Anne Hathaway is in good hands. While there is no word as to any of the other creatives involved in these projects, the source material is rich with possibilities, including as it does material in Judy Garland's own words. Gerald Clarke's biography of the late, great writer Truman Capote was the basis for "Capote," which was nominated for five awards at the 2005 Oscars including best picture and won lead actor for Philip Seymour Hoffman.

If Hathaway can pull this part off, she would be a leading contender at both the Oscars and the Tonys. Seven of the last 10 women to win lead actress at the Academy Awards did so by playing real-life roles. The irony of course is that Judy Garland never won a competitive Oscar. In 1939, she was awarded an honorary one for her timeless performance in "The Wizard of Oz."

However, she lost both of her Oscar races. In 1954, Judy Garland made one of the all-time great screen comebacks, proving herself a triple threat with her acting, singing and dancing in the musical remake of "A Star Is Born." So sure was the academy that she would win the lead actress Oscar that they set up a television camera in Judy's hospital room where she was resting after having given birth to son Joey just days before. However, it was Grace Kelly's name that was announced, for her role as the dutiful wife to an alcoholic actor (Bing Crosby) in "The Country Girl." And while Judy Garland was nominated for her 1961 supporting performance as a witness in "Judgment at Nuremberg," she lost to Rita Moreno for "West Side Story."

Judy Garland never appeared in a Broadway musical in her all-too-short life. In 1967, she was so eager to take over from Tony winner Angela Lansbury in "Mame" that she watched the show from the wings for nights on end. However, the producers could not get the insurance to cover the costs should Garland not appear. She did win an honorary Tony Award in 1952 for "for an important contribution to the revival of vaudeville through her recent stint at the Palace Theatre."

Broadway usually favors the fanciful over the fact-driven, though the last two Tonys for lead actress in a musical went to hopefully heightened portrayals of real-life women — Christine Ebersole ("Grey Gardens") and Patti Lupone ("Gypsy"). While Hathaway has never appeared on Broadway, in 2002 she tackled a Tony-winning role for five performances of a concert version of the 1961 musical "Carnival." As the orphaned Lili (a part that earned Anna Maria Alberghetti the lead actress award), Hathaway shone opposite Tony winner Brian Stokes Mitchell ("Kiss Me Kate"). This summer, Hathway is to star in a production of "Twelfth Night" as part of the Public Theatre's celebrated Shakespeare in the Park series in New York's Central Park.

The big question is whether Anne Hathaway will sing the songs so associated with Judy Garland or mime along to recordings. In 2001, both Tammy Blanchard and Judy Davis won Emmy Awards for playing Judy Garland in the mini-series "Me and My Shadows." They both lip synced to Judy's unique song stylings. In 2004 Isabel Keating earned a Tony nomination as featured actress in a musical for her portrayal of Garland in "The Boy From Oz." She lost to Anika Noni Rose for "Caroline or Change."

While Isabel Keating performed musical numbers as Judy, she was not singing Garland songs. Rather, as the musical told the story of one-time Garland son-in-law Peter Allen, she sang some of his tunes. And bringing this item full circle, Hugh Jackman won the lead actor in a musical Tony Award for playing the singer-songwriter once married to Liza Minnelli.

Below is a clip of Judy Garland singing the Oscar-winning "Over the Rainbow" during a 1943 radio broadcast of the morale-boosting "Command Performance." She is introduced by Bob Hope who had featured the young singer on his radio show during the 1939 season. Four years later, Garland had become one of the biggest stars on the MGM lot.

http://goldderby.latimes.com/awards_goldderby/2009/03/anne-hathaway-c.html