PR-Inside.com Entertainment News

Rappers 50 CENT and BUSTA RHYMES are to front a new range of liquors after bosses at their management company, Violator, struck a deal with manufacturers Drinks Americas.
The two stars will appear in marketing campaigns for Leyrat Cognac and Sparkling Vodka later this year (09).
It’s not the first time Drinks Americas executives have tapped hip-hop stars for their advertising campaigns - Dr. Dre entered into a partnership with the firm last February (08) to promote a line of premium beverages.

Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)

Oscar winner KATHY BATES regrets not going public with her ovarian cancer battle - because she could have helped others at the time.
The Misery star has since signed on as an Ovarian Cancer Foundation spokeswoman but she couldn’t face the idea of talking about the deadly disease while she was battling it.
She says, "I shook all afternoon after I had gotten the news and I was going for more tests. I was sitting in my hospital gown and someone recognised me…
I was like, ‘I don’t wanna talk about that now.’ "But, had I to do it over again I think I would have been more public about it… I think it may have helped more people because it’s such a difficult disease to diagnose early; I was very, very lucky." Bates has more than made up for lost time by starring in a new public service announcement aimed at helping women seek out a cancer diagnosis as early as possible.
She adds, "(I want) to spread awareness about your body and trying to stay in tune with your body and get tested when you can for anything that doesn’t seem right. I have a PSA out that talks about the different symptoms you can be aware of."

Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)

THE SANTA CLAUSE star TIM ALLEN is to become a dad at 55.
The actor’s wife of over two years, actress Jane Hajduk, is pregnant with the couple’s first child together.
The baby will arrive in the spring (09). No date has yet been announced.
Allen has a 19-year-old daughter, Katherine, with ex-wife Laura Deibel.

Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)

INDIANA JONES & THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL was the world’s biggest hit outside America in 2008.
The sequel raked in $469.5 million (£335.4 million) - $4 million (£2.85 million) more than The Dark Knight.
Mamma Mia! came in third with $428.5 million (£306 million) and Kung Fu Panda and Hancock round out the newly-announced top five.
Meanwhile, The Dark Knight topped the list in the U.S. with a $531 million (£379.2 million) domestic take. Iron Man came in second and the Indiana Jones sequel third.

Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON, THE DARK KNIGHT and FROST/NIXON will be among the films competing for the top prize at the Producers Guild of America Awards.
Biopic Milk and Slumdog Millionaire were also nominated on Monday (05Jan09).
Meanwhile, Man on Wire, Standard Operating Procedure and Trouble in the Water will compete for the PGA’s Best Documentary honour and Bolt, Kung Fu Panda and Wall-E earned nominations for Producer of the Year in Animated Motion Pictures.
Curb Your Enthusiasm, Entourage, The Office, 30 Rock and Weeds will compete for the Danny Thomas Producer of the Year in Episodic Television-Comedy and Boston Legal, Damages, Dexter, Lost and Mad Men were the Best Drama nominees.
24: Redemption, Bernard and Doris, John Adams, A Raisin in the Sun and Recount were nominated for the David L. Wolper Producer of the Year in Long-Form Television Award.
The gongs will be handed out at the Hollywood Palladium on 24 January (09).

Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)

PATRICIA ARQUETTE has filed for divorce, putting an end to her two-year marriage to THE PUNISHER star THOMAS JANE.
The actress cites "irreconcilable differences" for the split.
She filed papers in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Monday (05Jan08).
The couple, who wed in June, 2006, have a five-year-old daughter together, called Harlow.
Both have been married before - Arquette was wed to Nicolas Cage, while Jane was briefly married to Rutger Hauer’s daughter Aysha in the late 1990s.
He was also engaged to actress Olivia d’Abo.
Arquette has hired top divorce lawyer Laura Wasser to represent her, according to website TMZ.com.

Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)

Electronic pop pioneers KRAFTWERK will support RADIOHEAD on the British group’s upcoming South American tour.
Ralf Hutter, the founding member of the German hitmakers, will hit the road with Stefan Pfaffe, Fritz Hilpert and Henning Schmitz, when Kraftwerk join Radiohead for the first of the seven supergigs in Mexico City in March (09).
Kraftwerk will also tour Germany alone in April (09).

Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)

A large portion of the BEATLES’ back catalogue is to made available for downloading for the first time, thanks to a collection of Norwegian journalists.
Podcasts from 2001 documentary Var daglige Beatles (Our Daily Beatles) are to be made available as free downloads online.
The shows featured top Norwegian journalists talking about their favourite Beatles tracks, and then playing them.
Both the comments and the tracks will be available to download.
Plans to give iTunes the rights to offer the Beatles back catalogue as legal downloads fell through late last year (08) when talks between Sir Paul McCartney and his Apple Corps bosses and EMI Records stalled.

Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)

Rocker LARS ULRICH is looking to take a break from METALLICA to tour with members of supergroup DEEP PURPLE.
Ulrich has offered to join David Coverdale, Glenn Hughes and Jon Lord if the trio reteams for a world tour, as they’ve intimated in the media.
The Deep Purple stars have suggested that drummer Ian Paice would not be a part of the reunion, and that they’d be looking for a new percussionist.
And that’s where Ulrich, a huge fan of the rock legends, would come in.
He tells website Blabbermouth.net, "They just need a drummer. I’ll volunteer myself for that… David Coverdale has my number." Ulrich has already performed Purple classic Smoke On The Water with the most famous Deep Purple frontman, Ian Gillan, when he drummed for the British rock star at a San Francisco, California solo show in 2006.

Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)

Rap mogul SEAN ‘DIDDY’ COMBS is so keen to be the next JAMES BOND his new fragrance commercial is his "audition tape".
Diddy shot the ad for the I Am King scent in Monte Carlo, Monaco, and he portrayed a "black Bond" while shooting the commercial.
Now he hopes 007 producers are taking note.
He explains, "I really was inspired by James Bond because he’s always so cool, so confident, so strong. He saves the world.
"I felt like after watching 12 Bonds, I wanted the agency to know that there’s also some black men that can save the world.
"It’s my fragrance ad but it’s also my audition tape to be the next black Bond." But Diddy insists he’s not after current Bond Daniel Craig’s job: "I have a concept that he has to go and solve a problem in New York and that I’m one of the agents that he meets in New York, but he’s not from New York, so he gets kidnapped… so I have to save him.
"By me saving him, he realises he’s getting a little rusty, he wants to go and retire and he passes it to me… 008."

Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)

HUGH JACKMAN keeps to a strict diet of protein and vegetables and exercises six times a week in a bid to maintain his muscular physique.
The Australia star, who was voted People magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive in November (08), works hard to keep himself fit - and restricts his food intake to ensure he keeps his body in shape.
Jackman says, "I get up at 4am and eat egg whites, then every three hours after that. I have a combination of protein or steamed vegetables and brown rice. Then after midday, no rice or carbohydrates. It’s just vegetables and meat or fish.
"I’m not going to live this way for the rest of my life. I do have treats, I love dark chocolate, beer and red wine. I love going out for dinner and do cheat sometimes." And the star is just as tough with his exercise regime as he is with his diet.
He adds, "I train for an hour and a half a day, five days a week - weights, treadmill, rowing, everything. Then I do what my trainer calls ‘a play session’ on the sixth, which previously would have killed me in itself."

Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)

SCARLETT JOHANSSON missed out on meeting DAVID BOWIE when he headed into the studio to record backing vocals for her debut album - because she was busy filming a WOODY ALLEN movie.
The 24-year-old was in Spain filming scenes for Vicky Cristina Barcelona when Bowie dropped by the studio to lay down his vocals on two tracks for her 2008 LP Anywhere I Lay My Head - and Johansson was gutted she missed out on the opportunity to see him.
She tells Glamour magazine, "Unfortunately, I was in Spain shooting when he came in.
"I said to Woody: ‘If you knew what I sacrificed to be on this set.’" The actress is close to Allen, who has cast her in three films - but insists she doesn’t try and impose her musical tastes on the director.
Johansson adds, "One day, I said something about Neil Young, and he was like ‘Neil Young… Neil Young… who’s Neil Young?’ "I was like ‘Who’s Neil Young?!’ It’s impossible. He won’t even eat a new kind of sandwich."

Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)

BRITNEY SPEARS has fallen victim to rude internet pranksters after one of her social networking pages was hacked into on Monday (05Jan09) morning.
The Toxic hitmaker’s official site on Twitter.com was targetted by hackers who posted an awful adult-only message on the page, according to PerezHilton.com.
The post, which has been removed from the website, read: "Hi y’all! Brit Brit here, just wanted to update you all on the size of my vagina. Its (sic) about 4 feet wide with razor sharp teeth."

Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)

PARIS HILTON has patched up her friendship with former pal LINDSAY LOHAN - and has vowed never to fight with anyone again.
Hilton and Lohan have been involved in a war of words in the past, including a public spat at a pre-Grammy Awards party last year (08) - but the two have now reformed their friendship.
The socialite tells Britain’s Glamour magazine, "We’re fine now. I think she’s really changed. I saw her a month ago and she was really sweet and seemed really happy and we’re all adults now.
"Actually I’ve just decided not to fight with anyone because it’s really not worth it."

Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)

CHRISTINA AGUILERA is set to design a line of clothes for a top British fashion store, according to reports.
The Keeps Getting’ Better hitmaker is in talks with the owner of TopShop, Sir Philip Green, to create an exclusive range for the chain, which also sells designs by supermodel Kate Moss.
A source tells Britain’s Daily Mirror newspaper, "Sir Philip has started talks with Christina and hopes to sign a deal soon. She has visited his offices in London and they are thrashing out the details.
"Philip loves her style and believes she would add something new to TopShop.
Christina is the blonde bombshell who is into pop whereas Kate is the rock chick and model.
"She’d appeal to a younger shopper than Kate."

Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)

TWILIGHT star ROBERT PATTINSON isn’t worried if offers of acting jobs dry up he’d happily turn his hand to a career in music.
The actor trained at a theatre school in London, and is already looking to future career ventures.
He tells the Los Angeles Times, "Music is my back-up plan if acting fails. I don’t want to put all my eggs in one basket." Two of Pattinson’s compositions are included on the soundtrack to the hit vampire movie - but the actor insists he wasn’t trying to "cash in" by launching a music career on the back of the tracks.
He adds, "That’s what I was scared about, it looks like I’m trying to get a music career out of it or something. I’m not going to be doing any music videos or anything."

Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)

Italian actor GIOVANNI VENOSA, the star of new mafia movie GOMORRAH, has been arrested on suspicion of taking part in real-life mob activities.
Venosa, who plays a clan boss in the highly-acclaimed movie, has been taken into police custody accused of extortion after allegedly trying to collect a ‘pizzo’ - mafia tax - from businesses in the Caserte region near Naples, the Italian media reported on Monday (05Jan09).
He has previously been convicted for mafia links, and was sentenced to community service in November (08) for drug trafficking.
Venosa is the third actor from the film to be arrested for mafia activity; Salvatore Fabbricino and Bernardino Terracciano, who also portrayed gang members, have also been linked to the Naples Camorra.

Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)

DREAM THEATER rocker MIKE PORTNOY is mourning the death of his father after he lost his battle with cancer last weekend.
Howard Portnoy passed away in the early hours of Sunday (04Jan09) at the age of 68, reports Blabbermouth.net.
In a touching tribute to his dad, the U.S. drummer says, "It’s with the heaviest heart and deepest sorrow that I share the news of the passing of my best friend, my idol and my father, Howard Portnoy.
"He passed away this morning at 3:38am with his loving wife Trish and myself by his side after a six-month battle with cancer.
"He was an amazing person whose lively spirit was a tremendous inspiration to me and to most people that had the pleasure to know him. He will be sorely missed by so many friends and family - but none more so than his wife Trish, his daughter-in-law Marlene, his grandchildren Melody and Max and yours truly.
"The spirit carries on, ‘ol popz…"

Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)