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Blockbuster stuntman PETER PEDRERO is to make his directorial debut an all-star affair after landing his two-time HARRY POTTER pal ROBERT PATTINSON and DANNII MINOGUE among the familiar faces in VAUXHALL CROSSED.
Pedrero, who has performed stunts in all the Potter films as well as James Bond movies Goldeneye and The World Is Not Enough and Braveheart and The Mummy, will direct the British spy movie at Pinewood Studios in England, where the 007 movies are shot.
The film, about American and MI6 agents who team up to take down a psychotic dictator, also features The Full Monty star Hugo Speer.

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

BRITNEY SPEARS has posted a warning on her official website urging fans not to fall for fake ‘meet and greets’ on internet auctions.
The star and her management have voiced concerns that devotees could be scammed out of their money by online fraudsters offering them the chance to meet their idol.
The singer insists fans should only enter legitimate competitions which have been set up in conjunction with Spears’ ongoing Circus world tour - because online auctions could be fake.
A post on Spears’ official website reads, "There have been recent sightings of internet auctions for fans to bid for a chance meet Britney. BritneySpears.com wants to warn fans about these fraudulent opportunities. These postings are fake.
"Fans would never be charged to meet Britney. The only meet and greets available for the Circus tour are through radio contests in select cities. Please be sure to listen to your local radio station to see if your city is eligible for a meet and greet. Do not bid for one online."

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CHRIS BROWN’s attorney MARK GERAGOS is confident the disgraced singer will never assault another woman again after enduring the ordeal surrounding his highly-publicised attack on ex-girlfriend RIHANNA.
The Kiss Kiss singer has been sentenced to five years probation, six months community service and handed a restraining order to keep his distance from Rihanna for the duration of his probation after pleading guilty to the felony crime.
In his first TV interview since the February (09) incident, Brown recently admitted to U.S. TV host Larry King he "can’t believe (the assault) actually happened".
During the same interview, due to be aired in the U.S. on Wednesday (02Sep09), Geragos reveals he has grown so close to Brown since the charges were brought against him, he considers the singer like "a son or a nephew".
And he’s sure Brown has learned his lesson from the assault.
He tells King, "I’ll say it now, so that you can play it back if he ever does anything - but (I have) a high degree of confidence that he’s not going to do anything like this in the future."

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

HOME ALONE star MACAULAY CULKIN has shot down a sensational U.K. newspaper report suggesting he is the biological father of MICHAEL JACKSON’s youngest son PRINCE MICHAEL II.
The Sun published an article on Monday (30Aug09) naming former child star Culkin, a close friend of the pop superstar, as the dad of the seven year old, aka Blanket.
The boy was delivered via a surrogate, whose identity has never officially been disclosed.
The King of Pop’s death in June (09) has sparked fresh speculation over the child’s parentage.
Culkin, who has yet to publicly speak about the death of his pal, is the latest to be linked to the controversy. But the actor’s representative Michelle Bega has blasted the "preposterous" claims.
When approached by TMZ.com to comment on The Sun’s article, Bega replied, "The enquiries are too preposterous for us to even acknowledge." Jackson claimed to have fathered his two eldest children, Prince Michael, 12, and Paris, 11, with his second wife Deborah Rowe, but even that has come into question, with both British actor Mark Lester and Rowe’s former boss, Jackson’s dermatologist Dr. Arnold Klein, both suggesting they could be the biological fathers.

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A California court has given socialite PARIS HILTON the opportunity to pursue a lawsuit against greeting cards manufacturer Hallmark over allegations the company used her image without permission.
The hotel heiress is suing bosses at the firm, claiming they used her picture and her catchphrase, ‘That’s Hot!’, on a card which was captioned ‘Paris’s First Day as a Waitress.’ She alleges the card was based on a scene from her hit reality TV show The Simple Life.
At a hearing in California on Monday (31Aug09), three judges at the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals gave the star the OK to pursue her case against the company, rejecting Hallmark executives’ claims the cartoon on the card was of a generic woman and not Hilton.
Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain told the hearing, "The basic setting is the same: we see Paris Hilton, born to privilege, working as a waitress. (Hilton) has at least some probability of prevailing on the merits before a trier of fact." The star is seeking damages and a permanent injunction, barring Hallmark from further exploitation of her name and likeness.

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

Weekend rumours suggesting model-turned-talk show host TYRA BANKS had become engaged left rapper BOW WOW devastated - he’s secretly in love with the retired catwalk stunner.
Banks was spotted flashing a ring on her wedding finger over the weekend (29-30Aug09), prompting rumours her businessman boyfriend John Utendahl had popped the question.
The former model has dismissed the reports, but her number one didn’t even know she had been in a committed relationship for the past two years.
He has a serious crush on the 35 year old, and is convinced they’re made for each other.
Bow Wow, 22, tells Hip Hop Weekly, "I love Tyra. There’s something about older women. I’ve always had a crush on her. I was on her show two years ago and she made me sit on her lap and was rubbing on my arm. I don’t know if she was acting, but I was taking that very serious. I feel like she needs a young man in her life."

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R&B star MYA fears she’ll be the among the first casualties on the new season of talent show DANCING WITH THE STARS - because she has only just fully recovered from a foot fracture.
The singer injured herself last year (08) and she has been given the all-clear to compete on the hit show, but she’s still a little nervous.
She says, "My doctor said I’m fully healed because it’s the bone. But now I have to make sure my tendons are strong enough.
"I was pre-training before this, just doing cardio and stretching, so we’ll see how it goes." New rules about training time and medical limits have been imposed on the show for the upcoming season after stars like Gilles Marini and Steve-O were briefly hospitalised earlier this year on the programme, and singer Jewel didn’t even get to the first dance - she injured her knees in rehearsals.
Mya’s competition on the new season includes fellow singers Macy Gray and Kelly Osbourne, Aaron Carter, model Joanna Krupa and actress Debi Mazar.

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NEIL DIAMOND has paid a touching tribute to singer/songwriter ELLIE GREENWICH, who died from a heart attack last week (ends28Aug09), crediting her for his career.
Greenwich, who sang background vocals on many of Diamond’s biggest hits, was also part of Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound songwriting team.
The Red Red Wine singer says, "If I hadn’t met Ellie Greenwich I wouldn’t have had a career. I met her at a demo session. I had enough in my budget to hire a few background singers and even though Ellie was one of the hottest writers in the country she still did background dates just because she liked to hang out with her girlfriends." He tells Rolling Stone magazine, "She liked my voice or she liked the song or something and she took me back to meet her husband, Jeff Barry, and they got me signed to (legendary songwriting team) Leiber and Stoller and that lasted a year. I got canned from that job but Jeff and Ellie said, ‘Hey, how ’bout we produce you?’ We got a record deal with Bang records and the rest is history.
"Ellie was the best background singer ever. She did all the background parts on my early Bang records, Cherry Cherry, She Got the Way to Move Me, Kentucky Woman - all of those records were Jeff and Ellie. They just had this great knack of singing all kinds of background parts and they were great at it.
"Ellie and Jeff were like one. They thought alike, they just fell into line with each other so quickly partly because they were married, partly because they were together every day and partly because they were so talented. It was just a very natural collaboration between the two of them… They were the greatest background singers ever." Diamond admits he always made a point of visiting Greenwich when he returned to New York and was upset when she was unable to make it to his recent shows at Madison Square Garden: "I invited her and I don’t know if she wasn’t feeling well… I was a little concerned about that, but I didn’t know she was ill.
"She was too young (to die). She will always be that 20 year old in the studio just overflowing with energy and enthusiasm, laughing, having fun, coming up on the spot with these fantastic background parts or these horn parts on Kentucky Woman or Solitary Man. It was a joyful time for all of us."

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GNARLS BARKLEY star CEE-LO GREEN’s former group, GOODIE MOB, has added a second reunion show at CYPRESS HILL’s upcoming Smokeout festival return in California.
The hip-hop act and Geto Boys will both reform for the event, which was last held in 2003.
The two-day festival at the San Manuel Amphitheatre at the end of October (09) will be hosted by stoner icons Cheech & Chong and feature Slipknot, the Deftones and Sublime.
Rappers Cypress Hill launched Smokeout in 1998 to create awareness around cannabis counter-culture.
The band’s B Real says, "This will be our best Smokeout ever. Slipknot, Deftones, Sublime! Cheech and Chong, Redman and Method Man, Geto Boys, Goodie Mob… It’s a stoner’s dream come true. Our fans deserve an event that celebrates our love of music and marijuana culture. It’s gonna take two days to take it all in." Bandmate DJ Muggs adds, "After six years we are returning with the world’s premier cannabis music festival. The spirit of the Smokeout is centred in unifying people, music, while being embraced by the world’s oldest miracle herb. This two day festival of high vibrations of lifted music with friends and family is truly exciting to see take form and once again rock the stage with some of the best musical acts in the world." Goodie Mob announced plans to reunite for a one-off show in in their native Atlanta, Georgia on 19 September (09) last month (Jul09).
A statement from Green reads, "The Goodie Mob Reunion is something we have collectively talked about doing for a long time. The people have called for it, and with the state of the union the way it is, the time is right." Green quit Goodie Mob, who stormed the world’s rap charts in 1995 with the album Soul Party, in 2000.

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Disgraced fashion designer ANAND JON ALEXANDER broke down in tears while representing himself in court on Monday morning (31Aug09) at a sentencing hearing for sexual assault.
Alexander was convicted of raping aspiring models in 2008.
He was in court requesting a new trial, claiming he was treated unfairly by one prosecutor.
His initial bid for a retrial was denied by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Wesley.
Alexander, who has reportedly designed outfits for Paris Hilton and Mary J. Blige, was found guilty of 16 charges of sexually assaulting seven girls and young women.
During his two-month trial, a California court heard how the Indian-born couturier lured wannabe models as young as 14 to his apartment in Beverly Hills and abused them in a string of attacks between 2001 and 2007.
The 35 year old’s attorneys claimed his accusers were attempting to ruin his career, but he was convicted of 16 of the 23 charges against him. He was acquitted of four charges and a further three resulted in a hung jury.
Alexander sought a retrial on the basis of juror misconduct, alleging a juror had improperly contacted his sister.
Prosecutors are urging the court to sentence the designer to life in prison.

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Rangers and animal handlers at actress TIPPI HEDREN’s Shambala Preserve big cat sanctuary in Acton, California have been told to consider evacuating the property as wildfires creep ever closer.
But staff at the wildlife mecca have chosen to stay and fight the blaze rather than try to relocate the 64 lions, tigers, leopards and other exotic animals, including two tigers Michael Jackson once owned, that live there.
Vice president of operations at Shambala Chris Gallucci says, "We have everything to fight fires on this property. Our plan is to hold in place. We have done this for 40 years. We are very good at what we do." According to Gallucci, the preserve has dozens of evacuation crates on standby just in case the big cats really need to be moved.
The area around the preserve is under a mandatory evacuation order, according to the Los Angeles Times as the Mount Wilson fire, which is only five per cent contained, threatens thousands of properties.
The news of the wildfire threat comes just a week after Hedren’s daughter, actress Melanie Griffith, entered rehab in Utah for a "undisclosed issues." Meanwhile, animals trained for movies like Dr. Dolittle 2 and {Mowgli: The New Adventures of The Jungle Book escaped a fiery death over the weekend when trainer Scott Handley evacuated his sanctuary near to Hedren’s in Acton as wildfires blazed through the area.
Handley’s wilderness area, where bears and big cats roamed free, was left charred by the flames, which started last week (ends28Aug09) - but the animal expert’s home was saved by firefighters.
A source says, "No animals were harmed - they were all safely relocated before the fire arrived on the property."

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RENEE ZELLWEGER has walked away from a car crash in Beverly Hills unscathed.
The Bridget Jones’s Diary star was involved in a collision with another vehicle, which left one of the actress’ headlights smashed and the other car without a licence plate.
But an insider insists Zellweger, 40, was not to blame for the Monday morning (31Aug09) crash.
The source tells website TMZ.com, "This is not her fault. Someone made a U-turn into her." No injuries were reported.

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Former SPICE GIRL MELANIE BROWN has filed a $7 million (£4.7 million) lawsuit against a former business partner for fraud and breach of contract.
According to court documents, Brown and her husband Stephen Belafonte claim they partnered with Dan Catullo in 2008 to set up a company to profit from her "music, touring, merchandising (and) public appearances".
The couple claims Catullo backed out of the $2 million (£1.3 million) deal and defrauded Brown in numerous instances, including forging her signature on a financial document, reports TMZ.com.

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Hollywood actress NICOLE KIDMAN has blasted a U.S. magazine report alleging her two adopted children with ex-husband TOM CRUISE no longer call her "mum".
The Oscar winner adopted daughter Isabella and son Connor with Cruise during their 11-year marriage.
Both actors have since gone on to remarry with Kidman and country singer Keith Urban exchanging vows in 2006, while Cruise and Katie Holmes also wed in 2006.
In Touch magazine recently claimed Isabella, now 16, and Connor, 14, have taken to calling Holmes "mum", adding, "but they call Nicole by her first name".
However, a representative for Kidman has slammed the bogus report, telling GossipCop.com, "(The article is) entirely made up." Kidman is also mother to Sunday Rose, one, her daughter with Urban, while Cruise and Holmes have three-year-old daughter Suri together too.

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RIHANNA still maintains a close relationship with ex-boyfriend CHRIS BROWN’s mother and even calls her "mum", despite the KISS KISS singer’s conviction for violently assaulting her earlier this year (09).
The Umbrella hitmaker was left battered and bruised by Brown after an altercation in February.
He was recently sentenced to five years probation and ordered to stay away from Rihanna for the duration of his punishment after pleading guilty to the felony charge.
But Brown’s mother Joyce Hawkins - who is not bound by the restraining order - reveals she reached out to Rihanna to comfort her after the assault, and still sees the pop beauty on a regular basis.
In a U.S. TV interview due to air on Wednesday (02Sep09), Brown’s first since the incident, Hawkins tells host Larry King, "(I) let her know that I was very, very baffled (by) what had happened, and apologised for my son, along with (saying), ‘I’m so sorry (for) what happened to you’. And I didn’t know what else to say, and I gave her a hug, and she hugged me as well."

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The San Fernando Valley community mirrored in SAMUEL L. JACKSON’s thriller LAKEVIEW TERRACE is bracing itself for a wildfire set to destroy properties in their sleepy California town.
Although the 2008 film wasn’t actually shot in Lake View Terrace, it’s where the plot was based.
More than 12,000 homes are in the path of the worst of eight California wildfires that started blazing late last week (ends29Aug09) and many residents of the town have been evacuated.
The fire is only five per cent contained, as WENN went to press.
More than 2,000 firefighters are currently battling the blaze. Two have been killed.

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MADONNA’s touring pals KOLPAKOV TRIO were "saddened" by the hostile response from fans at the pop superstar’s concert in Romania last week (26Aug09) after she highlighted the plight of Romany gypsies.
The Material Girl was performing in Bucharest on Wednesday when she urged the 60,000-strong crowd to fight "discrimination" against gypsies, having been told of the scandal in eastern Europe by her band.
The comments prompted large sections of the audience to jeer, and the Kolpakov Trio - who hail from Russia - are disappointed with the negative reaction.
Bandmember Vadim Kolpakov says, "We are saddened. We want to tell Romania and eastern Europe that everyone has rights, gypsies like everyone else." After the gig, Madonna spoke out to defend her remarks, with her representative Liz Rosenberg saying, "Madonna has been touring with a phenomenal troupe of Roma musicians who made her aware of the discrimination toward them in several countries so she felt compelled to make a brief statement."

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NIRVANA’s final British concert at the 1992 Reading Festival is to be released on CD and DVD.
The trio’s headlining slot at the event has become one of the English festival’s most famous performances, and was named among the 100 Gigs That Shook The World by Kerrang magazine.
Late frontman Kurt Cobain stunned fans when he was pushed onto the stage in a wheelchair, wearing a hospital gown. He and bandmates Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic ripped through hits including Smells Like Teen Spirit, Lithium, Come As You Are, About A Girl, Polly and All Apologies.
The show has become one of the most bootlegged concerts in the annals of rock ’n’ roll.
Nirvana Live At Reading will be issued on DVD, vinyl and CD in November (09).

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