HEAVEN VS. HELL
A bunch of crazed zombies proved a bigger draw than Jesus Christ this weekend as Universal's Dawn of the Dead remake opened at No. 1 with $27.3 million, knocking The Passion of the Christ out of the top spot for the first time in a month. Don't feel too badly for Christ, though; Mel Gibson's little-religious-flick-that-could pocketed another $19.2 million for a total of $295.3 million. Elsewhere, Angelina Jolie's new thriller Taking Lives debuted at No. 3 with $11.4 million while Jim Carrey's quirky romance Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind — which played on far fewer screens — bowed at No. 6 with a very bright $8.6 million. |
FOR THE FANS
Janet Jackson thanked fans for being there "during the good times as well as the bad" at Saturday's Soul Train Music Awards, where the 37-year-old Boobygate star was honored with a career achievement award. "Your love and support has always been a great source of comfort," she added, "especially in these last few weeks." Jackson nearly stole the spotlight from the night's big winner, hip-hop duo OutKast, who won album of the year for Speakerboxxx/The Love Below and best video for "Hey Ya!" |
OOPS
Britney Spears can't sing — but she's got a good excuse this time. The pop tart was forced to cancel two concerts over the weekend after suffering a knee injury during a performance in Illinois. Her Onyx Hotel Tour will resume Tuesday in Atlanta and the two scrapped dates will be rescheduled in April. |
PARIS IS HEALING
Paris Hilton was thrown from a horse Friday during production of The Simple Life 2 in Florida. The celebutante-turned-home-video star was airlifted to the nearest Barneys, er, I mean hospital, where doctors quickly determined that everyone had overreacted. She was released later that day. |
BY, GEORGE
George Foreman is the latest boxing vet to sign up for The Contender, NBC's in-the-works reality series from executive producers Mark Burnett, Jeffrey Katzenberg and Sylvester Stallone. The grillmeister will help cast the 16 would-be Rockys and do some coaching during the training episodes. Foreman joins Sugar Ray Leonard, who last week signed on to play the show's adviser/mentor. |
X SYMBOL GETS NIP/TUCK
Nip/Tuck has tapped X-Men babe Famke Janssen to play the life coach of Joely Richardson's basket-case character, Julia. Janssen will appear in at least 12 episodes of the FX drama, which kicks off its second season in June. |
MEET THE PARENTS
Shirley MacLaine and Michael Caine are in talks to join the cast of Columbia's big-screen Bewitched remake starring Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell. According to Variety, MacLaine would play Samantha's meddling mother, Endora, while Caine would play her dad. |
STUNT CASTING ALERT!
Eddie Murphy's wisecracking Donkey character from Shrek will guest-star in an episode of DreamWorks' much-hyped CGI-animated comedy Father of the Pride, which debuts this fall on NBC. The series focuses on a family of white lions performing in Siegfried & Roy's Las Vegas show. According to Variety, the pilot episode will make subtle reference to Roy Horn's tiger attack last fall. |
EXTREME SCANDAL!
The truth is out: Hottie carpenter Ty Pennington isn't really into fixer-uppers. The host of ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition has purchased a newly renovated crib in Venice, Calif., for $1.1 million, the Los Angeles Times reports. Built in 1924, the two-story nest boasts a fireplace (nice), bamboo floors (sweet), vintage windows (impressive), a laundry room with a sink (get out!) and a master suite with treetop views (must be nice). |
IT'S ALL SCHEDULING
ABC is moving It's All Relative out of its deadly Wednesday night time slot opposite American Idol. Beginning March 30, Relative shifts to Tuesdays at 9:30 following According to Jim. Now there's a one-two punch if ever there wasn't one. |
LIZZIE QUITS
Hilary Duff's sitcom career is so yesterday. The singer-actress has backed out of plans to headline a comedy series this fall for CBS because, according to reports, the script was bad. That is so not a good excuse. |
