Superman, Batman Sequelize?

It is the ultimate fanboy fantasy not involving Princess Leia: More Batman, more Superman.

According to Thursday's Variety, the dream could come true as soon as 2008, in the form of sequel to Batman Begins, and 2009, in the form of a sequel to the upcoming Superman Returns.


Warner Bros., the studio behind both revived superhero franchises, would not comment on sequel plans. It called the Variety report "speculative."

Earlier this month at WonderCon, a leading comics convention, Superman Returns director Bryan Singer copped to having "ideas" for more Superman movies, ComicBookResources.com reported. But Singer said those ideas were "like my ideas for X-Men 3," a movie the ex-X-Men helmer is definitely not directing.

Still, the Website said, fans pressed ahead, asking what villains might pop up in additional Superman adventures. (Kevin Spacey plays Lex Luthor in Returns.) And, still, the Website said, Singer deflected.


"Let's see how the game plays," Singer said, per ComicBookResources.com.

The notion of a Superman Returns sequel, though a no-brainer, is indeed presumptive--the movie, the first Man in Steel big-screen adventure since 1987, doesn't open until June 30.

Batman Begins, the first Caped Crusader big-screen adventure since 1997, swooped into theaters last summer. With a $205.3 million take, it was the eighth-highest grossing 2005 release, per BoxOfficeMojo.com.

Variety pegged the Superman and Batman sequels as being in the planning stages. The trade paper noted that Warners has contractual dibs on the movies' respective cape-wearers, Superman Returns' Brandon Routh and Batman Begins' Christian Bale, but that it doesn't have done deals with the films' respective directors, Singer and Christopher Nolan.

The Batman project, however, does have a screenwriter, Variety said: Jonah (or Jonathan) Nolan, brother of Christopher.

Christopher Nolan currently is directing Bale and Hugh Jackman as dueling magicians in The Prestige. According to the Internet Movie Database, he's also set to call the shots on The Exec, an action/drama penned by his sibling.

Singer's schedule is just as booked.

The director probably would get his long-planned Logan's Run remake up and running before returning to Metropolis, Variety said. His to-do list also includes a dramatized version of The Mayor of Castro Street, about slain gay politician Harvey Milk.




Source: Eonline

Becky O'Donohue, Stevie Scott, Patrick Hall and Bobby Bennett eliminated from American Idol

Four American Idol hopefuls sang their final note on the talent search Thursday, leaving 20 semifinalists still in the running.

Becky O'Donohue, Stevie Scott, Patrick Hall and Bobby Bennett were sent home after receiving the lowest number of votes from viewers.

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O'Donohue, whose model looks failed to distract from her mediocre vocals during her performance Tuesday night, was the first to get the ax, drawing a tearful reaction from Paula Abdul.

"I think casting directors need to take a good look at you because the camera loves you," Abdul said.

For once, Simon Cowell was in agreement, though his delivery lacked Abdul's saccharine.

"I think you're going to be a very successful model," Cowell told the 25-year-old identical twin, who currently appears alongside her sister, Jessie, in a sexy Maxim Online spread. "And it's best to be great at something rather than not so good at something."

Next came the moment of truth for Bennett, who said he performed Barry Manilow's "Copacabana" on Wednesday's show at his grandmother's request and earned stinging criticism from Cowell as a result.

"If you hear a scream from a hotel room in Las Vegas, that's where Barry Manilow's watching this show," Cowell said. "That was a complete nightmare."

The negative review earned Bennett support from host Ryan Seacrest, who angrily laid into Cowell.

"I think all of them deserve a little bit of constructive criticism, if you want me to be honest with you," Seacrest snapped at the judge. "I think it's fair if you give a little constructive criticism every once in a while."

"Ryan, with respect, I do this for a living," Cowell replied. "I don't play at it like you."

Unfortunately for Bennett, Idol voters sided with Cowell, and awarded him the lowest number of votes among the male contestants.

The third hopeful to meet her demise was Scott. The classically trained opera singer made a poor impression with the male judges Tuesday with her rendition of "To Where You Are," though Abdul supported the performance.

"Honestly, dude, I found myself daydreaming while you were singing," Randy Jackson said, while Cowell said, "Stevie, I think you completely and utterly messed that up."

While the 19-year-old warbler promised to "bring it" in her next performance, viewers weren't willing to give her a second chance and she joined O'Donohue and Bennett in the loser's circle.

The final singer to get the boot was Patrick Hall, whose performance of Melissa Etheridge's "Come to My Window" was deemed "average" and "fidgety" by Cowell on Wednesday.



Source: Eonline!

Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe has paid £30,000 at a charity auction for a family tree drawn by author JK Rowling

Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe has paid £30,000 at a charity auction for a family tree drawn by author JK Rowling.

Radcliffe, 16, who plays the schoolboy wizard on screen, bought a handwritten history of the family of Sirius Black, his character's godfather.

Rowling donated the document to the sale by Book Aid International, which provides books for schools in Africa.

The actor also successfully bid for handwritten works by writers Iain Banks and Tom Stoppard, totalling £4,680.
Radcliffe's mother Marcia Gresham bid on his behalf at the central London auction.

She said: "This should put paid to anyone who says that Daniel doesn't like reading.

"Daniel hasn't stopped since he read the first Harry Potter book and he loves Iain Banks and Tom Stoppard."

Kid Rock Sex Video and a Maid of the Stars who cleaned out valuables

Kid Rock wants to keep his own sexploits private.

The trailer park rap-rocker scored a legal victory Tuesday when a federal judge temporarily blocked an online porn peddler from hocking a steamy sex video featuring the Kid and former Creed crooner Scott Stapp receiving oral sex in a 45-minute lovefest with four female fans.

Meanwhile, a maid whose clients included Robert DeNiro and Candice Bergen was sentenced Tuesday to one to three years in prison by a judge who said the defendant was "cleaning out" her celebrity employers' valuables while cleaning their homes.

State Supreme Court Justice Renee White ignored the pleas of a weeping Lucyna Turyk-Wawrynowicz to let her return immediately to Poland.Turyk-Wawrynowicz pleaded guilty two weeks ago to grand larceny, forgery and identity theft.

"I would like the judge to allow me to go home," Turyk-Wawrynowicz, 35, said through tears and a Polish interpreter. She said her sister died recently, leaving several young children. "They have no one to take care of them," she told the judge.

White told the maid she had "shown no remorse for your actions, but only remorse for your predicament," and imposed the prison sentence.

"During your work as a housekeeper, a job that involves trust, you violated the trust of five individuals by stealing significant property from these individuals," the judge said. "You worked not just by cleaning and dusting, but by cleaning out the property of the various employers you worked for."

Brokeback Mountain shirt sold for £57,000

TWO shirts featured in the hit film Brokeback Mountain have been auctioned for more than £57,000.

A gay activist was the winning bidder in an online auction for the two used plaid shirts worn by the cowboy lovers, played by Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, in this year's Oscar hot bet.

The sale by the film's distributor, Focus Features, was on the auction website eBay. Tom Gregory, 45, logged his winning bid just 28 seconds before the ten-day auction came to a close on Monday.