The Insider: Contributed by wastedtime

Bruce Lee family proposes museum in Seattle.

wastedtime — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:15:50 GMT

Relatives of Bruce Lee have proposed a three-storey museum filling a city block in Seattle to honour the late action movie star. The proposal to build a Bruce Lee Action Museum was announced Sunday at a commemoration of the 35th anniversary of his death, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper. It would cost as much as $50 million. Lee's daughter, Shannon Lee, says, "It's a great dream of ours." Lee was born in San Francisco, grew up in Hong Kong, attended the University of Washington and taught martial arts in Seattle. He died in Hong Kong in 1973 at the age of 32 from swelling of the brain and is buried in Lake View Cemetery in Seattle next to his son, actor Brandon Lee. Plans for the museum are being drafted by Carson Architects of Marina del Rey, California.

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"Mini-Me" settles sex tape lawsuit.

wastedtime — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:54:20 GMT

Actor Verne Troyer has settled a lawsuit he filed against a porn broker that will prevent the distribution of a sex tape depicting Troyer and a former girlfriend, court documents filed Friday show. "Austin Powers" actor Verne Troyer filed a lawsuit to stop the distribution of a sex tape featuring him. Troyer filed a $20 million lawsuit against porn broker Kevin Blatt, distributor SugarDVD and celebrity gossip Web site TMZ after snippets of the 50-minute tape were released last month. Records show that Blatt and SugarDVD have signed agreements requiring that they get Troyer's approval before selling or distributing the tape or any images from it. Edwin McPherson, one of Troyer's attorneys, said the actor has no intention of granting approval. McPherson said he planned to amend the lawsuit Monday to try to prevent Ranae Shrider, Troyer's ex-girlfriend, from releasing the tape. Shrider leaked snippets of the tape to TMZ, according to a statement filed in federal court by the site. Shrider indicated that the tape was recorded on her video equipment and that she was a partial owner. Don't Miss TMZ allowed to repost Mini-Me sex tape Troyer, who is best-known for his role as Mini-Me in two of the "Austin Powers" movies, has been seeking the return of the tape. McPherson said other people or companies may also be sued to prevent the tape from being released. Records do not indicate whether U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez, who has presided over the case, signed off on the agreements Friday afternoon. But since all parties agreed to them, McPherson said he saw no reason why they wouldn't be granted. "We achieved our goal," McPherson said. The agreements do not place any restrictions on TMZ, which won a judge's approval to restore an online posting about the tape's existence after it was originally ordered removed by Gutierrez.

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Tori Spelling's new book!

wastedtime — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:39:34 GMT

Tori Spelling is writing book tentatively titled Mommywood, a followup to her best-selling memoir sTori Telling, publisher Simon Spotlight Entertainment announced Monday. Mommywood will focus on her life as mom to one-year-old son Liam and newborn daughter Stella with husband Dean McDermott. "Writing my first book sTori Telling was an amazing cathartic journey for me," Spelling said in a statement. "Now, being a mom of two beautiful babies, I'm excited to share more stories as I embark on this new chapter of my life," she added. Spelling, 35, and McDermott, 41, star on Oxygen's popular Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood reality show. The actress has also been tapped to reprise her memorable role of Donna Martin on The CW's spin-off of Beverly Hills, 90210, airing this fall. Former co-star Shannen Doherty will also be a cast-member again, the network confirmed this weekend. "It is going to be great," Spelling said at the Much Love Animal Rescue's "Bow Wow WOW!" event in L.A Saturday. "The fans have been wanting this for a long time." So will you read Tori's new book?

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Jennifer Garner is pregnant again!

wastedtime — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 04:47:39 GMT

Jennifer Garner and husband Ben Affleck are expecting another baby, Garner’s former Alias co-star Victor Garber confirms ."Yes, she is," Garber, who currently stars on ABC's Eli Stone, said in a taped interview when asked if recent speculation was true that the couple is expecting. (Garber officiated the couple's 2005 wedding.) A source adds, "She is five months pregnant. They are very happy." Garner, 36, and Affleck, 35, are parents to two-year-old daughter Violet . "Honestly, that child is so inquisitive and so full of life — it’s all Jennifer and Ben!" Garber gushed in November 2007. "I have to say, he’s an amazing dad and together, she’s a very fortunate little girl to be in that family!" Garner hinted in October that she wanted to have another child. "We definitely wonder what it would be like to have another - hopefully, knock on wood, someday," Garner told Britain's Marie Claire. "My job is great to have as a mom. I get to take breaks and then work in a really concentrated way. During that concentrated time, it sucks, but whatever." Photos of Garner in loose fitting tops have had Web sites speculating about a bun in the oven for weeks. See how stars hide their bumps. Reps only confirmed Garner's first pregnancy after she and Affleck tied the knot on the Turks and Caicos on June 29, 2005. When it comes to Violet, Garner has revealed she's a total daddy's girl. "You know how as a kid you picture yourself with a tall, handsome husband, and you imagine him cuddling your baby?" Ben is like that, like, on crack," she told the May 2007 issue of In Style. "Violet prefers him to anyone. He's a teddy bear of a guy. Nothing makes me happier than to see the two of them together and her little hands on his face. He has a prevailing calm. Of course, he has the benefit of sleep." Affleck recently opened up to Access Hollywood's Billy Bush about his happy family life. "Things couldn’t be better. We’re kind of taking it easy and just kind of enjoying a little downtime at home," Affleck said.

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"Dark Knight" set weekend record with $155.34 million !

wastedtime — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 00:01:44 GMT

"The Dark Knight" took in a record $155.34 million in its first weekend, topping the previous best of $151.1 million for "Spider-Man 3" in May 2007 and pacing Hollywood to its biggest weekend ever, according to studio estimates Sunday. "We knew it would be big, but we never expected to dominate the marketplace like we did," said Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros., which released "The Dark Knight." The movie should shoot past the $200 million mark by the end of the week, he said. ADVERTISEMENT Hollywood set an overall revenue record of $253 million for a three-day weekend, beating the $218.4 million haul over the weekend of July 7, 2006, according to box-office tracker Media By Numbers. "This weekend is such a juggernaut," said Nikki Rocco, head of distribution for Universal, whose musical "Mamma Mia!" debuted at No. 2 with $27.6 million. Factoring in higher admission prices, "Spider-Man 3" may have sold slightly more tickets than "The Dark Knight." At 2007's average price of $6.88, "Spider-Man 3" sold 21.96 million tickets over opening weekend. Media By Numbers estimates today's average movie prices at $7.08, which means "The Dark Knight" would have sold 21.94 million tickets. Revenue totals for "The Dark Knight" could change when final numbers are released Monday. The movie's release was preceded by months of buzz and speculation over the performance of the late Heath Ledger as the Joker, Batman's nemesis. Ledger, who died in January from an accidental prescription-drug overdose, played the Joker as a demonic presence, his performance prompting predictions that the role might earn him a posthumous Academy Award nomination. "The average opening gross of the last five `Batman' movies is $47 million. This tripled that, and for a reason," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Media By Numbers. "A big part of that was the Heath Ledger mystique and a phenomenal performance that absolutely deserves the excitement surrounding it." "The Dark Knight" reunites director Christopher Nolan with his "Batman Begins" star Christian Bale, whose vigilante crime-fighter is taunted and tested by Ledger's Joker as the villain unleashes violence and chaos on the city of Gotham. Overseas, "The Dark Knight" added $40 million in 20 countries where it began opening Wednesday, including Australia, Mexico and Brazil. The film opens in Great Britain this weekend and rolls out to most of the rest of the world over the next few weeks. "The Dark Knight," which cost $185 million to make, also broke the "Spider-Man 3" record for best debut in IMAX large-screen theaters with $6.2 million. "Spider-Man 3" opened with $4.7 million in IMAX cinemas. "Every single show is sold out," said Greg Foster, IMAX chairman and president. "We're adding shows as much as we can, but we're at 100 percent capacity." On opening day Friday, "The Dark Knight" also took in more money than previously counted, Fellman said. The film pulled in a record $67.85 million, up nearly $1.5 million from the studio's estimates a day earlier. The previous opening-day record also had been held by "Spider-Man 3" with $59.8 million. Women accounted for most of the audience for "Mamma Mia!", which Universal opened as counter-programming to the male-dominated audience for "The Dark Knight." "With the crowded summer, we knew we would have to find the right weekend, and this seemed like the perfect one considering three-quarters of our audience was female," Rocco said. Based on the stage musical set to the tunes of ABBA, "Mamma Mia!" features Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgard, Julie Walters and Christine Baranski. The weekend's other new wide release, 20th Century Fox's animated family flick "Space Chimps," opened at No. 7 with $7.4 million. Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday. 1. "The Dark Knight," $155.34 million. 2. "Mamma Mia!", $27.6 million. 3. "Hancock," $14 million. 4. "Journey to the Center of the Earth," $11.9 million. 5. "Hellboy II: The Golden Army," $10 million. 6. "WALL-E," $9.8 million. 7. "Space Chimps," $7.4 million. 8. "Wanted," $5.1 million. 9. "Get Smart," $4.1 million. 10. "Kung Fu Panda," $1.8 million.

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Today's Insider Challenge: Who's That Star?

wastedtime — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 14:38:24 GMT

Vanessa Hudgens of course!

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