Senator John McCain: He might be a maverick politician, but you have
to admit that McCain is a mighty interesting person. At least Robert Michael
Geisler and John Roberdeau, the producers of The Thin Red
Line, think so. The creative duo plan to make a movie based on McCain's
memoir, "Faith of My Fathers". The Republican senator was just a young naval
aviator when he was shot down over North Vietnam in 1967 and seriously injured.
His bravery as a prisoner of war is well documented. This should be an exciting
project, worthy of the money and attention that a Hollywood film will bring.
John Cusack: John Grisham's "The Runaway Jury" is finally on
the right track to the big screen. According to Variety, the prolific writer
agreed to allow Cusack to headline the story of a jury foreman caught up in the
middle of a troublesome lawsuit against a gun manufacturer. Grisham, who has the
final say on casting for his films, recently made waves when he passed on a plan
that featured Will Smith in the lead role with Mike Newell in the
directors' chair.
Viggo Mortensen: This is a Viggo "Sighting" advisory. Mortensen, who
most recently starred as Aragorn in the box-office smash The Lord of the
Rings: Fellowship of the Ring, will be at the Virgin Megastore (Union
Square) in New York City this Thursday at 6:00pm in order to sign copies of his
new book, "Viggo Mortensen: Signlanguage," a collection of his recent paintings,
poetry and photographs. If you're in the area, drop by to see what makes this
thespian skip million dollar movie salaries so that he can focus on his art.
Bill Paxton: It's not easy making the transition from actor to
director, especially when starring in a film, but Paxton did a remarkable job
with Frailty, the story of a misguided family on a mission of
murder for the Lord. Unfortunately, not enough moviegoers took the time to see
his movie when it opened over the weekend. It took in $4.2 million in ticket
sales, only good enough for eight place in the box office race. The top five
films that drew the fans were Changing Lanes with $17.6 million,
Panic Room with $11.3 million, The Sweetest Thing
with $10 million, Ice Age with $8.7 million and The
Rookie with $8.1 million. Next weekend, give Frailty a
shot. It just might get you.
Barbra Streisand: As ABC executives try to figure out what clothes to
wear for the funeral of Bill Maher's Politically Incorrect, one
major star is singing the blues. Streisand, who considers the show to be crucial
to our democracy, released a statement to the press about her concerns. In it,
she said, "Bill Maher's show is one of the few and imperative crossfires of
American opinion. Our unity in the war on terrorism should not mask our
differences on other issues that are critical." One of those issues has to be
when, and if, Streisand will create another "out of retirement" concert event.
ABC can run clips of that show on Nightline after it is featured on TBS's
"Ripley" series.
Mia Farrow: Rosemary's mother just signed on with CBS to co-star in
the comedy pilot Julie Lydecker with Mary McCormack. Farrow will
play an odd mother who moves in with her daughter at the worst of times, when
the young lady has lost her job. McCormack was recently seen as Jeff
Bridges' wife in the superb K-PAX with Kevin Spacey. She can
be seen in August in Full Frontal with Julia Roberts and
David Duchovny. Farrow and McCormack previously worked together in
Private Parts, the biopic of Howard Stern.
David Letterman: If you see the happy host of CBS' Late Show
smiling down from a billboard, you can thank ABC for that. When they tried to
steal Letterman from CBS last month in order to put Ted Koppel and
Bill Maher out to pasture, a funny thing happened. Letterman said "no"
before letting the public know that he was not happy with CBS' lack of promotion
for his show. His gripes did not fall on deaf ears. Starting this week,
billboards of the gap-toothed warrior will start popping up in major cities all
across America. Will his beauty go unnoticed?
SATURDAY in the news.
Huey Lewis: The news from the rock actor is that he will appear on the
season finale episode of NBC's Just Shoot Me on Thursday, May 2. Lewis
plays a friend of Finch (David Spade) who agrees to take part in a
newly-formed "air" band. When Nina (Wendie Malick) becomes smitten with
his looks and sexy moves, the great band experiment starts to fall apart. Lewis'
recent turn in Duets as Gwyneth Paltrow's karaoke singing
dad proved that he can handle adversity with the best of them. Alan
Thicke also guests in the episode as himself.
Pamela Anderson: While on the subject of rock music and "air" bands
(not heads), it is a good time to mention that Anderson and her mate Kid
Rock got engaged on Thursday night in Las Vegas, a great place to gamble on
love and money. According to the V.I.P. star's publicist, Anderson was
elated by the new development in her life. As of this writing, no date has been
set for the actual ceremony. It will be the second marriage for the
actress/model and the first for Kid Rock.
Goran Visjnic: The handsome star of ER is scheduled to take
part in the 26th Annual Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race being held today (Saturday) in
Long Beach, California. The 10-lap event is scheduled to begin at noon with a
field of 17 drivers, including Patrick Stewart, Bryan Cranston,
Christopher Titus, and Mark-Paul Gosselaar. You can see the race
in its entirety on ESPN, Sunday, April 28, starting at 2 p.m. EST.
Cameron Diaz: You can only milk something for a little while before it
gets old. Somebody needs to remind Diaz of that fact. In a recent interview, she
spoke of accepting two scripts because they both had scenes that mentioned the
word "sperm". On speaking about the hair-raising decision, the beautiful actress
said "I didn't think I've had my share of sperm yet." All workers for the U.S.
Postal Service hope that adventurous fans don't start sending creative gifts to
Diaz to help the smiling wonder reach her quota.
Mark Harmon: The former Chicago Hope star is heading to the
White House. Harmon, once named People magazine's "Sexiest Man of the Year",
will appear in four episodes of The West Wing starting on Wednesday, May
1, and ending on the season finale, Wednesday, May 22. The former UCLA
quarterback portrays a Secret Service Agent assigned to work with Press
Secretary C.J. Cregg (Allison Janney).
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