Some consider her to be one of the most beautiful women in the world, so Eva Longoria's male admirers are no doubt eager to see her upcoming "X" role, which will finally reveal the "Desperate Housewives" seductress in her rawest ... well, voice. "I play a villain," Longoria recently explained of "Foodfight!," which (sorry, guys) isn't a supermarket sex romp but rather an animated family film also featuring the voices of Hilary and Haylie Duff. Talking about her character, the villainous Lady X, Longoria said: "She is definitely this mean person ... you really have to dig deep for this animation to come across as real." The flick, currently being assembled, depicts supermarket brand-name products coming to life after the store closes, a premise that encouraged Longoria's self-described "over-the-top" performance. In other Eva news, the actress said her Paul Rudd/ Jason Biggs supernatural comedy "How I Met My Boyfriend's Dead Fiancée" is in the can and will be unveiled mid-year. As for "Foodfight!," Longoria will be getting down with the Duffs in November 2007. ...
As 50 Cent's movie career continues to bud, he's keeping two separate lists: one noting the stars he wants to work with someday, and another noting the actors he hopes to team with again. Now he's making plans to cross one name off each list with "New Orleans," a cop thriller that would pit him opposite Robert De Niro and Brian Presley, the latter of whom he previously co-starred with in "Home of the Brave." According to Fiddy, Presley is currently in negotiations for the flick, to which 50 and De Niro had previously been attached. "If Brian's schedule permits him to be a part of this next project ... we'd be police officers." To be directed by TV veteran Tim Hunter, the flick would also cast De Niro as a cop obsessed with the death of his former partner and dragging his new one (50) into the mystery. "The plot is about corruption in the police department. It's really interesting," the rapper/actor added. When asked for the name of his favorite De Niro performance, 50 responded with a wry smile: "All of his movies are my favorites." "New Orleans" is due to film next year, targeting a 2008 release. ...
Possibly the busiest actor of 2006, we've already seen Hugh Jackman play a malicious magician, mutant menace, leading men for the unlikely duo of directors Darren Aronofsky and Woody Allen — and voice both a tap-dancing penguin and charismatic society mouse to boot. Now he's launching his own production company (Seed Productions) and searching for that next great tap-dancing-mutant-magician script. "Now that I have a production company, I have so much coming up," he explained. "Because as a producer you develop a lot more than as an actor you sign on to." Jackman will, however, produce and star in "The Amateur" as a Jack Ryan-like action character out to uncover the truth about his wife's suspicious plane crash. "He's an everyman," the Aussie actor said of Charlie Heller, a CIA cryptographer. "It's sort of a moral story of an everyman who gets into a very extraordinary situation. And Evan Katz, of '24' fame, is writing it ... it's a wonderful character, a guy who's very smart but has never really had to test his intellect in the field, until his wife dies and leaves him a number of clues that he has to follow up on." Based on the Robert Littell spy novel, the film will likely hit theaters in 2008/'09. ...
Good news for Daniel Radcliffe fans: The actor just announced that he'll soon make a second non-Harry Potter screen appearance. The bad news: It's going straight to British TV. "Next year I will film 'My Boy Jack,' and I am completely thrilled to be working on this fantastic and very moving script," the star recently wrote in a letter to fan site DanRadcliffe.com. Unlike the orphan drama "The December Boys" (Radcliffe's first non-"Potter" flick, due in early 2007), "Jack" will be a fact-based biopic telling the story of "Jungle Book" author Rudyard Kipling's search for his son Jack during World War I. Meanwhile, in "Potter" news, Radcliffe added that he'd like to see the director from "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" handed the reins again for the next flick. "David Yates was an inspired director," the star said, weighing in on the debate over who should get behind the camera for "The Half-Blood Prince." "I would walk on hot coals to work with him again." ...
The Steve Carell comedy "Little Miss Sunshine" and the Ryan Gosling drama "Half Nelson" got big awards-season boosts this week, as nominees for the Independent Spirit Awards were revealed Tuesday morning. The first major ceremony to announce its 2006 competitors, the Spirit Awards also gave major props to the long-forgotten Forest Whitaker drama "American Gun," the satirical drama "Thank You for Smoking" and soon-to-be-released flicks like Guillermo del Toro's fantastical "Pan's Labyrinth" and the Brittany Murphy mystery "The Dead Girl." Currently in its 22nd year, the Independent Spirit Awards honor films whose total budgets (including post-production) exceed no more than $20 million. This year, "Gun," "Girl," "Nelson," "Sunshine" and "Labyrinth" will square off for Best Feature, while Michelle Williams, Edward Norton, Gosling and Whitaker will duke it out over acting awards. In a particularly poignant turn of events, recently deceased filmmaker Robert Altman was nominated as Best Director for "A Prairie Home Companion." Held annually in Santa Monica, California, the evening before the Oscars, this year's event will happen February 24 and be hosted by Sarah Silverman. ...
Anybody can speculate on which 2006 films might win Oscars — but have you given any thought yet to which 2007 flicks might already be potentially poised for gold statues? Those making lists should keep a slot open for "Reservation Road," which has been blessed with several awards-season veterans and a powerful buzzed-about script. "As a mom, I was really moved by my character Grace," raven-haired Oscar-winner Jennifer Connelly said of her performance as a mother whose child gets killed in a hit-and-run accident. "It's such a beautiful and moving script," she insisted, saying the movie is based on the book of the same name. "I also really like [director] Terry George." George, hot off writing and directing 2004 award juggernaut "Hotel Rwanda," found an impressive group lining up to work with him. "It's a great cast," Connelly continued. "Mark Ruffalo and Joaquin Phoenix were already signed up to do it. I love the idea of working with them." Connelly can next be seen in December's "Blood Diamond" alongside Leonardo DiCaprio. ...
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