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A.M. Surf Report: Jessica Simpson Teams Up With Horror Director; Bono Criticizes $60 Billion AIDS Pledge

Plus Paris Hilton has a date with a judge; Paul McCartney is on target to beat Rihanna, T-Pain; Grammys add two more categories.

The news happens all the time, even while you're catching up on beauty sleep. Check out this brief rundown to bring you up to speed this morning -- a quick heads up from your friends at MTV News.

Here's what we've got: No Doubt have a whole batch of songs ready to go -- but you won't get to hear them for more than a year thanks to Gwen Stefani's busy schedule, [article id="1561981"]Tom Dumont told us[/article]. "Tony, Adrian and I have been busy preparing material for the album since this time last year," Dumont said. "So we have a lot of instrumentals looking for words." ...

It's mourning time for devotees of the black-and-burgundy mall fixture: [article id="1561986"]Hot Topic stores are getting a "lighter and brighter" makeover[/article] following a three-year sales dip. "The intent was to be current with what's going on in the music environment," according to Darrell Kinsley, Hot Topic's vice president of merchandising, marketing and store design. "You check any teen's iPod, they don't have just punk or metal music on there." ...

Comics badass Frank Miller let us in on some of the [article id="1561900"]plans for his big-screen adaptation of "The Spirit."[/article] The script's written, the storyboarding is coming soon, and you can expect the film to go "a step further" "300" and "Sin City" when it comes to technology-enhanced visuals, he told us. Miller's also got an eye on his top bad guy. "I would love for [Samuel L. Jackson] to be the Octopus in the movie, the chief villain," he said. ...

And Paris Hilton will be in court today for a hearing to [article id="1561864"]determine whether she will be sent back to jail[/article] to serve the remainder of her sentence. Check back early this afternoon for the verdict.

Quote of the Day: "The entire side of our trailer was covered with blood and guts, and we had to clean it off with cans of Pepsi." -- [article id="1561995"]Despised Icon's Alexandre Erian[/article]

Here's what everyone else is talking about:

It's already got a poster, and now Jessica Simpson's "Major Movie Star" has a director. Variety reports that Steve Miner ("Day of the Dead," "Halloween H20") will helm the comedy, starring Simpson as a spoiled celebrity who decides to join the Marine Corps. The film begins shooting next month. ...

World leaders attending the G8 conference in Germany pledged $60 billion to fight AIDS on Friday (June 8) -- and Bono is not pleased, Reuters reports. "I am exasperated," he said in a phone interview. "We are looking for accountable language and numbers. ... They say they will keep their pledges on Africa but it is remarkable. In a 25-page document we can't see any evidence of how they are going to get to those. It is a maze." ...

When he isn't taking world leaders to task, Bono has been working on new songs in Morocco with U2 bandmates as well as Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, U2.com reports, but the band isn't planning to put the music out anytime soon. "We have no plans for the music yet," Bono said. "We're just going to make it until we can't not put it out!" ...

Paul McCartney will outsell Rihanna and T-Pain to take #1 on the next Billboard albums charts -- that's Hits Daily Double's prediction based on one-day sales reports. McCartney's Memory Almost Full is on track to sell 180,000 in its first week, with Rihanna's Good Girl Gone Bad and T-Pain's Epiphany each paced to sell about 160,000. Daddy Yankee's El Cartel: The Big Boss is on target for 110,000 sales, while Marilyn Manson's Eat Me, Drink Me is estimated to top 90,000 sales. ...

While Rihanna may miss #1 on the next albums chart, she's holding the top spot on the current Hot 100 -- and is the very first artist to top the brand new Canadian Hot 100, Billboard reports. Shop Boyz's "Party Like a Rockstar" also stays put on the Hot 100 at #2. T-Pain's "Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin')" climbs one spot to #3. Fergie's "Big Girls Don't Cry" jumps four positions to #4, and Maroon 5's "Makes Me Wonder" slips two spots to #5. ...

The Recording Academy has decided to hand out more even more prizes on Grammy night, bringing the total number of categories to 110. Variety reports that the former Latin rock, alternative or urban album category has been split into two -- Latin urban album and Latin rock/alternative album -- and a zydeco or Cajun album category has been added. The 2008 awards will be held February 10 in Los Angeles. ...

George Michael won't spend time in jail for his "driving while unfit" offense, a judge announced Friday. BBC News reports that the singer is likely to get a suspended sentence or community service after pleading guilty to the charge related to his October arrest. ...

Warner Music and AnywhereCD have settled their legal dispute, agreeing to terminate their contract on September 30 -- and sell music by Warner artists (including Green Day, Madonna and Red Hot Chili Peppers) without copy protection in the meantime, Reuters reports. The companies filed battling lawsuits over AnywhereCD's posting of Warner albums for sale without digital-rights management encoding back in April.

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