McAvoy has the 'X' factor!

'Wanted' actor James McAvoy has been cast to play Charles Xavier (Professor X to you and me) in the new X-Men movie, titled 'X-Men: First Class' - Variety reports.

The new movie will show the young Xavier discovering his powers along with Erik Lensherr (a.k.a Magneto). Both were close friends, and worked together with other Mutants to stop a threat to the world, but the cracks soon begin to appear in their alliance and a war errupts between Magneto and Professor X. 


Production kicks off this summer and has been given an early June 2011 release. Matthew Vaughn will direct, and producing will be Bryan Singer (who directed the first and second X-Men movies), Shuler Donner and Simon Kinberg.


A very interesting casting casting choice, but only time will tell as to how this project will turn out - especially since 'X-Men: The Last Stand' didn't fair too well with the critics.

Keep it here for further updates on this!

Bullock's ex blames "childhood abuse" for his cheating ways.

In an interview with ABC News' Nightline, love-rat Jesse James believes that his childhood abuse caused him to cheat on his ex-wife Sandra Bullock with a number of women.

He tells the network:

“I grew up with a huge amount of shame and fear and abandonment on my shoulders from a very young age and I think, you know, the way my mind rationalized [cheating], ‘Well, you know, I might as well do whatever I can to like run her off cause she is going to find out what I am anyway and leave me anyway."

He also added that his father was physically and emotionally abusive towards him.

“He beat my ass pretty good a bunch of times…I just remember, like, clinched teeth, strained-neck look on his face." Jesse said. "My whole childhood, I never had a chance to be a kid. …I was always scared."


In contrast to Jesse's revelations, his own mother (Janina James Coan) told TMZ that she was "appalled" by what he said about his father - Larry James.

She states:

 "Larry was the most caring father, the kindest father who would do anything for anybody. He loved Jesse to death and would brag about him all the time."

However Coan does say that Jesse and his dad don't get along, and it all started, she claims, when Jesse was 16. She claims Larry found out hat Jesse and a friend allegedly robbed a Fotomat and called the cops on him. Coan says Jesse ended up in juvenile hall and was very upset that his dad turned him in.

Make of that what you will...but you can see the snippets of the interview below. Is he telling the truth, or is this a flawed PR stunt?

CW unveils 'Nikita' remake at their Upfronts!

The CW Network unveiled what could possibly be a corker of a gem at their Upfronts in Madison Square Gardens last Thursday - another remake of the classic Luc Besson movie 'La Femme Nikita'.

For those who are already familiar with the plotline, don't worry...I won't bore you with the details.

But to cut a long story short, Nikita (played by the gorgeous Maggie Q) was rescued from the claws of death row by a secret U.S agency, which is only known as the 'Division'. A fake execution was then staged so that she could start a new life...and serve her country. But they failed to mention that she would be trained as a spy and an assassin.

Betrayed by the people she trusted the most, Nikita then began on a mission of revenge and ultimately driving the message home that she intends to expose and destroy their so-called 'training academy'. One of their latest recruits, Alex (played by Lyndsy Fonseca), is just only realising the main reason why she was recruited and why Nikita chose to leave the organisation.

'La Femme Nikita' was originally directed by Luc Besson in 1990 (starring Anne Parillaud as Nikita) and was later remade by John Badham three years later, only this time naming his version 'The Assassin' (or 'Point of No Return' - as it was known in some countries) and casting Bridget Fonda as Nikita - after Julia Roberts originally turned the role down. And who could forget the TV series in 1997 which was based more on the Fonda's Nikita, but still with some storyline similarities to both movies.

Back to the current version..

The pilot will air in the States this Autumn, but for those who are curious and want to catch a sneek peek check out the trailer below:

Williams to "cause trouble" in Wisteria Lane!

After much speculation it has now been confirmed that Vanessa Williams will become Wisteria Lane's newest neighbour on the next season of Desperate Housewives (which will hit U.S screens on 26th September 2010).


Producer Marc Cherry told TV Guide Magazine [WARNING: Spoilers in link!] about the exciting latest casting news, and confirmed that she will be a regular throughout the season.


He said:“I’m a big fan of Vanessa’s work and I’m so excited that she’ll be moving into the neighborhood next season to cause trouble in all the ladies’ lives,”



**** WARNING! **** For those of you in the UK who have not finished watching season six, stop reading here because there might be a SPOILER ahead!






But Williams won't be at season's big mystery, because Marc has something lined for a returning cast member - Paul Young (played by Mark Moses).

And while there are no plans just yet for Paul’s son Zach (Cody Kasch) to return, the show will be casting an actress to play Paul’s new wife.


Exciting developments!

Watts as 'Monroe' promo taken from magazine front cover.

This picture was taken at the Cannes Film Festival a couple of days ago by AlloCiné, and the enertainment press have gone into a foaming frenzy saying that this is the 'first look at Naomi Watts as Marilyn Monroe'.

But wait... Sacrebleu! What's this?

This magazine cover (Madame Figaro) was actually published in January 2009 after the Aussie actress posed for photographer Ali Mahdavi in a dress by Thierry Mugler (a design inspired by Marilyn's Seven Year Itch dress).

So yes...while I admit she does look amazing as the famed blonde bombshell, this picture has indeed been around for sometime now.

So why was this picture featured in Cannes?

 

Distribution company Wild Bunch announced at the Cannes Film Festival that they will be handling international sales on 'Blonde', an adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates' imaginary Marilyn Monroe memoir, and will focus on her time with John F. Kennedy, Joe DiMaggio and Arthur Miller. Andrew Dominik will direct the project that will star Naomi Watts as Marilyn. Shooting is scheduled to start on the $20 million film in January 2011.


AND...

 The Weinstein Company is also developing 'My Week With Marilyn' with filming starting in September. Michelle Williams will play Marilyn in the movie about the time Monroe spent in England shooting 'The Prince and the Showgirl' opposite Laurence Olivier. Simon Curtis will direct.

Let the battle of the Marilyns commence!

Mary J. Blige is feeling good about NINA SIMONE biopic!

R&B singer/superstar Mary J. Blige has signed on to star in Cynthia Mort's "Nina" - a biopic about legendary singer/songwriter/civil rights activist Nina Simone.

 Mort's script centres on Simone's relationship with her assistant Clifton Henderson, who will be played by David Oyelowo - Billboard.com reports.

 U.K based Ealing Studios will be financing, producing and selling internationally the $10 million movie scheduled to begin filming later this year. WME Global will be handling the North American rights.


Mort's other work includes a stint as a writer-producer on TV's "Rosanne" and "Will & Grace" and as creator of "Tell Me You Love Me."

Election 2010 - Battle of the BREAKING NEWS!

For those in Britain were gripped to the TV over the last few days you will have noticed an interesting battle unfold - and I'm not talking about the political party fight! No, I'm referring to the never-ending race to the 'Breaking News' finish line.

I found it entertaining how (as far as I see it) the 3 main broadcasting news centres battled not only to engage and keep the viewers on their channel, but the constant "We're just about to get an important announcement" and not forgetting of course the "Oh dear, we're sorry we couldn't bring you any sound during that speech". A clear indication that this battle was getting tense was the odd typo that appeared on the scrolling news bar during broadcasts (I won't mention which broadcaster suffered the most), and making sure that scheduled programmes were changed to alternate times / dates.

Yes, I understand you're "bringing the news to the people that matter" and all that branding-associated bull crap, but viewers want concrete news and not scaremongering or "what might happen". This kind of news reeks of lack of solid sources and just makes news reporting look sloppy, but at the same time I also recognise the fact that news sources aren't always reliable.

Looking back at the news coverage of these main broadcasters it was clear to me that the news wasn't quite WHO would be PM in No.10, but more so who could get the biggest story. In my opinion they looked like they were struggling to catch up with the all the goings-on in the Labour camp. The fact that Gordon Brown wanted to resign was a foregone conclusion by Saturday night (and I remember saying this at the time to my partner), but none of the news  broadcasters mentioned it. If it was for the reason to that they didn't want to speculate then why do just this with other elements of the Election story (namely the discussions that went on behind closed doors between the Tories and Lib Dems)? Instead they chose to lead with "This surprising move by Gordon Brown", which in turn made me scream the words 'I told you so' at the TV...and I'm sure others were probably doing the same thing too. It was almost like watching a movie where you know what the ending is likely to be.

I know people will side with their favourite broadcaster and say that their news was the best and most informative, but truth be told all three of them had struggled to provide concrete news (I'm referring to the 'news before it's news' trend). Maybe it's because they truly didn't know what was going to happen, or that their sources weren't good enough - both of which are quite plausible.

The question....is it more about who can get news first, or who can get the most ACCURATE news first?

Something to ponder....