Top Story
Veteran action star Arnold Schwarzenegger was injured while performing a stunt on the set of his upcoming film Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. According to Reuters, Schwarzenegger was admitted to St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, Calif., where he underwent surgery to repair a shoulder injury. “I’m feeling great,” the former Mr. Universe said in a statement. “I am very fortunate to have had such fantastic surgeons at St. John’s work on my shoulder.” The actor was released Thursday but will have to keep his shoulder immobilized in a tight sling for the next three to four weeks. Schwarzenegger, 55, tore the rotator cuff in his left shoulder last fall but put off surgery at the time to avoid holding up production on the film. He reportedly earned a burly $30 million to reprise his role as the unyielding cyborg in T3, which will roll into theaters in July 2003.
Celebs
Actress Tippi Hedren, who starred at Melanie Daniels in Alfred Hitchcock‘s 1963 thriller The Birds, was honored Thursday with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, The Associated Press reports. Hedren, 72, continues to act but has devoted much of her time in recent years to caring for exotic animals at the Shambala Preserve, a high desert refuge in Acton, Calif., that houses two elephants and more than 60 lions, tigers, leopards and other big cats.
Movies
Twentieth Century Fox has announced release dates for summer tentpoles I, Robot and Mad Max: Fury Road, Reuters reports. I, Robot starring Will Smith, will debut on July 2. The film is based on the classic story collection by sci-fi writer Isaac Asimov which deals with the Three Laws of Robotics. The fourth installment in the Mad Max series, with Mel Gibson reprising the starring role, will hit screens nationwide on July 23. Fox, however, is tight-lipped on the details of the new Max flick.
Sony’s Columbia Pictures has optioned the rights to make a movie based on Hot Wheels–those little Mattel matchbox cars introduced in the late 1960s. According to the AP, the studio has not yet selected a screenwriter for Hot Wheels, but has pinned down directed McG (Charlie’s Angels 2: Full Throttle) to helm the pic. No shooting date has been set. McG said he plans a film with “all the warmth and humanity of your favorite James Dean movie with the state-of-the-art visual effects and the hottest collection of automobiles ever brought to the screen.”
Martial arts hero Chow Yun-Fat (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) is set to star in the action drama Walk Like a Dragon for Paramount Pictures, Variety reports. The film, a remake of the studio’s 1960 Western, revolves around an Asian official menaced by Golden Triangle crime lords who threaten to turn his daughter into a drug addict. The new version had been developed as a possible starring vehicle for wrestler The Rock.
DVD
In a bid to encourage consumers to buy music rather than download it, Universal Studios Home Video announced that Eminem‘s new music video for the single “Superman” will only appear on the 8 Mile DVD, set for release March 18. Interscope Geffen A&M (IGA) chairman Jimmy Iovine told Variety the ploy is another step record companies are taking to bring added value to packaged material as the industry defines a new relationship among consumers, artists and record companies.
Tube
Just weeks after NBC announced plans to air a Michael Jackson special during February ratings sweeps, ABC said it will air a Jackson documentary. ABC’s Living with Michael Jackson will be telecast Feb. 7 as a two-hour edition of news magazine 20/20, 10 days before NBC has scheduled its Dateline special Michael Jackson Unmasked. One NBC insider told Reuters, “This is something we announced a long time ago. To us it seems like a case of playing catch-up on the part of ABC.”
Billy Baldwin is finalizing a deal to lead the ensemble cast of NBC’s drama pilot EDNY about a team of U.S. attorneys. Variety reports that Tony Drazan (The Negotiator) will write, executive produce and possibly direct the show, whose title stands for Eastern District New York. Baldwin will portray Mike “Mad Dog” Kelly, the ensemble’s central character, a supercharged, brilliant prosecutor.
