Top Story
It’s about time Steven Spielberg got his. Of the thousands of Walk of Fame stars dotting Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, you might think that by now at least two or three of them belonged to Spielberg. But no–not until today. Johnny Grant, the Walk of Fame chairman, told The Associated Press this was the first time the Oscar-winning director had made himself available to get a star. “We’re just pleased that we finally got him,” Grant said. “He could have been approved 20 years ago.” Spielberg, whose latest film, Catch Me If You Can, is making a bundle at the box office, will be the first Hollywood-ite to receive the Walk of Fame honors in 2003.
Celebs
AP reports Julianne Moore, currently being touted for Oscar glory for her stellar turns in Far From Heaven and The Hours, is finally marrying her longtime boyfriend, filmmaker Bart Freundlich. The couple met in 1997 on the film The Myth of Fingerprints and have two children, a 5-year-old son and a daughter born last April.
Persistent rumors are also swirling around actress Drew Barrymore, 27, claiming she may say “I do” for a third time to 22-year-old boyfriend Fabrizio Moretti, the drummer for rock band The Strokes, in an Italian villa owned by George Clooney. The actress’ publicist, Toby Fleischman, told People.com, however, that there wasn’t any truth to the rumors. Barrymore has been married twice before, most recently to comedian Tom Green for all of five months.
Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne summoned police to their Beverly Hills home during the Osbourne family New Year’s Eve bash for an alleged robbery. Sharon claims a woman who won a diamond necklace in a raffle was not an invited guest and therefore was not eligible to win the necklace worth $15,000. People.com reports the woman, an agent at ICM, maintains she was the guest of a close friend of the Osbournes and won the expensive item in a fair manner. Police are investigating the matter although no arrests have been made.
Now back to more marriage news: Australian pop singer Natalie Imbruglia and Daniel Johns of the grunge band Silverchair have confirmed their engagement, Reuters reports. “Daniel and Natalie have spent the holiday season together at home in Australia relaxing and celebrating,” the statement said. “They have no immediate plans to marry.”
Movies
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets has reached $519 million in international ticket sales, Reuters reports. Add the $252 million in domestic box office grosses since its November debut and its worldwide total amounts to $771 million. The first Potter film, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone garnered $968 million in worldwide grosses, second only to the highest grossing film of all time, Titanic, which brought in a $1.8 billion haul in worldwide ticket sales.
Tube
A cameraman was stabbed with filming the British reality TV series produced by Madonna‘s husband Guy Ritchie, Swag. The series incorporates hidden cameras to catch would-be car thieves being tempted into illegal acts, Reuters reports. One thief who broke into an expensive car spotted the cameraman and stabbed him in the leg with a screwdriver. He was not seriously injured.
Wesley Snipes will make a guest appearance on an upcoming episode of the Fox hit The Bernie Mac Show, just in time for February sweeps. Snipes will play the boss of Mac‘s wife Wanda (Kellita Smith) and will get into an altercation with Mac.
Former Superman Christopher Reeve will return to his roots, guest-starring on an upcoming episode of the WB’s Smallville. Reeve will play a brilliant scientist who offers young Clark Kent (Tom Welling) some “revelatory insight into his superhero destiny,” a WB spokesman told Reuters. He can do it, too.
