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New Line Cinema’s highly anticipated gangster picture Knockaround Guys will finally hit a theater near you on Oct. 11. The film–which boasts an all-star cast that includes John Malkovich, Dennis Hopper, Vin Diesel, Barry Pepper and Seth Green–completed shooting in November 1999 but its opening date was moved six times between January 2001 and October 2002. According to Variety, the film was left in the lurch because of executive turmoil, layoffs and resignations that have plagued the studio since the film’s production. New Line’s head of marketing, Russell Schwartz, told Variety, “Contrary to most movies, Guys and its stars have improved with age–like wine or a good cheese.” Indeed. Who would have guessed in 1999 that Diesel would now be commanding a hefty $20-million-per-pic paycheck?
Celebs
Tom Cruise has no qualms about raising his two children outside of the United States. The Minority Report star told the UK’s Daily Express, “I think the U.S. is terrifying, and it saddens me,” he said. “I do worry about my children. I depend on Nic where bringing up the kids is concerned. But it has to be both of us.” Cruise told the paper that Isabella, 9, and Connor, 7, will probably be raised in Australia, where his ex-wife Nicole Kidman is from.
Singer Marc Anthony and his wife, former Miss Universe Dayanara Torres, have split after two years of marriage, The Associated Press reports. The couple has a 16-month-old son.
An airman stationed at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois has been convicted of stealing actor Nicolas Cage‘s 1989 Porsche 911, according to the AP. The $100,000 car was found submerged in 12 feet of water by Missouri Water Patrol in January, a month after it had been stolen from a transport trailer parked in the St. Louis suburb of Arnold, where the airman is from. Authorities have also charged another man from Arnold in the theft.
Actor Kevin Sorbo, better known as TV’s Hercules and who now stars on the sci-fi series Andromeda, will unveil the first of his three new furniture collections during this fall’s International Home Furnishings Market in North Carolina, the AP reports. The 43-year-old actor isn’t the only star appearing at the show; fellow celebs Martha Stewart and Jaclyn Smith are also expected.
Movies
We reported last week that Sean Penn and Kevin Bacon would be starring in Clint Eastwood‘s new film Mystic River–and the cast keeps growing. Variety reports that The Matrix star Laurence Fishburne is in final negotiations to star in the film, about three childhood friends brought together after 25 years when the daughter of one of the friends is murdered.
Felicia Henderson, the creator and producer of Showtime’s Soul Food, has inked a three-picture deal with Fox Searchlight Pictures. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Henderson’s first feature film project with the studio will be Papa Was, which she will write, direct and produce with Soul Food‘s Boris Kodjoe set to star and produce along with Shaft producer Paul Hall.
Tube
Showtime, meanwhile, has signed Richard Dreyfuss and Judy Davis to play a couple in an original movie to be directed by Paul Mazursky (HBO’s Winchell). Coast to Coast is based on a novel by Frederic Raphael about a couple’s cross-country trip to attend their son’s wedding. The movie is expected to air on Showtime some time next year, Variety reports.
Music
On Monday, four days after the death of bass player John Entwistle, The Who kicked off their North American tour at the Hollywood Bowl. The band’s original members, Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend, replaced Entwistle with backup bassist Pino Palladino after two intensive days of rehearsals. They described the tour as a “tribute to an irreplaceable friend,” Reuters reports.
