Top Story: Farrelly Brothers Take on Stooges
Peter and Bobby Farrelly, the filmmaking duo behind the comedies Dumb & Dumber, There’s Something About Mary and Osmosis Jones, have been tapped to helm The Three Stooges for Warner Bros. According to Variety, the adventure pic will revolve around the Stooges characters originated by Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Jerome “Curly” Howard. The Farrelly siblings spent last winter and spring writing an updated script with Me, Myself and Irene scribe Mike Cerrone. The Three Stooges will provide Warners with a high-profile comedy-something that the studio hasn’t had in several years. The comedy is expected to start shooting early next year for a summer 2005 release.
TBS To Air Sex Reruns Next Summer
HBO has sold reruns of its hit series Sex and the City to TBS for a licensing fee of $450,000 for each of the 94 half-hours. TBS will get the show in June 2004–15 months before it is kicked off in syndication on the Tribune-owned TV stations. TBS plans to air episodes four times a week in primetime, probably one hour a night over two nights in mid-week, Variety reports. But since the show will run in primetime rather than in the early evening, the network will be able to run episodes that are less edited than for TV syndication
Woman Pleads Guilty To Stalking Jennifer Love Hewitt
A 47-year-old woman from the San Diego, Calif., suburb of La Mesa, pleaded guilty Monday to stalking Party of Five actress Jennifer Love Hewitt, Reuters reports. Diana Napolis, who was diagnosed as delusional but was found competent to stand trial, pleaded guilty to felony stalking in exchange for the dismissal of five other charges. Napolis first threatened Hewitt, 24, outside a San Diego radio station, then continued trying to contact the actress in Los Angeles and via e-mail between July 29 and Nov. 3 of last year. She faces up to three years in prison when she is sentenced next month.
Jennifer Aniston’s Dress Fetches $4,100 on eBay
The midnight blue, knee-length dress that Jennifer Aniston wore to the 55th annual Primetime Emmy Awards last Sunday attracted bids of more than $4,100 in a charity auction Monday, Reuters reports. Aniston‘s dress was the top-priced item in eBay’s online auction, which closes Wednesday. Proceeds from the “Clothes Off Our Back” benefit, co-created by Malcolm in the Middle star Jane Kaczmarek, will go to Cure Autism Now and the Union of Concerned Scientists. Last year, the “Clothes Off Our Back” project auctioned off Emmy outfits from about 20 celebrities and raised more than $87,000.
Hope Inducted Into Officer Hall of Fame
Bob Hope, who died July 28 of pneumonia at his Toluca Lake, Calif., home at the age of 100, was inducted posthumously into the Reserve Officers Association Minuteman Hall of Fame for his 50 years of entertaining military troops overseas, the AP reports. His son Kelly accepted the award at Saturday’s ceremony, saying his father took his show on the road to thank the troops for their efforts in defending freedom. Hope‘s traditional Christmas tours began in 1948, when he went to Berlin to entertain soldiers, and lasted through 1990, when he visited the troops during Operation Desert Shield. Other famous honorees include President George W. Bush and former presidents John F. Kennedy and Harry S. Truman.
“Dr. Feelgood” Pleads No Contest
A doctor who allegedly overprescribed narcotics to celebrity clients such as Winona Ryder pleaded no contest Monday to charges of grand theft and practicing medicine without a license, The Associated Press reports. Dr. Jules Lusman, who had his license revoked last year by California’s medical board, entered the plea to two charges in exchange for the dismissal of six others by prosecutors. The charges stem from a complaint by a woman who said she went to Lusman in March for a cosmetic procedure similar to a Botox injection. She claims Lusman refused to help her or return her $600 fee after large bumps developed around her eyes. Ryder, who according to her probation report had who had 37 prescriptions filled by 20 doctors from 1996 to 1998, was one of the celebs medical investigators found to be connected to Lusman.
Cirque du Soleil Strips Down … to G-Strings
Cirque du Soleil has launched a new erotic act in Las Vegas titled “Zumanity,” in which troupes strip down to G-strings, caress each other as they swim in a fish bowl and indulge in lingering kisses while a drag queen cabaret singer croons, “Sex is beautiful.” Billed as “another side of Cirque du Soleil, the act must compete with two other Cirque du Soleil shows and a third one in the works, but audiences are pouring in nonetheless. According to Reuters, the two nightly performances over the last month have helped raise casino revenue by 30 to 40 percent.
Role Call: Sandler’s Happy Madison Gets Fat
Columbia Pictures is shelling out a $675,000 guarantee against potential seven figures for Fat Man, a spec script by Simpsons scribe Mike Reiss about an 800-pound man who drops 600 pounds with the help of a nurse he finds more appealing than a Happy Meal, Variety reports. Adam Sandler‘s Happy Madison banner will produce but reps for the comedian say the odds are slim that the he will do anything more than produce.
