HOLLYWOOD - Top Story: Matt LeBlanc Weds Longtime Finacée
Matt LeBlanc, who plays Joey Tribbiani on NBC's hit sitcom Friends, married his longtime partner Melissa McKnight Saturday in a star-studded wedding on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. According to the syndicated television show Extra, the ceremony took place overlooking exclusive Anini Beach along a 12-acre cliffside property. Guests included LeBlanc's Friends co-stars Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow and David Schwimmer. Aniston's husband, Brad Pitt, and Cox's husband, David Arquette also attended. Many of the guests wore Hawaiian shirts and leis, Extra said, and feasted on a four-tiered passion fruit cake that was large enough to feed 150 people. The couple became engaged in 1998. McNight, a former model, has two children from a previous relationship.
Hopkins Honored With Silversword Award
Anthony Hopkins will be honored at the Maui Film Festival next month with the 2003 Silversword Award, The Associated Press reports. The award, named after the rare plant that blooms only on the slopes of the Haleakala volcano, honors artists for their contributions to filmmaking and to positive change in the world. The 65-year-old actor is set to attend the Silversword Award Tribute June 13 at the Grand Wailea Resort Hotel & Spa.
Ben and J.Lo Buy Georgia Homes
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez have bought two houses on one of Georgia's last undeveloped barrier islands, Hampton Island, the AP reports. The two newly constructed 10,000-square-foot houses are on the 2,300-acre island 35 miles south of Savannah, which was recently bought by an Atlanta developer for $16 million. The island will be developed as a low-density, luxury community. The purchase prices for the two homes were not disclosed.
Prince William Wants To Live Stateside
Prince William wants to spend a few years in New York after finishing his university degree, UK's The Sunday Mirror reports. A courtier at Buckingham Palace told the newspaper on condition of anonymity that William, 20, wants to pursue a postgraduate degree at an American college or a job with a art auction house or gallery. A spokesman for St. James' Palace did not deny the report but said no decisions about William's future have been made.
Roeper Picks Hulk Top Summer Pic
Movie critic Richard Roeper predicts the top-earning summer movie will be the PG-13 rated actioner The Hulk rather than The Matrix: Reloaded because younger fans will have a hard time getting into the R-rated sci-fi sequel. "But I got a feeling that a lot of 14- and 15-year-old boys are going to figure out a way to go see The Matrix: Reloaded," Roeper told AP Radio. "But they're going to have to buy tickets to a PG-rated movie and sneak in to Matrix, so it won't count for their box office."
FX Scraps Candidate Series
Cabler FX's has scrapped plans for its reality series American Candidate, which was to chronicle grass-roots campaigns for the 2004 presidential election as mounted by candidates selected by the show's producers, Reuters reports. According to FX entertainment president Kevin Reilly, the project had become too elaborate and expensive. But series producer R.J. Cutler said he was in talks to move the show to another TV outlet in time for its fall premiere.
King Stories Found in School Paper
Copies of the Lisbon High School newspaper The Drum from the mid-1960s may contain two of author Stephen King's earliest published works, the AP reports. A retired English teacher from Lisbon Falls, Maine discovered the newspaper copies last year and then sold them on eBay, where they fetched $400 to $800 per copy. King's personal assistant, Marcia DeFilippo, said the King has been out of town and hasn't been able to verify the work. "We don't have exact verification by Stephen right now, but we hope to have him look at the stories soon," she said.
Role Call: Hopkins Set for Alexander, Grease 3 Underway
Anthony Hopkins is negotiating to star alongside Colin Farrell in Intermedia's Alexander for director Oliver Stone. Hopkins will play the role of Ptolemy, the last surviving general in the army of Macedonian conqueror Alexander the Great who went on to become the Pharoah of Egypt ... Disney is developing 3-D zombie horror movie Thrilla for director Hype Williams. The pic, set in Jamaica, revolves around a group of zombies who are suddenly awakened ... Paramount Pictures is planning Grease 3, which will be set in the late-'70s and revolve around the children of the original characters. John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, who starred in the original 1978 musical, have already been given a heads-up that their services will be sought once a script is completed, Variety reports.