HOLLYWOOD -
Top Story
Britney Spears' empire is expanding. The pop diva is opening a fancy restaurant in midtown Manhattan's tony Dylan Hotel. The new eatery will be called Nyla, after the two-letter postal abbreviations for New York (Spears' current home) and Louisiana (Spears' birthplace).
Casting Couch
Recent Oscar winner Jennifer Connelly will be joining former Oscar winner Ben Kingsley in the cast of The House of Sand and Fog. Based on the popular novel by Andre Dubus III, Connelly will play the ex-owner of a house who will do anything to get back the domicile she lost at a foreclosure auction. After figuratively swimming with sharks on HBO's The Sopranos, James Gandolfini will now voice a "real" shark in DreamWorks' upcoming animated feature Sharkslayer. Set for a 2004 release, Gandolfini's talents will blend with the already signed Will Smith, Angelina Jolie and Renee Zellweger. American Pie's Eugene Levy has signed to Disney's In The Houze as Steve Martin's crony, who pushes the wild and crazy guy to do even crazier stunts. Rapper/actress Queen Latifah also stars.Tube Tips
Sci Fi Channel has signed Oscar winner Susan Sarandon (Dead Man Walking) to its ensemble cast of Children of Dune. Children is the six-hour miniseries sequel of Sci Fi's Frank Herbert's Dune, which holds Sci Fi's record for largest viewing audience. Can Geraldo's return be far behind? In this week's sign that the apocalypse is upon us, MSNBC is wooing Phil Donahue, a talk-show pioneer, to host a primetime hour-long show on the topics of the day, the Associated Press reports. In more retro news, Baywatch's long-awaited reunion show will go on, the AP reports. David Hasselhoff reportedly has convinced 20 former members of the Baywatch and Baywatch: Hawaii series to reconvene for a two-hour special, which is scheduled to air this November on Fox. Move over, Regis. Step aside, Anne. The granddaddy of all game shows, The Price is Right, and its septuagenarian host, Bob Barker, are coming to primetime. Buoyed by how well the 30th anniversary special performed in the ratings, CBS has ordered six more primetime episodes of the classic game show.Music Notes
Paul McCartney kicked off his latest tour with a two-and-a-half-hour concert in Oakland, Calif., last night. The crowd certainly seemed pleased with Sir Paul's efforts, demanding two encores from the former Beatle, who played many of the group's greatest hits. Who knew that they even listened to hip-hop in France? Grammy-winning rapper Eminem is being sued by French jazz fusion composer Jacques Loussier for lifting parts of his song "Pulsion" for sampling in Eminem's rap song "Kill You," the AP reports. At press time, the AP wasn't able to get a comment from Eminem's label, Interscope Records, regarding this matter. Rising R&B star Ketara "KeKe" Wyatt was indicted by a Shelby County, Ky., grand jury on one count of second-degree assault for stabbing her husband with a steak knife on Christmas Day last year, the AP reports. The singer, whose latest hit is "Nothing in this World," could receive a sentence of 10 to 20 years if convicted.In Memoriam
Television lost one of its favorite grandmas, as Rosetta LeNoire passed away on March 17, at the age of 90. LeNoire, best known for playing Nell Carter's mom on NBC's Gimme A Break and Mother Winslow on ABC's Family Matters, had worked in show business and theater since the 1930s with such diverse luminaries as Orson Welles, Sammy Davis Jr. and Richard Pryor. A son, a brother, a sister, two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren survive LeNoire.