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The rumor mill started circulating soon after Sandra Bullock showed up at the 74th Annual Academy Awards with Hugh Grant on her arm. After joking that they were having a baby together, the duo set the record straight and told Entertainment Tonight that the date was strictly business. Grant and Bullock are currently working together on a romantic comedy about a brilliant, but slightly neurotic, female attorney who begins an office romance with her charming, irresponsible and fabulously wealthy client.
In General
Britney Spears will hold a press conference before the screening of her movie Crossroads at the Odeon Leicester Square in London on Monday night. Also expected to attend the screening are Robert De Niro, Charlotte Church and Kate Moss. And although the singer has denied recent reports that she and boyfriend Justin Timberlake have broken up, Spears will be attending the red-carpet affair without him, the BBC reports.Dustin Hoffman has signed on to Lions Gate Films' Confidence alongside Edward Burns. The film, directed by James Foley, begins shooting in April and is expected to wrap by the end of May, according to The Hollywood Reporter.Do we hear wedding bells for Helena Bonham Carter and director Tim Burton? According to Britain's The Sun, Carter said that she wouldn't rule out the possibility of getting married and that her relationship with Burton is getting serious. The actress, however, told the tabloid she was not thinking of having children yet.William Hurt and Ben Stiller are set to appear in an episode of the CBS comedy The King of Queens, Entertainment Weekly reports. In the 100th episode, Hurt will play a psychiatrist, while Stiller will play a younger Arthur's father (played by Stiller's real-life father, Jerry Stiller) in a family flashback. Josh Goldsmith, the show's executive producer, commented: "It's hard to approach an Oscar winner to be in your sitcom, but sometimes it's a case of the pretty girl waiting to be asked."The Early Show's Bryant Gumbel and CBS are entering into negotiations on a new contract, with insiders giving only 50/50 odds that the network will renew the co-host's contract, USA Today reports. CBS is currently in third place in the morning ratings, trailing behind NBC's Today and ABC's Good Morning America. With 53-year-old Gumbel making $5 million a year, the network may find itself wondering if new blood could draw coveted younger viewers.In an unusual music pairing, boy band 'N Sync will be heading on tour accompanied by rockers Smash Mouth. Smash Mouth band members said they were motivated to join the tour for the chance to play in large arenas-a switch from their usual small venues. "We're sort of known as the band that'll kinda do anything," guitarist Greg Camp told the Rocky Mountain News. "We're up for anything that comes along."Filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen are joining forces with T Bone Burnett to start DMZ Records, a joint venture with Columbia Records, USA Today reports. Burnett produced the soundtrack to the Coen brothers' film O Brother, Where Art Thou? with music that has since launched a roots-music revival. The album has spent 64 weeks on the Billboard 200 music chart and is currently ranked No. 1.