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Get ready for Gladiator 2. DreamWorks and Universal Pictures are forging ahead with a sequel to the period actioner which took home Best Picture Oscar last year. Scribe John Logan--who was part of the original writing team--will pen the follow-up. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the sequel will pick up 15 years after the end of the first film, which killed off several of its lead characters, including Gen. Maximus Decimus Meridus played by Russell Crowe. Gladiator won five Oscars in 2001, including best picture, sound, visual effects, costume design and lead actor for Crowe.
Celebs
Angelina Jolie's baby son was discharged from Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool, northwest England, on Friday after three days of treatment for an undisclosed minor injury, Reuters reports. A spokeswoman for the actress said she thanked the hospital staff for caring for baby Maddox Jolie, but gave no details of the injury.Poor Tom Green can't seem to get any positive attention--not even from his family. Green's mom reportedly chased her son from the family's home with a broom after the comedian disrupted a garage sale in the quiet suburb of Beacon Hill, Ont. Green added fuel to the fire by smashing a few plates, all for the benefit of the camera, of course. Green was filming the sale for one of his broadcast pranks, The Ottawa Citizen reports.Movies
Devout Catholic Mel Gibson has signed on to direct The Passion, a chronicle of the final 12 hours in the life of Jesus Christ, Variety reports. The film, starring Jim Caviezel, will be shot in Latin and Ameraic. "I want to show the film without subtitles, Gibson said. "Hopefully, I'll be able to transcend language barriers with visual storytelling." This is Gibson's second effort in the director's chair. He helmed the 1995 war drama Braveheart.
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Don't count Survivor out yet. The fifth edition of the CBS reality series thrived in the ratings Thursday. According to Nielsen, Survivor: Thailand averaged 23.05 million viewers, a slight improvement compared to last years winter premiere of Survivor 4. The show, however, was up against reruns of Friends on NBC and will have to go up against the season premiere next week.Fox's Futurama and The Bernie Mac Show each took home Phlemmy Awards, the annual dishonor bestowed by the American Lung Association for TV shows that portray smokers, the AP reports. "Futurama gave lead roles to Marlboro and Camel cigarettes," according to the American Lung Association of Sacramento-Emigrant Trails. Bernie Mac was named because its titular character is partial to cigars.Music
Yoko Ono, who sued a former assistant to late Beatle John Lennon in 1999 claiming he exploited the musician's death by stealing priceless family photos and selling them to collectors, won't give peace a chance. The battle enters federal court starting Monday, the AP reports. Ono wants Frederic Seaman to surrender the rights to 374 photos he took of Lennon and fork over about $75,000 in profits from sales and manuscripts. Seaman pleaded guilty to second-degree larceny in 1983 for stealing Lennon's diaries and was sentenced to five years probation and ordered to return all the property.