Top Story
Jerry Seinfeld may return to television. Variety reported ABC has greenlit a half-hour comedy pilot based on the best-selling books Letters from a Nut by the wacky and mysterious Ted L. Nancy, with introductions by Seinfeld. The speculation out there is that Nancy and Seinfeld are the same person–a highly imaginative letter writer who “sends seemingly serious, yet totally absurd, requests to corporate honchos, entertainment conglomerates…and celebrities,” ABC told Variety. The best part? The people receiving the letters usually offer serious responses to Nancy.
Celebs
Bob Hope quietly celebrated his 99th birthday at home on Wednesday, while his friends and family held a ceremony, naming a veterans’ chapel at the Los Angeles National Cemetery in his honor. Hope, who has been in frail health in the last few years, is best known for his tireless work entertaining U.S. troops from the time of World War II to the Gulf War.
Movies
The next James Bond flick, Die Another Day, will make its world premiere at the Royal Film Performance Nov. 18 in London. Details have not been confirmed, but either Queen Elizabeth or Prince Charles will be in attendance. Good form.
Director John Singleton is in serious negotiations to helm the sequel to The Fast and the Furious, with actor/singer Tyrese (Baby Boy) set to star. Original Furious director Rob Cohen dropped out when star Vin Diesel decided not to do the sequel, which follows conflicted cop Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker) as he goes undercover to do some more street racing, this time in Miami.
Charlize Theron may join Mark Wahlberg in Paramount’s The Italian Job, a remake of the 1969 film starring Michael Caine and Benny Hill. Wahlberg plays a thief who stages a traffic jam to steal a safe, while Theron would play his love interest (big surprise! We thought maybe she’d be playing his mother), who is an expert safecracker and skilled driver.
Tube News
James Woods is going to play former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani in the USA Network’s upcoming biopic Rudy! Now, that’s an original title.
Music News
David Bowie‘s alter-ego from the 1970s, Ziggy Stardust, will once again play guitar. The 1973 live-concert film Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars will open July 10 at New York’s Film Forum and then receive a limited release this summer and fall.
Rapper Snoop Dogg unfortunately did not have a doctor’s note. He pleaded no contest to marijuana possession charges and received a $250 fine and a suspended 30-day jail sentence after his tour bus was stopped near Amherst, Ohio, on Oct. 17 and six bags of marijuana were found.
