July 24, 2008

Christian Bale attended the Spanish premiere of The Dark Knight last night, signed autographs and smiled but didn’t answer any questions about the recent assault charges filed by his mother and sister. He did issue a quick statement to the press, "It's a deeply personal matter," Bale said. "I would ask you to respect my privacy in the matter."

Speaking of Batman...The Dark Knight, as of Tuesday, has made $200 million. Analysts fully expect the movie to blow past the $300 million mark after this weekend. Steve Mason of FantasyMoguls.com said in an e-mail to me, “There’s never been anything like it.”

Here’s a big skeleton in the Spears family closet: Mom killed a young boy several years ago. The incident happened in Kentwood, LA, in 1975 when Lynne Spears was 20 years old. She was driving her brother to the hospital after he'd suffered an injury when she ran over the 12 year old boy on his bicycle. She rounded the curve and couldn’t avoid the boy in the street as there was oncoming traffic in the opposite lane. She tells us to this day she’s grieved by the incident.

Yesterday, I told you Will Smith was the highest paid actor in Hollywood according to Forbes.com. Today, Forbes has put out another list anointing the celebrity who gets studios the most bang for their buck. Vince Vaughn is apparently one heck of a cash cow. For every dollar a studio pays him in salary, he makes them $14.73. What’s the general conclusion to draw? He stars in cheap, funny movies. Tobey Maguire came in second, Julia Roberts in third. Will Smith landed at 21.

STAR Artist Sheryl Crow kicked off her summer tour tonight. It’s just a matter fo weeks before she’s at the Resch Center. You can easily win tickets into that show – tomorrow is another Free Ticket Friday with Sheryl Crow and STAR 98. Get details at star98.net! Speaking of Sheryl Crow, she’s one of many STAR Artists contributing a song to "AT&T Team USA", an album designed to benefit America’s Olympic Athletes. Fellow STAR Artists Colbie Caillat and 3 Doors Down also have songs on it – you’ll be able to download it next month.

Is one of Hollywood's most stable marriages in trouble? Sources tell me Matthew Broderick, who's married to Sarah Jessica-Parker, had an affair with a 25-year-old woman earlier this year. Apparently Matthew and this unnamed redhead were cavorting while Sarah was shooting the Sex & the City movie. A rep for Matthew had no comment.

The Simpsons creator Matt Groening has promised to deliver fans a sequel to last year's film adaptation of the popular animated series. "It will happen at some point, but I have no idea when." Speaking of sequels…Will Ferrell is reportedly set to reprise his role as Ron Burgundy in a sequel to the hit comedy Anchorman. Ferrell's collaborator Adam McKay says the pair have begun work on a follow-up that will jump ahead a decade to the 1980s. And a sequel to last year's hit musical Hairspray is planned and could hit theaters in 2010.

American Idol winner and STAR Artist David Cook is keeping details of his highly-anticipated debut CD under wraps, but he did say, "It's not really carrying the vibe of a generic melodic rock record. I think there's some twists and turns on it." He added, "Lyrically, I feel like I've had something to say for a while. To be able to put pen to paper and actually get it out of my system is pretty therapeutic." David says the album is set for release in November, and then he'll do a tour in the new year.

Briefly:
STAR Artist Jesse McCartney will perform on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno tomorrow night.

STAR Artist The Pretenders will release a new album, Break Up the Concrete, on September 2nd, their first in over 6 years.