Now that’s a celebrity breakup we did not see coming today. After more than five years of marriage, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are getting a divorce. While many of us were skeptical when they first got together and Tom was proclaiming his love for her on Oprah’s couch, the divorce still comes out of left field. “This is a personal and private matter for Katie and her family,” says Holmes’ attorney Jonathan Wolfe, confirming the TomKat split Friday. “Katie’s primary concern remains, as it always has been, her daughter’s best interest.” After a relatively brief courtship, the Rock of Ages star, 49, married the former Dawson’s Creek star Holmes, 33, in an Italian castle in 2006. They have one daughter, six-year-old Suri. No reason was given for the impending Tom Cruise-Katie Holmes divorce, but the couple has not been seen in public together since February (below). This was Holmes’ first marriage and the third for Cruise, who previously was married to Nicole Kidman, with whom he has two adopted children, and Mimi Rogers. It is unclear if divorce papers have formally been filed, but Tom and Katie are believed to have a prenuptial agreement, and are worth at least $275 million. Obviously, Tom’s earnings comprise the bulk of that, but Kate will no doubt receive a significant settlement. Here’s wishing both the best in this tough time. UPDATE, 2:11 EDT : Katie filed for divorce in New York on June 28, citing the catch-all “irreconcilable differences.” She makes no mention of the prenup. She is asking for sole legal custody and “primary residential custody” of Suri and for a “suitable amount” of child support, plus a division of property. According to TMZ, Tom “did not see this coming” and there is some “nastiness” going on here, as evidenced by Katie’s move to get sole legal custody. UPDATE, 4:00 EDT : Tom is “very sad,” according to another source. Photos show he was seen wearing his wedding ring just two days ago while filming a new movie in Iceland; Katie also wore her ring this week in New York. Cruise’s rep also released a brief statement saying: “Kate has filed for divorce and Tom is deeply saddened and is concentrating on his three children. Please allow them their privacy to work this out.” [Photo: WENN.com
Nicole Kidman is one of our all-time favourite redhead actress and here she is showing off her panties in this excellent paparazzi panty peek Continue reading →
This is Thursday in Cannes: Zac Efron in tighty-whities, Nicole Kidman as a luscious sex kitten, Matthew McConaughey as a journalist with a sexual secret and a very creepy John Cusack. Such was just the tip of the iceberg this morning in Lee Daniels’s outrageous The Paperboy , which will have its world premiere tonight as the festival hits its final swing. Opinions seemed to range wildly in all directions following the film’s early morning screening: Applause and cries of “Bravo!” mixed with boos, laughter and a swift rush out of the huge Lumière Theatre to get reaction from Daniels and the cast at the press conference. The conversation in the press room took cues from the film’s flamboyant flare, and then it went from there. What many girls (and some boys) may have secretly wished to see back in the High School Musical days they can now get a big dose of it here: Efron is tan, trim and spends a good chunk of his scenes in his underwear, at one point dancing in the rain in his briefs with a very platinum and seductive Nicole Kidman. Never one to mince words, Lee Daniels set the record straight when asked about Zac Efron being “eroticized” in the new film: “He’s good looking, the camera can’t help but love him… And I’m a gay man – you know!” “I don’t think I was supposed to feel comfortable,” said Efron, laughing after Daniels’s quip. “This character is learning the ways of the world and it is uncomfortable. It was a great character to play.” Based on a novel by Pete Dexter, The Paperboy is set in late ’60s Florida. Efron plays Jack, a young guy who’s aimless and living with his dad and soon-to-be step mother. His older brother (McConaughey) is a journalist who comes to town to investigate a death-row inmate (John Cusack) he believes is wrongly convicted of murder. Meanwhile, Cusack is corresponding with a platinum blonde (Nicole Kidman) with a fabulous wardrobe, fake eye-lashes and pillowy lips. She’s also the object of Jack’s raging hormones — and things get complicated. “I felt like I was let out of some cage,” Cusack said Thursday morning in Cannes about his role. “Lee [Daniels] and I talked at the Chateau Marmont about a film I made called The Grifters and then he looked at me and said, ‘I think you have more to give than you’ve been giving lately,’ and that is just music to an actor’s ears.” In 2010’s Rabbit Hole , Nicole Kidman earned an Oscar nomination as an upper middle-class mother in mourning following the untimely death of her young son. Her Paperboy character Charlotte Bless could not present more of a contrast: Simulating sex in a prison visitation room, wearing flashy outfits and playing an untamed seductress, she at one point comes to Jack’s rescue after he’s attacked by a swarm of jellyfish. While he lays barely conscious on the sand as welts appear on his six-pack, she gives him the remedy required to treat a jellyfish sting. “I had to step into the character and put myself in a place where I didn’t step out of it,” Kidman said. She explained that she met Daniels at a party while she was promoting Rabbit Hole and became curious about how she might fit one day into one of his films. “I haven’t seen the movie yet and I’m nervous about seeing it, but that’s my job – to give over myself to someone and have them bring out in me what I can give.” “I had the most lovely time in the world playing with Nicole,” Efron followed. “I’ve been in love with her since Moulin Rouge . It was the best opportunity in the world.” The Paperboy is loaded with laughs especially for audiences who appreciate a bit of camp, but the film also takes a darker, more serious turn and Thursday’s post-screening followed the movie’s lead. Daniels, who received a Best Director Oscar nomination in 2011 for Precious , said that all the characters in The Paperboy are real for him personally, from the young kid to the woman who writes letters to prisoners to the house servant (played by Macy Gray). He also said he knows the prisoner. “I live in the truth. Every character here I know,” he said. “My brother — I raised his children. He has been in jail for murder. So I know this cat and when [Cusack] did anything that’s not true, I said, ‘You have to come at me in a different way.'” Continuing, Daniels said: “I say this to all filmmakers: You never take no for an answer. Making sure my vision is executed means never taking no, never.” “Lee has a hyper-sensitive mind, and as soon as you nail it he says, ‘Now, where can we take it?'” McConaughey said. Daniels offered up that McConaughey will be in his next film, The Butler , as John F. Kennedy. Cusack will play Richard Nixon. Starring Forest Whitaker as the White House butler who served multiple U.S. presidents, the cast also includes Kidman and Oprah Winfrey. Lee said that the new film will be decidedly more PG-13 than The Paperboy . Read more of Movieline’s Cannes 2012 coverage here . [Top image of (L-R) Zac Efron, John Cusack, Lee Daniels, Matthew McConaughey, Nicole Kidman and Macy Gray: AFP/Getty Images]
Zac Efron recently finished filming The Paperboy , a drama based on a novel by Pete Dexter and featuring Efron as a reporter who returned to his hometown in Florida to investigate a case. The young actor stars opposite Nicole Kidman in the movie and made it very clear in a recent interview that he enjoyed working with the Oscar winner. Especially during certain scenes. “Nicole is so gorgeous,” Efron said . “It was everything you dreamed of. She was such a lovely person. I pinch myself everyday, especially after doing love scenes with Nicole Kidman. It was the highlight of my life.” Wow. Imagine how Efron would have reacted if he fake banged Kidman before her helpings of plastic surgery! Zac is coming off an impressive showing at the box office, where The Lucky One came in second this weekend, actually out-earning The Hunger Games .
If you like your girls to have red hair (like Nicole Kidman the Hollywood actress) then you will adore Samantha Harris as she tells you the score for Playboy. Continue reading →
Last night, during the 34th Annual Kennedy Center Honors telecast, Meryl Streep ‘s friends feted the honoree in grand fashion. There were video montages introduced, touching anecdotes told, funny memories recounted, musical numbers performed and splits done in her honor – by Robert De Niro, Mike Nichols, Stanley Tucci, Emily Blunt, Kevin Kline, Anne Hathaway and Tracy Ullman (who co-starred with Streep in Plenty ). It was an epic ode to the actress’s “superhuman” onscreen ability — one, that after ten minutes of increasingly heaping praise, began to feel like one of the most elaborate Oscar campaigns to date. With just two months until the 84th Academy Awards, last night’s Kennedy Center Honors Meryl Streep-fest aired at a perfect time. The actress has just scored her Golden Globe nomination for her highly-anticipated performance in The Iron Lady and is already being called an Oscar frontrunner for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in a project that seems designed entirely for a Lead Actress Oscar win. Take a look at the 10+ minute CBS campaign below.
There’ve been updates about The Paperboy ‘s casting for awhile, but only now do I realize the gravity of what’s occurring. Um, wow: Nicole Kidman and Zac Efron are sharing a screen! And John Cusack! And Matthew McConaughey, for the hell of it! And — what now? — Lee Daniels is directing! They should call this quaint tale Extra Precious: Based on the Cutie ‘Zac’ by Efron . Synopsis and impressive poster after the jump. Downright old-fashioned and sharp. Reminds me of Young Adult ‘s evocative cover in coloring and detail. From a distance, Mr. Efron’s cheeks look a tad more pregnant than they usually do. I know what you’re thinking, and let me assure you: I’m the father. The Paperboy concerns a reporter who returns to his hometown to save a man on death row, though he’s derailed by the romance he strikes up with the inmate’s lady friend. I have the feeling we won’t get a juicy character study worthy of Nicole Kidman’s involvement in this movie, and that sucks because I’m still reeling from Rabbit Hole . Still, I’m in for Zac Efron’s sacred facial architecture. He’s like a cathedral of tawny hotness. Paperboy Poster [GossipCop]
There’s good news and bad news about My Week With Marilyn . The good news — at least for its devotees — is that Harvey Weinstein is regrouping after last weekend’s super-successful NYFF premiere , readying the film for a serious awards push . The bad news — at least for viewers anticipating its top-flight Michelle Williams performance — is that Marilyn ‘s Nov. 4 release date has been nudged back to Nov. 23. We have yet to discover what this means for The Artist , another movie about vintage Hollywood that Weinsteins have slated for the same day (not to mention their Piranha 3DD ), but this may prove to be a pretty important development in the awards race. Stay tuned… [ Deadline ]
Miss Bala is a fairly straightforward story, told in a reasonably straightforward way: A young woman in Mexico longs to win a beauty pageant as a way of making life better for herself, her father and her younger brother. But before she can make it to the first round, she runs afoul of a group of gangsters who use her — and her alluring but unassuming beauty — as a means to their own devious ends.
Julia Roberts shot newbie director Dennis Lee’s ensemble family drama Fireflies in the Garden four years ago, but after an infamously disastrous Berlin Film Festival showing and distributor drama at Senator Films, the indie film languished for years on the shelf. Last night at their premiere in Los Angeles Lee told Movieline how Roberts saved the film from direct-to-video hell and Roberts explained why her upcoming project, Snow White , will be worth the price of admission.
