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Who Should Play Martin Luther King?
The news came in today that Dreamworks has bought the rights to the life story of Martin Luther King. However you swing it, this will be a huge and historic release.
The big question, of course, is who gets the part. I asked the team and here are our suggestions…
Colleen Last, MSN Entertainment Editor – Denzel Washington
“One of the few actors with the gravitas to play Martin Luther King. Washington has successfully played real-life figures before, such as Malcolm X, and has years of experience playing weighty roles in films including American Gangster and Training Day.”
James Hurley, MSN Music Editor – Ice Cube
“Ice Cube is a highly underrated actor who hasn’t always helped his own cause by playing gangsta types. This would be a risk for all involved but might just be the making of him. Also, the physical resemblance is closer than that of Will Smith, Denzel Washington, or any of the more predictable candidates.”
Ian Jones, MSN Homepage Editor – Idris Elba
“The bloke who plays Stringer Bell in The Wire. Idris Elba is his name. I’d no idea he was British until I read it in the paper. He’s a brilliant actor: he’d play MLK with just the right mix of anger and humility.“
Paul Carmichael, MSN Homepage Editor – Laurence Fishburne
“Laurence Fishburne. 30 years after he seemed set for superstardom when he boogied to the Stones in Apocalypse Now, Larry’s career has rarely hit the heights. He is though hugely underrated and could I reckon deliver a cracking performance as MLK.”
Mike Lok, MSN Content Manager – Avery Brooks
“Avery Brooks, a much underrated actor that will probably be forever known as Captain Sisko from Star Trek Deep Space 9, he beat 100 other actors to become the first African-American to lead the series. While Trek never asks for Oscar winning performances from its cast, Avery punched way above what was ever required of him, showing depth, emotion and passion that is waiting to be showcased on the silver screen.”
Lorna Cooper, MSN TV Editor – Jamie Foxx?
“If one is looking at the relatively small pool of A-list black movie actors, it’s difficult to see an obvious choice. Maybe Jamie Foxx? However, I personally think they should cast an unknown, or relative unknown, in the main role of Doctor King – that would be a story in itself. Supporting character roles can be filled by names if need be. Besides, curiosity and word-of-mouth have been proven to get bums on seats in the past.”
My Choice? – Cuba Gooding Jr
Gooding hasn’t done anything anyone’s heard of since Pearl Harbour. And everyone knows that was rubbish! But he’s a formidable talent with a voice to match the highs of those historic King speeches. He’s due a big role like this.
Anyway – those are our thoughts. How awful are our selections? Click “Comments” below and tell us. Please feel free to stick your own casting ideas in there.
Peter Andre speaks out
Peter Andre has used his column in New! magazine to slam rumours that his split from Katie Price is a publicity stunt.
Writing from Cyprus where he is spending time with his brothers, Pete said: "I would like to take this opportunity to set the record straight about one thing. You may have read or heard that this is a publicity stunt, but I can assure you it’s not. How anyone could think I would pretend to split up from my wife to grab headlines is beyond me. It’s just sick."
Pete seemed to hint that the pair might reconcile when he wrote: "Everything is up in the air at the moment but I am writing this from Cyprus as I came here to get away and spend some time with my family."
Both Katie and Peter are expected to return to London on Thursday to discuss custody arrangements for their three children. The glamour model has been in the Maldives with Junior and Princess since the split.
With trailers like this, who needs films?
Further to sponsoring an F1 car (see previous entry), the Terminator people are pushing back the boundaries of urrr… pushing their movie. They’ve released a four-minute super-trailer for Terminator Salvation.
This adds weight to my prediction that one day films will die out and we’ll all just watch endless trailers: cinema for the ADD generation.
Hey! This reminds me of that “Good Trailer: Shame About The Film" piece we ran last week. Not that I think Terminator will be rubbish! I mean, I’ve seen a thirtieth of it already and that was awesome!
Katie’s ‘mystery man’ speaks out
The man photographed partying with Katie Price in a club in Bristol last Friday night has revealed he is gay. 
It’s thought the photos, published in The Sun, were the last straw for Peter Andre, who left his wife on Monday May 11. He had previously admitted he didn’t trust Katie when she was drinking.
Top dressage rider Spencer Wilton has spoken out to dispel reports that Katie, a keen horse rider, had been up to anything untoward. "A big group of us had all been at Badminton Horse Trials for the day and went out for dinner afterwards and then on to a club,” Wilton told Horse and Hound magazine. "They [the tabloids] know exactly who I am and have chosen to ignore that and the fact that I’m already in a happy relationship with a male partner. My phone hasn’t stopped with papers and magazines calling, but it’s obviously a lot worse for Katie – I just really hope she and Peter are able to resolve their differences."
Peter Andre & Katie Price split
Peter Andre and Katie Price are to separate after three and a half years of marriage.
The split was confirmed in a statement from their management, Can Associates Limited, who also asked that the media respect their privacy at this difficult time.
The couple’s constant squabbling has been there for all to see on their successful ITV2 series Katie & Peter, but the shock still comes as a massive surprise.
Pictures in The Sun on Monday showed Katie flashing her chest while surrounded by men on a solo night out at Bristol club Syndicate recently, and Peter has made no secret of the fact that he worries about his wife’s drinking.
Late last night Katie released the following statement, confirming that it was Peter who initiated the split: “Pete is the love of my life and my life. We have children together and I am devastated and disappointed by his decision to separate and divorce me, as I married him for life. This is not what I want and the decision has been taken out of my hands. I will not comment further or do any interviews regarding the separation, but I will always love my Pete.”
Katie has temporarily left the country with her two youngest children – Junior, three, and Princess, one. Six-year-old Harvey, her son from a previous relationship with footballer Dwight Yorke, is being cared for by a nanny.
We recently spoke to Katie and Peter and asked them about rumours of a marriage split. Here’s what they had to say
Terminator In Pole Position
Inventive marketing ploys are always interesting around this time of year. As the big movies gear up for the big push towards what they hope will be a bank-bulging box-office swoop, a million ideas are put forward as to how.
The Simpsons Movie set the standard for marketing stunts a couple of years ago with a blimp flying over London and a giant Homer on a hillside in West England. Things can only get more crazy from here on in.
Terminator Salvation went for a far more traditional root this weekend by sponsoring an F1 car. But this is the first movie to have taken such a sponsorship spot – formerly the domain of booze and tobacco companies before they were regulated out of the game.
They certainly seem to have picked the right team. Jenson Button’s from my hometown (go Frome!) so I’m completely on board with the Button run at the F1 title. And here he is along with teammate Rubens Barrichello and one of Skynet’s nasties.
They do need some bigger lettering, however. Who on earth is going to be able to read that tail-piece at 200mph?!
‘Rihanna’ in nude web pics scandal
Leona’s new Hollywood lifestyle
Leona Lewis has found herself a new LA mansion, and a sleek new look to go with it.
The down-to-earth star has ditched her two-bedroom flat in Hackney in east London to move into a £1.5m villa in the Hollywood Hills, just a few miles from mentor Simon Cowell’s mansion.
The X Factor winner is renting the luxury home for £7,000 a month while she records and promotes her new album – which could mean more than a year away from the UK. The mansion includes five bedrooms, its own swimming pool and outside bar – perfect for entertaining Leona’s new American celebrity pals.
The starlet debuted a polished new look at a fashion party at the Live! on Sunset boutique in West Hollywood last night, with a new straight blonde do. She also flashed more flesh than usual, in a Herve Leger black figure-hugging bandage dress. Looking good, girl!
Glasto Faces Possible Swine Flu Chop
Guess who’s been reading the tabloids again? According to a report in today’s Sun, the UK’s most famous music festival could be cancelled this summer if the swine flu crisis reaches pandemic proportions.
I hope I don’t live (or die) to regret saying this but I reckon there’s about as much chance of that happening as, well, pigs flying.
Remember bird flu? Killer bees from the continent? Carcinogenic asylum seekers? (OK, I made that last one up).
I’m no conspiracy theorist but when I read stuff like this it’s difficult to ignore the politics of fear theory – ie. the idea that the media colludes (whether knowingly or not) with darker forces who’d rather keep us all scared, compliant, and suggestible.
When the story broke all of two weeks ago, it was all over the news. Fair enough. But the very fact that it’s already comfortably behind Gordon Brown’s gurning on YouTube, the Champions League, and that annoying kid who got the ‘world’s best job’ should tell you everything you need to know.
If you ask me, this Glastonbury story is just another way of spinning it out a bit longer.
I’m not so naive as to think the situation couldn’t get worse. For all I know I’ll be typing my next blog entry from an isolation unit wearing a surgical mask. But until that happens, I’m not going to start worrying whether Glastonbury will be cancelled or not.
And neither should you.
William and Harry star in frog video
Princes William and Harry play a starring role in a video made by their father, the Prince of Wales, to promote his Rainforest Project. 
The young princes introduce themselves simply as William and Harry and explain they are trying to save the environment “for all of us”. Watch the video now
But the princes aren’t the only famous faces to appear in the 90-second clip – Daniel Craig, Joss Stone and even the Dalai Lama team up with a CGI Amazon frog to highlight the dangerous consequences of deforestation. With the digitally-created frog sitting on his shoulder, Harrison Ford claims to be a “friend of frogs,” while Robin Williams says he is a “comedian, cyclist and frog translator”.
There is even a special appearance at the end of the video by the world’s most famous frog. No, not Crazy Frog, Kermit the Frog.
