Fancast: dish 'n dat

THE WEEKEND BOX OFFICE

The Bourne Ultimatum (Universal) $70.2 million - opening weekend
The Simpsons Movie (Fox) $25.6 million - 2 wk total $128.6m
Underdog (Buena Vista) $12.0 million - opening weekend
I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry (Universal) $10.6 million - 3 wk total $91.7m
Hairspray 2007 (New Line) $9.3 million - 3 wk total $78.9m
Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix (Warner Bros.) $9.3 million - 4 wk total $260.8m
No Reservations (Warner Bros.) $6.6 million - 2 wk total $24.1m
Transformers (Paramount/DreamWorks) $5.95 million - 5 wk total $296.3m
Hot Rod (Paramount) $5.0 million - opening weekend
BRATZ (Lionsgate) $4.3 million - opening weekend

Why They'd Kill Off Lonelygirl15?

Mia Farrow wants new role -- hostage. (NYP)

Hollywood's Best and Worst Gays. (NYDN)

Smell like Beckham (E!)

Van Halen, with David Lee Roth, to announce tour. For real. (NYT)

Chris Rock cleared in paternity case (NYP)

GMA Co-host Roberts cancer update this week. (NYDN)

John Stewart for President? No, but candidates to visit show. (DV)

Wonder Years Savage turns director in Daddy Day Camp, and the review is...?(DV)

Bye-Bye Brueghel. Masterworks stolen. (NYT)

Music publishers battle You Tube (NYP)

Phew, Carson Daly to stay at NBC, late, late, late. (DV)

Who wants to be a multi-millionaire? Fox exec Darnell. (DV)

The return of a shock jock. Can Imus come back? (NYMag)

Reality show reality and the heartbreaking, delusional, downright icky pursuit of fame. (NYMag)

Michelle Pfeiffer unveiled her star yesterday on Hollywood's Walk of Fame, and husband and mega succe$$ful writer-producer Dave E. Kelly was by her side. They look extraordinary. Pfeiifer's latest movie, Stardust, opens on Friday, and she can also be seen in the musical Hairspray. Pfeiffer trivia:

1) What was her first movie?
2) What former 30something was she previously married?
3) Is the sister-in-law of which 90s alt singer-songwriter?

(photo: Getty Images)

He's the worst straight man in show biz, but we love following the highs and lows of British rocker Pete Doherty, who walked out of court yesterday after the judge presiding over his latest arrest for drugs gave him another month to clean up his act.

(photo: Getty Images)

If you don’t want to read the story, Carter says what discerning TV viewers already know. Cable boasts the summer’s hottest and smartest shows:

o The Closer
o Saving Grace
o Army Wives
o Burn Notice
o Damages
o Mad Men

But why omit The Singing Bee? Admit it, you watch and you sing a long. Right?

Rush Hour 3 $50.2 M
The Bourne Ultimatum $33.7 M
The Simpsons Movie $11.1 M
Stardust $ 9.0M
Underdog $ 6.5 M
Hairspray $ 6.4 M
I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry $ 5.9 M
Harry Potter And The Order of The Phoenix $ 5.4M
No Reservations $ 3.9 M
Daddy Day Camp $ 3.6 M

Following up on excellent commentary by Steve Coll in last week's New Yorker on Rupert Murdoch's purchase of the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times checks in today with the latest move in journalism's biggest chess game:

"If the Gray Lady didn't have enough problems battling industrywide woes, now she has Rupert Murdoch to worry about. The media billionaire has made no secret of his desire to take aim at the New York Times once his News Corp. acquires Dow Jones & Co. and its flagship Wall Street Journal in a $5-billion deal expected to close this fall, reports the Los Angeles Times.” more

In a continuing show that celebrities enjoy ordinary life, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie took their family last weekend to Chicago's Field Museum. Jolie is in Chicago for her new movie, Wanted, with Morgan Freeman and James McAvoy. FYI: Two weeks ago Jolie's oldest, Maddox, turned six years old and the family celebrated with a birthday party in Santa Barbara.

Actor Owen Wilson was rushed over the weekend to a Santa Monica emergency room, according to a story broken by the National Enquirer and The Star and picked up by outlets from Daily Variety,The Drudge Report and TMZ.

Tabloids reported the actor had slashed his wrist and taken an undisclosed number of pills. According to reports, Santa Monica Police and Fire Dept. EMT crew responded to a call for help and rushed Wilson to St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica. But People.com reported that Wilson's brothers Andrew and Luke were spotted last night at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, adding questions to the mystery of what happened -- and why.

One of Hollywood's most gifted comedic actors, Wilson is also a top writer and has headlined in Starsky & Hutch and Wedding Crashers. He stars in The Darjeeling LImited, director Wes Anderson's highly touted new film about brothers searching for the meaning of life and their mother on a train in India. He has been shooting Tropic Thunder with Ben Stiller.

Superbad topped the weekend box office for the second week in a row. According to Variety, the R-rated teen comedy has taken in $68.9 million. As for the rest of the weekend's top five, The Bourne Ultimatum and Rush Hour 3 checked in at Nos 2 and 3. Mr. Bean's Holiday and War followed in fourth and fifth position. The much-publicized but critically trashed The Nanny Diaries underperformed compared to the popularity of the book on which it's based, coming in sixth place.

1 Superbad $18,000,000
2 The Bourne Ultimatum $12,361,440
3 Rush Hour 3 $12,250,000
4 Mr. Bean's Holiday $10,121,170
5 War $10,000,000
6 The Nanny Diaries $7,811,000
7 The Simpsons Movie $4,400,000
8 Stardust $3,954,000
9 Hairspray $3,450,000
10 The Invasion $3,140,000

Divorce is no laughing matter. Just ask 30 Rock's Tracy Morgan, whose 22 year marriage came to an end yesterday when his wife, Sabina Morgan, filed for divorce. The former SNL star told the National Enquirer, “Me and my wife are going through a divorce, but she is still my friend. She is my rock and is totally supportive of what I am doing, and that’s me having hit rock bottom.” Morgan is currently wearing a SCRAM -- Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor-- ankle bracelet after violating his parole last November for a DUI arrest in LA. He hasn't had a drink for more than 100 days. It feels great not to have a drink," he told the Chicago Tribune last week. "If I have a drink, my foot blows off." Last May, Morgan was accused of battery by a female disc jockey in Miami. This latest salvo from his is one more indication that Morgan's life off-screen is no joke.

Owen Wilson is putting his health first as he recovers from a reported suicide attempt.

The 38-year-old actor has left the movie Tropic of Thunder, reports Variety. Wilson's pal Ben Stiller is directing the Dreamworks comedy, which is set to start shooting in September.

Wilson is still recuperating in Cedars-Sinai Medical Center after being rushed there Sunday. "I respectfully ask that the media allow me to receive care and heal in private during this difficult time," Wilson said in a statement following his hospitalization.

The entertainment news show Extra reported Wilson attempted suicide and was found by his brother Luke, who called 911. Extra also posted the Santa Monica Police 911 log, citing the phone call.

It ain’t a line by MTV’s poet laureate John Ashbery, that’s for sure. It’s the opening of Britney Spears’ new single, Gimme More [click to hear], a better than average and better than anyone expected dance track kicking off the troubled pop star’s comeback from a year that has kept, and continues to keep tabloid editors jumping for joy.

Her new single, leaked onto the Internet earlier in the week, made a more official debut yesterday on NYC radio station Z100’s website and then traveled the blogosphere at warp speed. Gossip guru Perez Hilton called it and a second song that leaked, Cold As Fire, “two lovely appetizers,” and added “Britney’s next single needs to be on a whole other level.”

Still, he said of , "It’s not bad. It’s not amazing. But it is very good, considering our girl’s a little rusty."

Now Spears appears set to throw her comeback into high gear by appearing on MTV’s Video Music Awards on September 9. According to the NY Daily News, Spears’ performance will feature some gee-whiz type special effects designed by Mindfreak magician Chriss Angel, who was earlier linked to Spears through paparazzi photos of them together.

A relationship was vehemently denied, and it turned out that Angel was merely helping Spears with her act, which has been overshadowed by her personal life.

The new single begins with Spears snarling "It's Britney, b***h." It ends with producer Nate "Danjahandz" Hills saying "Bet you didn't see this coming."

If Britney Spears launches her comeback by performing her new single Gimme More at September 9's VMAs, as reported, it won't be the first time the pop tart has used the awards show to inject life into her career. Others have also found the MTV platform a place to fight, curse, change impressions, appear in public following embarrassing situations, kiss, and oh yes, on occasion perform. Here's a look at the top 10 moments from the VMAs.

The Top 10

10. The backstage fight between Motley Crue's Vince Neal and Guns 'N Roses guitarist Izzy Stradlin, following Stradlin's performance with Tom Petty. (1989)

9. Madonna's performance of "Vogue" in a Jean Paul Gautier designed gown inspired by Marie Antoinette, which featured extended conical breasts into which Madonna pulled her dancer's face. (1990)

8. Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora's acoustic performance of "Wanted Dead Or Alive," said to be the inspiration for MTV's Unplugged series. (1989)

7. Howard Stern descending on the stage dressed as Fartman. Sammy Hager later called him a jerk. (1992)

6. For sheer paparazzi value, actress Rose McGowan showed up at the VMAs with then-boyfriend Marilyn Manson wearing a see-through dress, no bra, and a thong.

5. L'il Kim's 1999 appearance in a gown that left one breast entirely bare naked, except for a patch of fabric over her nipple.

4. In 1994, a newly married Michael Jackson and then-wife Lisa Marie Presley presented an award but more importantly gave each other a highly-publicized on-air kiss.

3. Nirvana's electrifying 1992 performance that began with them performing the opening of "Rape Me," which MTV had prohibited, and then switching into "Lithium." At the end, bassist Krist Novoselic tossed his bass into the air, but it hit him in the head and he stumbled in a daze offstage. In a fit of classic rock and roll fury, Kurt Cobain trashed the band's equipment at the end.

2. In 2003, Madonna and Britney Spears dressed as a bride and groom tongue-kissed each other during a performance of "Like A Virgin." Madonna also kissed Christina Aguilera, but who cared?

1. To open the 1991 VMAs, Paul Reubens made his first public appearance after being arrested for lewd-conduct earlier that year. TDressed as Pee-Wee Herman, he received a standing ovation, after which he asked the audience, "Heard any good jokes lately?"

Honorable Mention:

An 18-year-old Britney, in the midst of rumors of breast augmentation surgery, her romance with Justin Timberlake, and criticism she was a bad influence in pubescent fans, stripped down to a flesh-colored unitard while performing "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" and her own hit "Oops!... I Did It Again." Afterward, co-host Marlon Wayans quipped: "Girl done went from the Mickey Mouse Club to the strip club! Go on, girl!!"

At the 2002 show, Triumph The Insult Comic Dog had a confrontation with Eminem, which MTV later removed from rebroadcast airings.

New parents Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love, who was reported by Vanity Fair magazine to have used drugs while pregnant, parading through the audience at the Universal Amphitheater carrying their baby Francis Bean.