Let's Get This Party Started: Top Stories for Friday 6/23/06
As final preparations begin for her wedding tomorrow in Australia, Nicole Kidman has also made sure that she's taken care of just in case things don't work out with husband-to-be Keith Urban.
The Aussie star and her beau signed a pre-nuptial agreement earlier this month in L.A. that pays Urban just over $600,000 per year for every year the couple stays together.
Plus Paris, Anderson, and other top stories.
Kidman's Pre-Nup Protection
As final preparations begin for her wedding tomorrow in Australia, Nicole Kidman has also made sure that she's taken care of just in case things don't work out with husband-to-be Keith Urban.
The Aussie star and her beau signed a pre-nuptial agreement earlier this month in L.A. that pays Urban just over $600,000 per year for every year the couple stays together, according to this morning's Page Six and London's Daily Mail, which, given Kidman's estimated $150 million net worth, seems fairly slender. What's more, the country crooner gets no money at all if he uses drugs or drinks too much, and the couple will take joint custody of any children they have together.
Further details of the wedding are also leaking out: Kidman, 39, will be wearing a long white gown with a high collar, and the Roman Catholic ceremony will be held at an old Gothic chapel overlooking the sea in a Sydney suburb. Among the guests who'll be there are Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, Naomi Watts, Russell Crowe, and, curiously enough, Renee Zellweger and Kenny Chesney, who, says Page Six, have been spending time together. And, naturally, Urban will be doing at least some of the music for the reception.
So what did Nicole do at her bachelorette party on her last night of singledom? She traded recipes with friends. And, yesterday, she visited sick children at a Sydney hospital, rather than checking the guest list and helping assemble the centerpieces.
Paris Denies Table Dancing – Ever
Paris Hilton insists that she's not as big a party girl as everyone thinks she is, according to an interview on MTV.com. "I've never danced on a table in my life," she says, and adds being a lodging heiress shouldn't make people think she can't sing: "Just because my last name's Hilton...doesn't mean I can't be talented."
The platinum-haired princess also suggests that she's putting out her new album – called, creatively enough, "Paris" – because she loves "to entertain people...I love to be onstage and I love my music. So I'm not even thinking about the money or anything. It's just all about the music."
Paris also reveals that she started out with a rock concept for the album but says, "I like the rock music, but I like the club music more, so I just threw all those songs away." The album, with 11 tracks with titles such as "Jealousy," "Screwed," ""Fightin' Over Me," and "Turn You On," drops August 8.
Anderson Cooper Finds Strange Woman in Car
He may have gotten the biggest journalistic "get" of the year with his interview with Angelina Jolie a few nights ago, but Anderson Cooper may need to get some new security guards, if a recent encounter with a crazed fan is any indication.
Cooper, as Lloyd Grove reports this morning, says a woman who he characterizes as "schizophrenic" came to one of the readings for his new book "Dispatches from the Edge" and told him, "I can't afford this book but please read the note." After the reading was over, Cooper went out to his car with his security guard and, when he opened the door, the strange woman was sitting inside.
Cooper adds that his skyrocketing fame has "transformed living in New York," where cabbies now give him free rides and normally surly, reticent natives greet him constantly on the street.
Naomi Campbell Cutting a Deal on Blackberry Weapon Charge
Ex-supermodel Naomi Campbell is making a plea-bargain deal with prosecutors to reduce the charges leveled against her in the bizarre incident in which she allegedly smashed a jewel-encrusted Blackberry mobile device on her maid's head over a lost pair of jeans.
Sources tell the New York Daily News that the hot-tempered supermodel will not be indicted on the assault charges for which she was arrested in April. Campbell's maid Ana Scolavino hasn't yet testified before a grand jury, a necessary step before indictment. Campbell has been accused twice before of assaulting her employees: she plead guilty to the first assault charge and the second case was dismissed.
The case is expected to be adjourned on Tuesday, though attorneys for both sides say that nothing has been decided yet.
Variety reports this morning that this weekend at the movies – with only Adam Sandler comedy vehicle "Click" making a major debut – is something of a breather before the real monsters of the box office -- "Superman" and "Pirates of the Caribbean" -- invade theaters.
And though "Superman Returns" is getting good word-of-mouth, it is "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" that could be the true smash hit of the summer, according to tracking polls and early audience measurement metrics. In fact, audience awareness and interest is already surpassing "Superman" even though it comes out a week later, during July 4th weekend. Most industry insiders have been predicting a huge, and potentially record-breaking, opening for "Pirates," which reunites Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, and Keira Knightley from the 2003 hit.
"Nacho" Helps Ease Gail Berman's Jitters
Since Gail Berman took over the president's job at Paramount Pictures 13 months ago, she's taken a lot of heat for her lack of moviemaking experience – and some high profile box office duds. But, after the surprising performance of "Nacho Libre," she says that she can finally breathe a sigh of relief.
"At the end of the day, when 'Nacho' opened this weekend, I had a pretty good feeling: All right, we can make a movie here," she tells the Hollywood Reporter. Indeed, at a budget of $35 million, the wrestling comedy starring Jack Black looks to be a big moneymaker for the studio, as it nearly made back its budget in its first weekend.
The Reporter also takes a look at new DreamWorks chief Stacey Snider's first couple months on the job. She says that when she arrived at the studio, which was recently bought by Paramount Pictures, "I was a Tasmanian devil at first," but that "I'm walking into a great year for DreamWorks. We have a full cupboard."