Kathryn Bigelow, Kristen Wiig, Madonna and Sade lead this installment of the Hollywood Trade Roundup, a collection of hotties making headlines in The Hollywood Reporter and Daily Variety.
The shortened holiday week kicked off with a bang as sweethearts across the country infused the weekend boxoffice with cash: Valentine’s Day, the romantic comedy with a who’s who cast, topped the frame with $66.9 million, while Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief — no, not the Johnny Weir ice skating movie — collected $38.8 million, good enough for second place. In third, Benicio del Toro howled with the film’s hefty $36.5 million take. Last week’s topper, the Amanda Seyfried and Channing Tatum starrer Dear John, slid to fifth place, while Avatar jumped back over the film that toppled it, finishing fourth for the extended weekend.
Kathryn Bigelow continues to make headlines as she marches for what we ladies in Hollywood hope will be a historic win at the Oscars. The director of The Hurt Locker — a front-runner to earn James Cameron’s ex-wife an Oscar or two — has been tapped to direct The Miraculous Year, a drama pilot for HBO. The examination of a New York family as seen through the lens of a charismatic, self-destructive Broadway composer, will be Bigelow’s first pilot effort.
The CW Network firmed up its lineup for the 2010-11 TV season with five early renewals: hits The Vampire Diaries — complete with a recurring role for our favorite former L Word nutbag Mia Kirshner — 90210, Gossip Girl, Supernatural and America’s Next Top Model have all been renewed for next fall. Absent from the good news for the newbie network: Freshman revamp Melrose Place.
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Kristen Wiig will star in an as yet untitled wedding-themed comedy for Universal from Freaks and Geeks duo Paul Feig and Judd Apatow. Wiig and Annie Mumolo wrote the screenplay, which revolves around two women battling to plan their friend’s wedding party. Let’s hope it’s a lesbian wedding!
Madonna’s former trainer, Tracy Anderson, has found a home on TV: The CW is developing a reality show around the New York trainer as she keeps celebs in shape. Her clients include Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Hudson and Shakira, who are certainly a few stars we wouldn’t mind hopping on the treadmill next to us at the gym.
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Meanwhile, on the Billboard charts, Sade’s “Soldier of Love” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album charts with sales of 502,000 units. Last week’s topper, country trio Lady Antebellum’s “Need You Now,” slips to No. 2; Lady Gaga’s “The Fame” continues to sell, notching another week in the top 10, this time at No. 7; and Taylor Swift does the same as “Fearless” rounds out this week’s top 10.
In TV ratings, nearly 20 million viewers watched U.S. figure skater Johnny Weir and the rest of NBC’s Winter Olympics coverage narrowly lose the nightly ratings win to Fox juggernaut American Idol.
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The Material Girl will soon add “director” to her vast résumé: Madonna will direct W.E., a biopic about the affair between King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson that led to the Brit royal abdicating the throne to marry his divorcee lover. Up in the Air’s Vera Farmiga is being eyed to play Simpson. Let’s hope Madge didn’t learn how to direct from Guy Ritchie.
Looking to the weekend at the boxoffice, it’s a one-man show as Martin Scorsese’s long-delayed Shutter Island, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, is the lone wide opener. With only a few weeks to go before the March 7 Academy Awards, avoid the crowds and catch Anna Kendrick’s breakout performance in Up in the Air so you can at least nab honorable mention in your office Oscar pool!
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