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10 I Friday, April 29, 2005 | The Red & Black
VARIETY
‘Idol’ judge Abdul
refutes accusation
Creator of Spider-Man makes
profit in settlement with Marvel
NEW YORK — Paula Abdul is
taking pre-emptive measures to
squash a controversy sparked by an
upcoming ABC special on
“American Idol.”
Though the exact nature of the
“Primetime Live” special, “Fallen
Idol,” remains unknown, ABC has
said it will “explore explosive claims
about behind-the-scenes activities”
at the Fox talent contest.
Reports have speculated that it
will hinge on Corey Clark, a contest
ant who was dropped from the show
in 2003 after producers learned
about a past arrest. He is reportedly
trying to sell a tell-all book about
his experiences with the program,
including an alleged affair with
Abdul, one of the three judges on
the show.
On Tuesday, a spokesperson for
Abdul released a statement to
syndicated entertainment show
“Access Hollywood”:
“Paula Abdul will not dignify the
false statements made by Corey
Clark with a response. Mr. Clark is
an admitted liar and opportunist
who engages in unlawful activities.
He is communicating lies about
Paula Abdul in order to generate
interest in a book deal.”
The hourlong “Primetime Live”
report by anchor John Quinones is
scheduled May 4 (10 p.m. ET).
No mention was made of the
ABC special on Tuesday night’s
episode.
— The Associated Press
Pitt and Jolie picture an
admitted composite
NEW YORK — The stars are not
aligned at one celebrity tabloid.
To match Us Weekly’s cover
photos of Brad Pitt and Angelina
Jolie together on an African beach,
Star magazine doctored two sepa
rate oceanside pictures of each
actor.
The issue proclaims, “Brad &
Angelina: Caught Together! On
Vacation.” But tucked away on page
8 is a disclaimer noting the image is
a “composite of two photographs.”
Us Weekly won a bidding war for
the real photos by spending a
reported $500,000 for the pictures.
They show Pitt, Jolie and her
3-year-old son Maddox playing
together on a beach in Kenya. Pitt
and Jolie aren’t shown being affec
tionate with each other.
The Us Weekly photos were
bought from Big Pictures, a
London-based photography agency.
VARIETY NOTEBOOK
“We have a network of tippers,”
said Alan Williams, chief executive.
“We got a tip that Jolie was going to
a certain place (Alfajiri).”
Neither star has commented on
the reports.
Star’s photos were drawn from a
picture of Pitt in Anguilla, a
Caribbean island, in January, and
one of Jolie and Maddox in Virginia
a year ago. Since that time, Maddox
has grown noticeably.
Last weekend, Pitt was in
Ethiopia visiting orphans of the
AIDS pandemic that is devastating
Africa.
— The Associated Press
TV stations bump
President’s conference
NEW YORK — The Bush adminis
tration put TV networks in a bind
Thursday by scheduling a news con
ference during the first night of the
May “sweeps,” when ratings are
closely watched to set local advertis
ing rates.
CBS and Fox responded by stick
ing with their popular Thursday line
ups, while NBC and ABC decided to
cover the president live at 8 p.m.
Although networks generally
cover presidential speeches and
news conferences when the White
House requests the time, there is
precedent for turning them down if
there’s no national emergency or if it
is a political campaign, said Martha
Kumar, a political science professor
at Towson University in Baltimore.
“The networks are in a different
kind of business than they were in
the Nixon and Reagan years,”
Kumar said. “It is a business. News
is less of a driver than entertain
ment.”
Bush’s three previous prime-time
news conferences occurred a month
after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks,
during the days before the war in
Iraq and 13 months after the war
started, she said.
“I find it ironic that the major
media would complain that Bush
holds so few press conferences that
when he does call one, the networks
balk,” said Tim Graham, director of
media analysis at the Media
Research Center, a conservative
watchdog organization. “They’d
rather make money than perform
some tiresome public service duty.”
— The Associated Press
NEW YORK — Superhero
creator Stan Lee is feeling rather
super himself after reaching a
settlement with Marvel
Enterprises.
The cartoonist had sued in
November 2002 to share profits
generated by the company’s TV
and movie productions — partic
ularly the box-office smash
“Spider-Man,” which earned more
than $800 million worldwide, and
its super successful sequel.
Terms of the settlement were
not disclosed.
“We are very, very happy with
the resolution,” Lee’s lawyer,
Howard Graff, said Thursday.
Graff had said previously that
the potential payday from Marvel
could be in the tens of millions
of dollars.
John Turitzin, Marvel’s general
counsel, called Lee “one of the
founders of today’s comic book
industry” and said the company
was happy to have resolved the
dispute.
The 82-year-old legend, who
created the indelible Marvel
heroes Incredible Hulk, X-Men
and Fantastic Four as well as
Spider-Man, had claimed in the
lawsuit that his contract with
Marvel gave him a 10 percent
share of the Hollywood profits.
He said that specifically included
proceeds from the movie and TV
productions and DVD sales and
other movie-based merchandise
deals.
Marvel attorneys had vigorous
ly contested Lee’s claims.
In January, U.S. District Court
Judge Robert Sweet in
Manhattan ruled that Lee was
entitled to 10 percent of Marvel’s
proceeds generated since
November 1998 from any movie
or TV production based on a
Marvel character.
Graff said previously that Lee,
who already earns $1 million a
year from Marvel as part of the
contract signed four years ago,
was saddened that things
became so acrimonious.
He said the agreement,
reached April 22 and made
public on Thursday, cements
Lee’s future relationship with
Marvel.
Lee’s “friendly neighborhood
Spider-Man” turned out to be
quite a friend, said Graff.
— The Associated Press
FILM: Hand hopes for continued success
► From Page 1
“I’m astounded how
nicely it has come along,”
Brooks said. “I laughed
(the first time I saw it),
and each time I see it
again I laugh more. I’m
proud to see him really
take off in the direction
he wants. There are very
few people that can say
they are doing something
they love.”
Hand had previous
success with one of his
earlier short films, “The
Making of Brick City,”
which was entered into
the 2003 Hollywood Black
Film Festival and won
first-runner up in the
Peach City Short Film
Festival in 2002. Now,
upon finalizing the techni
cal fine-tuning of his lat
est film, Hand said he
expects to enter
“Somebodies” into the
film festival circuit as well.
“I have every reason to
believe he will be success
ful. It’s a tough business
to crack into, but I think
he has the ability and
talent (to do it),” Brooks
said.
Hand is working on his
second feature film, “My
Father’s Business,” which
he said he hopes to film
by the end of 2005. He is
also in the process of writ
ing a book called, “Stage
Persona: A Manual
Biography.”
“He is a great writer
and really knows how to
tell a story,” Kohn said.
“And whether he chooses
to remain a writer behind
the scenes or move into
directing, he has a clear
career ahead of him, and
I’m proud to be a part of
the beginning of that.”
University Union shows final movies
The Cinematic Arts
division of University
Union closes out its
spring schedule with a
double feature pairing
the fantastic and the
deadpan.
The weekend sched
ule begins with “The Life
Aquatic with Steve
Zissou,” starring Bill
Murray, Owen Wilson
and Cate Blanchett.
Murray plays Zissou,
an oceanographer/film
maker seeking revenge
on a mythical shark that
killed his partner.
Meanwhile, a man
who may or may not be
his son (Wilson) joins his
crew, only to become
embroiled in a love trian
gle with him over a jour
nalist (Blanchett) tag
ging along.
Directed by Wes
Anderson, the film shows
today through Sunday at
3, 5:15, 7:30 and 9:45 p.m.
The final midnight
show of the semester is
“Wizards,” the 1977 fan
tasy adventure directed
by Ralph Bakshi.
The movie is a tale set
on a post-apocalyptic
Earth in which brother
wizards, one good and
one evil, battle for
destruction of the world.
“Wizards” shows
tonight and Saturday.
Tickets to movies at
the Tate Center are $3
for students with a valid
UGACard and $4 for
non-students. For more
information, call 542-
6396.
— Todd Zeigler
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