Sorry, Michael, you’re still part of the losing half
MICHAEL MOORE PLANS a follow-up to “Fahrenheit 9/11,” his hit documentary that assails President Bush over the handling of the Sept. 11 attacks and the war on terrorism. Moore told Daily Variety that he and Harvey Weinstein, the Miramax boss who produced the film, hope to have “Fahrenheit 9/11 1/2 ” ready in two to three years.
“Fifty-one percent of the American people lacked information (in this election) and we want to educate and enlighten them,” Moore said.
“Fahrenheit 9/11,” which won top honors at the Cannes Film Festival, is the first documentary to top $100 million at the domestic box office.
Moore, who won the documentary Academy Award for “Bowling for Columbine,” is pushing “Fahrenheit 9/11” for a best-picture Oscar.
The issues for the follow-up film will remain the same, he said: Iraq and terrorism.
“The official mourning period is over today and there is a silver lining: George W. Bush is prohibited by law from running again,” Moore said.
Mel doesn’t speak the Globes’ language
By the way, both “Fahrenheit 9/11” and Mel Gibson‘s “The Passion of the Christ” have been ruled ineligible for the top prizes in January’s Golden Globes, considered a precursor to the Oscars.
The rules bar “Passion” from competing in the best-drama category because it was filmed in Aramaic and Latin, not English, and “Fahrenheit” from any of the awards because it is a documentary.
Maybe Mini-Me can be Chyna’s doll
Another batch of not-so-A-list celebrities has moved into a Hollywood mansion to have their lives together taped for a fourth season of VH1’s “Surreal Life.”
The new cast includes former WWE wrestler Joanie Lauer, aka Chyna; pixie-haired guitarist Jane Wiedlin of The Go-Go’s; actor Christopher Knight, who played Peter Brady on “The Brady Bunch”; shaggy-haired model Marcus Schenkenberg; sassy rapper Da Brat; Mini-Me actor Verne Troyer; and Adrianne Curry, winner of the first “America’s Next Top Model.”
The fourth “Surreal” season will premiere Jan. 9.
Claudia rolls out a new model
Supermodel Claudia Schiffer gave birth to a 7-pound, 2-ounce baby girl Thursday at a London hospital.
It’s the second child for Schiffer and film director Matthew Vaughn, who married two years ago. They have a 22-month-old son, Caspar.
Come on, Cameron, my camera!
“Charlie’s Angels” actress Cameron Diaz and her pop star boyfriend Justin Timberlake snatched away a photographer’s camera when he and a partner surprised them outside a ritzy L.A. hotel.
After a brief fracas outside the famed Chateau Marmont on Saturday, Diaz broke free and left the scene with the camera, which she turned over to police. Officers also received a complaint from one of the photographers, accusing the couple of battery and grand theft.
Quoteworthy
Mel Gibson, on “The Passion”: “By nature, I’m an ax-wielding, convent-burning Scandinavian guy who would like to eat the world and spit it out. … Making this film has helped me sort of see things in a clearer way.”
The birthday bunch
Organist Booker T. Jones (Booker T. and the MG’s) is 60. Singer Neil Young is 59. Guitarist Buck Dharma (Blue Oyster Cult) is 57. Actress Megan Mullally is 46. Actress Angela Watson (“Step by Step”) is 30. Singer Tevin Campbell is 28. Actress Ashley Williams (“Good Morning, Miami”) is 26. Actress Anne Hathaway (“The Princess Diaries”) is 22. Singer Omarion (B2K) is 19. Actress Macey Cruthird (“Hope & Faith”) is 12.