Singer told Page Six that former LAT deputy business editor Jim Bates was once the boss of the two reporters who wrote the piece, and now works for Sitrick at his firm. He also hinted at a defamation suit unless the LAT printed an apology. Approached for comment, a spokeswoman for the paper only said: "We're not aware there's any controversy. We haven't heard from Mr. Kavanaugh since the article was published."

• MOVIE MAN RIPS 'HATCHET JOB' [NY Post]

1. Evan Almighty—$32.112 million
Many words have already been written to point out that Evan Almighty, The Most Expensive Comedy Story Ever Told, suffered a disappointing™ opening that fell far short of studio expectations, having failed to draw the, ahem, flood of Christians they so actively courted.

But despite this setback, Universal is hardly abandoning the religion it recently discovered; they'll not only continue to pray for a box office miracle that will keep Evan from becoming the biggest-budgeted bomb of the summer (visitors to the Universal Studios theme park will be able to witness the spectacular sacrifice of a hundred fatted calves at noon today), but will move forward with plans to complete their Trinity of Almighty films. Finally realizing that an Old Testament story heavy on expensive effects might not be the best way to reach the Christian crowd, they're turning to cinematic savior Judd Apatow to rescue the franchise with Jesus Almighty, an edgy-but-heartfelt, character-driven, smaller scale comedy about a woman who finds herself unexpectedly pregnant with the Messiah following a night of heavy drinking, despite having spent her post-bender evening completely alone.

2. 1408—$20.175 million
Free of charge, our contribution to the pool of pullquotes that will adorn 1408's various advertisements this week: "Easily the best John Cusack horror-thriller set in a hotel or motel since Identity."

3. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer—$20.150 million
This morning's fun fact about the FF2 cast: Chris Evans is a real actor, and not just an alias Freddie Prinze, Jr.'s agents concocted to get their client high-profile movie work.

4. Ocean's Thirteen—$11.345 million
This will definitely be the best George Clooney-related headline of the day: George Clooney Shows His B-Ball Skillz For Amnesty International. He's sporty and selfless!

5. Knocked Up—$10.636 million
See above re: smarmy joke about Universal's future plans for their Knocked Up writer/director.

• WEEKEND BOX OFFICE June 22-24, 2007 [Box Office Mojo]

· 'Evan' can wait: Silly concept flick just God-awful [FortWayne.com/UPS]
· Noah way! Slapstick of 'Evan Almighty' tempered by strong performances [KCChronicle.com]

· Just say Noah [Star-Telegram.com]
· 'Evan Almighty' could have used some divine intervention [Freep.com]
· God tells Steve Carell to build an ark, but nothing keeps sequel from sinking [SF Chronicle]
· "Evan Almighty": Comedy begets a multitude of winces [DenverPost.com]
· Thou shalt not laugh at 'Evan' [Memphis Commercial Appeal]
· You can sleep through 'Evan Almighty's' flood [Kansas City Star]
· 'Evan' just all-righty [Detroit News]

• Previously: Universal Ready To Knock Over Christians And Steal Their Collection Basket Money [Defamer]

To build interest in "Evan Almighty" among religious audiences, the studio partnered with Grace Hill Media, a local publicity and marketing firm formed to assist Hollywood studios bridge the religious divide with the country's estimated 200,000 churches and millions of worshipers.

Grace Hill's Jonathan Bock came up with the idea of Ark Almighty.com, a website that houses craigslist-like message boards for 8,000 churches. It matches local needs with church resources, such as house painting and assisting the homeless. Grace Hill also set up screenings for religious organizations and distributed marketing and educational materials, including videos and movie-themed curriculum.

David Welch, whose Youth Specialties in San Diego provides training and educational material for youth ministries, attended a Universal screening in April to see if "Evan Almighty's" tone was appropriate for his group. "Some of us had raised eyebrows because 'Bruce Almighty' had parts people found objectionable, mostly vulgarity," Welch says. But he liked the sequel more than the original.

"Critical to us, because we work with youth, is the theme of: 'What do you do when you feel called on by God, like Noah, but your family thinks you're nuts?' " Welch says. "If a kid has a calling or a mission from God, we want them to know they're not nuts."

Once Evan Almighty pumps-and-dumps its Christian audience following its opening weekend and Universal shovels the money back into its Satanic moviemaking forge, we hope those faith-based marketers stick around to support all the kids who've taken the movie's "You're not nuts, you're one of God's special little helpers" message too literally. Someone will need to let them know that there are less crazy-seeming ways to answer the call they heard in the dark of the multiplex than flooding all the sinks in their homes and escaping with the family pets, just like Morgan Freeman told them to.

• Hollywood's leap of faith with 'Evan Almighty' [LAT]
• Previously: 'Evan Almighty': The Most Expensive Comedy Story Ever Told? [Defamer]

· "Universal Stage 27, where they have been shooting Evan Almighty for the last few months, is on fire. They have four ladders up against the building and there are at least 15 firemen axing, chainsawing and extinguishing the barn doors. This is also the stage Tom Cruise always uses, and I'm sure there is some symbolism there but I am too smoke-logged to think of it."

· "I got out on the lot to find (on my count) seven fire truck clustered around Stages 22 and 28. The trucks were labeled LAFD, Burbank FD, and, in one case, FDNY. (Odd.) No one on the ground knew what was going on, though one guy said he saw them sprayed water with their hoses. Anyway, I found out eventually a welder on Stage 27 set off a fire and burned up an entire door."

Sure, a welder's unfortunate error is a completely plausible explanation for the conflagration, but we won't completely rule out the possibility that God Himself sparked the blaze, hoping that an unanticipated setback of this scale might help the producers of a movie inspired by one of His favorite Bible stories reach their goal of making The Most Expensive Comedy Story Ever Told.

As always, your updates and cameraphone photography of short-sighted studio personnel trying to extinguish the Creator's latest Hollywood Miracle are appreciated. Developing...

[Photo: TheStudioTour.com]

• Complete Plaguewatch Coverage [Defamer]

• The Most Absurd Deleted Scenes of All Time [Cracked.com]

Studio executives acknowledged that they underestimated the cost of "Evan," a sequel to the 2003 hit "Bruce Almighty." But they are confident it will be profitable.

"This movie is a great bet," said Universal Chairman Marc Shmuger. "It's a spectacle fantasy and also a comedy. And a sequel to one of the most successful hits in the studio's history." [...]

"It's based on two story sources: 'Bruce Almighty' and the Bible, both of which were incredibly successful," Linde said.

The seemingly prideful Linde should probably be careful about comparing Bruce to the Greatest Story Ever Told, even in jest, lest an angry, offended Creator visit a new, infinitely more expensive plague upon his production: imbuing Carrey with the godlike power of unlimited takes and sending him back for some cameo reshoots, during which he would repeatedly remind everyone that God Himself told him to take as much time as he needs to get his scene exactly right.

• Budget Overruns of Biblical Proportions [LAT]