1. In the nerd equivalent of heaven, James Cameron and Peter Jackson attended their first Comic-Con, and did a panel together where they talk about the future of film-making and Jackson reveals that a script for The Hobbit, his Lord of the Rings prequel, will be finished in a month. [Zap2It]

2. Lost isn't known for parting with information easily, but they did have some good tidbits at their panel. Characters Juliet and Daniel Faraday will be back for the final season. Also in season six: no more time travel, the return of Charlie and Boone, the backstory for the enigmatic Richard Alpert, and some allusions to what may be alternate timelines. Damn, that shit makes our brain hurt. [EOnline]

3. Warner Bros. tried to roll out the new Patricia Heaton comedy The Middle at their Mom-A-Con. No one showed for the counter programming. Everyone said, "Mom, stop embarrasing me!" [THRFeed]

4. Hayden Panettiere is going to get some girl-on-girl action for the new season of Heroes. Yeah, cause that is what is going to fix this show. [io9]

5. Two scenes from the upcoming Twilight sequel, New Moon, were screened. Lots of girls screamed. [CelebrityCafe]

6. Iron Man 2 is going to fucking rule. Fans were excited by footage that shows Samuel L. Jackson's return as Nick Fury, Mickey Rourke playing new villain Whiplash, and a bunch of awesome special effects. Robert Downey Jr, director Jon Favreau, and new additions Scarlett Johannson (who plays sexy spy Black Widow) and Don Cheadle (replacing Terrence Howard) were all in attendance. That's either an A-List Comic-Con panel or a night at The Waverly Inn. [EW]

7. Ok, Iron Man gets two entries because the sequel is laying the foundation for Marvel's much anticipated (among comic geeks) Avengers movie (not the crappy Uma Thurmond one, this one has Captain American and shit). [EOnline]

8. We haven't seen the last of Battlestar Galactica, Edward James Olmos' career to continue. [io9]

9. You're probably not going to see Family Guy's "Abortion Episode," at least on the air, but it will probably be on DVD. What? Fox suddenly has standards? [LAT]

10. Alien invasion drama Vis back and the geeks love it. Is there anything left from the '80s for us to bring back? Alf, maybe? [THRFeed]

Oddly named actor Cylk Cozart has signed on to direct Sandy Creek Girls, about a Nebraska high school's girls basketball team. Cozart will also play a role, alongside a cast of notable damned souls such as Brian Austin Green, Tiny Lister, Dean Cain, and the ultimate in Hollywood will-o'-the-wisps, Jonathan Lipnicki. One can only assume that they're all going to play high school girl basketball players. [Variety]

At Cannes, Sony Pictures Classics has acquired distribution rights to Michael Haneke's The White Ribbon, a creeper about a boarding school. Right now the general buying climate seems mild, with some eager to see smaller pictures by Ken Loach and Grant Heslov, but nothing big sticking out. Though it's only the third day. [Variety]

Mickey Rourke is set to star in a remake of the 1980's British crime flick Mona Lisa, possibly alongside former Bond girl Eva Green. Larry Clark, who made the disturbingly entertaining Bully a while back (as well as Kids), is attached to write and direct. Doesn't sound too high profile for the recent awards darling. But, you know, it's something. [Variety]

Oh... good? The not-so-good seeming New York, I Love You has been given a release date by Vivendi. On October 16th you can rush out to the theaters to see New York shorts directed by the likes of Natalie Portman and Brett Ratner. Terrif. [Variety]

Two new shows—the ugh-inducing Melrose Place reboot and the, um, ugh-inducing Vampire Diaries—have both been given permission to begin staffing by the CW. So it looks like they're going to air. The ghostly specter that is the Gossip Girl spinoff? Still awaiting word on whether they'll be picked up for midseason. Ouch. [THR]

Wonderful! Another show about rich, entitled little shitty teenagers. This one is called Gigantic and it's going to be on the N and it's about the children of celebrities and poor Marti Noxon, of Buffy, has co-created it. Sigh. [THR]

Oh, and Scrubs is coming back on ABC. [THR]

Rourke headed to Midtown, where he was photographed anyway. The Sun headline: "Mickey Dork."

(Pics: INF)

1. Picks his new traveling companion, Jaws.
2. Leaves LA, snazzy suits behind.
3. Signs up for Stallone movie. Sells out.

Yep.

Somehow we were imagining a more artful finish to his Oscar letdown. Maybe, he'd follow up The Wrestler with another heart-wrenching turn in a small indie film that cements his position as one of our Greatest Actors. Unfortunately, Iron Man 2 ins-and-outs aside, it looks like Rourke is going the sell-out route: joining up with Sylvester Stallone in his next action flick The Expendables, which has an all-star cast that's an odd consortium of A-List and D-List, including Dolph Lungdren, Ben Kingsley, and Jet Li.

The two were spotted in L.A. a few days after the Oscars having tea together, which seems sort of wrong. Mickey Rourke and Sylvester Stallone should be drinking Everclear straight out of the bottle and giving each other shots of Human Growth Hormone, not sipping tea.

Anyway, that's not the Stallone movie that makes us sad. (I should point out I have inexplicable reserves of love for Mickey, so Mickey if you're reading this, consider this tough love): It's the possibility that the wrestler will be slumming it in Rambo V.

We understand a man's gotta eat, but isn't it possible to star as a villain in something a bit cooler, like say a Bourne thriller, instead of Rambo? Or even a part in Rocky would be better. Oh, wait…

Points of contention:

-They didn't like it when Mickey Rourke tore up the Iranian flag during that final battle scene in The Wrestler. (Because "pro" wrestling is totally real, and that guy, the Ayatollah, was a true-to-life depiction, too.)

-Hated 300 because it made their ancestors look bloodthirsty (we can only infer that the other guys were comparatively nicer? Huh?)

Well, their feelings are hurt and they want you to kiss their boo-boo.

Seriously, isn't this sort of like when, during the making of The Godfather, the Italian mobsters formed a little group called the Italian-American Civil Rights League that tried to promote the idea that not all Italians are bloodthirsty mobsters in bad suits? Riiight.

We think they might be overreacting just a tad in these particular cases. I mean, really. Think about how the Palestinians felt when they saw Rob Schneider in You Don't Mess With the Zohan.

Meanwhile, another prominent, if less lauded, Hollywood star and ardent wrestling fan has become a very different kind of WWE casualty. Finding himself with some free time on his hands ever since Delgo failed to make him the toast of the CGI V.O. artist community, Freddie Prinze Jr. took Vince McMahon up on an offer to join the SmackDown creative team.

Prinze left the post last week, and the rumor was that he was let go for leaking plot spoilers online. Not so, according to this weirdly written report from wrestling trade site 24wrestling.com:

There has been speculation among WWE staffers that Freddie Prinze Jr. was one of the creative writers leaking WWE information. However, the official reason Prinze left WWE because of the demanding schedule, which is one of the main reasons other writers have departed from the company.

We may never truly know whether Prinze's midlife career change was cut short because he released the name of Jeff Hardy's mystery attacker (GIANT SPOILER ALERT: It was Christian!), or because the Scooby Doo 2 - Monsters Unleashed star could never quite hack the rigors of devising intricate storylines for McMahon's chemically enhanced army of face-sitting leotard-warriors. Either way, there's no denying the professional sport has lost one of its great ringwriters. Keep plugging away, Freddie. We need voices like yours on the mats.

• Backstage News On Prinze Leaving: Was He The Leak? [24wrestling.com]

The Jonas Brothers have about as much in common with the Oscars as Joe Jonas has in common with being a gentleman. He claims that he wears a purity ring to remind him not to do anything that wouldn't make his mom proud. Just tell that to 25-second-phone call dumpee Taylor Swift.

Anne Hathaway dug deep in her interview to find a way to describe her Brokeback Mountain co-star Heath Ledger. He was so ... uh ... what's the word...

Mickey Rourke stayed in Oscar campaign mode and opened up on just how fucking much he wants that goddamn Oscar tonight. And he promises not to sexually molest the golden bald man.

All Walters wants to ask your song-y dance-y Oscar host Hugh Jackman is whether he's gay. But with a montage of his Broadway work opening the segment, she totally stacks the deck against him.

Jackman is willing to do anything to convince her that he's totally into women.

TMZ paparazzi captured The Wrestler star emerging from his West Village lodgings, then followed him to a tanning salon/Brazilian waxing/staple-removal studio for a beautification regimen not unlike the one his character Randy "The Ram" undergoes in the film. He emerges a little later to the applause of appreciative fans wishing him best of luck, offering yet further echoes of The Wrestler, and we thought the moment could really benefit from the melancholic Americana of Bruce Springsteen's title song. Thanks to Gawker's Mike Byhoff, our dream became a reality. Enjoy.

• Mickey Grieves Dead Dogs, Tans His Hide [TMZ]

Vulture cornered Rourke at NYC Fashion Week to get the scoop (sidenote: we're a little surprised that Rourke did so much schmoozing out at nightclubs on the same night his beloved dog died. When will he have time to grieve, make funeral arrangements, and secure a Rolling Stone writer to chronicle his descent into depression?) So who has beaten out Rourke's willing cast of runner-ups to get that coveted Oscar date ticket?

"Unfortunately, my agent," he told us in defeat.

But so what if ICM's David Unger doesn't look good in a dress - at least he's battling Marvel for a bigger paycheck for Rourke for his rumored role as a villain in Iron Man 2, right? "Right now, we're not doing Iron Man 2," Rourke told us grimly.

He did have some good news, though. Following the widespread disappointment over his canceled appearance at the upcoming WrestleMania 25, Rourke told us he'll still be there, just not in the ring: "We're gonna go in support. Vince McMahon, Roddy Piper, and Rick Flair have been such a part of the movie ... So whatever support I can give back to all those people from WWE, I'm gonna do that."

Strange...we thought those same WWE people were the ones who initially trashed The Wrestler. Then again, perhaps Mickey's just too blinded by grief (and the stinging tears from his meager Marvel paycheck) to think straight.

• Vulture Exclusive: Mickey Rourke's Oscar Date Revealed! Also, He Might Not Do Iron Man 2? [Vulture]

As these pictures show, both on and off the red carpet, Rourke only had eyes for Loki. Our chihuahua-compiling research also turned up evidence that before The Wrestler came out last year, Rourke used to host a weekly, Loki-dedicated night of karaoke at Rokbar in Miami. He did this shirtless, wearing a black leather vest, as is the custom in Florida.

Rest in peace, Loki. You died too late to join the "In Memoriam" pool, but we'll be saving our applause for you regardless.

[Photo Credit: AP, Getty Images, WENN, X17]

TMZ broke the news last night, just as these snippets were released from Rourke's upcoming interview with Barbara Walters:

"I sort of self-destructed and everything came out about fourteen years ago or so ... the wife had left, the career was over, the money was not an ounce," Rourke, 56, reveals during the Oscar night edition of The Barbara Walters Special, of which PEOPLE has an exclusive preview. "The dogs were there when no one else was there." [...]

"I think I hadn't left the house for four or five months, and I was sitting in the closet, sleeping in the closet for some reason, and I was in a bad place, and I just remember I was thinking, 'Oh, man, if I do this,' " he tells Walters. "And then I looked at my dog, Lowjack, and he made a sound, like a little almost human sound. I don't have kids, the dogs became everything to me. The dog was looking at me going, 'Who's going to take care of me?' "

Rourke didn't let a little thing like Loki's death keep him from hitting up some Manhattan hotspots last night, but we all know that the man is hurting inside. The competition to become his Oscar date has just been thinned even further. Bai Ling, it didn't have to be like this.

• R.I.P. Mickey Rourke's Dog [TMZ]

• Mickey Rourke — Comforted By Puppy Love [TMZ]

• Mickey Rourke: My Dogs Saved My Life [People]

By sorta-kinda-coming-on to a male fan in front of the paparazzi, of course! TMZ has the gay-ameliorating footage of Rourke drawing the autograph seeker in for a smoochy clinch (+4 gay points) captured last night outside Paris Hilton's birthday party (-3 gay points). "I'm gonna kiss you all night long," Rourke murmurs to the man (+2) while insisting that he should have been cast in "that gay movie" (-1), Milk (+5 if he would be willing to tape an after-the-fact audition for Diego Luna's character). Are we looking at a surprise, same-sex upset in the derby to become Rourke's Oscar date? Bai Ling, it may be time to raise your game. Roll out of bed, wrap some dental floss around your nipples, and get to work.

• Mickey Gays Out — Kisses Man, Offends Others [TMZ]

There are, of course, certain restrictions buried in the fine print: The product has to be held up for five seconds, you can't make disparaging remarks about it afterwards, the money is paid out over ten years, and—most alarmingly—the prize is earmarked for a charity of the winner's choice. (And Mickey Rourke's $137,000 bookie debt is not among the recognized charitable institutions.)

That said, what do you have to lose Mickey? A million bucks could buy the Human Society a state-of-the-art lapdog recreational facility. (You just know it's Meryl who's gonna scoop up the prize in the end, though, foxily slipping the endorsement inside one of her trademarked semi-coherent jaunts down memory lane.)

The full ad.

We present that denial here without comment, except to say that if the Academy dares make his Plan G enter through a back door on awards night, there will be hell to pay. [TMZ]

The recently unearthed 1976 short film Love in the Hamptons features Rourke as a waiter sorting out a romance with a cocktail waitress on Long Island's East End. Judging by the clip that landed online this morning (the whole short is available for $2 at Amazon), he's got other problems as well — bafflement with his more seasoned co-star Ray Wise, for starters, and his character's squinty, broodier-than-normal reluctance to a job change. James Dean he's not, but as early-career curios go, we've seen much worse. And the timing! The Academy does love a dues-payer, unappealing dates notwithstanding. [YouTube]

Here at Defamer, we've put on our Yenta hats to help Rourke weigh his (plentiful) options.

COURTNEY LOVE: If the British tabloids are to be believed (and we are praying to Jesus, Santa, and Barack Obama that they've nailed this particular story), Rourke has been secretly dating Courtney Love for the past three weeks. Obviously, this would be an amazing red carpet duo—just think of the money that could be saved on pre-ceremony, his-and-hers collagen injections!
Likeliness: 8. Love has been to the Oscar ceremony once before and she's not about to turn down her only shot to go again. Hold on with your wraithlike fingers and ride that misshapen pony to the Academy Awards, girl!

BAI LING: If there's anyone who could possibly outdo Love as Rourke's date, it's former fling Bai Ling. In fact, if there's anyone who could possibly outdo Bjork's infamous swan dress, it's Bai Ling. We're crossing our fingers that her potential Oscar frock of rubber bands, jelly bracelets, and nipple-covering sand dollars comes to fruition.
Likeliness: 6. Bai's early surge has seemed to fade. "Mickey is a powerful actor, I respect and enjoy his work and I am his big surportor [sic] and fan, he is going to win Oscar for sure," she recently wrote on her blog. In other words, it was an honor just to be nominated.

LOKI: Rourke's elderly chihuahua Loki has thus far been his most frequent red carpet companion.
Likeliness: 9. There's little that could tear Loki from Rourke's side—except that proven temptress Elisabeth Hasselbeck.

EVAN RACHEL WOOD: What better promotion for The Wrestler than to bring costar/onscreen daughter/french-kissing partner Evan Rachel Wood as his date?
Likeliness: 3. "I feel disrespected by the press and by Mr. Rourke," Wood recently said. Potential upside: maybe she was talking about this guy?

THE FRENCH FLASHER: If Rourke wants to strengthen The Wrestler's overseas profile, there's no better way than to squire the Parisian pixie who unexpectedly bared her breasts to him.
Likeliness: 4.We're holding out hope, if only to hear the red carpet fashionistas ask, "Who aren't you wearing?"

Maybe it was just the spirit of the moment, or maybe it was just a symbolic statement that there would be no milk served during the awards-season home stretch. Either way, with the powerful international consortium of the British, the foreign press, and the French breast-baring establishment all supporting him, Rourke's front-runner status is all but affirmed. Go ahead and re-book WrestleMania, Mickey — nothing can stop you now.

[Photo: AP]

Pictured, an attachée to France's Ambassador of Cultural Affairs delivers the Wrestler star Les Seins d'Or—the government's highest form of artistic recognition and a deeply symbolic gesture of Franco-American goodwill.

[Photos: Splash News]