<![CDATA[Gawker: defamer, the rock]]> http://tags.gawker.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/gawker.com.png <![CDATA[Gawker: defamer, the rock]]> http://gawker.com/tag/defamer/therock http://gawker.com/tag/defamer/therock <![CDATA[Dwayne Johnson To Battle Theme-Park Obsolescence Gnomes in 'Tomorrowland' Movie]]> Apparently looking to expand the modest scope that exploited its Pirates of the Caribbean attraction as a nearly eight-hour, $3 billion-grossing trilogy, Disney now plans to mine an entire portion of Disneyland for the franchise of the future. Literally: The studio has reportedly commissioned a pair of writers to develop the script for a film based on Tomorrowland, with Dwayne Johnson attached to star as a minimum-wage ride operator whose fantasies of updating Star Tours lead to a thrilling adventure through the Lucas/Disney black hole of bureaucracy. Or... something. If Disney knows, its overlords aren't talking:

The film is being designed as a vehicle for Johnson, who starred for the studio in family hit The Game Plan and most recently completed Race to Witch Mountain. Disney denies the film has been titled Tomorrowland or is dedicated to the park's section, a futuristic area of the Magic Kingdom that includes such attractions as Space Mountain. The studio called the nascent project an original script.

Translation: A Rock film is cheaper and faster than updating that entire outdated section of the park. And while we can't necessarily blame Disney's frugality, the purists in us hope Tomorrowland: The Movie preserves the singular experience of waiting two hours among camera-slinging tourists for the privilege of space flight — assuming the spacecraft is not out of service on our chosen day of travel. It's not called the Happiest Place on Earth for nothing, after all.

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<![CDATA[Dwayne Johnson Fully Recovered From Recent Rockoplasty]]> · "Ashley Judd is set to star with Dwayne Johnson in 20th Century Fox comedy Tooth Fairy." You know what's notable about that sentence? The absence of the words "The Rock" anywhere inside it! His transformation is complete! [Variety]
· Cable spinoff fever! Both The Closer and The L Word have spinoffs in the works. [THR, Variety]
· Voltron: Languishing in Turnaround gets a director: Max Makowski, who also wrote the Hawaii Five-O movie, and is attached to direct a movie version of the David Carradine series Kung Fu. His previous credits, curiously enough, include an episode of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. [Variety]
· You, Me and Dupree and Arrested Development directors the Russo brothers are writing and directing the movie version of Ciudad, a graphic novel about a hostage negotiation on the Paraguay border. [Variety]
· ABC has ordered a pilot of Mark Burnett's The Shark Tank, which features aspiring entrepreneurs pitching their business ideas to moguls, then dropped through trapdoors into giant aquariums filled with hungry sharks. It's a hilariously literal take on life in the high-stakes business world! [THR]

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<![CDATA[Top Ten Worst Kissers In Hollywood: From The 'Icky' To The 'Sweaty' To Tongues That Taste Like 'Kitty Litter']]> We’ve already heard enough stars insisting that those sex scenes we find either major turn-ons (Mickey Rourke force-feeding Kim Basinger strawberries on the kitchen floor in 9 1/2 Weeks) or majorly eye-scarring (Heather Graham faking her way through grainy limo thrusts in Boogie Nights) are totally perfunctory while filming. With the massive crew surrounding them, the sudden lighting checks, and simple fact that they’ve gotta feign spontaneous heat take after take, we’ve leaned towards taking their word for it. And as it turns out, no matter how big the star or legendary their prowess in the bedroom, even simple kissing scenes with the most gorgeous A-listers around range from “awkward and sweaty” to “slightly icky and sort of wet.” Where Tom Cruise, Angelina Jolie, Harrison Ford, Leonardo DiCaprio and more rank on the list of Worst On-Screen Kissers after the jump.

Harrison Ford, Outed by Helen Mirren: "She considered him 'the nicest, sweetest guy you could want to meet. But he can't kiss - he finds it impossible to kiss on screen.' Then, she added: 'He's probably not very good off screen either. It's not just me - other actresses agree. Whenever we get chatting off screen and we get around to talking, we come to the same conclusion.'"

Jason Segal, Outed by Alyson Hannigan: "Alyson refused to kiss him or do any romantic scenes with him, because he smelled like smoke. He thanks her for forcing him to do that because now he not only smells better, he feels better as well."

Orlando Bloom, Outed by Keira Knightley: "Keira Knightley claims Johnny Depp is a better kisser than Orlando Bloom...When quizzed on who she thought was the best kisser out of the two actors, she told InStyle magazine: 'Johnny Depp certainly wasn't bad.' Despite Orlando's gushing praise for Keira's kissing technique, he did admit he found it 'peculiar.'"

Steve Carell, Outed by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson: "I just see Steve Carell's lips. 'So the bottom of a cat's paw - the soft supple part underneath - that's what Steve Carell's lips are like. But his tongue is like kitty cat litter. That's the physical experience.'"

Woody Allen, Outed by Helena Bonham Carter: "He tells you up front certain ways of kissing he does not want. No exchange of liquid is permitted. It can be a bit offensive because he makes no effort at all."

Angelina Jolie, Outed by James McAvoy: "I can tell you what it was like to kiss her on a film set: It was awkward, sweaty and not very nice."

Tom Cruise, Outed by Thandie Newton: "Kissing Tom Cruise was slightly icky and sort of wet. I'd really go home at the end of the day actually moaning about how hot it was and how many times we had to do it."

Victoria Beckham, Outed by Corey Haim: "She does this little grr gnaw thing that felt like a girl gnawing on your lip."

Sienna Miller, Outed by James Franco: "The British beauty's toothache made filming a nightmare. Franco admits filming the scene was far from enjoyable and had to be cut short when his co-star complained. He says, 'I think we kissed once in that film and it wasn't at all intense - there was no rolling around or anything. Sienna's molar was giving her pain so she called the dentist!'"

Leonardo DiCaprio, Outed by Virginie Ledoyen: "I think Leonardo is a nice guy. But I don't want him as a lover. There [was] no honest passion. No real sensitivity in our love scenes. In our underwater love scenes all I could think of was not drowning. I can't even remember his kiss."

[Photo credits: Getty, Wire Girl, Showbiz Spy, Renee Ashley Baker, NetGlimpse, Wireimage]

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<![CDATA[Brendan Fraser and The Rock To Fight C.O.B.R.A., Sing Y.M.C.A.]]> Actors have finally been found to play the two soldiers in the G.I. Joe crew who most resemble members of the Village People. At least, according to movie scoop site Latino Review they have. G.I. Joe, Steven Sommer's tentpole movie about the legendary action figures, will be hitting theaters in the summer of '09. And so far, the casting news has been pretty ho-hum — you've got your Sienna Millers, you've got your Ray Parks — but today that all changes, thanks to Brendan Fraser and the Rock.

Fraser has already filmed a cameo as the grizzled, handle-bar-mustached, vest-but-no-shirt wearing Marine, Gung Ho. And the role of Shipwreck, a sailor-suited Navy seal with a parrot on his shoulder is being offered to Dwayne quote-unquote "The Rock" Johnson.

Evidently the "Don't ask don't tell policy" doesn't extend into the Joe army. And perhaps it doesn't extend into C.O.B.R.A. either. After all, Cobra Commander wore cape and spoke with a lisp. And hopefuly that's how the recently-cast Joseph Gordon-Levitt will play him. So now you know... and knowing is half the battle.

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<![CDATA[Precocious Abigail Breslin Surprising Fan Of 'Metal Machine Music']]>
· Enjoy Blue Reed, Abigail Breslin's cat, while you can. We have a feeling he's going to go mysteriously missing very soon, the only clue to his whereabouts a note in what seems to be Dakota Fanning's handwriting reading, "Stop!"
· Rainn Wilson's ass to steal the show at the Spirit Awards.
·Scarlett Johansson does Tom Waits.
· It was all but inevitable: Ice Road Truckers is going to be adapted into a feature, probably to star The Rock as the slip-sliding-big-rig-drivingest badass the Canadian tundra has ever seen

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<![CDATA[Lionsgate Presents: Tyler Perry's When Did I Become The Biggest Box Office Draw in Hollywood?]]> whygetmarried.jpgLet the weekend box office numbers be your much-needed rays of sunshine on this gloomy Monday morning:

1. Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married - $21.5 million
Reacting to the third number one opening posted by the producer/actor/director/playwright/media mogul behind Why Did I Get Married?, Lionsgate president Tom Ortenberg somewhat ominously warned all of Hollywood, "My strong hunch is that this is the last time anybody will underestimate Tyler Perry."

Brimming with confidence in his hitmaking triple threat, Ortenberg elaborated, "Now that he's done this three times, we're finally going to buy him a fat suit that will shame the ones in Norbit and Big Momma's House and make everyone forget that Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence ever existed. When Tyler Perry's Medea's Revenge opens in late 2008 to $65 million, moviegoer's dreams will be haunted by cellulite thigh-dimples so convincing they'll think we hollowed out a morbidly obese grandmother and dropped him into her skin. It's gonna be amazing."

2. The Game Plan - $11.506 million
We knew that the The Rock's reign as box office champ wasn't likely to continue for a third consecutive week, but that doesn't make his fall from the top spot hurt us any less. To help take some of the sting out of it, we're going to watch this clip of the wrestler-turned-second-tier- action-hero-turned-cuddly-family-comedy-star showing off the chops that catapulted him to Hollywood dominance during two very slow weeks in early October.

3. Michael Clayton - $11.010 million
With no Ocean's Fourteen on the horizon to satisfy his "one blockbuster for you, three passion projects for me" deal with Hollywood, George Clooney is going to need to find a new mainstream franchise to fund his quirkier, less commercial cinematic pursuits. Perhaps he'll hit up buddy Matt Damon for a role in the next Bourne movie so that he can go on to direct whatever black-and-white period piece has been haunting him since cashing his last Ocean's paycheck.

4. We Own The Night - $11 million
We fear that we may never get around to seeing We Own the Night after accidentally scanning the film's spoiler-rich plot keyword page that includes the following categories: Shot in the Head/Loss of Father/Shot in the Chest/Suicide/Police Officer Killed/Undercover Cop/Hidden Identity.

5. The Heartbreak Kid - $7.425 million
Similarly, this revealing IMDb plot keyword will probably keep us away from Kid: Stay Home And Watch There's Something About Mary on Cable.

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<![CDATA[The Rock Takes His Position As America's Biggest Family-Comedy Star]]> the-gameplan.jpgWe'd wish you a happy Monday, but we know you'd just see through that transparent attempt at merry-making on the bleak beginning of a seemingly unending work week. So: have a look at the weekend box office numbers, doing your best to ignore the five days of pain that await you:

1. The Game Plan - $22.675 million
Not since Vin Diesel so movingly revealed his softer, stroller-pushing side in The Pacifier has an action star so seamlessly transitioned into the family-comedy genre. This weekend, Dwayne "The Rock, But The Cuddly Kind" Johnson captured America's hearts by successfully dramatizing the parenting challenges faced by any self-absorbed NFL superstar unexpectedly saddled with a bastard offspring, winning untold millions of new fans.

We're confident that The Rock is a little better equipped to handle his success than Diesel was; Johnson doesn't seem the type to fall into the trap like the one his marble-mouthed peer's ego set for him, leading him to squander his newfound clout on impossible, eleventy-billion dollar elephant-riding dreams.

2. The Kingdom - $17.694 million
Unfortunately for Universal, producer Michael Mann's oversight of The Kingdom (which involved the legendarily demanding filmmaker patrolling the set with a megaphone, shouting, "Stop being such a pussy!" each time director/protege Peter Berg failed to make one of his actors cry after a take) didn't result in even a Miami Vice-level opening weekend.

3. Resident Evil: Extinction - $8 million
Even if the world eventually succumbs to an apocalyptic, zombie-producing plague, Sony will still find a way to produce Resident Evil sequels.

4. Good Luck Chuck - $6.3 million
A quick scan of Jessica Alba's IMDb profile shows precious few opportunities to finally abandon the modesty clause in her contract that's been holding back her career. Maybe she'll take some inspiration from formerly never-nude contemporary Natalie Portman and hook up with a quirky indie director who'll help her tastefully break the tension with some artfully lit sideboob shots.

5. 3:10 to Yuma - $4.160 million
You know who could probably use one of those image-softening family flicks? Russell Crowe. We're seeing him in The Manny, the story of a former Secret Service agent who grudgingly accepts the most challenging assignment of his life: protecting the children of a highly public failed marriage from the well-meaning, but hilariously incompetent, parenting efforts of their pop star mother.

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<![CDATA[Lisping Rocks, Posh Nazi-Hunters, And Tumescent Hacks]]>
· No, The Rock, don't eat those cookies your daughter baked for you! There's cinnamon in them, and you'll have a hilarious allergic reaction that makes you talk like Robin Williams doing his Deaf Guy impression!
· Posh makes the far tougher-looking Nazi-hunter, in our opinion.
· Two generations of Stillers offer updates on Owen Wilson's recovery.
· Ratner embonered by the hott, NC-17 sex in Ang Lee's Lust, Caution.
· Sun rises, sun sets, Ryan Adams melts down onstage.

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<![CDATA[Trade Round-Up: The Rock And Ryan Reynolds To Bicker About Who Has Better Abs]]> ryan-reynolds.jpg· The emergence of new technology in all aspects of filmmaking make Oscar scratch head, feel confused. Smash computer! Smashsmash! [Variety]
· Richard Gere mistakes Hong Kong director Andrew Lau for the Dalai Lama, agrees to star in The Flock, his English-language debut. [THR]
· Observing its corporate mandate that no show is too offensive to air, the Fox Reality Channel offers to buy pulled ABC reality series Welcome the the Neighborhood. ABC head Steve McPherson vows to kill his baby rather than let it be adopted by Fox. [Variety]
Touchstone picks up the "modern day Lethal Weapon" buddy action-flick Blowback, starring The Rock and Ryan Reynolds as San Francisco cops. Why do we get the feeling that the top-secret "high concept" idea can be explained in the tagline, "They're partners...on the beat, and at home." [THR]
· Time Warner sets aside $3 billion to settle lawsuits from shareholders angry about the multibillion-dollar boo-boo that was their merger with AOL. [Variety]

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