Rapper/ actor 50 Cent has announced plans to
begin producing independent films under his newly-launched production company
reports the Los Angeles Times. The entertainer, born Curtis Jackson, announced
the venture during a press conference last month at the House of Hype in Park
City, Utah during the Sundance Festival. The unnamed company is a joint venture
with business partners Chris Lighty of Violator Management and movie executive
Randell Emmett, who produced 50’s film “Home of the Brave” and the rapper’s
upcoming movie, “Righteous Kill.” Co-starring Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino,
“Righteous Kill” is due in theaters on April. 18
Beyonce, who starred in “Dreamgirls,” is headed back to
the big screen for her next big role. She has been cast to play famed singer
Etta James on the film, “Cadillac Records.” The story is about Leonard Chess,
the legendary founder of the South Side Chicago blues label Chess Records. The
period piece follows the rise and fall of Chess Records, which launched the
careers of such R&B greats as Muddy Waters, Etta James and Chuck Berry. Chess,
who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, scoured the South,
checking out the various blues scenes and selling records from the back of his
Cadillac. Cedric the Entertainer will play Willie Dixon, who wrote most of the
hits records and was part of the famous company. One of his most famous songs
was “Hoochie Coochie Man.” Oscar winner Adrien Brody has also joined the cast to
replace Matt Dillon as Leonard Chess, the founder of Chess Records. Dillon had
to drop out of the project due to a scheduling conflict. As previously reported,
Jeffrey Wright will portray Muddy Waters in the film set in 1950s Chicago. Also
new to the cast are Emmanuelle Chriqui, Columbus Short and Tammy Blanchard.
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Andre 3000 of OutKast will make his mark on the
fashion world with his own line of clothing. The collection, named Benjamin
Bixby, was designed and funded solely by Andre and features 70 items of prep
style clothing, including fedora hats, assorted waistcoats and pink sweatshirts.
Describing his style as “rebel gentleman,” the rapper told New York magazine:
“There has to be something inventive about it. But not so inventive that it’s a
turnoff. So that some of the greats, like Beau Brummell or the Duke of Windsor,
would nod and say, ‘Well done.’”
Anthony Anderson, 37, who pulled a few shifts with Law &
Order: SVU’s Christopher Meloni when Mariska Hargitay was on maternity leave (aka
doing undercover work for the FBI) in 2006, will step in to partner with recent
L&O addition Jeremy Sisto.… Oscar winner Forest Whitaker stars with a bevy of
talent (Dennis Quaid, Matthew Fox, Sigourney Weaver and William Hurt) in
Columbia Pictures’ action-packed thriller “Vantage Point.” Eight strangers with
eight different points of view try to unlock the one truth behind an
assassination attempt on the president of the U.S. Thomas Barnes (Quaid) and
Kent Taylor (Fox) are two Secret Service agents assigned to protect President
Ashton (Hurt) at a landmark summit on the global war on terror. When President
Ashton is shot moments after his arrival in Spain, chaos ensues.
Al Jarreau is in the midst of working on the holiday album
and plans to have it finished by May or June. It will feature standards such as
“White Christmas,” “Joy to the World” and “The Christmas Song,” as well as an
original called “Tree Wishes” that he said is “interesting and right in the
spirit of things.” He’s also excited about the arrangement of “The Christmas
Song.”
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