He's got Naomi Watts. He's got Jack Black. Now it looks like Peter Jackson might be getting Oscar-winner Adrien Brody to join the cast of his King Kong remake.
Hollywood trade paper Variety reports that Brody - who won the best actor last year for The Pianist - has been offered the role of Jack Driscoll, a World War I veteran fighter pilot and the love interest for archaeologist Ann Darrow, to be played by Watts.
In the 1933 original, Driscoll tries to rescue Darrow after the ape falls in love with her. If Brody signs up, that will be the final major part cast in the movie.
The studio backing the film announced this week that Black had been cast - "no, not as the ape" said some reports and my how we laughed. The School of Rock star and sometime half of musical comedy duo Tenacious D will play showman Carl Denham who brings the giant gorilla to New York from Skull Island.
The film is set to start shooting in New Zealand in August with a release date of December 2005.
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It was the sage-like NZ Idol judge Paul Ellis who made the point last week that most of the show's contestants were in nappies when disco was at its peak. And rather bizarrely, Fiona McDonald berated one contestant for not being 2004 enough on the very same episode, one reminiscent of Ready to Roll from 25 years ago - when local singers covered the overseas hits of the day.
So who comes up with these themes? Shouldn't we be gearing our future pop stars for the future? Anyway, this week the contestants will be singing ballads, which could upset our top seed, Michael Murphy, who seems to be making his mark with rockier numbers. Patience by Guns'n' Roses, perhaps? Hey, they're top of the charts again, right?
THE CHATTERBOX IDOL TOP 5
1. Michael Murphy
2. Camillia Temple
3. Robin Johnson
4. Dave Houma
5. Luke Whaanga
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Some bad news for local fans of those giants of arty-English rock, Radiohead - the band are playing four dates in Australia late this month but aren't coming to play here. And it appears their four shows across the ditch are already sold out too.
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Unfortunate pop siblings Michael Jackson and little sister Janet have earned the dubious distinctions of being named the most foolish Americans of 2004.
It marked the second time in a row that the King of Pop, who is facing child molestation charges, has snatched the April Fool's Day award as the Most Foolish American in a US telephone survey.
In the poll of 1016 Americans carried out by New York-based PR consultant Jeff Barge, 77 per cent of respondents voted Michael Jackson to the top of the list.
Janet Jackson came in a close second, backed by 70 per cent of respondents.
The female performer made front-page news following her "wardrobe malfunction" during the Super Bowl halftime show in February. "Obviously they are giving each other advice," said Barge of the pop siblings. "And it's not good advice."
<i>Chatterbox:</i> Pianist may go ape in NZ
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