HOLLYWOOD — Will Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie quit acting soon? Angelina announced that she plans to remake the Elizabeth Taylor “Cleopatra” and hinted it might be her last acting job. Ironically, Taylor was the first actress to get a million-dollar salary, and Jolie is the highest-paid actress of today. Certainly, playing one of the most beautiful women of all time, while she’s still beautiful, would be a lasting memory for all of us. If Brad knows what’s good for him, he’ll play Marc Antony. Angelina had a history of romancing her leading men … isn’t that how she hooked him in the first place, while making “Mr. and Mrs. Smith”?
Angelina wants to spend more time on humanitarian work and directing films. Brad’s been executive producer of six films, and producer of 13 others, including “The Time Traveler’s Wife,” “Eat, Pray, Love,” “Moneyball,” “World War Z,” “Kick-Ass 2,” “12 Years a Slave” and “The Normal Heart.” Pitt also is involved in the upcoming “Selma,” starring David Oyelowo as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Tom Wilkinson as President Lyndon Johnson, and Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong’o’s next film, “Americanah,” based on Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s romance novel.
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Jane Fonda received the American Film Institute’s 42nd Lifetime Achievement Award on June 5. The 76-year-old Fonda, who won Oscars for “Klute” and “Coming Home,” listened to tributes from her brother, Peter, Michael Douglas, Meryl Streep, Sally Field, Lily Tomlin, Sandra Bullock, Wanda Sykes, Cameron Diaz, Eva Longoria, Morgan Freeman, Cate Blanchett, Vanessa Redgrave and Robert DeNiro. You can catch it on Turner Classic Movies (TCM) on Aug. 1.
You’ll never guess who is being tossed the Steve McQueen role in the remake of “The Magnificent Seven” … Denzel Washington.
While “Maleficent,” “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” “Godzilla,” “Neighbors” and “Amazing Spiderman 2” have more than tripled their price tags, “Blended,” “Million Dollar Arm,” “A Million Ways to Die in the West” and “Chef” have barely broken even.
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The recent 50-city tour of the 1970 Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice musical “Jesus Christ Superstar,” with Ben Forster of Sunderland (as Jesus) and Johnny Rotten of The Sex Pistols (as King Herod), was supposed to play arenas and stadiums, but was abruptly canceled because of poor ticket sales. It’s a great show, but that cast wasn’t inspired.
The Daytime Emmy’s couldn’t find a TV venue, so this year they’ll be streamed online instead. CBS, with two of the four remaining soaps, should have stepped up to air it.
Celebs are now spearheading a campaign against the artificial sweetener aspartame, found in most diet drinks, sugar-free mints and gums, as it pertains to Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Read all labels before buying anything, or you may not remember what you started to say … what was I saying?
© 2014 King Features Synd., Inc.