Don't mess with James Gandolfini when he's boutique-hopping.
The "Sopranos" star got into a spat with an amateur paparazzo while shopping with his step-mom on Jane Street. In video of the incident posted by the fotog on Guest of a Guest, a mad Gandolfini sneers, "You understand me? I'm gonna break your [bleep]ing face," before smacking the camera to the ground.
The lensman tells us, "I'm not used to this type of abuse. I was not shooting James for any job, but just because I am a fan of his. The attack was totally uncalled for." A friend of Gandolfini says, "The kid had been following him for an hour. He was a stalker."
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Her song "Single Ladies" is an Internet hit among dancing babies and now, Beyoncé's working on a tot of her own.
That's according to get this Jay-Z, B's notoriously tight-lipped hubby, who spilled the baby beans himself.
While chatting up Gotham mag editor in chief Cristina Greeven Cuomo, the rapper let it slip that procreating is high on the duo's priority list right now.
That's big news from hip hop's sneakiest couple, who wed secretly on a Tribeca rooftop and rarely even wear their own wedding rings in public.
It's also a change in attitude for Beyoncé, who admitted on "The View" in April that while she was interested in motherhood, she was in no hurry to hit the birthing room after seeing the process upclose when her sister Solange did it.
"I definitely want one, but I'm not ready for all of that," she said then. "I don't think a person should see that before her time. It was a little much. But I'm so in love with my nephew, and every time I see him I'm like, God, he's just amazing."
But the kid-friendly 28-year-old, who's made more than 40 Make-A-Wish Foundation fulfillments, is ready to summon her inner Sasha Fierce and go for it.
And all that, um, practice must be lighting a fire for the couple, married since April 2008. Backstage Thursday at the MTV Europe Music Awards in Berlin, where both got awards, the husky rapper held his beaming wife in a big bear hug, When she got up to the podium, Beyoncé (photo l.) said, "There is only one person I want to thank, and that is Jay for putting a ring on it." And did she ever thank him with a big red lipstick smack on the neck for all to see as the two left a nearby nightclub in the wee morning hours.
All this action must be doing wonders for Brooklyn-born Jay-Z's already healthy self-esteem.
"I don't dislike anything about myself," he told Gotham. "I know this sounds a little arrogant, but I really accept what God has given me. I've got a short temper, but I work on controlling it. I can say inappropriate things because I believe them to be true and sometimes that can be hurtful to others. But I think in the long run it is more helpful."
And while Beyoncé is more than happy to collaborate with her man, even Jay gets rejected sometimes when it comes to musical partnerships.
"[Two-man band] MGMT turned me down," he admits.
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Michael J. Fox, who used the fame he gained as an actor to take a starring role in the fight against Parkinson's disease, has been named the most influential Canadian expatriate.
The Edmonton native was chosen after a contest and vote hosted by the Canadian Expat Association, earning the nod ahead of other Canadian luminaries on the shortlist such as Wayne Gretzky, rock music legend Neil Young, and first eBay president Jeff Skoll.
The association offered as reasons for Mr. Fox's selection "the bravery of his personal fight against Parkinson's disease and the scope and effectiveness of his global campaign to someday find a cure for the debilitating and deadly disease while supporting those around the world who share the affliction."
Fox rose to fame in the 1980s, starring in such Hollywood films as the Back to the Future series and Teen Wolf, as well as the TV sitcom Family Ties and, in later years, Spin City.
In 1991, he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, a debilitating disorder that attacks the central nervous system, drastically impairing people's motor control and quality of life.
After going public with his diagnosis in 1998, Mr. Fox postponed his acting career to devote his life to raising awareness of the disease, creating the Michael J. Fox Foundation, which has to date raised more than $150-million to fight Parkinson's and to support those afflicted by it.
His outspoken advocacy for stem-cell research led to a public feud with conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh in 2006, who claimed Mr. Fox exaggerated the effects of his illness in an ad for a Democrat senate hopeful.
Earlier this year, Mr. Fox publicly applauded U.S. President Barack Obama for signing legislation that would provide increased funding for stem-cell research, which, it is hoped, could uncover new treatments for those suffering with Parkinson's.
The actor-turned-activist has received honourary doctorates from New York University and the University of British Columbia, while two of his memoirs, Lucky Man and Always Looking Up, made bestseller lists for weeks upon their release.
He has won four Golden Globes and five Emmy Awards, including one this year for a memorable guest appearance on Rescue Me as a drug-addicted paraplegic.
The contest accepted nominations throughout September for any Canadian living abroad, and voting was open through October, with the intent of finding someone among the country's estimated 2.8 million expatriates who best represents the work being done around the world by Canadians.
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Can a movie studio make money on a film based on an original and unfamiliar story, with no Hollywood superstars, a vanishing DVD market and a price tag approaching $500 million?
That question looms large for 20th Century Fox and its 3-D science-fiction film “Avatar,” among the most expensive movies ever. Despite many skeptics, the studio thinks it can turn a profit, in part because the film’s creator, James Cameron, was the driving force behind the studio’s immense hit “Titanic.”
But just in case box-office receipts for “Avatar” fall short, Fox has worked hard to hedge its large bet on the movie.
Despite the estimated half-billion dollars spent on its production and marketing, “Avatar” may carry surprisingly little financial risk for Fox’s parent company, the News Corporation, even if it disappoints. That is because of shifting industry economics, reliance on outside investors and help from a network of allied companies and in-house business units.
Fox’s efforts underscore how studios generally have been able to minimize their exposure at a time of blockbuster budgets — albeit at the cost of limiting their profit potential as well.
The final cost of the film has not been tallied, as Mr. Cameron, who has worked on the film for 15 years, and his collaborators, as far-flung as Weta Digital in New Zealand, continue to complete their work. Published reports have put the production budget at more than $230 million.
But the price tag would be higher if the financial contribution of Mr. Cameron and others were included. When global marketing expenses are added, “Avatar” may cost its various backers $500 million.
Tom Rothman and Jim Gianopulos, the co-chairmen of Fox Filmed Entertainment, declined through a spokesman to be interviewed. Jon Landau, Mr. Cameron’s partner in their Lightstorm Entertainment production company, also declined to be interviewed.
But “Avatar” did get a mention in a conference call on Wednesday during which Rupert Murdoch, the News Corporation’s chairman, discussed a surprise 11 percent earnings jump in the company’s fiscal first quarter, which ended Sept. 30.
“I’m confident we will lead the Christmas season,” Mr. Murdoch said. He added that he was “excited and moved” by “Avatar.”
Michael Nathanson, an analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein & Company, wrote in an e-mail message before the earnings call that investors “tend to ignore” the impact of a single movie on a company as large as the News Corporation.
At what point the various partners in “Avatar” would see profit from the film depends on what share of revenue each receives as the movie reaches theaters, then home video and other media around the world. If domestic ticket sales reach $250 million — a level broken in the last year by five films, including “Star Trek” and “The Hangover” — Fox and its allies would appear to be headed into the black.
Mr. Cameron’s “Titanic,” which took in more than $1.8 billion at the worldwide box office after its release in 1997, was a major corporate event for the News Corporation, then about a third the size of the current conglomerate, which has roughly $30 billion in annual sales. Less than a year after the release, the News Corporation raised nearly $3 billion in a public offering of shares in its filmed entertainment group, partly on the strength of “Titanic.” (It bought those shares back four years ago.)
In 1980, the failure of “Heaven’s Gate” was enough to chase the Transamerica Corporation, which then owned United Artists, out of the movie business. But such company-wreckers belong more to history than to the contemporary film business.
With “Titanic,” the News Corporation was at risk for at least half of a production budget that would approach $300 million in today’s dollars, and was borne partly by Paramount Pictures.
The News Corporation is carrying a much smaller share of “Avatar’s” production cost, as a pair of private equity partners — Dune Entertainment and Ingenious Media — pick up 60 percent of the budget, according to people who were briefed on the economics of the film but spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid conflict with the studio or filmmakers.
Speaking by telephone on Thursday, James Clayton, the chief executive of Ingenious, confirmed his company’s backing for “Avatar,” but declined to discuss the size of its stake. Greg Coote, the chief executive of Dune, declined to be interviewed.
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