Vin Diesel Wallpapers and Photos

Posted in Actors on Feb 15th, 2008 | Comments Off

Huge, hulking and with a neatly shaved skull and a voice that sounds like granite scraping on granite, Actor, producer, writer, and director Vin Diesel had a charmed entry into the world of screen acting: after seeing Multi-Facial, a short that Diesel wrote, produced, financed, directed, and starred in, Steven Spielberg created the role of Private Caparzo specifically for the talented young newcomer in his Saving Private Ryan (1998), Vin Diesel attracts action like moths to a flame, and trust us it’s the kind of action everyone likes.

Vin Diesel (born Mark Sinclair Vincent, July 18, 1967, New York City) is an American actor, writer, director, and producer.

He has played roles of different cultural backgrounds, but prefers to identify himself as “multicultural”, as a result of early difficulties finding roles due to his heritage. He founded the production companies OneRace Films, Tigon Studios, and Racetrack Records.

In an interview on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, he said that he changed his name to Vin Diesel while working as a bouncer, because in that business one’s real name is not usually given out.

The name “Vin” is simply a shortened version of “Vincent”. He received the nickname “Diesel” from his friends who said he ran off diesel, referring to his non-stop energy.

Diesel made his stage debut at age seven when he appeared in the children’s play Dinosaur Door, written by Barbara Garson. The play was produced at Theater for the New City in New York’s Greenwich Village. His involvement in the play came about when he, his brother and some friends had broken into Theater for the New City’s space on Jane Street with the intent to vandalize it.

They were confronted by the Theater’s Artistic Director, Crystal Field, who instead of punishing the kids, handed them scripts and offered them parts in the upcoming show. He remained involved with the theatre throughout adolescence, going on to attend the city’s Hunter College, where his creative writing studies led him to begin screenwriting.

Diesel became an active film-maker in the early 1990s, first earning notice for the short film Multi-Facial, which was selected for screening at the 1995 Cannes Festival.

Diesel’s first film role was an uncredited appearance in the 1990 film Awakenings. He then produced, directed and starred in the 1994 short film Multi-Facial, a short semi-autobiographical film which follows a struggling actor stuck in the audition process, because he is regarded as either “too black” or “too white”, or not black or white enough.

He made his first feature-length film, 1997’s Strays, an urban drama in which he was self-cast as a gang boss whose love for a woman inspires him to try to change his ways. Written, directed and produced by Diesel, the film was selected for competition at the 1997 Sundance Festival, leading to an MTV deal to turn it into a series.

He was then cast in Steven Spielberg’s 1998 Oscar-winning film Saving Private Ryan on the poignancy of his performance in Multi-Facial. He then earned critical acclaim for voice work as the title character in the animation film The Iron Giant (1999).

He followed it up with a major role in Boiler Room (2000) and then got his breakthrough role as the anti-hero Riddick in Pitch Black (2000). He then attained action hero super stardom with the 2001 film The Fast and the Furious and the 2002 film xXx.

In 2004, he reprised his role as Pitch Black’s Riddick in The Chronicles of Riddick. In 2005 he played a lighthearted role in the comedy film The Pacifier which was a box office success. In 2006 he attempted a dramatic role when he played real-life mobster Jack DiNorscio in Find Me Guilty.

Although he was critically acclaimed for his performance, the film bombed at the box office. In 2006 he made a cameo appearance in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, reprising his role from The Fast and The Furious.

In 2007 he was to produce and star as Agent 47 in the video game adaptation of Hitman but eventually left the project. In 2008 his upcoming film release is the science-fiction action thriller Babylon A.D..

He is also currently rumored to be the new T-800 in the new Terminator movie, Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins. He has announced his intention to direct Hannibal the Conqueror, and star as the legendary Carthaginian general who crossed the Alps by elephant to attack Rome.

Diesel was originally offered the lead in 2 Fast 2 Furious but turned it down. He was also offered the chance to reprise his role from xXx in xXx: State of the Union but also turned it down. On March 8, 2006, Diesel revealed that he was working on a sequel to The Chronicles of Riddick which as of 2008 is still in production.

While visiting the Dominican Republic in 2005, Diesel was accused in October of that year by Marianny Pimentel Orde, a 23 year old architecture student, of suggesting that the owner of a local bar booted her out of the place because she refused to go back to a local hotel with Diesel. Diesel denied the allegations as the club has had a history of problems unrelated to him.

Diesel reportedly claimed that he prefers dating in Europe, where he is less likely to be recognized and where celebrities are not romantically linked to each other. He prefers to maintain his privacy regarding his personal life. “I come from the Harrison Ford, Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino code of silence.”

Diesel remains guarded about his personal life. Diesel has played Dungeons & Dragons for over twenty years and wrote the foreword for the commemorative book 30 Years of Adventure: A Celebration of Dungeons & Dragons. In the 30th Anniversary of Dungeons and Dragons issue of Dragon Magazine, they examine the fact that Diesel played Dungeons and Dragons, and reveal that he has a tatoo of his character’s name, “Melkor,” on his back.

Filmography:

Year Movie Role Other notes
1990 Awakenings Orderly Uncredited role
1994 Multi-Facial Mike
1997 Strays Rick
1998 Saving Private Ryan Private Caparzo
1999 The Iron Giant The Iron Giant (voice) Animated
2000 Boiler Room Chris Varick
Pitch Black Richard B. Riddick
2001 The Fast and the Furious Dominic Toretto
Knockaround Guys Taylor Reese
2002 xXx Xander Cage
2003
A Man Apart Sean Vetter
2004 The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury Richard B. Riddick (voice) Straight-to-DVD, animated
The Chronicles of Riddick Richard B. Riddick
2005 The Pacifier Lieutenant Shane Wolfe
2006 Find Me Guilty Jack DiNorscio gained 30 pounds for the role
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift Dominic Toretto Cameo appearance
Rockfish voiceover Announced; animated
2008 Babylon A.D. Hugo Cornelius Toorop Completed
2009 The Wheelman The Wheelman Announced
The Fast and the Furious 4 Dominic Toretto Confirmed
Hannibal the Conqueror Hannibal Barca Announced

Producer – filmography:

  • Multi-Facial (1994) (producer)
  • Strays (1997) (executive producer) (producer)
  • xXx (2002) (executive producer)
  • A Man Apart (2003) (executive producer)
  • Chronicles of Riddick (2004) (executive producer)
  • Life is a Dream (2004) documentary (executive producer)
  • Find Me Guilty (2006) (producer)
  • Hitman (2007) (executive producer)
  • Hannibal the Conqueror (2008) (producer)

Director – filmography:

  • Multi-Facial (1994)
  • Strays (1997)
  • Hannibal the Conqueror (2008)

Writer – filmography:

  • Multi-Facial (1994)
  • Strays (1997)

Games:

  • The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (2004)
  • The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena (2008)
  • The Wheelman (2008)

Salary:

  • The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006) $0 (After the film makers realized they were over budget, they weren’t sure if Vin Diesel would accept the small part in the end of the film of which they had wished to include. To their surprise however, Vin Diesel did accept the part, even though he would receive no income for it.).
  • The Chronicles of Riddick (2004) $11,500,000
  •  A Man Apart (2003) $2,500,000
  • xXx (2002) $10,000,000
  • The Fast and the Furious (2001) $2,000,000
  • Saving Private Ryan (1998) $100,000

Vin Diesel, is an actor, writer, director, and producer. Diesel is also the founder of the production companies OneRace Films and Tigon Studios. Diesel is distinguished by a bald head, muscular physique, and deep, textured baritone voice.

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Carrie Underwood Photos and Wallpapers

Posted in Celebrities on Feb 14th, 2008 | 3 comments

Carrie Underwood became the fourth American Idol winner in May of 2005, then released a new single, “Inside Your Heaven,” which went straight to No. 1. Any doubts as to her legitimacy as an artist have since been thoroughly addressed; she stole the show at both the 2007 CMA and Grammy awards.

Carrie Underwood has sex appeal, but it’s a bit limited. Her sweetness, beauty and country charm certainly don’t harm her, but she lacks the kind of sultry edge that makes a woman really sexy. For instance, while she was a contestant on American Idol, Carrie admitted that she “can’t buy underwear.” If she needs help, we’re sure she could find many guys who’d volunteer.

Still, Carrie has some die-hard admirers. She was named the “World’s Sexiest Vegetarian” in an online poll by PETA, and she gets her share of marriage proposals on the American Idol message board.

Carrie Marie Underwood (born March 10, 1983) is an American pop country music singer who won the fourth season of American Idol. Since then, she has become a multi-platinum selling recording artist. Her debut album, Some Hearts, was certified 7x platinum and is the fastest selling debut country album in Nielsen SoundScan history. Underwood is the first American Idol winner to sweep up honors at all three major music awards in the same awards show season (06-07), including a grand total of four American Music Awards, thirteen Billboard Music Awards, and four Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist.

Her debut album, Some Hearts, has yielded five #1 hits to date on various charts in the United States and Canada: “Inside Your Heaven,” “Jesus, Take the Wheel”, “Don’t Forget to Remember Me”, “Wasted,” and her biggest hit to date, “Before He Cheats.” In addition, Underwood scored another Top 10 Billboard hit with her charity single, “I’ll Stand by You.”

Her second album, Carnival Ride (which is certified 2x Platinum by the RIAA) was released on October 23, 2007. It has so far sold over 2 million copies and has already produced a #1 country hit, “So Small.” The second single from the album, “All-American Girl”, is already steadily climbing the charts, and actually charted even before its official release due to its popularity. The single is currently sitting at #8 on the Billboard Country chart. Underwood’s Christmas single, “Do You Hear What I Hear?” peaked at #2 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary charts.

Aside from her vocals, Underwood’s success is attributed to what many fans recognize as her wholesome image. In general, many of her songs also present inspirational and uplifting themes and messages. To date, Underwood has sold over 11 million copies worldwide in the last two years.

Carrie Marie Underwood was born to Stephen and Carole Underwood in Muskogee, Oklahoma, and was raised on her parents’ farm in rural Checotah, Oklahoma. She has two older sisters, Shanna (born 1970) and Stephanie Underwood Shelton (born 1973). Underwood had performed at Robbins Memorial Talent Show in her childhood.

She is a member of the First Free Will Baptist Church. As a young child, she sang in church, and for Old Settler’s Day and Lion’s Club, local events in Checotah. In 1996, when Underwood was 13, her manager at the time tried to get her a recording contract at Capitol Records. However, due to management changes at Capitol, it never materialized.

Underwood graduated from Checotah High School in 2001 as salutatorian. After high school, she attended Northeastern State University in Tahlequah. She graduated magna cum laude in 2006 with a bachelor’s degree in mass communication and an emphasis in journalism Underwood is a member of the Alpha Iota chapter of Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority, For two years during the summer, she performed in Northeastern’s Downtown Country show in Tahlequah. She also competed in numerous beauty pageants at the university and was selected as Miss NSU runner-up in 2004.

In the summer of 2004, Underwood auditioned for American Idol in St. Louis. On March 22, 2005, Underwood sang a rendition of the number one 80’s rock hit “Alone” by Heart and judge Simon Cowell predicted that Underwood would not only win the competition, but would outsell all previous Idol winners.

Underwood was the second winner never to have been voted in the bottom three. While on the show, Underwood gained a loyal fan base known as “Carrie’s Care Bears.” Coincidentally, she was in the same sorority (Sigma Sigma Sigma) as Linda Denham, the creator of the original Care Bears franchise. On May 25, 2005, Underwood was crowned the winner of the fourth season of American Idol, beating out Bo Bice.

Underwood appeared on the sixth season of American Idol, where she sang her single “Wasted” on March 8. This was her fourth time performing on the show since winning the competition in 2005. Underwood also performed at the Idol Gives Back concert singing her new song, “I’ll Stand By You”, (a cover of the Pretenders hit) along with Kelly Clarkson, Rascal Flatts, and others. Underwood sang the same song at American Idol’s season finale on May 23, 2007.

Underwood’s debut album, entitled Some Hearts, was released to store shelves on November 15, 2005, entering the Billboard 200 chart with 315,000 copies sold. The large first week sales of Some Hearts made it #1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and the biggest debut of any country artist since the advent of the SoundScan system in 1991. Some Hearts has since been certified septuple Platinum by the RIAA, and is the fastest-selling debut country album in the history of the SoundScan era.

The album’s second single, “Jesus, Take the Wheel” was released to radio on October 18, 2005. It received so much airplay that it debuted at #39 on the Billboard Country Chart in its first week. It eventually reached #1 for six consecutive weeks, two weeks shy of Connie Smith’s record for a solo female performer, set in 1964-1965 when “Once a Day” topped the chart for eight weeks.

Underwood’s third single, “Some Hearts” was only released to Pop, Adult Contemporary and Hot Adult Contemporary stations in October 2005 and peaked in the top 25 on the Hot AC format, while it made the top 15 on the AC Charts. “Don’t Forget to Remember Me”, the second of Underwood’s singles to be released to country radio, her fourth single overall, peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot Country Chart, as well as #49 on the Billboard Hot 100. However, it did reach #1 for a week on the Radio & Records Country Singles Chart.

Both “Jesus, Take the Wheel” and “Don’t Forget to Remember Me” have earned number one spots in Christian radio countdowns. “Jesus, Take the Wheel” won the Gospel Music Association’s award for best country single of the year.

Underwood performed “Jesus, Take the Wheel” on May 23, 2006, and received a standing ovation at the ACM Awards. She ended up winning Best New Female Vocalist and Single of the year for the song. She was also nominated for Song of the Year and Female Vocalist of the year, but did not win.

Later that autumn, Underwood’s third country single, “Before He Cheats”, hit number one on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs, staying there for 5 consecutive weeks, marking Underwood’s third country number one hit and her fourth number one hit all together.

The song peaked at number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100, achieving the slowest climb ever to the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, breaking the record that was previously held by Creed from July 2000. After a year of release, the single still remains in the Billboard charts.

To promote “Before He Cheats”, Underwood performed it at the 40th Annual Country Music Association Awards on November 6, 2006, and later won both the Horizon Award for new country artists and Female Vocalist. Underwood’s double win is the first time since 1995 that an artist won both the female vocalist and Horizon award.

On November 21, 2006, Underwood went into the American Music Awards with 2 nominations, that night she left the building winning the Breakthrough Artist of the Year award. She was also nominated for Best Female Country Artist, but did not win in that category. She also attended the “2006 Billboard Music Awards” On December 4, 2006, and took home 5 awards. She won the coveted Album of the Year, Top 200 Female Artist of the Year, Female Country Artist, New Country Artist, and Country Album of the Year.

Underwood was nominated for five Academy of Country Music awards in 2007. She was nominated for Best Female Vocalist, Song of the Year, Video of the Year, Album of the Year and Single Record of the Year. She won three of her nominated catergories; Album of the Year, Video of the Year, and Female Vocalist of the Year.

On April 11, 2007, Underwood continued her success of top 2 Country singles with the release of “Wasted”. The song peaked at number 1 on the Hot Country Songs Chart, and number 37 on the Billboard Hot 100. The music video for Wasted debuted at number 2 on the GACTV Top 20 Countdown.

At the 2007 CMT Awards in Nashville, Tennessee on April 16, Underwood was nominated for three awards, including Video of the Year, Female Video of the Year, and Video Director of the Year, all for “Before He Cheats.” She won in all of the three categories. She also performed there, singing “Before He Cheats”.

In early April, Underwood took a break from working on her second album to take a trip to South Africa for American Idol’s “Idol Gives Back” charity special. A music video package from her trip aired on the show April 25. Underwood recorded an acoustic version of The Pretenders’ classic “I’ll Stand By You,” which served as the music bed for this American Idol video package. The charity single of the song released exclusively on iTunes reached the #2 spot.

Underwood also appeared in Brad Paisley’s latest album, 5th Gear, on a song entitled “Oh Love”. Aside from those activities, she also performed “Before He Cheats” and “Wasted” at the CMA Music Festival.

On December 7, 2006, Underwood’s album Some Hearts received four Grammy nominations. Underwood received two Grammy awards for “Best New Artist” and “Best Female Country Vocal Performance” while “Jesus, Take the Wheel” won “Best Country Song” and received a nomination for “Song of the Year”.

Underwood’s nomination marked the first time that an American Idol winner or contestant had been nominated in the “Best New Artist” category. The award ceremony was held on February 11, 2007 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. She also sang alongside Grammy nominees Rascal Flatts. On March 24, 2007, Underwood was featured as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live with host Peyton Manning. Underwood performed her hit singles “Before He Cheats” and “Wasted”. She became only the eleventh country music star to perform on the show.

Underwood’s second album, Carnival Ride, was released on October 23, 2007. “So Small”, the first single from the album, was released on July 31. On Carnival Ride, Underwood was more involved in the songwriting process than on the debut; she set up a writers retreat at Nashville’s famed Ryman Auditorium to collaborate with such Music Row tunesmiths as Hillary Lindsey, Craig Wiseman, Rivers Rutherford, Tom Wehrle and Gordie Sampson.

“Carnival Ride” was certified double platinum as of December 14, 2007. Underwood appeared on the soundtrack to the movie Enchanted, performing a song entitled “Ever Ever After”. In the music video for the song she appears as both animated and live action, much like the characters in the movie. She appeared on Christmas at Rockefeller Center on November 28, 2007. She also appeared on the holiday CD Hear Something Country Christmas 2007 that featured many other country artists, with a rendition of Do You Hear What I Hear?. Since then, the song has reached #2 on the AC Chart, and held it for 3 consecutive weeks, making her best AC hit to date.

Underwood was named as Billboard’s best country artist of the Billboard year 2007, and in December 2007 over 1,000,000 People magazine readers named Before He Cheats as the song of the year

Underwood performed “Flat on the Floor”, “All-American Girl”, and “Before He Cheats” on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve 2008. It has been announced that between January and April 2008, Underwood will embark on a joint tour with Keith Urban named the Love, Pain and the Whole Crazy Carnival Ride Tour, with dates fixed nationwide.

At her American Idol audition, Underwood revealed to the judges that her favorite singer is contemporary country recording artist Martina McBride. Throughout her time on American Idol, home videos were shown in which she sang “Independence Day”, one of McBride’s best known songs. Underwood also released her version of “Independence Day” as the B-side to her first #1 single, “Inside Your Heaven”.

In addition to being a singer, Underwood is also a skilled guitar player, and has accompanied herself on guitar during performances of certain songs like “Don’t Forget to Remember Me” and “Inside Your Heaven” during some of her live concerts, as well as on the albums. She uses a McPherson guitar, with an off-set sound hole.

Underwood is a vegetarian and stopped consuming beef at the age of 13 as she couldn’t stand the thought of eating one of her own animals. She was voted “World’s Sexiest Vegetarian” by PETA in 2007 for the second time, the first being in 2005 alongside Coldplay frontman Chris Martin. In a 2007 interview with Peta, Underwood stated, “Ever since I was little I loved animals… If you told me I could never sing again, I’d say that was horrible, but it’s not my life. If you told me I could never be around animals again, I would just die.”

Underwood is a supporter of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and has done several public service announcements for the organization. A native of eastern Oklahoma, she co-wrote a song dedicated to her hometown, “I Ain’t in Checotah Anymore”. In December 2005, Underwood was named Oklahoman of the Year by Oklahoma Today.

Underwood performed with the USO Christmas Tour in Iraq during the 2006 Holiday season, to spread holiday cheer to the troops overseas. She follows a celebrity entertainment tradition started by Bob Hope that continues to this day. Several Internet sites have photos and video clips of Underwood’s performances in Iraq, including photos of Underwood in military garb.

Victoria’s Secret recently named Underwood the “Sexiest Female Musician”. She took the top honors along with Justin Timberlake, who was named the “Sexiest Male Musician”. She was also placed on the 2007 list of the “Most Beautiful People” by People. She will be featured in the magazine’s upcoming issue. Most recently, Underwood was honored as one of three of the most influential entertainers in America at this point in time and was named sexiest female country artist by Country Weekly.

Underwood performed at halftime of the 2006 Thanksgiving Day football game at the Texas Stadium and was subsequently romantically linked to Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo. Underwood attended Romo’s birthday party in April 2007, and on May 15, 2007, Romo escorted Underwood to the Academy of Country Music Awards.

Underwood is currently dating Chace Crawford. They started dating in August 2007. On October 4, 2007, People magazine reported that the two were seen holding hands in New York City.

For a young woman, Carrie Underwood has achieved quite a bit. She was an honor student in high school who went on to succeed in college. She spent a summer working for her state representative and placed admirably in pageants and contests thanks to her natural musical gifts. It’s a trajectory that many girls would envy, even if Carrie hadn’t followed it to become the fourth winner of American Idol. But she did.

As an Idol winner, Carrie Underwood becamse familiar to millions of TV viewers and music fans alike. She’s had several hits on the Billboard Country charts, and has won four American Music Awards, 13 Billboard Music Awards, four CMT Music Awards, and three Grammy Awards. Kelly Clarkson, eat your heart out!

As part of her American Idol win, Carrie signed a recording contract with Arista Records. In June 2005, she released a single, “Inside Your Heaven,” which debuted at the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100. She was the first country artist to ever debut at No. 1 on that chart, although “Inside Your Heaven,” a rather schmaltzy Idol anthem, isn’t a strictly country song.

More promising was the B-side, a cover of Martina McBride’s “Independence Day.” Life for Carrie Underwood didn’t have the chance to settle down after her American Idol win. All the publicity and work on an upcoming album (planned for a November 2005 release) didn’t even leave her much opportunity to celebrate. She became a spokesperson for Hershey’s chocolate and Skechers shoes, adopting a hectic schedule that sent her rushing back and forth between New York, Los Angeles and Nashville — and just about everywhere in between.

carrie underwood at the american music awards, Not only did Carrie Underwood win Favorite Female Artist in country at the 2007 American Music Awards, but her album Some Hearts also won for Favorite Album in country.

carrie underwood is named no. 23 in 2008 top 99, That same year Carrie Underwood also sang on the soundtrack for the flick Enchanted. She also worked on tour dates with Keith Urban, and she ranked No. 66 on AskMen.com’s Most Desirable Women of 2007 list and No. 23 in 2008.

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Did ‘Montana’ dupe parents?

Posted in Celebrities, Films and Movies, News on Feb 8th, 2008 | Comments Off

The Hannah Montana 3D movie could be considered marketing mastery or a sneaky trick. Hannah Montana Release: Savvy or Sneaky? No Big Surprise When Disney Extends ‘Hannah Montana’ Limited Release.

Hurry, hurry, hurry! The movie event of the year! One week only! It’s one of the oldest tricks in the marketing book — the limited-time offer — and The Walt Disney Co. worked it to perfection last weekend when tweens spent $31.3 million to see the studio’s latest hit, “Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert.”

But now that the 3-D film’s run has been extended, were parents duped into rushing their kids to the theater? Or was it just another case of Disney’s marketing mastery?

Dan Smith, marketing professor at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, called the strategy “a legitimate tool.”

“When you create that kind of buzz and combine it with scarcity, you’re going to drive up demand,” Smith said. “The model strikes me as not much different from a rock concert.”

As most media companies are ceding control of when and where consumers can watch shows or listen to music, Disney is managing its content as tightly as ever. And based on the movie’s results — the “Hannah Montana” film set a record for any movie opening on a Super Bowl weekend — people are falling over themselves to keep Disney’s schedule.

“When you have a successful franchise, setting the time table and controlling the distribution just develops an appetite for more,” said Michael Kupinski, media analyst and head of research at Noble Financial Group. “No one is as good at this as Disney.”

The company rode the strength of its “Pirates of the Caribbean,” “High School Musical” and “Hannah Montana” to a 9 percent increase in fourth-quarter revenue and better-than-expected earnings. Fees at its ESPN sports networks and higher visitors to Disney theme parks also boosted earnings. Disney shares rose $1.43, or 5 percent, to $31.50 Wednesday.

Robert Iger, Disney’s president and chief executive, credited the company’s focus on developing brands and producing content across its various media and theme park properties.

“Five years ago we could count upon only two major franchises, and today we have 10 vibrant, creative properties,” Iger said in a conference call with Wall Street analysts.

“Hannah Montana” fits the mold perfectly. It started as a TV show on the Disney Channel and the concert tour generated $36 million in ticket revenue last year. The movie has already grossed more than five times the $7 million the company said it cost to make.

Disney plans to produce a third season of the TV show and may produce a feature film based on the show.

The company says it planned all along for a one-week run for the “Hannah Montana” film, envisioning it as an extension of the wildly popular concert tour that played to sold-out arenas across the country last year.

Disney has also used limited-time offers to sell anniversary or special versions of its iconic animated movies, from “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” to “Pinocchio,” and has changed the terms to meet demand.

The studio extended the “Hannah Montana” run on Saturday, giving theater operators the option to show the film for as long as they like. Disney said it responded to “astounding” demand on the opening weekend.

But the company also knew long ago the movie would be a smashing success.

Advance ticket sales were higher than for any movie that was not a sequel, and the fifth-highest ever, according to online ticket seller Fandango. In fact, it has been the top-selling movie at the service since the tickets went on sale Dec. 1.

Fandango alone sold more than $9 million in advance tickets for the weekend shows of “Hannah Montana,” nearly a third of the total box office. Disney says it told theater operators well in advance the company would extend the run if demand was high.

The company says it wasn’t trying to manufacture scarcity to drum up demand.

“We were trying to make it like an event, like a concert,” said Mark Zoradi, president of Walt Disney Studios, Motion Picture Group.

“If we were trying to make it scarce we would have had a more limited release,” he said.

The movie ran on all of the country’s 683 public screens equipped to handle 3D films, and averaged $45,534 per screen over the weekend. A typical blockbuster opens in 3,000 theaters and averages about $7,000 at each, according to industry statistics.

Most movies are released as broadly as possible, Smith said. “You want a large number of people to see it quickly just in case it doesn’t fly,” he said.

A trend that has alarmed studios is huge opening weekends that fade quickly after a blast of negative word of mouth. That makes the first weekend even more important, Smith said.

“By limiting the run, you can eliminate the effects of bad press by forcing anyone who’s interested to see the movie right away,” he said.

Apparently Disney won’t need to worry about an abrupt falloff in ticket sales. “Hannah Montana” received an “A” grade from moviegoers polled by CinemaScore, and Fandango said advance sales remain strong for the movie into next week. ~ By Jeremy Herron, AP Business Writer

Most powerful celeb couples

Posted in News on Feb 8th, 2008 | Comments Off

Celebs: Brad Pitt | Angelina Jolie | Cameron Diaz | Justin Timberlake | Jessica Biel | Nicole Kidman | Kate Moss |

For a culture of star gazers, the only thing more intriguing than Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie is the star couple “Brangelina.”

The public need only flip open a tabloid or surf the blogs for the up-to-the-minute happenings of the duo, better known by their one-word media moniker. That widespread fascination with the minutia of their lives earned the couple a spot atop Forbes’ first-ever list of Hollywood’s Most Influential Couples, a look at which celebrity pairings have the greatest impact on popular culture.

To determine which couples landed on the list, we looked at both Web presence and press clippings for more than 50 A-list couples — some still together, some not — over the course of the last year. Then, with a whittled-down list, we reached out to both Encino, Calif.-based E-Poll Market Research’s E-Score Celebrity for appeal data, and celebrity weeklies — People, Life & Style and In Touch — for a tabloid cover count.

Pitt and Jolie score high across the board, thanks to their humanitarian lifestyle, ever-expanding brood, and general likeability as a couple. And according to People magazine Deputy Managing Editor Peter Castro, the duo, like so many star couplings, are far more appealing as an entity than they are on their own.

“[Pitt] is pretty to look at, and he’s a fabulous actor, but he’s not the most scintillating person on his own,” Castro says. “But hook him up with, arguably, the world’s most beautiful woman, and then you have the makings of a really interesting tableau.”

But while the public’s access to couples like Pitt and Jolie has grown, thanks to the proliferation of celebrity weeklies and blogs, the fascination with Hollywood romance is nothing new. In fact, it was once the workings of the movie studios to publicize — if not manufacture — such scandal-prone courtships.

The relationships offer a real-life soap opera with daily, if not hourly, twists for the public to feast on. And it’s that drama that keeps the public interested, explains Castro, who likens the ups and downs of A-list couplings to a modern-day version of the 1980s TV drama “Dynasty.”

Consider supermodel Kate Moss’s on-again, off-again romance with rocker Pete Doherty. Though the second-place couple finally called in quits in July 2007, the duo was long known for serving up dish-worthy news. Whether it was their celebrity looks, rocky relationship, or hard-partying ways, they quickly became a tabloid staple.

What’s more, the particulars of a star’s relationship give the public a window into that celebrity’s life, adds Jill Stempel, the New York bureau chief of photo agency World Entertainment News Network.

For Nicole Kidman, that window has served up a host of highs and lows in recent months. Thanks to the buzz surrounding her country-singer hubby Keith Urban’s stint in rehab and her “is she or isn’t she” pregnancy (for the record, she is), the pair ranked third on the list.

But it isn’t simply the details of getting — and staying — together that garner big buzz. In fact, many times it’s the breakup that sends the tabloids swooning.

Case in point: longtime lovers Cameron Diaz and Justin Timberlake, who famously split in early 2007. The end for the ninth-place couple didn’t happen happily or quickly: Upon seeing her ex flirting with “Seventh Heaven” star (and Timberlake’s current squeeze) Jessica Biel at a Golden Globes party shortly after their split, Diaz reportedly snapped at both stars, garnering plenty of media mentions in the process.

Embarrassing? Sure. But Diaz’s visible vulnerability had an upside: It made the Hollywood beauty more real to her fan base. The way Castro sees it, the emotions she exhibited were those the average person can relate to.

But there’s another reason for the public’s fascination: “Let’s face it, these are fabulously wealthy, gorgeous people, and I think there is a certain amount of, ‘Oh goody, something bad is happening to them,’” he says of the perverse delight the public takes.

According to E-Poll President and Chief Executive Gerry Philpott, it comes down to this: Marital bliss alone doesn’t sell tabloids. Rather, a couple has to offer constant relationship developments (think: getting together, getting pregnant, or getting divorced) to maintain the public’s interest.

“If a couple is just happily married, it gets boring for the average person,” he says. “It’s probably wonderful for the couple, but it’s not too exciting for the press or [its] readers.”

Sarah Shahi Wallpapers and Biography

Posted in Celebrities on Feb 5th, 2008 | 1 comment

Aahoo Jahansouz Shahi, also known as Sarah Shahi (born January 10, 1980, in Euless, Texas, U.S.), is an American actress, model of Iranian and Spanish descent. former NFL Cheerleader and a great-great-granddaughter of the 19th century Persian Shah Fat′h Ali Shah Qajar by Begom Khanom (daughter of Hossein Qoli Khan Afshar, niece of Begom Khanom, daughter of Emam Qoli Khan Afshar), through their son Jahansouz Shah. Shahi was named #90 on the Maxim magazine “Hot 100 of 2005″ list; she moved up to #66 in 2006.

Sarah Shahi was born in Euless, Texas, to a Iranian father and Spanish mother, Abbas and Mahmonir Jahansouz Shahi. She attended Trinity High School and Dallas’ Southern Methodist University, majoring in English and Opera . Shahi started her career as a beauty queen during her teen years. She won the Miss Fort Worth USA pageant in 1997. She joined the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders 1999-2000 squad and appeared on the cover of their 2000 calendar.

While working as an extra on the set of Dr. T and the Women, she met director Robert Altman, who encouraged her to move to Hollywood. Sarah then moved to Los Angeles. Once in L.A., she got various recurrent roles in several famous series, such as Alias, where she played Jenny, and Dawson’s Creek, where she was Sadia Shaw. Shahi was also the first ghost in Supernatural, the CW paranormal drama series.

She is best known for her role as the Mexican-American DJ Carmen de la Pica Morales in the Showtime drama television series The L Word, which she joined in its second season. Sarah did not renew her contract with the L Word for a fourth season, and consequently her character was written out.

She also appeared in HBO’s The Sopranos, in the Season 6b episode “Kennedy and Heidi,” as Sonya Aragon, a stripper and college student who spends a weekend with Tony after a death in his family.

Sarah speaks English, Persian, and some Spanish, and has a Brown belt in Karate. Sarah’s currently starring as one of the leads alongside Damian Lewis in the new hit show Life which started airing in the U.S. in late September.

Although uncredited by most sources, Sarah also appeared in Jackie Chan movie Rush Hour 3 as one of the girls being handcuffed for motoring offence by Chris Tucker.

Shahi is in a relationship with actor Steve Howey, who starred as Van in the CW show Reba. Her acting coach is Bill Howey, Steve’s father.

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