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Johansson Flashes Ring, But Not Fiance
7 May 2008 (WENN)
Newly engaged Scarlett Johansson flashed a sparkling diamond engagement ring, but not her new fiance at Monday night's Costume Institute Gala in New York. Just hours after the actress confirmed her engagement to Canadian star Ryan Reynolds; Johansson, 23, took to the red carpet at the city's Metropolitan Museum of Art - alongside a galaxy of stars including Kate Moss, Tom Cruise, and Katie Holmes, Julia Roberts and George Clooney. But the actress had to pose for photographers with two other men - designers Dominico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. Reynolds, 31, is currently in Massachusetts shooting aptly titled new movie The Proposal.

Portman Tops List of Eco-Friendly Stars
23 April 2008 (WENN)
Closer actress Natalie Portman has been named the most eco-friendly star, after topping a list of celebrities who go out of their way to care for the planet. The Hollywood beauty won a special mention by campaigners at green website Grist.org - who praised her work to save gorillas in Rwanda, her role as the face of a low-energy light bulb company and the launch of her vegan shoe range. Other stars to be honored by the planet-friendly firm include Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz, Julia Roberts and Brad Pitt. However, organizers singled out a handful of A-listers as particularly non-environmentally friendly. The worst offenders were named as David Beckham, for the amount of flights he takes annually; British model Elizabeth Hurley, for flying 250 guests to her 2007 wedding in India, and The Spice Girls, for their use of private jets.

Heigl Not Leaving 'Grey's Anatomy'
1 April 2008 (WENN)
Knocked Up star Katherine Heigl has dismissed reports she is to quit Grey's Anatomy, insisting her Hollywood career comes second to her role in the hit TV show. The 29-year-old made her big-screen breakthrough in Judd Apatow's 2007 romantic comedy and has since been hailed by critics as the next Julia Roberts. It had been feared Heigl would abandon the medical drama in order to take advantage of her considerable film success, but she insists she's looking forward to returning to her TV role as Dr. Isobel Stevens and won't be leaving just yet. She says, "When I come back to Grey's, I am actually really excited. After nine months a year for four years, of course you're going to think, 'I want to be someone else for a while.' I landed really good things and I did them in my breaks. It broke up the monotony of the character and I'm very, very grateful for opportunities. But Grey's is such a good cast. Everybody is amazing."

Roberts Named Oscars' Most Stylish
25 February 2008 (WENN)
Julia Roberts has been named the Best-Dressed Oscar winner in a new online poll. The actress' look at the 2000 Academy Awards, where she was named Best Actress for her portrayal of Erin Brockovich, gave her the style edge over Halle Berry in Parade.com's Oscar Survey Spectacular. Roberts scooped up 25 percent of the vote with Berry's 2001 outfit trailing close behind with 24 percent. Hilary Swank came in third for her 2004 Million Dollar Baby outfit. Parade.com's in depth online survey also named Roberts' Pretty Woman co-star Richard Gere and Sandra Bullock as the Favorite Actor and Actress Never Nominated for an Oscar. Meanwhile, Sally Field's "You really like me!" speech was voted Oscars' most memorable. And, in a look back at the favorite Oscar-winning films of each decade, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest claimed the 1970s prize, Rain Man was voted the Favorite Oscar Winner of the 1980s, Forrest Gump beat Titanic for the 1990s honor, and The Lord Of The Rings The Return Of The King was named the Favorite Film of the new century so far.

Washington Named America's Favorite Movie Star
21 January 2008 (WENN)
Denzel Washington has topped the list of America's favorite movie stars for the second consecutive year. The American Gangster star beat Tom Hanks to the number one spot in the annual Harris Poll, and Johnny Depp jumped up four positions from last year's survey to steal the number three position. Julia Roberts was the highest ranking female at four, while late film legend John Wayne - the only actor to rank in the poll's top 10 every year since its inception in 1994 - was placed at number six. The top 10 is as follows: 1. Denzel Washington; 2. Tom Hanks; 3. Johnny Depp; 4. Julia Roberts; 5. Will Smith 6. John Wayne; 7. Matt Damon; 7. Sean Connery; 9. Sandra Bullock; 10. Bruce Willis.

Hollywood Stars To Boycott Golden Globes
7 January 2008 (WENN)
Hollywood stars like Julia Roberts, Keira Knightley and Johnny Depp look set to boycott this Sunday's Golden Globes ceremony to show their support to striking writers. Actors represented by the Screen Actors' Guild (SAG) are in "unanimous agreement" not to ignore the plight of the Writers Guild of America union members, who are picketing over royalties. Announcing the union's decision on Friday, SAG president, Alan Rosenberg, said, "After considerable outreach to Golden Globe actor nominees and their representatives over the past several weeks, there appears to be unanimous agreement that these actors will not cross WGA (Writers' Guild of America) picket lines." In response to the boycott action, the WGA members thanked the SAG for its "solidarity and support." Other stars nominated for gongs at the prestigious ceremony include George Clooney, John Travolta, Denzel Washington, Cate Blanchett and Jodie Foster - all of whom are unlikely to appear at the awards show if the WGA members do not reach an agreement with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which organizes the Golden Globes, in time for next Sunday. Knightley, who is up for Best Actress for her starring role in Atonement, is particularly supportive of the strike, because of her playwright mother, Sharman Macdonald. A representative for the British beauty confirms: "If the strike is still in place then Keira won't cross a picket line as her mother is a writer."

Moviegoers Open 'Treasure' Box
31 December 2007 (StudioBriefing)
Without the distraction of last-minute Christmas shopping and family get-togethers, moviegoers returned to the theaters over the weekend to see the movies that they may have missed over last weekend's holiday. (No new movies opened wide.) The result was a second big weekend for Disney's National Treasure: Book of Secrets, which declined just 20 percent, to take in an estimated $35.6 million, bringing its 10-day total to $124 million. Surprisingly 20th Century Fox's I Am Legend for second place with $30 million in ticket sales. Legend placed third with $27.5 million, bringing its total to $194.6 million and putting it on track to cross the $200-million mark today (Monday), as moviegoers return to theaters on New Year's Eve. Charlie Wilson's War came in fourth with an estimated gross of $11.8 million. The film, which stars Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts and was directed by Mike Nichols, has been making steady progress since opening slowly last week. Widening its release to 998 theaters, Fox Searchlight's Juno placed fifth with $10.3 million, giving it a per-theater average of $10,321, a figure that exceeds the $9,290 per-theater average of Treasure. Perhaps even more impressive is the fact that the critically hailed There Will Be Blood, starring Daniel Day-Lewis, took in $185,525 in just two theaters -- that's $92,763 per theater. On the other hand, The Golden Compass and Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story fell out of the top ten faster than most analysts had thought possible.

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Media by Numbers: 1. National Treasure: Book of Secrets, $35.6 million; 2. Alvin and the Chipmunks, $30 million; 3. I Am Legend, $27.5 million; 4. Charlie Wilson's War, $11.8 million; 5. Juno, $10.3 million; 6. Alien Vs. Predator: Requiem, $10.05 million; 7. The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep, $9.2 million; 8. P.S. I Love You, $9.1 million; 9. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, $8 million; 10. Enchanted, $6.5 million.

Christmas 'Treasure'
26 December 2007 (StudioBriefing)
It appeared Tuesday that National Treasure: Book of Secrets would wind up with about $65 million for the five-day Christmas holiday. The figure, released by Walt Disney Pictures on Tuesday, was based on actual receipts through Monday and an estimate for Tuesday. However, a wild card for Tuesday was the opening of the latest Aliens vs. Predator movie, which was expected to compete for the same audience that would ordinarily be attracted to Treasure. Final results are due to be announced later today (Wednesday). Warner Bros.' I Am Legend, starring Will Smith, was expected to finish the holiday in second place with about $47.5 million, bringing its 12-day total for $150.8 million. Twentieth Century Fox's Alvin & the Chipmunks was expected to finish in third place. However, the studio declined to issue a five-day estimate, saying that it was impossible to forecast business for Christmas Day. It had taken in $32.8 million from Friday through Monday. Universal estimated that its comedy, Charlie Wilson's War, starring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts, had earned about $14.75 million, while DreamWorks figured its Sweeney Todd musical would take in $12.75 million. Sony's Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story was widely believed to have bombed. The studio said that it had earned just $4.7 million through Monday with little hope for a significant pick-up in receipts on Tuesday.

Late Shows, Who Needs Them? Not New Movies
24 December 2007 (StudioBriefing)
As it turns out, the movie studios haven't needed those late-night talk shows to promote their newest releases, after all. For the second weekend in a row, the box office produced solid results, soaring 36 percent above those for the comparable weekend a year ago. It was led by National Treasure: Book of Secrets, which recorded an estimated $45.5 million for the first three days of a five-day holiday weekend -- 30 percent more than the original National Treasure earned when it opened with $35.1 million in 2004. Last week's No. 1 and No. 2 films finished No. 2 and No. 3, with the Will Smith starrer I Am Legend producing $34 million and Alvin and the Chipmunks, $29 million. Charlie Wilson's War debuted in fourth place with a soft $9.6 million, a veritable bomb for a movie starring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts, directed by Mike Nichols, and written by Aaron Sorkin. The film received all-over-the-place reviews. Although it's supposedly based on a true story, Wall Street Journal critic Joe Morgenstern wrote, "I didn't believe a word of it," while Claudia Puig in USA Today described it as "an eye-opening and sassy tale." It barely edged out Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, starring Johnny Depp, a veritable blockbuster for a non-stop singing musical -- and especially one showing on only 1,250 screens. Also surprising was the performance of P.S. I Love You, which was savaged by critics but nevertheless managed to draw $6.5 million in ticket sales. Its audience turned out to be 70 percent female. (They perhaps followed New York Post critic Lou Lumenick's advice: "Ladies, love means never having to force your significant other to sit through something as sloppy as P.S. I Love You.") Also surprising -- for the opposite reason -- was the poor performance of Judd Apatow's Walk Hard, which received mostly good reviews and strong studio promotion but tanked with just $6.5 million.

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Media by Numbers: 1. National Treasure: Book of Secrets, $45.5 million; 2. I Am Legend, $34.2 million; 3. Alvin and the Chipmunks, $29 million; 4. Charlie Wilson's War, $9.6 million; 5. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, $9.35 million; 6. P.S. I Love You, $6.5 million; 7. Enchanted, $4.15 million; 8. Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, $4.1 million; 9. The Golden Compass, $4 million; 10. Juno, $3.4 million.

Roberts Refuses To Disrobe for Film Roles
19 December 2007 (WENN)
Actress Julia Roberts has vowed never to strip for a film role again - because it's not 'real' acting. The 40-year-old Oscar winner - who won legions of male fans after her role as a scantily-clad prostitute in Pretty Woman - believes actresses who shed their clothes for films are not staying true to their craft. She tells OK! magazine, "I wouldn't do nudity in a film. To act with my clothes on is a performance. To act with my clothes off is a documentary." The mother-of-three - who is mother to twins Hazel and Phinnaeus, three, and a six-month-old son, Henry - famously had to be coaxed into wearing a bikini for new film Charlie Wilson's War. And she admits she's not too confident about her sex appeal these days: "I'm too tall to be a girl. I wouldn't call myself a woman. I'd say I'm somewhere between a chick and a broad."

Subjects Win Battle Over 'Charlie Wilson's War'
13 December 2007 (WENN)
The real life subjects of Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts' new movie Charlie Wilson's War won a last ditch battle for the script to be changed, after claiming it blamed them for the September 11 terrorist attacks. The movie focuses on the roles of former congressman Charlie Wilson and his ex-fiancee Joanne Herring in helping to arm Afghanistani troops during the country's conflict with the Soviet Union in the 1980s. Herring, played by Roberts in the film, claims she was stunned when she first read Aaron Sorkin's script for the movie, because it implied weapons sold to Afghanistan were used by Osama Bin Laden's Al Qaeda. Changes were demanded and granted ahead of the movie's Los Angeles premiere on Monday. The 78-year-old tells the New York Daily News, "Can you ever predict a war? The shelf life of a stinger missile is five years. There's no weapon we got them that can be used today." Herring also opposed to the way her character was represented as foul-mouthed, religious and sex-obsessed: "I didn't like the cursing, the drinking and the blatant sex. They turned me into a kooky hypocritical tart."

Atonement Leads Golden Globe Nominations
13 December 2007 (IMDb News Flash)
Atonement was the dominant movie at this morning's announcement of the Golden Globe nominations with seven nods, including Best Picture (Drama) and three acting nominations. The adaptation of Ian McEwan's acclaimed bestseller also received nominations for directing, screenplay, and score as well as for its two leads, James McAvoy and Keira Knightley, and a supporting actress mention for young Saoirse Ronan. Critical favorite No Country for Old Men received four nominations, including picture, supporting actor (Javier Bardem), and directing and screenplay nominations for Joel Coen and Ethan Coen; legal thriller Michael Clayton also received four nods, including picture and three acting nominations for George Clooney, Tom Wilkinson and Tilda Swinton. Rounding out the dramatic Best Picture nominees -- there were an unprecedented seven in all -- were American Gangster, Eastern Promises, The Great Debaters, and There Will Be Blood.

Over on the Comedy/Musical side, Charlie Wilson's War led the pack with five nods, including Best Picture (Comedy/Musical), three acting nominations for stars Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, and Philip Seymour Hoffman, and a screenplay nomination for Aaron Sorkin. Tim Burton's blood-filled adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim musical Sweeney Todd received four nominations in the Comedy/Musical categories for picutre, Best Actor (Johnny Depp), Best Actress (Helena Bonham Carter), and a directing nod for Burton. Indie hit Juno also scored well, with mentions for star Ellen Page and screenwriter Diablo Cody as well as a best picture nod, and summer musical Hairspray bounced back to life with nominations for picture, lead actress (Nikki Blonsky) and supporting actor (John Travolta). The other nominee for Best Picture (Comedy/Musical) was the Beatles musical Across the Universe.

In the television categories, FX newcomer Damages was the leading series contender with four nominations, while the HBO movie Longford also received four nods. Freshman hit Pushing Daisies, returning comedies Entourage and 30 Rock, and miniseries Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee received three nominations each.


Get all of the Golden Globe Nominations in our Road to the Oscars section

Witherspoon Tops Highest-Paid List
3 December 2007 (WENN)
Walk The Line star Reese Witherspoon is officially the highest-paid actress in Hollywood. The 31-year-old Oscar winner has beaten the likes of Angelina Jolie, Cameron Diaz and Nicole Kidman to claim the number one spot in the Hollywood Reporter's annual female rich list - receiving a staggering $15-$20 million paycheck per picture. Tomb Raider star Jolie, 32, comes in second, though her salary for the current Beowulf picture was said to be a "mere" $8 million. Diaz, 35, is placed third, with a $15 million-per-movie salary demand, though her take-home earnings from the recent Shrek The Third are pegged at a very healthy $30 million. Last year's number two, Nicole Kidman, 40, fell to fourth place, with an asking price of $10 million to $15 million a film. Also in the $10 million to $15 million club are Renee Zellweger, Sandra Bullock and Julia Roberts, despite an absence from the screen since 2004. The full list is: 1. Reese Witherspoon - $15 million-$20 million; 2. Angelina Jolie - $15 million-$20 million; 3. Cameron Diaz - $15+ million; 4. Nicole Kidman - $10 million-$15 million; 5. Renee Zellweger - $10 million-$15 million; 6. Sandra Bullock - $10 million-$15 million; 7. Julia Roberts - $10 million-$15 million; 8. Drew Barrymore - $10 million-$12 million; 9. Jodie Foster - $10 million-$12 million; 10. Halle Berry - $10 million.

Roberts Confronts Paparazzo
30 November 2007 (WENN)
Erin Brockovich actress Julia Roberts lost her temper with a paparazzo recently when she ordered him to stop attempting to take pictures of her young children. The mother-of-three was driving her two-year-old twins Hazel and Phinnaeus in Los Angeles on Wednesday, when she decided to confront an overzealous snapper, reports Tmz.com. Taking advice from her Ocean's Eleven co-star George Clooney, Roberts honked the horn of her Mercedes-Benz sports utility vehicle and forced the photographer to pull over before storming over to scold the shocked paparazzo. An enraged Roberts told the cameraman, "Listen, you can turn your video camera off. You're at a school where children go. Turn it off." Earlier this month, a videotape of Clooney angrily confronting two photographers for driving dangerously surfaced online.

Julia Roberts Hates "Grotesque" Showbiz Industry
16 November 2007 (WENN)
Actress Julia Roberts has slammed celebrity-obsessed Hollywood, branding the frenzy surrounding young stars "grotesque." The 40-year-old Erin Brockovich star is disgusted by the current state of the entertainment industry - and insists she would have avoided the business altogether if it had been as cut-throat when she began her career in the late 1980s. She says, "I think it's just grotesque. It's like a circus sideshow. I don't know why anybody would even want to go into show business these days, with all of the different magazines and shows. It just wouldn't be worth it." And she admits actors thrust into the Hollywood limelight in their teens suffer from today increased media interest in celebrity. She adds, "It's too fast. Before, you could build a career over years and many movies. Now it's like you do one good movie and they throw a ton of money at you and a ton of attention at you. You're being constructed outside of yourself before you even know who you are, and what you are, and how you want to do it, and why you want to do it."

Roberts: "Tabloids Should Stop Printing Photos of Stars' Kids"
8 November 2007 (WENN)
Julia Roberts is calling on tabloid magazines to stop printing pictures of celebrities' children. The Erin Brockovich Oscar winner wants to protect the privacy of her three kids - two-year-old twins Hazel and Phinnaeus, and six-month-old Henry - from the paparazzi when she's out in public. And she doesn't like seeing her peers' children in the magazines either. Roberts says, "I just feel like it's so demeaning the way they behave, and I hate the fact that I even put any of my energy into thinking about it or being stressed about it. And really, more than anything, it just has to do with my kids. There's no reason to take pictures of celebrities' children other than for people to say, 'Oh, they're cute.' I think magazines shouldn't run pictures of people's kids. I have a problem with that. I also have a problem with the whole notion that, if I have Henry in a sling, I'm hiding him. He's a baby and I'm carrying him around, and so's the lady across the street. I get p**sed off, because I think that it's inhuman to chase a woman with her children." And Roberts finds it hard to understand why people are obsessed with the lifestyles of the rich and famous. She adds, "We're all the same. Why can't we get on board with this? That we're all the same? Some have cooler jobs. My stomach still drops when I turn and see someone with a camera."

Pregnant Roberts Didn't Want To Appear in Bikini
16 October 2007 (WENN)
Julia Roberts was mortified when she realized she'd have to don a bikini for a swimming pool scene in new film Charlie Wilson's War - because she was four months pregnant with her third child Henry. The actress had hoped the revealing scene would not be necessary, or that a double would strip down on her behalf - but instead she had to "suck it in" and grin and 'bare' it. The Mona Lisa Smile star says, "I was so pregnant then that I was really hoping that they would let me out of that scene."

Roberts Receives Hollywood Honor
15 October 2007 (WENN)
Hollywood star Julia Roberts has been honored with the 2007 American Cinematheque award at a starstudded Los Angeles bash. The award recognizes Erin Brockovich actress Roberts' long and successful acting career. After accepting the trophy, the 39-year-old Oscar winner told an audience including Tom Hanks, Natalie Portman and Sally Field, "I really am just a girl from a little town in Georgia, who had this giant, absurd dream. I think I came along at a kinder time in the business... you could really cultivate your work a little more gently." Hanks later paid tribute, saying, "Everybody loves Julia Roberts. Everybody, everybody, everybody."

Roberts To Be Honored By American Cinematheque
25 July 2007 (StudioBriefing)
Julia Roberts has been selected to receive the prestigious American Cinematheque award on Oct. 12 in ceremonies scheduled to be broadcast in December by AMC. The cinema arts organization which currently screens restored classic films in what was once the Grauman's Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood and the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica, said that Roberts was the unanimous choice of the selection committee. Last year, she presented the organization's award to George Clooney. In a statement, American Cinematheque's group chairman Rick Nicita said, "Julia Roberts is a true movie star who has delighted audiences and critics in so many pictures," including Pretty Woman, Steel Magnolias and Erin Brockovich.

Roberts To Receive Career Honor
25 July 2007 (WENN)
Hollywood actress Julia Roberts has been named the winner of the 2007 American Cinematheque award. The Mona Lisa Smile star was chosen unanimously by the non-profit organization's selection committee which honors career achievements, Variety magazine reports. Roberts, who won an Oscar for Erin Brockovich in 2001, will collect the prize at a ceremony in Beverly Hills on 12 October. Actors, directors and writers - including Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman - have been honored at the ceremony every year since its inception in 1986. Last year, Roberts presented fellow actor and Ocean's Eleven co-star George Clooney with the award after he landed the annual honor.

Cruise To Receive Career Honor
12 July 2007 (WENN)
Tom Cruise is set to be honored at New York City's Museum of the Moving Image in November. The Minority Report star, 45, follows in the footsteps of former honorees Sidney Lumet, Robert De Niro, Richard Gere, Al Pacino, Sidney Poitier, Julia Roberts and James Stewart. MOMI director Rochelle Slovin said they chose Cruise for his outstanding 27-year film career, which started with Endless Love in 1981. Slovin says, "Tom Cruise is one of the premier American actors of his generation. Working with the great directors of our time - (including) Francis Ford Coppola, Stanley Kubrick, Sydney Pollack, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg and now Robert Redford - Cruise has given us indelible characters and performances."

Roberts Ended Writer's Marriage
12 July 2007 (WENN)
Julia Roberts inadvertently brought writer Jay McInerney's marriage to a crashing end when a goodbye kiss at the end of an interview turned the journalist into an obsessed fan. The Bright Lights, Big City author recently confessed he was smitten with the Pretty Woman star when she left him with a lingering memory after he interviewed her for a magazine. Charming McInerney told a magazine editor's conference that Roberts had just divorced Lyle Lovett and he convinced her to go dancing with him after their interview. The writer's ex-wife, Helen Bransford, tells America's the Globe tabloid that seeing her husband become more and more obsessed with Roberts prompted her to get a face-lift. The couple divorced in 2000.

Roberts Welcomes Third Child
19 June 2007 (WENN)
Actress Julia Roberts has given birth to her third child, a boy called Henry Daniel Moder. The 39-year-old Erin Brockovich star delivered the baby, who weighed 8.5 pounds, in Los Angeles yesterday. Roberts and her cameraman husband Danny Moder, 38, are also parents to two-year-old twins Hazel and Phinnaeus. The actress' representative Marcy Engelman tells People.com, "The Moder family is doing great." The Academy Award winner most recently provided the voice for the spider Charlotte in Charlotte's Web and is next set to be seen onscreen opposite fellow Oscar winner Tom Hanks in Charlie Wilson's War.

Roberts To Play Murdered Conservationist
22 May 2007 (WENN)
Hollywood star Julia Roberts has signed up produce and play the lead role in a movie about a murdered British conservationist. The actress will star as Joan Root, an award-winning wildlife documentary maker who was shot in her bed in Kenya last year. The killing was believed to have been suspicious, with local police investigating whether she was killed by a opportunist thief, or assassinated by those who objected to her conservation work. Tim Bevan, of Working Title Films, insists he is "delighted" by Roberts' involvement with the project, and adds, "We are thrilled to be making a film about such a courageous, adventurous and passionate woman." Filming on the as yet untitled film is slated to begin filming in Africa next year.

'Idol' Is Beaten!
23 February 2007 (StudioBriefing)
The first Thursday-night edition of Fox's American Idol this season posted a hefty 14.5 rating and a 22 share at 8:00 p.m., but -- for a change -- it was not the top-rated show of the night. (It did lead at 8:00 p.m.) That honor went, as usual, to ABC's Grey's Anatomy, which drew a 17.5/25 in the overnight ratings at 9:00 p.m. In the same hour, CBS's CSI: Crime Scene Investigation recorded a 14.1/20. The same hour saw Fox's The O.C.draw a 4.4/6, a 70-percent plunge from its Idol lead-in. At 10:00 p.m., an Oprah Winfrey Oscar interview special on ABC, featuring George Clooney, Julia Roberts and Nicole Kidman among others, took over first place, recording an 11.8/19.

Special-Effects Assistant Critically Injured on Movie Set
19 January 2007 (StudioBriefing)
In a rare accident involving a special-effects scene, a special effects assistant received critical injuries Thursday as a handheld mock-up of a stinger missile exploded as it was being prepared to be used in a scene aboard a helicopter, the Associated Press reported Thursday. The explosion took place at Downey Studios, a former aircraft hangar in Downey, CA that had once been operated by Boeing and NASA, and which has now been converted into a film production facility. The assistant, whose name was not disclosed, was taken to a nearby hospital where he underwent surgery Thursday evening. The special-effects device was to have been used for a scene in Charlie Wilson's War, starring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts, neither of whom were present at the time of the accident, the A.P. reported, citing Downey Fire Capt. Darren Moon.

Oprah Is Richest Female Entertainer
19 January 2007 (WENN)
Talk show superstar Oprah Winfrey has topped the first Forbes magazine Richest Women Entertainers List. The big business publication estimates the media mogul has made a staggering $1.5 billion in her career as a newscaster, talk show host, publisher and actress. Winfrey tops Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix author JK Rowling, who comes in second with a $1 billion fortune, while US lifestyle queen Martha Stewart rounds out the top three with $638 million. Madonna ranks fourth on the new list, followed by Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson, Julia Roberts, Jennifer Lopez and Jennifer Aniston.

Denzel Washington: America's Favorite Star
18 January 2007 (StudioBriefing)
Denzel Washington has dethroned Tom Hanks as the nation's favorite movie star, according to results of a Harris poll. Hanks had held the top spot for two years in a row but fell to second place in the current poll. Surprisingly John Wayne, who has been dead for more than 27 years, placed third. Clint Eastwood, a perennial favorite placed fourth, while Will Smith made it to the top of the list for the first time, tying with Julia Roberts for fifth place. Rounding out the top ten were, in order, Johnny Depp, Mel Gibson, George Clooney, and Harrison Ford.

Roberts, Foxx & Kidman Nail Oscar Interviews
12 January 2007 (WENN)
Julia Roberts, Jamie Foxx and Nicole Kidman are set to show off their interviewing skills after landing TV chats with their Oscar-winning heroes. The three Oscar winners were invited to pick their favorite Academy Award victor and interview them for an upcoming Oprah TV special. The Oprah Winfrey Oscar Special, which will debut in America just before this year's Oscars next month, will feature Roberts chatting with her pal George Clooney at his Hollywood home, Kidman interviewing fellow Antipodean star Russell Crowe and Foxx putting veteran actor Sidney Poitier on the spot.

Roberts Confirms Pregnancy Reports
2 January 2007 (WENN)
Ocean's Eleven star Julia Roberts has confirmed reports she is expecting her third child with husband Danny Moder. The 39-year-old actress and Moder were married in 2002 and welcomed twins Hazel and Finn (short for Phinnaeus) in November 2004. Roberts' representative Marcy Engelman confirms to American publication People that the actress is due this summer. The Erin Brockovich star recently completed filming Charlie Wilson's War with Tom Hanks in Morocco, where she had her twins and Moder in tow. She also provides the voice of the spider Charlotte in the classic children's tale Charlotte's Web starring Dakota Fanning.

Nicole Kidman Rises To Top of Best-Paid List
30 November 2006 (StudioBriefing)
Nicole Kidman has replaced Julia Roberts as the highest-paid actress in Hollywood. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Kidman's $17 million was $3 million short of Roberts's salary when she appeared on the list last year. This year, however, Roberts took the year off to spend it with her 2-year-old twins. Tied for No. 2 on the 2006 list were Reese Witherspoon, Renee Zellweger, Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz, each of whom receives $15 million per film.

Clooney Honored by Hollywood Stars
16 October 2006 (WENN)
Hollywood heartthrob George Clooney was toasted by a host of fellow stars when he received the 2006 American Cinematheque Award in Beverly Hills on Friday. The lavish event, which was held to raise money for film-making charity American Cinematique, was attended by director Oliver Stone and actors Julia Roberts, Christian Slater, Salma Hayek, Geoffrey Rush and Lindsay Lohan. They paid tribute to the 45-year-old, whose film credits include Good Night, And Good Luck, Syriana and Ocean's Eleven. Slater said, "There's no man probably more worthy of getting some awards. He's a great artist, great director, and a phenomenal humanitarian. I think he serves as a great example to other actors, myself included." Clooney said of the event: "Basically, what it is, really, is a bunch of your friends who are gonna roast the hell out of you. But when it's done, you're raising money to help American Cinematheque, which actually does some great things."

Bond Director Quits
11 August 2006 (WENN)
South African movie maker Roger Michell has walked away from the chance to take charge of his first James Bond film after talks with producers fell through. The Notting Hill director was slated to make his 007 debut with the tentatively titled Bond 22 - actor Daniel Craig's planned second film as the superspy. But "creative differences" have prompted the South African to give up on the project. His departure poses a problem for the Bond producers because they already have a release date for the next 007 film - May 2, 2008. Michell is most well-known for the Julia Roberts-Hugh Grant hit Notting Hill and the acclaimed Jane Austen adaptation Persuasion.

Winfrey Plans New Year's Eve Party in South Africa
5 July 2006 (WENN)
Media mogul Oprah Winfrey is set to give South Africa a huge financial and tourism boost at the beginning of 2007 by planning an exclusive New Year's Eve party there. According to Winfrey insiders, the talk show queen is inviting 100 of her closest celebrity pals to ring in 2007 with her and Nelson Mandela in South Africa. The star-studded party, which is likely to include Julia Roberts, John Travolta and Kirstie Alley, will serve as a precursor to the official launch of Winfrey's new South African girls school, which she'll reportedly open on January 2. According to American publication In Touch, Winfrey has instructed her pals just to pay for their flights. A source says, "Oprah will take care of everything else."

Cruise Tops Forbes Celebrity 100 List
16 June 2006 (WENN)
Tom Cruise has topped the annual Forbes magazine Celebrity 100 list. Angelina Jolie is the cover girl for the much-anticipated publication, which hits newsstands today - but it's Cruise's movie successes and his romance with Katie Holmes that propels him to the top, with an estimated $67 million fortune. It is the second time the Mission: Impossible actor has topped the list, but his reappearance in number one spot came as a surprise in light of recent bad press over his controversial Scientology beliefs and exaggerated display of love for Holmes in the infamous Oprah Winfrey couch-jumping exhibition. However, movie earnings and column inches in the press have re-earned him the title five years after he first snatched it. A Forbes wealth expert says, "He is the only celebrity to ever make the number one spot twice. In a weak year for Hollywood, Tom Cruise is the only film star to make it to the top ten." It's not a good year for Cruise's best pals Julia Roberts and Oprah Winfrey - Pretty Woman star Roberts slipped off the list for the first time since 1999, while Oprah dropped from last year's top spot to number three. The annual ranking of fame and fortune also wasn't kind to feuding Lindsay Lohan and Hilary Duff, who both slide off the Celebrity 100 list after making it last year. Mel Gibson, Madonna and Will Ferrell also disappear from the 2006 list. The big musicians on the power chart include The Rolling Stones at number two, U2 at number four, rapper 50 Cent (number eight) and former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney (number 14). Movie mogul Steven Spielberg raked in more money than anyone else on the list in the past 12 months, but his star status is fading, according to Forbes editors - he ranked number six. The top ten most influential celebrities are as follows: 1. Tom Cruise; 2. The Rolling Stones; 3. Oprah Winfrey; 4. U2; 5. Tiger Woods; 6. Steven Spielberg; 7. Howard Stern; 8. 50 Cent 9. Cast Of The Sopranos; 10. Dan Brown.

Roberts: "Theater Role Was Worth the Upheaval"
9 June 2006 (WENN)
Julia Roberts has insisted her critically panned Broadway debut was worth the huge upheaval in her personal life. The Pretty Woman star took time out of her successful movie career in 2004 to spend time with her cameraman husband Daniel Moder and their young children Phinnaeus Walter and Hazel Patricia at their New Mexico ranch. Before signing up to appear in Three Days Of Rain, Roberts confessed she needed "an exemplary reason to leave the house" but, having done the play, she's glad she turned her life upside down for the stage. She says, "It's always worth a little upheaval to make a dream come true. And I wanted this so badly. Danny was the one who encouraged me to do this show. I mean, I probably wouldn't have had the nerve if not for him. He kept saying 'Do it, do it, do it.' I told him that our lives would change. We'd have to move to New York. And what about the kids? He said, 'Let's just do it. We'll figure it out.' And we did. Somehow."

Roberts' Poor Reviews Affecting Ticket Sales
6 June 2006 (WENN)
Ticket brokers are struggling to sell tickets for Julia Roberts' New York theater debut, after the actress received a string of poor reviews for her performance in Three Days Of Rain. Roberts was lambasted for being "stiff with self-consciousness" and having "surprisingly little stage presence" when the play opened on Broadway in April. Despite all tickets selling out to the theater prior to opening, ticket brokers admit they are finding it difficult to sell the tickets and are being forced to cut prices as much as 25 percent lower. Jennifer Swanson, senior communications manager of the TicketsNow agency, tells the New York Daily News, "We're selling a lot of their tickets, but they seem to be going for considerably less than face value. We had a pair of front-row tickets for (last night's) show that went for just $75. Now that's a bargain." The show's producer Marc Platt insists he is happy with the audience turn-out, saying, "The house is full, the tickets are sold, the audiences are happy. One wishes it had been better received by the critics, but that's the way it goes."

Roberts To Be the Face of Avon
1 June 2006 (WENN)
Julia Roberts will sign up to be a spokesmodel for cosmetic company Avon this week, according to reports. Just a month after she was dropped as the face of Christian Dior make-up, the Mona Lisa Smile actress and mother of two is ready to agree a $2 to $4 million deal with Avon, reports PageSix.com. Roberts will join Salma Hayek, who is currently the face of Avon.

60 Stars To Host 60th Tony Awards
25 May 2006 (WENN)
The 60th Tony Awards in New York next month will be a star-studded affair with 60 co-hosts representing each year of the theatre world's prizegiving ceremony. Oprah Winfrey, Anna Paquin, Julia Roberts, Ralph Fiennes and Cynthia Nixon are among the stars who will host short segments of the show, which will be take place at Radio City Music Hall on June 11. In a statement, Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss, the executive producers of the award ceremony, say, "The 60th Anniversary show is bigger than just one host, so we've put together a line-up of 60 stars from the stage to lead our celebration."

Roberts' Broadway Outing Fails To Impress Critics
21 April 2006 (WENN)
Hollywood superstar Julia Roberts' New York theater debut has failed to impress critics, who have labeled her performance "stiff with self-consciousness" and "ill at ease." After a two-year hiatus from acting to raise her young twins Phinnaeus Walter and Hazel Patricia, Roberts is making her Broadway debut alongside Paul Rudd and Bradley Cooper in Joe Mantello's production of Three Days Of Rain, which opened on Wednesday night. In the first act, Roberts plays Rudd's on-stage sister Nan, before taking on the character's mother Lina in the second act. The New York Times critic writes, "She's stiff with self-consciousness, only glancingly acquainted with the two characters she plays. Her voice is strangled, abrupt and often hard to hear. She has the tenseness of a woman who might break into pieces at any second." The New York Post says, "In the first act, she looked long-faced, long-nosed and almost ordinary. How come? In her movies, do they use magic cameras on her or something?" The New York Sun is particularly scathing, saying, "Ms. Roberts's Nan may have been awkward, but her Lina borders on embarrassing. Drifting in and out of Lina's Southern accent, grasping at any 'playable' sign of mental illness, Ms Roberts works her way around the stage with the self-consciousness of a homecoming queen being forced to stand up and play Blanche DuBois in English class." While the New York Daily News adds, "As mesmerizing as she is onscreen, she has surprisingly little stage presence." The Washington Post writes, "Roberts looks ill at ease in the play's first moments... But her Nan is withdrawn, too remote to be read by the audience, and so interest in the character is lost." The Chicago Tribune explains, "Roberts' orbit here feels so limited in range - and so lacking in oomph, projection and the necessary vocal support - that one has to repress an urge to jump up on stage, get close to that famous, wide-mouthed visage, and see precisely what she's doing."

Theater Reviews: Julia Roberts in 'Three Days of Rain'
20 April 2006 (StudioBriefing)
Julia Roberts, a darling of American film critics and the top female box-office star, is receiving mixed reviews from theater critics following her debut playing two characters in Richard Greenberg's Three Days of Rain on Broadway. Ben Brantley writes in the New York Times: "She's stiff with self-consciousness (especially in the first act), only glancingly acquainted with the two characters she plays and so deeply, disturbingly beautiful that you don't want to let her out of your sight." Later, he continues: "That she does not do well -- at least not by any conventional standards of theatrical art -- is unlikely to lose Ms. Roberts any fans, though it definitely won't win her any new ones among drama snobs. Your heart goes out to her when she makes her entrance in the first act and freezes with the unyielding stiffness of an industrial lamppost, as if to move too much might invite falling." Peter Marks writes similarly in the Washington Post: "Well, she gives it the old college try -- and that is all she appears capable of. As if marooned on an unfamiliar shore, Julia Roberts staggers hesitantly through Three Days of Rain." Elysa Gardner in USA Today is kinder, writing, "Roberts makes both women [her two characters] credible, compelling and sweetly funny. And she manages a tender chemistry with each of her costars." As for Shakespeare's remark that "the play's the thing," clearly he lived before the age of movie stars. As Howard Kissel observes in the New York Daily News, "There's almost no point discussing Richard Greenberg's Three Days of Rain as a play. With Julia Roberts as its leading lady, it's an event! Think Puffy in A Raisin in the Sun. Or Liz and Dick in Private Lives. A celebrity changes theatergoing into an evening of status enhancement. It's not about experiencing a play - it's about telling your friends you saw Her."

Grazer Splits from Wife
20 April 2006 (WENN)
Hollywood film-maker Brian Grazer has split from his wife, novelist Gigi Levangie-Grazer after eight years of marriage. The producer, 54, filed for legal separation from Levangie-Grazer in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday, citing "irreconcilable differences." Grazer, who has produced movie hits including A Beautiful Mind, Cinderella Man, 8 Mile, Liar Liar and My Girl, is seeking joint custody of the couple's sons Patrick, 2 and Thomas, 6. Levangie-Grazer wrote the screenplay for the 1998 movie Stepmom, starring Susan Sarandon and Julia Roberts.

Roberts Struggles To Leave Kids for Work
13 April 2006 (WENN)
Julia Roberts refused a string of lucrative films offers to spend time with her twin babies, until director Joe Mantello persuaded her to make her New York theatre debut in Three Days Of Rain. The Oscar-winning actress took time out of her successful movie career in 2004 to spend time with her cameraman husband Daniel Moder and their children Phinnaeus Walter and Hazel Patricia, 16 months, at their New Mexico ranch. After a long hiatus, Roberts has returned to acting, making her Broadway debut this month in the family drama, which also stars Paul Rudd and Bradley Cooper. Roberts tells the New York Post, "I needed an exemplary reason to leave the house. My family is very fulfilling and interesting to me. And for me to step away from that for any period of time, I was going to have to do something that was really different and challenging. Joe really lured me into this. It's one of his favorite plays. We had a long conversation about it, and he made it all seem so vibrant and exciting."

George and Julia Go Green for Vanity Fair
4 April 2006 (WENN)
Hollywood pals George Clooney and Julia Roberts have gone green for the cover of Vanity Fair's upcoming environmental issue. The couple, who played man and wife in Ocean's Eleven, appear alongside environmentalists Al Gore and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in the new photo shoot, in which everyone wears green. Roberts appears like a wood nymph in the garden-themed shot, complete with a leafy crown on her head, while Clooney wears a smart dark green suit. The first Green Issue of Vanity Fair will hit newsstands on April 11th. Clooney's efforts to raise environmental awareness and inspire activism are profiled, along with the work of other stars like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bette Midler and Edward Norton. In the accompanying feature, Syriana star Clooney announces his plans to create Oil Change, a campaign to educate audiences and reduce dependence on oil. Meanwhile, Clooney has traded in his BMW for an eco-friendly Tango, which features in the photo spread inside the new Vanity Fair.

'Ocean's Thirteen' Set in Motion
3 April 2006 (WENN)
Sea Of Love star Ellen Barkin has signed on as the latest leading lady for the second sequel to hit 2001 movie Ocean's Eleven. Ocean's Thirteen, a follow-up to 2004 sequel Ocean's Twelve will begin filming July 21 at Warner Bros studios in Burbank, California, where a fully operational casino will be built. The first Ocean film was shot at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, Nevada and the sequel was shot on location in Europe. Film executives say it became too arduous to shoot a movie around the gambling traffic in a real casino, and decided to build their own casino instead. Barkin will be stepping in to replace former leading ladies Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta-Jones and will get closely involved with Matt Damon's character Linus Caldwell. Director/producer Steven Soderbergh is back on board to direct returning cast members George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Andy Garcia, Don Cheadle, Bernie Mac, Casey Affleck, Scott Caan, Carl Reiner and Elliott Gould. Ocean's Thirteen is being fast tracked and is scheduled for a summer 2007 release.

Roberts Wows Broadway Theatergoers
30 March 2006 (WENN)
Julia Roberts enjoyed a successful Broadway debut Tuesday night with the first preview of Three Days Of Rain, although she burst out laughing when a plastic tomato prop bounced all over the stage. The Oscar-winning actress was so popular with New York theatre-goers her first few lines were inaudible over the audience's thunderous applause at the Bernard B. Jacobs theatre. The New York Daily News writes: "A moment that reminded the audience this was the first preview came midway through the second act. (Roberts) had to contend with a runaway prop tomato. The plastic veggie landed on the floor, bounced and echoed like a table tennis ball - a blooper that left Roberts briefly in stitches. She broke character and couldn't help flashing her trademark toothy grin. That smile was in evidence at the curtain call, which showed that Roberts had checked her superstar status at the stage door." Three Days Of Rain officially opens on April 19 after more previews. In late January, it scored $7 million in advance sales in one day. The play was written by Richard Greenberg and was a Pulitzer Prize nominee in 1997.

Witherspoon Beats Roberts' Record
28 February 2006 (WENN)
Legally Blonde actress Reese Witherspoon has surpassed Hollywood superstar Julia Roberts to become the highest paid actress of all time. The Just Like Heaven star, will earn $29 million for upcoming horror film Our Family Trouble - beating the $24 million 38-year-old Roberts was reportedly paid for Mona Lisa Smile. The 29-year-old is widely tipped to win the Best Actress award for Walk The Line at Sunday's Academy Awards ceremony for her acclaimed role in the Johnny Cash biopic.

Roberts' Broadway Debut Sparks Ticket-Buying Frenzy
1 February 2006 (WENN)
Actress Julia Roberts' Broadway debut in Three Days Of Rain has sparked a buying frenzy, causing ticket websites to crash shortly after seats went on sale on Saturday. Tickets to see the Pretty Woman star on the New York stage are costing fans a pretty penny, with the only ones left being premium seats which cost $251.25 each. The show is nearly sold out and scored $7 million in advanced sales in one day. The Oscar-winning actress will play two characters in the limited run of Tony-winner Richard Greenberg's family mystery. Three Days Of Rain will run from March 28 to June 18.

Roberts Takes "Salability" to Broadway
19 January 2006 (StudioBriefing)
Academy Award winner Julia Roberts, regarded as the film community's highest-paid actress, has shown that she is as bankable on Broadway as she is in Hollywood. Agence France Presse, the French wire service, reported Wednesday that the revival of Three Days of Rain, in which she stars, sold $7 million in advance sales from the time tickets were offered on Friday. AFP quoted experts as predicting that sales could reach $10 million before the first preview on March 28. The show also stars Paul Rudd and Bradley Cooper.

Roberts Set To Return for Tom Hanks Film
12 January 2006 (WENN)
Julia Roberts is set to make her movie comeback in a new film opposite fellow Oscar winner Tom Hanks. The Pretty Woman star took a hiatus when she became a mum in 2004, but now she has been lured back to the big screen by her Closer director Mike Nichols. Roberts is in negotiations to play Texas socialite Joanne Herring in the real-life story of US congressman Charlie Wilson, who fought to fund the Afghan rebels' battle against the Russians. Charlie Wilson's War, based on George Crile's book of the same name, will be Roberts' first movie role since 2004's Ocean's Twelve. The actress is also in negotiations to star in the second sequel of Ocean's Eleven.

Cruise Voted Most Irritating
30 December 2005 (WENN)
Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise is considered the most irritating actor in movies, according to a poll by British film bible, Empire magazine. The War Of The Worlds star fought off competition from Jennifer Lopez and Julia Roberts to win the questionable accolade, but conversely triumphed in the same poll, to be named the biggest movie star of all time - beating veterans Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. Cruise, who is set to marry pregnant fiancee Katie Holmes next year lost credibility with fans after seemingly dedicating 2005 to making outrageous declarations of love for Holmes. Kate Winslet was named favorite actress, while Steven Spielberg was named best director. A spokesman for Empire Magazine says, "Voting Tom Cruise as the most irritating film star may be a knee jerk reaction to his year in the spotlight."

Julia Roberts Still Hollywood's Top Woman
1 December 2005 (WENN)
Julia Roberts is still Tinseltown's leading Pretty Woman, according to trade magazine The Hollywood Reporter's annual 10 Most Powerful Women list. The actress has sheltered from the limelight following the birth of her twins Hazel and Phinnaeus, but remains the only actress who can command a $20 million salary. The poll marks Roberts' fourth year in first place, but she has Nicole Kidman snapping at her heels and Reese Witherspoon in third place. With Halle Berry slipping off the list, Jennifer Aniston comes in at number 10. The list, based on movie earnings, awards and visibility, is: 1. Julia Roberts, 2. Nicole Kidman, 3. Reese Witherspoon, 4. Drew Barrymore, 5. Renee Zellweger, 6. Angelina Jolie, 7. Cameron Diaz, 8. Jodie Foster, 9. Charlize Theron, 10. Jennifer Aniston.

Rudd and Cooper Join Roberts on Broadway
1 December 2005 (WENN)
Actors Paul Rudd and Bradley Cooper have signed up to join Julia Roberts on the New York stage in the revival of Richard Greenberg's Three Days Of Rain. The play, which will mark Roberts' Broadway debut, will begin previews on March 28 and open on April 19 at New York City's Bernard B Jacobs Theatre. The limited run ends on June 18.

Julia Roberts Remains Top-Paid Actress
30 November 2005 (StudioBriefing)
Julia Roberts may not have starred in a movie this year (her last film appearances were in 2004's Ocean's Twelve and Closer) but she remains the highest-paid actress in Hollywood, commanding $20 million a film, according to the Hollywood Reporter's annual list of top-earning actresses. Nicole Kidman ranked second at $16-17 million per movie, followed by Reese Witherspoon and Drew Barrymore with $15 million. Renée Zellweger, Angelina Jolie and Cameron Diaz followed with salaries of $10-15 million per movie.

Valentino Slams Roberts and Diaz for Bad Dress Sense
30 September 2005 (WENN)
Italian designer Valentino Garavani is disgusted by the casual wear sported by Julia Roberts and Cameron Diaz, claiming the actresses look "like homeless people". While Roberts and Diaz are fashion leaders at red carpet events, they are often photographed during their leisure time sporting baggy and unflattering clothes, much to the chagrin of Valentino. In an interview with German newspaper Die Ziet, he says, "Today you see Julia Roberts and Cameron Diaz running around looking unkempt in jogging trousers, they look like bag ladies, like homeless people. In the past, actresses had to commit in their contracts to appear in public like stars when they left their homes."

Oprah Calls on Famous Friends To Help Hurricane Victims
7 September 2005 (WENN)
Oprah Winfrey has enlisted famous friends including Oscar winners Julia Roberts and Jamie Foxx to help her bring hope to those devastated by Hurricane Katrina. The TV talkshow queen cut short her summer break last weekend to host shows from America's storm-ravaged Gulf region, where people are desperately trying to piece their lives back together. And she took a few famous faces with her - Foxx helped serve up food to 5,000 hurricane victims in a shelter in Dallas, Texas, while Matthew McConaughey and Faith Hill brought joy to survivors in Zachary, Louisiana, and Gulfport, Mississippi respectively in a show that aired in America yesterday. Meanwhile, Winfrey's pals John Travolta, Lisa Marie Presley and Chris Rock joined Roberts for segments taped for today's show. Travolta piloted his private plane to shelters in the southeast, delivering much needed vaccines and helping to replenish medical supplies. A tearful Winfrey hosted yesterday's show from the Astrodome in Houston, Texas, where thousands of hurricane survivors are seeking temporary refuge and medical help.

Roberts Bans Brother from Baby Talk
2 September 2005 (WENN)
Julia Roberts has banned her actor brother from talking publicly about her and her two children. The superstar actress recently ended her longtime rift with Eric Roberts and invited him to visit her and her and husband Danny Moder's nine-month old twins Phinneaus and Hazel. But he has been banned from talking about them to the press. He tells the New York Daily News, "Mom has told me Mom wants to talk about the kids. "Mom doesn't want Uncle talking about the kids."

Roberts To "Quit Hollywood"?
12 August 2005 (WENN)
Julia Roberts has reportedly made her last movie and will quit acting after appearing on Broadway next year so she can spend time with her baby twins. The Oscar winner recently went back to work for the first time after giving birth to Phinnaeus and Hazel last November, appearing in a music video for rocker Dave Matthews. She has only done voiceover work - for animated movies Charlotte's Web and Ant Bully - since wrapping 2004 movie Ocean's Twelve. Roberts will spend the rest of the year preparing for her theatre debut in Three Days Of Rain which opens next March - and then retire from acting for good. According to sources close to the star, 37-year-old Roberts has had enough of acting, wants to enjoy time with the twins and husband Danny Moder - but she has just one more career goal left to achieve. A friend tells the National Enquirer, "Julia is done with Hollywood and starring in a Broadway play is the chance to make a graceful exit. She's been talking about leaving Los Angeles and stopping the movie roles ever since the twins were born late last November. She wanted a change of scenery, a change of pace and a new challenge." On her Broadway ambitions, the source adds, "She wants to take some chances. Julia doesn't to be known simply as a movie star - she wants to be known as the consummate actress. She wants her kids to be able to look back on her career as something more than just the star of Pretty Woman."

As the Music Goes, Isn't It Ironic?
11 August 2005 (StudioBriefing)
In a settlement underscored with irony, the producers of the movie Mona Lisa Smile have agreed to pay a group of 19 female musicians a total of $66,500 to settle a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission which accused the filmmakers of paying the musicians less than their male counterparts. The film is based on a real-life Wellesley college professor, played by Julia Roberts, who teaches her female students to stand up for their rights. The EEOC had charged that the producers, Revolution Studios and Smile Productions, had acted "with malice or with reckless indifference to the federally protected rights" of the female musicians.

Female Movie Musicians Win Discrimination Case
11 August 2005 (WENN)
Nineteen female musicians who played on the Mona Lisa Smile movie score have won $3,500 each in a legal settlement, after proving they were paid less than their male counterparts. The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced on Tuesday that producers of the Julia Roberts-starring movie - Revolution Studios and Smile Productions LLC - settled the lawsuit but failed to admit they had unfairly paid their male musicians more than women for the same work. EEOC trial lawyer Stella Yamada says, "Musicians have a hard time knowing where to go. We're happy for the females who came forward."

Julia Roberts Draws Attention with Expired Tags
22 July 2005 (WENN)
Oscar-winning actress Julia Roberts shocked residents of Santa Monica, California when she was spotted driving through the coastal town with out of date license plates. The Erin Brockovich star, who owns a home in nearby Venice, ran various errands around Santa Monica yesterday, without her husband Danny Moder or their baby twins Hazel and Phinnaeus by her side. And while she could boast that she was doing her part for the environment by carrying out her chores in an eco-friendly silver Toyota Prius, onlookers couldn't help but notice that her plates clearly displayed an April 2005 expiry date. A local resident scoffs, "It's ridiculous! While I understand it's quite normal to be a few days late, three months is just crazy. If an everyday person with a 9-5 can remember to get it done within a timely fashion, a movie star with a staff to help remind her certainly should be able to." According to California law, a driver whose registration is expired by more than a month but less than a year is liable to pay an extra 60 per cent on top of the standard registration fee.

Morgan Freeman Wins Cybersquatting Case
11 May 2005 (WENN)
Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman has won a cybersquatting case in a ruling by an international arbitrator. The Million Dollar Baby star was yesterday found to have common law rights to the contested internet domain name, which had been registered by a St Kitts and Nevis-based website operator. The operator, identified as Mighty LLC, misused Freeman's trademark to lure surfers to its website in "bad faith", independent arbitrator Peter Nitter said in a ruling. The ruling was announced by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), a United Nations agency which promotes protection of trademarks and patents, and whose arbitration centre resolves disputes over domain names. Freeman joins the ranks of entertainers including Julia Roberts, Spike Lee, Madonna and Eminem who have won their cases under WIPO's procedure.

Julia Roberts Tops Beautiful People List
28 April 2005 (WENN)
Erin Brockovich Oscar winner Julia Roberts has beaten Hollywood's best-looking stars to claim the cover of People magazine's annual 50 Most Beautiful special issue. The new mom beat the Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Aniston love triangle; Jennifer Lopez, Halle Berry, Desperate Housewives stars Eva Longoria and Jesse Metcalfe; and Orlando Bloom to claim an unprecedented third cover. It's the America's Sweethearts star's eighth inclusion in the list - a record she shares with fellow Oscar winner Halle Berry.

Bratt and Wife Expecting Second Child
21 April 2005 (WENN)
Actor Benjamin Bratt and his wife, Talisa Soto, have announced they will become parents for a second time this autumn. The couple, who were married in April 2002, made the announcement in a joint statement yesterday. Their first child, Sophia, was born in December 2002 in New York City. Bratt, 41, and his 38-year-old wife met while filming Pinero, the story of poet-playwright-actor Miguel Pinero. Bratt had previously dated Julia Roberts, who recently gave birth to twins.

Roberts Returns To Acting for Free
12 April 2005 (WENN)
Julia Roberts is to make her acting return after giving birth to twins - for free. The Pretty Woman actress with join Sir Paul McCartney and Robin Williams at a star-studded benefit for Paul Newman's Hole in the Wall Camps - the world's largest association of camps for children with serious illnesses. The Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall event in New York will feature a performance which will be co-produced by veteran entertainer Lou Adler. The full details of the event are being kept a closely guarded secret, but Roberts is expected to team up with Newman for one of the evening's dramatic turns.

Ryan and Crystal Top On-Screen Lovers Poll
21 March 2005 (WENN)
When Harry Met Sally stars Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal have been voted the greatest on-screen couple of all time in a new poll. The sizzling chemistry between the pair in the 1989 romantic comedy beat out competition from second-placed Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart, for their romance in the Oscar-winning 1942 classic Casablanca. Julia Roberts and Richard Gere came third for their team-up in hit 1990 movie Pretty Woman, in the poll commissioned by British chain store Woolworths.

Roberts Struggling with Large Bust
7 March 2005 (WENN)
Actress Julia Roberts is struggling to come to terms with her enlarged bust after giving birth to twins Phinnaeus and Hazel last year. The Ocean's Twelve beauty's chest has expanded so much since she started breast feeding, she struggled to find a suitable dress for this year's Oscars. She eventually settled for a black gown with scooped neck, but complains, "It's the only dress brave enough to hold in my breast line. Yes (I'm serious), this is no joke."

Julia's Baby Photo Treat for Oprah
11 February 2005 (WENN)
Julia Roberts served up an unexpected treat for pal Oprah Winfrey yesterday by letting the talk show queen be the first to show off her twin babies. The movie star sent her friend pictures of herself and babies Phinnaeus and Hazel, which were taken by her cameraman husband Danny Moder at their home in Taos, New Mexico, and gave her permission to broadcast them on her show. Winfrey couldn't wait to show them to her viewers on her program, while cooing over her new 'niece' and 'nephew, ' and she teared up as she read a tender note Roberts sent with the pictures. The Erin Brockovich star wrote, "Dear friend, things here are terrific. Snow is falling as I write to you. Beautiful. As you may have heard on November 28 we doubled the citizenship of our family and life became more recognizable then ever before. Oh, Oprah, the babies are amazing. The way they stare into your eyes, their exuberant smiles, how they begin each day all warm and sleepy, smelling of promise. I suppose I never realized if before, babies aren't really born of their parents, they're born of every kind word, loving gesture, hope and dream their parents ever had. Bliss. Can't wait to see you and fill your arms with our Phinn' and Hazel. Until then, just know there are two more Moders in the world who love you as much as Danny and I do. The warmest embrace from too far away. Yours, Julia." A tearful Winfrey, referring to herself as Auntie O, cooed, "Aren't they precious? They are cute aren't they?" as she looked at the photographs, before stating, "Julia and Danny, your babies are beautiful...Welcome to the world little Moders."

Clooney Tones Down "Raunchy" Language for Roberts
10 February 2005 (WENN)
George Clooney toned down his innuendo-laced banter with Ocean's Twelve co-star Julia Roberts - because he considered such raunchy talk inappropriate around a mum-to-be. While the Hollywood hunk was happy to treat the Pretty Woman like one of the boys on Ocean's Eleven, he carefully monitored what came out of his mouth on the sequel when the actress was pregnant - even though Roberts couldn't understand why he'd cleaned up his humor. Clooney says, "We weren't quite as raunchy around her as we were the first time because all of sudden she was a mom. But she was like, 'Why are you guys suddenly treating me like a grown-up now?'" Roberts gave birth to twins Hazel Patricia and Phinnaeus Walter on November 28.

Angry Mom Downgraded Because of Julia
14 January 2005 (WENN)
The happiest days of Julia Roberts' life turned into a nightmare for another new mum when the movie star stole her luxury suite at Los Angeles' Cedars-Sinai hospital. The unnamed mum had the misfortune of going into labor at the same time as Roberts and had to give up the exclusive recovery suite she had booked last June for the celebrity. The angry woman admits that at first she sympathized with both the Oscar-winner and hospital staff, but now she's hoping to warn other moms-to-be that they'll be forced to downgrade at the celebrity hospital if a star goes into labor. The new mum says, "She was getting all this ridiculous treatment - even though all the other babies need special care too." And she insists Roberts' attitude upset all the other mothers: "She acted like she was the center of the universe... She gave everyone hostile looks." Roberts gave birth to twins Hazel Patricia and Phinnaeus Walter on November 28.

Roberts Plans Pregnancy Movie
11 January 2005 (WENN)
New Hollywood mum Julia Roberts enjoyed pregnancy so much, she's planning a new movie about impending motherhood. The actress, who gave birth to twins Phinnaeus Walter and Hazel Patricia last November, is attempting to obtain film rights to best-selling British author Tony Parsons' new novel The Family Way. The novelist's spokesperson tells Pagesix.Com, "Things are at an advanced stage. No contracts have been signed as yet, but we are currently in talks with Revolution Studios, with whom Julia has a deal."

Uproar Over People's Choice Awards
10 January 2005 (StudioBriefing)
Raising questions about a recently instituted change in the way it conducts its voting, the People's Choice Awards presented Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 911 its trophy for favorite movie of 2004 and Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ for favorite movie drama. The decision had been leaked last week on GoldDerby.com, a website that tracks entertainment awards. The website said that both Moore and Gibson had been tipped off ahead of time that they would win. It also pointed out that while previously winners had been conducted by a Gallup Poll, "which gave a more scientifically accurate reflection of the American people's choices," current voting is conducted online, allowing for political and religious groups to organize massive campaigns to support their favorite films. Other winners included Shrek 2, for best comedy film; Julia Roberts, for favorite female movie star; Johnny Depp, for favorite male movie star; Renée Zellweger, for leading lady; and Brad Pitt, for leading man.

Roberts Buys Rumsfeld's Land
9 January 2005 (WENN)
New mother Julia Roberts has bought 32 acres of prime real estate in Taos, New Mexico - from America's Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Roberts, 37, has been buying up land from neighbors since she took up part-time residence in the state in July 1995. Her latest purchase is adjacent to 80 acres she already owns. According to a warranty deed filed with the Taos County Clerk's office on December 15, Julia's Astral Trust - the entity that holds her real estate properties - bought seven tracts from Rumsfeld in an area of Taos County known as Des Montes. Rumsfeld has extensive real estate holdings in the Taos area, including several houses. Although New Mexico public property records don't show the value of real estate transactions, real estate prices in the Des Montes area range from $110,000 to $125,000 an acre, according to local realtors. That would make Roberts' recent purchase worth several million dollars. Roberts and her husband Danny Moder became first-time parents to twins Hazel Patricia and Phinnaeus Walter in November.

Mustn't See TV
31 December 2004 (StudioBriefing)
It was definitely not a must-see night for NBC Thursday. As all the networks aired reruns, NBC, which once dominated the night, tumbled to third place, with about half the audience of the leader, CBS. Even worse, the network jammed back-to-back episodes of its Friends spinoff Joey into three half-hours of its schedule with disastrous results. The first two half hours in the 8:00 p.m. hour averaged only a 4.4 rating and an 8 share, and viewers almost totally bailed out for the third half-hour at 9:00 p.m. when the sitcom sank to its lowest rating ever, a 3.9/7. The 9:00 hour was handily won by CBS's CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, which produced the highest numbers of the night, an 11.5/20. At 10:00 p.m., CBS, with Without a Trace, remained in the lead with a 9.5/16, while NBC placed second with E.R., which managed only a 5.3/9. CBS averaged a 9.3/16 for the night, followed by ABC (which aired the Julia Roberts movie, My Best Friend's Wedding), with a 5.0/9. NBC placed third with a 4.5/8.

Julia Is Photo Magazine's New Cover Girl
30 December 2004 (WENN)
Julia Roberts' portrayal as a photographer in new movie Closer was so spot on, it has earned her a cover shot on prestigious lens magazine American Photo. The actress graces the cover of next month's issue and agreed to give the magazine an exclusive interview about the time she spent on the other side of the camera. She was thrilled to be asked because, as she told editors, she's a fan of the magazine and reads it religiously. Her husband, cameraman Danny Moder subscribes to the glossy. In the interview, Roberts reveals she rarely takes family pictures because her husband is a master with a camera, but she plans to take lessons so she can snap her twins Phinnaeus and Hazel.

Roberts Almost Never Made It to Hospital
24 December 2004 (WENN)
Julia Roberts almost failed to make it to the hospital to give birth to her twins last month - because her car broke down. The Oscar-winning beauty, 37, finally made it to the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Hollywood with husband Danny Moder when a passing taxi driver picked them up. A source says, "Danny said, 'I did everything I could to keep Julia calm, and played it really cool like it was no problem. But deep down I was panicking big time.'" Roberts later gave birth to daughter Hazel and son Phinnaeus after undergoing an emergency caesarian section.

Did Julia Deceive About Delivery Date?
16 December 2004 (WENN)
New mum Julia Roberts reportedly duped the world's press with the real due date of her twins, so reporters and paparazzi wouldn't be hounding her as the delivery date approached. Australian publication Woman's Day has learned that the actress' babies were actually due on December 6- a month before Roberts said they were expected in the New Year. A friend tells the magazine, "She had fans hanging around the neighborhood and people going through her trash (when she announced she was pregnant). Julia felt that if she let everyone, including many of her friends, believe that the babies were due in January, that's when the attention on her would be at its greatest. She never actually lied about the due date of her twins - newspapers just assumed it was January and she let them make that assumption."

Movie Reviews: 'Ocean's Twelve'
10 December 2004 (StudioBriefing)
It may be as disposable as a stick of chewing gum, but critics suggest that Ocean's Twelve is also about as enjoyable. Lou Lumenick in the New York Post employs a different metaphor: "This slickly entertaining sequel is all about savoring eye candy," he writes. Steven Rea in the Philadelphia Inquirer compares it with a vacation: "As soon as it's over, and you find yourself back in the harsh light of the workaday world, you'll be hard-pressed to remember what happened. Except that you'll remember enjoying yourself -- immensely." Indeed, Wesley Morris writes in the Boston Globe, "It's so well made and undeniably entertaining it should leap from tall buildings and wear a big 'S' on its chest." Most of the critics do complain perfunctorily about the script -- or the lack thereof. "A fizzy no-brainer" is the way Eleanor Ringel Gillespie describes it in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Michael Wilmington in the Chicago Tribune suggests that "the improbable plotting is part of the charm." And clearly the critics are charmed by the camaraderie of the multi-million-dollar cast, which includes George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Andy Garcia and a host of big names in cameo roles. They also bestow much praise on director-cinematographer Steven Soderbergh, alternating his art-film projects with a commercial one the way Frank Sinatra, who starred in the original Ocean's Eleven, did with dramas and comedy/musicals. "When Ocean's Twelve works, it's a blast," writes Manohla Dargis in the New York Times. But Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times is not amused. "A lethargic would-be entertainment as well as a dispiriting vanity project, it is such a misfire that it makes it hard to remember what was special about its predecessor," he writes.

Roberts Takes Her Babies Home
9 December 2004 (WENN)
Julia Roberts and her baby twins have left hospital after an eight day stay while doctors tested the tots' lung development. Roberts' daughter Hazel, who, with brother Phinnaeus, was born six weeks early last month, was placed in an incubator shortly after her birth as medics kept a round-the-clock vigil on her. Doctors told the worried Pretty Woman star that Hazel was making good progress and that there should be no further "complications". An insider says, "Doctors tried to reassure Julia that the chances are good Hazel will be fine and there should be no long-term complications."

Roberts Is Still Highest-Paid Actress
8 December 2004 (WENN)
New mother Julia Roberts has been given an extra reason to celebrate - she's topped The Hollywood Reporter's annual list of highest-paid actresses yet again. The Oscar-winning star, who gave birth to twins Hazel Patricia and Phinnaeus Walter late last month, pulls in a salary of $20 million per picture. Others named in the Women In Entertainment issue are Cameron Diaz, who also takes in $20 million, and Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon and Drew Barrymore, who each earn $15 million. The publication also looks at the salaries of "next generation" actresses, with Kirsten Dunst earning $8 million, Lindsay Lohan pulling in $7.5 million and $3 million being paid to Jessica Alba and Mandy Moore. Sarah Michelle Gellar trails the roster with a salary of $2 million.

The top 10 is as follows: 1. Julia Roberts - $20 Million 2. Cameron Diaz - $20 Million 3. Nicole Kidman - $15 Million 4. Reese Witherspoon - $15 Million 5. Drew Barrymore - $15 Million 6. Halle Berry - $14 Million 7. Sandra Bullock - $12-15 Million 8. Angelina Jolie - $12-15 Million 9. Renee Zellweger - $12 Million 10. Jennifer Lopez - $12 Million

Movie Reviews: 'Closer'
3 December 2004 (StudioBriefing)
Mike Nichols' Closer is opening on fewer than 500 screens today, but it is touching off widespread critical debate. A.O. Scott in the New York Times hails Nichols as one of the few filmmakers "who are capable of infusing the bodily expressions of erotic desire with dramatic force and psychological meaning." Leslie Morris in the Boston Globe remarks that "it's a show of the director's goodness that a movie fundamentally preoccupied with interpersonal ugliness is allowed to end on a convincing note of beauty." Bob Longino in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution describes the movie as "compelling, unsettling and finely acted." Peter Howell, in the Toronto Star calls it "a Nichols signature movie, one of his best in a long career and of a piece with Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Carnal Knowledge." On the other hand, Kenneth Turan in the Los Angeles Times concludes that what the film "lacks is a compelling reason to see it. Despite involved acting from Julia Roberts, Jude Law, Natalie Portman and Clive Owen and Nichols' impeccable professionalism as a director, the end result is, to quote one of the characters, 'a bunch of sad strangers photographed beautifully.'" Jack Mathews in the New York Daily News remarks that while the actors are all "terrific," the movie "still manages to be unpleasant." John Anderson in Newsday remarks that the movie winds up being a case of "bad Pinter meets bad Updike, dancing to the rat-a-tat rhythms of an E.R. episode." Similarly, Joe Morgenstern writes in the Wall Street Journal: "The movie is insistently playlike, if rarely playful, thanks to the director's fondness for artificial, rat-a-tat-tat rhythms of speech that sound like parodies of drawing-room comedy." Bob Strauss in the Los Angeles Daily News comments that the film "offers only intermittent satisfaction." And Philip Wuntch's comments in the Dallas Morning News would seem to apply to his fellow critics when he remarks: "Closer reaches out and grabs all but the most reluctant viewer. Some spectators will be bored, but more will be shaken and stirred."

Julia Plans Lengthy Break
3 December 2004 (WENN)
New mother Julia Roberts has started telling fans to get used to not seeing her on the big screen - because she'll only be signing up for projects that blow her away. The 37-year-old Closer actress, who gave birth to twins at the weekend, insists she's planning a lengthy break away from the limelight to become a full-time mom and she'll only act if scripts are impossible to turn down. She explains, "The script will have to blow me away. The babies will be a great factor, like anything that makes your life more interesting and more enjoyable. Scripts will have to continue to compete with the quality of my life."

Review Board Finds 'Neverland' the Best
2 December 2004 (StudioBriefing)
The annual movie awards season dawned Wednesday as the National Board of Review, which traditionally hands out the year's first honors, named Finding Neverland, the biography of Peter Pan creator J.M. Barrie, the best film of the year. Jamie Foxx, who starred in another biopic -- about singer Ray Charles -- was voted best actor for Ray, and Annette Bening, best actress for her performance in Istvan Szabo's Being Julia. Michael Mann was named best director for Collateral. The stars of Closer -- Jude Law, Julia Roberts, Clive Owen, and Natalie Portman -- received an award for "ensemble acting." The film opens Friday.

Clooney Begs Off TV Appearances with Aggravated Disc
30 November 2004 (WENN)
George Clooney has been forced to cancel a string of press appearances to promote the Ocean's Eleven sequel Ocean's Twelve after aggravating a ruptured disc in his back. The movie star has scrapped appearances on The Late Show with David Letterman and Oprah Winfrey's daytime show while he recovers. Insiders claim he's in too much pain to travel. The new sequel, opening next week in the US, is directed by original Ocean's Eleven helmer Steven Soderbergh and also stars Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Julia Roberts.

Portman Ready for Nude Internet Coverage
30 November 2004 (WENN)
Actress Natalie Portman is comfortable with the inevitable prospect of seeing her naked body splashed across the internet, after her new movie Closer hits cinemas. The sexy screen star plays a stripper in the raunchy film - in which she appears alongside Julia Roberts - and she's prepared for the fact stills grabbed from her nude scenes will soon dominate celebrity websites. She says, "Yeah, it'll be nude celebrities dotcom. But that's fine. I'm not scared. I'm brave. I feel like I've got to a point in my life where everything I do is active rather than reactive." However, Portman laughs off theories she agreed to the steamy role in an intentional effort to abolish her former child star reputation. She adds, "I'm not doing things to prove anything. That makes me comfortable with whatever people walk away with. I can still carry on my own life without being hurt."

Roberts Gives Birth to Twins
29 November 2004 (WENN)
Actress Julia Roberts has given birth to twins - more than a month before they were due. The Erin Brockovich star, married to cameraman Daniel Moder, is now a proud mother to a boy and a girl, named Phinnaeus Walter and Hazel Patricia. Roberts' spokeswoman Marcy Engelman said yesterday, "Roberts gave birth early this morning at a Southern California hospital. Mother and babies are doing great." The babies' safe delivery comes after Roberts' pregnancy scare last month, when she was confined to bed after suffering early contractions.

Pregnant Roberts Misses 'Closer' Press
24 November 2004 (WENN)
Pregnant Julia Roberts pulled out of press for her new movie Closer just 24 hours before Monday's interviews. The actress, who is set to give birth to twins in January, missed out on weekend press for another new movie Ocean's Twelve, but she was expected to join Closer co-stars Jude Law, Clive Owen and Natalie Portman for publicity in Los Angeles. But Roberts, who was admitted to hospital with contractions earlier this month, was a no show for press calls. Law understands, "She's resting. It was touch and go. We knew that she had to rest and this sort of situation has to be on the day. What's important is that she listens to herself and the doctors and the baby." Roberts also pulled out of Monday night's Hollywood premiere. George Clooney joked about her absence from the Ocean's Twelve press junkets: "I think it's all a bluff. She wants to get some attention."

Roberts Fury Over Zeta-Jones' Film Billing
4 November 2004 (WENN)
Pregnant actress Julia Roberts is furious her film pal Catherine Zeta-Jones has been given top billing on the posters for the forthcoming Ocean's Twelve movie. While Roberts played Tess Ocean in the 2001 crime caper Ocean's Eleven, Welsh beauty Zeta-Jones is a new addition to the film series as Brad Pitt's onscreen love interest Isabel Lahiri in the sequel. The Pretty Woman star, who is expecting twins in January, was horrified to see Zeta-Jones given fourth place on the poster after George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon, while Roberts languishes at the bottom underneath Andy Garcia, Don Cheadle and Bernie Mac. A film source says, "Julia's not happy. She was in the original Ocean's film - Catherine wasn't - and she assumed her name would be first. It might sound petty, but being top means a lot in Hollywood. It means you are the biggest star. Julia and Catherine get on well on a personal level - but this is business."

Julia Roberts in Hospital
28 October 2004 (WENN)
Pregnant Hollywood star Julia Roberts is reportedly in a Los Angeles hospital after experiencing early contractions. Quoting an unnamed source Tuesday, People magazine wrote the 36-year old Pretty Woman star was taken to the hospital by her husband Danny Moder after experiencing symptoms that she was about to go into labor - two months ahead of schedule. Roberts is expecting a set of twins - one boy, one girl - in early January. Mother and babies are said to be fine, but Roberts has allegedly been told to rest in bed until she delivers, hindering her commitments to promote upcoming films Closer and Ocean's Twelve. However, Roberts' baby shower took place as planned in her hospital room.

Grant Mocks Roberts' "Big Mouth"
26 October 2004 (WENN)
British actor Hugh Grant prompted Oprah Winfrey to jump to her pal Julia Roberts' defense on Friday, after he mocked the Oscar-winning actress' "big mouth". Grant appeared on Winfrey's chat show to promote his upcoming movie Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason alongside Renee Zellweger and Colin Firth, when he was asked to share his thoughts on his Notting Hill co-star, Roberts. He quipped, "Very big-mouthed! Literally, physically, she has a very big mouth. It is a very big mouth. When I was kissing her I was aware of a faint echo." As Winfrey stifled her laughter, she said, "She's one of the nicest people I ever met." Grant jokingly hit back, "I wouldn't go that far..." He also poked fun at his other leading ladies, branding Emma Thompson a real-life man and declaring that Julianne Moore hates him.

Zeta-Jones Looked After Pregnant Roberts
18 October 2004 (WENN)
Catherine Zeta-Jones made sure pregnant co-star Julia Roberts was well looked after on the set of movie sequel Ocean's Twelve. The Welsh beauty - herself a mum of two - admits expecting actresses receive extra special treatment on film sets, and she was only too willing to join her colleagues in ensuring Roberts' time working on the Ocean's Eleven follow-up was a relaxing experience. Zeta-Jones explains, "Julia's been well looked after by all of us. You get really spoiled when you're pregnant on a movie set. I remember what it was like when I was pregnant with Dylan and I was making Traffic. I had people running around doing everything for me, my feet were getting massaged, my toes were getting rubbed, and people would even come over and rub my belly from time to time."

Roberts Lines Up First Post-Pregnancy Role
29 September 2004 (WENN)
Julia Roberts is set to star in romantic comedy Seven-Year Switch after she gives birth to twins in the new year. The Oscar winner, 36, is in talks to play a woman fast approaching the seventh year of a relationship when she starts to experience the proverbial itch and wonders what might have been if she had made different choices in her life. The Frank Capra-esque film will be directed by Mike Nichols, who also helmed Roberts' forthcoming movie, Closer. Meanwhile, the actress is currently on maternity leave, after spending the summer in Europe filming sequel Ocean's Twelve opposite George Clooney and Brad Pitt.

Roberts Buys Malibu Retreat
25 August 2004 (WENN)
Movie beauty Julia Roberts has bought a secluded Malibu, California mansion to raise her unborn twins in - away from th