FROM THE NEWS DESK: Celeb Cat Fights, Franchise Fatigue & More

By McKay Heim and George Larrimore

DUELING DIVAS: This is one of those loaded expressions that we hate to use because men use it when they want to prove that “women cannot work together!” But sometimes nothing else works: CAT FIGHT! It allegedly happened during the cross-country run of the once Broadway show “Legends,” which is about two veteran show biz dames who hate each other but are forced to work together one last time. It starred Linda Evans and Joan Collins, famous for baring claws all over the place on “Dynasty” back in the ‘80s. Now that the show has wrapped (Sunday night in Hartford) Collins is claiming that during the run of the show Linda took the physical parts too seriously, with the result being that Joan got hurt and now can’t wear a ring on her right hand. Among other “injuries.” So in this morning’s New York Post possibly the most outrageous quote of all time, from Evan’s manager Mike Greenfield, “Joan Collins is the biggest [bleeping] sack of [bleep]. She’s the single most unprofessional actress working in Hollywood.” We got no comment from Collins’ people on behalf of their bleeping client.

GRAY LINING IN SILVER CLOUD?: Everybody’s gushing about the current (and presumably the short-term-future) Box Office given the worldwide mega numbers for “Spider-Man 3” and the Big Buzz for what could possibly be the last episode of “Pirates of the Caribbean.” But over the weekend our boss, the ever-clever Rob Silverstein, coined a new phrase, “Franchise Fatigue.” His thought being that by the time the summer movie season ends that moviegoers will be tired of the sequels and the numbers will taper off steeply. But how about this: where are the franchise movies for 2008 and beyond? Right now here’s what’s in the pipeline for next summer: “Indiana Jones 4,” “The Incredible Hulk,” “The Mummy 3,” “The Dark Knight” and “Hellboy 2: The Golden Army.” And a few more.

HYPE PATROL: Got a splendid Press Release and Interview Invitation earlier today. We cannot match this writing; In the past, if you needed higher cheekbones or a wider nose, plastic surgery was the only option. Now, thanks to fillers, patients no longer need to go under the knife to get the look they need. Instead, the face is like a piece of clay that can be molded and shaped to achieve different looks – all without surgery. “Shaped and molded?” Sounds like what I had to do with my brother’s ‘73 Malibu after I clipped the corner of my parents house with it. But the release does say that the doctor who does this miraculous work was on “The View” just last week.

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