The latest news from Hollywood

Fergie, ''King of the Hill'', and Johnathon Schaech made news the week of April 18, 2008

Music
+ The details of May 30’s Sex and the City: The Movie have been guarded as zealously as Carrie Bradshaw might seek out a private Manolo Blahnik sale. But director Michael Patrick King is starting to spill. He tells EW that Fergie just recorded the film’s opening number. ”It’s called ‘Labels & Love,”’ he says. ”It’s an entirely new song with lyrics, but it has the Sex and the City theme as the DNA — on steroids.” According to King, the singer feared she’d be too busy with two new singles to record the tune. But when New Line (which is releasing Sex) showed her the film, she changed her mind. And since this is a film about mouthy divas, Jennifer Hudson, who plays Carrie’s assistant, will lend her pipes to the ballad ”All Dressed Up in Love” — written by MC Jack Splash and Gnarls Barkley’s Cee-Lo — which plays during the end credits. ”She sings it like nobody’s business,” says King. Just as we’d expect.
+ Alicia Keys is gearing up for the premiere of her new video for ”Teenage Love Affair,” the third single from the singer-songwriter’s third studio CD, As I Am. Conceived as an homage to Spike Lee‘s 1988 classic School Daze — a musical dramedy about two groups of college students who clash during Homecoming weekend — the clip was directed by Chris Robinson and features cameos by actors Derek Luke (Lions for Lambs) and Tristan Wilds (The Wire). ”It’s a really creative way to talk about your first love affair,” says Keys. ”And it’s cool to be able to honor Spike and an iconic movie by making it up-to-date and giving it new edge 20 years later.” — Missy Schwartz and Margeaux Watson

Television
+ You’d think the King of the Hill writers would’ve been surprised to hear that Fox just renewed their animated comedy for a 13th season. After all, for the past five years, the network has bumped their show around Sunday nights, preempted it for sports, and even canceled it briefly during season 10. But they react to their show’s fate much as their characters stand around in the alley sipping beer: with an unfazed Ayup and Mm-hmm. ”It used to be very frustrating,” says exec producer John Altschuler. ”Until we realized we do a show with great writers and great actors about really interesting subject matter, so let’s just keep doing it and hope for the best.” At this point, they can envision a world where KOTH lasts forever. ”It’s like inductive reasoning tells you that because the sun always comes up, it’s gonna keep coming up,” says exec producer Jim Dauterive. ”That’s the way I feel about this show.” — Josh Wolk

Movies
+ Have you met Eric Brody of YouTube’s EricsVideoBlog fame? He’s young, single, and works logging evidence at an L.A. police station. He also seems to have stumbled upon an odd video of a shooting titled Case 1017. He posted that clip last month and generated more than one million views. Thing is, Eric’s not real — he’s actually a paid actor named Ben Messmer, who’s been working to promote Screen Gems’ upcoming chiller Quarantine, starring Johnathon Schaech. Says marketing president Marc Weinstock of fan reaction to the Cloverfield-like stunt: ”They think if we’re willing to spend this much time creating this alternate world, then the movie must be cool enough to invest in.” He’ll find out if it worked on Oct. 17 when Quarantine hits theaters. — Nicole Sperling

Check out our HI blog at hollywoodinsider.ew.com for breaking entertainment news

Related Articles