Older, Wiser Pitt Happy With Life's New Path

Pitt mingles with other panel members; trial ends in no contest plea

(NEWSER) - Hollywood hunk Brad Pitt showed up for jury duty in Los Angeles after a judge ordered him to serve or be slapped with contempt charges, the BBC reports, drawing on a series of breathless updates by TMZ.com. Luckily for the busy actor, yesterday's trial ended immediately after a no contest plea to drunk driving charges. More»

Brad and Angelina make the list, but only at No. 3

(NEWSER) - Jay-Z and Beyoncé are Hollywood's top-earning couple. In the annual Forbes rankings, they finished No. 1 for the second year in a row by pulling in a combined $122 million between June 2008 and June 2009. The others in the top five:

• No. 2: Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart, $69 million.
• No. 3: Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie: $55 million.
• No. 4: Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, $48 million.
• No. 5: David and Victoria Beckham, $46 million.

(NEWSER) - Javier Bardem is in talks to join Julia Roberts in the film adaptation of Elizabeth Gilbert's bestselling memoir Eat, Pray, Love, reports Variety. Roberts is slated to play the author, and Bardem would play love interest Felipe, whom the real-life Gilbert eventually married. Brad Pitt is producing. Elsewhere: More»

Slumdog , Benjamin Button , Milk join Reader and Frost/Nixon in best-picture fight

(NEWSER) - The countdown begins to Hollywood's night of nights, with big guns that "are easier to admire and respect than to love" competing for top honors, writes David Gritten in the Daily Mail. No doubt the tabloids are hoping for a Brangelina sweep of the Best Actor and Best Actress categories. Will underdog fave Slumdog Millionaire nab Best Film? Click the image to view a slideshow of the nominated actors; to view trailers of the best-picture nominees, click "video." More»

(NEWSER) - The Oscars indicate who Hollywood thinks deserves a statue, but if you want to know what insiders really think about stars, start talking money. Forbes did just that, asking industry vets to rank talent based on their ability to make a project pop, from early hype to DVD sales. Here are the top 5.

• Will Smith: His perfect 10 rating comes from a demonstrated ability to draw crowds. His films have made more than $5.2 billion worldwide, and seven of his flicks opened consecutively at No. 1 in the 2000s.