Spielberg Snags MLK Movie Rights

Siblings plan to fight Dexter King's sale of movie rights to their father's life

(NEWSER) - The sale of the movie rights to Martin Luther King Jr.'s life has revived the feud among his three surviving children, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Martin Luther King III and Bernice King say their brother Dexter—chief executive of the King estate—only informed them of the plans for a biopic to be directed by Steven Spielberg yesterday. The two do not consider the Dreamworks deal valid and they plan to fight it. More»

Actor indulges in wee-hours phone calls, prima donna behavior on set

(NEWSER) - With Russell Crowe's latest film on the horizon, a new book about DreamWorks is perfectly timed to take advantage of curiosity about the famously short-tempered actor. Some juicy details from Nicole LaPorte's The Men Who Would Be King: An Almost Epic Tale of Moguls, Movies, and a Company called DreamWorks, courtesy of Gawker :

• Crow began a 3am phone call with a Gladiator producer by barking: "You motherfucker. I will kill you with my bare hands."

Dakota Fanning-Kristen Stewart vehicle divides critics

(NEWSER) - Critics praise the performances in The Runaways, about Joan Jett's seminal '70s band, but whether the flick succeeds is up for debate. Some takes:

• "Say what you will about the Runaways," Peter Travers writes in Rolling Stone , but "they never played it safe. The movie does." He wants more out of the verboten relationship between Dakota Fanning's Cherie Currie and Kristen Stewart's Jett. Still, "Fanning scores a knockout."

If famed Packers coach's quotes don't do it, De Niro surely will

(NEWSER) - The upcoming movie starring Robert De Niro as Vince Lombardi will undoubtedly be the “greatest sports movie ever,” Julian Sancton writes. The famed Green Bay Packers coach was an inexhaustible source of quotable remarks, and a top-notch sports flick must have at least one memorable line, he writes in Vanity Fair . If Lombardi's wisdom somehow fails to do the trick, the film still has De Niro, star of the best sports movie ever, Raging Bull. Some Lombardi quotes: More»

Robert F. Kennedy film in the works at New Regency

(NEWSER) - If shelling out $10 to see a biopic about Robert F. Kennedy doesn’t thoroughly excite you, perhaps this will change your mind: RFK will be played by none other than Matt Damon. Well, make that might be played. Deadline reports the deal is done and Damon is attached—but the actor wants to see the script before confirming the project is a go. More»