August Keith Urban & Nicole Kidman Updates

The Urbans are back from the 2012 Olympics in London. Here's some tidbits for the next few months!

Keith is back in the studio. So far we've heard about the new songs ”Tidal Wave”, "Lucky Charm", and "Red Camaro". He's been putting out updates every week so stay tuned. The latest update is that the new album should be out early 2013 with a tour planned for late that year. Keith is also headlining WEFest in Minnesota with Carrie Underwood!

A few readers have emailed me about purchasing Darren Percival's new cd in mp3 format. Unfortunately unless you live in Australia that is currently impossible. For a reliable vendor, check Sanity.com.au (http://www.sanity.com.au/products/2212200/Happy_Home). I've purchased from them for over 6 years and they are a great source for Australian music and movies. Darren's cd is fantastic and check out his cover of "Wuthout You" that also includes backing vocals from fellow Voice contestant Mahalia Barnes!

Josh Turner, who helped induct Keith Urban into the Grand Ole Opry was the guest host on last week's Country Countdown with Lon Helton. He spoke quite fondly of Keith and the fact that everyone he talked to pre-ceremony thought that Keith was already an Opry Member.

Nicole is preparing for her next role as Grace Kelly in Grace of Monaco. Paz Vega has joined the cast as opera star Maria Callas. There have been rumors that The Artist's Jean Dujardin is in talks to co-star with Nicole as Prince Rainier but there is no reliable confirmation for the story.

Nicole was quoted in the French magazine Positif. She may be spending a few days filming a small role in Lars Von Trier's The Nymphomaniac with Charlotte Gainsbourg. Gainsbourg was in Von Trier's last film, Melancholia. We really liked that film, but Von Trier has a way of making one film you love, and the next one not appealing at all. Nicole's choice not to do the rest of the films in the planned Dogville trilogy was a wise one. This could be quite an interesting part for her.

There were a few soundbites from Nicole and Clive the day they were nominated the Emmy. These two didn't get around as much as the others but we really like their words about the team effort of the production.


Nicole - "Thank you Academy. I am so happy to share this nomination with Clive [Owen]. It is a true acknowledgment of Martha Gellhorn’s life and amazing work. Discovering and playing her, under the guidance and passion of the great Phil Kaufman, was a joy and a privilege.”

Clive - "I am really thrilled to be nominated for 'Hemingway and Gellhorn.' I had such a great time working with the brilliant Phil Kaufman and the wonderful Nicole Kidman."

And finally, Dierks Bentley gave an interview while he was in Australia earlier this year. He said some really nice things about Keith and Nicole. Not many country sites picked up on the story.

You’re also friends with Keith Urban, right?
Yeah, Keith is a buddy. He lives down the street from me. I go to his place and we talk about kids. We watch them swim in the pool while we talk about guitars and how amazing it is to have a couple of girls.

What would surprise people about him and Nicole Kidman?
They’re great, down-home people. They just cruise about like any normal family. Keith’s super-devoted to his wife and kids – crazy about them. And he really loves music. I’ve seen some commercials for The Voice down here, which looks really neat.

Congratulations Nicole Kidman, Emmy Nominee!

It was a great morning for the cast and crew of HBO's Hemingway and Gellhorn! The producation amassed a total of 15 nominations, the most of any stand-alone television movie this year. Congrats to everyone! This is Nicole's first Emmy nomination!

"Such an honor to be included in these group of nominees. Am so excited to go to my first Emmy awards. Nic xx"

"My husband’s got the day off, so we will go and pick up our daughters from this little kind of preschool thing and then we’ll go get Popsicles," she said. "That sounds cheesy. But it's 90-something degrees out, so that will be our celebration."

A full list of Hemingway and Gellhorn's nominations

-Outstanding TV Miniseries or Movie
-Lead Actor in a TV Miniseries or Movie - Clive Owen
-Lead Actress in a TV Miniseries or Movie - Nicole Kidman
-Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie - David Strathairn
-Outstanding Directing For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Dramatic Special - Philip Kaufman
-Outstanding Art Direction For A Miniseries Or Movie
-Outstanding Cinematography For A Miniseries Or Movie
-Outstanding Costumes For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Special
-Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing For A Miniseries Or A Movie
-Outstanding Hairstyling For A Miniseries Or A Movie
-Outstanding Makeup For A Miniseries Or A Movie (Non-Prosthetic)
-Outstanding Music Composition For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Special (Original Dramatic Score
-Outstanding Sound Editing For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Special
-Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Miniseries Or A Movie
-Outstanding Special Visual Effects In A Supporting Role


Again congratulations everyone! We can't wait to see Nicole on the red carpet!

Nicole Kidman's HBO Drama Hemingway To Film In San Francisco

'Hemingway' will be filmed in San Francisco


San Francisco may not seem much like Ernest Hemingway's Havana or Key West, Fla., right now, but just wait until Hollywood works its magic. And you won't have to wait long.

HBO Films has agreed to base the production of the new film "Hemingway & Gellhorn" in San Francisco, providing a welcome boost to the local film industry and injecting a little more star power around town, city officials said Wednesday.

The film, starring Clive Owen as Hemingway and Nicole Kidman as war correspondent Martha Gellhorn, examines the duo's tumultuous romance and five-year marriage. Much of the film is set against the backdrop of the Spanish Civil War, as well as depicting Shanghai, Havana and Key West. Shooting is expected to start in February.

None of the film is set in San Francisco, but director Philip Kaufman said the city's historic buildings and varied topography make it ideal to shoot more intimate scenes depicting World War II-era locales, said Jennifer Matz from the mayor's economic development office.

The deal is the culmination of a yearlong effort by Mayor Gavin Newsom's administration to attract the production, city officials said. HBO plans to hire about 230 local employees, with the project expected to create about 800 total jobs, said Laurel Barsotti, permit coordinator for the city's Film Commission. HBO is expected to spend more than $10 million locally.

The deal marks a major coup for the city's film and television workers and Newsom's efforts to attract such projects in the wake of his ouster of Stefanie Coyote as executive director of the Film Commission and NBC's canceling the TV series "Trauma."

"This proves that we've become a destination place to film for more things than just the Golden Gate Bridge or Transamerica Pyramid," Barsotti said.

- John Coté

Keith Urban And Nicole Kidman Updates 08/10/10

How many times have we heard the skeptics tell us Nicole is going to cable because her career is dead? BAHAHAHAHA!


HBO is building an 'Empire'

Other key dates: The third season of Gabriel Byrne-starrer "In Treatment" will return in October; five-part miniseries "Mildred Pierce," starring Kate Winslet and Guy Pearce, will debut in March; comedy "Enlightened," with Laura Dern, will begin in January; telepic "The Sunset Limited," starring Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel L. Jackson, will debut in February; and telepic "Hemingway and Gellhorn," with Nicole Kidman and Clive Owen, will begin filming in February for a 2012 debut.



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And in honor of the skeptics' love for Twitter, STS has now fixed its blog feed. So if you follow us you should now get one concise tweet for each new blog instead of multiple notifications.

Keith and Nicole? They may use the internet to promote their work and charitable endeavors, but they don't need it for their relationship. They actually communicate!
This funny clip from the 44th ACM's was just posted yesterday and how appropriate for the occasion!

Nicole Kidman To Co-Star in HBO Film With Clive Owen; Update On Trespass

Some exciting news and as we predicted, Nicole had tentative projects brewing behind the scenes that we had no idea about. See skeptics, that's how it works! Let us be the first to ask Inept Team Maclen: Party Of One (before the lies start running from his mouth) when will he begin to bash Kate Winslet for starring in an HBO original movie?


BAHAHAHAHA!


















HBO Greenlights 'Hemingway & Gellhorn' Starring Clive Owen And Nicole Kidman


EXCLUSIVE: It took James Gandolfini 6 years to get the story of Ernest Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn to the screen. Now HBO has just given the green light to Hemingway & Gellhorn, an original movie produced by Gandolfini, who first was attached to star in the project in 2004 when it was envisioned as a feature. He then brought Hemingway to HBO through his Attaboy production banner, which has been based at the pay cable network since 2006. It was worth the wait now that it stars Clive Owen and Nicole Kidman as one of American literature’s most famous couples. Philip Kaufman will direct from a script by Barbara Turner and Jerry Stahl. Filming is slated for next year in Northern California. Gandolfini will executive produce with his producing partner at Attaboy, Alex Ryan, as well as Turner, Philip Kaufman and Peter Kaufman. Gandolfini’s managers Nancy Sanders and Mark Armstrong will serve as co-executive producers and Trish Hofmann as producer.

In 1936, Ernest Hemingway was already a legend when he met Gellhorn, a novelist and one of the greatest war correspondents of the 20th Century, in a local bar in Key West. Their tumultuous romance and subsequent 5-year marriage took them to the Spanish Civil War as Gellhorn stood toe-to-toe with the literary master, putting his famous bravado and iconic style to the test. Gellhorn's competitive nature inspired the novelist to pen one of its most famous novels, For Whom the Bell Tolls.

Hemingway & Gellhorn follows a development path similar to another biopic, Grey Gardens, which also started off as a feature and went through a long gestation period before finding its way to HBO with big-screen stars Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore onboard. It went on to become last year's most lauded TV movie . HBO’s other recent high-profile original films include You Don’t Know Jack starring Al Pacino, The Special Relationship starring Dennis Quaid and the upcoming Cinema Verite staring Diane Lane, Tim Robbins and Gandolfini.

Kidman recently finished shooting comedy Just Go with It opposite Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston and will next star in Rabbit Hole. Owen is currently filming The Killer Elite and will begin production on Juan Carlos Fresnadillo's Intruders this summer.

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Cage, Kidman take 'Trespass'

Duo sign on for Schumacher action-adventure pic
By DAVE MCNARY

Nicole Kidman and Nicolas Cage have decided to "Trespass," signing on to play a married couple in Nu Image/Millennium Films' action-adventure. Joel Schumacher directs.

Nu Image/Millennium is aiming for an August production start in Louisiana. Irwin Winkler, Avi Lerner and Danny Dimbort will produce.

Story, written by Karl Gajdusek and Eli Richbourg, centers on a husband and wife taken hostage by four brutal perpetrators seeking easy cash. Complications ensue amid the unexpected discovery of betrayal and deception.

"Trespass" marks the fourth collaboration between Cage and Nu Image/Millennium Films following the recently wrapped 3D adventure "Drive Angry," "The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans" and "The Wicker Man."

Exec producers on "Trespass" are Trevor Short, Boaz Davidson, John Thompson and Rene Besson.

Cage will be seen next month in Disney's "The Sorcerer's Apprentice." Kidman is in Sony's romantic comedy "Just Go With It," due out in February.