Morning Briefing:
Drowned man talking: Talking to David Blaine was never going to be easy: The magician had been living underwater for five days when we spoke to him on Friday. (His current stunt entails being completely submerged for one week in a tank outside New York's Lincoln Center, and on his final night attempting to break the world record for breath holding -- currently at 8 minutes and 58 seconds -- while simultaneously escaping from 150 pounds of chains.) His hands had turned a deadly shade of gray, and the water, at least when we first saw him, was leaving him feeling "itchy." Blaine donned a headset-equipped diving helmet to do media interviews (at other times, he communicates via magnetic writing board), and we'd hoped to get his take on Stephen Colbert and ask him whether he knows if Britney Spears is pregnant. But by the time we got to speak to him, the lack of oxygen was beginning to take its toll and he seemed sluggish and dazed. After indicating ignorance on the first two questions and not answering others ("Have people thrown anything at you? If so, what?"), Blaine rallied enough to get off one smart-alecky non-answer. When asked what has been the oddest thing he's seen during his stint at Lincoln Center, he shot back: "This one guy, he said his shoelace was untied."
"Mission: Impossible" wins and still loses: Despite coming in first at the box office over the weekend, the consensus is that "Mission: Impossible III" had a poor opening, weaker (when adjusted for inflation) than either of the previous two installments of the franchise. The first "Mission: Impossible" brought in what would be $67 million in today's dollars on its opening weekend in 1996. The sequel debuted in 2000 with the equivalent of $70 million. "M:I III" made a much lower than expected $48 million -- which is just a little less than Katie Holmes' prenup, at least according to the London Daily Mail. The paper reports that Holmes and Tom Cruise have finally hashed out an agreement that provides Holmes and her baby with $19 million whether she and Cruise marry or not. If they do get hitched and then divorce, she'll reportedly get an additional $33.5 million. (Box Office Mojo, London Daily Mail via Page Six)
Richards gets brain surgery? Although he was released from a New Zealand hospital last week after he hit his head falling from a coconut tree in Fiji, Keith Richards apparently wasn't 100 percent better -- media reports from Down Under say that he went back into the hospital for surgery over the weekend to remove a brain clot. The New Zealand Herald writes that Richards "is understood to have had surgery for a blood clot on his brain and doctors were worried he would not survive." The operation for a subdural haematoma, which the paper reports Richards had, normally involves drilling a hole in the skull. (Reuters)
Also:
Adam Sandler is a daddy. His wife, Jackie, gave birth over the weekend, though no details about the baby have been released. The birth was announced on Sandler's Web site with a post titled "Sandler had a kid!!" which read, "Kid is healthy!! Wife is healthy!!" (Associated Press via Yahoo! News) ... Nick Lachey wants to put to rest any rumors about him and Lindsay Lohan: "I can safely say that I don't have any interest in Lindsay Lohan ... nor do I understand anyone else that does," he told a morning radio program on Monday. (Star) ... Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott did indeed tie the knot over the weekend in a barefoot ceremony in Fiji, with no friends or family present. (Us Online) ... Michael Jackson is trying to raise cash by auctioning off rights to his own logo in Germany, for the second time -- the winning bid of $100,000 during the first auction was made by a fan who couldn't actually afford to pay up. (Fox 411) ... Francis Ford Coppola has reportedly finished filming "Youth Without Youth," his first film in nine years (the last was "The Rainmaker," a John Grisham story). No release date has yet been set. (The Hot Blog) ... The title of Howell Raines' new memoir about his time as the executive editor of the New York Times is "The One That Got Away" -- making it just one of eight books in the last decade with that name, including one installment in the Sweet Valley High series and a historical, bodice-ripping romance novel. (Women's Wear Daily via Mediabistro)
Money Quote:
Keri Russell, the "Felicity" star who plays a secret agent in "Mission: Impossible III," on the (false) rumor that she'd left Judaism to join Tom Cruise's favorite church during filming: "I had all my Jewish grandmothers calling, going, 'Is Keri a Scientologist? Do we have to be worried?' " (The Scoop)
Turn On:
It's the very last episode ever for TV's longest-running family drama, "7th Heaven" (WB, 8 p.m. EDT). Also, ABC airs the magical special "David Blaine: Drowned Alive" (8 p.m. EDT) and New Yorker editor David Remnick appears on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" (Comedy Central, 11 p.m. EDT).
-- Scott Lamb
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