Morning Briefing:
No wedding dress for Katie? If you're wondering how the strange saga of the Katie Holmes/Tom Cruise affair is going to play itself out, the Awful Truth says it has confirmation of one of the many possible endings: amicable separation. A Cruise camp insider says that Holmes and Cruise are currently just hashing out what would be a reasonable amount of time for them to stay together for appearances' sake, but then will call it quits (in which case, Holmes will still reportedly get $19 million). "They are not getting married," the snitch says. "Won't happen." (The Awful Truth)
Scientologists go on an "M:I 3" buying spree? There have been a few suspicious reports of ticket-buying activity over the "Mission: Impossible III" opening weekend, with a witness at Los Angeles' ArcLight theater -- conveniently located near the Scientology headquarters -- saying unusually large batches of tickets were snapped up for the film. One unconfirmed anecdotal witness told Defamer, "I'm buying tix for the movie here at the ArcLight and standing next to me is a woman self-admittedly from the Scientology center who is buying 700 tickets with piles of cash." A theater employee later confirmed to Deadline Hollywood that people had indeed been buying "dozens of tickets at a time," but didn't clarify if anyone was actually using them. (Deadline Hollywood, Defamer)
Catholics going crazy for "Da Vinci Code": In kind of the opposite trend, moviegoers in the largely Roman Catholic countries Italy, Spain and Mexico have been selling out screenings of "The Da Vinci Code" weeks in advance, despite the Vatican's call for a boycott of the film. Cardinal Francis Arinze, who was reportedly among those considered as a candidate for pope last year, called on Christians to respond to the book and movie with legal action on Sunday, but so far it appears the campaign against "Da Vinci" has only helped to boost sales. (Deadline Hollywood)
Submerged stuntman stalls: David Blaine's much-hyped attempt to break the world record for holding his breath underwater ended in failure last night at New York's Lincoln Center. Blaine was pulled to the surface by assistants after holding his breath for seven minutes, eight seconds -- nearly two minutes shy of the record. And he didn't even manage to escape from all the chains he'd been shackled with; assistants had to help him with those, too. Gawker writes that the whole event "served as a pleasant reminder that David Blaine isn't a magician so much as a stuntman -- and an inept one at that." (Gawker, Associated Press)
Also:
Did Tori Spelling's wedding over the weekend have anything to do with her rumored pregnancy? She's been spotted doing some serious shopping for baby items at the one Los Angeles baby store every celeb seems to go to, a place called Petit Tresor, and a source says she's "several months along now, I believe." (The Scoop) ... We can expect ABC to announce Star Jones' departure from "The View" any day this week, according to Page Six. Jones' ouster was reportedly one of Rosie O'Donnell's conditions for joining the show, and Barbara Walters agreed. (Page Six) ... One theory on why Madonna was so late to her show at the Coachella Music Festival last weekend: She was "so intent on rehearsing exhaustively for [her upcoming] tour she completely forgot she was supposed to perform at Coachella," an insider blabs. (The Awful Truth) ... A new tape found as part of the Anthony Pellicano wiretapping investigation outs some longtime tabloid sources. Pellicano paid a henchman to find out who regularly snitched to the gossips, and the list reportedly includes people like Oprah's niece Alisha; Cher's daughter, Chastity Bono; Sylvester Stallone's mother, Jackie; and Al Pacino's father, Sal. (Lowdown) ... Warner Bros. has signed an agreement with BitTorrent, the peer-to-peer file-sharing service, to start distributing its TV shows and movies online. (Hollywood Reporter) ... The Weinstein brothers are apparently working to bring "Knight Rider" to the big screen, having just signed a deal for the movie rights to the show. (Variety)
Money Quote:
Nicole Kidman on her divorce and how she feels now about Tom Cruise: "That was a major shock. He was huge; still is. To me, he was just Tom, but to everybody else, he is huge. But he was lovely to me. And I loved him. I still love him." (Ladies' Home Journal via People)
Turn On:
Tuesday night marks the season finale for both "Gilmore Girls" (WB, 8 p.m. EDT) and "Veronica Mars" (UPN, 9 p.m. EDT), and Bravo airs Kathy Griffin's comedy special, "Strong Black Woman" (9 p.m. EDT). Also, ABC presents its made-for-TV virus thriller, "Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America" (8 p.m. EDT).
-- Scott Lamb
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