Zac Efron
Opening this Weekend: Saw V, Pride and Glory, Changeling
As the temperatures slowly lower themselves towards sweater levels, it's time for Hollywood to start the fall season at the box office in earnest. With two highly anticipated genre films hitting screens, this is sure to be the most lucrative weekend since August. Here's a handy guide to the weekend's new releases:
Saw V
What's the story: If you're wondering what the October Surprise is, look no further than Saw V. It's absolutely stunning that this horror franchise is on its fifth go-around. We don't know anything about the latest edition, but presumably the plot deals with a bunch people dying violent deaths. Expect this to make lots of money.
Who should see it: People who thought Saw IV didn't really tell the whole story.
High School Musical 3
What's the story: Speaking of making lots of money... allow us to introduce you to HSM3. read more »
Morning Memo: Graydon Carter's "Borrowed" Waverly Inn Design; Robert DeNiro and 50 Cent Go Shooting; McCain Camp's Self-Parody
Vanity Fair editor and restaurateur Graydon Carter has admitted what many have long suspected (hoped?): There is nothing that special about his ultra-exclusive Waverly Inn, the design for which was apparently "shamelessly" and "ruthlessly" borrowed from other places. [P6 ]
Leonardo DiCaprio is off-again with Israeli model Bar Refaeli. [NYDN]
During the filming of Righteous Kill, Robert DeNiro took 50 Cent to a shooting range to "break the ice." [People]
Reformed drunk-dialer and Insider correspondent Pat O'Brien is having weird delusions of grandeur, as evidenced by an email he sent out to the staff of his show (sample: "Even Joe Biden said, 'You should be running for president!'") [ read more »
Great Danes! Claire Joins Zac Efron in Me and Orson Welles
Claire Danes, whose "gamely impersonation" of Eliza Doolittle on the recent Broadway Pygmalion revival tanked among the critics, will join the cast of Me and Orson Welles, an adaptation of the period coming-of-age novel set in the late 1930s by Robert Kaplow. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Zac Efron (High School Musical's hearthrob for pre-teens) will play a high school student who stumbles upon the Mercury Theatre and gets discovered by its mercurial founder, Orson Welles (played by slim-resume'd Christian McKay). The kid lands a bit part in Julius Caesar, the production that catapulted Mr. Welles to the top, and "spends the next week learning about life and love." Ah how sweet. We're assuming Ms. Danes will be giving Mr. Efron some lessons in the latter, although that might be in the hands of British actress Imogen Poots, who was also recently recruited to the cast.
