Love’s weight loss is questioned

Rocker/actress Courtney Love has hit back at reports her recent dramatic weight loss is the result of gastric surgery. The former Hole singer stunned fans last month when she revealed her new slimline look during a vacation in Hawaii, and insisted yoga and a macrobiotic diet helped her lose 44 pounds in four months. But recent US media reports have suggested Love had a little extra help – gastric-band surgery. In a new posting on her website MoonWashedRose.com, Love blasts the reports, stating, “I couldn’t get that surgery if I begged for it,” adding that media queen Oprah Winfrey inspired her to lose the weight. And Love’s publicist is also firing back after the New York Post’s Page Six gossip column quoted a source as saying Love was “telling people she got the gastric-band surgery.” The representative says, “Not true. She says she never got surgery.” (IMDb.com)

A peek at the new and improved: Courtney Love

Eric Red attached to 100 Feet

Eric Red will write and direct the thriller 100 Feet, starring Famke Janssen (X-Men) and Bobby Cannavale (Snakes on a Plane, Will & Grace). Red previously wrote the cult horror movie The Hitcher. This will be Red’s first major project since he crashed his car into a Los Angeles pool hall in 2000, killing two people. After a six-month investigation, Red was found liable for damages in civil court, but he was never brought up on criminal charges. (Variety)

Writer hired for Clash of the Titans remake

Warner Bros. has tapped writer Lawrence Kasdan (Return of the Jedi, The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark) to pen a remake of the 1981 cult classic Clash of the Titans. The story revolves around Zeus’ son, Perseus, and his journey to save Princess Andromeda. Zeus forces his son to face various trials along the way, including capturing Pegasus and slaying Medusa. Titans is Kasdan’s first fantasy project since the early 1980s. Since then, he’s written 1992’s The Bodyguard, 1994’s Wyatt Earp, and 1999’s Mumford. (Hollywood Reporter)

Norton to be… The Hulk

Edward Norton will play Bruce Banner in The Incredible Hulk, taking over the role played by Eric Bana in the first Hulk movie. Louis Leterrier (Transporter 2) will direct with an eye on a June 13, 2008 release. The movie begins with Banner on the run, trying to avoid capture long enough to cure the condition that turns him into the Hulk. The script was written by Zak Penn, who helped write the two X-Men films, Fantastic Four, and Elektra for Marvel Studios. Marvel reportedly wants the Hulk sequel to be less self-serious and more in line with the comic book and TV series than the Ang Lee-directed first movie. (Variety)

Lilly, Malkovich star in new thriller

Lost star Evangeline Lilly will make her feature debut opposite John Malkovich in the supernatural thriller Afterwards, which will start shooting in New York and Montreal in June.
Romain Duris will portray a workaholic lawyer drifting away from his ex-wife (Lilly) and daughter. He meets a mysterious doctor (Malkovich) who claims to have the power to predict people’s deaths.
French filmmaker Gilles Bourdos will direct the Canadian-French co-production from an adaptation of the Guillaume Musso novel Et apres … (Reuters)