Life's a beach for Brad and Angelina.
The sexy Mr. and Mrs. Smith costars are caught in the midst of yet another wave of speculation about their relationship after they were snapped together by a paparazzo on the sandy shores of Kenya.
The photos, which depict Pitt, Jolie and Jolie's 3-year-old son, Maddox, enjoying a day on the beach, set off a bidding war between various publications desperate to be the first to publish the "evidence" that Pitt and Jolie were perhaps more than just coworkers.
London's Sun was the first to run the photos in Monday's edition, while Us Weekly quickly snapped up the U.S. rights for a reported $500,000 to $1 million in order to run the pics in its May 9 edition, on stands Wednesday.
(Somewhere out there, a newly rich shutterbug is cackling in glee.)
Of course, in spite of Us Weekly shelling out a cool mil for the "exclusive rights" to the photos, said pics were widely available almost immediately--for free, natch--on the Internet.
And one thing's for certain--if these pictures are speaking the proverbial thousand words, "yawn," "boredom" and "tame" must be among them.
In one shot, Pitt is shown in deep discussion with young Maddox, presumably over sand castle architecture. In another, Jolie, clad in a long black garment, carries various plastic sand toys.
Still another picture shows Pitt disembarking from a plane and carrying his own bag. In subsequent shots, he's still carrying it.
Shocking, we know.
A spokesman confirmed that Pitt, who is a special ambassador in Nelson Mandela's struggle against HIV and AIDS, was in Ethiopia from Saturday to late Monday, visiting orphans of the AIDS pandemic devastating the continent.
Fellow do-gooder Jolie is a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations refugee agency.
Obviously, it's not the first time Pitt and Jolie have been the focus of the rumor mill. Speculations about the comely couple's relationship have been rampant since Pitt and soon-to-be ex-wife Jennifer Aniston announced their separation in January. In March, Aniston filed for divorce, citing "irreconcilable differences."
Earlier this month, Us Weekly ran a cover story featuring separate photos of the stars under the headline "It's True!" The accompanying article included quotes from employees at the Parker Palm Springs hotel and other unnamed sources who claimed they saw Pitt and Jolie being affectionate during a weekend retreat at the California resort.
"They were kissing and holding each other. He was rubbing her back. It looked romantic," one so-called witness gabbed to the magazine.
However, both Pitt's rep and Pitt himself strenuously denied the story.
"This particular story is completely untrue," Pitt told Access Hollywood in an interview.
"Because these tabloids are making so much money, and yes, I consider Us Weekly a tabloid, they go to great lengths to corroborate their stories, whether they are true or not."
This time around, neither stars' camp is commenting on the photo frenzy at hand.
Call us skeptics, but all we're saying is Mr. and Mrs. Smith opens June 10. And there's no publicity like free publicity.