FIRST LOOK: The News in Brief, June 21, 2002
WORLD TRAVELER: Jackie Chan signing on to star in a remake of the 1956 classic Around the World in Eighty Days. The film starts shooting in the fall, once the action star finishes Shanghai Knights with Owen Wilson.
OH BABY, BABY! Britney Spears topping Forbes magazine's list of the world's most powerful celebrities. But the 20-year-old pop star actually ranked 25th in money-making clout, earning an estimated $39.2 million this past year.
POETESS: Hyperion publishing the first book of poetry by 21-year-old R&B star Ashanti. Foolish/Unfoolish will hit book stores in November.
KUDOS: President Bush to bestow the prestigious Presidential Medal of Freedom to comedian Bill Cosby and public television icon Fred Rogers next month.
STARRY: Kevin Bacon, Robert Duvall, Susan Sarandon and director Martin Scorsese, Beau Bridges, Drew Carey, Kermit the Frog and Suzanne Somers among those who will receive a star next year on Hollywood's Walk of Fame.
GOING THE WAY OF VINYL? The Washington Post reporting Friday that Circuit City plans to discontinue sales of new movies on videocassettes at some stores in favor of DVDs.
ON THE OUTS? Angelina Jolie not commenting on rumors that her two-year marriage to Billy Bob Thornton is over. The actress is reportedly living in a hotel in Beverly Hills after moving out of the home she has shared with Thornton, Thornton, meanwhile, has been seen cavorting with various women while cutting a solo album in Memphis.
ODD COUPLE: Meantime, Angelina Jolie and Secretary of State Colin Powell teaming up for a celebration of World Refugee Day Thursday, handing awards to four students and opening an exhibit by refugee artists, which hopes to bring attention to the world's refugee crisis.
WEIRD TIMING? Martha Stewart airing a repeat of her cooking show featuring Congressman Billy Tauzin, the same legislative official now threatening to subpoena her if she doesn't hand over documents pertaining to ImClone shares she sold just before the biotech company's stock dived. Tauzin's office says the timing of the two-year-old segment's broadcast was suspicious.
BUSTED: A California man admitting to one count of mail fraud after posing as the rightful owner of TV's animated Garfield and Friends and eight other shows, trying to illegally collect more than $328,000 in royalties from the Motion Picture Association of America.
HEADED EAST: Les Miserables, the second longest-running production on Broadway, becoming the first Western musical to play in China. The production, which will be performed in English with Chinese subtitles at the top of the stage, will debut in Shanghai June 22 and play for 16 days.
BRAND OVERLOAD: A total of 15 major brands, including the Gap, Burger King and Reebok, appearing prominently in director Steven Spielberg's sci-fi noir Minority Report. One theme of the film is consumerism run amok.
HELD UP! Actor-director Peter Berg and producer Kevin Misher robbed in the Amazon jungle last week while scouting locations for the upcoming action-comedy Helldorado starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.
GETTING A REPRIEVE: The Librarian of Congress, James Billington, slashing the royalty fee for songs streamed over the Internet, against the wishes of the recording industry. The decision means webcasters will have to pay a rate of 70 cents per song to copyright holders for each 1,000 listeners of Internet-only webcasts.





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