FIRST LOOK: The News in Brief, October 15, 2004

MICHAEL GETTING MAD: Pay-per-view company iN DEMAND nixing plans to air Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 the night before the presidential election. Moore blasted the move, saying the decision was prompted by pressure from "top Republican people."

BIG DOCS: Meanwhile, Fahrenheit 9/11 and Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer topping this year's nominations for the International Documentary Association's Distinguished Documentary Achievement Awards.

THE FORCE IS WITH HIM: George Lucas will receive the American Film Institute's 33rd AFI Life Achievement Award, the highest honor for a career in film, at a gala tribute in Los Angeles next June.

PRISON: A GOOD THING: Martha Stewart adjusting to prison life swimmingly, per a posting on her Website Friday. "The camp is fine; it is pretty much what I anticipated," she writes. "Everyone is nice...The camp is like an old-fashioned college campus--without the freedom, of course."

SNUBBED: Robert De Niro rejecting the Italian city of Milan's top award on Thursday, then failing to appear as expected at a film festival in Rome on Friday. No reason was given for either diss.

THE PASSION OF MEL: Mel Gibson earning a slot on Entertainment Weekly's annual power list thanks to the $610 million gross of The Passion of the Christ. The magazine didn't rank the celebs this year, just listed them. Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Michael Moore and Lindsay Lohan also made the cut.

VOTE IF YOU CAN: Leonardo DiCaprio and celebrity pals Justin Timberlake, Ricky Martin and Samuel L. Jackson appearing in a set of public-service announcements encouraging people to vote on Nov. 2.

BROADWAY IDOL: Former American Idol contestant Tamyra Gray to make her Broadway debut Nov. 9 in the musical Bombay Dreams. Gray will be playing the role of Priya, the beautiful film director, for a limited engagement of 12 weeks.

ALSO ALONG THE GREAT GREEN WAY: DreamWorks and director Sam Mendes announcing they will produce Shrek: The Musical for Broadway. Jason Moore (Avenue Q) will direct the production, which is slated for a 2006 debut.

ASK OPRAH: A Christian singer-songwriter taking out a billboard in Chicago asking Oprah Winfrey's help in finding funding for his performances for federal inmates by telling his story on her show. His ad reads: "Send me back to prison! My final plea is to you Miss Winfrey."

OPRAH ADD: A woman died Friday of a brain hemorrhage while waiting in line for The Oprah Winfrey Show outside Harpo Studios in Chicago.

BRIT WRIT: A federal judge in Utah giving Britney Spears one week to answer charges in a lawsuit pitting her against a drug company that used her picture in advertisement. If she doesn't respond, the judge will grant default victory to company.

BLAKE UPDATE: A judge refusing request by Robert Blake's legal team to play recorded phone calls of the actor urging his late wife to get an abortion, as well as comments by the late Marlon Brando's son, Christian, angrily telling her she was lucky someone hadn't put a bullet in her head. The judge ruled both tapes were irrelevant and wouldn't be played at trial.

GOOD OL' BOYS: Burt Reynolds and Willie Nelson in final talks to join Johnny Knoxville, Seann William Scott and Jessica Simpson in The Dukes of Hazzard movie. Reynolds would play Boss Hogg; Nelson would play Uncle Jesse.

SHAGGY ROLE: According to the Hollywood Reporter, Sex and the City star Kristin Davis in talks to star opposite Tim Allen in Disney's remake of The Shaggy Dog, about a man who transforms into a sheepdog.

SLIM SHADY RADIO: Eminem kicking off his new satellite-music radio channel, dubbed Shade 45, on Oct. 28 with a live broadcast of concert in New York.

DIGITAL CUT: Lions Gate Films releasing the sci-fi drama The Final Cut this Friday only on a new digital system in AMC theaters, marking the first time a distributor has done so to save thousands of dollars in distribution costs.

BUH-BYE: Former pro wrestler Travis "Bubba" Sampson is the latest castaway voted off last night's Survivor: Vanuatu.

LABOR OF LOVE: Attorneys for rocker Courtney Love agreeing to try and work out their dispute with a high-powered law firm over legal fees out of court. The two sides have until Feb. 5 to reach a consensus. If not, the judge will set a trial date.

ELTON'S PICS: Elton John raking in $900,000 Thursday night after auctioning off his collection of photos taken by some of the world's most renowned photographers, including a 1988 black and white by Robert Mapplethorpe.

YOU'RE TELLING US: John Lennon's killer, Mark David Chapman, telling a parole board last week that he'd accomplished his twisted dream of stealing the Beatle's fame for himself, but he now realizes that "I'm a bigger nobody than I was before." The 49-year-old was denied parole.

SUPER PRODUCER: Veteran event producer Don Mischer, whose credits include the 1996 Summer Olympics and the Democratic National Convention in July, signing on to produce this year's 12-minute Super Bowl half-time show.

ON THE TRACK: Per Hollywood Reporter, CBS Sports snagging the rights to air the Champ Car World Series auto-racing circuit next year.

CRYSTAL CLEAR: Billy Crystal's upcoming Broadway debut in his one-man show, 700 Sundays, raking in a reported $6 million in advanced sales before its Dec. 5 opening night, according to Playbill.

ROYAL CHEAT? Sarah Forsyth, a former teacher who claims she was unfairly fired from Eton College after being ordered to help Prince Harry cheat on an art project, playing an audiotape of him admitting to the scam, which she says prove her allegations.

OUT EARLY: Universal Music moving up the release date of Gwen Stefani's new solo single on radio from Oct. 24 to Oct. 22, after an unauthorized version was leaked to the Internet.