James Brown movie to shoot in 2008
HOLLYWOOD, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- A movie about the life of singer James Brown, who died this week at age 73, is in the works with Spike Lee signed on to direct.
Daily Variety said Wednesday that the picture, which was already in development, was on a track to begin production in 2008, or possibly late 2007.
Brian Grazer will produce the untitled film and is having Lee rewrite the script that has already been polished repeatedly.
Brown worked with author Steve Baugelman on the original screenplay and spent time with Grazer prior to his death Christmas Day from heart failure, Variety said.
Three funerals slated for James Brown
NEW YORK, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- Tributes to James Brown poured in Wednesday following the death of the famed U.S. soul singer on Christmas morning.
Brown, who died of heart failure in Atlanta at age 73, will lie in repose Thursday at New York's Apollo Theatre with a public funeral in his boyhood home of Augusta, Ga., the following day.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said Wednesday that the services in Georgia would be at an 8,500-seat theatre with Brown's friend the Rev. Al Sharpton, officiating. City officials expect an overflow crowd.
A private service and burial is set to take place Friday in Brown's birthplace of North Augusta, S.C., although the newspaper said the exact location had yet to be determined.
Jewish director brings out the zany Hitler
BERLIN, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- A Jewish director is in charge of a new movie in Germany that plays Adolf Hitler for laughs.
Dani Levy's film, "Mein Führer: The Truly Truest Truth About Adolf Hitler," revolves around a despondent Hitler inviting a Jewish concentration camp inmate to move into the bunker with him and coach him on public speaking.
Levy told Deutsche Welle that he ran the script by his mother, who survived the Holocaust, to make sure he wasn't too off the wall with his jibes. He said he uses "subversive Jewish humor" to knock Hitler down a few pegs.
Hitler, who is played by German comedian Helge Schneider, comes off as an insecure goof. However the touchy subject matter has raised eyebrows in a country that still keeps its Nazi period at arm's length, Deutsche Welle said.
'Grey's' Sandra Oh officially a divorcee
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- Actress Sandra Oh is officially part of the Los Angeles' singles scene again although the details of her divorce are still being ironed out.
The official divorce decree for Oh and Alexander Payne was filed the week before Christmas in Los Angeles; however TMZ.com said Wednesday that some of the financial arrangements were pending.
Oh's lawyers asked the court to grant the decree early so the couple could file separate tax returns for 2006, TMZ.com said.
Oh, the star of ABC's "Grey's Anatomy," married Payne in 2003. The couple split in 2005.
Payne directed "Sideways," in which Oh was among the stars.
