A Little Of The Old In And Out



In: Zack Efron. For the last 3 weeks in April, three youngish, newish stars -- Vin Diesel, Miley Cyrus, and now tween dream Zack Efron -- have carried the weekend box office, bringing fresh faces into Hollywood's A-List. A changing of the guard? From DeadlineHollywoodDaily, from a non-too-enthusiastic Nikki Finke:

"It's difficult to imagine a more overworked plot device than the body swap. But stick a tween dream like Zac Efron in this drivel -- and suddenly the domestic box office dollars flow. So the New Line/Warner Bros' 17 Again opened to $9.4 million Friday from 3,255 theaters for No. 1 and a possible $28M weekend. After a successful Saturday Night Live hosting gig where he poked gentle fun at his fame and fans and sexuality, Zac has now staked a solid claim to a post-High School Musical career. (Disney is continuing the franchise without the original cast.) But the question still remains whether Efron can graduate to pics where he plays anyone older than a teen. But I wouldn't write him off just yet as not having the eventual range of, say, Leonardo DiCaprio. Then again, no less than Cameron, Spielberg and Scorsese took Leo to the next level. Zac may never get opportunities to work with great directors."

An interesting sidenote: Efron's box office win further bolsters the argument that young women, "fangirls" -- the same audience that made Twilight such a hit -- are a box office powerhouse to be reckoned with.



(image via latimes.blog)

Out: The Michael Jackson Auction. How much of a glorious freakshow would an auction of Michael Jackson's shit be? And could you imagine the low bids? What kind of a person, we wanted to know, would be attracted to Michael Jackson's tchotchkes (the Neverland front gates, the "Victory Tour" jacket, the fucking acrylic tube socks with rhinestones)? Alas, it was not to be. From the LATimesBlog:

"The auction of treasures collected from Michael Jackson's Neverland estate, which the pop star vacated after being acquitted of child molestation charges in 2005, has been halted, according to representatives of the pop star and the Beverly Hills auction house responsible for the sale.

"The eclectic assemblage — a catalog of the singer's career and eccentricities — went on view to the public today at the former Robinsons-May building in Beverly Hills, and the auction was set to begin April 22. But today, said Darren Julien, president and chief executive of Julien's Auctions, which had been hired to conduct the sale, 'we reached a resolution and we're very happy about. It allows Michael to retain ownership of his possessions. He contracted us to conduct the auction and had a change of mind for whatever reason. And we honor and respect that. We're very happy with the outcome.'"

Damn Jacko's recently sold out 50-concert run at the O2 arena in London. Still, we'd like to know what kind of a deal did Michael Jackson reach to retrieve his shit?