My Boys Will Return for Third Season

My Boys will be back in town. The critically acclaimed sitcom has been picked up for a third season by TBS. 

The series stars Jordana Spiro as PJ Franklin, a 20-something sportswriter looking for love in Chicago. 

PJ spends her days covering sports for a major Chicago newspaper and her nights hanging out with friends playing poker or sharing drinks at their favorite hangout, Crowley's. 

"This past summer, My Boys continued to catch on with audiences and critics," said Michael Wright, senior vice president of the Content Creation Group for TBS. "It's that truly rare television combination of a talented cast with great chemistry, extremely smart and funny writing and outstanding production." 

Columbus Short Says Lethal Weapon 5 on the Fast Track

Back in August it was reported that Shane Black had handed in a detailed treatment to Joel Silver for a Lethal Weapon 5, which he hopes to direct. When Black signed on to helm Cold Warrior for Universal, we assumed that the project fell into development hell. Not so, turned out that the sequel was just waiting on Mel Gibson’s approval. 

Now IGN has talked with Columbus Short, who was at one point rumored to be involved with the project. Short not only confirmed that is he up for a role, but claims the film is being fast tracked into production by Warner Bros. No word on if Gibson has seen Black’s treatment or given his thumbs up to go ahead, but it certainly sounds like it. Rumor has it that Short would play Murtaugh’s son. 

The Die Hard series may have overshadowed the Lethal Weapon franchise for some filmgoers, but the original Donner films still stand up to the test of time. And with Black back for a new take on the series, which will supposedly involve the addition/introduction of a new generation of cops and Riggs and Murtaugh coming out of retirement for one last case, I can’t see what’s not to be excited about.

Get Smart 2

It should be no surprise that Warner Bros is developing a Get Smart sequel, the film was pretty much set-up for franchise opportunities. The original film made over $226 million worldwide, which warrants sequel consideration. Steve Carell will return as Maxwell Smart. No word on if Anne Hathaway will return as Agent 99, although I don’t see any reason why she wouldn’t return for a second film. It was also announced in today’s Variety that Carell signed a three-year first-look deal with Warner Bros, but that is apparently unrelated (sure…). 

I thought the 2008 film adaptation was too action heavy, especially considering the original Mel Brooks television series was much more comedically-focused. With a sequel I also hope they return to using a ridiculous James Bond-style villain instead of the unfunny ridiculous plot [spoiler warning] to kill the president with music (As ridiculous as I believed it to be at the time, I was even more shocked to see the same climax used in a non-comedic action film later this year). That said, I’m still hopeful about a sequel.

Rumor: Paul Andrew Williams to Direct 28 Months Later?

When we spoke to director Danny Boyle last month in Toronto, he seemed optimistic about the possibility of another sequel to 28 Days Later. But at the same time I got the feeling that not much had progressed since I last talked to him during the press tour for Sunshine. It was last year in San Francisco when Boyle revealed to /Film that he had an idea for 28 Months Later, and that it would be set in Russia. 

Arrow in the Head is reporting a rumor coming out of the Sitges Film Festival, that Paul Andrew Williams, the UK-based director of The Cottage, has signed on to helm the third film. Unfortunately, this has not yet been confirmed. I’m not really sure how I feel about a third film without Boyle at the helm. I was one of the vocal few who hated 28 Weeks Later, but I’m sure the idea of global zombie films will always sound appealing to me, at least in the conceptual phase.

HBO Renews Entourage

HBO has picked up "Entourage" for a sixth season, reports Variety. Production on the new season will begin early next year for a summer debut. 

The fifth season of the half-hour comedy premiered in September. 

Michael Lombardo, HBO president of programming group and West Coast operations, called "Entourage" a "smart, sharp comedy series that continues to evolve." 

The series, created and executive produced by Doug Ellin, stars Adrian Grenier as once-hot actor Vincent Chase, as well as Jeremy Piven, Kevin Connolly, Kevin Dillon and Jerry Ferrara. Mark Wahlberg and Stephen Levinson also executive produce.

Kanye: New Album Coming Nov. 25

Kanye West made a surprise appearance at rapper T.I.'s MySpace-sponsored show in Los Angeles on Friday and announced his upcoming Def Jam album, "808s and Heartbreak," will arrive Nov. 25. It had been expected Dec. 16.

"We just finished the album. I just got back from Hawaii earlier today," he told the audience before breaking into a track titled "Heartless," which he confirmed is the set's second single. First single "Love Lockdown" has sold 402,000 digital downloads in just two weeks of release, according to Nielsen Soundscan, and debuted at a career-best No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. 

As previously reported, the original release date for "Heartbreak" would have put West a week behind 50 Cent's "Before I Self Destruct," a near-repeat of the 2007 battle between the two rappers. 

Last September, both men released new albums on the Sept. 11, with West's "Graduation" outselling 50's "Curtis" 957,000 to 691,000 in its debut week. "Graduation" has since sold 2.18 million copies in the United States.

Weird Al Goes Digital With T.I. Cover

For the first time in his nearly three-decade career, comedy maestro "Weird Al" Yankovic is releasing his parody of a current No. 1 single -- evidently just days after he thought of it. 

Yankovic's version of "Whatever You Like," a riff on the T.I. track of the same name, will be available for download tomorrow (Oct. 7) on iTunes, where it will be an exclusive for two weeks before being released on other digital download services. 

In a post on his MySpace blog, Yankovic indicates "Whatever You Like" may be the first in a series of future, more timely digital releases. 

"One of the hardest things I've had to deal with in my career is keeping my material topical even though I only release albums every three or four years," Yankovic writes. "Now, with the advent and popularity of digital distribution, I don't have to wait around while my songs get old and dated -- I can get them out on the Internet almost immediately. It kind of boggles my mind -- I thought of the idea for this new song a week ago, and next week it's getting released!" 

Yankovic has been exploring the digital route for some time, he said. "I'd kind of written off the chance of ever having another hit single, since record labels weren't really releasing commercial ones," Yankovic told Billboard in 2006. "As much as people are griping about the Internet taking sales away from artists, it's been a huge promotional tool for me." 

Yankovic's 2006 album "Straight Outta Lynwood" scored the artist his biggest chart success of his career. "Lynwood" debuted at No. 10 on the Billboard 200, his first top 10 album ever. Meanwhile, the Chamillionaire parody "White and Nerdy," reached No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100, besting his previous high of No. 12 with "Eat It" in 1984, and went on to spend 22 weeks on the Hot Digital Songs chart.

Coldplay Preps EP With Jay-Z Guest Spot

Coldplay will in November release an eight-song EP, "Prospekt's March," which will include a new version of the song "Lost" featuring rapper Jay-Z. Six of the eight tracks on the EP are new studio recordings, including "Glass of Water," which the band has been performing live of late. 

The track list is rounded out by the Jay-Z version of "Lost" and the Osaka Sun remix of "Lovers in Japan." 

Coldplay will begin a North American tour Oct. 20 in Ottawa, Ontario, in support of its latest Capitol album, "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends." The set is the second-highest selling U.S. release of 2008, according to Nielsen SoundScan, at 1.77 million copies. 

Here is the track list for "Prospekt's March":
"Life In Technicolour II"
"Postcards From Far Away"
"Glass Of Water"
"Rainy Day"
"Prospekt's March / Poppyfields"
"Lost +"
"Lovers in Japan" (Osaka Sun remix)
"Now My Feet Won't Touch The Ground"

Brand New Music Video: Hey Monday - Homecoming

Hey Monday's music video for "Homecoming", off the band's debut album, Hold On Tight, which hits stores October 7th.

Moviegoers Pant Over Chihuahua Pic

The ComingSoon.net Box Office Report has been updated with studio estimates for the weekend. Click here for the full box office estimates of the top 12 films and then check back on Monday for the final figures based on actual box office. 

Walt Disney Pictures scored first place with its new family comedy, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, which opened to an estimated $29 million from 3,215 theaters. Starring Piper Perabo and featuring the voices of Drew Barrymore, George Lopez, Andy Garcia, Cheech Marin and Paul Rodriguez, the Raja Gosnell-directed film marks the eighth-biggest debut for the month of October ever. 

DreamWorks' Eagle Eye, starring Shia LaBeouf, Michelle Monaghan, Rosario Dawson and Michael Chiklis, dropped to second place with $17.7 million in its second weekend, a loss of just 39.3% in ticket sales. The D.J. Caruso thriller has reached $54.6 million and cost about $80 million to make. 

Screen Gems' Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, with Michael Cera, Kat Dennings, Ari Graynor and Jay Baruchel, debuted in the third spot with $12 million from 2,421 theaters. The romantic comedy averaged $4,957 per location. 

Warner Bros. Pictures' Nights in Rodanthe dropped two spots to fourth and added $7.4 million. Starring Richard Gere and Diane Lane, the romantic drama has earned $25.1 million in two weeks. 

The Ed Harris-directed Appaloosa expanded into 1,045 theaters and rounded out the top five with $5 million. After three weeks, the western has collected $5.6 million. It stars Viggo Mortensen, Harris, Renée Zellweger, Jeremy Irons, Timothy Spall and Lance Henriksen. 

Other newcomers included David Zucker's An American Carol, which made $3.8 million in 1,639 theaters. Bill Maher's Religulous earned a strong $3.5 million from just 502 theaters, receiving the second-highest per theater average of the Top 10 with $6,972. Also, Anne Hathaway-starrer Rachel Getting Married saw a solid $303,000 from nine theaters. The Jonathan Demme-directed comedy averaged $33,667 per site. 

Three other pics disappointed out of the gate. Universal's Flash of Genius, starring Greg Kinnear, made just $2.3 million from 1,098 theaters, helmer Fernando Meirelles' Blindness took in $2 million from 1,690, while MGM's How to Lose Friends & Alienate People, starring Simon Pegg, Kirsten Dunst and Megan Fox, received only $1.4 million from 1,750 theaters.