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*Martin Lawrence will join John Travolta and Tim Allen in the movie “Wild Hogs” for Touchstone Pictures. The plot revolves around a group of frustrated middle-aged suburban biker wannabes who take a bike trip in search of adventure, only to run into a real Hells Angels group. Filming is scheduled to start in April in New Mexico.
*Will Smith will arrive in India Sunday (Feb. 19) to do some promotional work, reports Contact Music. On Thursday (Feb. 23), the actor is scheduled to launch PIX, a new movie satellite channel. On Friday, he’s due to make a guest appearance on “Indian Idol,” India’s version of “American Idol.” On Saturday, Smith is to present an award at the 51st Filmfare Awards ceremony, India's oldest and most prestigious film awards.
*Eva Mendez joins Christopher Walken, Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Wahlberg in "We Own the Night," the 2929 Prods.-financed drama written and directed by James Gray. According to Variety, Walken plays the patriarch of a cop family. While one son followed in his footsteps, the other is the black sheep who's become manager of a club controlled by the Russian mob. Mendes will play the girlfriend of the manager. Production begins in March in New York.
*Revolution has scrapped plans to produce a “XXX 3” film after the box office embarrassment of “XXX 2 : State of the Union,” with Ice Cube in the role originated by Vin Diesel. Revolution’s Joe Roth explains to About.com: “I think what happened is I made a big mistake. I felt like Vin Diesel’s representatives were more unruly than usual and I just didn’t want to pay the price. I guess I just believed more in the franchise than I did in the actor in the franchise and I broke my own cardinal rule, which is if you’re going to do a sequel, keep all of the elements together. I don't know how many times I’ve told that to filmmakers.”
*The National Enquirer is reporting that producers of ABC’s “The View” are looking to replace Star Jones Reynolds because of her abrasive antics on the show. "The producers are looking for someone to take over for Star who will blend in with the other co-hosts," a show insider said. "They want someone who will jump into the conversation with their own viewpoint but not be so combative and stubborn as Star has been over the years.” However, a rep for “The View” denied the report, stating: "Star continues to be an integral part of the show. From time to time ‘The View’ approaches new talent to substitute co-hosts."
*“American Idol” remained the most-watched program in black households last week, which mirrors its ratings win among viewers overall. Tuesday’s show ranked No. 1 among black viewers, followed by the Grammy telecast, Wednesday’s “American Idol,” UPN’s “Girlfriends” and Fox’s “House” ranking numbers 2-5 respectively. Rounding out the top ten in black households: UPN’s “All of Us” (6); ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” (7); CBS’ “CSI” (8); UPN’s “Half and Half” (9) and CBS’ “Without a Trace” (10).
*Jamie Foxx continues to deny complaining publicly about the unreasonable filming demands of his “Miami Vice” director Michael Mann, including forcing the actors to shoot in dangerous hurricane conditions. According to Mann’s publicist Pat Kingsley, “Mr. Mann has telephoned Jamie Foxx who claims the story is erroneous. Mr. Mann takes him at his word." Mann also directed Foxx in “Collateral,” which earned the actor an Oscar-nomination.
*Dennis Haysbert will star with Joseph Fiennes in “Goodbye Bafana,” a film set in South Africa that is rooted in the real-life rapport that Nelson Mandela developed during his incarceration with his white prison guard. According to Variety, the $25 million film will begin shooting in March for the Cape Town-based production company, Film Afrika. Meanwhile, Haysbert’s new television series, The Unit, premieres March 7 at 9 p.m. on CBS. The show follows a special forces unit and their families.
*Bruce Willis is backtracking on harsh comments made toward Oprah Winfrey regarding her tongue-lashing of author James Frey. Last week, the “Die Hard” star defended Frey against critics who have blasted him for lying in his memoir “A Million Little Pieces.” Willis told I.F. magazine that Frey was "sucker punched...by one of the most powerful women in television just to grind her own axe about it." More recently, Willis issued a statement backing off of his earlier comments. He said he admired Winfrey for doing a "great job," and added, "I have great respect for what she does for people all over the world and I think her book club is so important."
*“The Seat Filler,” starring Duane Martin and Kelly Rowland, arrives on DVD Tuesday (Feb. 21). The movie follows struggling law student Derrick (Martin) who takes a job as an award show seat filler to make ends meet. He is seated next to the beautiful pop superstar Jhnelle (Rowland), who mistakes him for a well-known industry executive. With an instant chemistry, the unlikely pair begins to date, but Derrick must scale creative heights to keep up the charade. The film was released theatrically in the summer of 2005 by the black-owned and operated distribution company, The Momentum Experience, which counts Will Smith, Blair Underwood, Tisha Campbell-Martin and Duane Martin among its investors, along with company principal's Nia Hill and D'Angela Steed.