*Queen Latifah, Shaquille O'Neal and “American Idol” judge Randy Jackson will appear on the first prime time special from The JammX Kids, a crew of kiddie hip hop dancers. The WB will air "The JammX Kids All Star Dance Special” on two consecutive Sundays, (March 12 and March 19) from 7 - 8 p.m., with encores on Kids' WB! Saturdays, March 18 and March 25 at 11 a.m. The JammX Kids – nine kid wonders of the hip-hop world aged 10-17 – will also be joined by singers JoJo ("Leave, Get Out"), Rihanna ("Hey Mr. D.J.," "S.O.S.") and Natasha Bedingfield ("Unwritten”).
*A documentary about the Jamaican Dogsled Team has been acquired by New York-based Palm Pictures. “Sun Dogs” follows the human members of the team, and the special cases of the dogs, many of which were strays and likely doomed had they not been selected for the team. Jimmy Buffett and his company Margaritaville are sponsoring the team, which is being recorded as it trains for the 2006 British Dogsled Championship in Scotland.
*Mike Epps will reprise his “Resident Evil: Apocalypse” role in Screen Gems' next installment, “Resident Evil: Extinction,” reports Production Weekly. Oded Fehr, and Iain Glen will also return to the franchise, along with star Milla Jovovich as Alice. The story will follow Alice leading a pack of humans through the Nevada desert toward Alaska, all while hunted by zombies from the dubious Dr. Isaacs. Production is scheduled to begin mid-May in Mexicali, Mexico.
*The Oscar-winning South African film “Tsotsi” will kick off the Independent Black Film Festival (IBFF), to be held in Atlanta from March 12 through 19. Writer/Director Gavin Hood’s film will screen Sunday, March 12 at 8 p.m. in Atlantic Station Regal Cinemas 16. “Tsotsi,” an Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Language Film, follows six days in the life of a young gang leader, Tsotsi, who steals a woman’s car—unaware, in his panic, that her baby is in the back seat.” For more information about the films and IBFF updates, please visit the webpage, www.indieblackfilm.org or email info@indieblackfilm.com. Call 404-249-9529 for Festival Office.
*Also screening at the IBFF is the inspirational film “Reunion,” about a weekend family reunion taking place in the South, “where some get back what they lost and others find what they didn't even know was missing.” The movie will make its East Coast debut on Sunday, March 12 at 3:30 p.m. at the Cinefe 8 Theaters in Atlanta.
*Following the Best Picture Oscar win of “Crash,” Lionsgate sold 17,500 copies of the DVD in one day. The total makes up more than half of the 33,000 sold during all of last week. The Paul Haggis-directed film exploring race relations in Los Angeles has sold about 4 million DVDs to date, and a new double-disc director's cut is slated for release April 4. As previously reported, the film will return to 150 theaters across the U.S. beginning this Friday.