Dueling Jessicas: The 'Get Smart' Auditions

Here's a behind-the-scenes slice of Hollywood life: Jessica Biel auditioning for a role in 2008's Get Smart. Obviously, the part eventually went to Anne Hathaway, which just goes to show you that you can be Jessica Biel and not get every part you want (or even any part you want).

And just so you don't think Biel ultimately just wasn't what the producers were looking for and Hathaway was the only other big name in the running, there's another video featuring Jessica Alba's audition for Agent 99. What are the chances? Probably pretty good. I mean, it's not unfathomable that these two are in competition for the same movies all the time. That's gotta get old. And imagine the catfights on the set of Valentine's Day, which features not just Alba and Biel, but also the eventual Agent 99 herself, the far less athletic (but more credible) Anne Hathaway. Enjoy the master classes...

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Carell Gets New Deal at WB, Possible 'Get Smart' Sequel

Detailing a new first-look deal for the comedian at Warner Bros., Variety also announced today that Steve Carell is in line for a sequel to this summer's action comedy Get Smart. The news isn't terribly surprising, although in light of the fact that the studio mentioned it wasn't thrilled with the film's performance, it does raise an eyebrow.As for the rest of the story, Carell will set up Carousel Productions at Warner Bros. with Vance DeGeneres and Charlie Hartsock running the day-to-day operations. Carell acknowledges that finding vehicles for himself to star in is the primary concern, but notes, "I'm also looking for films I can produce that aren't right for me as an actor."There was no indication in the article about what other actors from Get Smart would be returning, if any. I'll go ahead and plant my flag in the title Get Smarter.

Box Office - 'Hellboy' Rules Friday, Nobody Wants to 'Meet Dave'

There's good news all around with the Friday box office estimates. We'll begin at the top and work our way down.

It appears that Hellboy II: The Golden Army may be headed towards the $37 - $40 million range this weekend, which a near $14 million Friday, according to Box Office Mojo. That should mean a $100 million run for the Hellboy sequel, maybe upwards of $120 - $130 million depending on how it plays in the next couple of weeks. This number may be a touch higher than projections, although the Saturday numbers will tell us a lot not just about the weekend in particular but well this might play down the line. Hancock finished in second place on Friday, and should wind up with another $30 million or so after its second weekend, proving Will Smith's new movie isn't just critic proof, but to a large extent, it's audience proof, too. Average to below average reviews may have hurt it a little bit, but Hancock will still be a $225 million movie. Journey to the Center of the Earth, which is a slightly better show than it lets on, did slightly better on Friday than I would've thought. With nearly $7 million in ticket sales, this film should reach $20 million for the weekend, not bad when you consider the 3-D feature only cost $45 million. Wall-E, Wanted, and Get Smart continue to do nice business. If I had to forecast U.S. totals based on what we've seen so far, I'd say Wall-E - which will have the longest life of the three because of the way it plays to family crowds - will wind up with about $215 million, Wanted will finish in the $130 - $140 million range, and Get Smart might hit $125 million. Wall-E, of course, is the biggest investment, with production costs exceeding Wanted and Get Smart combined, so its bar is set quite a bit higher. Both Wanted and Get Smart have made their money back already, and Wall-E still needs help.

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Box Office - 'Hancock' Finishes Strong

I stand corrected, not that I understand it. When we last updated the box office saga of Hancock, we stated that $100 million by Monday was highly unlikely. After all, its Friday audience - after giving crowds three days to see it - was a meager $19 million, only 9% higher than your average old Thursday. That's not good for a Will Smith movie. Box Office Mojo reports that Hancock's audience jumped up a whopping 40% from Friday to Saturday, giving the movie a huge push to a $107 million week. Of movies with Wednesday openings that made more in their first six days, only The Passion of the Christ took in 40% more on Saturday than Friday, and that had God on its side. So, you can see, it's kind of hard to predict something like that happening. We may have been wrong Saturday, but we were pretty much dead on about the total number when we took our first crack at it; we said then that Will Smith would bring home $108 million so we weren't far off in our original projection. Still can't get over that 40% increase from Friday to Saturday... In other news we overvalued every other property on the board this week by a few million bucks, with Wall-E, Wanted, and Get Smart coming in a little below our original picks. Oh, and here's a tragedy: Do you know what the most profitable movie of the summer is so far? What Happens in Vegas, which has amassed nearly seven times its budget, earning $200 million here and abroad. That's sick. The Top Five: 1 - Hancock ($66 million/$107 million) 2 - Wall-E ($33 million) 3 - Wanted ($20 million) 4 - Get Smart ($11 million) 5 - Kung Fu Panda ($7.5 million)

Did Anne Hathaway Turn Her Ex-Boyfriend Into the Feds?

It's the stuff of a spy movie: Anne Hathaway, currently in theaters as Agent 99 in Get Smart, is being accused by friends and family of her former boyfriend of turning him into the FBI. Raffaello Follieri, with whom Hathaway spent four years, was arrested earlier this month on charges of duping investors in a multi-million dollar real estate scam. "It makes sense," a friend of Follieri told the New York Daily News. "Hathaway is referred to as his former girlfriend in the FBI indictment even though her spokesman never confirmed they broke up. "I think that, in return for her cooperation, the feds held off on arresting Follieri until Hathaway was out of the country." Follieri is looking at 20 year in the ol' gray bar hotel, and he was arrested days after the Hathaway broke off the relationship and zoomed out of the country. One side note: A friend of the accused says that the couple's labrador, Esmerelda, is being kept in Follieri's New York apartment, where his cancer-stricken mother is looking after her. "Could Anne Hathaway please come get her dog," pleaded the friend. "I feel bad for the dog. She's a beautiful, sweet pet who probably greeted the FBI agents with her tail wagging." And I believe as he was being arrested, Follieri was heard shouting, "And I would've gotten away with it, too...if it weren't for the Princess of Genovia and her lousy dog!"