Zachary Levi has squeaked out a role in the Chipmunks sequel.
The Chuck star will try to hold his own against Alvin, Simon and Theodore in Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Levi will play the cousin of ...
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Ross Bagdasarin had just written a hit song for Rosemary Clooney when he decided to pack up the family and move to L.A. to launch his music career. A few lean years left him with $200 in the bank, which he used to buy a state-of-the-art recorder that would allow him to change recording speeds. He could speed up the sound of a piano for "Witch Doctor," the first hit by David Seville (aka Ross Bagdasarin), but it also gave him the idea to use the recorder to speed up the sound of a voice. A couple of months later the record company approached Bagdasarin and asked him for another "fun" novelty song. After thinking about which animal would best represent the fast, high-pitched vocals created by his new recorder, he pitched "The Chipmunks." Bagdasarin provided the voice of David Seville, as well as the three chipmunks, and they went on to record a Christmas album, launch a TV series, and, of course, sell tons of merchandise.The first Chipmunks show ran for a single season in '61/'62, but...
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You can't blame Jason Lee and Matthew Gray Gubler for being a little bleary Thursday night at the DVD release of Alvin and the Chipmunks. (Jason plays Dave, while Matthew voices bespectacled Chipmunk Simon.) Lee had just come from the set of My Name Is Earl, and was a bit fuzzy when asked what's in store when the show returns April 3. One tease he did spill was that guest star Alyssa Milano is back as his very pregnant wife in what looks like a '60s-inspired fantasy sequence. "Yeah, it's all sort of an imagined side of the story. You'll understand why when the season resumes," said Lee. Also dropping by the episode is, of course, Paris Hilton. "It'll probably be the most exciting thing on television since... forever," Lee smiled. "So look forward to it!" After a shorter-than-usual break, the Earl cast will start work on Season 4, which will air in the fall.Criminal Minds' Gubler is also working overtime on the CBS drama's set: "I haven't eaten all day," he explained as he munched on...
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Will Smith's I Am Legend topped the weekend box office with a mighty $76.5 million haul, the biggest December opening ever (edging out The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King's $72.6 mil) and a personal best for the former Fresh Prince. Jason Lee's Alvin and the Chipmunks placed second with $45 mil.Rounding out the top five were The Golden Compass ($9 million), Enchanted ($6 mil) and No Country for Old Men ($3 mil). Atonement, the most-nommed film for this year's Golden Globes, pulled in $1.85 million across 117 screens. Overall, the top 12 films were up 39 percent from the same weekend a year earlier.
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My Name Is Earl's (Thursdays, 8 pm/ET, NBC) star on acting with the Chipmunks, why he spent time in jail and his plan of action if the strike continues.
TV Guide: In your new movie, Alvin and the Chipmunks, you're without your trademark Earl mustache. Did losing it feel strange? Jason Lee: It was so liberating, and it only takes five or six weeks to grow it back. [Pause] People are just absolutely consumed with that — every time this comes up, there's, like, six questions about the mustache. In the '70s, with Tom Selleck on Magnum, P.I., it was the norm. It's funny how a mustache could be so ironic now.
TV Guide: Your costars in the new movie Alvin and the Chipmunks are animated — how'd that work when you were shooting a scene? Lee:
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