Marvel Super Hero Squad's Wolverine courtesy Marvel/Hasbro
OK, so my twin 5-year-olds these days are mad for Super Hero Squad action figures — these 2- 3-inch tall, shiny-happy versions of Wolverine, Spider-Man, Thor, Black Panther and, as more and more roll out/beckon Dad's wallet, seemingly every good or bad guy to ever inhabit the Marvel universe. Well, Marvel Entertainment is now developing a 26-episode animated series situating the same extra-cartoony characters in "Super Hero City" and throwing them into "humorous adventures" with Doctor Doom, Magneto, Loki and others.According to the Reporter, the half-hour Marvel Super Hero Squad series is targeted for a 2009 premiere on a network TBD. — MWM
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Eva Mendes by Bennett Raglin/WireImage.com
In response to rampant reports that the costar of such big-screen fare as Ghost Rider and Hitch has entered rehab to address an ongoing alcohol problem, Eva Mendes' rep has issued a statement. "Eva has been working hard for the past year and made a positive decision to take some much-needed time off to proactively attend to some personal issues that, while not critical, she felt deserved some outside professional support," the missive reads. "Out of respect for Eva’s privacy, we do not wish to discuss further details."
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Anne Heche in Men in Trees by Jack Rowand/ABC
Reminder, tonight at 10 pm/ET marks the series finale of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip as well as the return (albeit just repeats) of Men In Trees, starting with the pilot episode.... TNT/TBS have snatched up cable rights to Rush Hour 3, six weeks before it even hits theaters. Per Variety, the price tag will be 12 percent of the domestic gross.... Steve Martin is penning his autobiography, Born Standing Up, to hit stores in November. (I just started Chevy Chase's bio and it's... OK).... Bridge to Terabithia and Ghost Rider topped last week's DVD sales and rental charts, respectively.
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Hillary Clinton's video spoof of The Sopranos' finale (available via our Online Video Guide) is a big hit. A half-million hits, actually. The HillaryClinton.com webmaster says it delivered "a massive spike," besting the site's launch-day numbers.... Fox's American Dad has been renewed for a fourth season, to unspool during the 2008-09 TV season.... Turner Classic Movies presents Spielberg on Spielberg, a 90-minute documentary about the two-time Oscar winner, on July 9 at 8 pm/ET.... Nicolas Cage's Ghost Rider rode to the top of the DVD sales and rental charts last week.
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With a first-weekend take of $44.5 million, Nicolas Cage's Ghost Rider topped the box office, leading overall revenue to its first surge in a month and a half. Rounding out the top five were Bridge to Zathura Terabithia (opening with $22.1 million), Norbit ($16.8 mil), Music & Lyrics (debuting to $14 million), and Tyler Perry's Daddy's Little Girls (which with $12.1 mil, took in markedly less than Perry's previous February releases, 2006's Madea's Family Reunion and '05's Diary of a Mad Black Woman).
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Peter Fonda
Peter Fonda has been making movies for more than 40 years, but he still takes an almost childlike pleasure in surprising audiences. At age 65, there is no doubt that he's the same man who shocked the establishment and, in the process, changed American filmmaking, as one of the creators of the counterculture classic Easy Rider. TVGuide.com got a chance to talk to Fonda about his role in the Hallmark Channel's Supernova (a sci-fi thriller about the sun's possible explosion and decimation of mankind, premiering Sept. 5 at 8 pm/ET), and his experience shooting the recently wrapped comic-book adaptation, Ghost Rider, starring Nicolas Cage.
TVGuide.com: What kind of research did you do for Supernova?
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