Shankman Names Hairspray Pal Oscars Music Director

November 19th, 2009 Big show director HAMISH HAMILTON faces a busy start to 2010 - the event mastermind will take charge of both the Oscars and the Super Bowl half-time show. Hamilton, the man behind the MTV Video Music Awards and concerts for Neil Diamond, U2 and Christina Aquilera, has signed on to direct the 82nd Academy Awards telecast in March (10).

November 11th, 2009 Filmmaker LEE DANIELS is shocked to hear his new film PRECIOUS has been tipped for success at the upcoming Academy Awards - because he is so used to disappointment at the Oscars. The director was hoping to score a nomination for his 2004 film The Woodsman, which starred Kevin Bacon as a convicted child molester.

November 10th, 2009 more images more images DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES star DANA DELANY has been forced to call in builders to renovate her brand new New York penthouse after failing to spot the pad has no closets. The actress, 53, recently closed a deal for a spacious home in the Big Apple in the same apartment block as Hairspray director Adam Shankman, but she's yet to move in - because there's nowhere to store her clothes.

November 3rd, 2009 more images more imagesSTEVE MARTIN and ALEC BALDWIN will co-host the 2010 Oscars. Funnyman Martin won an Emmy Award nomination for hosting the 73rd Academy Awards and returned to take charge of the 75th event, but Baldwin has never fronted the big show.

October 30th, 2009 4-legged movie stars vie for 'canine Oscars'LONDON — Four-legged screen stars are vying for the Fido Film Awards, billed as the canine equivalent of the Oscars. Nominees announced Friday include the animated dog stars of "Bolt" and "Up," the titular mutt in "Marley and Me" and — in a rare non-canine choice — the dapper, George Clooney-voiced "Fantastic Mr.

October 20th, 2009 Movie moguls BILL MECHANIC and ADAM SHANKMAN have been given the task of producing the 2010 Oscars. The honour is extra special for director Shankman, who once performed at the Academy Awards - as a dancer.

October 20th, 2009 Actor TOBEY MAGUIRE and filmmaker ADAM SHANKMAN are teaming up to adapt Broadway musical ROCK OF AGES for the big screen. Shankman, who transformed the stage production of Hairspray into a Hollywood movie musical in 2007, will direct and choreograph the film, while Spider-Man star Maguire will co-produce the project.

October 20th, 2009 Oscars tap studio vet Mechanic, director ShankmanLOS ANGELES — "Hairspray" director Adam Shankman and former 20th Century Fox studio boss Bill Mechanic have been named producers of the Academy Awards, saying they hope to inject more fun and restore TV ratings glory to Hollywood's biggest party. Tuesday's announcement marked the second year in a row that organizers have picked a pair of rookie Oscar producers to oversee the show.

October 4th, 2009 Oscar-winning director SAM MENDES is bringing children's classic CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY to the stage. Roald Dahl's beloved book has already been turned into two successful Hollywood movies, convincing Mendes the story could be a hit musical on Broadway and the West End.

September 10th, 2009 Scottish actor ROBERT CARLYLE is desperate for DANNY BOYLE to film the sequel to cult movie TRAINSPOTTING - insisting he would "jump though hoops of fire" to star in an adaptation of IRVINE WELSH's PORNO. The Slumdog Millionaire director has long been rumoured to be working on taking Porno to the big screen - 13 years after Trainspotting made the cast household names.

August 28th, 2009 MERYL STREEP has already been tipped to pick up the Best Actress Academy Award in 2010 - because Oscars bosses are unimpressed with other female roles in recent movies It means Streep, who received a Best Actress nomination at the 2009 ceremony for Doubt, is favourite to pick up her third Academy Award next February (10). An Oscars insider tells Britain's Daily Express, "It's only just dawning that there's a distinct lack of potentials in the Best Actress category.

August 16th, 2009 NEVADA - Indians in America have asked the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to introduce a new award category of "Best Bollywood Film" for films made in India. Rajan Zed, a leader of the Indian American community here, said in a statement that India had the largest film industry in the world and thus it deserved at least one category in Oscars where its movies could compete among themselves.

August 1st, 2009 Academy's 'Keeper of the Oscars' dead at 48LOS ANGELES — Steven Miessner, the motion picture academy's devoted "Keeper of the Oscars" who each year donned his signature white gloves to get the golden statuettes ready for their closeup before a worldwide audience, is dead at age 48. Miessner died at his home on Wednesday of a heart attack.

August 1st, 2009 Academy's 'Keeper of the Oscars' dead at 47LOS ANGELES — Steven Miessner, the motion picture academy's devoted "Keeper of the Oscars" who each year donned his signature white gloves to get the golden statuettes ready for their closeup before a worldwide audience, is dead at age 48. Miessner died at his home on Wednesday of a heart attack.

June 26th, 2009 Tuneless Oscars? Academy toughens best-song rulesLOS ANGELES — No Academy Award will be presented for best song at next year's ceremony if none of the tunes is considered good enough, Oscar organizers said Friday. Rules for the 82nd Oscar show next March will require that at least one song must achieve a minimum score of 8.25 on a scale of 6 to 10 in voting by members of the academy's music branch.