Much to the delight of every female from 15-105, Johnny Depp will indeed star in the 4th installment of ‘Pirates’, this time titled ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.‘

“I had a very good conversation with Dick Cook who is someone I admire greatly and that helped,” Depp said. “And also we’re going to come at it with a different angle at it. And director, Rob Marshall has a completely different take on it.”

In September 2009, Dick Cook, Chairman of Walt Disney Studio Entertainment, resigned after working for Disney for over 38 years. Cook was one of the few that accepted Depp’s portrayal of Captain Jack Sparrow on the first Pirates movie.

On October 7, 2009, author Tim Powers confirmed that Disney bought the rights of his novel On Stranger Tides. As detailed in The Art of the Pirates of the Caribbean, the proposed story for the fourth film is for Jack Sparrow and Barbossa to meet up in the newly founded New Orleans, before they sail to find the Fountain of Youth together.

According to Gregory Ellwood of HitFlix.com

He may be the “Mad Hatter” in the upcoming blockbuster “Alice in Wonderland,” but this summer Johnny Depp will be heading to Hawaii to shoot the fourth installment in the popular “Pirates” franchise. For awhile, Depp openly questioned whether a fourth installment would ever occur.

After Depp’s longtime friend Dick Cook was essentially fired as Chairman of Walt Disney Studios early last Fall, the superstar raised some doubt over whether he still wanted to return for another go around as Captain Jack Sparrow. Depp revealed today that it was actually the dismissed Cook who helped convince him to still do the picture

What that “take” is remains to be seen, but so far changes include the addition of Penelope Cruz in a mysterious, but prominent role.

However, “Stranger Tides” is a long way off for Depp at this point. He’ll soon head to London for the Royal World Premiere of “Alice” and still has endless questions ahead of him about his seventh, yes, seventh collaboration with director Tim Burton. The biggest surprise? It turns out Burton didn’t have to approach his old friend with a hard sell to make the movie.

“To be honest he could have said Alice and I would have said [yes],” Depp tries to get out as the assembled press irrupt in laughter. “I would have done whatever character Tim wanted. Certainly the fact it was the Mad Hatter was a bonus and a great challenge. And to try and find this guy and not just to be a rubber ball that you heave into an empty room and bounce all over the place, But also to bring a little bit more of history or gravity to the guy.”

Depp embraced the role by doing research not just into Lewis Carroll’s books, but where the origin of the term “mad as a hatter.” It turns out the glue hat makers used to use had high levels of mercury in them which had severely adverse side effects.

“So, [I looked at him] as damaged goods — physically damaged and a little obtuse — instead of this hyper nutty guy,” Depp recalls. “He could go from one second high fluting and a lot of levity and then into some dangerous, potential rage and some tragedy.”

Burton adds, however, “Being that it was a Disney movie, we tried to not focus so much on the Mercury poisoning aspect. ”

One of Depp’s other major concerns was the fact he’s used an English accent a number of times already in films such as “Finding Neverland,” “Chocolat” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” Depp notes,

“You’ve got to really pay attention to where you have been. That’s the great challenge. You may get it wrong. There is a very good possibility you could fall flat on your face. I think that’s a healthy thing for an actor.”

With Burton by his side, Depp was asked if his kids had a favorite movie in the now growing Burton/Depp library. Without a beat Depp says “Edward Scissorhands.”

“They connect with the character and I think they see their dad feeling that isolation — that loneliness and he’s a tragic character,” Depp says. “They ball everytime they see it.”

Starting on Tuesday Johnny Depp will be starring opposite Angelina Jolie in the new thriller “The Tourist.” As the session ended, Depp was asked to comment on what should turn out to be one of his increasingly rare contemporary roles.

“I think it will be swell. I like the French film I liked it a lot and my friend played the part in that and I liked it and I thought it might be interesting to explore this character,” Depp says. “You never know what’s going to happen. I suspect there might be a few paparazzi in Venice.”

Continuing with award season, four-time Actor® Nominee John Slattery (Mad Men) will open the 16th Annual SAG Awards® with a ‘Red Carpet Toast’ courtesy of their sponsor Taittinger Champagne. The SAG Awards will broadcast tonight, Saturday January 22, on TBT and TNT at 8PM, EST.

Two randomly selected panels-one for television and one for film-each comprised of 2,100 Guild members from across the United States, chose this year’s Actor and Stunt ensemble honors nominees. Integrity Voting Systems, the Awards’ official teller, mailed the nominations secret ballots November 25, 2009 and Voting was completed by 5:00 PM, Monday, December 14, 2009.

Two categories with heated nominations toward the road to Oscar include:

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
MERYL STREEP for “Julie & Julia” (7 previous category noms)
SANDRA BULLOCK for “The Blind Side” (1st category nom) *Already Won Golden Globe
HELEN MIRREN for “The Last Station” (2 previous category noms)
CAREY MULLIGAN for An Education” (1st category nom)
GABOUREY SIDIBE / “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (1st category nom)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
JEFF BRIDGES for “Crazy Heart” (2 previous category noms)
GEORGE CLOONEY / “Up in the Air” (4 previous category noms)
COLIN FIRTH / “A Single Man” (3 previous category noms)
MORGAN FREEMAN for “Invictus” (4 previous category noms)
JEREMY RENNER / “The Hurt Locker” (1st category nom)

For a complete downloadable and long list of the nominees, please click here.

ReelHeART International Film Festival offices will be closed over the
New Year break and will re-open January 4th at 12 Noon

ReelHeART Wishes You a Happy, Prosperous, Healthy and Creative 2010!

Sadly, it’s reported that a funeral for Brittany Murphy will take place Christmas eve at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills, five days after her untimely death. Murphy was 32.

The funeral and burial service will be “strictly private.” Rumors are that there may be a public memorial after the holiday season.

A will prepared by Murphy before she was married to British screenwriter Simon Monjack, leaves her entire estate to her mother, Sharon Murphy, reports New York Daily News.

There were a multitude of drugs found at the scene and seem to solidify rumors linking Brittany Murphy’s frail frame to her death.

But according to Chief Coroner Investigator Craig Harvey told the Daily News that Murphy weighed 115 pounds and that’s within medical recommendations for her height of 5 feet 5 inches.

Media reports said 10 different types of medication were found on her bedside table by an officer from Los Angeles County Coroner’s department.

The medications were in several different names, including those of Murphy, her mother, Sharon, and her husband, Simon Monjack.

They contained anti-depressants, anti-convulsants, anti-inflammatories and antibiotics. The list included Carbamazepine, an anti-convulsant, Methylprednisolone, an anti-inflammatory treatment, Propranolol, a heart drug (apparently Murphy did have a heart murmur), Klonopin and Ativan, both anti-anxiety drugs, Topamax, an anti-seizure medication, the antibiotic Biaxin, pain reliever Vicoprofen, anti-deressant Fluoxetine and Hydrocodone, a pain killer.

The exact cause of Murphy’s death has not been determined pending toxicology and tissue tests that could take four to six weeks. Investigators have ruled out foul play but booked a number of prescriptions in Murphy’s name into evidence.

‘Clueless‘ director Amy Heckerling has said that she believes Hollywood played a large role in transforming the actress from a round-faced teen to a rail-thin adult. Heckerling told Usmagazine.com that she is upset with Hollywood for transforming Murphy’s image.

“It just seemed like she was blowing up, being on every magazine and being treated as though she had suddenly become beautiful,” the New York Daily News quoted Heckerling as telling the mag. “And I think she was feeling very good about that. I’m just not happy with Hollywood,” she added.

Heckerling said Murphy’s size wasn’t the only thing that was worrisome. She said that in recent years, the 32-year old actress ’seemed a little too energetic’. “I just feel like I can’t say, ‘Oh, she was on drugs’. I can’t say that I noticed anything that led me to believe, ‘Oh my god, this person is messed up’. But one hears rumblings. It’s a small town, and you hear from other people on other crews, but that’s all rumors and stuff,” Heckerling said.

“I was feeling — maybe not just then at that particular time, but over time — that she was maybe being pressured to be a certain body type and a certain kind of actress as far as playing the sexy, blonde, thin girl,” Heckerling says. “And that she was buying into what she was supposed to be, rather than just being a wonderful, innocent young girl,” she added.

If you want to remember Brittany Murphy to view a photo gallery, Please click here.

It it with sadness that I report today the passing of singer, actress Brittany Murphy. She was 32. 

Neighbor Clare Staples said she saw firefighters working to resuscitate the actress Sunday morning. She said Murphy was on a stretcher and “looked as though she was dead at the scene.” Murphy was pronounced dead at 10:04 AM at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Murphy who dazzled us in her roles in ‘Sin City‘, ‘Clueless‘,  ‘Girl Interrupted‘,  ‘8 Mile‘ and as voice-over actress for the character Luanne in ‘King of the Hill‘, was married to husband, Simon Monjack, a British screenwriter and they lived in Hollywood Hills.

Murphy also had a singing career, originally starting out in musical theater at the age of 14.  On June 6, 2006, Murphy and master dj Paul Oakenfold released the single called “Faster Kill Pussycat”, from the album ‘A Lively Mind’.  The song became a club hit, and hit number one on Billboard’s Hot Dance Club Play chart. It also hit number seven in the UK singles chart in June 2006.

Murphy also sang for the film ‘Happy Feet‘, covering Queen’s “Somebody to Love” and Earth, Wind & Fire’s “Boogie Wonderland“.

According to Huffington Post

Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter said Murphy apparently collapsed in the bathroom, and authorities were looking into her medical history.

An official cause of death may not be determined for some time, since toxicology tests will be required, but “it appears to be natural,” Winter said. He said an autopsy was planned for Monday or Tuesday.

Winter said Murphy’s family was cooperating with the coroner’s investigation but would not be releasing a public statement Sunday. He said funeral arrangements have not been announced.

Los Angeles police have opened an investigation into Murphy’s death, Officer Norma Eisenman said. Detectives and coroner’s officials were at Murphy and Monjack’s home Sunday afternoon but did not talk to reporters. Paparazzi were camped outside the multistory home, located above the Sunset Strip.

Messages left for Murphy’s manager, agent and publicist by The Associated Press were not immediately returned.

Tabloids report that Murphy was reportedly hooked on prescription drugs, including Vicodin, after a series of plastic surgery operations made her dependent on painkillers.

“We have been very worried something like this was about to happen,” a friend told The Sun.

“Brittany has been living life on the edge. She definitely had a drug problem and we have all begged her to seek help. Sadly our words fell on deaf ears.”

Murphy was taking prescription medication for flu-like symptoms she had been experiencing for several days, sources have told TMZ.

While many ‘tweets’ about Brittany’s passing are heartfelt from the likes of Hollywood colleagues Lindsay Lohan, Jessica Simpson and her ex boyfriend Ashton Kutcher.

Ashton Kutcher (aplusk) 2day the world lost a little piece of sunshine. My deepest condolences go out 2 Brittany’s family, her husband, & her amazing mother Sharon. see you on the other side kid.

Melissa Joan Hart (MellyJHart): I’m so sad to hear of the passing of a peer of mine! RIP Brittany Murphy! We will miss you and all the talent you shared!

Jessica Simpson (JessicaSimpson): Brittany Murphy was an incredible ray of Light to so many people. Her smile was contagious. My prayers are with her family and loved ones.

Khloe Kardashian (KhloeKardashian): OMG!!!! This is horrible news when anyone passes. I’m so sorry for her family. Send prayers out please!

Donnie Wahlberg: just wanted to tell you i love u with all my heart! Such a tragedy to hear about britney murphy may she RIP.

Kim Kardashian: I am in shock that Britney Murphy has died! Clueless is my all time favorite movie. My prayers go out to her family and husband

iamshanemorris RIP Brittany Murphy, a talented soul – from Atlanta, GA. Your city will miss you.

Many blog comments focus on her possible cocaine addiction and/or her overweight, disheveled, screenwriter husband who many view as a “con man”.

Canned from her last film and cardiac arrest? Cocaine.
Posted by: oracle2world

COCAINE-SUPPLIED BY HER CON ARTIST SWINDLER HUSBAND, WHO STOOD TO GAIN MILLIONS FROM BRITTNEY’S DEATH. WHY WOULD THE LAPD IMMEDIATELY JUMP TO OPEN AN OFFICIAL INVESTIGATION INTO HER DEATH? BECAUSE THEY ALREADY HAVE A HELL OF A LOT OF AMMO ON THE CON ARTIST/HUSBAND, THAT’S WHY.
Posted by: schmetterlingtoo

He is a con artist. He conned his last girlfriend out of her car and money. Left her with awful credit. Frequently uses different SS #’s. He left his other girlfriend in London with a $20,000 credit card bill she was unaware of until he was long gone. He is a master at lying. Brittany BEWARE!!!
Posted by: simon

As with every other celebrity story, this will all come out in the media and the facts will surface. I’ll keep updating as we find out more facts.

Normally I don’t talk about Entrants submitting their films or screenplays to ReelHeART, but today I will.

We’ve had amazing entries all season long and especially over the last 10 days because we’re coming close to our final deadline. Famous A-listers through to D-listers and beyond. As well, we welcome back a few Alumni.

Filmmakers either find us through word-of-mouth, our advertising, on-line communities and through extensive research that starts in July after the end of ReelHeART.

Since 2004, I’ve done exhaustive research for films and documentaries to premiere at ReelHeART that we think might match our mission statement or if the filmmaker has never approached us we let them know what we’re all about.

I’d say I either see or read about 1500 indie films a year. Of those, there’s a select group that if they haven’t entered, we send them an “Invite To Submit” their film.

Not a waiver mind you, but a greatly discounted rate off our partner’s entry fee.

Every season, we get 300-500 requests to waive fees. It’s not just our film festival, but all film festivals.

As a non profit film festival we can’t afford to waive fees. As a non profit film festival your funding bodies want real facts and figures about your marketing. That includes email marketing. That includes our “Invite to Submit” which is a marketing tool. Think of it that for every effort where we can show tangible proof we sent a letter or an email or ran a press release as part of our marketing efforts, we get a quarter from our funding bodies. Yep. It works out to 25 cents.  In this economy, that quarter is now a nickle.

But we don’t do it for the 25 cents we might make from our funding bodies. We market because we’re in a city that has 75 other film festivals. And you have to make your voice heard.

We don’t have the horsepower of the other 2 huge film festivals in this city. We have our great year-round volunteers, a skeleton staff and since our inception in 2004 … me.

We market to bring one-of-kind films to premiere at ReelHeART before they screen at one of the 74 other film festivals. We market to offer indie film fare that’s affordable to the audiences we want to reach. Audiences that see everything from quirky underground and experimental films to thought provoking documentaries to polished productions with budgets of a few million.

Our “Invite to Submit” contains links, information and clarifies that our email is not a waiver, but an invite to check us out and see if we’re a good fit for their film.

While 2-3 filmmakers we’ve encountered this season (who’ve made 1 or 2 short films) can’t appreciate that as a non-profit film festival we DON’T give waivers they feel compelled to trash us on the Internet. Yet, they fail to realize that we do give specific waivers to inner-city film groups for youths under 18 and to disabled filmmakers of any age.

Today, we’ve come across an entry from a charming, eloquent 13 year old, disabled filmmaker who did not receive an “Invite to Submit”. They found us on their own. They sent a comprehensive and engaging cover letter, 4 screening DVDs to go around and had just an amazing and pleasant attitude.

This filmmaker is eligible for a waiver because of their disability. But may have decided that it would be against their ideas about “pity based fund raising”. They never asked for the waiver they are entitled to, instead paying the rather hefty late deadline fee at our partners website.

What this young person could teach the ‘bashing filmmakers’ who didn’t get a waiver about building bridges in this industry instead of burning them. This young person could also teach those bashing filmmakers how to write an email or a letter that compliments rather than condescends.

The professionalism and HeART of this 13 year old who is “passionate about harnessing the power of film to open people’s minds” is my new Hero…