Somebody at Paramount was listening back in June when Jack Black said he'd be down for a School of Rock sequel -- but only if director Richard Linklater returned, too. The studio acted quickly to get Black and Linklater back. It probably wasn't that difficult getting them to make a sequel for their most successful film at the box office to date, especially since it was also loved by critics. In fact, Paramount got writer [And Jack Black name-nemesis! - Zach] Mike White -- who's had his directorial debut since School of Rock -- and producer Scott Rudin -- who, you know, won an Oscar in the interim -- to return as well.

Angelina Jolie gave birth to her and Brad Pitt's twins (a boy and a girl) on Saturday night. And nothing else happened anywhere in the world. At least that's what the news media would make you think. Possibly nothing else will ever happen in the world as long as the Jolie-Pitt clan continues to live and breathe and breed and adopt.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army accomplished a couple of major box-office feats this weekend: It unseated Hancock in a superhero vs. superhero competition for the No. 1 spot (though not by much), and it managed to get halfway to the first Hellboy movie's domestic box office take in its opening weekend.

Last month, IESB reported on negotiations between Marvel Studios and Iron Man director Jon Favreau. At that time, Favreau had not yet been signed to direct the sequel, even with an already-announced release date of April 2010. The holdup? Money, of course. Isn't it almost always money? But according to IESB's source, Favreau was asking for a "regular standard director's fee, no more" and not for, say, ownership of Robert Downey Jr.'s children.

Wow, you guys. Even Sarah Jessica isn't above whoring herself for some green. Word is that the woman who was rumored to be against a SATC movie initially because she thought it best to leave well enough alone is on board -- along with the three other ho's -- for a SATC sequel. Everyone has a price, and seeing as the record-breaking blockbuster has grossed damned near $150 million since opening, the whole gang's ready to sell out. Pardon me, but I was just enjoying a respite from the barrage of crazy marketing tie-ins and annoying Carrie Bradshaw wannabes sashaying down my frigging sidewalk. Thanks a lot, Hollywood.

I have a confession to make. I recently recommended that my friend catch a screening of the 1986 John Stamos-Vanity-Gene Simmons vehicle Never Too Young To Die at a theatre near him in Los Angeles. I know, I know, what kind of friend am I? I figured he'd get a kick out of it, and I was really sad that I lived over a thousand miles away and couldn't attend myself, having watched it on video and yet still longing to see a giant Stamos projected 30 feet high. But while reading my friend's blog, in which he briefly summarized the story for the uninitiated, I was struck with a startling realization. Never Too Young to Die has the same plot as Wanted. Intrigued yet?

The meerschaum pipe, that is. As in, that's the kind of pipe Sherlock Holmes smokes, and Robert Downey, Jr. is going to play Sherlock Holmes in Guy Ritchie's upcoming movie about the fictional English detective. ...Was that too obscure a reference to make in the pursuit of a cleverly suggestive and potentially scandalous headline? Maybe, but I have no regrets.