Coogan and Keener Take Hamlet to High School
If you remember the bisexual love triangle comedy Threesome, then you know the work of gay director Andrew Fleming. Since then he's directed Nancy Drew and an ill-advised remake of The In-Laws. But now the filmmaker has returned to his oddball roots with the Steve Coogan/Catherine Keener comedy Hamlet 2. Coogan plays a delusional former actor turned high school drama teacher who decides that what Shakespeare's greatest tragedy really needs is a sequel - never mind that every character in the first play dies at the end. The indie feature - which co-stars Amy Poehler and David Arquette - was the toast of the Sundance Film Festival ( where distributors are anxious to find the next Juno or Little Miss Sunshine ) and has just been acquired by Focus Features for release later this year. Now all it has to do is make back its $10 million purchase price.
Dancing with the Stars Goes Gay ( ish )
Queer fans of Dancing with the Stars will have more than a few reasons to catch next season's choreographed dance-battle. The cast has just been announced, and it's as gay-friendly a round-up as one should be able to expect from a show revolving around ballroom dancing. Queer-adjacent celebrity steppers will include Will & Grace's Sean Hayes, Oscar winner Marlee Matlin ( currently spicing up The L-Word by teaching audiences naughty lesbian sex words in American Sign Language ) , and the ebullient Tony Award-winning Marissa Jaret Winokur, who tore up the stage as the original Tracy Turnblad in Broadway's Hairspray. Now all that needs to happen is for Harvey Fierstein and Elton John to come in and be guest judges.
Johansson and Cruz Get Naked for Woody
Woody Allen's probably not the first director you think of when steamy love scenes come to mind. But since Allen, like 95 percent of the heterosexual male movie-going public, probably entertains vivid fantasies about seeing Scarlett Johansson and Penelope Cruz having girl-on-girl action, it will be interesting to see how he directs that very thing in his upcoming film, Vicky Christina Barcelona. Johansson plays a tourist in Spain who winds up having a steamy moment with Cruz in a darkroom; later, the two of them have a three-way with Cruz's character's husband, played by Javier Bardem ( presumably no longer sporting his No Country for Old Men haircut ) . See them all get their 'ole' on when the film hits theaters at the end of the year.
American Idol and Disney: A Marriage in Karaoke Heaven
What's so gay about American Idol? If you've ever seen the show, then you know that what's not gay is the more difficult question to answer. From the sheer overwhelming numbers of visibly gay young men who audition each year in the cattle-call rounds, to the ongoing saga of one of its big success stories continuing to dodge questions about his sexuality, Idol is a show for every queer kid who dreams of fame as the ultimate revenge. And now it will be accessible to those kids anytime they go to Walt Disney World, as a competition-based, Idol-themed, tie-in attraction gets installed down Florida way. The miniature karaoke contest will feed into the actual show, with winners getting guaranteed audition slots in the upcoming season. In other words, here's a way to get around waiting in one of those pesky 10,000-person-strong stadium lines. The attraction is set to open later this year.
Romeo San Vicente thinks Ryan Seacrest should switch stylists. Romeo can be reached care of this publication or at DeepInsideHollywood@qsyndicate.com .
