'Funny People' Cheat Sheet: Everything You Need To Know

Ever since "Knocked Up" came out two years ago and combined with "The 40-year-Old Virgin" to make a one-two comedic punch unlike anything we'd seen since the heyday of Mel Brooks, Hollywood has been eager to see what Judd Apatow would do next.

Now, with his third directorial effort, "Funny People," arriving in theaters, we present our "cheat sheet," providing everything you need to know before partaking in this weekend's "Funny" business.

The Build-Up
In the time leading up to the "Funny People" release, we got the scoop on some big stories. First, we visited the set and watched Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen and the gang do stand-up. Then, we broke the news that Owen Wilson has a small gag in the film. A few months later, Apatow told us about all the silly films that we'll see Sandler's George Simmons acting in, from Wilson's "My Best Friend Is a Robot" to "Merman" and more. Finally, our in-depth journalism got to the bottom of Rogen's "farting on an airplane" joke.

Knowing Is Half the Battle
Did you know that there's a "Green Hornet" cameo in the film? Or that one of the movie's funnymen also composed the soundtrack? For all those details and more, be sure to check out our list of Five Things You Need to Know Before You See "Funny People."

Judd's Blog
It's no secret that MTV News employs some of the best writers in the world — and me too. But we recently gave a blog to a young kid with a dream named Apatow, and he's been churning out some hilarious material. First, Judd answered questions you haven't asked yet and gave us an extended sneak peek at Adam Sandler's hilarious movies-within-the-movie "Merman," "Sayonara Davey" and "Dog's Best Friend." A week later, Judd confessed his nervousness on the eve of the film's release (and excitement over meeting one of the Jonas Brothers), and then he went out not with a bang or a whimper, but with stream-of-consciousness poetry. Hmmm ... we might have to offer this guy a job.

8 Miles of Laughter
Everyone's been waiting for Eminem to shoot a follow-up to his 2002 acting debut in "8 Mile," and now he finally has! Well, kind of. The hip-hop hitmaker has one pivotal scene in "Funny People" and actually carries some impressive dramatic heft playing himself. Check out a shot from the scene here — oh, and did we mention that he gets to scream at Ray Romano?

Feast Your Eyes
Want to see Seth in his "Superjew" T-shirt, RZA bringing the funny, or Aziz Ansari as breakout character Randy? Be sure to pore over our "Funny People" flipbook.

Check out everything we've got on "Funny People."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

‘Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince’ Reviews Are In!Jackson’s family worried about bodysnatchers

'G.I. Joe' Set Visit Yields Explosions, Stunts And Nostalgia

DOWNEY, California — These are strange times we live in. People my age grew up playing with 12-inch-tall versions of "G.I. Joe" characters, imagining wondrous adventures as we grew up in the '80s. Now, Hollywood is bringing back "Transformers," "Smurfs" and all the rest — and risking our beloved memories as they attempt to see if we're still interested.

A little while back, the surreal became real as I walked around the set of "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra" and witnessed elaborate props and highly paid stars attempting to re-create what we used to do in our backyards for free. And what I saw had this lifelong fan of the franchise thinking, "Yo, Joe!" as often as it did "No, Joe!"

"Today I'm fighting; I'm always fighting," laughed "Star Wars" veteran Ray Park, who landed the coveted role of Snake Eyes in the film. "I've been getting into the research, reading a lot of the comics. I looked at as many old cartoons and new cartoons of Snake Eyes as possible; Snake Eyes is a character that I've grown up with, so it's something I've been very familiar with from the beginning. I wanted to be prepared and be strong for any unexpected challenges, so from the beginning I was doing kickboxing. I was wearing a sauna suit every day, I was wearing [the costume], I was wearing sea goggles, I was wearing gloves. I was trying to put myself through the worst conditions ever, and most of the training sessions I was puking up."

Whether Park and co-stars Sienna Miller, Channing Tatum and others were giving their all to the production could not be questioned. What did seem odd, however, was that few of them were wearing the beloved costumes from the "Real American Hero" toy line. Most of the weapons, vehicles and story lines seemed quite different from the immensely popular franchise they were remaking. Oh, and the Baroness didn't have a German accent.

"I'm doing an American accent," explained Miller, who admitted that she wasn't very aware of the franchise while growing up in England. "I thought 'G.I. Joe' was one guy called Joe. ... I had seen the cartoon, I think, when I was younger, but it was all very hazy. I didn't know who Baroness was, but I just loved the script. I loved the idea of doing something so different and so big. It's a lot of fun, and the costume is pretty fantastic."

As we walked around, the cast and crew showed off some elements of the film that were way cooler than what my little 10-year-old mind (or Sunbow's classic TV show) could have devised in the mid-'80s: In one scene, for instance, Snake Eyes needs to use nothing but his fingertips to "walk" across a pressure-sensitive floor.

"My fingers are still killing me, and my forearms are still killing me from that," grinned Park, whose physical prowess caused fans to lobby on his behalf, landing him the part. "I can walk on my hands, but I can't walk on my fingertips; we had a system of wires [holding me]. ... But I was putting the pressure on my hands to make it more believable that I was doing it, and it killed me. I'm so glad I did it, but I said to [director] Stephen Sommers, 'You know what you've done to me? You're going to make every kid in the world ask me, "Hey can you do a finger-walking handstand?" ' "

"We have an opening battle scene where everyone gets introduced in their characters and there's flashbacks and stuff," explained Tatum, who regretfully told me that he doesn't get to say "Yo, Joe!" but insisted that being on the "Rise of Cobra" set was like playing in the world's biggest toy box. "I got to run up this hill where tracers are going past my head and people are being blown up, things are getting blown up, I get blown up. It's fun. In real life I would have been in a million pieces, but in 'G.I. Joe,' I get flown through the air somehow and roll, I land and I keep running."

"Hopefully this is a harbinger of good things for us, but we've had more requests for people's kids to come to the set than any movie I've ever worked on," admitted Lorenzo di Bonaventura, a Hollywood veteran (and "Transformers" franchise engineer) who serves as producer on the film. "I mean, it's staggering how many kids wanted to come here! I can't quite figure it out, because they didn't grow up with the TV series and the comic book. What we've found out was a lot of dads have handed down the toys and stuff to their kids, so these kids that come in — 6, 7 years old — know it better than we know it.

"They're constantly asking, 'Is Storm Shadow going to fight Snake Eyes? How many times? Who wins?' " di Bonaventura marveled. "It's constantly been a flow of children coming through here, which I think is probably a great sign for us."

The set was big, loud, familiar and unfamiliar all at the same time. It made you want to see the movie, and at the same time wish you could just go home and watch old VHS tapes of the TV show. Who knows? Maybe us dads will want to pass this movie onto our kids, as we have our old toys. Maybe these 6- and 7-year-old kids will someday look at "Rise of Cobra" as fondly as we remember the '80s TV series. On August 7, we'll know the answers to these questions and more. And knowing, as they say, is half the battle.

Check out everything we've got on "G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

Christina Milian gets engaged‘Harry Potter’ Stars Aren’t Surprised By Robert Pattinson’s Success

'New Moon' Could Include Songs From Australian Songstress Lee Safar

Though "New Moon" director Chris Weitz confirmed at Comic-Con that Thom Yorke and Bon Iver will contribute songs to the sequel's soundtrack, the track list remains far from complete. One artist dazzling the "Twilight" fandom is Australian singer Lee Safar, whose "I'm Here" has been a rumored contender for the "New Moon" LP. MTV News spoke with Safar, who confirmed that "I'm Here" is being considered and revealed exclusively that a second song is also in contention.

The second track, "Take Me Away," is an unreleased recording from Safar's upcoming album and was produced by Linkin Park collaborator Jeff Blue. Safar described the song as dark and powerful, and said it resonates well with Bella's lovesick werewolf BFF.

"It very much explores the pain that Jake feels from loving Bella, while having to stand by and watch her pain and not be able to love her the way he wants to love her," Safar explained.

A self-proclaimed "massive fan" of the "Twilight" saga, Safar's introduction to the series was a pure stroke of luck. While staying at a friend's home in London, Safar passed along a copy of her debut album Who I've Become to a fellow houseguest, who felt her music's ethereal vibe would be a perfect fit for a certain vampire romance.

"He said, 'I'm going to take you to see something today. This movie needs your music in it. Have you seen "Twilight"?' I told him that I hadn't even heard of it, but was intrigued. We went that day and saw the movie and I was immediately obsessed. I could identify with so many of the characters in 'Twilight.' "

With the help of her new friend, Safar's songs caught the attention of U.K. "Twilight" vlogger Emma Clark, who posted them to her YouTube account. The tunes garnered 4,000 hits in 24 hours, with fans commenting in droves on which of Safar's tracks would be a perfect for "New Moon." Safar is now working with a L.A.-based attorney to get one, if not both, songs included in the sure-to-be blockbuster.

You can listen to Safar's track "I'm Here" on her MySpace page.

Check in later with Hollywood Crush to read our full interview with Safar.

Check out everything we've got on The Twilight Saga: New Moon."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

Will ‘New Moon’ Soundtrack Include Thom Yorke And Kings Of Leon?Robbie distracted by Jay Kay

Peter Jackson Welcomed Freedom To Make 'District 9' 'Grungy'

SAN DIEGO — On Thursday, Mr. "Lord of the Rings" himself, Peter Jackson, invited MTV News to a private event at Comic-Con. It was the latest in a series of cool happenings that also included an early screening of the upcoming Jackson-produced sci-fi flick "District 9," and attendees are already buzzing that the movie will change the face of genre filmmaking.

"It cost $30 million," Jackson said to audible gasps in a function room at a Comic-Con hotel. Not that you could tell by watching the movie, which boasts intense effects that make "Transformers" look like "My Dinner With Andre." "In raising the money, I had to sign off on everything, final cut, etc. ... but it was Neill's film."

Neill, for those who don't already know, is Neill Blomkamp, the young South African filmmaker whose eye-popping flick looks like it cost at least five times its budget. "You can YouTube Neill and see some of his short movies. ... He moved down to New Zealand to begin work on 'Halo,' we worked on it for three or four months, and then the movie died. ... We felt really bad. We had found an exciting young filmmaker ... and we felt incredibly guilty."

Blomkamp notably produced a series of "Halo" short films to drum up interest in the now-aborted project. There's a handheld, rough-looking aesthetic that dates back to his earlier effort "Alive in Joburg," which serves as the narrative inspiration for "District 9."

After Jackson's movie based on the immensely popular video game fell apart, he and his producing partners came up with a plan B. "We thought, 'Why don't we take control of the situation and create something original with Neill?' "

"District 9" is certainly original, depicting a world where aliens walk among us — or they would if they hadn't been placed in ghetto containment camps. "We financed the development of it for the first six months independently. ... We wrote a screenplay that was more of a treatment than a screenplay. We needed actors who could improv."

That necessity led them to Sharlto Copley, an old friend of Blomkamp's who had never acted in a film before but whose hilarious, heartbreaking performance is the spine of the movie.

"It was an independent movie, shot independently, distributed by Sony," Jackson said. "We were able to have total freedom. We had this tiny little film in a year when 'Transformers 2' and 'G.I. Joe' were coming out. ... So we figured we can be grungy, because they can't."

In addition to talking about "District 9," Jackson was game to fill journalists in on his eagerly anticipated flicks "The Hobbit," "Tintin," "Dambusters," "The Lovely Bones" and more. Stay tuned to MTV for more details from Jackson on those projects, straight from Comic-Con '09!

MTV News is on the scene with live coverage of the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con all weekend long. Visit MTVNews.com, Splash Page, the MTV Movies Blog and Hollywood Crush for videos, interviews and the latest news on "New Moon," "Iron Man 2" and everything in between.

Check out everything we've got on "District 9."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

Jackson’s mother files for control of estate50 Cent Says ‘Streets Of Blood’ Film Comes From ‘A Rebellious Place’

Nicolas Cage Explains His 'Ridiculous' Voice In 'G-Force'

On the final day of filming for the second "National Treasure" movie, producer Jerry Bruckheimer approached star Nicolas Cage with a question: Do you want to be a guinea pig? An odd query, no doubt, especially since "Treasure" keeps its focus on American history-spanning adventures rather than portly rodents.

But Bruckheimer was already in the midst of gearing up for another project — a 3-D Disney saga involving an elite team of animal secret agents called "G-Force" — and he wanted Cage to lend his voice to one of the characters.

"I wasn't going to play a guinea pig," Cage told MTV. "That wasn't going to happen."

Bruckheimer said he could play whichever creature most appealed to him. Cage, who was feeling the strain of the intense "Treasure" shoot, asked if could use a humorous, high-pitched voice he often employed to relieve tension — a voice he was actually trying out on the "Treasure" set.

"The voice was what I call my frustrated, stressed voice," Cage explained. "This is a voice that I sometimes resort to if I'm feeling just that. And it's an octave or two higher than my normal voice — this way I don't resort to profanity or yelling. And I start talking in that voice, I just immediately start laughing because it's so stupid and so ridiculous that I can't help but not take anything too seriously."

The producer gave Cage the OK, and that's how the actor came to voice Speckles, a star-nosed mole who happens to be a computer and information specialist.

"G-Force" is a live-action and CG-animation hybrid — the humans and the settings are real, while the furry little creatures are computer-generated bundles of wacky, world-saving fun. The story follows the U.S. government-trained animal-agents as their unit is shuttered, they're shunted off to a pet store and then must escape so they can stop an evil gazillionaire from conquering the planet. American history it ain't.

Joining Cage are the voice talents of Sam Rockwell, Penйlope Cruz, Jon Favreau and Tracy Morgan. To prepare for the role, Morgan joked that he studied Luke Skywalker and the movie adaptation of the children's book, "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH."

Why? Dedication to his craft and a commitment to honoring the mighty, roly-poly rodents of the animal kingdom.

"Guinea pigs have made great contributions to the world!" Morgan declared. "They invented the straightening comb! And corn on the cob!"

Check out everything we've got on "G-Force."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

‘Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince’ Takes Box-Office Crown

'New Moon' Stars Still Find Comic-Con 'Terrifying'

SAN DIEGO — Appropriately enough for a movie series about a vampire clan that never sleeps, "Twilight" day at Comic-Con began bright and early. Gathered together at 9:30 a.m. Thursday (July 23) for an invite-only press conference, a small group of reporters took up about a third of the massive ballroom at the Hilton Bayfront hotel, eager to talk fame, fiction and fanpires with Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner.

"This year, I have something to say," Pattinson laughed, remembering that he was overwhelmed to the point of near speechlessness last year. "It's much more terrifying."

"This is a severely emotional movie. ... There are high points for Bella, but she's a manic-depressive basically," Stewart said of her "New Moon" performance. "There was more to think about. It's a more mature part."

Speaking with other reporters before the event, none of us Comic-Con veterans could recall a movie having an event like this before. Summit Entertainment claimed an entire ballroom for media only, no Twilighters allowed. Not "Lord of the Rings," not "Iron Man" or anything else had ever needed its own press event — a testament to the enormous growth of both "Twilight" and Comic-Con in general.

"It's crazy," Lautner said when the trio were asked about how they've been dealing with the fame. "None of us saw it coming, and this past year has been a ride for us."

Kristen Stewart, who currently has short black locks to play Joan Jett in "The Runaways," laughed, "I cut my hair off."

"It's still so young to me, I can't claim anything as a low," Pattinson said when asked about his avalanche of fame. "I live a nearly identical life, except for being recognized. It's not the worst thing in the world. I never did anything 'normal' before — and now, I get other people to do that for me."

Pattinson confirmed that Thursday afternoon's massive fan event in Hall H will screen a clip featuring him. The line outside the convention center is arguably the longest in Comic-Con history.

Speaking specifically about Stephenie Meyer's franchise, Stewart said, "You're so much inside [Bella's] head, it feels like home."

"When I play it, I try to eliminate the vampire element as much as I can," Pattinson said of playing Edward Cullen. "I only see it as a tool to make things more fraught."

 

 

 

 

 

 "New Moon" Cast At 2009 Comic-Con 

 

"I did a lot of the apparition scenes, which were me doing one line a week," Pattinson remembered of the ghost-like appearances he filmed at the beginning of the "New Moon" shoot. "I had a stress-free three months. All the pressure was on Taylor."

Asked for the one "Twilight" question they hope to never answer again, Lautner knew his answer immediately. "To growl. I'm asked that by a lot by fans, and I don't like doing that," he said. "So, fans, please don't ask me that. Wait for the movie."

Pattinson's least favorite question? "What's it like kissing Taylor Lautner?" he grinned.

MTV News is on the scene with live coverage of the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con all weekend long. Visit MTVNews.com, Splash Page, the MTV Movies Blog and Hollywood Crush for videos, interviews and the latest news on "New Moon," "Iron Man 2" and everything in between.

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Tim Burton Assembles 'Mysterious Puzzle' For 'Alice In Wonderland'

First-look photos of the newest, nuttiest "Alice in Wonderland" movie — Johnny Depp's Mad Hatter with squiggles of orange hair leaping like flames from his head, Anne Hathaway's White Queen sealing shut her blood-red lips — popped out of the rabbit hole that is Tim Burton's wacked-out mind in June.

Actual footage of the big-screen version of Lewis Carroll's famed children's story, though, has not yet surfaced. But at San Diego Comic-Con on Thursday, Alice and her troupe of wackadoodle creatures will move among us — albeit on Disney Digital 3-D.

Before heading to that altar of movie geekdom, Burton spoke with MTV News about the flaws of earlier "Alice" adaptations, what it takes to make an unforgettable Mad Hatter, and the technological challenges inherent in a boundary-pushing cinematic adventure.

"There's pure [motion-capture] stuff, and then there's stuff that has mixed animation and live-action — it kind of blurs the lines," Burton said. "It's a strange process we're dealing with. We're using a mix of techniques. If you picked them apart, each technique has been done before. We're mixing them up, in a way. ... It's a real mysterious puzzle that's frightening and exciting at the same time."

Burton's version picks up with Alice (Mia Wasikowska) as a 17-year-old, after she's forgotten her maiden Wonderland voyage and accidentally falls, once again, down the rabbit hole. For Burton, the decision to update the story stemmed from the disjointed storytelling in previous "Alice" movies.

"It's a series of stories," he explained. "For me, that's always been a problem with the movie versions of it. It's always been a girl going from one weird adventure to another, and for me it didn't have much of an impact in the versions I'd seen before. Everyone's crazy. We tried to take the 'Alice' mythology and characters and make a story out of it and be true to the spirit of what 'Alice' is about. The other versions for me suffer because there's no movement to it. It's just one weird event after another. We're trying to ground it a little a bit."

That emphasis on grounding the story extended to Depp's take on the Hatter. "When you look at most interpretations, everything is pretty one-note," Burton said. "With him, we are always trying to find a subtext and layer to it, so it's rooted in humanity to some degree — something deeper than just being nuts."

While the film isn't scheduled for release until early next year, Burton is working night and day sorting out the various technological obstacles of seamlessly integrating motion-capture, animation and live-action. It's an undertaking that has become all-consuming.

"I have to spend every waking moment on it. There's a lot to be done in a very short period of time," he admitted, just days before he'll travel to the Con to show off some of what he's accomplished thus far.

Check out everything we've got on "Alice in Wonderland."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

Will ‘New Moon’ Soundtrack Include Thom Yorke And Kings Of Leon?

'Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince' Takes Box-Office Crown

The Box-Office Top Five

#1 "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" ($79.5 million)
#2 "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" ($17.7 million)
#3 "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" ($13.8 million)
#4 "Brьno" ($8.4 million)
#5 "The Hangover" ($8.3 million)

Moviegoing Muggles were positively enchanted this weekend, falling under the spell of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince." The sixth installment in the Potter franchise deposited a tidy $79.5 million in its Gringotts vault, which now contains a five-day total of $160 million, $22.2 million of it from Wednesday's midnight showings alone. While the boy wizard fell short of "Transformers" or "The Dark Knight" numbers, it's the biggest-opening "Harry Potter" film to date, and its overseas tally of $396.7 million is the biggest international debut ever.

Young moviegoers were clearly where the money was this weekend, as #2 belonged to "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs." Though in its third weekend, the animated adventure made another $17.7 million, and is enjoying a cool total of $152 million. "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" also stayed right where it was last week, bringing in another $13.8 million. Its $364 million haul makes it the box-office behemoth of the summer.

"Brьno" took a bruising fall off the catwalk, dropping all the way to #4 in its sophomore week, just barely beating "The Hangover." Sacha Baron Cohen's latest mockumentary only made $8.4 million at the box office, for a 10-day total of a mere $49.6 million. Cohen's gay Austrian fashionista probably won't have the legs of his outrageous predecessor "Borat," which earned $67.1 million in the same time frame and $128.5 million overall.

Though "500 Days of Summer" had too few screenings to place in the top five, it had the biggest opening of the year for a limited release — it earned $838,000 from only 27 sites. Summit Entertainment's "The Hurt Locker" also had a successful expansion from 34 theaters to 93, grossing $764,000 for the weekend and $2.2 million total. Despite such a wide variety of releases, the box office was down 39 percent from last year, when "The Dark Knight" stormed into theaters with a record-breaking $158.4 million.

Upcoming Releases

Warner Bros. offers R-rated horror with "The Orphan," Sony offers R-rated comedy with "The Ugly Truth," and Disney offers G-rated action with the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced "G-Force."

Check out everything we've got on "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,""Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" and"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

Guinness celebrate 250 years with Tom Jones‘Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince’ Breaks Midnight Records

50 Cent Says 'Streets Of Blood' Film Comes From 'A Rebellious Place'

Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson (as he's billed in Hollywood) has found fame and fortune as the real-life embodiment of everything your typical policeman would be interested in arresting you for. Now, the former drug dealer and street thug is playing a cop for the first time in this month's "Streets of Blood" — and yes, he is fully aware of the irony.

"It's absolutely a huge difference," 50 Cent said of his character Stan Green, a family-oriented cop teamed with Val Kilmer's Andy Devereaux to solve a series of murders in a post-Katrina New Orleans. "But then, it wasn't."

"[Both] are from a more rebellious place, dealing with the harsh realities in a city," he said of the similarity between his gangsta persona and playing a policeman onscreen. "I could see where you'd say there's a huge difference between what I do in music and the actual character I'm playing in the film ... but that's what I was looking forward to in film projects — telling stories that have way more depth than music."

Although he began his acting career with "Get Rich or Die Tryin'," a movie in which he played, well, basically himself ... Fif has spent the past four years selecting some challenging roles, from the emotionally scarred Iraq veteran in "Home of the Brave" to a violent club owner in "Righteous Kill" to upcoming roles as a boxer ("The Champ"), a loan shark ("Dead Man Running") and even a monster ("Jekyll and Hyde"). "Streets of Blood" gave him a chance to stretch out behind a badge — and to film in a part of the country that needs all the attention it can get.

"We shot on location in Shreveport, Louisiana," he said of the flick, which also co-stars Sharon Stone and will premiere on DVD July 28. "I felt good about the actual project ... it's crazy down there. The news shows things, but when you're looking at it, you see what's really going on out there. Anybody who's socially conscious has to be aware of Hurricane Katrina."

And with his Hollywood career taking off — 50 has a new production company and nearly 10 films in various stages of development — the rapper/actor is eager to keep flexing his sizable muscles by not only releasing the album Before I Self Destruct in late September, but also by building a movie career that has him telling stories as a cop, a thug or whatever else may come up.

"You see, a song only has two minutes and 50 seconds, maximum of three minutes, before you start reaching an overkill point," 50 Cent explained of the two different storytelling mediums. "There's not time for you to create like there is in these scripts, because [movies can] create cause and effect, reasoning for those actual behaviors. So, going into these projects, it allows me to pick things that I have a personal investment in."

And since he's already one of the world's biggest musical stars (and that Vitamin Water thing worked out pretty well too), 50 Cent has a rare financial freedom that allows him to choose movies that he cares about.

"It's not so much a financial draw for me," he explained of his Hollywood side gig. "If I read the script and I'm passionate about being a part of the actual project — from an artistic standpoint — then I'll commit to it."

‘Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince’ Stars Answer Fan Questions

Will 'New Moon' Soundtrack Include Thom Yorke And Kings Of Leon?

"New Moon" director Chris Weitz recently gave an interview to movie site RottenTomatoes.com in which he talked about the status of the film — it's due in theaters November 20 — and spoke at length about the music he's lining up for the soundtrack.

Now, normally, soundtrack stories aren't that interesting ... but two things were different here. First, the "New Moon" album follows the mega-successful "Twilight" soundtrack (which featured a pair of new songs from Paramore and has sold more than 2.1 million copies to date) and second, Weitz mentioned that none other than Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke and the Kings of Leon were interested in contributing songs.

For real.

"I am surprised at some of the bands that have said they're interested. It's kind of great," Weitz told the site. "The criterion will still always be what's right for the movie at that given moment, but Thom Yorke is interested; we might, if we're very lucky, get Kings of Leon to do something ... it's exciting to be able to have access to this kind of talent."

Speculation about just who would appear on the "New Moon" soundtrack has run rampant for months, with names like Kelly Clarkson and Coldplay being tossed about, but Yorke and the Kings of Leon?! They just seemed, well, different ... and yes, we know that Radiohead's "15 Step" featured prominently in the "Twilight" film (though was noticeably absent from the soundtrack album), but still ...

So we decided to find out for ourselves if Weitz was being serious. First, we reached out to Atlantic Records, who — along with music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas's Chop Shop Records — released the "Twilight" soundtrack, and will be doing the same for "New Moon." A spokesperson for the label told MTV News that he could not confirm the story, since the track list for the "New Moon" soundtrack was still being worked out.

We then reached out to reps for Yorke and the Kings of Leon, hoping they could shed some light on the "New Moon" situation. Turns out, they couldn't really.

Yorke's spokesperson told MTV News "not denying [the story], but there's nothing confirmed as yet." When reached for comment, a spokesperson for the Kings of Leon told us "They like the film a lot, but it's a little too early to tell if they can be involved."

So, while we now know that the Kings of Leon like "New Moon," we're not any closer to figuring out if they — or Yorke — will appear on the soundtrack to the film. Guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Check out everything we've got on "The Twilight Saga: New Moon."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

‘Harry Potter’ Stars Aren’t Surprised By Robert Pattinson’s Success

'Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince' Breaks Midnight Records

Record-breaking midnight releases are expected from summer blockbusters such as of "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" and "The Dark Knight." But no one expects them from a "Harry Potter" film.

Sure, it's a massive franchise, with analysts expecting this week's release — "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" — to push the series' gross over the $5 billion mark. At the end of the day, though, these are movies with family appeal, and midnight turnouts for kid wizards can't possibly compete with giant robots and bat men. Can they?

Yes, they sure can. "Half-Blood Prince" took home somewhere in the neighborhood of $20 million in its midnight opening, according to a report in Variety . The sixth "Potter" flick now sits at #1 for all-time midnight openings, beating out "The Dark Knight" ($18 million) and "Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith" ($17 million).

The $20 million figure is an impressive jump after the previous film's — "Order of the Phoenix" — not-shabby $12 million opening in 2007. Perhaps the nearly doubled "Half-Blood" take is a result of the two-year vacuum of new "Potter" content. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," the final book in the series, hit bookshelves in 2007. The "Half-Blood" movie adaptation was originally set for a fall 2008 release, and fans were driven into a frenzy when the studio pushed it back to this summer.

The decision to change the release date was questioned at the time, but if last night's box-office performance is any indication, Warner Bros. made the right choice. Now we're all left to wonder how the two-part adaptation of "Deathly Hallows" will fare.

Check out everything we've got on "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince."For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

‘Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince’ Reviews Are In!

'Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince' Reviews Are In!

"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," the sixth installment in the ongoing series, hit theaters on Wednesday (July 15), breaking a midnight-screening record by taking in an astounding $20 million. It's no surprise that "Half-Blood Prince" will turn out to be a box-office smash, but how does it stack up with the critics? Check out our breakdown below (as well as Kurt Loder's review of the film, and for everything you need to know about "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," check out our cheat sheet).

The Story

Of all the movies, "Half-Blood Prince" focuses more on the developing romantic relationships between the characters, and less so on the action and adventure. The Philadelphia Inquirer calls it "a bubbling cauldron of hormonal angst, rife with romance and heartbreak, jealousy and longing."

For the most part, reviewers don't find any fault with this, as the developing romances provide comic relief and an accurate portrayal of adolescence. According to ReelTalk, "It's an involving portrait of an awkward stage of growing up, where teenagers are preoccupied with their emotions while the outside world and greater responsibility continually knock on the door."

But the Washington Post points out a few flaws, writing that the movie, "though not without its excellent moments, doesn't tell the two stories that, at heart, the book tells. It doesn't present a compelling portrait of the birth, life and descent into inhumanity of the villain who has haunted this series from its opening scenes: Voldemort. And it doesn't make the budding romance between Harry and Ginny feel inevitable and true."

The Acting

Most critics seem to agree that the best acting is done by the supporting cast, which includes veterans like Michael Gambon, Helena Bonham Carter and Maggie Smith. In particular, the addition of Jim Broadbent as Horace Slughorn is welcomed. The Los Angeles Times said that Broadbent, along with the rest of the supporting cast, "underlines the Potter films' ongoing status as a comprehensive guide to contemporary U.K. acting."

Returning to the series as Professor Snape, Alan Rickman is at his scene-stealing best. Rolling Stone said, "Rickman is a dynamo, lacing the Severus sneer with glimmers of conscience and moral doubt."

What about the lead actors? Cinema Blend wrote, "I'm still not convinced Daniel Radcliffe can act and I'm still absolutely convinced that his backup wizards Emma Watson and Rupert Grint definitely can."

But other reviewers are inclined to defend Radcliffe. In the Chicago Sun Times, Roger Ebert wrote, "It's not easy being the hero with a supporting cast like this." Rolling Stone added that his "growing maturity as Harry gives the role a touching gravity. His scenes with Gambon, super as Dumbledore, exude ferocity and feeling."

The Visuals

While the "Harry Potter" series has always been known for its top-tier, eye-catching production values, this installment has a darker, more ominous feel, thanks to new cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel's work. Entertainment Weekly writes, "With a big assist from cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel ... the filmmakers have found a way to refresh our eyes and enhance our appreciation for this rich, amazing creation."

Empire opined, "The standout achievement in the film is the knockout spectacle, courtesy of cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel and production designer Stuart Craig, with one climactic sequence amid flames giving Dumbledore his Moses parting the Red Sea moment. That's the image we'll remember best until HP7 Part One arrives."

'Half-Blood Prince' Vs. The Other Movies

USA Today said, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is spellbinding, even though it is more grounded in reality and less fanciful than previous installments."

Cinema Blend echoes this statement, saying it "may be the least action-heavy of all the Potter pictures," but adds that "It's taken them six movies to find it, but at last here is Harry Potter's 'Empire Strikes Back.' "

The Associated Press wrote, "'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' is the franchise's best so far, blending rich drama and easy camaraderie among the actors with the visual spectacle that until now has been the real star of the series."

Check out everything we've got on "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince."

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‘Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince’ Stars Answer Fan Questions

'Harry Potter' Stars Aren't Surprised By Robert Pattinson's Success

Before the vampire Edward Cullen, there was the Hogwarts student Cedric Diggory. British actor Robert Pattinson went from the mega-franchise of "Harry Potter" in 2005's "Goblet of Fire" to the mega-franchise of last year's "Twilight."

Now that Pattinson has entered a world in which bloodsuckers chill Stateside — and now that he must contend with Twilighters going wild for every bit of RPattz gossip out there — Daniel Radcliffe looks at his onetime "Potter" co-star's career arc as educational.

"It's really interesting for me, as somebody who is a central feature of a pretty huge franchise," said Radcliffe, who returns as Harry Potter in the "Half-Blood Prince" on Wednesday (July 15). "It's interesting to watch — because I haven't seen 'Twilight' — and to suddenly be able to just watch another franchise go massive is really interesting."

"Twilight" has given Radcliffe a chance to understand how an everyday fan must react to his own franchise. "I have no concept of what 'Potter' looks like to the rest of the world because I'm so involved in it," he explained. "So to watch 'Twilight' kind of explode globally had been fascinating."

The two British stars, though, haven't connected since they filmed "Goblet of Fire." "People always assume that as a celebrity, I know all the celebrities," Radcliffe laughed. "But I know very few famous people!"

Another of Pattinson's "Potter" co-stars, Emma Watson, always knew Rob had the goods to make it big. But no one could have ever guessed how big he would actually make it. "He was always very intelligent, nice, talented, good-looking, had everything there," she told MTV News. "I'm not surprised he's been successful. I'm surprised that it's got this insane. I think he's a great actor."

Having worked with both Radcliffe and Pattinson, who would Watson say is the most enchanting? "Obviously, I'm going to have to say Daniel, because he's just gorgeous," she said with a smile.

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‘Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince’ Stars Answer Fan Questions

'Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince' Stars Answer Fan Questions

The "Harry Potter" franchise would be nothing without its multitudes of fans. MTV News knows that. The "Potter" cast knows that. And to celebrate your commitment to the boy wizard before the Wednesday release of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," we presented your questions to Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and the rest of the film's stars.

It was a difficult task to sort through the video entries and choose just a few, but the questions we ended up selecting touched on topics like "Potter" mythology, essential character traits and the ultimate legacy of J.K. Rowling's franchise.

MTV reader Shonz905 is undoubtedly a serious "Potter"-phile, and her question for Radcliffe offered up a triple-sided head-scratcher: If Daniel had a love potion, Imperio (a curse that gives you control over someone) and Avada Kedavra (a death spell), which would he use on #1 bad guy Lord Voldemort, mysterious Hogwarts teacher Severus Snape and Dark witch Bellatrix Lestrange?

Radcliffe laughed and made the easiest choice first. "Obviously, Bellatrix, the love potion," he said.

He paused before going on, asking for clarification. "Are we talking about characters or actors?" he wondered. "Because I just want to state for the record that I don't want to kill any of them."

Just characters, we assured him. With that cleared up, Radcliffe declared he'd kill Snape and use Imperio on his nemesis. "If I could control Voldemort, than I'd have his power," he reasoned. "See — thinking!"

Hufflepuffgirl identified Hermione Granger's three key character qualities as loyalty, intelligence and bravery, and this reader wanted to know which one Watson, who plays Hermione, admired the most.

"I think her loyalty is really admirable," Watson said. "I think she's a great friend. Particularly in the last book, you see her sacrifice so much for her friendship. She sacrifices everything. She makes her parents forget that she even exists so that she can help them and be there for them. That's truly admirable."

With the "Potter" franchise nearing its conclusion, Methehappymedium wanted to know what the actors most wanted fans to take away from the series.

"Each film gives different messages and different lessons to children and even adults," explained Bonnie Wright, who plays Ginny Weasley. "Obviously, it's within this fantasy world in which no one can probably take away a lot, because it's so far beyond their own life, which is great as well because it's an escape from normal, quite mundane life. I guess just to take the sense of the friendships between everyone are so strong. The sense of loyalty, and if you strive to live within the good, then good will come back to you."

Check out everything we've got on "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince."

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‘Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince’ Stars Get Over Kissing Qualms

'Blair Witch Project' Cast And Crew Celebrate 10-Year Anniversary

"We really had no idea what we were doing," said "Blair Witch Project" co-director Daniel Myrick to MTV News in June 1999, little more than a month before his indie horror film swept into theaters, scared up $250 million at the worldwide box office and set a trend of online viral marketing that is still being followed today.

Myrick and his collaborators might not have had a clue what they were up to, but years later, on Tuesday's (July 14)10-year anniversary of the flick's theatrical release, "Blair Witch" has become an undeniable classic of the horror genre. Not that any of the key players, even to this day, know exactly how to deal with such recognition for past accomplishments.

Josh Leonard, who played one of the young filmmakers lost in the Maryland woods, admitted in a recent interview that until recently he hadn't been introduced as anything but "the 'Blair Witch' guy" at a dinner party in a decade. "I'm proud of that film, not necessarily for what it became in its cultural-icon status, but because it was a group of people working completely outside of the system, who took a totally punk-rock, DIY ethos to making something," he said. "And then it caught on."

"Psychically, it was a pretty damaging experience," he added.

Myrick, too, has struggled with the weight of lofty post-"Blair Witch" expectation, and now looks back wistfully at the late '90s. "It was a pure, innocent, unencumbered time in our filmmaking careers, which will probably never be repeated," he told us recently.

Presenting itself as a documentary compiled from found footage, "Blair Witch" followed Leonard and his two friends on a journey into the woods to document an urban legend about a witch who killed children. They end up getting sucked into a beyond-frightening supernatural freak-out that — 10-year-old spoiler alert! — leads to their disappearances. Shot on an ultra-tight budget in which the actors followed clues, via GPS devices, left by Myrick and his co-writer/co-director Eduardo Sanchez, the film became a Sundance hit and — partly due to a newfangled online viral-marketing campaign — a cultural phenomenon upon its mainstream release.

And it wasn't for lack of competition. Films like "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace," "The Sixth Sense" and "The Matrix" opened that same year. Suddenly the "Blair Witch" upstarts found themselves at parties with Britney Spears and the folks from "American Pie." When Artisan threw a 1,000-person "Blair Witch" party in Cannes — complete with a faux forest constructed on the Parisian beachfront — Leonard said the entire cast kept asking one another, " 'How the f--- did we make that movie and get here?' We felt like intruders."

Myrick said he and Sanchez busted out cigars and laughed to each other, "This is it, man!"

Leonard went from working as a caterer to appearing on "The Tonight Show." Myrick and Sanchez were offered just about every horror film in development at the movie studios. One project they barely touched was a "Blair Witch" sequel, which landed with a thud at the box office in 2000. Both the filmmakers and the actors continue to be known, perhaps solely, as the "Blair Witch" guys.

Ten years on, it seems Myrick and Leonard each have a complicated, yet ultimately warm remembrance of their time working on their little horror flick that became an iconic piece of American cinema. The last time Myrick watched his film, three years ago, he was alone in a hotel room.

"It was playing on demand," he said. "I'd seen all the porno flicks, and I said, 'Ah, I'll watch "Blair Witch!" ' "

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‘Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince’ Stars Get Over Kissing Qualms

'Harry Potter' Star Emma Watson On 'Awkward' Kiss With Rupert Grint

"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" star Emma Watson has appeared in six films based on J.K. Rowling's book series, but she's never been kissed — at least not onscreen. But all that changed recently when the 19-year-old and co-star Rupert Grint began filming the two-part franchise finale, "Deathly Hallows."

"I was like, 'Do I use tongue?' " she laughed during a recent interview with MTV News. " 'Do I not use tongue? Do I cover my teeth? What do I do? Do I go first? Oh my God!' "

With all these questions swirling in her head, she ended up nearly attacking Grint, who plays Ron Weasley. "I ended up pouncing on Rupert," Watson confessed. "I was so desperate to get it over. After the first take he was like, 'Whoa, there! Where did that come from?' I was like, 'Sorry!' "

"It took me by surprise," Grint admitted.

Grint has had a lot more on-camera smooching experience than Watson. He spends a good portion of "Half-Blood Prince" snogging with classmate Lavender Brown (Jessie Cave) and completely oblivious to the amorous feeling of Watson's Hermione Granger. Kissing Lavender, kissing Hermione — it's all pretty uncomfortable for Grint.

"Kissing [on camera] is always quite embarrassing, because you've got a whole crew of people watching you and it just feels really self-conscious and you don't really know what to do with yourself," he said.

Add in the fact that Watson and Grint have known each other since their pre-teen years, and the kissing scene reached new levels of weirdness. But at least it was a shared weirdness. "The only good side to it was the fact that we were both in the same boat," said Watson. "We were both just like, 'Oh my God, I can't believe we have to do this. This is so awkward. Really awkward.' So I could take comfort in the fact that Rupert felt the same way. We were both giggling. We were like 12-year-olds. We were like giggling children where you just couldn't keep it together."

Yet even more difficult than the actual kiss was the moment after director David Yates yelled "Cut!" "The hardest part was having done the kiss and having to put it away and having a moment of looking at each other," Grint said.

And did Watson think she did well for her first time? "I have no idea if I did it right!" she laughed.

Check out everything we've got on "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince."

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‘Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince’ Stars Get Over Kissing Qualms

'Harry Potter' Star Tom Felton Talks 'Iconic' Villain Draco Malfoy

"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" is J.K. Rowling's book of love and violence. For Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson, that meant a movie filled with romantic dreaminess, unrequited love and the first tentative steps into loving relationships. But for Tom Felton, who plays nefarious student Draco Malfoy, the ongoing battle between Lord Voldemort and the Hogwarts crew meant a chance to establish his character as one of the classic villains in cinema.

When MTV News had a chance to chat with Felton at the red-carpet premiere for "Half-Blood Prince" in New York, he enumerated the characteristics of all great bad guys. "Cold eyes, I've been told," he said with a smile on his face. "A pretty pasty face. I think it's quite iconic, Draco, in the way he looks."

That'd be a platinum-blond mop on his head, ice-blue eyes staring ruthlessly at his nemesis Harry, and a seething energy barely contained within his slight frame. "I think to be evil you need an iconic look," he said. "Like a James Bond villain, with the scar or a cat. Something like that definitely helps."

Though his co-star Freddie Stroma, who makes his debut as Hogwarts student Cormac McLaggen during the film, doesn't play a villain, he does serve as a romantic adversary — and all-around arrogant jerk — in "Half-Blood Prince." "It's fun to do the comedy stuff and play that slimy, horrible guy and have [Emma Watson's Hermione] feed off it and her kind of just trying to ignore me all the time," he told us.

But McLaggen eventually receives his comeuppance, when Harry Potter himself convinces the rascal he just swallowed a "dragon's ball" during a dinner party, making him vomit all over a teacher. "I can't tell if it actually was [a dragon's ball], or it was Harry saying that just to make me feel bad," Stroma admitted. "I should probably do some more research on that — find out what I actually ate."

For his part, Felton would take a little bit of villainy over a love scene with his co-stars and longtime friends any day. "I was luckily left out of that," he laughed. "I heard it was a little bit awkward, so I was grateful not to be involved with the snogging."

Check out everything we've got on "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince."

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‘Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince’ Stars Get Over Kissing Qualms

'Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince' Stars Get Over Kissing Qualms

Back at the turn of the millennium, they were just a bunch of kids — some with a bit of professional acting experience, most completely raw — that were fortunate and talented enough to be cast in "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone." The film conjured up almost $1 billion at the worldwide box office, and as "Potter" movie after "Potter" movie went into production over the years, Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and the rest of the core cast essentially grew up together.

Almost a decade after their first witch-and-wizard adventure, the child actors have morphed into young adults — and the story lines have matured along with them. "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" (in theaters July 15), the sixth film in the franchise, presents all manner of love triangles, broken hearts and blossoming relationships. The difficult trick for the cast, though, was jumping lips-first into these romantic scenes with co-stars who had become like family.

"The snogging snuff is always a bit challenging, because they've grown up together, so when you get Bonnie [Wright, who plays Ginny Weasley] and Dan having that first snog together, it's a bit like brother and sister," director David Yates told MTV News at the movie's New York premiere on Thursday. "You've got to just encourage them to think about their characters."

"I've known her since she was 9 and I was 11," the 19-year-old Radcliffe said, adding that Wright looked gorgeous making her way down the red carpet. "So, that was kind of weird at first. But we got used to it. We got over it pretty quickly."

Wright herself saw both the good and the ugly in making out with her childhood friend. "It helps, because you've known each other and it's not just a stranger," she said. "But then it's really weird when you're having to look at someone in a different way in a scene when they're that close."

The actors won't escape the task of playing kissy-face on set just yet. The final two films — the two parts of "Deathly Hallows" — will keep the romantic elements front and center.

"I did the kiss with Emma a couple weeks ago, and it was quite strange," said Rupert Grint, who plays Ron Weasley. "I've known Emma since she was 9 years old, and it felt a little bit wrong being that way with her. But it was over quite quickly."

While Watson also called the kiss scene "really awkward," she did compliment her partner. "He's a gentleman, and he was a great kisser," she told us.

For Yates, who's worked on the series for years, watching the actors grow up together has been one of the most captivating aspects of the entire experience. "You're seeing them develop and evolve," the director said. "In their own lives, outside the film set, they're obviously having their own experience of love and love life. I encourage them to bring that into Hogwarts and share it, to help their acting have a basis in reality."

Check out everything we've got on "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

'Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince' Stars Get Over Kissing Qualms

Back at the turn of the millennium, they were just a bunch of kids — some with a bit of professional acting experience, most completely raw — that were fortunate and talented enough to be cast in "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone." The film conjured up almost $1 billion at the worldwide box office, and as "Potter" movie after "Potter" movie went into production over the years, Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and the rest of the core cast essentially grew up together.

Almost a decade after their first witch-and-wizard adventure, the child actors have morphed into young adults — and the story lines have matured along with them. "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" (in theaters July 15), the sixth film in the franchise, presents all manner of love triangles, broken hearts and blossoming relationships. The difficult trick for the cast, though, was jumping lips-first into these romantic scenes with co-stars who had become like family.

"The snogging snuff is always a bit challenging, because they've grown up together, so when you get Bonnie [Wright, who plays Ginny Weasley] and Dan having that first snog together, it's a bit like brother and sister," director David Yates told MTV News at the movie's New York premiere on Thursday. "You've got to just encourage them to think about their characters."

"I've known her since she was 9 and I was 11," the 19-year-old Radcliffe said, adding that Wright looked gorgeous making her way down the red carpet. "So, that was kind of weird at first. But we got used to it. We got over it pretty quickly."

Wright herself saw both the good and the ugly in making out with her childhood friend. "It helps, because you've known each other and it's not just a stranger," she said. "But then it's really weird when you're having to look at someone in a different way in a scene when they're that close."

The actors won't escape the task of playing kissy-face on set just yet. The final two films — the two parts of "Deathly Hallows" — will keep the romantic elements front and center.

"I did the kiss with Emma a couple weeks ago, and it was quite strange," said Rupert Grint, who plays Ron Weasley. "I've known Emma since she was 9 years old, and it felt a little bit wrong being that way with her. But it was over quite quickly."

While Watson also called the kiss scene "really awkward," she did compliment her partner. "He's a gentleman, and he was a great kisser," she told us.

For Yates, who's worked on the series for years, watching the actors grow up together has been one of the most captivating aspects of the entire experience. "You're seeing them develop and evolve," the director said. "In their own lives, outside the film set, they're obviously having their own experience of love and love life. I encourage them to bring that into Hogwarts and share it, to help their acting have a basis in reality."

Check out everything we've got on "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince."

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'Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince' Stars Talk 'Snogging' At NYC Premiere

NEW YORK — Two days after braving torrential rainstorms at the London premiere of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," the stars crossed the Atlantic and were greeted by blue skies and rabid fans during the NYC premiere at the famed Ziegfeld Theatre.

Fans arrived as early as 4 a.m. to catch a glimpse of Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint and others, and each star made sure to greet the onlookers, signing posters and posing for pictures, before stepping in front of the flashing lights and outstretched microphones on the carpet itself.

"It's like traveling with the Beatles," director David Yates told MTV News.

The sixth film in J.K. Rowling's boy-wizard series, "Half-Blood Prince" sees the students at Hogwarts growing up and beginning to deal with romantic impulses, heated entreaties and painful rejections. For the stars, who've been working together since they were young kids on 2001's "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone," the need to film "snogging" scenes, as those Brits put it, made for some uncomfortable moments on the set.

"I've known Bonnie [Wright, who plays Ginny Weasley] — even though she's obviously stunningly beautiful, as you have seen tonight — I've known her since she was 9 and I was 11," Radcliffe said. "So that was kind of weird at first. But we got used to it. We got over it pretty quickly."

Watson seconded that opinion. "It was really awkward. Rupert's like my brother, so it just felt very, very strange," she admitted. "But he's a gentleman, and he was a great kisser."

Joining Radcliffe and Watson under the city lights and in the middle of the "Potter" madness were their co-stars. Wright, with her red hair swept up high and clipped in the back, spoke to us about her unnerving make-out scenes and her fantastic Quidditch matches. Freddie Stroma, making his debut in the film franchise, complimented his castmates for welcoming him into the fold. Michael Gambon, Alan Rickman and Warwick Davis also made appearances.

Other celebs coming to check out "Half-Blood Prince" included Ashanti, Lance Bass, Vanessa Williams, Chevy Chase, Diane Sawyer and Kelsey Grammer.

Check out everything we've got on "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince."

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Hayden Panettiere Recalls Her 'Wild' High School Days

Hayden Panettiere, best known as a cheerleader-turned-superhero on "Heroes," took on yet another high school role in "I Love You, Beth Cooper," in theaters Friday (July 10). In the movie, based on a novel by the same name, dorky Buffalo Grove High School valedictorian Denis Cooverman (Paul Rust) proclaims his love for Beth Cooper during his speech at graduation and manages to get the attention of both Beth and her vindictive boyfriend in the process.

MTV News caught up with Panettiere to talk about the Chris Columbus-directed teen flick, her work as an animal-rights activist and whether she really was like Beth Cooper herself back in high school.

MTV: I'm guessing you were a fan of the book the movie's based on from the get-go?

Hayden Panettiere: I actually had never read the book.

MTV: What was it like working with author Larry Doyle, who did the screenplay as well?

Panettiere: Larry was great. He was on set all the time, and we all had fun. We were a big happy family. It's more the collaboration of him and Chris and everyone. I had less interaction with Larry when it came to the process of creating the film than others did.

MTV: Did you have a lot of input the character Beth Cooper? Was there room for improv?

Panettiere: We definitely, definitely had fun with it and put our spins on it. There wasn't a massive amount of improv or changing of dialogue or anything like that, but it was pretty great right off the bat anyway. There was not much changing that needed to be done.

MTV: Did you relate to it? How close was this to your high school experience?

Panettiere: In ways, it was very close. I had a great high school experience. I had a lot of fun, and I was wild and went crazy and was reckless, but I didn't have the traditional high school experience. I was going through home schooling. But I went to prom, and I went to homecoming, and I was in the yearbook. No crashing of cars. I went to games and all that good stuff.

MTV: What's next for you after this?

Panettiere: I'm in the fourth season of "Heroes." We just started filming, and we'll be filming for the next seven months, so that's what we're up to right now.

MTV: What can we expect in the next season of "Heroes"?

Panettiere: There's something called the Carnival that coming in that's sort of the opposite of what the Company was. There's a lot of new cool characters.

MTV: Do you have a dream project or role that you can't wait to play?

Panettiere: I mean, there's a lot of them. I've never wanted to slot myself in just one category, one certain kind of character, genre, film, so there's a lot that I'm still wanting to do and still excited to do, but I've never really tried to plan it out. I've always been more of the spontaneous type, like, I just can't wait to see what comes my way.

MTV: I've always admired your animal-rights activism [working to end commercial whaling]. What is like having the forum to communicate with people and get this message out there?

Panettiere: It's great. There's ups and downs to being in this industry and being in the public eye, and one of the great things is we get to speak out on behalf of things that we're passionate about. We're just chipping away at it, so it's going to take some time. We're going to keep on keeping on.

MTV: Do you ever see yourself going to the other side of the camera? Do you ever want to write or direct?

Panettiere: Definitely, maybe someday. Someday, when I get my fill of acting for a bit. There's a lot more to learn when it comes to becoming a director, but you have the experience of being an actor working with directors and getting to work with brilliant ones, and you get to take a lot from them.

Check out everything we've got on "I Love You, Beth Cooper."

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'Harry Potter' Sidekick Ron Weasley Has Girl Troubles

Harry Potter's two closest friends since the first installment in the series, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," also share one of the saga's most strained relationships. Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger may embody predestined puppy love more than any of their Hogwarts classmates, but the bombshell kiss that Ron shares with Lavender Brown in "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" threatens to drive a permanent wedge between them, even as the darkest threat the series has ever seen descends on their school.

Born into one of Hogwarts' largest families, with five older brothers having enrolled there, Ronald Bilius Weasley's father was committed to the fight against Lord Voldemort as a member of the Order of the Phoenix. Both Hermione and Harry initially encountered Ron during their first-year trip on the Hogwarts Express, and though he would grow closer to both of them over the course of the series, as his immature impulses that early on sparked catty spats with Hermione also came to characterize their relationship.

Rupert Grint may have had one of the most unique entry methods into the now-famous "Harry Potter" cast. The previously inexperienced actor reportedly submitted hip-hop lyrics describing his character, which in turn earned him a screen test. The preteen freshman star was enthralled when he first saw "The Sorcerer's Stone" put together, calling the special effects "wicked" over and over again, in stark contrast to the maturing international star he has since become.

While Grint has matured, however, Ron Weasley's boyish mannerisms and shenanigans have lingered on. Even as Ron blundered, failing to impress Hermione when he invited her to the Yule Ball in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," she remained reservedly charmed by him. Her enduring patience will be tested, though, when Ron latches on to Lavender.

Even if Ron's antics have finally put him in the doghouse with Hermione, his constant screw-ups at Hogwarts have gone a long way to launch Grint's career. Easily one of the most successful acting novices to emerge from Chris Columbus' "Sorcerer's Stone" recruits, Grint earned a role shortly after his part in the first film, alongside Stephen Fry and Paul Giamatti, in the family comedy "Thunderpants." Meanwhile, between his work on two "Potter" films this year, he has still managed to appear in the U.K. release "Cherrybomb," in addition to director Jonathan Lynn's new film "Wild Target," which also features Grint's recently revealed costar in the upcoming "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," Bill Nighy.

Check out everything we've got on "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince."

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'Twilight' Star Peter Facinelli Oversees Buddy's Bikini Dance

HOLLYWOOD — This morning, I watched a grown man dance down Hollywood Boulevard in a string bikini, singing Beyoncй's "Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)." And the weird part is, I really enjoyed it.

But not nearly as much as "Twilight" star Peter Facinelli, who devised the devious dance as punishment for his friend Rob DeFranco — an entrepreneur who bet the man otherwise known as Dr. Carlisle Cullen that he couldn't get half a million followers on Twitter. With help from his 500,000 best friends, Facinelli won — and this morning, shrieking Twilighters came from far and wide to watch DeFranco shake his tail feather.

"Rob obviously lost the bet, and so here we are today," grinned Facinelli, looking around at the good-sized crowd gathered on the street corner. "We tried to take this bet and make something positive out of it, so Affliction, the clothing store, got involved and sponsored the event, and they donated $10,000 to the Christopher Reeve Foundation in honor of my Twitter followers. I wanted to show that the power of unity, even for something this silly, can actually achieve something good ... [Rob is doing] a bikini dance for everybody. I just hope we don't scar anyone's children."

At a little bit after 10 a.m., DeFranco dropped his robe to reveal a tiny bikini bottom and string top. Surrounded by female models from Affliction who held a speaker blasting Beyoncй, Rob unveiled some impressive moves — karate kicking, windmilling and even falling into the screaming crowd at one point. An overjoyed Facinelli, meanwhile, sat down on the sidewalk and looked up at curious office-workers staring out building windows at the half-naked man down below.

"I'm not gonna say that Beyoncй should have him as one of her backup dancers, but I've got to be honest: He looks good in a bikini," Peter laughed. "I think he might start a whole new trend — you might see the man-kini out there on the beaches this summer."

"I had fun, but it was a little nerve-wracking," explained DeFranco after he put his robe back on. "I had to make sure that all the bits and pieces stayed in where they needed to stay."

"Rob's been trapped in his hotel room for about a week, learning Beyoncй's moves," Facinelli said of his friend. "I think he could have spent a month more and probably still wouldn't have gotten it right — but he tried really hard. And he even threw in a windmill, which I think almost took out some little kid's eye."

Luckily for the young "Twilight" fan, Dr. Cullen was available for emergencies. "Thankfully, I play a doctor on television and in movies," joked the star, who also is a castmember on "Nurse Jackie." "I was there on the scene, and the little girl was fine."

And if the fans are wondering what it would take to get Peter himself into a bikini, Peter revealed that he'd be willing to do it — if the Twilighters really flex their numbers.

"10 million followers," laughed Facinelli, possibly regretting his statement as soon as he said it. "If I get 10 million followers on Twitter, I will dance in a bikini."

Check out everything we've got on "The Twilight Saga: New Moon."

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'Twilight' Actor Michael Welch Explains Robert Pattinson's 'New Moon' Role

SANTA MONICA, California — Without a doubt, huge groups of Twilighters all over the world fantasize about Edward Cullen every day. But as popular as breakout star Robert Pattinson has become, those who've read "New Moon" know that his character Edward is absent for much of the story. Now, we've got the scoop on director Chris Weitz's dreamy solution to the problem.

"They figured out a very clever way to get Edward back in the film much more than he is in the book," revealed "Twilight" series star Michael Welch when he stopped by the MTV studios recently, acknowledging that Weitz and screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg have devised a plan to work around the "New Moon" plot — which has Edward breaking up with Bella (Kristen Stewart) early in the story and fleeing to Italy. "It's more of, like, a hallucination kind of thing."

As any good Twilighter knows, Bella is heartbroken by their breakup but slowly begins dealing with her Edward-less existence through the realization that dangerous activities — motorcycle riding, cliff diving, etc. — cause her to hear the sexy vampire's voice in her head. Welch was fascinated by Stewart's pretend hallucinations on set and explained to us that Weitz intends to insert sequences of her seeing Edward as "New Moon" inches closer to its November 20 release date.

"It's tricky," he said of the filmmaker's dilemma. "I mean, [Edward] leaves for months."

"In the book, she just hears his voice," continued Welch, who plays rival Bella pursuer Mike Newton in the movies. "In the film, it's more of like a hallucination kind of thing. He will be [in the movie more than the book] for sure."

While the news of more RPattz is sure to excite some fans, others may be concerned about the tweak — and the manner in which Edward will be glimpsed in Bella's hallucinations. Will he be an Obi-Wan Kenobi-like figure, giving her advice from the great beyond? Will Edward come across more like a god, overseeing her safety from half a world away? Will the sequences play like a bad acid trip from a '60s movie, or more like Bella interacting with an imaginary friend?

"It's going to be interesting to see — I have no idea," Welch explained. "You can sort of picture it reading [the script], but I don't know how they actually went about filming that stuff."

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'Public Enemies' Cheat Sheet: Everything You Need To Know

The outlaw vs. the man of the law. The American folk hero vs. the American federal agent. Johnny Depp vs. Christian Bale. That's the battle taking shape as Michael Mann's "Public Enemies," the true story of tommy-gun-toting bank robber John Dillinger (Depp) and FBI agent Melvin Purvis (Bale), pop-pop-pops its way into theaters, starting on Wednesday (July 1).

Set in the Depression-devastated 1930s, Dillinger forms a gang with some creatively named rule-breakers — Baby Face Nelson, Pretty Boy Floyd — and sets about looting banks that have been foreclosing homes and repossessing goods throughout the Midwest. Along the way, naturally, Dillinger finds time for a little bit of outlaw romance, as he falls head-over-machine-gun for Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard), a vulnerable lounge singer. FBI head honcho J. Edgar Hoover (Billy Crudup) tasks Purvis with the task of capturing Dillinger and putting the kibosh on this crime wave sweeping the crisis-stricken country.

Will you root for the gangster or the law enforcer during this patriotic holiday weekend? Duck for cover and check out MTV's "Public Enemies" Cheat Sheet before you make up your mind.

Bringing Real-Life Gangsters Into the New Millennium

The events portrayed in the film took place almost 80 years ago, and Mann placed a great deal of emphasis on getting his facts right.

"Michael Mann is one of the most thorough researchers that I've ever come across," Bale told us last summer. "So, I had more than an abundance of information about [the history]. I also travelled to the FBI headquarters and met with the family of the character I was playing.

"We shot at the actual locations where the events took place," he added. "It was uncanny on a number of occasions; we were filming on the actual dates where the gunfights happened, in the same place, at the same time!"

The Stars

In January 2008, co-star John Ortiz, who plays Sicilian gangster Frank Nitti, kicked us some inside knowledge about the production and his work alongside Depp and Bale. Joining this group was Channing Tatum as Floyd. In April of that year, Crudup signed on for the role of Hoover.

"It's a supporting part," Crudup told us earlier this year. "It's kind of a cameo."

The Allure of the Gangster Lifestyle

As the movie wrapped production and the stars began to speak to MTV News about it, they talked often about the appeal of living outside the law.

"The best thing about being an outlaw was the machine gun — and unlimited ammunition," Depp said at the Hollywood premiere of "Enemies."

Bale said the best part of outlaw life was "the finest cars. ... [Their] cars have this artistry, and they have a sense of the character."

"You can make your own rules, and bend the rules," said Leelee Sobieski, who plays one of Dillinger's lovers. "[When you're a gangster], crazy things will happen."

But are these folks scofflaws in real life? "I'm constantly breaking laws," Depp told us with a laugh.

The Visions

In March, we debuted a series of photos from "Enemies," including one of Depp clutching his tommy gun and Bale stalking the fugitive in the woods.

Ten days later, we showed off the film's first trailer. And, as always, we've brought you a ton of interviews with the cast, including one in which Bale spoke glowingly about Depp's commitment to blazing his own path.

The Future

After taking a year off work, Bale is returning for "The Fighter," in which he plays an ex-convict who trains his boxer half-brother, played by Mark Wahlberg. Depp moves on to two films in the next year: a fourth "Pirates of the Caribbean" and an adaptation of the 1960s supernatural TV series, "Dark Shadows." As for Mann, his next directorial project is anything but clear. Jamie Foxx told us in April that he and Mann would be gearing up for "Damage Control," about a Mr. Fix-It lawyer who represents troubled sports stars. Whether that becomes his next big screen effort remains to be seen.

Check out everything we've got on "Public Enemies."

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Demi Lovato: It Was 'Great' To Work With 'Best Friend' Selena Gomez

Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez's real-life friendship really translates to the small screen. Their movie, "Princess Protection Program," became the third-highest rated movie to debut on the Disney Channel. And, with the DVD of the film being released on Tuesday (June 30), fans can enjoy their onscreen BFF chemistry anytime they want.

Demi explained to MTV News just what their off-screen BFF chemistry is like, saying that opposites attract. "I definitely say what is on my mind, like, right then and there if I have a problem with something."

She went on to explain that in on the rare occasions that they do fight with each other, the girls have very different arguing techniques. "I'll be like, 'Dude, not cool.' And she'll totally take it and be like, 'OK, I'm sorry,' " Lovato offered. "And when we argue, I'm always the one that's like, 'Yo, what's up?' and she's just like, [very calmly] 'You know Demi, I just don't really agree with this.' I'm the one with the attitude. She totally takes it, though."

But most of the time the girls get along quite well and during the making of the "Princess Protection Program," the pair had a lot of time to really bond. "Working with Selena on the movie, it was a ton of fun ... we got to shoot together every day," she said. "We shot in Puerto Rico, so we'd go to the beach on the weekends and it was such a great experience."

And for fans of the teen queens who wonder what friendship is like for them, Demi explains that it's really no different than their fans' relationships. "It's just, like, friendship ... it's great 'cause she's one of my best friends," she said. "We're, like, normal girls."

So what do two normal, famous girls do when they're not making movies together? Play video games, obviously. "We play video games or we will write songs. We'll hang out, just play dress-up and just [watch] scary movies," she said. What's their favorite video game? "Grand Theft Auto. She got me into when we were, like, 8. It was so much fun."

'Public Enemies': Bullet Time, By Kurt Loder

John Dillinger's reign as America's most-wanted bank robber (or one of them) only spanned 10 months — from the fall of 1933, when he pulled his first such heist, to the summer of 1934, when federal agents shot him down in front of Chicago's Biograph Theater. Still, Dillinger has proved to be a durable celebrity desperado. Along with such fellow bank-job specialists as Clyde Barrow, Pretty Boy Floyd and Baby Face Nelson (all of whom came to a bloody end the same year Dillinger did), he continues to embody the "public enemy" years of the Great Depression, when heartland gangsters became figures of public fascination by smiting the hated banks and repeatedly eluding the little-loved coppers who pursued them.

Dillinger's brief career has been the subject of several films. The latest is director Michael Mann's "Public Enemies," a beautifully made picture that sets out to portray the famed outlaw as both a hard-bitten criminal and a passionate romantic, and is undone in the attempt. Johnny Depp brings effortless star power to the role of Dillinger, and he's a charmer in the scenes in which his character is pursuing an on-the-run, soul-mate love affair with a Chicago coat-check girl named Billie Frechette (the superb Marion Cotillard). The sequence in which Dillinger first meets Billie, in a nightclub that's all shadow and glow, with Diana Krall's luminous rendition of "Bye Bye Blackbird" whispering off the soundtrack (and Krall lip-synching her own performance on the bandstand), is a glorious showpiece. And when Dillinger later tries to reassure Billie about their very iffy future with the grand line, "I'm gonna die an old man in your arms," it evokes the expansive romance of an earlier screen era.

But Depp's charm works against him in portraying Dillinger as a cold-blooded gunman — he lacks the requisite sense of menace, no matter how energetically he goes through the motions of bullet-fueled mayhem. Still, the motions — the jailbreaks, robberies and ferocious shootouts, with tommy guns barking and gangsters in their new Ford V-8s leaving underpowered lawmen in the dust — are spectacularly well-staged. There's an opening escape from the Indiana State Penitentiary in which the bleak, towering walls of the prison, and the flawless blue sky they can't quite blot out, convey feelings of both hopeless confinement and beckoning freedom in a single resonant image. Equally striking is the sequence in which Dillinger is recaptured and flown back to Indiana, where he's met at the airport by a roiling herd of reporters and cameramen, whose smoke-belching flashguns light up the windy night with a lurid magnesium glare. (It feels like we're present at the birth of paparazzi journalism.) Mann and Dante Spinotti, the great cinematographer with whom he worked on such movies as "The Insider" and "Heat," opted for HD cameras in shooting the film, and digital has rarely been used to such rich effect.

The movie's large cast is thronged with first-rate character actors, chief among them Stephen Dorff and Jason Clarke as Dillinger henchmen; Stephen Graham as the unhinged Baby Face Nelson; Stephen Lang as the somber G-man Charles Winstead; and especially Peter Gerety as a wonderfully windy mob lawyer, and Billy Crudup, who plays J. Edgar Hoover, the scheming head of the nascent FBI, as a prissy, self-important fraud. John Ortiz also has a few good scenes as Chicago mob enforcer Phil D'Andrea. (It was the mob's nationwide criminal aspirations that spelled the end of the highly localized bank-robbing fraternity.)

It's too bad Channing Tatum is so briefly utilized as Pretty Boy Floyd (blown away at the beginning of the film); and it's really too bad that Christian Bale, in the key role of Melvin Purvis, the indefatigable federal agent on Dillinger's trail, is such a vacuum whenever he's onscreen. The character is supposed to be tight-lipped and undemonstrative — an over-wound "scientific" crime-fighter; but Bale is hard-pressed to inject any life into this bloodless construct. Depp's Dillinger, even as conceptually conflicted as he is, merits a more vibrant adversary.

The movie is based on a true-crime book by Bryan Burrough, and it sometimes feels encumbered by all the research and scrupulous location-scouting that have gone into it. But then it also fudges facts and chronology with surprising abandon. (To note just one instance, Nelson and Floyd are depicted here as pre-deceasing Dillinger, when in fact both outlived him — although not by much.) This might be an annoyance only to historians if the movie had more dynamic sweep — if it were able to convincingly fuse its endless shootouts with its determinedly tender love story. But the action, however splendidly choreographed, begins to seem rote after a while (the movie runs nearly two and a half hours), and the overabundance of characters taking part in it is sometimes confusing. By the time the end draws near, the love story has become the last element providing any human interest — everything else is clamor and blast. But then Billie disappears, to be awkwardly replaced by another woman (Leelee Sobieski) for Dillinger's big night out at the Biograph. And then, much worse, the movie ends with a line of dialogue so startlingly inane that it leaves the picture flapping on the screen like a punctured balloon. It may be the most brutal moment in the whole film.

Check out everything we've got on "Public Enemies."

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'Harry Potter' Cast Reveal The Secrets Of Quidditch

Quaffles, Bludgers, Golden Snitchs, Beaters, Seekers, Chasers ... to some this is utter gibberish, but to "Harry Potter" fans these are the beloved elements of Quidditch, the premier witch-and-wizard sporting event in the world. The terminology is peculiar, the rules are myriad and the history stretches back centuries, but all you need to know is that Harry and his pals play by riding around on broomsticks, competing for points and trying to capture that elusive Snitch.

Yet in 2007's "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," the Quidditch chronicles present in J.K. Rowling's book were cut from the film. On July 15, the game will make a glorious return to the big screen in "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince." When MTV News had a chance to visit the U.K. set and talk to the stars about the sport, they revealed the difficulties of filming Quidditch and how the game can sometimes become a divisive issue between the competitive classmates (reader beware: Spoilers exist below).

Emma Watson, who plays the brainy Hermione Granger, told us about a scene in the film in which her character believes Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) has slipped a magical good-luck potion, called Felix Felicis, into Ron's (Rupert Grint) drink before an important match.

"She definitely disagrees with Harry putting the Felix Felicis in Ron's drink because it's the equivalent of taking steroids before a match or for athletics," Watson explained. "She really disagrees with it, but then she finds out that Harry's actually been smarter than her and it's all a psychological thing."

That's because Harry doesn't actually put the potion in his drink — Ron just assumes he's been dosed and thus plays spectacularly. "It's kind of like a placebo drink," Watson said. "So it's all OK in the end."

For Grint, who plays Harry's buddy Ron, "Half-Blood Prince" gave the actor his first opportunity to engage in some cinematic Quidditch. "I was actually really gutted last year because that is sort of Ron's big Quidditch moment and I was really upset they didn't have that in ['Order of the Phoenix']," he said. "I was really looking forward to doing it this time, but it's actually sort of an anticlimax because it's really hard work.

"You're on a broom for a long time, like a few hours at a go," Grint grinned. "You're literally sitting on a broom and it gets a little bit sore down under a bit. It's been fun, but it's quite hard work."

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