Off The Record

Michael J. Fox will appear in two episodes of NBC's Scrubs next month as a doctor who suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Grammy-nominated songstress Ashanti is headed to the big screen for the first time, scoring a supporting role in Coach Carter, a fact-based basketball drama starring Samuel L. Jackson.

Rush lead guitarist Alex Lifeson was arrested for assaulting sheriff's deputies and spitting blood on one during a New Year's Eve brawl at the Ritz Hotel in Naples, Florida. Deputies said they had to use a stun gun on the musician who they described as displaying
drunken, violent behavior.

Angelina Jolie is funding a program that provides impoverished Cambodian farmers with cows. The program is part of Jolie's conservation efforts in the country where she is building a home for herself and her adopted Cambodian son, Maddox.

Screenwriter Robert Towne is tapped to write and direct a remake of Alfred Hitchcock's classic spy film The 39 Steps.

Black Label Society’s forthcoming album, Hangover Music, Vol. 1, will feature piano and acoustical selections, ala Alice in Chains’ Jar of Flies. The album is scheduled for release in March, 2004, through Spitfire Records.

50 Cent's solo debut, Get Rich or Die Tryin', was 2003's best-selling album, with 6.5 million copies sold.

Britney Spears' two-day-old marriage to a childhood friend was dissolved Monday shortly after the pop superstar filed for an annulment, claiming she didn't fully understand what she was doing when she got hitched on the spur of the moment.

With Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick back in the show, The Producers grossed a record $1,600,243 for eight performances.

Platinum-selling R&B quartet B2K has split up. The teen heartthrobs gained instant success and legions of screaming fans when they made their debut in 2002. Their hits include Bump, Bump, Bump and Uh Huh, and they will make their movie debut in You Got Served, set for release on Jan. 30.

Director Clint Eastwood, whose latest movie, Mystic River, is a favorite for Academy Awards consideration, will receive a lifetime achievement award from the Broadcast Film Critics Assn.

Ticket sales at the North American box office last year fell for the first time since 1991, despite higher ticket prices and aggressive marketing that ensured strong opening weekends for Hollywood movies.

Readers of Guitar World magazine have bestowed the title of Worst Band of the Year upon Limp Bizkit. Despite taking the entire year off, Creed still garnered enough votes to come in second.

Jonathan Mostow is set to direct a remake of Seconds for Paramount Pictures. The project, a remake of the 1966 film by John Frankenheimer of the same name, will have Mostow directing from a script which will be rewritten from scratch. It will closely resemble the David Ely novel to which the first film was based on.

John Wells Productions has purchased the movie rights to Grendel from its creator, Matt Wagner. The graphic comic novel spans many generations and features many characters, but the movie will mainly focus on Christine Spar, the adopted granddaughter of the notoriously sadistic yet rich and graceful Hunter Rose, aka the original Grendel.