Other than the Keanu Reeves marrying Alan Cumming story, which is so obviously true today, three of our news updates were created in the spirit of the goof who appears once a year on the 1st day of April, all of which we've now removed and placed below, just to make sure that nobody actually believes them! Of course, we all wish the CATWOMAN teaser was a gag, but alas...'tis for real, folks...

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Cat Trailer a Goof

Warner Bros certainly pulled the wool over my eyes. The studio announced this morning that the CATWOMAN teaser trailer, which leaked to the web last week, was part of an elaborate April Fool's joke. The studio sent out a press release this morning to webmasters with President of Production Jeff Robinov explaining the move saying, "We had hoped to have some fun with movie and comic fans alike with this fake teaser trailer. Unfortunately the joke went too far and got out of hand." Apparently the trailer was supposed to debut on the official CATWOMAN site today, April 1st, but a copy of the phony trailer was leaked to Ain't It Cool News, who ran it as an actual news item. The studio ran with the joke for a little while and had many of the copies removed from the web. The trailer in retrospect was a great gag on the part of Warner Bros and really fooled a lot of people - me included. In retrospect I should've known better what with the ridiculousness of it all. The whole thing was one big joke! Dogs barking at her, she loves sushi, she guzzles milk, the "rats" tagline, etc. The studio and director Pitof actually filmed scenes specifically for the fake teaser and cut it together back in February for the planned April Fool's joke. I still can't believe I fell for it... There's no way a studio would release an official trailer that would look that silly. Well I guess we can all breathe easier today knowing that CATWOMAN won't completely suck!

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Kato is cast!

Director Kevin Smith wasted no time getting right into the thick of planning THE GREEN HORNET after his last film, JERSEY GIRL, just opened in theaters last Friday. Smith is about 3/4 of the way through the script, has been in talks with Jake Gyllenhaal to star and now has cast the first lead in the film! Kevin popped up on the View Askew message boards to drop the news on who he cast as sidekick Kato before it was made official tomorrow in Variety. Alright enough with the suspense....William Hung is Kato! That's right the lovable "American Idol" contestant will make his feature film debut in GREEN HORNET. The UC Berkeley engineering student became a national phenomenon when he auditioned for "Idol" singing Ricky Martin's "She Bangs." Of casting Hung, who has never acted before, as one of the leads in a big-budget superhero flick, Kevin said, "I can hear some of you Kev-Haters now: 'I told you! Fatty's a sell-out!' Keep your two cents in your wallet until you're on this side of the table, bellyachers. This is not an evil, soul-selling, integrity-lacking proposition I've entered into with this flick; it's just the cost of doing business on this scale." Of Hung himself and how he came about for the part of Kato, Smith explained, "He's a really funny and well-versed guy who I instantly loved. There's no bullshit about him - no pretentious air that makes actors and actresses insufferable. Besides, I fucking loved his version of 'She Bangs!'" Filming is expected to begin later this summer on GREEN HORNER with Miramax planning a summer 2005 release. To read all of Kevin's post, including how Gyllenhaal's negotiations are going and a final admission that he really hates Jennifer Lopez's guts, click here to read Kevin's post on the View Askew boards.

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Police Academy redo

Looking to capitalize on the recent success of remaking old movies, Warner Bros will remake their seminal early-80s comedy POLICE ACADEMY with LEGALLY BLONDE director Robert Luketic taking over the reigns this time around. The remake will bring the characters of Mahoney and Hightower and Commandant Lassard into the present day but the plot will remain the same - a group of mischievious but lovable police recruits shake things up at the academy. Luke Wilson is in talks to star the Steve Guttenberg role while Will Ferrell will play Tackleberry (original actor David Graf died in 2001). Producers are also in talks with Michael Clarke Duncan to star as Hightower, once played by former football star Bubba Smith. The only actor from the original thought to return is the GW Bailey as the nefarious Lt. Harris. The studio is hoping for the best from the flick and has put the production on the fast-track. Luketic will begin production as soon as he wraps MONSTER-IN-LAW with Jennifer Lopez. The WB looks to have POLICE in theaters for next summer. The studio also mentioned the possibility of turning the film into a new franchise if the remake is successful, much in the way the original series went to Part 8. Wilson can be seen next in AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS with brother Owen as the Wright Brothers. Ferrell has a busy schedule and is currently working on KICKING AND SCREAMING for Universal. He'll work on this project simultaneously with BEWITCHED, which will both begin filming this spring.

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