Who's in

Rock Cleared in Paternity Case

A lawyer for Chris Rock (pictured) said Monday that a court-ordered DNA test proved Rock is not the father of a 13-year-old boy whose mother tried to sue the comedian for support earlier this year.

Rock's attorney, John Mayoue of Atlanta, said a Bulloch County judge sent results of the paternity test to lawyers on both sides of the case. "The results of the test are that Chris Rock is not the father of this child," Mayoue says. "It is conclusive."

The mother, however, disputed the test results. Rock and his wife, Malaak, said in a statement Monday they were happy to put the case to rest. They accused Bowyer of telling "multiple lies" to sell her story to tabloids.

Pollack pulls out of HBO film

Oscar-winning filmmaker Sydney Pollack (pictured) has withdrawn as director of the upcoming TV movie Recount about the contested 2000 US presidential election because of illness, his spokeswoman said on Monday.

Pollack, 73, who won Academy Awards as the director and producer of Out of Africa, will be replaced by Jay Roach, the director of such comedies as Meet the Parents and the Austin Powers movies.

Neither HBO Films, which is producing Recount, nor Pollack's publicist would give details of his illness.

An HBO spokeswoman said Pollack would stay on the project as an executive producer.

Idol and HBO Earn TV Academy Honors

Fox's Idol Gives Back, which provided millions of dollars in aid to children in extreme poverty, and HBO's The Addiction Project educational campaign will receive the television academy's 2007 Governors Award.

"We salute these programs for harnessing the power of television to educate and inform viewers about two very significant issues that touch all of us," academy chairman Dick Askin said in announcing the award Monday.

Part concert and part public-service campaign, Idol Gives Back joined American Idol host Ryan Seacrest and Ellen DeGeneres with musicians, humanitarians and corporate sponsors to raise more than $74 million for poor, homeless and sick children in the United States and Africa.

The Addiction Project, a partnership between HBO, the National Institutes of Health and the Robert Wood Johnson foundation, included a series of documentary films and outreach events in more than 100 cities to build awareness of addiction as a chronic brain disease that responds to medical and behavioral treatments.

The awards will be presented September 8 at the creative arts Emmy ceremony, which honors technical achievements and guest actors in series.

Matt Damon is Hollywood's best investment, says Forbes.com

For every dollar he was paid for his last three roles, Damon (pictured) brought in $29 of gross income, the site calculated.

That puts the 36-year-old Bourne star atop a Forbes list of 22 film heavyweights, ranked by the same financial formula.

The first two Bourne movies grossed an estimated $850 million at the box office and in DVD sales, Forbes said. The third installment, The Bourne Ultimatum, opened last weekend and raked in $70.2 million at the box office. It was the biggest August film opening ever.

Brad Pitt took second place on the list, with a gross income return of $24 for each dollar of his pay, and Vince Vaughn tied with Johnny Depp for third with $21.

Pitt's ex-wife, Jennifer Aniston, is the most profitable actress with a gross income return of $17. Pitt's current significant other, Angelina Jolie, ranked sixth with $15.

Russell Crowe is at the bottom of the list. His last three films A Good Year, Cinderella Man and Master and Commander averaged just $5 in gross income for every dollar spent on the Oscar winner, Forbes said.

Agencies

(China Daily 08/08/2007 page18)