CAST: Jennifer Lopez, 32, is set to team with "Chicago" star Richard Gere, 53, in "Shall We Dance?," a Miramax Films remake of the top-grossing Japanese film, reports Variety. She'll play a dance instructor who gets an uptight average guy out of his shell by teaching him ballroom dancing. The lessons help him with his marriage. Lopez will next be seen opposite her boyfriend Ben Affleck in "Tough Love," which used to be called "Gigli."
PLACED: John Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, 70, has taken out a series of full-page ads in major newspapers such as the Los Angeles Times and, most recently, in Wednesday's San Francisco Chronicle, with the simple message: "Imagine Peace ... Spring 2003." The statement is an allusion to Lennon's hit song, "Imagine," and her timing is meant to coincide with fears of a U.S. war with Iraq, Ono told the Associated Press.
HIRED: In another reaction to the situation in Iraq, "South Park" creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker have asked activist and outspoken TV producing veteran Norman Lear ("All in the Family," "Sanford and Son"), 80, to write a few episodes of their Comedy Central animated show. "We just love his company and love people who have an opinion about things," Parker told AP.
ENGAGED: "Single White Female" actress Bridget Fonda, 39, and Oscar-nominated film composer Danny Elfman ("Men in Black"), 49, plan to wed, reports PEOPLE in its newest issue. It will be Fonda's first marriage, the second for Elfman. ... Actress Milla Jovovich, 27, and director Paul W. S. Anderson, 38, intend to marry, the magazine also reports. The couple, who have not announced a wedding date, met when she starred in 2000's "Resident Evil," which Anderson directed. It will be the first trip down the aisle for Anderson, the third for Jovovich, who was previously married to movie producer-director Luc Besson and actor Shawn Andrews. ... Actor Henry Simmons ("NYPD Blue"), 32, and L.A.-based news anchor Lauren Sanchez, 33, plan to tie the knot. The couple have yet to set a date. ... Actor Dominic Chianese, 72, who plays Uncle Junior on "The Sopranos," and United Nations program officer Jane Pittson, 56, are engaged
QUOTED: Asked by The New York Times if he's like to try his hand -- and feet -- in a Broadway musical, veteran actor Paul Newman, 78, replied: "I got a voice like an ice pick." That would probably mean no.
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