Carey Potter?
For anyone eagerly awaiting the sequel to Mariah Carey's Glitter, we have bad news: the multi-octave diva will be spending the next little while writing children's fiction, not heading back to the big screen. Following in the footsteps of everyone's role model, Madonna, Carey plans to publish a series of illustrated books entitled Automatic Princess. Based on the stories of her own childhood experience as the daughter of a mixed-race marriage, the series will explore the journey of a bi-racial orphan girl.

Bet they're a proud pair
Readers of pumped-up fitness mag Oxygen, who oughta know something about toned tushes, have voted Brad Pitt and Jennifer Lopez as the owners of the best butts in Hollywood. Pitt bested Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (Be Cool) by a mile. There was a tighter battle for best female butt: Lopez squeezed past Bootylicious Beyonc� with only 1 per cent more of the vote.

The comic book code
Tom Hanks is going to have his work cut out for him cracking The Da Vinci Code. He's now got two comic-book villains standing in his way: Magneto and Doctor Octopus. Or, as they're also known, Sir Ian McKellen (X-Men) and Alfred Molina (Spider-Man 2), who've both signed on for key roles in the upcoming big-screen adaptation of the book phenom.

Cool toy: film in disguise!
If you're of a certain age, you'll remember the Transformers: Robots in Disguise!-of Saturday morning cartoon and toy fame. It took a little while, but it seems the natural next step is a live action version for the big screen. The project is set to be directed by Michael Bay (Pearl Harbor, Armageddon) so expect really big explosions and a whole lot of loud action.

Those who make Gigli� teach?
Ben Affleck is planning on becoming a teacher. According to contactmusic.com, the Oscar-winning screenwriter and star of several less-than-stellar flicks of late (Surviving Christmas, Jersey Girl, Paycheck, the aforementioned Gigli) will teach acting one day a week this summer. Affleck says, "The public have been great, so I'd like to pass what I've learned onto other actors who want to enter the film industry. I thought it would be good to give something back."

Ghost writer?
Eva Mendes (Hitch) has signed on to play Roxanne, a reporter who becomes the object of affection-and possible salvation-for Nicolas Cage's cursed stunt biker, Johnny Blaze in the comic book movie Ghost Rider. Preliminary shooting for the supernatural thriller has started in Melbourne, but don't expect the team to wrap any time soon. In a recent interview with Empire magazine, Mendes revealed, "We're working on the script right now, just fine-tuning it a bit. But the concept art is amazing. When I saw that, I was like 'Oh my God, that is so cool!' It made me feel like a little kid."

Dream team
Jodie Foster is teaming up with Denzel Washington and Clive Owen for a Spike Lee film. Those names add up to good odds for a decent couple hours in the theater. The new film, Inside Man, follows a lawman and his attempts to outsmart a clever bank robber. Apparently the thief-in the midst of pulling off the perfect heist-finds himself in the middle of a hostage situation. Foster will play a lawyer and power broker who ends up complicating the matter even more.

And the fur will fly�
In a recent candid interview with Jane magazine, PETA spokesperson Pamela Anderson blasted celebs who wear fur. She said, "People who wear fur smell like a wet dog and they look fat and gross� Every season the furriers put propaganda everywhere that fur is taking off again and they give free coats to idiots like Jennifer Lopez and Puff Daddy. It makes me nauseous."

Ben Affleck is Superman! (sort of)
Don't get worried. Newcomer Brandon Routh is still starring in Bryan Singer's big-budget remake. We're talking about the bio-pic Truth, Justice, and the American Way. It's the story of the tragic life of George Reeves who played the slightly soft Man of Steel on TV in the early '50s and was found dead by a gun shot wound to his head in 1959. The long-delayed project, considered by many insiders to be the best unmade project in Hollywood, is finally going ahead with Affleck in the lead, Adrien Brody playing the detective investigating Reeve's murder and directed by Allen Coulter (TV's Six Feet Under, The Sopranos, Sex and the City).