Official confirmation that Owen Wilson attempted suicide came yesterday. The actor remains in Cedar-Sinai Hospital in Santa Monica where he is being treated for injuries sustained while he cut his wrists this past Sunday. Wilson remains in good condition and spoke with his close friend/director Ben Stiller. The two made a mutual agreement that Wilson would not be able to make a cameo appearance in Stiller’s new movie “Tropic Thunder” which is currently filming in Hawaii. Wilson had been scheduled to work on the picture for only one week. It’s unknown whether Stiller will recast Wilson’s part in the movie or simply decide to cut it altogether from the story.

Another rumor that has been heard was that Wilson also took an overdose of pills when he made the suicide attempt. That rumor was squashed by an attorney hired by the actor who said that at no time did the “Wedding Crashers” and “Cars” star overdose or have his stomach pumped. However, Wilson had been taking antidepressants leading to further speculation that the actor had been experiencing some kind of fatigue or emotional crisis. Another story that appeared in a British newspaper alleged that actor Steve Coogan had given Wilson illegal drugs. “My thoughts are with my friend Owen at this difficult time,” Coogan said in a statement released to The Associated Press. “But I do want to set the record straight and say that the allegations published today are completely and utterly false.”

Rumors are flying around the world of entertainment over the weekend hospitalization of actor Owen Wilson and whether he tried to commit suicide. A member of Wilson’s family alerted police and ambulance personnel shortly before noon on Sunday and medics rushed to treat the “Wedding Crashers” star for undisclosed medical reasons at his Santa Monica home before taking him to St. John’s Health Center. Reports surfaced that the 38-year-old had been treated for cuts on his left wrist and taking an unspecified amount of pills which were then followed by a story that Wilson had attempted to take his own life.

In a short statement released through Wilson’s publicist on Monday the actor said “I respectfully ask that the media allow me to receive care and heal in private during this difficult time.” No further information was given as to why he required medical treatment.

This startling development may throw a wrench into Wilson’s movie prospects. His next film, “The Darjeeling Limited”, is scheduled to open in theaters on September 29. Under normal conditions the actors appearing in a film would give interviews with the press in the weeks leading up to the movie’s release, but with Wilson’s personal life now under the spotlight it is doubtful if he would give interviews at the present time. Furthermore the blonde-haired Wilson was slated to make a cameo in Ben Stiller’s new comedy “Tropic Thunder” which is now filming. Whether he will still want to work on that project is now unclear.

Fans of Keanu Reeves may already consider him out of this world but as of right now the “Matrix” and “Bill and Ted” star has made it official. The 42-year-old actor will topline a remake of “The Day the Earth Stood Still” playing an alien named Klaatu that comes to our planet to try and stop humankind’s ways of death and destruction. The original 1951 version of the film is considered one of Hollywood’s classic science fiction movies. It starred Michael Rennie in the part of Klaatu and was directed by Robert Wise (“Star Trek: The Motion Picture”).

The new film will take advantage of state of the art special effects. One of the things that we will get to see is a new version of Klaatu’s bodyguard, a giant robot named Gort that is indestructible and can melt tanks using heat vision.

The new “Earth” movie will be directed by Scott Derrickson (“The Exorcism of Emily Rose”). 20^th Century Fox wants to have the movie filming close to the end of the year or in early 2008 and they consider it one of their most important projects in development. Keanu can next be seen in “The Night Watchman”, a thriller written and directed by the writer of “Training Day” and which comes out in 2008.

Mike Myers, Jessica Alba, Justin Timberlake and Verne Troyer will make the comedy “The Love Guru” this fall. This is the first original character that the “Austin Powers” star created since attaining superstardom with his time tripping 1960s swinging bachelor. Myers worked on developing the character of Pitka who as a youth was left on the doorstep of an Indian ashram and raised by gurus. Now a successful adult that uses his self-help healing teachings to help couples with relationships difficulties, Pitka is hired by the owner of the NHL hockey team the Toronto Maple Leafs (played by Alba) to reunite the team’s estranged star player (Romany Malco) and his wife who is now seeing a rival player from an opposing team (Timberlake’s character.) Verne Troyer, who played the diminutive sized Mini-Me in two of the “Austin Powers” films, will play the Maple Leafs coach. The movie will be released by Paramount Pictures next summer.

Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn will topline “Four Christmases” for New Line Cinema, a holiday picture about the children of modern day divorced parents. Witherspoon and Vaughn will play a young married couple who frantically try to spend an equal amount of time at each of their divorced parents Christmas Day celebrations resulting in four trips and turkey dinners to eat. The comedy had been in development at Sony Pictures two years ago but when that studio decided to make “Christmas With the Kranks” instead they let thir other Christmas themed project go and eventually New Line picked it up. A director has also been found named Seth Gordon and whose documentary “The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters” earned good box office results last weekend.

“Kong” shows us a showdown between two masters of the 1980s video arcade game “Donkey Kong”, one an unemployed average joe and the other an ego-driven superstar who is a legend among the arcade enthusiasts. New Line also wants to turn Gordon’s documentary into the basis of a comedy and the director sees “Serenity” star Nathan Fillion as the right kind of guy to play the part of the underdog that aims to beat the record “Donkey Kong” high score that has stood for over twenty years.

Did the FBI derail the movie career of tough guy Steven Seagal? That is what the 56-year-old action star is claiming since his once hot movie career has plummeted and now he can only grab work in direct-to-video fare. In October 2002 a leaked affidavit from within the Federal Bureau of Investigation made news headlines around the world that linked the “Above the Law” and “Under Siege” actor to mob connections. Eventually the FBI investigation focused on Anthony Pellicano, Seagal’s former private eye, and the curtain of suspicion lifted from Seagal but he claims that the damage was done. Since 2001 Seagal hasn’t made a movie for a major Hollywood studio that had a theatrical release. Seagal charges that his name became linked with the underworld because of the FBI investigation into Pellicano and that should never have happened. The Los Angeles Times reports that Seagal wants an official and public apology from the FBI immediately to clear his name and reputation in the hopes that it restarts his movie career.

“False FBI accusations fuelled thousands of articles saying that I terrorize journalists and associate with the Mafia. These kinds of inflammatory allegations scare studio heads and independent producers - and kill careers,” said Seagal. “I was sick of hearing my name associated with a crime the government knew I had nothing to do with. Until it happens to you, you can’t imagine what it does to your life.”

The drive of the film centres around the voyage of discovery (which is driven home in the 3rd act) whereby the guys actually begin to experience prejudice whilst living fraudulently as a gay couple. Realizing that this is once the way they viewed and treated gay people, they vow to change their ways and attempt to enlighten others.

Running concurrently with this message of tolerance, there are some great gags and some predictably juvenile humour.

After having a hand in one of the summer’s biggest movies, “Live Free or Die Hard” director Len Wiseman will make “Escape From New York” for his next picture. The “Underworld” and “Underworld: Evolution” director will remake John Carpenter’s cult 1981 movie that starred Kurt Russell as a eye-patch wearing anti-hero named Snake Plissken. In the remake the part of Snake will be played by “300” action star Gerard Butler. Neal Moritz (“The Fast and the Furious”) will produce the movie for New Line Cinema.

Butler’s Snake Plissken is a convict and former war hero who is offered a full parole if he enters a futuristic New York City that has been transformed into a maximum security prison filled with thousands of killers. Plisskin must rescue the President of the United States who has survived a plane crash and is being held hostage by a gang leader that has called himself the Duke of New York. The original “Escape” was set in the then seemingly distant year of 1997.

The movie is expected to get underway later this year and in theaters sometime in 2009.

Plans are afoot for a new Conan movie under the stewardship of Millennium Films, a film production and distribution company. The company wants to make a series of new “Conan” pictures and reboot the movie franchise that launched the cinematic career of Arnold Schwarzenegger back in the 1980s. In a seven figure business agreement, Millennium won a bidding war against New Line Cinema who had been looking for a new fantasy franchise to replace its “Lord of the Rings” crown jewel. The company wants to have a director, star and script in place so that the first of its “Conan” movies will be in front of cameras by next spring.

Created by Robert E. Howard in 1932, Conan is a brawny warrior living in a time of magic and wizardry. Once a slave, Conan earned his freedom and became the greatest fighter that the world had seen and eventually a king of his own land. Dozens of Conan books, hundreds of comics, two films, one television series and an upcoming video game have been made with the character. Three years ago the directors of “The Matrix” trilogy tried to make a new sequel that would have seen an older Conan pass the mantle of leadership down to his son. Schwarzenegger would have played the senior Conan for one final time and rumor had it Vin Diesel was marked to play Conan’s son. The acquisition of the Conan rights by Millennium Films will now mark a break from the Schwarzenegger era of the character and hopefully the beginning of a lucrative film franchise.

A country wide casting call has just been launched to find the right person to play the American rapper Notorious B.I.G. in a movie based on his short life. The hip-hop singer whose real name was Christopher Wallace, a.k.a. Biggie Smalls, died in 1995 as a result of a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles. His music and presence was very influential on America’s booming east coast music scene in the 1990s and inspired future musicians like Sean “Diddy” Combs towards their musical careers. In fact Combs will serve as an executive producer on the Fox movie that is in development. Director George Tillman Jr. (“Men of Honor”) has been hired to work on the feature which has been in development for seven years. The movie’s story will chronicle the rise of Wallace’s career in rap and hip-hop as well as show the hidden side of his life not seen in front of the cameras and media.

Fox is looking for anyone that resembles Notorious B.I.G. to submit a tape. Prior experience acting is not necessary for candidates.