Bond breaks ties? Execs look at replacing Brosnan

Bond breaks ties? Execslook at replacing Brosnan
In his nine years as Agent 007, Pierce Brosnan has survived every variety of ticking bomb and lethal babe. But his own mouth may have finally done him in: It looks more and more likely that Brosnan will be booted out of Her Majesty's Secret Service, reports the New York Daily News.
Over the past few months, Brosnan has been fencing with Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson.
"They don't know what to do," Brosnan sniped in one interview. "They don't know how to move on. A sense of paralysis has set in."
Brosnan, with an option for one more Bond film, complained that the latest, "Die Another Day," was a tad "formulaic." He and Bond 21 screenwriters Andrew Neal and Robert Wade lobbied to cut back on special effects and return to the taut plots of creator Ian Fleming.
Now the producers have given Brosnan what he wanted -- the old Bond. Only they want a younger 007, so the 51-year-old Brosnan may be out.
Among the actors mentioned to replace him are Hugh Jackman, Heath Ledger, Colin Firth, Clive Owen, Jude Law, Ewan McGregor, Gerard Butler and Cuba Gooding Jr.
As if Brosnan didn't have enough worries, his 32-year-old son, Christopher, was recently arrested at a London nightclub on suspicion of heisting cell phones from handbags left near the dance floor. He's due to answer charges Aug. 12.
'Fahrenheit 9/11' successpaves way for new movie
LOS ANGELES -- The success of "Fahrenheit 9/11" is making Michael Moore's life a bit easier on his next film.
With "Fahrenheit 9/11" becoming the first documentary to cross the $100 million mark at the domestic box office, director Moore expects a smooth path on raising money to make "Sicko," his critique of health-maintenance organizations.
Moore would not provide details but said financing of his next movie was in the works, thanks to "Fahrenheit 9/11," which cost just $6 million to make.
"Clearly, if you make a movie that has this ratio of how much it costs to its gross, you're going to find an easy time making your next film," Moore said in a conference call with reporters over the weekend.
The idea for "Sicko" stems from a segment Moore did on his "The Awful Truth" TV show, in which he staged a mock funeral at an HMO for a patient denied an organ transplant he needed to survive. The HMO relented and paid for the transplant.
Moore, an Academy Award winner for "Bowling for Columbine," said he would have plowed ahead with "Sicko" even if "Fahrenheit 9/11" had not given him new commercial clout to raise money.
"I've never let that get in the way, anyway," Moore said. "Even if this movie hadn't done as well, that movie was going to get made, because I think the American people are clamoring to see the HMOs punished."
She wants it that way:Paris dumps boyfriend
The party's over for Paris Hilton and her Backstreet Boy-friend Nick Carter: The couple is no longer together, reports MSN.com.
The 23-year-old Hilton hotel heiress/reality TV star and Carter had dated for seven months. It was Hilton who ended the romantic relationship, said her publicist, Gina Hoffman.
"She's concentrating on her work," Hoffman said.
Carter, 24, said he feels good, despite the break-up.
"This is the time of my life," he said. "I'm back in the studio ready to go on tour with the guys."
He added: "I want to be free to date other people and I got tired of all the rumors" of trouble in their relationship.
A new Backstreet Boys album is expected to be released later this year.
Hilton will begin shooting in August for her first starring film role in "Pledge This," about a college sorority. She has starred for two seasons on Fox's "The Simple Life" with her friend Nicole Richie.
Today's birthdays
TV producer Norman Lear is 82. Rhythm and blues singer Harvey Fuqua is 75. Actor Jerry Van Dyke is 73. Sportscaster Irv Cross is 65. Actor John Pleshette is 62. Singer Bobbie Gentry is 60. Actress-director Betty Thomas is 56. Olympic gold medal figure skater Peggy Fleming is 56. Actor Maury Chaykin is 55. Singer Maureen McGovern is 55. Actress Janet Eilber is 53. Actress Roxanne Hart is 52. Country musician Duncan Cameron (Sawyer Brown) is 48. Jazz singer Karrin Allyson is 42. Rock musician Karl Mueller (Soul Asylum) is 41. Country singer Stacy Dean Campbell is 37. Rock singer Juliana Hatfield is 37. Actor Julian McMahon is 36. Comedian Maya Rudolph is 32. Singer-songwriter Pete Yorn is 30. Actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers is 27.