Tom Hanks says that he endorses Barack Obama because of his integrity, honesty and ability to get the job done. He recorded a YouTube statement that is full of historical references and clear reasons why he supports Senator Obama’s bid for the presidency. He says that Obama took the high road and is someone who has the characteristics we look for in a president with personal qualities that are found in great leaders of the past like FDR and John F. Kennedy. Hanks says that Obama can turn the country around, and he quipped that of course we’ve made up our mind after hearing his endorsement.

For those of you who say that Obama is all impressive rhetoric but is unclear about his policies, read his Blueprint for Change on his website, which very clearly outlines his plan. He does have a very good health plan that is not free but affordable, and includes measures to make it available to all. He has specific plans to cut taxes, revive the economy and jobs, and stop predatory lending by credit cards and banks. He also proposes to make all government transactions and spending public and searchable, and will strive to stop the influence of lobbyists in Washington.

Obama just won the North Carolina primary, with 57% of the popular vote. In preliminary results, Clinton won Indiana by less than two percentage points. Indiana has only 72 delegates as compared to North Carolina’s 115, which means that Obama is still ahead and that things look desperate for Hillary. There are just 6 primaries remaining.

Barack Obama is shown below on 4/1/08 in a Town Hall meeting at the Dumore Community Centre in Dunmore, Pennsylvania, thanks to WENN.

Among the top names trying to help with the ongoing writer’s strike are Drew Carey and George Clooney. Carey has made sure that writers don’t go hungry while they’re picketing. He made an arrangement with Hollywood diners that he would personally cover the checks of anyone who comes in and shows their WGA cards!

Bighearted Drew Carey’s kept it hush-hush, but he’s secretly buying lunch and dinner for all picketing writers in LA and Hollywood for the duration of the… strike. Drew quietly made arrangements with area diners like Norms, Swingers, Mel’s and Denny’s - so all the writers have to do is flash their WGA cards and get fed!

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, Mike Walker’s column, January 21, 2008]

Drew doesn’t even need writers for his game show “The Price is Right,” so that’s incredible of him to do! Carey is known for his generosity and even took all the crew members and their family from his new show on an all-expenses paid weekend trip to Las Vegas when he first started the job.

George Clooney is also trying to help striking writers. He wants to set up an all-star “mediation panel” to help negotiate a deal between the writers and studios. He plans to be on the panel, and is trying to get director Steven Spielberg and fellow actor Tom Hanks involved:

Hollywood’s Triple-A list actors have started becoming integrally involved in trying to solve the Writers Guild strike against the Hollywood CEOs. I’ve just been told that George Clooney today is volunteering to personally set up a so-called “mediation panel” including himself and with plans to ask Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks and John Wells (the executive producer of ER and a controversial ex-WGA president) to be part of it, plus 3 or 4 bigwigs who are siding with the producers.

[From The Huffington Post]

Tom Hanks has also spoken out about the writer’s strike and urged the studios to get back to the bargaining table. At the premiere of Charlie Wilson’s War he said that many people have been affected by the strike and that they need to be considered too:

“There are caterers and carpenters … and electricians and gaffers,” the 51-year-old said. “There are a lot of people out there associated with the industry, for whom the sooner this work stoppage is over the better.

“I just hope that the big guys who make big decisions up high in their corporate boardrooms and what not get down to honest bargaining and everyone can get back to work.”

[From Reuters.com]

Now that the Golden Globes have been canceled there’s a huge concern that the Oscars, scheduled for February 24, won’t go on due to the strike. It’s no wonder that the big stars are stepping up and trying to solve the problem. Hopefully the strike will be resolved soon or we’re looking at a lot less original content and films for the future.

Drew Carey is shown on 9/4/07 in NY, thanks to WENN. George Clooney is shown at the People’s Choice Awards on 1/7/08, thanks to PRPhotos. Here are more pictures of Clooney at the People’s Choice Awards looking slightly goofy.

Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson, Nia Vardalos and producer Gary Goetzman have filed a joint lawsuit against Gold Circle Films, one of the other producers of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding.” The four allege that Gold Circle has withheld their share of the film’s profits. Hanks’ and Wilson’s Playtone Company was one of the film’s producers.

“The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, seeks unspecified monetary damages and a full accounting of the profits.

“Vardalos, who wrote and starred in the film, and producers Hanks, Wilson and Gary Goetzman claim Gold Circle Films owes them their percentage ‘share of net profits.’ The lawsuit also names Big Wedding Prods. and Vortex Pictures as defendants.

“The lawsuit said the movie cost $5 million to make. It has grossed about $370 million in theatrical sales, according to Box Office Mojo, a tracking firm. According to the plaintiffs, Gold Circle maintains the film’s aggregate gross receipts total $287 million.

“Scott Niemeyer, a principal at Gold Circle, has denied all claims in the lawsuit, which he labeled as ‘frivolous’ and ‘completely without merit.’”

[From USA Today]

Gold Circle claims that they have already paid the four a combined $44 million from the profits. “Vardalos’ contract stipulates an 8% participation in adjusted gross profits, while the other three plaintiffs are owed one-third each of the net balance remaining after backend disbursements,” according to the lawsuit.

I know we’re a pretty litigious society, and Hollywood is a great example of that, but it really seems like the last week is filled with a crazy amount of suits. I know that spring is real estate season, fall is car-buying season, is summer lawsuit season? What I find most offensive about this lawsuit is that Nia Vardalos was only supposed to get 8% of the profits, even though she created, wrote, and starred in the film. She also got an Oscar nomination for writing the script. That’s the difference between big names and unknowns I guess. I wonder what’s happened to her. She’s one of those actresses you could tell had a lot of substance and brains. Not enough brains to avoid doing a TV spin-off called “My Big Fat Greek Life,” for CBS, but everyone makes mistakes.

Picture note by JayBird: Here’s Nia Vardalos at the The Polar Express Los Angeles Premiere and the cast and producers of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” at the 29th Annual Peoples Choice Awards. Header image of Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson at the Sony Global Marketing Partners’ Celebration in September. Images thanks to PR Photos.

Forbes.com just released an analysis of who gives movies studios the most bang for their buck. I was kind of surprised, but it turns out the best investment is Matt Damon. In a way it makes sense: those “It” actors and actresses command such huge paychecks, that investment-wise, it’s hard to get the same return. For every dollar that Matt Damon is paid for a film, the movie returned $29. Pretty good deal.

“According to Forbes’ first-ever list of Ultimate Star Payback, the movie stars who deliver the best bang for the buck aren’t the industry’s top earners. Matt Damon, the soft-spoken leading man in box office winner The Bourne Ultimatum, turns out to be Hollywood’s best investment. For every dollar Damon got paid for his last three roles, his films returned $29 of gross income. And, surprisingly, former ‘Friends’ star Jennifer Aniston is Hollywood’s most profitable actress, despite duds like ‘Rumor Has It.’ For ever dollar the former Mrs. Pitt was paid for her last three major roles, her films on average returned $17 of gross income.”

[From Forbes.com]

Second place for actors went to Brad Pitt, and third place was a tie between Johnny Depp and Vince Vaughn. Vince Vaughn is the biggest surprise to me. It must be because he makes about $34 a film, so if the film makes $43,000 you’ve got a pretty good deal. Vaughn’s rate is actually about a million a film, a relative bargain in Hollywood terms. Forbes points out that his last three movies “’The Break-Up,’ ‘Wedding Crashers,’ ‘Dodgeball’–have been box office bonanzas relative to their low production costs. (At $52 million, The Break-Up’s budget was roughly 20% of “Pirates of the Caribbean, Dead Man’s Chest.).” The big budget actors like Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise and Will Smith only averaged about $12 in gross income per salary dollar.

The actor who gave the worst return, dollar for dollar? Russell Crowe. Forbes points out that his “standing in Hollywood has shrunk since he scored back-to-back consecutive Oscar nods for ‘The Insider’ (1999), ‘Gladiator’ (2000) and ‘A Beautiful Mind’ (2001). Crowe’s last three films earned on average just $5 in gross income for every dollar spent on the star. His most recent, last year’s ‘A Good Year,’ was made for $35 million, almost one-third of which went to Crowe’s salary. The film earned only $40 million in worldwide box office, making it a huge disappointment for Fox, which produced and distributed it.” Logically, it seems like the opposite should be true. Who would ever have guessed that getting three Oscar nominations in three years could be bad for your career?

You know who is not a good investment? Lindsay Lohan. For some reason Forbes doesn’t even bother mentioning this. Probably because it’s so obvious it doesn’t need stating. Ironically, I bet this report will raise Matt Damon’s salary, thus making him less of a great deal. Oh well. He’s still a good actor, and fun to look at.

Picture note by JayBird: Here’s Matt Damon yesterday at the Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival. Header image of Matt and his wife Luciana Bozan Barroso from the “The Bourne Ultimatum” Los Angeles Premiere. Images thanks to PR Photos.

Despite terrible reviews, DaVinci Code hauled in $224 million this weekend to score the second biggest global box office opening of all time. It only fell behind Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, which made $253 million in its opening weekend.

That’s incredible, and is most likely due to the fact that so many people read the book. Maybe Audrey Tautou will re-think her rash decision to quit acting now. We hope the cute French actress is getting a nice share of the profits.

Here are pictures of Tom Hanks and director Ron Howard at a press conference for the film on May 8th. Hanks is looking rather jowly.