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Once again Ridley Scott isn't exactly getting his way with another project of his. This time it's with the very talked about "Alien" prequel that feels like it's been sitting in development for awhile. The reason for that has to do with 20th Century Fox and Scott's differing viewpoints on the general approach for the film. With Scott's version of the "Alien" prequel, the budget is said to be an estimated $250 million with a pretty solid R rating attached to it. However, Twentieth Century Fox wants none of that. Instead they want to trim down the budget and squeeze the "Alien" prequel down enough to make it into a PG-13 film. Just like I said earlier, differing viewpoints.So what is there to do now? Ridley Scott can be quite stubborn when he wants to be, mainly on how he wants his film to turn out. Then again, Fox could...

Last night, Gordon Ramsay debuted in yet another culinary reality series. Will Fox's MasterChef be as successful as Kitchen Nightmares and Hell's Kitchen or will it be quickly cancelled?

MasterChef is a competition that pits a group of talented home cooks against one another in a series of challenges and elimination rounds. They are judged by Chef Ramsay, restaurateur and wine maker Joe Bastianich, and Graham Elliot, the country's youngest four-star chef. The winner of the contest walks away with $250,000 and a deal to author a cookbook.

The new series debuted last night with a 2.78 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 5.747 million viewers (per the overnights). That put the show in first place in the all-important demo and number four in overall viewers. Viewership grew slightly halfway through the episode, an indication that people liked what they saw and will probably...

With X-Men First Class getting the green light this week, what other X-Men movies are still in development, and what's happening with them?

If you've been trying to keep up with the many different X-Men spin-offs and sequels that 20th Century Fox is juggling, presumably in an attempt to pump through a new X-Men movie every year, then fear not!

Here, we've got our updated guide to the state of play with each and every one of the planned movies...

X-men: First Class

As we've discovered this week, the next X-Men movie to see the inside of a cinema will be First Class, the film that goes back to the formative years of Professor X's school. This basically means that we're going to get younger versions of the assorted mutants, which means it'll involve casting a lot of more youthful actors, which subsequently will be a lot cheaper for Fox.

LL Cool J is very Twitter-upset that an interview he gave in 2008 is being used to promote Sarah Palin’s Real American Stories, that show she will be hosting on Fox tomorrow. According to Mediaite, “the concept of Real American Stories is not new for Fox News. It began as a website back in July 2008—a website, it is important to note, that is owned by Fox News. Well the website is still there, as is the interview LL Cool J did for it.” Palin’s yet to respond via Twitter—nor has Nick Denton, who has lately evolved into something of the Hague of Twitter. Will Fox yank the misleading promo? Or will LL Cool J have to suffer through what he is contractually obligated to suffer through? 140 characters, but only one winner!

The weekend’s here. You’ve just been paid, and it’s burning a hole in your pocket. What’s a pop culture geek to do? In hopes of steering you in the right direction to blow some of that hard-earned cash, it’s time for the Fred Weekend Shopping Guide - your spotlight on the things you didn’t even know you wanted…

(Please support Fred by using the links below to make any impulse purchases - it helps to keep us going…)

Sadly, you don’t get the 3-D experience of their recent theatrical re-release, but the high definition versions of Toy Story & Toy Story 2 (Walt Disney, Rated G, Blu-Ray-$39.99 Srp each) are still an eye-popping treat that look and sound really, really good on your massive HDTV. Many of the bonus features are ported over from the most recent DVD special editions, including audio commentaries, featurettes,...

20th Century Fox have picked up the rights to cult classic and pulp superhero, The Shadow, according to Latino Review. The property, which had previously sat at Sony Pictures, was bought for a rumoured million dollars after the studio dropped the rights to the series.

The Shadow, a classic superhero from the 1940’s and a direct influence on modern-day comic book hero’s, has been championed in recent years by “Spider-Man” director Sam Raimi, who apparantly has followed the project to Fox. While Raimi was at one point touted to direct the picture, it’s now being said that “30 Days of Night” and “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” director, David Slade may be given the chair. This from ‘la Review:

You see, el problema con el Shadow is simple… he is a rich guy like Bruce Wayne, and his big power? People can’t see him. He isn’t invisible- he hypnotizes them.

I'm not sure about this news!

Fox is developing an American version of Torchwood!

The project is from BBC Worldwide Prods., with original series creator Russell Davies writing the script.

A more straight-faced spinoff of “Doctor Who,” “Torchwood” is about a covert group that investigates and fights alien activity. Two series aired domestically on BBC America as well as last year’s well reviewed stand-alone miniseries, “Children of Earth,” which broke all ratings records for the network. (If you're a fan of serious sci fi such as "Battlestar Galatica" and haven't seen "Children of Earth," rent it. You don't need to know anything about the series. And I know the previews for "Torchwood" can look silly. Trust me, it's terrific. Like "24" with aliens).

Unlike U.S. adaptations that have gone awry, “Torchwood” fans can take comfort that the original producing team is on board. In addition to Davies, exec producers...

Let's be blunt: The ratings for "Dollhouse" are absolutely terrible. So bad, the show is barely doing as well as "Smallville" on Friday nights. That's not a good thing, because "Smallville" is experiencing some of its worst ratings ever, and that's compared to other The CW shows. Will Fox stay behind "Dollhouse"? Apparently as long as it takes to burn off the 13 episodes this season. The network tells Reuters that it has no plans to remove "Dollhouse" from its current Friday schedule despite the fact that live viewers have fallen 37.5 percent since its first season, the season that surprised the industry when Fox ordered a second season based on it. But the numbers are looking good in terms of DVR watchers. Those who decide to record "Dollhouse" and come back to watch it later ...

Every "X-Men" fan under the sun is waiting to hear what the franchise's next move is going to be. Will Fox pursue "Deadpool" next or will they pursue "X-Men: First Class" instead? Heck, David Goyer recently suggested that "X-Men Origins: Magneto" could be up before too long.

Still, if "Magneto" does make its way to theaters within the next couple of years, it's unlikely that actor Ian McKellen will assume the magnetic mutant's mantle for a fourth time, if only because nobody has supplied him with a screenplay yet.

"There's meant to be a 'Magneto' script floating around," McKellen told Empire Online. "[But] I've not read it, so I suspect it wouldn't involve me."

The acclaimed "X-Men" and "Lord of the Rings" actor acknowledged the already well-publicized idea that "Magneto" would focus on the mankind-hating mutant as a youth, meaning that McKellen's involvement in the project is probably unnecessary.

Hey, Paulington! Is a Cinephile advice column that looks at life, love, and the movies. Anyone can send in a question, and Paulington will answer it. Sure, it's a really cryptic, cliched concept that has been around since the dawn of time. But we're spicing it up a little bit. Topics can range from anything: Sex, violence, haints and taints, your favorite movie! Paulington doesn't care. He's basically doing it for a paycheck. He's not really an expert on anything. But he sure does know a lot about movies and human nature. You can send your questions to (as in, click on the giant red letters and you will automatically be sent to his email):

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And he will be sure to answer all of them in a very timely manner. Here are this week's letters. Enjoy!

Hey, Paulington!

I am so sick of all things 3-D! What...