'Thor 2' to Be First Female-Directed Superhero Movie

Jason Kempin/Getty Images(LOS ANGELES) -- Another glass ceiling is about to be shattered in Hollywood.

Marvel has hired Patty Jenkins to direct Thor 2, making her the first woman to direct a superhero flick.

Jenkins comes with a pretty good resume, too.  She directed Monster -- the film that won Charlize Theron an Oscar. Jenkins also directed episodes of Entourage, Arrested Development and the critically acclaimed pilot of AMC's The Killing.

Thor fans will have to wait two years to see the sequel.  Thor 2 is set for a November 2013 release.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Hilary Swank 'Deeply Regrets' Attending Chechen President's Party

GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty ImagesHilary Swank has released a statement after being criticized for attending of the birthday party of controversial Chechen Republic President Ramzan Kadyrov.  Kadyrov's human rights abuses, including torture have been documented by various human rights groups.

Swank wrote, "I deeply regret attending this event, which has thrown into question my long and deeply-held commitment to the protection of human rights.  I would never intentionally do anything that raised doubts about such commitment.  I will continue to donate my time and my financial resources not only to the charities with which I am currently affiliated, but also those dedicated to the preservation of human rights."

Swank's rep explains in a separate statement that the actress was in Grozny City on October 5 to attend the opening of a new residential and commercial complex in southern Russia.  The project was billed as "a symbol of hope for the people of Chechnya," a war-torn region.  At the event, Swank was invited to wish the President a happy birthday, along with other celebrities like Jean Claude Van Damme.  Swank said she was was unaware, at that time, of the allegations against President Kadyrov. Swank added, "If I had a full understanding of what this event was apparently intended to be, I would never have gone."

Two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank will be donating money she was paid to attend a lavish party thrown by the president of Chechnya, the man accused of committing crimes against humanity including torture, a representative for the star said Friday.

Swank's representative did not say how much Swank was paid to attend the Oct. 5 event, but told ABC News the actress will be donating "her personal appearance fees from this event to various charitable organizations."

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Facebook Restores Account After Apparent Cyber-Bullying

LOIC VENANCE/AFP/Getty Images)(LOS ANGELES) -- The Interwebs just weren’t ready for Courtney Stodden.

The 17-year-old wife of 51-year-old Lost star Doug Hutchison was kicked off Facebook Thursday for posting photos that were deemed “inappropriate sexual content,” according to her mother, Krista Keller. Stodden’s personal page and her fan pages were deleted from the social network.

“It’s the jealousy from the women towards her,” Keller told E! News. "The men love her, the women hate her. The women report the photo because it’s so easy to do. You just click a button. They think she’s too sexy, they all report her together, and it’s done."

That may not be exactly true. On Friday, Facebook reinstated Stodden’s page, saying “This page was removed in error and has been restored. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused.”

Stodden considers it a victory.

“I am so happy that I’ve brought attention to the problem that I have had for so many other people,” she told RadarOnline.com. “I was cyber-bullied, and I hope this doesn’t happen to other people.”

But hey, who needs Facebook? Stodden’s been typing up a storm on Twitter, mixing musings on God and descriptions of her body in various states of undress with alliterative flair. Some of Stodden's recent messages include:

“Wildly wiggling & jauntily jiggling myself to jolting jams as I friskily flaunt a flirty outfit completed w/sexy white 7in. go-go boots! ; -)"

“Drenched within a very sensuous Sunday morning! God Bless! 'Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.' Proverbs 16:3"

Her more than 47,000 followers don’t appear to find such statements inappropriate at all.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

'I Love Lucy' Marks 60th Anniversary

CBS Photo Archive/Courtesy of Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- The classic TV series I Love Lucy celebrates its 60th anniversary on Saturday.  The show made its debut on Oct. 15, 1951.

I Love Lucy aired a total of 179 half-hour episodes in six seasons on CBS, followed by three years of occasional hour-long specials.  The series then aired on CBS daytime before moving into worldwide syndication.

The half-hour sitcom never ranked lower than third in the Nielsen ratings during its run, and a 1953 episode in which Lucille Ball's Lucy Ricardo has a baby still ranks as Nielsen's highest-rated episode in television history.

Jess Oppenheimer was the creator, head writer, and producer of the show, and his son Gregg grew up around the set.  Gregg tells ABC News Radio today’s shows use 15 writers and as many as eight producers to create 22 episodes a year, but I Love Lucy was able to churn out 40 episodes in 40 weeks with three writers and just one producer.

The comedy starred Ball and real-life husband Desi Arnaz as Lucy and Ricky Ricardo.  Vivian Vance and William Frawley portrayed their neighbors, Fred and Ethel Mertz.

Oppenheimer says the show worked for many reasons, but the main one was Ball, because she was a beautiful actress who was willing to do zany slapstick comedy, including putting chocolate all over her face and stomping grapes in a vat.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Chris Tucker Facing Foreclosure on Florida Mansion

Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images(LAKE APOPKA, Fla.) -- Despite making tens of millions of dollars for appearing in the Rush Hour movies, actor and comedian Chris Tucker is facing foreclosure on his multi-million dollar Florida mansion, according to court papers filed earlier this week.

The star of the Rush Hour trilogy and the comedy Friday purchased the 10,000-square-foot lakefront home in 2007 for $6 million.  The hefty home purchase was made just before the housing market took a nosedive later that year.

SunTrust Bank reportedly filed papers against the actor in Circuit Court in Florida’s Lake County.  The bank says Tucker owes over $4.4 million.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, Tucker’s estate is located in the Bella Collina development, a nearly 2,000-acre community with waterfront homes and estates that overlook a massive golf course.

Tucker’s home reportedly features five bedrooms, three fireplaces, and a personal spa.  An outdoor kitchen overlooks a swimming pool, and the basement is fit to resemble a pirate ship, according to the Sentinel.

Though his last film -- 2007′s Rush Hour 3 -- was a sizable hit, taking in over $140 million at the domestic box office, he hasn’t been featured in a film since.  Earlier this year, Tucker returned to stand up comedy, touring theaters across the U.S.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

'Footloose,' 'The Big Year,' 'The Thing' Open Friday

Comstock Images/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- Here's a look at the new movies opening nationwide on Friday:

--  Footloose: In the remake of the 1984 film, newcomer Kenny Wormald fills Kevin Bacon's old role of Ren, who moves to a small town and rebels against a law that prohibits dancing.  Julianne Hough and Dennis Quaid also star.  Rated PG-13.  [Click here to read a review]

-- The Big Year: Steve Martin, Owen Wilson and Jack Black play rivals in a contest to count more species of birds in North America than anyone else.  Rated PG.

-- The Thing: The prequel to the 1982 flick of the same name revives the vicious titular creature, which wreaks havoc on researchers on Antarctica.  Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Joel Edgerton star.  Rated R.  [Click here to read a review]

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Report: Lindsay Lohan Fired from Community Service Program

AL SEIB/AFP/Getty Images(LOS ANGELES) -- Lindsay Lohan has reportedly been booted from the Downtown Women’s Center in L.A. where she was performing court-ordered community service because of numerous rules violations, TMZ reports.

The website quotes sources as saying the Mean Girls star was terminated two weeks ago because of the violations, which included failure to show up nine scheduled times and leaving the facility after working for only an hour.

Lohan was sentenced to serve 360 hours at the homeless shelter as part of her probation after pleading no contest in her shoplifting case.

RadarOnline reports Lohan repeatedly showed up late or was a no-show.  The website says the staff at the shelter was willing to work with Lohan’s unpredictable schedule but when a pattern of behavior emerged that she wasn’t taking the service seriously she was booted.

A source tells the website Lohan will try to blame her unpredictable attendance on the paparazzi, saying she was hounded at the building.

The source says “Yes, there were photographers around when she did show up, but it wasn’t intrusive, and didn’t impede upon anyone’s ability to maneuver in or out of the building.”

Lohan is due back in court next week for a progress hearing.  RadarOnline says it’s unlikely she will be sent to jail for not fulfilling her community service obligations because she has until the summer of 2012 to complete the 460 hours.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Report: Infidelity Rumor Taking Toll on Demi Moore’s Health

Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images(LOS ANGELES) -- The recent rumors regarding Ashton Kutcher’s alleged infidelities are reportedly taking their toll on his wife of six years, Demi Moore.

An insider tells UsMagazine the 48-year-old actress is “very upset and hasn’t been eating.”  The source says the cheating rumors are “taking a toll.”

Another source says Moore is “superskinny and it’s hard to look at.”

The report says the rumors have prompted Moore to focus on improving her figure, and she recently signed up for a juice-cleanse delivery service.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Paul 'Pee-wee Herman' Reubens Receiving Visionary Award

Theo Wargo/WireImage(LOS ANGELES) -- Actor Paul Reubens will receive the Visionary Award for his work as Pee-wee Herman over the past three decades at the SCREAM Awards 2011 on Saturday in Los Angeles.

The two-hour event will premiere on Spike TV on Tuesday at 9:00pm ET/PT, and it will be simulcast on VH1 and VH1 Classic.

Reubens has been entertaining audiences as Pee-wee Herman since 1978.  His Pee-wee's Playhouse television show earned 22 Emmy Awards. He appeared on the big screen in Pee-wee's Big Adventure in 1985 and then again in Big Top Pee-wee in 1988.  Reubens was even on Broadway recently in a live version of The Pee-wee Herman Show.

Prior SCREAM Visionary Award honorees include Johnny Depp, Harrison Ford, Keith Richards, George Lucas, Tim Burton and Quentin Tarantino, among others.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Top Ten Cable Programs (Oct. 3-9)

Scott Boehm/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- Here are the top 10 cable programs for the week of October 3-9, according to the Nielsen Company. All times are Eastern:

1. NFL Football: Indianapolis at Tampa Bay (Monday, 8:30 p.m.), ESPN, 8 million homes, 10.83 million viewers.
2. Major League Baseball Division Series: Detroit at N.Y. Yankees (Thursday, 8 p.m.), TBS, 7.15 million homes, 9.72 million viewers.
3. Major League Baseball Division Series: St. Louis at Philadelphia (Friday, 8:54 p.m.), TBS, 5.88 million homes, 8.38 million viewers.
4. Major League Baseball Division Series: N.Y. Yankees at Detroit (Tuesday, 8:30 p.m.), TBS, 5.23 million homes, 7.01 million viewers.
5. Jersey Shore (Thursday, 10 p.m.), MTV, 4.96 million homes, 6.59 million viewers.
6. Major League Baseball Division Series: N.Y. Yankees at Detroit (Monday, 9 p.m.), TBS, 4.46 million homes, 6.04 million viewers.
7. Major League Baseball Division Series: Philadelphia at St. Louis (Tuesday, 5:20 p.m.), TBS, 3.5 million homes, 4.61 million viewers.
8. Major League Baseball Division Series: Arizona at Milwaukee (Friday, 5 p.m.), TBS, 3.45 million homes, 4.59 million viewers.
9. Major League Baseball Division Series: Philadelphia at St. Louis (Wednesday, 6 p.m.), TBS, 3.4 million homes, 4.5 million viewers.
10. Keeping Up With the Kardashians (Sunday, 8 p.m.), E! Entertainment, 3.3 million homes, 4.38 million viewers.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio