Fox's Fantastic Four, which has been given mixed reviews, drew in the American public enough for the weekend of July 8 through 10 to end the 19-week slump in the box office. The Associated Press reports that the top 12 films took in an estimated $139.5 million, up 1.2 percent from the same weekend in 2004. Now that's some truly fantastic news. I hope it will be for more than one week.

     Jack Black is reteaming with School of Rock writer Mike White for Paramount's Nacho Libre, directed by Napoleon Dynamite's Jared Hess. Black will play a Mexican priest who secretly moonlights as a masked wrestler in order to save an orphanage from closure. Paramount and DreamWorks also made a joint announcement July 13 that the live-action Transformers movie will hit the big screen on July 4, 2007.

     Kate Hudson and Owen Wilson are teaming up for Universal's comedy You, Me and Dupree. Wilson plays best man Randy Dupree, who stays on as a houseguest with newlyweds Carl and Molly, eventually wearing out his welcome. Wilson will also star in Paramount's remake of the 1947 classic film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty for director Mark Waters. The story follows the title character, a dreamer whose vivid imagination allows him to escape from his ordinary life. The story of the remake will be closer to the 1939 James Thurber story than the 1947 movie. Kill Bill's Uma Thurman and The Royal Tenenbaums' Luke Wilson (Owen's brother) are teaming up for director Ivan Reitman's romantic comedy Super Ex. Thurman will play a superhero who falls for a regular guy (Wilson). When he dumps her, she uses her powers to turn his life into a nightmare.

     Henry Winkler will play Adam Sandler's father in Sony and Revolution's comedy Click, about a remote that enables Sandler to fast-forward and rewind to different parts of his life. Winkler previously appeared as the coach in the Sandler hit The Waterboy. Sandler's Punch-Drunk Love co-star Emily Watson has signed on for the family adventure film Crusade for director Ben Sombogaart. Crusade is based on Thea Beckman's bestselling novel Crusade in Jeans.

     Lions Gate Films has signed a multipicture deal with S.W.A.T. co-star LL Cool J. One of the films is an urban retelling of Fatal Attraction. Ewan McGregor and original Fatal Attraction star Glenn Close are teaming up for a musical remake of the Hollywood classic Sunset Blvd. McGregor plays an out-of-work screenwriter whose path crosses with fading silent film star Norma Desmond (Close).

     Sarah Jessica Parker will star in and produce a big-screen adaptation of Rebecca Gilman's play Spinning Into Butter. Parker plays a college dean who's forced to face her feelings about race when a hate crime shakes things up on campus.

     The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants' Blake Lively and Herbie: Fully Loaded's Justin Long will co-star in Universal's comedy Accepted, which centers on a high school senior (Long) who finds a way to avoid the pressure to attend college. Lively plays Long's friend, whom he has a secret crush on.

     American Beauty co-star Chris Cooper has signed on to star in Fortress Entertainment's drama The Road Back. The film follows a man dealing with the breakdown of his marriage and an increasingly icy family relationship in the wake of the suicide of his daughter, an Iraq war veteran. Sounds good and powerful.

     In America filmmaker Jim Sheridan's next project will be the Irish mafia film Emerald City, a Radar Pictures and Relevant Entertainment co-production. City, based on a true story, is a look into the world of Irish organized crime in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York City.

     Good Will Hunting director Gus Van Sant has announced that his next project will be an adaptation of Audrey Niffenegger's novel The Time Traveler's Wife. Wife is loosely based on Homer's Odyssey and centers on a woman and a man with a time-traveling gene that enables him to jump to different times in her life.

     The three Lord of the Rings movies topped Amazon.com's list of their all-time bestselling DVDs. In honor of the company's 10th anniversary, never-before-seen footage from the trilogy was screened in a webcast July 16. Gwyneth Paltrow and Lord of the Rings star Orlando Bloom will make cameo appearances and Brittany Murphy, Matthew Rhys, Catherine Tate and Santiago Cabrera will star in the romantic comedy Love and Other Disasters. The story revolves around a group of friends in London who discover sometimes love isn't like the movies. Proof (which stars Paltrow), In Her Shoes and the new Pride and Prejudice are among the films on the slate of this year's Toronto International Film Festival, which runs September 8-17. The Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line, which stars The Village's Joaquin Phoenix as the legendary "Man in Black," will also have its world premiere at the festival. Line hits theaters on November 18.

     Opening arguments began July 13 in the criminal trial of a photographer who allegedly tried to sell topless photos of Cameron Diaz taken before she was famous.

     A federal judge dismissed a $20 million libel and defamation lawsuit July 14 filed against filmmaker Michael Moore by the brother of Oklahoma bombing conspirator Terry Nichols.

     An L.A. judge threatened to have actor Tom Sizemore arrested if he fails to show up for his next hearing on July 22, which addresses whether or not he violated his probation in his drug case.

     Sandra Bullock and TV's Monster Garage mastermind Jesse James were married in a sunset ceremony July 16 near Santa Barbara.

     The Perfect Man's Hilary Duff and Deuce Bigalo: European Gigolo's Rob Schneider will co-host the Teen Choice Awards on Fox August 16. This is perhaps the strangest duo I've ever heard of. Duff's Agent Cody Banks co-star Frankie Muniz has become engaged to his girlfriend, Jamie, whom he has been dating since the spring.

     Brad Pitt checked out of Los Angeles' Cedars Sinai Medical Center July 13, two days after being admitted for "flu-like symptoms" that turned out to be viral meningitis. His publicist says the Mr. & Mrs. Smith star is "doing well" and resting at home.

     The Manchurian Candidate co-star Angela Lansbury underwent knee-replacement surgery July 14.

     Actress Frances Langford, who appeared in dozens of movies including Broadway Melody, Yankee Doodle Dandy, The Glenn Miller Story and Every Night at Eight, passed away July 11. She was 92.