Kelly Clarkson, Marc Anthony, Rascal Flatts and Madeleine Peyroux will join Tony Bennett for a Nov. 9 concert at Los Angeles’ Kodak Theatre, in celebration of Bennett’s 80th birthday. Tickets are available to the general public via Ticketmaster; special packages can be purchased by calling 310-559-9334.
Proceeds from the concert will benefit the Association of Hole in the Wall Camps, founded by Paul Newman, who is co-hosting the evening with George Clooney, Billy Crystal, Jack Nicholson and Bruce Willis.
— Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.
Universal Pictures has picked up movie rights to a New York Times article with the headline “In College Football, Big Paydays for Humiliation” for comic actor Jack Black to produce.
The Aug. 23 article by Pete Thamel looks at a college football practice in which teams pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to have weaker teams play them for easy wins. The movie would be a lighthearted take.
No screenwriter is attached. Black will take a role in the film but would not star. As previously reported, he returns to theaters Nov. 17 in “Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny.”
— Borys Kit, The Hollywood Reporter
Mexican pop/rock act RBD will on Dec. 26 release its English language debut, “Rebels,” via Virgin. The disc is led by the single “Tu Amor,” written by Diane Warren, and revises six tracks from the group’s Spanish language albums into English versions.
“Tu Amor” will be the follow-up to the group’s 2005’s “Rebelde,” which has sold 416,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It also won Best Pop Album of the Year at this year’s Billboard Latin Music Awards.
RBD, which is comprised of the six lead actors from the Mexican TV show “Rebelde,” is on tour in South America through November. A feature film and a spin-off show featuring the group are currently in the works.
— Clover Hope, N.Y.