Ben, Gwyneth: It’s Over

The year-long romance between Gwyneth Paltrow and Ben Affleck is kaput, reports New York’s Daily News. The two reportedly called it quits over the holidays. (Both of them star in the current hit “Shakespeare in Love.”) The parting is amicable, claim sources, while the actors’ reps decline comment.

“It set up the archetype of good versus evil for me. Who didn’t want to be Luke Skywalker? Who didn’t want to strike down Darth vader? says the filmmaker Kevin Smith (Clerks, Chasing Amy), an affirmed Lucas enthusiast who has referenced Star Wars in his movies, and who was six years old when the original film came out. “It was so powerful, by the time we reached the great myths in school, I thought, Well, clearly these people were ripping off Star Wars.” Smith says that when he saw the trailer for the Phantom Menace, “any insouciance or laid-back adult attitude I had was gone. I was a kid again.”

I made my first pilgrimage to Red Bank this past weekend, and I had a nice conversation with Walt Flanagan, who gave me this interesting tidbit of news about the Stash:

The Stash will NOT be relocating to 3 Harding Road. According to Walt, the negotiations for the space went sour, so they grabbed some space “nearby” instead, but the exact location was not disclosed. Walt says it is going to be “impressive to say the least”.

PREACHER FEATURE

Zentertainment reports that casting offers have been made for the upcomingPreacher film; according to their sources, the producers have approached “BenAffleck for the role of Jesse Custer, Cameron Diaz for the role of Tulip,Robert Carlyle for the role of the vampireCassidy, and Samuel L. Jackson for the role of the Saint of Killers. Theactors have not given any answer, but Affleck does have an in, as his Chasing Amy/Mallrats director, Kevin Smith, is the film’s executive producer. RachelTalalay will direct Preacher.” Series creator Garth Ennis isreportadly writing the screenplay.

DAREDEVIL HITS THE BULLSEYE

Daredevil, which has been continuingly selling out for Marvel since it’s Marvel Knights relaunch, will sell out even wuicker with it’s fifth issue. Why? Because that issue will feature a previously-unannounced 1:4 variantcover by Jimmy Palmiotti and Joe Quesada that depicts what Marvel Marketing Representative Steve Warble describes as “the shocking development that will change Daredevil’s life forever. What is it? I don’t know; Marvel won’t even tell it’s own sales reps!” “This issue is a must-have for any fan of Daredevil,” Jimmy Palmiotti said. “Kevin wrote the unspeakable, Joe drew the unthinkable, and I traced it!…” Joe Quesada added, “There are a million surprises in Kevin Smith’s ‘Guardian Devil’… Everything changes for the good–and you can’t say you haven’t been warned.”