James Franco's Band Debuts 'Love in the Old Days' (Video)

Yes, James Franco is adding musician to his lengthy resume, and he has the music video to prove it.

Franco and musician Tim O’Keefe (a former classmate of Franco’s at the Rhode Island School of Design) are releasing an EP under the moniker Daddy. Franco directed the duo’s first video, “Love in the Old Days,” a meditation on romance in the 1960s, which features references to his parents and features their wedding photo near the end.

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Franco said he knows some may scoff at his foray into music, considering the actor’s many extracurriculars already include directing and pursuing multiple graduate degrees.

“I know I do a lot of things. I'm very aware of that,” Franco told Rolling Stone. “I'm sure there are a lot of skeptical people, hearing about me doing music . . . To me, it all comes from a similar place. It's like using different tools to express things in different ways."

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Daddy’s debut EP, MotorCity, hits Sept. 25 and features vocal contributions from Motown’s Smokey Robinson, whom Franco met on a flight. The cover art is a photo of Franco’s Spring Breakers costars Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson and Rachel Korine.

Watch the video below.

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'Dark Knight Rises' Shooting Victims Sue Cinemark

AURORA, Colo. — Three people wounded in the shooting that killed 12 people at a Colorado theater have filed lawsuits alleging the exit door the gunman used to enter the building should have had an alarm.

Two lawsuits were filed Friday in U.S. District Court on behalf of Denise Traynom, Brandon Axelrod and Joshua Nowlan. Their attorney, former Denver judge Christina Habas, declined to comment. A spokeswoman for Cinemark USA Inc. had no immediate comment.

The lawsuits filed against the subsidiary of Cinemark Holdings Inc. are believed to be the first. They were filed the same day the company revealed plans to refurbish and reconfigure the theater and have it ready to open by the beginning of 2013.

James Holmes, 24, is accused of killing 12 people and wounding 58 others during a special midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises.

Prosecutors allege the former University of Colorado, Denver, graduate student left the theater through a back exit, propped open the exit door and re-entered the theater to begin the shooting. The lawsuits claim Holmes was able to move his car into position after he left the theater through the back exit.

In addition to failing to have alarmed exit doors, the lawsuits claim Cinemark was negligent in failing to hire extra security for the midnight showing or generally protect patrons who were sitting in a darkened theater. They also say Cinemark failed to help evacuate the theater even after the shooting ended. The lights were either off or very low even after the gunfire stopped, according to the lawsuit.

Traynom was wounded in the buttocks, while Axelrod suffered bone injuries to his right knee and ankle. Nowlan’s right arm was nearly severed by a bullet, and he was also wounded in his left leg.

Meanwhile, Aurora Mayor Steve Hogan was celebrating the announcement that Cinemark will reopen the theater. Cinemark President and CEO Tim Warner advised Hogan of the company’s intention by letter before the lawsuits were filed.

In a statement, Hogan said there has been overwhelming support to reopen the theater.

“We will always remember those who lost their lives and the many others impacted that day. While no one will ever forget that day, this is another step in the community’s healing,” Hogan said.

In a letter to Cinemark, the mayor asked that special provisions be made for a victim and survivor visitation, memorials, and a change to the outside appearance of the building.

Details of the changes that would be made were not immediately available.

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Michael Jackson Goes Pro-Life on 'Bad 25' Track (Audio)

Michael Jackson was famous for singing, "The kid is not my son," but on another archival track, the late King of Pop changed his tune.

"Song Groove (A/K/A Abortion Papers)," a bonus track released on this week's Bad 25 anniversary reissue, finds Jackson singing directly about abortion: "Those abortion papers/signed in your name against the words of God/Those abortion papers/Think about life, I'd like to have my child."

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Despite the serious subject matter, "Song Groove" is an upbeat dance track, in line with the rest of the Bad extras.

Bad was originally released in 1987; Jackson would become the father of three beginning with the birth of Michael Joseph "Prince" Jackson, Jr. in 1997.

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Austin Mahone's 'Say Somethin' Video Sparks Return to Social 50 Chart

16-year-old Internet sensation Austin Mahone makes a grand re-entry at No. 19 on Billboard's Social 50 chart following the release of his video for "Say Somethin." The clip roused his massive online fan base last week, garnering over 1.5 million YouTube views for the clip during the charting period.

The Social 50 chart ranks the most popular artists on YouTube, Vevo, Facebook, Twitter and MySpace, using a formula that blends weekly additions of friends/fans/followers along with weekly artist page views and weekly song plays.

"Say Somethin," which is apparently not a part of any formal album release yet, comes on the heels of Mahone's recent signing with Chase/Universal Republic. As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, Mahone has signed a 360 deal putting him under the same umbrella of Owl City, Florence + The Machine and the late Amy Winehouse.

The jump in Mahone's YouTube viewership allowed for a 231 percent spike in weekly fan acquisition. He also gained 195,000 new Facebook fans and 25,000 new Twitter followers. The video for "Say Somethin" is the first to be uploaded to Mahone's newly minted VEVO channel, which has drawn more than 23,000 subscribers already. Simultaneously, the YouTube channel where Mahone rose to fame also experienced a 54 percent upswing in views as he continues to post behind the scenes content for his loyal followers.

Elsewhere on the Social 50, hip-hop artist Timati debuts at No. 24. Popular in Russia and nearby countries, he released the video for his single "Tattoo" last week, which has racked up more than 1.3 million views.

While the name Timati may be unfamiliar to a U.S. audience, the artists who he's worked with in the past certainly aren't. Timati has collaborated with Diddy Dirty Money on "I'm On You" and with Timbaland on "Not All About The Money" -- two singles from Timati's June 2012 album, Swagg. The video sparked a massive 184 percent gain in weekly Twitter follower acquisition during the charting week, where Timati added 236,000 new followers.

Alicia Keys has been particularly active in social media over the past few weeks promoting her upcoming album, Girl On Fire. She re-enters at No. 27 on the Social 50 after buzz generated by a feature in the New York Times and the release of two new videos to her official YouTube channel. One of those is a lyric video for the song "Not Even the King."

Also soaring on the tally because of lyric videos is P!nk, who released three of them this past week. Simple animation clips for "The Truth About Love," "Beam Me Up" and "Just Give Me A Reason" each gained between 200,000 and 400,000 views each. The attention gave way to a 15 percent increase in her overall fan base, allowing the diva to jump 43-35 in the tally.

Animated YouTube cover act Your Favorite Martian re-enters at No. 37 with a cover of Linkin Park's "High Voltage" that has so far added 800,000 views to its YouTube channel. Also experiencing jumps are the Social 50's resident X Factor judges, Demi Lovato (34-15) and Britney Spears (21-9), who have been using their social presences to promote their weekly television appearances.

As for the rest of the Top 10, PSY remains in the No. 1 spot as Taylor Swift and Rihanna holds at Nos. 2 and 3 respectively. One Direction leaps (6-4) as does Skrillex (7-5), causing Katy Perry (4-6) and Justin Bieber (5-7) to fall. Jennifer Lopez remains at No. 8, and Lady Gaga slips a spot down to No. 10.

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Rookie's Tavi Gevinson Talks 'Bitchface,' James Franco Encounter (Video)

Tavi Gevinson is only 16 years old, and she's already a household name in the fashion world: when she was 11, she created a blog, "Style Rookie," that captured the attention of designers, editors and industry insiders in addition to a cult audience of young readers who obsessively followed the Chicago-area native's sophisticated commentary and quirky-cool wardrobe updates.

Gevinson soon received invitations to New York Fashion Week, appeared on artsy magazine covers (Pop, L'Officiel) and struck up a friendship with Kate and Laura Mulleavy, aka the Rodarte sisters. (She helped promote and inspire their 2009 collection for Target. In an interview with Style.com, the avante-garde duo described Gevinson, then 13, as "a mix between J.D. Salinger, Dorothy Parker and Cindy Sherman.")

Gevinson attended the Mulleavys' Spring 2013 runway show earlier this month and also attended a downtown bash for the hipster clothing emporium Opening Ceremony. She appeared on Jimmy Fallon's late-night show, where she effortlessly engaged in banter with the host (even showing him her patented "bitchface").

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The main reason she in New York, however, was to celebrate the one-year anniversary of Rookie Magazine, her irreverent website geared toward young women that spans the subjects of fashion, pop culture and true-life confessionals. Gevinson is Rookie's founder-editor, and her imprint is everywhere, from a DIY tutorial on "How to Turn Your Tights Into Knee Socks" to an ode to the Bard called "Literally the Best Thing Ever: Shakespeare." Her celebrity no doubt helped lure the likes of Jon Hamm and Paul Rudd to participate in the popular video feature "Ask a Grown Man." (Her next target: President Obama, the subject of a Twitter campaign to recruit the commander-in-chief as the next famous male to answer readers' questions.)

At a school dance-themed party at the Ace Hotel on Sept. 12, Gevinson also feted the release of her first book, Rookie Yearbook One, a collection of photos and essays written by Rookie writers and celeb scribes including Miranda July. Gevinson included her amusing article on "How to Bitchface," or recreate her stone-faced expression (it could also be dubbed, "Fashionface").

"It's kind of just a face I make a lot," she said in an interview with THR, laughing while explaining that the site's editorial director came up with the idea because of "my, like, constantly looking irritated when I'm like talking about my day or whatever."

Before Rookie's launch in September 2011, Gevinson stipulated that writers would post stories during three key times of the day (including after dinner, prime Facebook-stalking time) and would avoid talking down or preaching to readers.

"Probably my favorite thing ever was my friend's little brother recently went to his first school dance, had his first kiss, and his family later told me that he was telling them about the girl and he said, 'She looks like she reads Rookie.' And that was like a good thing," she said. "And his other guy friends, they're like, 12, were like, 'Yeah, yeah, she had like shiny red shoes!' And It just made me happy that being a girl who reads Rookie was like an attractive quality to these young men."

Despite her high profile, the levelheaded, unfailingly articulate Gevinson seems to make an easy transition between her double lives as student (she lives at home with her parents in Oak Park, Illinois) and media darling (who was also just cast in her first feature film role in writer-director Nicole Holofcener's untitled new film at Fox Searchlight).

She did admit to being nervous before her Fallon sitdown, and when we put her on the spot to give her most memorable celebrity encounter, she conceded to geeking out somewhat during an encounter with James Franco.

"I did meet James Franco once and I said I was a big fan of Freaks and Geeks and he was like, 'So are you a freak or a geek?' And I was like, 'I'm kind of both' and probably went into my life story, which he probably didn't care about, and he was like, 'Yeah I feel like I'm both too sometimes.'"

Twitter: @ErinLCarlson

Email: erin.carlson@thr.com

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'Treme' Renewed for Fourth and Final Season

HBO’s Treme will return for a fourth and final season, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed. The show's co-creators said Saturday the season would be shorter than previous outings, though they did not reveal how many episodes it would include.

At a screening of the show’s season three opener, co-creators David Simon and Eric Overmyer told a New Orleans crowd the show's return was hard-fought.

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“We are going to be back for a season 3.5,” Simon said, The Times-Picayune reported. “HBO, upon viewing the 10 (season-three episodes) that we gave them and what we’ve done, they want to see the end of the story. They fought very hard to give us half a loaf. We’re going to take it and run.”

Simon had previously said that Treme would end with a fourth season and that he and Overmyer had anticipated wrapping up the story after the third season.

Despite initial critical acclaim, the series struggled to find an audience, much like Simon's previous HBO effort, The Wire. During its sophomore season, it ranked as the network's lowest rated drama, pulling fewer than 500,000 viewers in original airings.

Earlier this week, series star Khandi Alexander told THR she believed a deal for the show to return for another season was impending.

VIDEO: 'Treme' Returns From Year-Long Absence With Season 3 Trailer

"David [Simon] has made it clear that he wants a conclusion, and it is my understanding that, as of today, we're very close to being able to have a conclusion -- and I'm looking forward to that,” Alexander said. “I think often times it's the audience that suffers when a show isn't given the opportunity to have a beginning, middle and end."

The third season of Treme premieres Sunday at 9 p.m.

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Helen Mirren to Play Queen Elizabeth Onstage

Dame Helen Mirren will once again tackle the role of Queen Elizabeth -- this time, on stage.

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The Oscar-winning actress is set to star in Peter Morgan's The Audience, recalling six decades of weekly "audiences" (meetings) at Buckingham Palace between the Queen and her 12 prime ministers over the years. The Audience is slated to open in 2013 at London's Gielgud Theatre, according to a statement obtained by Reuters.

Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot) will direct the play, with Matthew Byam Shaw, Robert Fox and Andy Harries producing. Scenic designer will be six-time Tony winner Bob Crowley (Once).

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The 67-year-old actress portrayed the British monarch in the 2006 feature The Queen, for which Morgan received an Oscar nomination for his original screenplay. The role earned Mirren an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, a Screen Actors Guild award and a British BAFTA for her performance. Mirren, additionally, starred in HBO's Elizabeth I, earning the actress an Emmy, a Golden Globe and a SAG award.

Mirren's stage career stretches back to the mid-1960s, with notable work over the years for the Royal Shakespeare Company, National Theatre and the Royal Court. Her last major stage appearance was in the title role of Racine's Phèdre at the National for director Nicholas Hytner, which was the inaugural production in the company's NT Live international screening series. 

Morgan's credits for film, television and the stage include Frost/Nixon, The Queen, The Last King of Scotland, The Deal, HBO's The Special Relationship and Longford. He wrote the screenplay for Ron Howard's forthcoming biopic of Formula 1 champion Niki Lauda, Rush, for which Universal has set a fall 2013 release date.

The Audience is scheduled to begin previews Feb. 15, 2013. Official opening is set for March 5, running through June 15.

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Rihanna Opens Up About Chris Brown, Barbados Pride in New Oprah Interview (Video)

Oprah thought she knew Rihanna, but Oprah did not know Rihanna.

That's what the talk queen reveals as she teases her Oprah's Next Chapter interview with the pop star next week, taped in Rihanna's home nation of Barbados. It's all perfectly timed to kick off the singer's three-year stint promoting her homeland for the Barbados Tourist Authority. (According to BTA chairman Adrian Elcock, the campaign will be launched in September, in time for the winter tourist season.)

"I thought she was going to be kind of a bad-ass," Oprah admits. "Kind of a hard-edged rocker pop woman. Hm. Nothing could have been farther from the truth."

Instead, she found a star as uneasy with the scrutiny of celebrity ("I'm super-duper uncomfortable with the pedestal that comes with fame," Rihanna says.) as she was thrilled to be back home, zooming around the tiny Caribbean isle with one of the most powerful women in the world strapped into the passenger seat.

And we're promised tears -- "I hate this part," Rihanna says, clutching tissues -- though it's only in a second promo that we learn what sets them off: The topic of former boyfriend Chris Brown, at whose hands she suffered shocking physical abuse.

"I lost my best friend," Rihanna tearfully admits in the second teaser.

Oprah's Next Chapter with Rihanna airs next Sunday, Aug. 19, at 9 p.m. on OWN.

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Google Search to Start Targeting Copyright Violators

In a bid to steer Internet users to higher-quality video, audio, images and text on the web, Google beginning next week will push links that most likely contain content that violates copyrights lower in search results.

The effort should thrill the creators of TV shows, movies and music that have long complained of Internet pirates who illegally post their content on websites they have no control over and, therefore, earn no money from.

Google said in a blog post Friday that sites receiving a large number of valid copyright removal notices will continue to be listed during a search, though much lower on the results page.

An example of some of the sites that could be negatively impacted by Google's new policy are filestube.com, extratorrent.com, torrenthound.com, bitsnoop.com and isohunt.com.

The new "signal," the latest of more than 200 already used in Google search algorithms, will apply to all of the sites the Google index touches, which amounts to an estimated 30 trillion unique URLs.

"The ranking change," senior vp engineering Amit Singhal blogged, "should help users find legitimate, quality sources of content more easily -- whether it's a song previewed on NPR's music website, a TV show on Hulu or new music streamed from Spotify."

In a statement, the MPAA cautiously applauded the move.

“We are optimistic that Google’s actions will help steer consumers to the myriad legitimate ways for them to access movies and TV shows online, and away from the rogue cyberlockers, peer-to-peer sites, and other outlaw enterprises that steal the hard work of creators across the globe. We will be watching this development closely – the devil is always in the details – and look forward to Google taking further steps to ensure that its services favor legitimate businesses and creators, not thieves.”
The RIAA on Friday called the new policy "a potentially significant change" that it has been "urging Google to take for a long time."

"Google has signaled a new willingness to value the rights of creators," the RIAA said in a press release. "That is good news indeed. And the online marketplace for the hundreds of licensed digital services embraced by the music business is better today than it was yesterday."

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Anti-Obama Group Publishes Phone Numbers of Hollywood's 'Leftist Elites'

Conservative activist group Grassfire Nation is calling on its supporters to take Hollywood liberals to task.

In an e-mail blast sent to supporters Friday (and posted on the group’s website), Grassfire Nation published the contact information of several Hollywood directors, producers and actors who have contributed to a pro-Obama super PAC. The note asks fellow conservatives to demand that the “leftist elites” cease and desist a recent ad.

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The group names Bill Maher, Morgan Freeman, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Steven Spielberg and JJ Abrams as significant donors to Priorities USA Action, which recently released an ad that, according to Grassfire Nation, "wrongfully accuses" GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney of "causing a woman to lose her health insurance and die from cancer."

"Plus, new evidence implicates the Obama team and Priorities USA of possible criminal collusion in the ad (super PACs are not allowed by law to coordinate in any way with campaigns),” the note continues.

“Grassfire Nation is launching this CITIZEN NOTICE calling on leftist elites to cease and desist this despicable ad. These notices will be sent directly to Priorities USA as well as Maher, Freeman, Katzenberg, Spielberg and Abrams -- because their money funded this deplorable campaign,” it adds.

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The e-mail, as reported by Buzzfeed, also included a list of phone numbers for each celebrity named, adding up to a total of nine numbers. The numbers listed connected to various talent and management agencies that represent each of the men in question.

Callers were encouraged to read from the notice below:

As a concerned American, I am calling on Priorities USA Action to immediately withdraw its “Understands” anti-Romney ad from the airwaves, along with a public apology to the American people for corrupting the political debate with deception and dishonesty.

I am also calling on those who are bankrolling Priorities USA -- such as Bill Maher, Morgan Freeman, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Steven Spielberg and JJ Abrams and others -- to use their influence and demand that this despicable ad be withdrawn.

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Russell Crowe as 'Noah': First Look at Darren Aronofsky's Biblical Epic (Photo)

We've seen the ark; now, we get a first glance at the beard.

It's been five years in the making in Hollywood, and around 5700 or so since the event first allegedly went down, but Darren Aronofsky's big screen epic, Noah, is finally in production. The Wrestler and Black Swan helmer is off in Iceland, beginning work on the film, and has tweeted out several photos from the set, including this shot of the massive zoo-boat ark that will serve as the fulcrum of his gritty biblical reboot. 

In this new photo, which first debuted in USA Today, we get our first glance at star Russell Crowe, who is starring as the God-fearing, ship-building hero of the film. Aronofsky reportedly offered the role to both Christian Bale and Michael Fassbender before Crowe signed on, though the Oscar-winner wears the facial hair with the authority that is required of a man who saved every species of animal on earth.

Noah hits theaters on March 28, 2014.

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