Warner Bros. has enlisted Chris Nolan and Bryan Singer to return to the Batman Begins and Superman Returns sequels, both of which are targeted for a tentative 2008 and 2009 release dates respectively. Singer's deal has not been closed but it is expected that he will begin work on the next Superman film after shooting Logan's Run for Warner Bros. this fall.

A New Jersey company will begin selling subscriptions to the Rickey Gervais Show podcast. The formerly free podcast, which will be honoured with a spot in the 2007 Guinness Book of World Records for most downloaded podcast ever (with over 250,000 downloads a week since it launched through UK newspaper site Guardian Unlimited in December 2005) will be available for US$1.95 per episode, or $6.95 per season.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers are dropping their new disc, Stadium Arcadium, on May 9. Along with various festival dates in Europe, the band plans to celebrate the release of the double album with an US arena tour. And who are they bandying about as a possible opening act? Kanye West. No confirmation yet from Kanye's camp.

Oscar winner Jamie Foxx has scored again with an Image Award, courtesy of the NAACP. The Image Awards honour the achievements of black artists in entertainment. Other big winners include Crash star Terrence Howard, singer Alicia Keys, and newcomer Chris Brown.

Scott Ian (Anthrax), Ted Nugent, Evan Seinfeld (Biohazard), Sebastian Bach (Skid Row) and Jason Bonham are taking part in a new VH1 reality TV show tentatively titled Supergroup. Filming for the program commenced this week in Las Vegas, with the premise being to lock several musicians in a house for 10 days and get them to write and record some new original music. In addition to the five musicians, star manager Doc McGhee (KISS) is in charge and is also living in the house for the duration.

Tom Cruise is becoming interested in joining 3:10 to Yuma, a remake of the 1957 Western which will be directed by James Mangold (Walk the Line). Cruise expressed interest after Stuart Beattie (Collateral) was brought on board to rewrite the screenplay by Michael Brandt and Derek Haas. The trade says that Cruise is looking to play the villain in the movie.

Mark Wahlberg has signed on to star in and Antoine Fuqua is on board to direct the political thriller Shooter for Paramount Pictures. Based on Stephen Hunter's novel Point of Impact, the story centers on an ace marksman who lives in self-exile in the Arkansas wilderness after causing the death of an innocent person.

Jessica Biel has signed on to co-star in Lee Tamahori's sci-fi thriller Next for Revolution Studios. Nicolas Cage and Julianne Moore are headlining the film, which is based on Philip K. Dick's short story The Golden Man. The story centers on a man (Cage) with the unique ability to see future events and affect their outcome.

Anne Hathaway will join Judd Apatow's (The 40 Year Old Virgin) next comedy, Knocked Up, which will also star Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann. Apatow is writing, producing and directing the movie, which follows a twentysomething guy who finds out he impregnated his one night stand.

The Smithsonian is announcing its plans to embark on a collecting initiative, "Hip-Hop Won't Stop: the Beat, the Rhymes, the Life." The project, the beginnings of a permanent collection, will gather objects that trace hip-hop's origins in the Bronx in the 1970s to its current global reach. It is expected to cost as much as $2 million and take up to five years to complete.

Beyonce Knowles may have a full-length solo album out as early as this summer. The former Destiny's Child singer says she's heading into the studio as soon as production wraps on the film adaptation of the Broadway hit Dreamgirls.

Don Knotts, who won TV immortality and five Emmys for playing the bumbling Deputy Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show, has died of pulmonary and respiratory complications. He was 81.