'Hangover Part II' Director Todd Phillips Reveals His 'Godfather' Inspiration

Check out an exclusive picture of the gang huddled around a fire in Thailand to kick off MTV News' Summer Movie Preview Week.
By Eric Ditzian, with reporting by Josh Horowitz


Zack Galifinakis and Bradley Cooper in "The Hangover Part II"
Photo: Warner Bros.

This week, MTV News kicks off our Summer Movie Preview week, five jam-packed days in which we'll bring you exclusive interviews, photos and clips from the upcoming season's most-anticipated flicks — everything from "Captain America: The First Avenger" and "X-Men: First Class" to "Bridesmaids" and "Bad Teacher" to "Conan," "Kung Fu Panda 2," "Larry Crowne" and more.

We're getting it all started with an exclusive photo from "Hangover Part II" — Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis and the rest of the gang huddled around a fire in Thailand — and a chat with director Todd Phillips about a comedy he thinks can measure up to the finest second installments in movie history.

"I think there are very few sequels that have been made that live up to or exceed their first film. 'The Godfather' is the first one," Phillips told us. "We had always planned on calling it 'The Hangover 2,' and when we finished the script, I changed the cover page and wrote 'The Hangover Part II,' because I think the film lives up to or exceeds the first one. It was very much a nod to 'The Godfather.' "

If Robert De Niro portrayed the breakout character in Francis Ford Coppola's masterpiece of a sequel, Phillips points to his film's monkey as the one everyone will be talking about when the movie hits theaters May 26.

"There's a monkey in the film that I think is going to book a lot of parts after this film," Phillips said of the creature who, under Galifianakis' perverse guidance, simulates oral sex on a Buddhist monk in the trailer. As Zach says in the trailer, "When a monkey nibbles on a weenus, it's funny in any language."

Truth! And we don't want the laughs to end. Which is why, even though the second flick hasn't even hit theaters, we can't help but wonder if there's a third one in the works. "I could [do a third]," Phillips admitted. "And I'm only saying that because we love working together — me, Ed [Helms], Bradley, Zach, Justin [Bartha], Ken Jeong. We have such a good time on these movies. I know it sounds absurd, but I see other movies that have gone to three and you go, 'I get why they do it.' It's actually fun. We just spend the whole day laughing and trying to make a movie."

It's Summer Movie Preview Week, and MTV News will be bringing you exclusive interviews, clips and photos for the most anticipated films of the coming months. Get ready to gorge on inside looks at "Captain America," "The Hangover Part II," "X-Men: First Class," "Cowboys & Aliens" and more.

Check out everything we've got on "The Hangover Part II."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

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Michael Jackson Doctor Pleads Not Guilty To Involuntary Manslaughter

Conrad Murray's trial slated to start March 28.
By Gil Kaufman


Dr. Conrad Murray appears in court on Tuesday in Los Angeles, California
Photo: Irfan Khan-Pool/ Getty Images

Michael Jackson's former personal physician Dr. Conrad Murray entered a plea of not guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter in the June 2009 death of the pop star at his arraignment on Tuesday morning (January 25).

According to the Los Angeles Times, when asked by judge Michael Pastor how he pleaded to the charge, Murray said, "Your honor, I am an innocent man." When Pastor interrupted and asked Murray what his plea was, the cardiologist said, "Therefore, I plead not guilty."

The brief hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court ended with Pastor setting a March 28 date for the start of a trial in the case. Murray faces a maximum of four years in prison if convicted, and the Times noted that he surprised the judge by invoking his right to a speedy trial, which meant the case would have to begin by late March. Pastor noted the rarity of a defendant asking to have a speedy trial, then set jury selection for the week of March 28 and said he was inclined to allow television coverage of the trial that the defense expects will last two months.

Lawyers for Murray have maintained his innocence all along, saying he did not do anything that "should have" caused the 50-year-old pop icon's death. The Los Angeles County Coroner's office determined that Jackson died of an overdose of the surgical anesthetic propofol mixed with a cocktail of other sedatives.

Murray has admitted to administering propofol to Jackson in the hours before the singer's death, but the defense appears to be gearing up to claim that it was Jackson who administered the final, fatal dose of the drug after he woke in a panic from a fitful night of sleep.

During a preliminary hearing earlier this month to determine if there was enough evidence to hold Murray over for trial, the physician's attorneys said that there was evidence Jackson injected or drank a fatal amount of the drug when the doctor was not looking.

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1656619/michael-jackson-doctor-conrad-murray-pleads-not-guilty.jhtml

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Michael Jackson Doctor Conrad Murray's Trial To Be Televised

Judge rules that camera will be allowed in the courtroom for manslaughter case.
By Gil Kaufman


Conrad Murray
Photo: AFP/ Getty Images

For what promises to be one of the most bizarre and riveting legal proceedings in years, a Los Angeles judge ruled on Monday that a television camera will be allowed in the courtroom when Michael Jackson's doctor goes on trial for involuntary manslaughter.

Reuters reported that Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor, approved the presence of a camera in the trial of Dr. Conrad Murray as long as it does not interfere with the proceedings in the closely watched case.

The judge asked for the "absolute least-intrusive placement" of a TV camera in the courtroom, but blocked cameras from documenting jury selection.

Pastor also announced that he would bump up the opening date of the trail by four days to March 24, at which point jury selection will begin. Murray, who faces up to four years in prison if convicted, has pleaded not guilty to the charges, and the trial is expected to last around six weeks.

Cardiologist Murray was hired to be Jackson's personal physician in the run-up to the King of Pop's planned 50-date comeback series of shows at London's O2 arena in the summer of 2009. The doctor told police that he provided Jackson, 50, with sedatives and the surgical anesthetic propofol in order to combat the singer's chronic insomnia. He said he did so on the morning of June 25, 2009, when Jackson died of what a coroner deemed acute propofol poisoning.

TMZ reported on Tuesday (February 8) that Murray's lawyers plan to argue that Jackson was already in weak health before he died and that it's unfair to blame propofol for his passing. Unnamed sources close to the case told the gossip site that at the time of his death, Jackson's body was already failing him in part because concert promoter AEG Live had "driven [him] over the edge" with a rigorous rehearsal schedule for the shows.

Murray's lawyers reportedly plan to call witnesses to say that Jackson was not showing up for rehearsals and when he did he showed "clear signs" of frail health. They also reportedly plan to argue that it was Jackson who administered the final, fatal dose of propofol to himself while Murray was out of the room.

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1657464/conrad-murray-trial.jhtml

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Elton John & David Furnish's Son Drinks FedExed Breastmilk

Talk about a special delivery! During a recent interview with Barbara Walters, Sir Elton John revealed that the biological mother of he and David Furnish?s 4-month-old son, Zachary, has been sending pumped breastmilk to the family via courier.

?The baby?s been brought up in Los Angeles for the first four months so we?ve had the breastmilk FedExed from where she is to Los Angeles every day,? explains the proud new daddy, adding that his son?s surrogate will always be involved in his upbringing. ?She and her family will still be a part of our lives growing up.?

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Source: http://celebritybabyscoop.com/2011/04/24/elton-john-david-furnishs-son-drinks-fedexed-breastmilk

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Taylor Lautner Compares Snow Whites Kristen Stewart And Lily Collins

'They're completely different Snow Whites, so I feel like I don't have to choose one,' he tells MTV News of co-stars' upcoming projects.
By Eric Ditzian, with reporting by Josh Horowitz


Taylor Lautner
Photo: MTV News

Taylor Lautner is living a fairy tale — two of them, to be exact.

Two of the 19-year-old actor's co-stars have lined up separate "Snow White" projects — Kristen Stewart in Universal's "Snow White and the Huntsman" and Lily Collins in Relativity Media's "Snow White" — a casting quirk that had Lautner saying in a recent interview with MTV News, "It's crazy!"

So which project (and which actress) has Lautner's allegiance? Unsurprisingly, both his "Twilight" co-star and his "Abduction" leading lady.

"I'm lucky, because they're completely different Snow Whites, so I feel like I don't have to choose one," he said. "They're completely different stories, and the Snow Whites themselves are totally different."

Lautner's not kidding. Collins' version, co-starring Julia Roberts as the evil queen, will be directed by Tarsem Singh, who described his vision to us thusly: "It's actually like if you looked at Gaudi's architecture, based in England, done like a turn-of-the-century Russian film by an Indian guy." Stewart's project, "Snow White and the Huntsman," stars Charlize Theron as the evil queen and is said to focus more heavily on action and to tweak the familiar tale so Snow White is on the run and protected by the Huntsman. Both flicks are slated to hit theaters next year.

Meanwhile, Collins has also signed on to star in an adaptation of "City of Bones," the first book in the best-selling young-adult series "The Mortal Instruments." Lautner certainly has some experience with bringing wildly popular novels to the big screen, but he said there's not much advice he can give her — because, as he told us, she doesn't need any.

"I don't know if I need to give her advice," Lautner said. "She's going to be able to handle it just fine. I'm very excited."

While he may not dole out any tips, Collins learned a ton from Lautner during the "Abduction" shoot. "I would watch the way he deals with his fans. It's incredible," she told us in January. "We'd be shooting at nights where we finish at 7 in the morning, and one night, we had 600 fans in the middle of nowhere in Pittsburgh waiting outside, and it was probably almost 5 in the morning, and he went out and signed every single autograph. He was always there to be with his fans and to make sure they knew he appreciated them."

Check out everything we've got on "Abduction."

For young Hollywood news, fashion and "Twilight" updates around the clock, visit HollywoodCrush.MTV.com.

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1662254/taylor-lautner-snow-white-kristen-stewart-lily-collins.jhtml

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