Las Vegas Weekly

March 19, 2010 · 12:09 PM

Photos: ShoWest wraps with awards, wardrobe mishap, Hangover 2

By Robin Leach

Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis at the 2010 ShoWest Awards at the Paris on March 18, 2010.

Photo: Scott Harrison/Retna/www.harrisonphotos.com

The Hangover director Todd Phillips confirmed that the Las Vegas comedy has now surpassed $400 million worldwide, and it cost only $32 million to make. It’s become the biggest-grossing R-rated comedy of all time, and although filming will begin hopefully in November for the now-confirmed sequel, it won’t be shot on the Strip again.

Last December at a Caesars Palace party to launch the DVD, Todd gave me the exclusive about the sequel, and he updated the status of Hangover 2 for me last night at the ShoWest Awards at the Paris.

“The script is now 75 percent completed. The exact date for the start of filming isn’t yet in place because that will depend on the four main actors’ schedules. I’m not doing the sequel without them!” he said. I quizzed him about Miami being the setting for the follow-up. “It’s been talked about, but that’s not yet definite.

“Filming here in Las Vegas was the best experience of my career. Everybody was so accommodating. Everybody from casinos to residents was so helpful with The Hangover shooting. We never felt we got in anybody’s way. I would love to film in Las Vegas again, but the sequel has to be somewhere else. We may have a couple of flashback scenes set from Vegas.”

One of his stars, Zach Galifianakis, won last night as Comedy Star of the Year -- his first award ever, he revealed. He confirmed that he’s in talks with Todd for the sequel and wants to shoot it. He joked about his time on the Strip filming: “Six weeks of filming in Las Vegas brings back beautiful nightmares. There are only so many hookers you can get into Caesars Palace!”

While the guys brought us the news, it was the glittering and gorgeous girls who dazzled at ShoWest. Our contributing photographers Erik Kabik and Scott Harrison compiled our fabulous photo galleries from the four days of star-studded events, and videographer Richard Corey recorded celebrity arrivals. (And congrats to Richard for logging nearly 300,000 views for his YouTube videos since he started posting them last summer!)

Even though Sex and the City star Kim Cattrall was on a London stage performing in Private Lives, her Manhattan TV BFFs Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis made up for her absence when they were presented with the ShoWest Ensemble Award.

Actress Katherine Heigl of Grey’s Anatomy and now big-screen fame, won the award for Female Star of the Year and sent everybody into frozen suspension when she narrowly avoided a wardrobe malfunction during the presentation. Her jaw dropped when the left shoulder strap on her daring poppy- red silk dress snapped off, and while she clutched at it, emcee Billy Bush from Access Hollywood held it together from the back to prevent the top from falling down.

Katherine, who was here promoting her new Ashton Kutcher movie Killers and sporting dark locks, found a safety pin to hold it together for her photo session with the award in the pressroom after the presentation.

Billy hosted a Lollipop Theater fundraiser at Tao in The Venetian after the ceremony and said: “Oh my, that was a first. Quite a moment! As she got up to get the award, the strap broke. There I was holding her top. But she kept her calm and graciously accepted the award with total composure.” Billy thanked TAO partners Jason Strauss and Noah Tepperberg for hosting the event and contributing to the charity that lets children fighting life-threatening illnesses watch movies during their hospital stay.

All eyes also were on High School Musical darling Vanessa Hudgens, who was presented with Female Star of Tomorrow. She’d flown in a day earlier with boyfriend Zac Efron, who won Male Star of Tomorrow one year ago at the same event. I asked her if they’d discussed the coincidence on their way to Las Vegas.

She said: “Funnily enough, that never occurred to us. The only thing is he told me to work on my acceptance speech. So I worked on it, then worked on it some more, and then worked on it a third time and got it down!”

Vanessa, who began her showbiz career at age 8, was a regular guest star on The Disney Channel’s The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, which led to her breakout in the three High School Musical hits. She stars in the edgy teen romance Beastly with Mary-Kate Olsen, Neil Patrick Harris and fellow ShoWest recipient Alex Pettyfer in July.

Will and Jada Pinkett Smith’s son Jaden won for Breakthrough Male Star of the Year and attended an earlier screening of his new summer release Karate Kid, with Jackie Chan, with them. Other winners were Avatar’s Sam Worthington as Male Star of the Year -- he’ll be seen next in Clash of the Titans; Amanda Seyfried as Breakthrough Female Star of the Year; Alex Pettyfer as Male Star of Tomorrow; and Jay Roach as Comedy Director of the Decade. Mega producer Jerry Bruckheimer was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award. He laughed: “I’m not finished yet -- hopefully there’s more to come.”

In the pressroom, I asked Jerry about his upcoming summer blockbuster Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. “It’s a vast, sweeping action adventure with a romantic tale back in the 6th century, and it still has the great story that made the Pirates of the Caribbean such great movies.” He starts filming the fourth Pirates -- On Stranger Tides -- with Johnny Depp in two months. The franchise, which has hauled in more than $2.7 billion at the worldwide box office, also stars Penelope Cruz. (Previous stars Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley are not returning.) He also is developing the third film in the National Treasure series with Nicolas Cage. Jerry has another summer film with Nic in July: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Jerry believes in the ever-increasing 3-D technology.

Avatar producer Jon Landau was a surprise guest at ShoWest and told us that 3-D is an “artistic step forward to re-create more movie magic” rather than a technological advance. He said that he will certainly do an Avatar sequel if the public wants one, but first he has to complete the DVD with added scenes. He also revealed that he’s been thinking about a remake of Titanic with James Cameron in 3-D,.

Photo: Erik Kabik/Retna/www.erikkabikphoto.com

Neil Patrick Harris, Vanessa Hudgens and Alex Pettyfer at the ShoWest CBS Luncheon at the Paris on March 18, 2010.

Actor Robert Downey Jr. made a surprise ShoWest appearance turning up with Jennifer Lopez and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson at one of the screening. J.Lo was at the trade show and convention of 5,000 movie industry delegates promoting her new film The Back-up Plan.

This was the star awards night that ended four days of movie theater nuts-and-bolts business centered on new technology of digital projectors, 3-D advances and even new popcorn and ticket-selling devices. The delegates from 50 countries saw screenings of expected summer blockbuster hits such as Toy Story 3.

They’re all hopeful that new releases will make 2010 even bigger at the box office, which racked up a record-breaking $10.9 billion last year in North America alone.

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

Follow Robin Leach on Twitter at Twitter.com/Robin_Leach.

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Follow VDLX Editor Don Chareunsy on Twitter at Twitter.com/VDLXEditorDon.

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