After too many years of playing second fiddle to other stars, Maria Bello is ending this year on a good note.

Bello just signed a deal with HBO to executive produce and star in a new, as-yet-untitled series. The story sounds familiar: A woman whose husband is killed begins a life of crime in order to support her family. She has three sons she uses as henchmen. I guess the family that kills together, chills together.

I’m not clear on how this concept is too different from Weeds, but I’m happy to see Bello in a lead role. She always seems to be somebody’s wife, although she was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress in The Cooler and Best Actress for A History of Violence. She also was on ER for a few seasons as Dr. Anna DelAmico. … continue reading

Like that pink bunny, franchises keep going, and going, and going. But before we even have a chance to gauge Maria Bello's success in taking over the role of Evie in the Mummy movies, Bello revealed in an interview with MTV movie news that she's committed to another trilogy in the franchise.

Not that I'm complaining too much. I was a fan of the first movie in the Mummy franchise (though not so much that my ex-girlfriend spent fifty bucks to get a Brendan Fraser haircut after seeing it). If The Mummy's tongue-in-cheekiness wasn't enough to win me over, it was also my introduction to Rachel Weisz.

As I've lamented previously, I'll be missing Weisz in The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, even though one could do worse for a pinch hitter than Bello. I do like the looks of her in the production stills. … continue reading

I'm usually in need of inspiration on Mondays. What better way to get it than to peruse some pretty pictures? Let's start with the new poster for The Other Boleyn Girl, starring Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman.

I think that green dress must really be the other Boleyn girl, because it's taking up the whole damn poster. And Scarlett's lips are looking huge, even for her. But who am I kidding? All I can really see here are the names Johansson and Portman on the same poster. I'm in. … continue reading

Maria Bello, whose most recent work includes The Jane Austen Book Club, calls her new gig as librarian Rachel Weisz Evelyn Carnahan O'Connell in The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor "the role of my dreams. It is just a blast." Here's a reminder of what this replacement looks like:

And what's in this role of her dreams? Bello says that her Evelyn is "a very different character than Rachel played. She's a bad-ass action chick. I had to train a lot. I had to do wushu, a martial-art form, some kick-boxing, swordfighting, rifle training for a couple of months before we even started shooting." Here she is in Toronto, all brunette already:

… continue reading

Sounds good, but I still can't figure out how this is going to work. Generally when a different character is introduced, I want, you know, a different character.

Maria Bello is stepping into Rachel Weisz’s mummy-fighting shoes for the third installment of the hit action-adventure franchise. In April, it was announced that Academy Award-winner Weisz had declined another run at the undead alongside Brendan Fraser in The Mummy 3: Curse of the Dragon.

Bello will pull a Bewitched-style Dick York/Dick Sargent switcheroo as she plays adventuress Evelyn Carnahan O'Connell, portrayed in the first two films by Weisz. And, while I’m not really a fan of the series (if I wanted to watch Indiana Jones again, I’d just rent the movies), I am a fan of interesting casting choices. … continue reading