Halle Berry's 'Tulia' Placed on Hold

My first thought should be to congratulate Halle Berry on her pregnancy, which she finally, officially announced on Access Hollywood Tuesday. But instead, I'm thinking primarily about John Singleton, who stands to lose by the news. The Boyz n the Hood director is having some bad luck of late -- in case you didn't hear, he accidentally killed a woman recently -- and Berry's bun in the oven has unfortunately affected Singleton's latest project. He was set to direct Tulia, a Southern courtroom drama with Berry and Billy Bob Thornton, but now, thanks to the actress' unavailability for the next six months or so, the film has been postponed -- if not canceled. According to TMZ, Lionsgate has definitely halted production, which was scheduled to begin shooting in October, with no word on when it would resume. The gossip news site did learn, though, that the project hasn't been shelved entirely.

I had been excited for Singleton when he took over Tulia from Carl Franklin. Here, I was thinking he could work with the reunited Berry and Thornton, who paired up on Monster's Ball, and direct the actress to another Oscar nomination (she won for Ball). And then his career would pick up again, proving that his status as youngest director to ever be nominated for the directing Oscar was not a fluke. Maybe it wouldn't get him another nomination, but it would hopefully get him enough respect to finally get him his Luke Cage greenlight. Now, even if Singleton does remain attached to Tulia, it won't be bringing him to any Academy Awards until at least 2010. Currently, Singleton is also having trouble as a producer. He worked with filmmaker Franc. Reyes on the new release Illegal Tender, which has only made $2.5 million in its first two weeks -- most of it earned opening weekend before a near-60% drop. Considering Reyes' previous film, Empire, grossed seven times that amount, Singleton could be blamed.

[via WENN]