The idea of a Botswanian detective agency was enough to hook me when I wrote about the cinematic adaptation of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency just over a year ago when Anthony Minghella and Richard Curtis were putting it together. In June, we found out that Anika Noni Rose was joining Jill Scott in the production. Now it's veered off-course and will no longer be a big-screen movie.

As was hinted last June, the book is getting a television series, but Variety reports that it won't have a big-screen lead-in. Instead, it will be a 2-hour pilot for the new HBO series, which has already gotten an order for 13 episodes. Since this is also a Weinstein Company production, the sale to HBO marks the company's "first big splash on the smallscreen side."

Harvey seems to be happy about it: "It's always been a dream of mine to produce a series for HBO. I've often called over there to tell them that they make better episodes than we make movies." Heh, I won't dig into that can of worms. For now, the series is going into production with the hope to hit HBO early next year. From here on out, scour all those television sites like TVSquad for further Botswanian detective news.

After some concept art, a name-change, the voice of our heroine, and the voice of the villain, Disney has finally released the first official image from The Princess and the Frog, which you can see to the right, and check out in all of its glory over at Coming Soon. This flick is a pretty big deal as the studio has headed back to traditional animation for the film, but more importantly, because star Tiana will be the first African-American princess and leading lady from the studio that has brought us the likes of Aurora, Snow White, Jasmine, and Mulan.

The animated film should be interesting. It's a musical (of course) set in New Orleans, the birthplace of jazz. This could be cool, or a complete waste, depending on how Randy Newman tackles the music for the film. Will it be classic Newman? Will he go out on a limb and go wild with jazz? Anyhow, Tiana is a young girl who is living in the affluent French Quarter, who I imagine gets it on with a Princely frog. As Disney describes it: "From the heart of Louisiana's mystical bayous and the banks of the mighty Mississippi comes an unforgettable tale of love, enchantment, and discovery with a soulful singing crocodile, voodoo spells, and Cajun charm at every turn."

So there you have it. Is the official Tiana everything you dreamed she would be?

I first saw Anika Noni Rose on Broadway in her Tony Award-winning role in Caroline, or Change. She was great, but nearly got blown off the stage (just about anyone would have) by the incredible Tonya Pinkins. Then she had a similar situation in Dreamgirls, barely getting a mention in most reviews. She had the least flashy role by far, but I thought she held her own against the bombastic Jennifer Hudson and the ridiculously good-looking Beyonce. And now she's joining another powerful singer -- Jill Scott -- for Anthony Minghella's The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. Scott hasn't done much film acting, but has a part in the controversial Dakota Fanning film Hounddog, and a supporting role in Tyler Perry's upcoming Why Did I Get Married? No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency will be an adaptation of Alexander McCall Smith's novel of the same name. Any fans out there?

Rose will play Grace Makutsi, "the secretary/assistant detective to Precious Ramotswe (Scott), who owns a Botswana-based detective agency run by women." Relative newcomer Lucian Msamati will play Ramotswe's fiancé in the film. Minghella wrote the script with Richard Curtis (Love, Actually), and with Minghella at the helm, I think it is safe to assume that Detective Agency will be...long. Like, punishingly long. This also seems like quite a departure for Minghella, who usually takes on films about exceedingly pale people doing exceedingly cold things as slowly as possible. There's a whole series of Agency books, and it is "likely that a TV series based on Agency will follow the movie, but no deals are in place." Oh, and if you want to see Rose in something that will haunt her resume for decades -- check out From Justin to Kelly. Why that movie hasn't become this generation's Plan 9 From Outer Space is a mystery to me.

Though Beyoncé Knowles and Jennifer Hudson stole the Dreamgirls spotlight from Anika Noni Rose, it is Rose who apparently beat out Hudson (as well as ladies like Alicia Keyes and Tyra Banks) for the lead role in Disney's upcoming animated musical feature, The Frog Princess. (I'm sorry, but if Tyra Banks thought she had a chance here, then I'd love to have a little bit of what she's been smoking.) Rose will voice Maddy, Disney's first ever black princess -- a role that garnered the interest of practically every black actress/singer in Hollywood. And who can blame them -- heck, this is history in the making. Go Disney!

Set during the 1920s Jazz Age in New Orleans, The Frog Princess will be based on the classic fairytale and feature music from -- who else -- Randy Newman. Pic will also mark the first 2D Disney film since 2004's Home on the Range, and hopes to tap into the spirit of the Broadway-style musicals that were so successful for the Mouse House throughout the late '80s and '90s. In addition, Ron Clements and John Musker (directors of Aladdin and The Little Mermaid) have been tapped to write and direct. The first images of Princess Maddy have already been released, and though it's said to be early concept art, both pictures are in line with what you'd expect from an animated Disney Princess, in that she's pretty and petite with not an ounce of fat on her. How do you feel about the film? Is it just me, or does it feel slightly odd that it's 2007 and we're actually celebrating the fact that a major studio has decided to create their first animated African-American princess? Is this something that should have been done years ago?

According to L.A. Weekly blogger Nikki Finke, there will be three presenters of the Oscar for Best Achievement in Directing. Those presenters? None other than Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas. Finke doesn't go on to make assumptions, but I'll go ahead and speculate that the planners of the telecast know something about who will win this award -- or they're making a hopeful gamble. Of course it will be great television to feature three of the most important "New Hollywood" directors hand a long overdue award to a fourth member of that era, Martin Scorsese. Personally, though, I think if Scorsese is a definite lock for the award, then Robert Redford, Kevin Costner, Barry Levinson and Roman Polanski should be the ones presenting it.

Finke has learned of a few other "surprises" we can look forward to on Sunday night, including an appearance by Tom Cruise to present his old boss at Paramount, Sherry Lansing, the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. Also, the supporting acting awards will not be announced at the beginning of the ceremony, as they usually are, and none of the scheduled performers from Dreamgirls (Beyoncé, Jennifer Hudson and Anika Noni Rose) will sing the song they sing in the movie -- who will perform what is not revealed, however. As for montages, we can expect one directed by Michael Mann about the portrayal of America in movies and one directed by Nancy Meyers about the portrayal of writers.

It is being rumored that this year's Oscar telecast will be extremely long, so hopefully the Academy and the planners have some other surprises that are more exciting than these. Of course, many of us will be glued to the set the whole way through to find out which picture will be revealed as the best, but I think the media is overestimating the public curiosity this year and I doubt that many people will really care enough to be up that late.