Girlfriends and wives usually get the short shrift in music biopics. In most cases, they end up as background (with maybe the exception being Walk the Line). Hopefully, this will not be the case for Gabrielle Union's latest role. BlackFilm reports that Union has signed to star in Darnell Martin's music biopic Cadillac Records as Geneva Wade. Wade was blues legend Muddy Waters' long-time girlfriend and was the inspiration for the classic song, Little Geneva.

Cadillac is the story of Chess Records, founded by Leonard Chess. The famed label was responsible for launching the careers of some of the greatest names in R&B. Casting has been the order of the day since news first hit that Adrien Brody would be playing Chess. Since then, it's been a flood of news, with the debate over Beyonce being cast as jazz legend Etta James at the top of the list. It should probably not come as a shock that other casting news has garnered fewer headlines. So just to bring you up to speed: Jeffrey Wright signed to play the great Muddy Waters, Cedric the Entertainer will appear as Willie Dixon, Eamonn Walker as Howlin' Wolf, and Columbus Short as Little Walter. There is also my favorite piece of casting -- Mos Def as Chuck Berry. Because, frankly, Def is just 'eccentric' enough to pull it off.

With the spring start date moving ever-closer, we're continuing to get reports of who will play all the famous, epic music legends in the upcoming film, Cadillac Records. Just last week, I told you about the wonderful additions of Adrien Brody as Leonard Chess, and Jeffrey Wright as Muddy Waters. Now it seems that we've got some estrogen to add to the mix. While talking with Cedric the Entertainer (who is also attached), BlackFilm.com found out that Beyonce has been cast as Etta James.

James had found some success with Johnny Otis and Little Richard before finding her way to Chess in 1960 -- a move that put her name on the map. After starting with blues, Chess saw a future for her in the pop world, which led her to her first pop-oriented hit, "At Last." (You know the one.. Listen to it here.) From there, she dipped into musical worlds from blues to rock. (Well, "rock" as it was years ago.) Now, she's one of the big names from her era, so the question is: Is Beyonce the right woman for the job? She's a solid singer, but from all I've heard, their voices are quite different, as are their looks. I just can't see a surprising Val Kilmer/Jim Morrison sort of morph happening -- both physically and aurally. Maybe Cedric is wrong. We'll have to wait and see, but in the meantime: What do you think?

[via Empire]

Would you ever believe that Eva Longoria dated Jason Biggs? Well, Hollywood is asking us to suspend our disbelief, because the two are starring in a comedy in which they play former flames. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the sexy "desperate housewife" and the doofy "pie f**cker" have been cast alongside Rob Corddry in Lower Learning, the debut feature from writer-director Mark Lafferty, who was responsible for the gay-centric Sixth Sense spoof, The Seventh Sense ("I see gay people"). In Lower, Corddry will play a shady elementary school principal under investigation by Longoria's inspector with help from her ex, a former cop who is now a vice principal. The cast will also include Corddry's old Daily Show co-worker Ed Helms, Tenacious D's Kyle Gass and Saw's Monica Potter. I don't know about you, but I expect this to be another movie in which the adults are less mature than the children.

I hope there aren't too many disappointed men out there, but Jason Biggs isn't much of a substitute for Beyoncé Knowles. Remember last year, Longoria was said to be doing a lesbian film with Knowles, but the rumor was quickly and unfortunately shot down. Well, let's just hope Longoria's character doesn't end up getting back together with Biggs' character, so we don't have to suffer through their reunion kiss -- though I've already suffered from imagining it. I'm rather hoping this movie focuses more on Corddry, who is a lot more enjoyable to watch. However, I might be in a minority here, considering audiences weren't too receptive to his recent sitcom The Winner, nor were they interested in his starring role in Blackballed: The Bobby Dukes Story nor as support in The Heartbreak Kid. Personally, I think he needs another shot at carrying a movie -- his next few roles are fairly small, playing second fiddle to Justin Long, Will Ferrell, Harold & Kumar and Ashton Kutcher. Like Longoria, he could definitely do better.

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.

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.

Since its beginnings on Broadway in 1981, Dreamgirls has been widely known to be loosely based on the story of The Supremes. Of course, it isn't actually about The Supremes, as should be obvious from the names of the characters and the difference in events between those characters and any real people who may have inspired them. Unfortunately, some people don't think the differences are clear enough, or at least that the connections between the musical and the real world are too confusing for audiences. Therefore, Dreamworks has had to place an ad in The Hollywood Reporter apologizing for this confusion and clarifying that the movie is a work of fiction.

The ad especially points out that the character played by Jamie Foxx is not meant to be a representation of Motown founder Berry Gordy, Jr. Earlier this month Smokey Robinson, who wrote many songs for The Supremes, slammed the movie for being a blatant, intended portrayal of The Supremes and Motown, saying that none of the characters are disguised enough as fictional, unconnected people. Though Foxx has defended his performance as not being based on Gordy, both Beyoncé Knowles and Jennifer Hudson have publicly mentioned some channeling of Diana Ross and Florence Ballard, respectively.

I don't want to talk about Britney Spears this week. Personally, I've read more than enough news about her, and she barely qualifies as a film-related personality, anyway. I don't want to deal with Anna Nicole Smith either, at least until her daughter's paternity test comes back ... and even then, I'm on overload. And Rosie O'Donnell? I'm trying to ignore that whole thing with Donald Trump, which doesn't even make sense.

Unfortunately, it's a slow gossip week without the above-named celebrities. I realized at some point that if I am reporting items on Mary-Kate Olsen's boots and Charlton Heston's neighbors, it is definitely not a red-letter gossip week. I couldn't even find any George Clooney or Johnny Depp photo opportunities. However, at least I know I'll entertain the Jessica Alba fans with the last news item on the following list.

Another year, another Oscar disqualification controversy. It would probably help the Academy to sit down and really go through its eligibility rules, compare their fairness between categories and come up with something reasonably concrete and consistent. Still, in fairness to the Academy, this latest controversy may not be that big a deal. So Beyoncé Knowles is not being listed as one of the writers of the Dreamgirls song "Listen," which she allegedly co-wrote with potential nominees Henry Krieger, Anne Preven and Scott Cutler. Some people don't think she really contributed an equal share of the work anyway. And she agrees with those people.

The singer-actress should just ignore the Oscars and consider the recognition she has received. I mean, the woman has been nominated for more important things, such as "Favorite Female Butt Kicker" (Kid's Choice Awards, for Austin Powers in Goldmember) and "Sexiest Performance" (MTV Movie Awards, for The Pink Panther). Plus she got the songwriting credit and nomination, as well as an acting nomination, from both the Golden Globes and the Satellites. Can she really take the Academy seriously after they already failed to nominate her for "Independent Women", part I (too bad 2000 was one of those rare good years for the original song category)? Perhaps being upstaged by and underappreciated because of a certain former American Idol contestant puts one's self-worth into question?

Regardless of Beyoncé's problems, though, the Academy's rule of recognizing only three contributors is ridiculous. What happens if a four-piece band -- one that shares writing credits -- writes a song for a movie? I'm not sure why the rule was added, and I agree that seven songwriters was a lot to include for Shrek 2's "Accidentally in Love," but it may need another rewrite.

Hey all. Quickie prediction today, because there's really only one movie opening wide this weekend. But what a movie it is!

'Dreamgirls': "I'm your dreeaaaamgirl, dreamgirls will never leave you ..." Oh, sorry. I love musicals. I am not ashamed. And if you share that love, you know that these days, movie musicals only come along once in a blue moon. Unbelievably, it took 25 years to bring the Tony-winning Broadway show to the big screen -- but sometimes, things are worth the wait. Directed by Bill Condon, who wrote the film adaptation of 'Chicago' (he also directed 'Gods and Monsters' and 'Kinsey'), this version of 'Dreamgirls' stars Beyoncé Knowles, Jennifer Hudson and Anika Noni Rose (who won a Tony award for the play 'Caroline, or Change') as the Dreams; Jamie Foxx as the group's manager, Curtis; and Eddie Murphy as fading R&B singer James "Thunder" Early.

OK, so much for the formalities. I'm not going to delve into the politics of why Beyoncé was nominated for a best actresss Golden Globe and Jennifer Hudson was nominated for supporting actress, when Hudson is the one who truly dominates the screen. Let's focus on the facts. The fact is, as Effie, the original lead singer of the Dreams who's shunted aside in favor of the more telegenic Deena (Beyoncé), Hudson makes one of the most spectacular film debuts in recent history. Every moment she's on the screen is riveting. Her passionate version of 'And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going,' already made legendary by Jennifer Holliday in the original stage show, deserves all the kudos it's getting; even if you don't like musicals, the number will have your jaw on the floor. Murphy, too, reminds us that he can actually act -- and sing -- giving his best performance in years (yes, better than 'Shrek'). And Beyoncé? Not too shabby herself, especially when she sings the original song 'Listen,' which she co-wrote.

And now on to the important question: Will it be No. 1 at the box office this weekend? Obviously, DreamWorks is counting on people other than musical-lovers to make 'Dreamgirls' a hit. It happened with 'Chicago,' and it can certainly happen here, seeing as how the movie's gotten more buzz than almost any other film this holiday season. As of yesterday it had already earned more than $19 million, which is astonishing considering it only expanded -- from three theaters to 852 -- on Christmas Day. (It doesn't truly go wide until later in January.) Still, that's ... only 852 theaters, whereas 'Night at the Museum,' which had boffo returns last weekend, is playing on 3,685 screens. And let's not forget that 'Pursuit of Happyness' is still going strong. Well, 'Borat' made it to No. 1 in a small number of theaters. Can 'Dreamgirls' do the same?

That's for the box office to decide, and for us to guess. To read about last week's top five, click here. Now go ahead, take a whack at it, folks; should be an interesting weekend.

NEW DEADLINE: Saturday at noon Eastern. You heard right. So get those picks in, pronto. And Happy New Year, everybody!

1. Night at the Museum
2. Dreamgirls
3. The Pursuit of Happyness
4. Rocky Balboa
5. The Good Shepherd

POST: What's your weekend top five prediction?

POST: What do you think of 'Dreamgirls'?

'Dreamgirls': Showtimes, trailer & more | Beyoncé and Jamie Foxx chat

Oh man. Based on the people involved (well, person -- for me it's all about Bill Condon) and the early footage, I was already having a really hard time waiting until Christmas to see Dreamgirls. And now that the test screenings have started, resulting in reviews (from people who don't even like musicals) that say things like "this movie is F*CKING AMAZING. Definitely the best I've seen for a long, long time.", and "Dreamgirls is virtually flawless", and "probably the best movie I've seen in a couple of years", I'm pretty much totally freaking out.

Those quotes comes from the four screening reports that were sent to AICN yesterday, right after the first test screening (those spies work fast). While, yes, the reviews are typically hyperbolic, they also offer a lot of detail to support the raves and are tempered by minor criticism, so I feel pretty confident that they weren't written by Beyoncé's mom, or something. That said, however, the write-ups are so positive that, if you're excited about the movie already, it may be dangerous to read them -- like me, you'll just end up royally pissed off that it's only August.