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]

If it had a smaller budget and its theatrical prints were marred with scratches and debris, Illegal Tender might pass for the first half of a skuzzy, exploitative drive-in double feature. As it currently stands, however, Franc. Reyes' follow-up to Empire will have to make do delivering silly, shallow B-movie nonsense to fancy-schmancy multiplexes. A Hispanic crime saga unable to fully compensate for its amateurish performances, awkward dialogue, and hypocrisy regarding a criminal lifestyle that's supposedly condemned even as it's lustily glorified, Reyes' film is far more sizzle than substance. Nightclub grinding, champagne sipping, and guns cocking - these are a few of the director's favorite things, all of which receive the lion's share of attention throughout his tale of a family trying to fight back against a gangster who won't let them live in peace. Still, nothing in this goofy pic receives more TLC than star Wanda De Jesus, a brawny yet sexy badass Latina mama cast from a shoot-now, ask-questions-never Foxy Brown mold. Listen closely enough while she's commanding the screen, and you can almost hear Blaxploitation-loving Quentin Tarantino panting.

Decked out in tight shirts that reveal an equal amount of cleavage and bicep muscle, De Jesus plays Millie DeLeon, a Connecticut mother of 21-year-old collegian Wilson Jr. (Rick Gonzalez) and young Randy (Antonio Ortiz) whose drug dealer husband - as shown in a lengthy prologue set in 1986 Brooklyn - died at the hands of his duplicitous cohorts on the night Wilson Jr. was born. And by cohorts, I mean two voluptuous hitwomen in low-cut tops, mini skirts, and high heels -- a laughable pair who don't look remotely comfortable wielding firearms yet nonetheless work at the behest of kingpin Javier Cordero (Gary Perez). That Illegal Tender thinks it extremely clever to cross-cut between Wilson Sr.'s (Manny Perez) murder and Wilson Jr.'s birth - One life exits, another life enters! Whoa! - is emblematic of the film, which can't go five minutes without having a character articulate some obvious fact or simplistic theme. Grace is not the film's strong suit.