Liam Neeson shows he still has box-office pull

Liam Neeson thriller "Unknown" won the four-day Presidents Day weekend box office, grossing $25.6 million. Disney's "I Am Number Four," a youth-targeted sci-fi drama that's the first film released under the studio's distribution agreement with DreamWorks, grossed $22.6 million over the four-day weekend. Fox's "Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son" -- part three of the Martin Lawrence comedy franchise, which featured up-and-comer Brandon T. Jackson dawning his own latex fat suit -- grossed just $19 million.

1. "Unknown," $25.1 million
2. "Gnomeo & Juliet," $24.8 million
3. "I Am Number Four," $22.6 million
4. "Just Go With It," $21.7 million
5. "Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son," $19 million
6.  "Justin Bieber: Never Say Never," $16.5 million
7.  "The King's Speech," $7.9 million
8.  "The Roommate," $4.5 million
9.  "The Eagle," $4 million
10. "No Strings Attached," $3.7 million

Steinbrenner rips Jeter over mansion

Yankees owner Hank Steinbrenner took a shot at shortstop Derek Jeter, blaming the team's ALCS loss to Texas on players "concentrating on building mansions."  "Sometimes you celebrate too much, players concentrating on building mansions and not concentrating on winning,'' Steinbrenner said in the hallway of George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Fla. Insisting he was not singling out the Yankee captain -- who built a 30,875-square-foot, seven-bedroom, nine-bathroom waterfront home on the nearby Davis Islands -- Steinbrenner said the team was "maybe riding the wave" of the 2009 World Series victory too much. The mansion, which was dubbed "St. Jetersburg," by the St. Petersburg, Fla.-area locals, reportedly includes two three-car garages, an entertainment room, a billiard room, and a memorabilia room.  Neighbors reportedly objected to the 11-time All-Star building a six-foot fence around the property. The 36-year-old Jeter, who has won five World Series titles with the Yankees, heads into this season after tough, and at times contentious, negotiations with the team which ended with him signing a three-year, $51 million deal. Jeter batted a career-low .270 in 2010, but needs just 74 hits to reach the milestone number of 3,000 career hits.

Aretha Franklin will discuss illness on 'Wendy Williams'

Aretha Franklin is set to open up in an exclusive interview with talk show host Wendy Williams about the health troubles that led to her hospitalization last year.  The Queen of Soul, who underwent surgery in December to treat the undisclosed ailment, dismissed reports she had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and she said in January that the condition had been resolved. She has granted her first big post-surgery interview to Williams, inviting the TV host to her Detroit home for tea. The chat will take place later this week and air on "The Wendy Williams Show" shortly afterward. Meanwhile, Franklin will make her live comeback at the Seneca Niagara Casino & Hotel in Buffalo, N.Y., on May 28, before performing a three-night stand June 3-5 at the Fox Theatre in Detroit.

TV NEWS

Rapper Ja Rule has invited cameras into his home to document his life before he begins a prison sentence. The rapper whose real name is Jeffrey Atkins is set to serve two years behind bars after pleading guilty to a gun charge relating to a 2007 arrest in New York. The hip-hop star has been making the most of his free time before his sentencing hearing next month by filming an as-yet-untitled reality series with his family. He explains, "My reality show, I like it because it's showing a strong black family going through a tough time. And how we band together as a family and how my wife and kids... bond together during this tough time when I have to go in.

Jon Gosselin has gotten a job working for Green Pointe Energy, a Pennsylvania-based company that specializes in renewable energy.


LeBron James is going to star in “Ballers,” a new comedy about a group of men who go to an adult basketball camp.


The Sun claims Glenn Close will play Susan Boyle in a new movie about the singer's rise to stardom.