Live Wire

Mel Gibsons next movie finally has a release date. Distributor Summit Entertainment announced Wednesday that Gibsons comic drama,The Beaver will open in limited release next March 23 and expand to more theatres on April 8. The film has been in limbo amid Gibsons custody battle with ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva,who claims he physically abused her. The Beaver is directed by Jodie Foster and stars Gibson as a troubled family man trying to cope with help from an unusual friend a beaver puppet he wears on his hand.

Shakespeare in Love,the 1998 romantic comedy starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Joseph Fiennes is one of several sequels being planned under an agreement announced on Thursday by Miramax and the Weinstein Company. The two studios said they would work together on new films,television shows and other entertainment properties. Miramax and the Weinstein Company already had an agreement to release new chapters in the Scream and Spy Kids movie series.

T.I.,the Ramp;B singer may be impeded from many things while he serves a prison sentence after a recent parole violation,but not from cracking the Top 10 on the album sales chart. This rappers latest release,No Mercy ,sold 159,000 copies in its first week,according to Nielsen Soundscan figures reported by Billboard.com ,good enough to make it No 4 for the week but a far cry from the 568,000 copies his previous album,Paper Trail,sold in its first week in 2008 when it made its debut at No 1.