More extensive footage of the new Will Smith comedy have been hitting YouTube as of late.

More importantly than Smith IMHO, the film reunites Jason Bateman and Charlize Theron from the indominatable Arrested Development TV show. Bateman--also enjoying an NPH-style career revival through self-parody--plays a PR executive who feels indebted enough to the drunken Hancock to take on the rehabilitation of his career and image as a Superhero.

The amplified bad behavior and resulting turnaround can be seen every day in the pages of Us Weekly. It looks like his PR council advises things like being nice to children, not killing whales, not destroying public property, regular grooming, and wearing a decent suit. Sage advice.

Hancock hits theaters on July 2nd.

Video of Keith Olbermann's passionate plea for an Arrested Development movie can be found here. Episodes of Arrested Development are available for free here.

With all the uproar over the Miley Cyrus Vanity Fair photos, we figured we should do some digging.

So we contacted her publicist at PMK/HBH, another one of the "you know they're big time" agencies, because they have a website consisting only of telephone, fax, and office addresses.

What we received was the statement from Miley that has appeared in media around the world: "I took part in a photo shoot that was supposed to be 'artistic' and now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I feel so embarrassed. I never intended for any of this to happen and I apologize to my fans who I care so deeply about."

Not that we were surprised to receive the standard statement, nor can we blame the publicist for doing her job. We could have called the agency direct, but that would have been unlikely to change the outcome.

Meanwhile, MTV.com has commentary from the people who really matter: Heidi Montag, Lauren Conrad, and Hilary Duff.

(image cred)

Who wouldn't want to do PR for Eliot Spitzer's hooker? A lot of people, it turns out. Yes, it feels like years ago, but it's been only a month since the former NY governor resigned from office.

In that time, Ashley Alexandra Dupre has been desperately searching for a way to keep her name in the news, and of course, to make some serious cash out of the situation.

Well, after quite a search, Ashley has finally found representation. The Daily News reports:

She finally cut a deal with Susan Blond Public Relations, who also represent Usher and several New York City clubs and restaurants. The firm also used to work with PR nightmare Star Jones. Blond didn't return calls for comment.

If she's not talking to the Daily News, good luck getting her to talk to us. We did, however visit Blond's website, which describes her as a "protege of Andy Warhol."

(image cred)

For whatever reason, publicists to the stars (or in this case maybe their manager/fathers) think pregnancy rumors can be a good way to drum up buzz in advance of a big product launch - new album, perfume, clothing line, etc, you get the deal.

The latest example: Ashlee Simpson, who has seen pregnancy rumors fly across the tabloids. Just a coincidence that her latest album is coming out soon?

The cynical PR person in us thinks not. Same with Deborah Netburn at the LA Times, who writes:

Whatever the real story, it's certainly getting her plenty of pre-album-release publicity. The homepages of People.com and Usmagazine.com feature photos of Ashlee "eating barbecue robustly" and "hiding a baby bump."

That's some valuable free publicity, especially if you are a young pop tart whose album is timed for release between two heavyweights like Mariah Carey and Madonna.

Valuable free publicity indeed. But will it make people buy the album? Older sister Jessica's publicized stint and marriage rumors with Dallas Cowboy's quarterback Tony Romo didn't help her movie release, which had an opening day gross of $384.

(Melvin Van Peebles, circa 1971)

Seventy-six-year-old writer, producer, director, actor and iconic badass Melvin Van Peebles hired an agency of record in time for his next film's debut at the Tribeca Film Fest later this month.

He didn't go with Klores, or a small artsy boutique, he went with My PRGenie Solutions which according to the pitch, "means we are more than a press release engine after all".

Van Peebles will be at Tribeca to debut his latest, "Confessionsofa Ex-Doofus-ItchyFooted Mutha".

Full press release is here.

Amidst a power struggle in Zimbabwe, debate over the bailout of Bear Stearns, and the 40th anniversary of the death of Martin Luther King Jr., the news of the freaky public threeway makeout between John Mayer, Perez Hilton, and Jessica Simpson is unfolding.

Hilton told his side of the story apparently to clear the air about some things Mayer had been saying on his blog (don't bother, nothing there).

In the more than forty items Google News about the incident, most refer to his "publicists" and quote one, not denying, but saying Hilton's claims are "ridiculous".

For fun, I checked with Mayer's publicist Tiffany Shipp at Sunshine & Sachs who still didn't deny: "To reiterate, this is all ridiculous".

We're waiting to see if Rick Astley weighs in with the answer.

Man, ordering a Whopper can be sooo boring. Not anymore, according to Janet Adamy in today's Wall Street Journal. Burger King plans to introduce "Whopper Bars" that will offer as many as ten types of Whoppers.

Russ Klein, Burger King's president, global marketing, strategy and innovation told Adamy, "It's our way of stepping into the future. The Whopper is arguably a trademark that is bigger than Burger King itself."

The Burger King PR team sure got some WSJ love today. Looks like they gave Adamy the "exclusive," as no other media currently have the story. And if they do, they're linking to the Journal, just like us.

The best part about all of this? "Mr. Klein says it isn't 'unthinkable' that it would offer beer at the new BK bars, particularly in some overseas markets where it already sells alcohol."

Aw, man. Those girls in the Hills just have it so hard! Like 'em or not, they're back tonight, as new episodes of the "reality" show begin airing on MTV. The Times' Ginia Bellefante has a preview up, and wait a sec, it looks like someone already went on a job interview?

By showing one short job interview Whitney has with the owner of a fashion-publicity company called People's Revolution, "The Hills" captures the delusional self-seriousness of the fashion business better than any episode of "Project Runway." "You'll give up your life," the owner tells her.

Well then, get ready Whitney. Also, you know People's Revolution is one of those super hip agencies. How so, you ask? Well, they have a website that just lists their address and contact info, nothing else.

There weren't the usual number of buried, negative press releases to warrant a "For Immediate Release Fridays" post, despite the cantaloupe scare this weekend.

Depending on how you look at it, the news of a topless edition of AARP Magazine could be construed as either good or bad, or photoshopped.

See the press release for more information, which includes an exhaustive baker's dozen of quotes from Ms. Curtis on her impending 50th birthday.

PS: The CEO of AARP is Bill Novelli, who founded megafirm Porter Novelli in 1972.

With Ashley "Kristen" Dupre getting all the attention in the fallout of the Spitzer scandal, one media outlet has decided to level the playing field, and in turn score some big time media attention.

Playgirl yesterday issued an "open casting call" to former Governor Spitzer, inviting him to appear nude in the magazine. The letter read in part: "Your political career is sadly over; and you owe a lot of money to a lot of people. Hell, you may land in jail before too long. So consider this letter a brief note of urgency.

How about making some loot back, by showing us what you saved for such a select few? Seriously - get in touch with us. We're ready to make you a very attractive offer. Someone get Spitzer on the line: Playgirl needs him naked, now."

Needless to say, the story spread like wildfire, starting at the top with Drudge Report and then appearing in the LA Times, NY Post, Baltimore Sun, Huffington Post, Comedy Central and hundreds of blogs.

We caught up with Playgirl editor in chief Nicole Caldwell by phone today, who gave us some background on how things went down.

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