Danny Puff

By Eric Kelsey

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Science-fiction drama "Defiance" wants to go where no television series has gone before, weaving a show with an online video game to achieve the elusive goal of parlaying success on one entertainment platform to another.

The new series, which premieres on U.S. cable channel Syfy on April 15, tells the story of frontier town Defiance, formerly St. Louis, in the near future following a 30-year war between humans and seven alien races.

Syfy last week released a multi-player, plot-based video game, developed with Trion Worlds, that lets users build their own personas and explore the landscape of a reshaped Earth in the San Francisco area. The game is made for Sony's PlayStation 3, Microsoft's Xbox360 and PC.

Spinning a film or TV series into a video game, or vice versa, is nothing new. But producers say "Defiance" is the first to weave both game and show together at the same time. The video game alone took some five years to create.

Known in the entertainment industry as the "second screen," the concept lets viewers engage with a show on a second platform on which networks pin hopes for additional advertising sales and cementing a dedicated fan base.

"What's unusual about what we're doing ... is we're building the second-screen concept into the actual DNA of the show-game combo," "Defiance" executive producer Kevin Murphy told Reuters.

"We're working to make a terrific serialized drama that stands on its own, but we understand that what has people watching us is the fact that this cross-platform promotional is something very, very desirable."

"Defiance" will be a guinea pig for the viability of merging media like video games with TV shows.

"Nobody has done this before, that's the scary part," he said. "The wonderful part is that there's nobody to say, 'No, no, no, that's not the way it's done.

"It's something (Syfy President) Dave Howe always refers to as the holy grail of entertainment," he added.

Syfy spent about $100 million to develop the game and show, and the network expects about 20 percent of viewers and players to cross over between the two platforms.

"We're very cautiously optimistic," Howe said, adding that it will still take the standard four or five weeks to know if "Defiance" will be renewed for a second season.

'OLD-SCHOOL' SCI-FI

The "Defiance" cast is led by ex-Marine and vagabond Nolan, played by "Liz & Dick" star Grant Bowler, and his adopted alien daughter Irisa (Stephanie Leonidas).

The two finally become tied down helping Defiance Mayor Amanda Rosewater (Julie Benz) defend the town from invasion.

Murphy, whose past credits include writer and producer on TV drama "Desperate Housewives," said there are plans for several crossovers between the series and game, including adapting user-created personas from the game into subsequent seasons of the television show.

Murphy said he wanted to depart from the recent popular television series of dark, dystopian sci-fi, such as AMC's "Walking Dead" and Syfy's "Battlestar Galactica."

"I think this is sort of a tip of the hat more to the old-school science-fiction like 'Star Trek' and 'Star Wars,' which were very hopeful, optimistic worlds," Murphy said.

The show often reflects American challenges of an ethnically diverse and often divided society.

In the pilot, polyglot alliances are tricky as humans and some races of aliens must reluctantly brush aside differences to protect the town from automatons known as the Volge.

"On our show, the aliens are not invading us," Murphy said. "The aliens are part of the melting pot .... They each have their own sort of social mores that they left behind and have been challenged because they've come to a new world."

Syfy is a unit of Comcast Corp.

(Reporting by Eric Kelsey, editing by Jill Serjeant and Cynthia Osterman)

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LONDON (Reuters) - Actress Meryl Streep, who won an Oscar for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in the 2011 film "The Iron Lady", praised the former British prime minister on Monday as a pioneer for the role of women in politics.

Britain's first and only female political leader died on Monday, aged 87, after suffering a stroke.

Streep, 63, described Thatcher as a trailblazer, "willingly or unwillingly", for female political leaders. "To me she was a figure of awe for her personal strength and grit," the American actress said in a statement.

"To have given women and girls around the world reason to supplant fantasies of being princesses with a different dream: the real-life option of leading their nation; this was groundbreaking and admirable."

Streep paid tribute to Thatcher for rising to the position of prime minister from her upbringing as a grocer's daughter on the back of her own hard work.

The multi-Oscar-winning actress acknowledged that the right-wing Thatcher divided opinion. But Streep said Thatcher deserved credit for standing by her convictions despite the "special hatred and ridicule, unprecedented in my opinion, leveled in our time at a public figure who was not a mass murderer".

Streep said she was honored to try to imagine Thatcher's late life journey in playing her in "Iron Lady" but only really had a "glancing understanding" of Thatcher's struggles.

"I wish to convey my respectful condolences to her family and many friends," she said.

(Reporting by Belinda Goldsmith; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

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LAS VEGAS (AP) Everything went to script Sunday night at the Academy of Country Music Awards until the end when Luke Bryan pulled off an amazing upset and won entertainer of the year.

Bryan beat out some of country music's top stars, including two-time winner Taylor Swift and overall award leader Miranda Lambert, in an upset that few would have predicted. The 36-year-old Georgia native recently began headlining his first arena tour and was the co-host of this year's show.

After an emotional speech, co-host and fellow nominee Blake Shelton held Bryan up and joked that he won in his "first and last year as co-host" of the awards.

Shelton shared one award with Lambert, his wife, for "Over You," the deeply personal song they co-wrote. With three other wins including her fourth straight as female vocalist of the year Lambert was the night's most-honored star.

"Over You," written by the couple about Shelton's late brother, won song of the year at the Country Music Association Awards last November as well.

"As a songwriter, having your song and your lyrics recognized by your peers is pretty much as good as it gets," Lambert said. "And I'm so thankful for being in this genre of country music, every single time someone's nominated, I just cheer, because I love everybody to death. So thank you for accepting me as a song writer, not just as a singer, because that means the world to me."

Eric Church won two awards, including album of the year, and was tied with Jason Aldean, Little Big Town and Florida Georgia Line.

Church, this year's top nominee, also won vocal event of the year for his collaboration with Aldean and Luke Bryan for their collaboration on "The Only Way I Know" and performed his somber but powerful song "Like Jesus Does" with only an acoustic guitar and a backup singer.

"I can't believe I just met John Fogerty," Church said as he accepted the album award from the Creedence Clearwater Revival frontman and Lambert. "We should hang out later."

Aldean, country's top-selling male act, won male vocalist of the year. Little Big Town had wins for vocal group and video of the year. Florida Georgia Line won for new artist and were previous winners in the new vocal duo/group category.

Bryan is the first male winner of the entertainer of the year award since 2007 when Kenny Chesney won the first fan-voted award. Swift and Carrie Underwood have won two apiece since then.

Husband and wife Shawna and Keifer Thompson continued their feel-good story as Thompson Square won its second straight vocal duo of the year award.

Shawna Thompson gave a shoutout to her mother from stage.

Tears came to her eyes backstage as she explained that her father had recently passed away and she wanted to acknowledge her mother during her acceptance speech to support her.

"She's just having a really hard time," she said.

The night was full of colorful performances, but the anticipation of Garth Brooks and George Strait performing together overshadowed almost everything else. The two paid tribute to the late Dick Clark, the executive producer of the show since 1979 who passed away a year ago.

Brooks appeared on stage in flannel shirt and black cowboy hat with a Fu Manchu to perform his hit "The Dance" before Strait joined him for "The Cowboy Rides Away."

Reba McEntire introduced the two and paid tribute to Clark, momentarily breaking down as tears appeared in her eyes.

"He would slap me if he saw me crying up here," she said.

Shelton kicked the show off with his new single "Boys 'Round Here," a hip-hop-flavored ode to redneck swag. He was joined by Bryan, Brad Paisley, Sheryl Crow and Pistol Annies, a trio that includes his wife.

Strait made his first appearance of the night earlier, singing "Give It All We Got Tonight." Lady Antebellum debuted new song "Downtown" and Charles Kelley finished off the song by rubbing pregnant trio-mate Hillary Scott's belly. Carrie Underwood stepped out of a black Cadillac parked on stage as she started her song, "Two Black Cadillacs."

Lambert appeared later with a fiery, diamond-studded rendition of her recent hit "Mama's Broken Heart."

John Mayer joined Paisley for a guitar summit on "Beat This Summer" and Taylor Swift and Keith Urban joined Tim McGraw on stage for "Highway Don't Care," which Urban finished off with a scorching guitar solo.

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AP Writer Hannah Dreier contributed to this report.

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Online:

http://acmcountry.com

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Follow AP Music Writer Chris Talbott: http://twitter.com/Chris_Talbott.

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LAS VEGAS (AP) Everything went to script Sunday night at the Academy of Country Music Awards until the end, when Luke Bryan pulled off an amazing upset and won entertainer of the year.

Bryan immediately overshadowed top winner Miranda Lambert's big night by beating out some of country music's top performers, including Lambert and her husband Blake Shelton, Jason Aldean and two-time entertainer of the year Taylor Swift in an upset that few would have predicted because of his relatively recent move into the spotlight.

The 36-year-old Georgia native recently began headlining his first arena tour and was the co-host of this year's show.

"I don't know what to say guys," Bryan said as members the audience shouted "Luke." ''Thank you so much fans for doing this to me. Thank you so much for making my life what it is. What I always wanted to be was just a country singer who got to ride on a tour bus and show up on a new stage and play music every night."

After an emotional speech, Bryan's co-host Blake Shelton held his partner up and joked that he won in his "first and last year as co-host" of the awards.

Bryan is the first male winner of the award since 2007 when Kenny Chesney won the first fan-voted award. Swift and Carrie Underwood have won two apiece since then.

Bryan's win will be the talk of Las Vegas Sunday night but Lambert again walks away as the academy's trophy magnet.

She won her fourth straight female vocalist award and picked up three trophies for her hit song "Over You" one for single record of the year and two for song of the year. She was performer of the song and co-wrote the song with Shelton.

"Over You," written about Shelton's late brother, won song of the year at the Country Music Association Awards last November as well.

"As a songwriter, having your song and your lyrics recognized by your peers is pretty much as good as it gets," Lambert said. "And I'm so thankful for being in this genre of country music, every single time someone's nominated, I just cheer, because I love everybody to death. So thank you for accepting me as a song writer, not just as a singer, because that means the world to me."

Eric Church won two awards, including album of the year, and was tied with Jason Aldean, Little Big Town and Florida Georgia Line in overall win total.

Church, this year's top nominee, also won vocal event of the year for his collaboration with Aldean and Luke Bryan for their collaboration on "The Only Way I Know" and performed his somber but powerful song "Like Jesus Does" with only an acoustic guitar and a backup singer.

"I think my career is going to be pre-'Chief' and post-'Chief,'" Church said. "Album of the year is most special to me."

Aldean, country's top-selling male act, won male vocalist of the year. Little Big Town had wins for vocal group and video of the year. Florida Georgia Line won for new artist and were previous winners in the new vocal duo/group category. And husband and wife Shawna and Keifer Thompson continued their feel-good story as Thompson Square won its second straight vocal duo of the year award.

Shawna Thompson gave a shoutout to her mother from stage.

Tears came to her eyes backstage as she explained that her father had recently passed away and she wanted to acknowledge her mother during her acceptance speech to support her.

"She's just having a really hard time," she said.

The night was full of colorful performances, but the anticipation of Garth Brooks and George Strait performing together overshadowed almost everything else. The two paid tribute to the late Dick Clark, the executive producer of the show since 1979 who passed away a year ago.

Brooks appeared on stage in flannel shirt and black cowboy hat with a Fu Manchu to perform his hit "The Dance" before Strait joined him for "The Cowboy Rides Away."

Reba McEntire introduced the two and paid tribute to Clark, momentarily breaking down as tears appeared in her eyes.

"He would slap me if he saw me crying up here," she said.

Shelton kicked the show off with his new single "Boys 'Round Here," a hip-hop-flavored ode to redneck swag. He was joined by Luke Bryan, Brad Paisley, Sheryl Crow and Pistol Annies, a trio that includes his wife Miranda Lambert.

Strait made his first appearance of the night earlier, singing "Give It All We Got Tonight." Lady Antebellum debuted new song "Downtown" and Charles Kelley finished off the song by rubbing pregnant trio-mate Hillary Scott's belly. Carrie Underwood stepped out of a black Cadillac parked on stage as she started her song, "Two Black Cadillacs."

Lambert appeared later with a fiery, diamond-studded rendition of her recent hit "Mama's Broken Heart."

John Mayer joined Paisley for a guitar summit on "Beat This Summer" and Taylor Swift and Keith Urban joined Tim McGraw on stage for "Highway Don't Care," which Urban finished off with a scorching guitar solo.

Stevie Wonder made his first appearance on a country music awards show, joining Hunter Hayes for a performance by two guys who got their start as precocious teens. Hayes kicked off their set with his song "I Want Crazy," then was joined by Wonder for his hit "Sir Duke."

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AP Writer Hannah Dreier contributed to this report.

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Online:

http://acmcountry.com

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Follow AP Music Writer Chris Talbott: http://twitter.com/Chris_Talbott.

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CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) For all his on-camera carousing and cussing, "BUCKWILD" reality TV star Shain Gandee was a publicly proclaimed and baptized Christian, and his mother told hundreds of mourners Sunday that she will see him again.

"I know where Shain is," Loretta Gandee told the family, friends and fans crammed into the Charleston Municipal Auditorium. "He said about a month ago, 'I know when I die I'm going to heaven.'"

Dressed in a hot-pink "Gandee Candy" T-shirt and jeans, she spoke only a few words but bellowed out an unaccompanied hymn, her voice echoing through the auditorium in prayer for their reunion.

Gandee, his 48-year-old uncle, David Gandee, and 27-year-old friend Donald Robert Myers were found dead April 1 in a sport utility vehicle that was partially submerged in a deep mud pit near Sissonville. They had last been seen leaving a bar at 3 a.m.

Autopsies determined all three died of carbon monoxide poisoning, possibly caused by the tailpipe being submerged in mud. That could have allowed the invisible gas to fill the vehicle's cabin.

Shain Gandee, nicknamed "Gandee Candy" by fans, was a breakout star of the show that followed the antics of young friends enjoying their wild country lifestyle. Season one was filmed last year, mostly around Sissonville and Charleston.

The Rev. Randy Campbell told the many young people in the crowd he understands that life bombards them with difficult choices. But he urged them to follow Shain Gandee's lead and embrace their faith now, while they are energetic and engaged.

"This life will hand you a lot of things and call it pleasure, but there is nothing that brings greater joy to a person's heart than serving the Lord," Campbell said. "You may think at this point, you're having fun, but those days will pass."

When they do, he said, God is all that matters.

Cameras were not allowed at the funeral or private family burial in Thaxton Cemetery.

As hundreds filed past the two closed coffins on the auditorium stage, a slideshow of family photos showed the simple life that Shain Gandee lived long before TV cameras started following him.

Set to country music were snapshots of him as a uniformed pee wee football player, as a teenager in a tuxedo for prom, then graduating from high school in a black gown and mortarboard.

In other images, he kissed a bride and held babies. In several, he wore hunting camouflage, displaying a slain buck by its antlers and lining up a batch of gray squirrels on a bench.

Gandee favored four-wheelers, pickups and SUVs over cellphones and computers, and "mudding," or off-road driving, was one of his favorite pastimes.

It was no coincidence some mourners arrived in mud-splattered trucks.

Dreama and Charlie Frampton, who live a few doors down, said Gandee had been playing in the mud since he was 5.

"If it wasn't a four-wheel drive truck," Dreama said, "it was a four-wheeler or a dirt bike."

"He was dedicated to the sport," Charlie added. "That's all you can do out in the country."

Gandee's family asked mourners to wear camouflage or the neon-colored Gandee Candy T-shirts to the service because Shain didn't like to dress up.

Ricky Sater, 23, said his friend would have loved the sea of camo and T-shirts that filled the auditorium.

"He probably would walk in there going, 'BUCKWILD!'" he said.

Sater has known Shain since middle school and last saw him a week ago, when he came over to borrow a pin for a trailer hitch.

"He said, 'See ya, Rick!' and I said, 'See ya, drunk!" recalled Sater, who got the terrible news days later in a phone call.

"My sister told me about it, and it being April Fool's, I thought she was joking. But she wasn't," he said, swallowing hard. "I try to keep my emotions balled up, but I started breaking down about six hours later."

Shooting was underway on season two at the time of Gandee's death, but MTV spokesman Jake Urbanski said film crews were not with him over Easter weekend and hadn't filmed him since earlier that week.

MTV says it will be weeks before producers and cast members decide whether to continue. For now, the network said, everyone is focused on supporting Gandee's family.

Katrina Burdette, 25, of Cross Lanes, didn't know Gandee but is friends with his cast mate, Ashley Whitt. Burdette has watched every episode and wants to see more.

"I think it should go on. Give them time to mourn and everything, but he'd want the show to go on," she said. "He wanted to be in the show and keep it going, so why not in his memory keep it going?"

MTV said the half-hour series in the old "Jersey Shore" time slot was pulling in an average of 3 million viewers per episode since its premiere and was the No. 1 original cable series on Thursday nights among 12- to 34-year-olds.

Others, like his neighbors the Framptons, say the show just won't be the same.

"They should just leave well enough alone," Charlie Frampton said.

But he won't object if the show survives. It's bringing people to West Virginia, and he rejects the notion that it portrays the state in a negative light.

"They're just showing what true country is," he said. "It's no worse than that 'Teen Mom.'"

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LOS ANGELES (AP) Resurrected demons and resurrected dinosaurs are helping to put some life back into the weekend box office.

The demonic horror remake "Evil Dead" debuted at No. 1 with $26 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

In a tight fight for second-place were two holdovers, the animated comedy "The Croods" and the action flick "G.I. Joe: Retaliation," both with an estimated $21.1 million. Final numbers Monday will sort out which movie comes out ahead.

Steven Spielberg's 3-D debut of his dinosaur blockbuster "Jurassic Park" came in fourth with $18.2 million. That's on top of the $357.1 million domestic haul for "Jurassic Park" in its initial run in 1993.

Released by Sony's TriStar Pictures, "Evil Dead" added $4.5 million in 21 overseas markets, giving it a worldwide start of $30.5 million. Shot on a modest budget of $17 million, the movie is well on its way to turning a profit.

The remake was produced by the 1983 original's filmmakers, director Sam Raimi and producer Rob Tapert, and its star, Bruce Campbell. The new "Evil Dead" lays the gore on thickly for the story of a group of friends terrorized and possessed by demons during a trip to a cabin in the woods.

"It's one crazy ride, that movie. I have to think Sam Raimi is so proud in remaking this film that it turned out so well," said Rory Bruer, head of distribution for Sony. "It's such a visceral ride, where you're holding on to your seat or holding on to the person next to you."

Paramount's "G.I. Joe" sequel, which had been No. 1 the previous weekend, pushed its domestic total to $86.7 million. The movie also added $40.2 million overseas for an international haul of $145.2 million and a worldwide take of $232 million.

"The Croods," a DreamWorks Animation release distributed by 20th Century Fox, raised its domestic total to $125.8 million after three weekends. Overseas, the movie did an additional $34.1 million to lift its international total to $206.8 million and its worldwide receipts to $333 million.

Universal Pictures' "Jurassic Park" reissue opened in a similar range of other recent blockbuster 3-D releases such as "Titanic" ($17.3 million) and "Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace" ($22.4 million).

None of the new movies or holdovers came close to the domestic business being done a year ago by "The Hunger Games," which led over the same weekend in 2012 with $33.1 million in its third weekend. But collectively, Hollywood had a winning lineup of movies that gave revenues a lift from last year.

Domestic receipts totaled $134 million, up 8.5 percent from the first weekend of April a year ago, according to box-office tracker Hollywood.com. That uptick comes after three-straight weekends of declining revenue and a quiet first quarter in which domestic business has totaled $2.47 billion, down 11.4 percent from the same point in 2012.

Hollywood set a record with $10.8 billion domestically last year, and 2013's releases so far have been unable to match up. Studios are counting on a strong start to the summer season as "Iron Man 3" arrives the first weekend in May and such sequels as "Star Trek: Into Darkness," ''The Hangover Part III" and "Fast & Furious 6" quickly follow.

"When you have a record box-office year like we did in 2012, every weekend in 2013 is becoming a challenge to best or even equal what we did the year before," said Hollywood.com analyst Paul Dergarabedian. "The summer movie season can't come a moment too soon. We definitely need it."

In limited release this weekend, director and star Robert Redford's "The Company You Keep" started well with $146,058 in five theaters for a healthy $29,212 average. That compares to an $8,595 average in 3,025 cinemas for "Evil Dead."

"The Company You Keep" also features Susan Sarandon and Shia LaBeouf in the story of a 1970s fugitive on the run for three decades for a robbery that left a security guard dead.

"Slumdog Millionaire" director Danny Boyle's "Trance" opened with $136,103 in four theaters for a $34,026 average. The twisting thriller features James McAvoy as an amnesiac art thief whose accomplices enlist a hypnotist (Rosario Dawson) to crack his memory.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

1. "Evil Dead," $26 million ($4.5 million international).

2 (tie). "The Croods," $21.1 million ($34.1 million international).

2 (tie). "G.I. Joe: Retaliation," $21.1 million ($40.2 million international).

4. "Jurassic Park" in 3-D," $18.2 million ($3 million international).

5. "Olympus Has Fallen," $10.04 million.

6. "Tyler Perry's Temptation," $10 million.

7. "Oz the Great and Powerful," $8.2 million ($13.6 million international).

8. "The Host," $5.2 million ($3.5 million international).

9. "The Call," $3.5 million.

10. "Admission," $2.1 million.

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Estimated weekend ticket sales at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada) for films distributed overseas by Hollywood studios, according to Rentrak:

1. "G.I. Joe: Retaliation," $40.2 million.

2. "The Croods," $34.1 million.

3. "Oz the Great and Powerful," $13.6 million.

4. "Jack the Giant Slayer," $10.9 million.

5. "Identity Thief," $6.4 million.

6. "Evil Dead," $4.5 million.

7. "Dragon Ball Z: Kami to Kami," $4.4 million.

8. "Running Man," $3.7 million.

9. "The Host," $3.5 million.

10. "Wreck-It Ralph," $3.4 million.

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Online:

http://www.hollywood.com

http://www.rentrak.com

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Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

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LOS ANGELES (AP) A court has ended the first week of jury selection in a civil case over Michael Jackson's death with 60 potential jurors selected.

Jury selection will resume Monday and is expected to stretch into the following week in an effort to find enough people to hear a case filed by Jackson's mother against concert giant AEG Live.

Katherine Jackson claims the company failed to properly investigate and supervise the doctor convicted of involuntary manslaughter for Jackson's June 2009 death.

Potential jurors have filled out a 24-page questionnaire that assesses their knowledge of the case, Jackson's family and their views on celebrities and multimillion dollar verdicts.

In-person questioning of potential jurors will begin on Wednesday.

AEG has denied wrongdoing.

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NEW YORK (AP) If you're upset that the Rolling Stones won't be coming to your city on their upcoming tour, don't be too stressed the rockers say more shows may be added.

"Normally when you announce a tour like this, you announce part of it, you leave it to be, you see what happens, you might do a date here and another date there. You don't want to be completely hand fast, so you do leave some dates in between," Mick Jagger said in an interview Thursday. "So we'll see what happens."

The Stones announced this week that they'll kick off their "50 and Counting" tour in Los Angeles; the date will be announced later. The second show is in Oakland, Calif., on May 5. They'll also visit Las Vegas, Toronto, Chicago and Boston, and wrap in Philadelphia on June 18.

On Friday, the band said second shows have been added in Toronto and Chicago.

The announcement came months after the foursome performed a sold-out, five-city stint in New York, New Jersey and London.

Jagger called those shows a test.

"We just said, 'Let's do these five shows before Christmas and see how it goes and see if we enjoy it, see if the audience seems to have a good time, and if that works, then we'll try to see if we'll do more,'" he said. "We still wanted to keep it kind of limited. We didn't want to have that yawning (tour) of hundreds of shows lined up for the next 18 months. I just thought it would be good if we booked a small tour, and then, you know, if we want to do more, we'll do more."

The Stones have at least three days in between tour stops, a sign that more shows may be added. Or the time could be used for rest.

"I think it's a little bit of both," Keith Richards said in a separate interview Thursday. "The band wants to pace themselves, but at the same time ... I guess what's been announced is the bare-bones and we will play it by ear from there."

The Stones' last global tour kicked off in 2005 and wrapped in 2007.

Jagger, 69, said he's getting older and performing can be tough.

"I just have to train a lot and keep really fit. I want to do these moves, but I can't do them because if I did, I'd probably screw up," he said, laughing. "You just got to do what's within your capabilities. I don't want it to look wrong, so I'm going to stay within my boundaries."

The Stones' recent tour featured special guests such as Bruce Springsteen and Lady Gaga, and there could be more surprises onstage.

"I have a feeling there's more openness about playing it the same way," Richards said. "I can't name names or make promises, but that area of the show is open."

The veteran band, which also includes Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood, will headline the Glastonbury Festival on June 29 and will perform at London's Hyde Park on July 6. Former bandmate Mick Taylor, a member of the Stones from 1969 through 1974, will be a special guest throughout the tour.

"I realized how much, not just (how I) myself have missed it, but I could tell from the other guys. They don't say so, but I can tell," Richards said of performing together. "It's what we're good at."

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Online:

http://www.rollingstones.com/

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NEW YORK (AP) Nora Ephron will be the subject of an HBO documentary being made by her one of her sons, journalist Jacob Bernstein.

The network said Friday that the project, titled "Everything is Copy," will also have Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter as executive producer.

Ephron died at age 71 last year. She was the writer behind films "When Harry Met Sally," ''You've Got Mail" and "Sleepless in Seattle." Her last project is the current Broadway play about journalist Mike McAlary, with Tom Hanks in the starring role.

The documentary's title is a reference to Ephron's feeling that all of life's experiences provide fodder for a writer.

The documentary project was first reported in the Hollywood Reporter.

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LEWIS RUN, Pa. (AP) Wesley Snipes has been released from a federal prison in Pennsylvania.

Snipes was convicted in 2008 on tax charges. He was released Tuesday and placed under home confinement. A Bureau of Corrections spokeswoman said Friday he'll be overseen by the New York Community Corrections Office until July 19.

Snipes has appeared in dozens of films, from "White Men Can't Jump" and "Demolition Man" in the early 1990s to the "Blade" trilogy. He entered the McKean prison in December 2010 to begin a three-year sentence for failure to file income tax returns.

Snipes belonged to a group that challenged the government's right to collect taxes. Prosecutors say he failed to file returns for at least a decade and owed millions of dollars in back taxes.

Snipes had appealed in an Atlanta court, saying he didn't get a fair trial.

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