A cameo appearance by Tom Cruise as a bald, foulmouthed movie mogul in Paramount's Tropic Thunder "brought down the house" at a studio screening Tuesday night, the New York Times reported today (Thursday) in an article headed, "Tom Cruise, in Bit Role, Nips Studio's Top Gun." Paramount is owned by Viacom, whose chairman, Sumner Redstone, tossed Cruise off the Paramount lot in 2006, expressing his anger over Cruise's comments on behalf of Scientology while promoting the studio's latest Mission: Impossible sequel. Only last week Redstone and Cruise dined together, with Redstone remarking afterwards that they had buried the hatchet -- apparently unaware of the new hatchet that lay waiting for him. The Times reported that director Ben Stiller had planned to keep Cruise's appearance in the movie a surprise. Cruise is not named in the film's credits and his scene is not included in the trailer for the film.

In its second week on the DVD charts, the Will Smith drama I Am Legend took over first place from Disney's Enchanted on the Nielsen VideoScan First Alert sales chart. It also remained at the top of Home Media magazine's rental chart for a second week, bringing its rental gross to $20 million. But Legend's tenure at the top is likely to be shortlived. Home Media reported today (Thursday) that consumers grabbed 2.6 million copies of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment's Alvin and the Chipmunks during its first day in stores on Tuesday.

In what appeared to some to be a broadening of the legal definition of journalism, a New York federal judge on Wednesday tossed out a defamation lawsuit brought by a man appearing in the film Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, saying that it could be described as "newsworthy." The lawsuit had been brought by financial analyst Jeffrey Lemerond, who is shown in the movie running away from the film's star, comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, as Cohen, in the role of a Kazakhstan journalist, attempts to hug strangers on New York's Fifth Avenue. Lemerond alleged in his lawsuit that he had suffered "public ridicule, degradation, and humiliation" since the movie was released. But U.S. District Court Judge Loretta Preska said that the film was intended as a commentary on human behavior. "The movie challenges its viewers to confront, not only the bizarre and offensive Borat character himself, but the equally bizarre and offensive reactions he elicits from 'average' Americans,"' she wrote.

About 30 Indonesian students angered over Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders's anti-Koran film Fitna attempted to storm a Dutch consulate building Wednesday and were greeted by police who fired into the air to prevent them from gaining access to the property, the Dutch newspaper de Volksrant reported today (Thursday). Protesters were able to break down the gates of the consulate and burn the Dutch flag before being arrested or dispersed. Indonesia, which was known as the Dutch East Indies prior to 1949 when it achieved its independence, is the world's most populous Muslim state. The government has demanded that YouTube remove Wenders's film or face being officially blocked. Meanwhile Queen Rania of Jordan has launched a YouTube page, saying that the site is potentially a "great platform for dialogue" between the West and Arab countries. "I want people to know the real Arab world -- to see it unedited, unscripted and unfiltered -- to see the personal side of my region -- to know the places and faces and rituals and culture that shape the part of the world I call home," she said in a clip posted on the site.

Saying that they fear possible protests, five Japanese theaters have canceled plans to screen Yasukuni by Chinese director Li Ying, who is based in Japan. The film concerns the annual ceremonies that take place at Yasukuni Shrine dedicated to Japan's World War II dead. Some critics have denounced it as "anti-Japanese." It had been scheduled to open in Tokyo on April 12 and in other Japanese theaters during the late fall and summer. An employee of one of the Tokyo theaters that have refused to screen the film told the Yomiuri Shimbun that it "could cause trouble for theaters and commercial facilities in the area." The London Independent reported that employees of the theaters and the distributors had received death threats. Expressing fear that theaters in other areas of the country might follow suit, the film's distributor issued a statement saying, "We have a sense of crisis over Japan's freedom of speech and freedom of expression."

Saying that he had "structured an innovative deal" with DirecTV to keep Friday Night Lights alive, NBC Entertainment Co-Chairman Ben Silverman announced Wednesday that the critically praised but low-rated series would return to the air next fall with all-new episodes that would first air on the home-satellite company's entertainment channel, The 101, beginning in October and then rerun on NBC early next year. In a conference call with reporters, Silverman said that he wanted to save the show because "if I had one more person on a plane tell me it's their favorite show, I was going to lose my mind." Terms of the deal were not disclosed, and on its face it would appear to guarantee that ratings for the series would remain low, since many of those watching it on DirecTV would unlikely tune in again for the reruns on NBC. That prospect did not appear to faze Silverman, who said that the deal allowed NBC "to have this jewel of a show and not even need to expand its audience to succeed on a financial basis." In a statement, Friday Night Lights executive producer Peter Berg said that he is "excited to be a part of something that feels legitimately groundbreaking, and new."

Recalling those days in the 1950s and '60s when sponsors' names were included in the title of shows like General Electric Theater (which, as it rose to No. 1 in the ratings, enhanced the celebrity status of its host, Ronald Reagan), NBC said Wednesday that it intends to ask advertisers to become more involved with some of its shows. The network, now owned by General Electric, said that it had concluded a deal with Liberty Mutual Group insurance company to present two-hour original movies to be broadcast under the banner Liberty Mutual Presents. The first movie, titled Kings, could be developed into a regular series, the network indicated, and if it does, Liberty Mutual will have first dibs on sponsorship. Terms of the network's deal with Liberty were not disclosed.

The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists said Wednesday that it plans to begin negotiations on a new contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on April 28. That would appear to box in the Screen Actors Guild, the other major actors' union, which plans to start its own talks with the AMPTP two weeks earlier on April 15. Previously, the two unions had held joint talks with the networks and studios, but last weekend AFTRA decided to go it alone, accusing SAG of attempting to muscle in on its jurisdiction over daytime soap operas. (SAG represents most of the actors appearing on scripted shows; AFTRA, on non-scripted shows and a handful of scripted ones that are produced on tape rather than film.) In its statement, AFTRA said that it welcomed SAG's decision to begin early negotiations with the AMPTP and observed that the two-week period "should allow SAG sufficient time to work out a good deal with the studios." "That won't be easy," commented today's (Thursday) Los Angeles Times in its report on the planned talks. It pointed out that SAG has already announced that it plans to demand raises in residuals for DVDs and new media -- a concession that the writers' and directors' guilds were unable to extract from the networks and studios.

ABC's Bob Woodruff and CBS's Kimberly Dozier, each seriously injured while reporting from Iraq, were among 35 recipients of George Foster Peabody Awards for broadcasting excellence announced Wednesday by the University of Georgia. The two correspondents were recognized for reports about wounded GI's, Woodruff for his series titled "Wounds of War -- The Long Road Home for Our Nation's Veterans," and Dozier for her CBS Sunday Morning report, "The Way Home," about two women veterans who lost limbs in Iraq. Scott Pelley's report, "The Killings in Haditha," won a Peabody for CBS's 60 Minutes.Among the entertainment awards, NBC's 30 Rock, Bravo's Project Runway, AMC's Mad Men, Showtime's Dexter, and Comedy Central's The Colbert Report were each honored. The awards will be handed out during ceremonies in New York on June 16 hosted by NBC anchor Brian Williams.

Hospitalized contestants on American Idol and Dancing With the Stars were released Wednesday and said that they plan to soldier on. American Idol singer David Cook received a prescription for medication to lower his blood pressure and Dancing contestant Derek Hough sported a neck brace. In Wednesday night's ratings, Idol once again dominated everything in sight, scoring a 15.2 rating and a 23 share as pint-sized singer Famiele Malubay became the latest singer to be eliminated from the competition.