Actor Sean Connery has abruptly pulled out of movie Josiah's Canon - missing out on $17.5 million and prompting speculation he's ready to retire. Bosses of the Fox movie are now scrambling to find a replacement after Connery's surprise departure, to ensure Brett Ratner's movie, which is due to begin filming in Prague in February, can remain on schedule. While Connery's spokesman says the Scottish actor pulled out so he can concentrate on writing his memoirs, sources in Hollywood are guessing the 74-year-old James Bond star plans to give up the movie business. Trade publication Daily Variety reports that Connery has lost a lot of his enthusiasm because of the tribulations involved in making big-budget studio films - capped by a bad experience while shooting his last movie The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen, during which he clashed with director Stephen Norrington.

A Las Vegas, Nevada, construction worker is taking funnyman Jamie Foxx to court in a bid to gain the right to sell sexually explicit photos of the actor, he claimed he found. The unnamed builder says he found the 100-plus photos in a discarded box outside Foxx's Las Vegas home, but the actor's attorneys maintain the images were stolen. According to the New York Daily News, the construction worker has also filed a battery complaint with Las Vegas police, complaining he was injured by heavies who barged into his apartment and demanded the return of Foxx's candid pictures.

Reports that Pierce Brosnan won't return as superspy James Bond are premature - the movie star insists he's still interested in playing 007 again. Brosnan insists rumors of his retirement as Bond came about when a reporter misunderstood the actor's insistence that he no longer wanted to talk about the character in an interview. He says, "There was no announcement. I think the reporter heard it wrong. I think what I said was, 'I've had my fill of talking about Bond.' It was not an official announcement."

Sylvester Stallone's bid to throw out a lawsuit against him by former heavyweight boxer Chuck Wepner has been rejected by a New Jersey judge. Wepner, 65, bought the suit against Stallone, claiming he based his hit Rocky movies on his life. US District judge Katharine S Hayden will allow a trial to proceed on Wepner's claim that Stallone inappropriately used the boxer's name to promote the movies. But the judge dismissed Wepner's two other claims - that Stallone was unjustly enriched by trading on Wepner's life and that Wepner suffered because he relied on promises Stallone made to compensate him. Wepner, who lives in Bayonne, New Jersey, was dubbed 'the Bayonne Bleeder' after he was plucked from obscurity and lost a 15-round bout to pugilist Muhammad Ali in 1975.

MTV reality stars Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey are allegedly considering ending their marriage because the former 98 Degrees hunk is sick of her "dumb blonde" behavior. The Nick And Jessica: Newlyweds couple have shocked viewers with their outrageous rows on the show's second season, which features Lachey calling Simpson a "pampered bimbo", fuelling speculation the couple are drifting apart. An insider tells Britain's Daily Sport newspaper, "They are pretty much living separate lives these days. I wouldn't be surprised if both of them are back on the market in a few months." Lachey reportedly complained, "If I'd wanted a bimbo, I would have married Paris Hilton."

British actor Joseph Fiennes has accused Kevin Spacey of encouraging dull, formal theatres - by criticizing noisy audiences. The American Beauty star, who is currently artistic director of the Old Vic theatre, launched a scathing attack on theatre-goers who didn't switch off their mobile phones, or opened sweet packets during performances. The Enemy At The Gates star counters, "I think that it is sad that anything as minimal as crushing sweet papers has been picked up on. Here at the Young Vic, we are against that sort of arch, slightly bourgeois environment, with expensive seating and that sense of formality. We want to be more than that." David Lan, Spacey's counterpart at the Young Vic, adds, "Basically, we think exactly the opposite of Spacey. We would like audiences to be made up of people coming who don't normally go to the theatre. We want to put on big, difficult productions. We don't mind noisy audiences."

Hollywood hunk George Clooney is confident his renewed relationship with girlfriend Lisa Snowdon will last this time. The Ocean's Eleven star enjoys being with the British TV presenter and hopes the time they spent together before they split three years ago will enable them to sustain their current romance. Clooney, 43, says, "We like being together. We hope to make things work out a little better this time because we've probably learnt something from being together before." As for renouncing his bachelor lifestyle completely and settling down, Clooney says, "I'm still too wrapped up in my work to think about children. I also think I would need to show myself that I'm able to sustain a good long-term relationship before I could even imagine what being a father would be like."

Fans of screen legend Brigitte Bardot descended on a French auction house for a sale of memorabilia to celebrate her 70th birthday. Dutch collector Cees Storm held the sale of his collection of Bardot film posters and photos at the Drouot bidding house in Paris, France - and raised an estimated 80,000 euros ($30,200). Leading items in the sale included original posters from her 1956 film ...And God Created Woman, which turned Bardot into a international sex icon. Storm began his extensive collection when he became a fan of Bardot at the age of 15. He has spent the subsequent 45 years trawling through markets in France hunting for items.

Controversial rapper Eminem will poke fun at Madonna in his next video. The 8 Mile superstar will appear in full make-up, a blonde ponytail and a comical bra in the upcoming "Just Lose It" video, aping Madonna's wardrobe on her Blonde Ambition Tour. American columnist Jeannette Walls told British newspaper the Daily Sport, "Eminem is really getting into sex and gender issues."

Soul legend Chaka Khan's son Damien Holland has escaped a murder charge because Los Angeles police don't have enough evidence against him. The 25-year-old was arrested on Friday after an unidentified teenager was shot during a fight over a gun at an apartment complex. Holland has reportedly told police the shooting was accidental. A spokesman for the Los Angeles District Attorney's office says, "There's not sufficient evidence at this time to file criminal charges."