LBN-INVESTIGATES:

The revenues generated from gambling is more than than those from

movies,

cruise ships,

recorded music,

theme parks and

spectator sports combined

WOMEN DISAPPOINTED BY QADDAFI'S PARTY:

"Seeking 500 attractive girls between 18 and 35 years old, at least 1.70 meters (5 foot, 7 inches) tall, well-dressed but not in mini-skirts or low cut dresses," the ad read.

Gaddafi girls: Women recruited to attend a reception held by the Libyan leader leave with copies of the Koran

There were promises of 60 Euros and Libyan gifts.

200 women in Rome turned up for Libyan Leader Muammar Qaddafis party.

Or so they thought.

Instead, they had to wait in a large hall until Qaddafi arrived.

Then he began lecturing them on the role of women in Islam.

Glamorous: The women were told not to wear mini skirts to the gala - but the dictator insisted 'heels are OK'

At the end, Qaddafi told them to convert to Islam and gave them each a Quran and a book of his wisdom.

"It was anything but the VIP party we were expecting, they didn't even give us a glass of water," one woman said.

Sony Pictures Beats Its Overseas Record

By Nikki Finke

Monday November 16, 2009 @ 2:03pm

Sony now claims 2012 "exceeded our estimates" yesterday by over $5 million worldwide.

So Roland Emmerich's disaster pic did $165.2 million overseas and $65.2 million domestically for a new worldwide total of $230.4 million.

That helped Sony Pictures set a new studio record for international box office with $1.634 billion for 2009, and counting, that broke the 2006 previous record.

The studio thinks it's on track for "the best box office year worldwide" in its history and issued a press release to that effect.

That's because of big overseas numbers for 2012, Angels & Demons ($352M), Terminator Salvation ($220.6M), District 9 ($88M), The Ugly Truth ($112M) and Michael Jackson’s This Is It ($155.2M).

Jeff Blake, chairman, Sony Pictures Worldwide Marketing and Distribution said in a statement, “Our performance this year re-emphasizes the importance of the international marketplace and the enormous value of a release slate with global appeal."

Sony Pictures also says it's on track to make 2009 its best year ever worldwide and pass $3.334 billion, the record the studio set in 2006.

In addition, SPRI could potentially pass the $2 billion mark at the international box office, a number that has been reached by any studio only 4 times in history.

Latest Agency Signings & Hirings

By Nikki Finke

Monday November 16, 2009 @ 4:03am

Oscar winner Kim Basinger has left her longtime agency CAA to sign with UTA board member and talent head Tracey Jacobs over the weekend.

Basinger will continue to be managed by Oren Segal at Media Talent Group.

UTA has hired Jason Egenberg in the TV Talent department.

He was previously a manager at Rebel Entertainment.

CAA has signed actors:

Juliet Binoche, Academy Award winnerNasim Pedrad, a new SNL cast member.

Sherri Shepherd, Emmy Award winner, co-host of The View,

star of Sherri Rachel Bilson, of the Fox TV hit The O.C. and films The Last Kiss, Jumper, New York, I Love You

Ludacris, Grammy winner (Crash, Hustle & Flow, 2 Fast 2 Furious)

Willie Nelson, recording artist and actor

And the following writers and/or directors:Chris McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects, X-Men, Valkyrie)

Audrey Wells (Under The Tuscan Sun, Shall We Dance, The Truth About Cats & Dogs);

Kevin Walker (Seven, Sleepy Hollow, The Wolfman)

Danny Cannon (Jerry Bruckheimer's Dark Blue, The Forgotten, CSI, CSI Miami, CSI NY

Matt Reeves (Cloverfield, Felicity)Bryan Bertino (The Strangers)Clyde Phillips (Dexter)

Gersh has signed the following actors:

Selma Blair from CAA

Katee Sackhoff from WME

Rachelle Lefevre (The Twilight Saga: New Moon)

Eion Bailey (Almost Famous, Fight Club)

Parminder Nagra from WME (ER, Bend It Like Beckham)

The following feature writers and/or directors:

Donald Petrie from WME (How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days)

Jon Harmon and Scott Elder from Paradigm (Snow White and the Seven Shaolin)

Chuck Russell from Paradigm (The Scorpion King, The Mask)

Comedy/Personal AppearancesNorm MacDonald from CAA (Saturday Night Live, Dirty Work)

Tom Green for PA (The Tom Green Show, Road Trip)

Christopher Titus from UTA (Titus)

Tommy Davidson from WME (Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, The Proud Family)

Carrie Fisher from APA (Family Guy, Sorority Row)

New Hire Carolyn Sivitz, feature lit agent from WMA

Paradigm signed the following actors:

Nia Vardalos from CAA (My Life In Ruins, My Big Fat Greek Wedding)

Jill Hennessy (Crossing Jordan, Law & Order)

Eugene Levy from WME (American Pie, Bringing Down the House, Cheaper by the Dozen 2)

Robert Patrick (Terminator 2, The X-Files, The Unit)

Thomas Kretschmann (Valkyrie, Wanted)

Natasha McElhone (Surviving Picasso, Laurel Canyon, The Other Boleyn Girl, Californication)

Jessica Jade Andres (The Last Airbender)

Carly Chaikin (The Last Song)

Kristen Johnston (Third Rock From The Sun, Bride Wars)

Damien Dante Wayans (Malibu's Most Wanted)

Feature & TV writers and/or directors:

David McKenna (Blow, American History X)

Christopher Cleveland & Bettina Gilois from WME (Glory Road, The Fountainhead)

Jeremy Leven from WME (Alex And Emma, The Notebook, My Sister's Keeper, Don Juan DeMarco)

Scott Teems (That Evening Sun)

Jay Kogan (The Simpsons, Frazier, The George Lopez Show)

Bruce Vilanch from APA (Oscars, Tonys, Grammys, Emmys telecasts)

Ron Parker from ICM (Broken Trail, Joan Of Arc)

Chris Leitch (Miami Trauma, CSI, The Beast, Samurai Girl)