Matthew Fox Arrested for Assault, Brad Pitt Hailed as a Hero on 'World War Z' Set

(UPDATED) Two big names on location, two very different stories to report: 'Lost' fans will not be happy to hear that Matthew Fox, who played heroic (but hotheaded) Dr. Jack Shephard, has just been arrested for allegedly assaulting a woman. Fox, who is in Cleveland filming 'I, Alex Cross,' was arrested early Monday morning after reportedly punching a female bus driver in the chest and stomach after she refused to let him board a private bus. The driver told TMZ the actor was drunk and that she had to punch him back in "self-defense." Meanwhile, over the weekend, Pitt was praised for his heroics in coming to an extra's aid on the 'World War Z' set when she fell while filming a crowd scene. According to local reports, a group of over 700 extras was filming a scene in Glasgow's George Square, which involved a mad rush to escape a zombie attack. A woman who fell was in danger of being trampled, until Pitt lifted her to her feet and saved her. The woman suffered only a grazed knee. The woman who was allegedly assaulted by Fox, however, may have suffered a broken hand after punching the actor in response to his (allegedly) punching her first in the chest and stomach. The cause of the altercation? Fox tried to board a bus and was told by driver Heather Bormann that it had been privately rented and he would have to leave. She told him, "You have to leave buddy. You are trespassing on my bus.'" That's when, she says, Fox "leaned in and started punching my crotch and breast." Bormann said that Fox was "spitting blood. He stumbled backwards." Bormann explained, "This was the only way I could protect myself.....from a man beating up on a woman." Wow, doesn't the studio have drivers for its stars? Fox has since been released and was brought back to his hotel. No statement has yet been issued from the studio or the actor's rep. Are you shocked to hear about Fox's arrest? [via THR, EW ]

Fall TV Start Looking: James Spader about the Office

Work "You can be assured I didn't win some kind of contest to exchange Steve Carell," demands James Spader, who joins the cast from the Office as Sabre Boss Robert California within the September 22 premiere. "I simply thought, this show is fun, this character is strange and NBC requested me to sign up, and so i stated, 'Absolutely.'" How's existence at work to date? "It's most likely easily the funniest group I have labored with." For additional first examines fall TV - such as the Good Wife, Vampire Journals and Grey's Anatomy - get this week's problem of TV Guide Magazine on newsstands Thursday, August 25! Sign up for TV Guide Magazine now!

That's When Megan Fox Went Swimming With Jason Segel and Chris O'Dowd

Here at Movieline HQ, we’ve been holding out hope that the untitled Judd Apatow continuation/quasi-sequel to Knocked Up (which has been filming with the working title of This Is Forty) will feature a comeback performance from the terminally maligned Megan Fox. No word yet whether that will happen — despite co-star Paul Rudd singing her praises last week — but at least Fox is having fun on the set. Over the weekend she posted a picture of herself and co-stars Jason Segel and Chris O’Dowd mugging for the camera in a swimming pool. Moviemaking! Just like breaking rocks! Click through for the pic. Jason Segel will not play your pucker-up games, Mr. Cameraman. He will just smirk. [Facebook via Us Weekly]

Abigail Breslin to Play Real-Life Canadian Teen 'Bathtub' Murderer

Hollywood’s little miss sunshines are growing up, and how (looking at you too, Dakota): Variety reports that 15-year-old Abigail Breslin has been cast as one of two leads in The Class Project, an indie drama based on the real-life “Bathtub Girls,” two teenage Canadian sisters who murdered their mother in 2003 and got away with the crime for a year before being found out. Stan Brooks will direct from a script by Fabrizio Filippo and Adam Till who adapted The Class Project from Toronto Star reporter Bob Mitchell’s 2008 book, The Class Project: How To Kill a Mother: The True Story of Canada’s Infamous Bathtub Girls. [Variety]

Early Edition: Gerard Butler, 'Quantum Hoops,' and 'Hunger Games' Sequel (Already?)

Like Russell Crow, Gerard Butler's choice of recent films has not set Hollywood afire -- 'Law Abiding Citizen,' 'The Bounty Hunter' and 'The Ugly Truth,' each moderate successes, has done little to kick the Scot further up the serious leading man ladder. That may change with 'Machine Gun Preacher,' in which Butler stars as Sam Childers, a former drug-dealing biker tough guy who found God and became a crusader for hundreds of Sudanese children who've been forced to become soldiers, which opens Nov. 18, and 'The Bricklayer,' which Millenium Films has acquired for Butler to star in. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film is based on the best-selling novel by former FBI agent Noah Boyd, about a rogue former agent, working as a Chicago bricklayer, who's called in to help battle a criminal group that is demanding an escalating series of multi-million dollar ransom payments. No director or co-stars have been set. Truth is stranger than fiction. Art imitates life. And documentaries become enactments if the stories are weird enough ('Grey Gardens'). Such is the case with 'Quantum Hoops,' the 2007 documentary that followed the 2006 Caltech basketball team that had 21 seasons and 245 conference games without a single win. According to Deadline, Disney has acquired remake rights to the film, with Ben Stiller and Stuart Cornfeld's Red Hour set to produce a comedy based on the story of the scientific whizkids hoping to break their losing stream with just one win before the end of the season. Fresh off last week's announcement that Sony has already set a May 2, 2014 release date for the sequel to 'The Amazing Spider-Man,' which opens in July of 2012, Lionsgate has announced that 'Catching Fire,' the second in 'The Hunger Games' franchise, will be released Nov. 22, 2013. Talk about optimism. 'The Hunger Games,' still an unknown quantity as a film, is in production now and won't be released until March 23, 2012. And, lastly, FilmDistrict's 'Parker,' based on the Richard Stark (Donald E. Westlake) character, directed by Taylor Hackford and starring Jason Statham, Jennifer Lopez, Clifton Collins, Jr., Michael Chiklis, and Nick Nolte, has been set for an October 12, 2012 release.

Judge May Allow Iraqi War Veteran's Bombshell Lawsuit Against 'Hurt Locker' Producers to Continue

Summit Entertainment An Iraqi war veteran's lawsuit against the producers of The Hurt Locker continues, but may be trimmed to its "essence," a claim about whether the film about a US bomb squad in Iraq was based on the plaintiff's life. The lawsuit was originally filed by Master Sgt. Jeffrey Sarverin March, 2010, just days before The Hurt Locker won best picture at the Academy Awards. Sarver claimed he was the inspiration behind the film, its main character, and the title phrase of the film, and sued for misappropriation of his publicity rights, defamation, breach of contract, and infliction of emotional distress. On Monday, a California federal judge held a hearing on a motion by the defendants, including Summit Entertainment, Voltage Pictures, directorKathryn Bigelow, and writerMark Boal, to throw out the complaint as an impingement of free speech. U.S District Judge Jacqueline Nguyenexpressed an inclination to dismiss all claims except the one where Sarver alleges that his likeness was misappropriated by the filmmakers, according to the Associated Press. If the judge's tentative opinion stands, it means that Sarver won't have an opportunity to test before a jury his theory that even a character in a purportedly fictional film can be libelous nor his allegation that when Boal was embedded with the U.S. military to research an article for Playboy magazine, he agreed to "ground rules," including restrictions onthe type of personal information that Boal could report on a service member. On the other hand, if a judge allows the case to go forward on the publicity rights claim, Sarver will have overcome one obstacle in his lawsuit against the film's producers, who had arguedSarver's claims were precluded by the First Amendment. Sarver's attorney, Todd Weglarz, said that the misappropriation claim "is the essence of this case." Meanwhile, Jeremiah Reynolds,the attorney for the Bigelow and Boal, argued that allowing the case to go forward would have a chilling effect on filmmaking and that it would "directly impact artists, directors, filmmakers in the future," Judge Nguyen has taken the matter under advisement and is expected to issue a written opinion shortly. E-mail: eriqgardner@yahoo.com Twitter: @eriqgardner

Thorne Sleepyhead

follows DI Tom Thornes investigation into a mysterious serial killer. His first three victims ended up dead. His fourth was not so fortunate. Alison Willetts is unlucky to be alive. She has survived a stroke, deliberately induced by manipulation of pressure points on the head and neck. She can see, hear and feel, she is aware of everything going on around her, but she is unable to move or communicate. In leaving Alison alive, the police believe the killer's made his first mistake.

Watch: Final Destination 5 Brings Death to Bayside High in Saved by the Bell Homage

Miles Fisher, one of the stars of the blatant Oscar bait Final Destination 5, has created a music video parodying his new movie and, (because he apparently rules), Saved by the Bell. In this homage to Bayside High, watch as Miles’s friends — all played by his Final Destination 5 co-stars — die off like plague victims and reference all the Jessie Spano caffeine pill drama you can muster. And oh, there’s David Koechner as Mr. Belding. I warn you, it’s disturbing how much Miles looks not like Mark-Paul Gosselaar in his Zack Morris wig, but Gene Rayburn. The oversize brown suit coat does not help. Behold: Miles Fisher as Zack Morris Nick D’Agosto as A.C. Slater Emma Bell as Jessie Spano Jacqueline MacInnes Wood as Kelly Kapowski David Koechner as Principal Belding Ellen Wroe as… Lisa Turtle? (Kristy Barnes?) P.J. Byrne as Screech ‘Saved by the Bell…’ [Badass Digest]

It's Only Monday, But the Trailer for Arena May Be The Best Worst Thing You Watch All Week

Back in April of 2010 — the same day Paramount started looking for a writer to reboot Mighty Mouse (true) — it was announced that Samuel L. Jackson and Kellan Lutz would co-star in Deathgames, about a “young man (Lutz) who is kidnapped and forced into the savage world of a modern gladiator arena, where men fight to the death for entertainment of the online masses. Jackson orchestrates the games, overseeing them from his computer lair with the help of twin ladies who see to his every desire.” Sounds like Gamer. How did it turn out? Like Gamer! Only waaaaaaaay worse. Retitled Arena, the film will get released on Tuesday, Oct. 11, likely forgoing any theatrical run and arriving on DVD instead. For all parties involved, that’s probably a good thing — especially Lutz; he doesn’t need another Love Wedding Marriage — though it is a bit disappointing to think that precious few will get to see Jackson eat scenery like cotton candy. “How [dramatic pause] is he still STANDING?” Watch below, and pay special attention to the dance Jackson does at 1:25. You won’t be sorry. Or maybe you will; as the Movieline tipster who forwarded this trailer along warned, “It is very TERRIBLE.” VERDICT: Game over. [via Movieweb]

SAG Merger Doubters Running for National Board (Exclusive)