Celine Dion pregnant with twins

Canadian singer Celine Dion, poses with husband Rene Angelil

After a failed pregnancy last year, Celine Dion’s wish to have another child looks set to come true with the Canadian singer and her husband announcing that she is pregnant - and expecting twins. Dion’s husband and manager, Rene Angelil, told People magazine that Dion, 42, is 14 weeks pregnant, after undergoing six attempts at in vitro fertilization. He said they plan to find out the sex of the babies next month.

“We’re ecstatic. Celine is just hoping for a healthy pregnancy. She was hoping for one baby, and the news that we are having two is a double blessing,” Angelil, 68, told People.

Dion and Angelil have a nine-year-old son, Rene Charles, who was also conceived through in vitro fertilization.

Dion, a five-time Grammy Award winner, is among the top-selling singers of all time, having sold more than 200 million albums around the world. Her hits include the ‘Titanic’ theme ‘My Heart Will Go On’ and ‘If You Asked Me To’.

‘Sex’ less scintillating at box office

‘Sex’ is losing its allure at cinemas. The glamorous gals of ‘Sex and the City 2’ were overshadowed by a green ogre at the weekend box office in North America on Sunday, as ‘Shrek Forever After’ logged a second round as moviegoers’ top pick.

Meanwhile, the new Walt Disney Co adventure fantasy, ‘Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time’ was the No. 1 choice worldwide, after coming in at No. 3 in North America and at No. 1 in 41 foreign markets. The weekend haul for the Jake Gyllenhaal vehicle stood at $89.2 million.

Comparisons between the ‘Shrek’ and ‘Sex’ sequels were a little dicey. ‘Shrek Forever After’ earned an estimated $43.3 million in the three days beginning on Friday, while ‘Sex and the City 2’ pulled in $32.1 million over the same period.

But the ‘Sex’ sequel got a head start on the U.S. Memorial Day holiday weekend, opening on Thursday, instead of the traditional Friday. Thursday sales of $14.2 million took the film’s four-day total to $46.3 million - which the ensemble comedy likely would have earned if it had opened a day later.

Still, the opening for ‘Sex and the City 2’ fell far short of the three-day $57 million launch for the first film in the series two years ago.

“Yes, I would love to have seen a bigger number, but I’m not concerned until I see how the second weekend plays out,” said Dan Fellman, president of domestic distribution at the Time Warner Inc unit.

He predicted the film would earn about $53 million once sales for the Monday holiday were included. Industry forecasters had expected the five-day haul to exceed $60 million.

Panned by critics

Critics ripped the sequel, which reunites actresses Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Cynthia Nixon, and Kristin Davis with director, Michael Patrick King.

Women accounted for 90 percent of the audience, up a few points from the first one. They also liked it a little less. The new film garnered a B-plus rating in exit surveys conducted by research firm, CinemaScore, down from an A-minus, Warner Bros. said.

Internationally, the film grossed $27.6 million from 17 countries, led by Britain with $9.2 million, and Germany with $7.3 million - both more than 20 percent ahead of the first film, Warner Bros. said.

DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc’s ‘Shrek Forever After,’ which also suffered a disappointing debut last weekend, held up surprisingly well. Sales slipped just 39 percent, a better hold than the 56 percent drop for ‘Shrek the Third’ in 2007.

The North American tally for the cartoon stands at $133.1 million, down from the comparable 10-day haul of $203 million for ‘Shrek the Third.’ The studio, whose films are distributed by Viacom Inc’s Paramount Pictures, said it was too early to tell if the new film could catch up.

The film has also earned $53.8 million from 15 foreign markets. Russia has contributed $38.5 million.

‘Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time’ earned $30.2 million in the United States and Canada. Disney forecasts the film would earn about $37 million after Monday, in line with industry forecasts. The international total was $59.0 million from 47 countries. Since the film got an early start last weekend in 19 markets, its tally stands at about $118 million.

Hulk Hogan bodyslams ‘Hulk’ cereal ad

Hulk Hogan is suing over a commercial for Cocoa Pebbles cereal. The Hulkster says Post Foods stole his likeness to depict him suffering humiliating defeat to Bam-Bam of ‘Flintstones’ fame.

Terry Bollea (Hulk’s real name) filed the lawsuit in Tampa District Court, alleging misappropriation of name and likeness and false endorsement.

In the commercial, a character known as ‘Hulk Boulder’, with long blond hair and a blond Fu Manchu mustache, takes part in a ‘Cocoa Smashdown’ against various ‘Flintstones’ characters. He defeats Fred and Barney in the ring, begins to reward himself with a bowl of cereal pulled from his championship belt, but then is ambushed by Bam-Bam.

According to the complaint, “Hulk Boulder is shown humiliated and cracked into pieces with broken teeth, with the closing banner ‘Little Pieces...BIG TASTE!’”

Hogan points out that he wrestled in the late 1970s as ‘Hulk Boulder’ during his transition from Brutus Beefcake’s tag team partner to WWF icon. The complaint lists all sorts of tidbits about his career, such as the fact that he was the most-requested celebrity of the 1980s for the Make-a-Wish Foundation, and had the single biggest 900 phone number from 1991 to 1993.

Hogan’s attorney, Joseph Bain, is clearly trying to show his client’s celebrity endorsement is worth something, although he left out the part where Hogan extolled his Hulkamaniacs to eat their vitamins every day.