The other day, the kerrazy cats over at JoBlo got official word that the lovely Kate Beckinsale would be wearing the tiara and bulletproof bracelets for Joss Whedon’s Wonder Woman movie. And even though it was a complete fabrication (nice one, guys!), the word spread ‘round the globe at the speed of broadband.
IMDB news, who don’t exactly exercise Woodward and/or Bernstein tenacity when it comes to verifying news (or identifying sources, for that matter), initially got chumped with the fake announcement. And even though they’ve since owned up to the error, things zipped to other outlets from there. Shame on ya!
In case the 4/1 byline wasn’t enough of a red light, in JoBlo’s article Whedon not only verified Beckinsale’s casting but also made comments about Jessica Simpson’s tits and limited intellect, called Monica Bellucci an “old fart”, and stated that Sarah Michelle Gellar is like “a midget with a great ass”. Seems like a pretty solid indication of the story’s speciousness.
Now the story about the story has made it to Variety, who note that although several “professional” media outlets like Hollywood.com and the Chicago Sun-Times were also hoodwinked by the blatantly bogus report, they only had to read to the bottom of the JoBlo article where the guys admit as such. Reminds me of the April Fool’s gag the old guard at Creature Corner pulled, claiming Ryan Phillippe would play Leatherface in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake – entirely fake news which nonetheless ended up on numerous sites and in magazines as “fact”.
The JoBlo guys probably selected Beckinsale for their April Fool’s hoax after seeing the candid snaps of her in a Wonder Woman costume trick-or-treating with her kid last Halloween. But since the Wonder Woman role is still up for grabs, personally I’ll toss in my vote for the ridiculously fit Jessica Biel, or maybe the gorgeous Jordana Brewster or Kristin Kreuk after a few months of intense gym time.