Trademark trouble
Fox has filed a trademark lawsuit against Empire Distribution, a small California record label that had demanded the network stop using the title "Empire" for its megahit show. A cease-and-desist letter from the label claimed that "Empire" tarnishes its brand by featuring a fictional label "run by a homophobic drug dealer prone to murdering his friends." Fox says in its suit that Empire Distribution never applied for a federal trademark registration. Show creator Lee Daniels, coincidentally, was famously embroiled in a copyright tussle over his 2013 film "The Butler."
The sequel is out there
David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson will return for a six-episode limited series of "The X-Files" on Fox this summer. … Connie Britton joins "American Crime Story: The People vs. O.J. Simpson" as Faye Resnick, confidante of Nicole Brown Simpson. … Hulu will produce "The Way," a drama from Jason Katims ("Friday Night Lights," "Parenthood"). … Showtime's high-finance drama "Billions" will star Paul Giamatti and Damian Lewis. … Cookie expands her empire: Taraji P. Henson will host "Saturday Night Live" on April 11.
You've got a friend
Tom Hanks will produce a film version of the Tony-winning "Beautiful: The Carole King Musical." … Jennifer Lawrence says "X-Men: Apocalypse" will be her last film in the franchise. … Fashion designer Tom Ford will direct George Clooney in "Nocturnal Animals," his second film (after 2009's "A Single Man"). … Vivica A. Fox will reprise her role in the "Independence Day" sequel, due in 2016, 20 years after the original. … Idris Elba is in talks to play a villain in "Star Trek 3."
Someone will be furious
Vin Diesel says he named his new daughter Pauline in honor of late co-star Paul Walker (who was added to "Furious 7" through the magic of Peter Jackson's Weta Digital). "There's no other person that I'm thinking about as I'm cutting this umbilical cord," Diesel said. Um, dude: Paloma Jiménez — otherwise known as the mother of your children — might take exception to that.
CYNTHIA DICKISON
