Johnny Depp making film about poisoned Russian spy

London – Johnny Depp is making a film about a former Russian spy whose poisoning death in London has touched off an international mystery, the trade magazine Variety reported.

Warner Bros. has bought the rights to a book about Alexander Litvinenko for Depp’s production company, Infinitum Nihil, the magazine reported Friday. Depp will produce the film and could star in it, the report said.

Warner Bros. is racing against director Michael Mann and Colombia Pictures, which has agreed to pay $1.5 million for the rights to another book being co-written by the former spy’s widow Marina Litvinenko, and Alex Goldfarb, a close friend, Variety reported later on its Web site. The book is expected to be published in May by Simon & Schuster’s Free Press imprint, the report said.

Warner Bros. had tried unsuccessfully to buy the rights to the book by Litvinenko’s widow, the report said. The studio has acquired the rights to a book by New York Times journalist Alan Cowell, which is expected to be published next year by Doubleday.

Officials from both studios were not immediately available for comment.

Prince Charles headed to U.S.; expects to get award

New York – Prince Charles is expected to pick up an environmental award during a two-day trip to the United States with his wife, Camilla, later this month, the British Consulate said Friday.

The royal couple hopes to focus on youth development, urban regeneration and environmental conservation, the consulate in New York said.

In Philadelphia on Jan. 27, they will learn about the city’s Mural Arts Program, the country’s largest public art program and one that relies a great deal on youth talent, the consulate said. They will visit with students who are studying or have studied overseas.

The couple will ride a private train that uses an electric locomotive from Philadelphia to New York, where the prince is expected to pick up the Global Environmental Citizen Award from the Center for Health and Global Environment at Harvard Medical School. Former Vice President Al Gore, who won last year, is to be a presenter.

Warhol’s Long Island estate sells, but not in 15 minutes

New York – Never mind 15 minutes of fame. It took a half-dozen years for Andy Warhol’s Long Island estate to finally sell.

The pop art icon’s 5.6-acre property in Montauk, at the fashionable eastern tip of Long Island, was bought by Millard Drexler, the chief executive officer of clothing retailer J. Crew, Newsday reported Saturday.

Along with a three-car garage and a stable for four horses, the main house – one of five – has seven bedrooms, 4.5 baths and four fireplaces. The property has 600 feet of oceanfront.

The broker that sold the estate, Prudential Douglas Elliman, did not reveal the selling price.

Warhol, who died during a gall bladder operation in 1987, once famously said that in the future everyone would enjoy 15 minutes of fame.

He owned the estate with filmmaker Paul Morrissey. In the 1970s, the two paid $220,000 for what was originally a 20-acre estate.

Spokeswoman: Jackson has resolved pharmacy lawsuit

Los Angeles – Michael Jackson has amicably resolved a lawsuit filed by a Beverly Hills pharmacy that claimed the singer owed more than $100,000 for prescription drugs during the past two years, his spokeswoman said Friday.

“(Mickey) Fine Pharmacy has been paid,” Jackson spokeswoman Raymone K. Bain said in a statement.

The suit, filed Wednesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, alleged the pharmacy had an oral agreement with Jackson to pay for his prescription medications and sent monthly bills that went unpaid by the singer.

As of Dec. 25, Jackson owed $101,926 and had made his last payment in mid-2005, the lawsuit said.

An attorney representing the pharmacy declined comment on the lawsuit, and did not immediately return a phone call late Friday regarding Bain’s comments.

Bon Jovi, Frankie Avalon, to headline inauguration concert

Harrisburg, Pa. – Bon Jovi will headline a slate of entertainers with strong Pennsylvania ties for Gov. Ed Rendell’s inauguration, the Democrat’s inaugural committee said Saturday.

Also scheduled to perform at Tuesday’s $100-per-ticket concert are former teen idol Frankie Avalon and The Trammps of disco fame.

The concert will be held at the Pennsylvania Farm Show complex in Harrisburg after the Democrat is sworn in for his second four-year term.

Lead singer Jon Bon Jovi is a New Jersey native with strong ties to Philadelphia, where Rendell served two terms as mayor. Bon Jovi is co-owner of the Arena Football League’s Philadelphia Soul and he was given the City of Brotherly Love Award last fall for his work with Habitat for Humanity.

Avalon, a Philadelphia native, was a popular recording artist in the 1950s who built a second career as an actor in the ’60s, appearing in films that included the “Beach Party” movies with Annette Funicello.

The Trammps began as a Philadelphia group and won a Grammy Award for their “Disco Inferno” album.

Minogue leaves stage during performance because of flu

London – Kylie Minogue cut short a performance Saturday night on her comeback tour because she was suffering from the flu, her publicist said.

The singer, who underwent treatment for breast cancer in 2005, managed to perform half of a scheduled 2 1/2-hour concert in Manchester, England, spokesman John Bills said.

“Several members of the crew, the tour manager and Kylie have been suffering from flu – but she didn’t want to let anyone down. She wanted to try to get through the show, but had to cut it short,” Bills said by telephone from Manchester.

Breast cancer was diagnosed in Minogue, 38, in May 2005. She underwent surgery in her hometown of Melbourne, Australia, that month, followed by five months of chemotherapy.