I’ve been reading about the new movie Wanted with Morgan Freeman, Common, and Angelina Jolie, but I confess I had no idea what it was about. I figured I would wait for the trailer. To my immense surprise, I find out that the movie is based on a comic book series by a guy named Mark Millar, and Angelina Jolie will be playing a Catwoman-esque character named Fox.

This was all well and good until some comic book-obsessed bloggers realized out that Fox was a black woman in the original comics. Now she’s Angelina Jolie. Well, she famously that there was a shortage of roles for people of color, but said that her portrayal of Mariane Pearl in A Mighty Heart was not a good example of the problem. And now? I’m fully aware that this sort of thing is often done in film adaptations of comic books. But Angie again? I don’t think it takes a rocket scientist to notice a pattern here.

[AfroGeek via Racialicious]

Evan Almighty, the most expensive comedy ever made, and 1408, a new thriller based on a Stephen King short story, have little in common except they hold the 1 and 2 spots on the weekend box office charts. Oh, and they feature two of our most celebrated black actors. Morgan Freeman reprises his role as God in Evan, the sequel to Bruce Almighty, and Samuel Jackson plays the manager of the hotel where 1408 is set. Neither of the movies got rave reviews, one of them didn’t make nearly as much money as it was supposed to, and in both cases the actors are playing second fiddle to white leads. Oh well, the summer screens are at least getting a bit more diverse. Check out the box office top 10 after the jump.

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• I think it’s really rude to fire a woman for calling two black employees “jungle bunnies” when swears she didn’t know it was offensive. [RR]
• Brandy’s E! True Hollywood Story premieres tomorrow at 6pm. It will probably be pretty boring until the last 10 minutes. [CL]
• To make matters less interesting, Brandy and Tyrese are not getting married. Did anyone ever believe they were? [C&D]
• Now that I know Morgan Freeman is playing Nelson Mandela in a new movie, I can’t picture another American actor playing the role. Although Angelina Jolie would probably audition. []
• Diddy’s lashing out over false media reports that he dropped Cassie from Bad Boy. With a voice like that, he could never let her go! [SP]