Ben Affleck will replace Edward Norton in the upcoming political thriller, State of Play. Norton was originally cast opposite Brad Pitt, who recently pulled out of the project and was replaced by Russell Crowe. Now Affleck will play a congressman who finds his political life threatened by an investigation into the death of his mistress headed by Crowe's character.

Denzel Washington is donating $1 million to Wiley College so that the Texas school can re-establish its debate team. Washington was recently nominated for a Golden Globe for his role in The Great Debaters, the story of the school's 1930's debate team, in which he stars as the man who led the elite squad.

Tom Sizemore has been released from prison, where he was serving time for violating probation on a 2004 methamphetamine conviction. The actor became a free man on December 10 and is now back in a drug program to help keep him clean, TMZ.com reports. Sizemore was sentenced to 16 months in prison last June. He was awarded 213 days credit for time he spent in county jail and in two live-in drug programs. He also got time off for good behavior.

The Vatican condemned The Golden Compass in an editorial published on Wednesday (December 19th). Vatican newspaper l"Osservatore Romano said that the film, which some have deemed anti-Christian, promotes a cold and hopeless world without God. Phillip Pullman, the author of the book on which the movie is based, also receives harsh words for creating a world in which, "hope simply does not exist." The US Catholic Church has been urging Christians to boycott the Nicole Kidman fantasy film.

Michael Douglas is the new announcer for the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams. The actor's voice debuted on a December 17th program as it opened the news broadcast. Douglas succeeds Howard Reig, who retired in 2005 after 25 years on the job. A recording of his voice had been used since then.

Closing arguments were heard on December 19th in the case of an aspiring writer who sued Sopranos creator David Chase's claiming that he was owed money for having helped create the hit HBO show. A federal jury in New Jersey will decide whether Robert Baer should be compensated for having arranged meetings with police and prosecutors during a three-day tour of New jersey mob sites in 1995, and if so, how much.

A Massachusetts lunch lady who received $50,000 from Survivor producer Mark Burnett after claiming her appearance on the show caused her a demotion at work will donate the money to charity. Although Denise Martin announced on Sunday's (December 16th) finale that she was demoted to janitor at her school, she later admitted that the switch to custodian was actually a promotion that she'd received before Survivor began.

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