Jessica goes country

Jessica Simpson is in the early stages of recording a country album in Nashville, a project slated for a 2008 release via Columbia Records. Simpson said she had always wanted to make a country album, but was waiting until the right time. "I think there is a strength in female country artists," Simpson said, citing Martina McBride, Shania Twain, Faith Hill, and Reba McEntire as some of her inspirations. Simpson, who has been under fire for distracting her beau Dallas QB Tony Romo during his games, said she would be involved in the creative process. "Writing is a release for me," she said. "It's a way for me to tell my story. That's not to say I wouldn't record a song that I didn't write." (Reuters/Billboard)

The Nicolas Cage adventure "National Treasure: Book of Secrets" began the new year as the top movie in North America, helping to send off 2007 on a high note. According to studio estimates issued yesterday, the sequel sold $55.4 million worth of tickets during the five-day period beginning Dec. 28. Compared with the five-day Christmas period beginning Dec. 21, the kids movie "Alvin and the Chipmunks" rose one place to No. 2 with $42.2 million, overtaking the Will Smith sci-fi thriller "I Am Legend," which earned $38 million. The political comedy "Charlie Wilson's War," starring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts, held steady at No. 4 with $20.5 million. The teen comedy "Juno" jumped four places to No. 5 with $15.7 million. For the year overall sales rose 4.1 percent to a record $9.68 billion, according to box office analysis firm Media By Numbers. (Reuters)

"The Game Plan" star Roselyn Sanchez and fellow actor Eric Winter got engaged during a holiday vacation on the island of Vieques, just east of mainland Puerto Rico, according to a statement released yesterday. The couple have been dating for two years. Sanchez was in Boston in 2006 to film "The Game Plan" with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and appears in the CBS series "Without a Trace." Winter has appeared in a variety of TV shows, including "Days of Our Lives." (AP)

Two days before New Year's Eve, A-list actress Jennifer Aniston jetted off to Los Cabos, Mexico, with pals Courteney Cox and David Arquette and a goateed mystery man. Reportedly this man is hunky model-turned-actor Jason Lewis. It's been rumored for weeks that Aniston, 38, and the 36-year-old "Sex and the City" stud have been dating. (OK! magazine)

The legal feud over the estate of James Brown is stalling the release of the soul legend's final recordings, his longtime adviser said. Brown cut an album in Los Angeles the summer before he died in December 2006, but the songs are not being released because of courtroom disputes about who should benefit from his legacy and music royalties, said attorney Buddy Dallas. There are also up to 60 other recordings in vaults, Dallas said. Brown's fourth son, Daryl, is one of five heirs trying to have their father's will voided because they say his former advisers - including Dallas - used undue influence to get the singer to create charitable trusts from which the advisers would profit. . . . And, the estate of Rick James has settled a lawsuit claiming that a music publishing company collected money from licensing his songs without permission. A trial was to begin next week. (AP)

"It's really about being realistic. No one is going to be an A-list movie star and make millions of dollars forever, you're just not." - Laura Linney, to Britain's Observer about actresses obsessing about age.