The fickle world of entertainment can be a circus sometimes. Today the New York Times threw a few jabs at media mogul Oprah Winfrey, citing a drop in ratings and noting some criticism she’s receiving on recent decisions, including her political endorsement of Barack Obama. 

Should we be worried? Probably not. Oprah never did like Hip-Hop much, and she’s still one of the most influential women in the world. Just goes to show that building a solid foundation gives you room to make up your own mind – whether others agree or not!

Speaking of solid, the new Indiana Jones movie had the second biggest box office opening in history at $143 million. Sure it beat out Iron Man’s first weekend numbers, but it is the fourth movie in a very successful series (Raiders of the Lost Ark was released 27 years ago!). Can’t mess with that!

This week in the Hollywood Shuffle we have three vets making some new moves, and an up-and-comer on his way to building that foundation!

Jada Pinkett Smith takes the drivers seat on new flick, The Wire’s Tristan Wilds gives 90210 a new look, Spike Lee has some interesting production plans and Samuel Jackson does the unthinkable!

Jada Pinkett Smith Debuts at Film Festival

Where there’s a Will there’s a Jada. That seems to be the mantra for how the Smith family keep the films coming like clockwise. Jada Pinkett Smith recently made her directorial debut at the Cannes Film Festival with a film she wrote and stars in titled The Human Contract.

Like the actress-turned-director herself, the sexy film also starring Jason Clarke of Brotherhood, Paz Vega, Ted Danson and Idris Elba centers around a mega-successful businessman named Julian whose life is ripped apart by a secret he keeps from the rest of the world.

The film already has some heavyweights behind it, including Pinkett’s husband Will Smith as Executive Producer, along with James Lassiter, Ken Stovitz, David Grasso and David Dinenberg.

Jada is also coming out in theatres this Fall on September 12 alongside Meg Ryan, Eva Mendes and Annette Bening in The Women.

Spike Lee Producing Michael Jordan Film

After debuting his new G-Shock watches in New York this month, Director/producer Spike Lee jetted out to the Cannes Film Festival, and announced his plans to make a new movie based on the life of Michael Jordan.

The movie will be funded by the NBA, and will include exclusive footage taken by their cameras – unlike Spike’s other documentary, announced last month, which will be filmed exclusively with Nokia cell phones. No word on an official release date yet on either movie.

Samuel L. Jackson Stars in Unthinkable

Don’t go trying to blow up the spot with Samuel L. Jackson around, or he just might do the unthinkable. In fact, Marco Weber, President of Senator Entertainment, and the film's producer Caldecot Chubb are banking on Jackson doing just that in the suspense thriller Unthinkable, penned by Peter Woodward.

When a major threat is posed to the U.S. and the locations of three nuclear devices are kept in secrecy by a single terrorist, a Black-ops interrogator played by Jackson and a female FBI agent have to decide how far they will go to find the weapons, with only two days before they are deployed.  The production is set to begin filming in September in Michigan.

Tristan Wilds Takes On 90210

Looks like Tristan Wilds, a.k.a. Michael Lee of HBO's The Wire fame, isn’t just changing America’s perception of life on the tough streets of Baltimore. In his new role on CW’s revamped Beverly Hills, 90210, Wilds, the first ever permanent Black cast member, will play Dixon, the adopted son of a Caucasian family.

Dixon’s adoptive family consists of drunken grandmother Tabitha Mills (Jessica Walter), her daughter-in-law Celia (Lori Loughlin) and granddaughter Annie (Shenae Grimes). The family has moved to Beverly Hills because of Tabitha's alcoholism.

I’m still trying to figure this one out. It’s like a crackhead moving to the streets of B’More to escape drug and crime, huh? I don’t know, but let’s hope the new zip code is a good move for this very talented up-and-coming young actor.