News

In a season full of expensive action movies, the love lives of celebrities -- Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes -- are giving Hollywood executives their biggest headaches and sending the stars headlong into damage control.

The stakes are huge for the studios with $100 million-plus film production costs and the stars who could see millions cut from future paychecks if their careers start to slide.

In an unusual move, Jolie's attorney asked reporters attending a news conference this week to sign broad agreements saying that her comments would "not be used in a manner that is disparaging, demeaning or derogatory." The proposed pact threatened legal action for violating its terms.

Jolie stars in this Friday's thriller Mr & Mrs Smith alongside Brad Pitt with whom she has been romantically linked in numerous news and magazine stories.

The actress has denied intimacy with Pitt, who is in the midst of a divorce with his wife, actress Jennifer Aniston. At the news conference, Jolie did not discuss her relationship with her co-star but did speak out about the publicity.

"Certainly, this one has been ridiculous in how much attention has been paid," she said.

When asked how about their onscreen chemistry, Pitt went on a comic riff about the film's other star, Vince Vaughn, saying the energy between them "was palpable" and later adding Vaughn was a "handsome, handsome fellow. Tender lover."

Mr & Mrs Smith is being released by Twentieth Century Fox at an estimated cost of around $100 million to make. Fox declined to comment about its marketing efforts.