Actor Joel Kinnaman was initially leery about taking on the role of cyborg cop Alex Murphy in the "

Speaking with MTV News, Kinnaman says that when he was first offered the part, "I was actually a little hesitant and I told them I don't think that's a good fit for me." But when he found out who was directing the film, Kinnaman jumped at the chance to suit up.

With just over a month to go before "The Hollywood Reporter, director Robert Scwhentke has been tapped to helm the film.

"Insurgent" will be an action-packed follow-up to the first film in the "Divergent" trilogy, and as previously noted, the story could use a director with expansive, imaginative vision to bring it to the big screen. (Without spoiling anything for those who haven't read the books, suffice to say that "Insurgent" widens the lens on the broken society that heroine Tris inhabits, with an action-packed plotline that's both bolder and bleaker than that of its predecessor.)

With a short resumé that's heavy on the action-comedy oeuvre — among other things, he's the man responsible for the world's most entertaining explosion sequence to involve John Malkovich and a rocket launcher — Schwentke is an interesting choice for a dystopian teen thriller that's much more gritty than it is whimsical. His most recent movie was last summer's "R.I.P.D.," which started out with a fun and compelling concept but suffered from a dodgy script and lack of development on pretty much all fronts.

But the director has also proved himself adept at bringing complicated and beloved literary source material to the big screen, most notably with "The Time Traveler's Wife" in 2009. With the right people at his side — most notably Akiva Goldsman, whose skills and experience with futuristic urban dramas will be put to great use on the "Insurgent" script — Schwentke's eye for action and sense of story could be just what the franchise needs.

"Insurgent" will be out in ...

Pharrell Williams and Bruno Mars both have plenty to be happy about this week. While the Grammy-winning master of hats appears poised to break Katy Perry's grip on the top of the Billboard Digital Songs chart, Mars finally got the post-Super Bowl halftime bump he was looking for.

Skateboard P Aims For The Top
Katy Perry has had a lock on the singles charts for much of this year, selling more than two million copies of "Dark Horse" and topping the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks in a row.

But Pharrell is breathing down her neck on the Billboard Digital Songs chart and seems poised to snatch the top spot from her soon. As "Dark Horse" celebrated another week at the peak of the Digital and iTunes singles chart, it was down 22 percent to 291,000 on the Billboard tally, while Pharrell's Oscar-nominated "Happy" had a big week.

As "Horse" appears to be slowing down, P's "Despicable Me 2" hit was up 15 percent and one spot to #2 on sales of 252,000, rising in the lead-up to his 
performance of the song
 at the March 2 Academy Awards ceremony.

Menzel Lets it Go Top 10
The rest of the top 10 was pretty much the same, with Jason DeRulo's "Talk Dirty" down one to #3 (242,000), Passenger's "Let Her Go" at #4 (182,000) and A Great Big World's "Say Something" at #5 (171,000).

The biggest movie was Broadway star Idina Menzel's "Let It Go," which shot up 10 spots to #6 on sales of 138,000. Lorde rounded out the top ...

Aside from being a top MC, Rick Ross is a passionate hip-hop fan, with a keen sense of history. So while it probably wasn't deliberate that his star-studded Tuesday night listening session for his upcoming Mastermind LP looked like a scene from the Fugees' "Killing Me Softly" video — it was definitely fitting.

Hip-hop heavyweights including DJ Khaled, Meek Mill, Fabolous, Swizz Beatz and Busta Rhymes gathered inside New World Stages, an off-Broadway theater in New York where people used to flock to watch discount movies in the late-1990s.

Fans, industry notables and rap stars filled the rows with drinks in hand, mingling, laughing and playing catch-up — much like Lauryn Hill, Wyclef and Pras did back in 1996 for their classic video, which featured '90s acts like De La Soul, the Outsiderz and Fat Man Scoop. All focus shifted to the large screen though once Khaled took the stage to deliver a message to all press in attendance. "This is a motherf--kin' classic," he said, asking with signature hype to be quoted verbatim.

Ross than briefly addressed the crowd, before the lights went low and the booming thump of "Rich Is Gangsta" played through the speakers. At the same time, images of successful entertainers and entrepreneurs like Jay Z, Beyoncé, Oprah Winfrey and late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs flashed across the screen.

For each track from Mastermind, officially dropping March 4, Rozay's team curated a customized reel of potent still images meant to accentuate the music. "Drug Dealer's Dream" was paired with an overwhelming amount of jail imagery. For one very ...

It's no secret that Lady Gaga is a huge fan of the "Real Housewives" franchise. She admitted last September that she's hooked on "all the cities" during a visit to Bravo's "Watch What Happens Live."

Well, it sounds like she made her "Real Housewives" superfandom into a reality recently when she got together with the Beverly Hills cast to film a top secret music video. According to US Magazine, Gaga shared a soundstage with Lisa Vanderpump, Kyle Richards, Kim Richards, Brandi Glanville, Yolanda Foster, Joyce Giraud de Ohoven and Carlton Gebbia during the shoot.

The video was reportedly filmed just after the recent "Housewives" reunion, though a spokesperson for Gaga's label could not be reached at press time for additional details.

So, after ditching "Venus" and failing to launch
 the clip for the R. Kelly duet 
 that leaves us wondering what single Gaga might be promoting with her platinum-plated new besties?

Some possibilities:

"MANiCURE"
This seems like the most likely choice. The banging dance rock tune is all about the kind of pampering Brandi and the gang know all about. "Put some lipstick on/Perfume your neck, and slip your high heels on/Rinse and curl your hair/Loosen your hips and get a dress to wear," Mother Monster sings.

Like Gaga, if anything, the "Housewives" are just "addicted to love."

"Fashion"
Again, if the "Housewives" know anything it's all about "looking good and feeling fine" and being a slave to fashion. They also step into every room like it's a catwalk (or a catfight, whatever), live to display their diamonds and pearls, hoard ...

Bestselling young adult author Lauren Oliver is out with a new book titled "Panic" this spring and it's based on a pretty obscure Grimm's fairytale.

"[The story is called] something like 'The Boy Who Went Forth to Learn About the Shivers,'" Oliver said. "In that story the whole point is that [the boy] is too 'simple' to know what fear is, and it kind of got me interested in what — other than a traditional definition of bravery — would make somebody more capable or less capable of overcoming fear?"

And thus, "Panic" was born. The book tells the tale of the small, poor town of Carp, New York, where every year graduating seniors compete in a game in which competitors are tasked with increasingly terrifying challenges. Points are deducted when contestants show fear and the winner, ultimately, scores a $50,000 pot of cash collected from every student over the course of the year.

"The book basically follows two points of view, Heather and Dodge, who are competitors and who are playing for very different reasons," Oliver said.

Oliver describes Heather as an "every girl" who doesn't really think she can win Panic, but sticks it out anyway to give her sister a better life.

"She's the one that I hope that readers will really identify with," Oliver said. "Her growth and learning not just to confront the panic, the fear, that comes during the challenges in Panic, but also, you know, deeper fears about her future and her worth and all of that."

Outsider Dodge, Oliver said, is competing for a darker reason. ...