RuPaul is the queen of all drag queens, but many of his fans might not know that that he has a king in his court – someone he calls his “partner for life.”

Ru stopped by Access Hollywood recently and chatted with Kit Hoover about the loves of his life, which include “Judge Judy,” burnt toast, a special someone named Jimmy and an unidentified partner.

“I have a stuffed donkey named Jimmy that I have slept with every night for the past 26 years,” the “RuPaul’s Drag Race” host and singer told Kit.

The 51-year-old star might have spent many quality years with Jimmy the donkey, but when it comes to really capturing Ru’s heart, that honor goes to a man with a bit of cowboy in him.

“There’s a man… we were committed for many years. We split up, but we’ve never really quite split up,” he explained. “He is the love of my life. He has a ranch in Wyoming.”

Ru said his idea of what exactly a relationship is has evolved over the years.

“As you get older, you realize that sort of the form that relationships take on, ones you grew up with, you grow out of that. You become more relaxed,” he continued. “He is my partner for life, but if I need to have burnt toast with another gentleman other than Jimmy and Judge Judy, then so be it.”

The star, who is not exactly known for his low-key ways, said he enjoys escaping to his partner’s ranch and kicking off his heels and tossing aside the wigs.

“It’s very quiet [there.] I get to read a lot, I watch a lot of movies. I don’t do any of the hard labor or anything like that,” he said with a laugh.

With a hit Logo series in its fourth season, Ru has not been able to do one of his favorite things, but that’s all about to change this spring.

“I’m going to be going to Australia in March and kicking off this tour… I’m excited, because the live connection with the audience and being able to look into their eyes and look back at their cell phones looking at me, going, ‘You’re going to be on YouTube in five minutes!’” he told Kit.

And despite the evolving music industry and its many financial challenges, Ru will continue to “work it” for years to come.

“There’s not a lot of money to be made in music right now. It’s very tough because everybody just downloads it for free,” he explained. “It’s my passion and I love it. I’ll continue to do it forever!”

Catch “RuPaul’s Drag Race” Mondays a 9 PM on Logo.

Todd Phillips’ Green Hat Films will stay at Warner Bros. for at least another two years, the studio said Monday.

Phillips directed and produced “The Hangover” and wrote, directed and produced the sequel, “The Hangover Part II.”

“Todd’s been a cherished member of the Warner family for a long time, and the comedic genius he’s brought to the big screen has made for an extraordinarily successful partnership, Jeff Robinov, president of Warner Bros. Pictures Group, said in a statement. “We’re excited to extend our relationship and eagerly anticipate more great movies.”

He’s been more than a cherished member of the family — he’s been a profitable one.

Also read: ‘Hangover’ Director Todd Phillips Verbally Man-Handles Blogger (Video)

The three films Phillips made under his initial deal generated more than $1.2 billion worldwide. “The Hangover,” in 2009, was the highest-grossing R-rated comedy domestically and worldwide. Its 2011 sequel surpassed that and, with $581 million worldwide, has the highest box-office of any R-rated comedy ever.

His slate of upcoming films includes “Mule,” based on Tony D’Souza’s novel about a couple who sell drugs to make it through the recession; “Arms and the Dudes,” based on a “Rolling Stone” article about two stoners who become arms dealers — until the Pentabgon turns on them; “The Island” and “Million Dollar Strong,” based on the YouTube and FunnyOrDie videos “What’s It Gonna Be.”

In addition to “The Hangover” movies, Phillips wrote, directed and produced Warner’s 2010 comedy “Due Date,” starring Robert Downey, Jr. and Zach Galifianakis as unlikely travel companions who have to take a cross-country road trip together.

Judging by the applause inside the room at the Oscar Nominees Luncheon, Max von Sydow had better prepare a place on his mantle for the Best Supporting Actor trophy he’ll win on February 26.

One of the time-honored rituals of the luncheon, of which Monday’s was the 32nd, is the procession of nominees to the stage to receive their certificates of nomination and their official Oscar Nominee Sweatshirts. Considering that the room is filled with Oscar voters — nominees and Academy officials included — gauging the applause level can be something of a parlor game for those trying to figure out who the favorites are.

By that standard, von Sydow (above, with George Clooney) was the clear winner, drawing the afternoon’s only standing ovation when he came to the stage very late in the lengthy, alphabetical roll call of 150 nominees.

Also read: Oscar Nominees: Rooney Mara Dishes on Nude Scenes, Brad Pitt on Pranks, George Clooney

But don’t jump to conclusions, because the main competition to von Sydow’s performance in “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close,” and the man who has won most of the precursor awards so far, is Christopher Plummer from “Beginners” – and Plummer was one of only two acting nominees who couldn’t make it to the lunch, killing the chance for a head-to-head applause-meter showdown between the two.

(Jessica Chastain was the other MIA acting nominee.)

Besides, the Nominees Luncheon is hardly an accurate sample. Instead, it’s one of the most relaxed events on the Oscar calendar, a collegial afternoon in which nominees are seated at random across the ballroom of the Beverly Hilton Hotel, with nobody sitting at the same table as anyone from his or her movie, or category.

It is, said Academy president Tom Sherak in his introductory remarks, “the last time you’ll be rooting for each other.”

They did just that after posing for the annual “class photo,” with 150 nominees (one shy of last year’s record total) standing on risers and applauding for each other as they went to the stage.

The actors often bunched together on the riser: Brad Pitt, Meryl Streep and Rooney Mara side-by-side on the top row, George Clooney, Jean Dujardin and Glenn Close together down lower.

Close made a big, theatrical bow to her fellow nominees when she was called to the stage by Academy chief operating officer Ric Robertson, while the nominees with the misfortune to have names that fell near the end of the alphabet slowly grouped together as the risers emptied.

“Rango” director Gore Verbinski, documentary director Lucy Walker, “Ides of March” writer Beau Willimon, “Kung Fu Panda 2″ director Jennifer Yuh Nelson and actress Michelle Williams were among the last to receive their certificates – but the final slot went to “Moneyball” screenwriter Steve Zaillian, who’d spent the entire time leaning against the railing at the end of the top row, well aware that his alphabetic misfortune meant a long wait.

This year’s turnout fell one short of last year’s record of 151 nominees, and included a few tidbits from Sherak and show producers Brian Grazer and Don Mischer about the upcoming Oscars.

For one thing, Grazer told the nominees that host Billy Crystal will be doing an opening film “that includes all of you and all of your films.”

He said the Kodak will be reconfigured “to look like a classic movie theater, like the Village or the Pantages.”

Sherak said that the post-show Governors Ball will be designed for mingling, which means that the traditional sit-down dinner aspect of the party will de-emphasized in favor of open spaces for socializing.

(The Academy tried that once before, in 2008, with buffet lines and common spaces rather than assigned tables and waiter service.)

And Grazer said that his and Mischer’s goals for the Oscar show were “to be funny, to have some class and to be on time.”

The last goal called for another Nominees Luncheon tradition, the admonition to deliver short, emotional acceptance speeches and never, ever pull out a list of names. If the past is any indication, the producers’ words (and the accompanying Tom Hanks video) will prove to have fallen on deaf ears in at least some corners of the room.

While nominees like George Clooney and Meryl Streep were old hands at the luncheon rituals, others were wide-eyed newcomers – few more so than Brazilian music legend Sergio Mendes, who turns 71 on Saturday and who said he hasn’t been to the Oscars since he performed on the show in 1968.

This year, Mendes is nominated for co-writing a song from the animated film “Rio,” and the huge grin never left his face as he collected his certificate and sweatshirt (they only come in XL, so it’ll be way too big for him), chatted with Michel Hazanavicius, Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo from “The Artist” and then spotted a favorite director.

“I have to meet Steven Spielberg,” said Mendes – who, after introductions were made, engaged in an animated conversation with the director.

Elsewhere at the luncheon, George Clooney huddled with Harvey Weinstein outside the men’s room, a logjam developed around Meryl Streep’s table, and “The Descendants” producer Jim Burke made plans for the next stop on the awards circuit: the AARP Awards on Monday night.

Two weeks after her hospitalization after a reported night of partying, Demi Moore has been placed in celebrity-friendly rehab facility Cirque Lodge in Utah — and she has some noteworthy company in the form of Charlie Sheen’s ex-wife, Brooke Mueller, Radar Online reports.

Moore, 49, is reportedly seeking treatment for substance abuse and an eating disorder at the facility, which in the past has reportedly played host to such high-profile patients as Eva Mendes and Lindsay Lohan.

Mueller has reportedly been seeking treatment for cocaine addiction at Cirque Lodge, according to Radar.

However, a source tells the web site that Moore, 49, has not crossed paths with Mueller — or anyone else there, for that matter –because she’s still in the early stages of her treatment.

“She hasn’t had any interaction with other patients yet,” the source said. “She is still in detox at the moment.”

Moore was hospitalized on Jan. 23, after emergency workers responded to a 911 call that was placed at 10:45 p.m. TMZ reported that a friend of Moore’s told paramedics she had over-indulged in nitrous oxide — also referred to as whip-its — though in the 911 call a woman told the dispatcher that the actress had smoked something. According to the caller, the substance wan’t marijuana, but something similar to incense.

Following Moore’s hospitalization, her representative told TheWrap that the actress would seek treatment for “exhaustion,” citing “the stresses in her life right now.

“Because of the stresses in her life right now, Demi has chosen to seek professional assistance to treat her exhaustion and improve her overall health,” the representative said. “She looks forward to getting well and is grateful for the support of her family and friends.”

Moore’s hospitalization came shortly after her November 2011 announcement that she was divorcing her husband of six years, Ashton Kutcher, after six years of marriage amid reports that Kutcher had cheated on Moore.

“[T]here are certain values and vows that I hold sacred,” Moore said in the statement announcing the divorce.

It’s not exactly the same, but in the same way that some viewers tune into auto races in hopes of seeing a crash, many of us turn on the Super Bowl hoping to see … well, something go other than the way it was planned.

For that sort of fan, the “Star Spangled Banner” had to be a letdown, because Kelly Clarkson nailed it Sunday at the Super Bowl. Here’s the video, and below it, for you car crash fans out there, is the video of Christina Aguilera’s mangling of the National Anthem from last year.

There was exactly one shocking moment during Madonna’s Super Bowl halftime show — and it was only shocking to people who heard her wrong.

At one point during “Music,” her second song, it sounded like might have said the word “cock.” (At least, it sounded that way to those of us who used to think “Scuze me while I kiss this guy” was a line in “Purple Haze.”) A fast rewind confirmed she didn’t say the word — or any others that might get anyone angry. She stuck to the lyrics of “Music,” including the line: “Don’t think of yesterday and I don’t look at the clock.”

Yes, clock. She delivered the “ock” part of the word with her typically crisp elocuction.

And that was as close as she got to doing anything nefarious during the halftime show. Her cartwheels briefly revealed the elaborate undergarment under her black skirt, but it was no more revealing than the cheerleading routines she was tweaking. Her tight top left zero risk of a Janet Jackson-like wardrobe malfunction — and she promised last week that there wouldn’t be one.

The show went according to her ambitious plan, without violating the delicate sensibilities of anyone at home.

She was led to the stage by musclebound men dressed like Trojans, wore a Valkyrie-like headdress, and shared the stage gracefully with LMFAO, Nicki Minaj and M.I.A. (both similarly dressed like futuristic Nordic-Romanic cheerleaders) and Cee Lo Green, in a nice little promotional tie-in for NBC. He’s one of the judges on “The Voice,” the season 2 premiere of which got the catseat slot right after the game.

Twitter responses were fiercely split, but it’s hard to imagine what she could have done differently to win over the non-fans. If you like Madonna, chances are you liked her wild, genre-twisting performance. There was no arguing with her song selection, including her new “Give Me All Your Luvin” and “Like a Prayer,” which featured the obligatory marching band and choir.

The first of four films of Suzanne Collins’ massively popular three-book series The Hunger Games, about two dozen children randomly chosen to compete for survival, opens March 23 on more than 4,000 screens across the country (as with Twilight and Harry Potter, the final book will be split into two films). The film’s reception could determine whether its stars — Jennifer Lawrence, 21; Josh Hutcherson, 19; and Liam Hemsworth, 22 — ascend to Kristen Stewart-Robert Pattinson-Taylor Lautner superstardom and fill the gap opening as Twilight heads toward its final chapter.

For Lionsgate, which has struggled recently at the box office (Abduction, Conan the Barbarian), Games is its first major test since acquiring Summit Entertainment, the studio behind The Twilight Saga franchise, in January — a move that yokes together execs responsible for the most recent youth phenomenon with those hoping to launch the next. Games’ success could impact the future of many at Lionsgate, all eager to claim credit for the Collins adaptation, now that the film division has named Summit’s Robert Friedman and Patrick Wachsberger to run it.
PHOTOS: Behind the Scenes of THR’s Hunger Games Cover Shoot

“After the trailer launched Nov. 14, we had 8 million views in the first 24 hours,” says Lionsgate Films president Joe Drake. “We were the number one Twitter trend on the planet. Since then, the book sales have jumped 7.5 million copies. That kind of data gives us enormous confidence.”

Hollywood Reporter executive editor, features, Stephen Galloway, was tasked with talking to director Gary Ross and cast on the cusp of their potential superstardom. The Oscar-nominated Ross and others close to the movie revealed many previously unknown secrets surrounding the highly-anticipated film.

1. JENNIFER LAWRENCE TOOK THREE DAYS TO SAY YES TO THE ROLE OF KATNISS

Numerous actresses were considered for the lead — among them Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit), Shailene Woodley (The Descendants) and Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine) — but Ross never felt he had the right person. Then he met Lawrence, fresh off an Oscar nomination for Winter’s Bone, the 2010 indie release that put her on the map. But Lawrence hesitated, aware this could take her from being respected by her peers to the center of a pop-culture tornado — precisely the fate that had befallen Stewart with Twilight. “It was the middle of the night in England, and I was in bed when I got the call,” she remembers. “And I was so in love with the books and the script, and suddenly it was right in my face — and the size of the decision was terrifying.”

Her mom helped in the decision. “I called my mom and she called me a hypocrite, because when I was doing indie movies and everyone was asking why I didn’t do studio movies, I said, ‘The size of the movie doesn’t matter.’ And she said, ‘Here’s a movie you love and you were thinking of turning it down because of its size.’ I thought, ‘I don’t want to miss out because I’m scared. Me being scared, I never want that to stop me fromdoing something.’ But I knew in my heart that I wanted it — it was about working out all the fears.”

2. SO HOW MUCH IS LAWRENCE GETTING PAID?


Lawrence’s salary for the first film is a modest $500,000 (about what Stewart received for the first Twilight), plus “escalators,” bonuses based on the movie’s performance.
3. DIRECTOR GARY ROSS AND PRODUCER NINA JACOBSEN HAD STEEP COMPETITION


An Oscar-nominated writer for 1988’s Big and 1993’s Dave, Ross grew up in Hollywood, the son of Arthur A. Ross, writer of Creature From the Black Lagoon. Ross was used to a comfortable life with his wife, producer Allison Thomas (The Tale of Despereaux), writing in the morning, working out in the afternoon and earning several hundred thousand dollars per month as one of Hollywood’s top script doctors. Every film he’d helmed (including 1998’s Pleasantville) had come from his own mind; he’d never had to compete as a director-for-hire — let alone against Sam Mendes (American Beauty) and David Slade (Twilight: Eclipse), who also were salivating after the job. Ross, being paid in the $3-4 million range, fought hard for his right to be behind the camera. “I hadn’t seen a piece of material that touched the culture and moved me the same way in a very long time,” he explains. “And if you fully commit, you fully commit.”
Q&A: ‘Hunger Games’ Jennifer Lawrence: A Brand New Superstar

And he wasn’t alone in his fight for the right to create the world of Panem. Jacobson, who has produced movies such as One Day and the Diary of a Wimpy Kid franchise, obtained the book’s rights against fierce competition from the likes of Ridley Scott.

4. HOW MUCH THE MOVIE COST

Lionsgate operated on a really, really tight budget. True, it was handing Collins hundreds of thousands to option her novels (and will end up paying her millions if the film succeeds), but it was hoping to make Games for $60 million — more than the $35 million Summit had paid for Twilight, but negligible for a tentpole that needed months on location and 1,200 CGI shots. Ross wrote a script that would give the material its due without costing a fortune (the picture eventually came in at slightly over $90 million, reduced to $78 million after subsidies). He drew on his familiarity with such intimidating places as China’s Tiananmen Square and the architectural form known as Brutalism when it came to conceiving the Capitol — the city at the center of Collins’ brave new world of Panem, set hundreds of years in the future.

5. THE LEAD TRIO IS CONTRACTED FOR ENTIRE FRANCHISE


Ross already is committed to the first sequel, Catching Fire, which he hopes to start shooting in September from a script by Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire), and the three young stars all are signed up for the full franchise.

6. LAWRENCE’S ACCIDENT ALMOST HALTED FILMING OF ‘HUNGER GAMES

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On the last day of her six-week training phase, in which she’d become an expert at using a bow and arrow, climbing and jumping, Lawrence hit a wall — literally. “I had to do 10 ‘wall runs,’ where you run at the wall as hard as you can to get traction,” she recalls, explaining that her trainer would make her race at a wall with maximum speed to gain the momentum needed to propel her up. “I ran at it and my foot didn’t go up, so I caught the wall with my stomach. My trainer thought I had burst my spleen. I had to get a CAT scan and go into a tube where they put this fiery liquid in your body.” Fortunately, she was in great shape from her previous film. “I was still pretty bulked up from X-Men: First Class,” she says. “So a lot of the training was getting muscle back, heightening the muscles without building them. I loved the archery — well, I have a love-hate relationship with it.” With her trainer holding her hand, Lawrence learned she was badly bruised but nothing was broken — and work could continue.

7. THE ‘HUNGER GAMES’ SET HAD 100-DEGREE HEAT AND BEARS


There were bears. Some 300 of them living in the woods, and they would come out at the slightest scent of food. And there was the 100-degree heat and the rain that showered down daily, almost precisely at 4 p.m., at least giving Ross the chance to give his team a break. Between the rain and losing light early behind the trees, “we’d only get to shoot four or five hours a day,” he says. But Jacobson says Ross was never ruffled. Adds Hutcherson, “He always had a smile on his face” — even during the hardest moments.

8. THE ‘HUNGER GAMES’ CAST HAVE NOT SEEN THE FILM YET


Investors have pushed the Lionsgate stock up in the weeks since the Summit deal, partly because they think combining Twilight’s executives with the Games fan base will work magic for this new franchise. But few people — and none of the cast — have yet seen the finished film, despite a worldwide marketing campaign that ranges from action figures to nail polish. Everyone, everywhere, is waiting to see if the movie delivers.
9. LIAM HEMSWORTH’S BROTHER TOLD HIM TO LOSE WEIGHT


”My brother Chris texted me before shooting and told me to lose weight. He said, ‘It’s called The Hunger Games, not The Eating Games!’ “

It was just announced that James Wan and Leigh Whannell have agreed to return for an Insidious sequel, slated for a 2013 release.

Although nothing is known about the plot, when I caught up with James and Leigh late last year at The Scream Awards, this is what they told me about a then-theoretical sequel.

“If we did Insidious 2, Patrick [Wilson] and [Rose] Byrne would have to come back,” they concurred.

It’s an understatement to say the bar was set high by the original as Leigh rightfully added, “We set out to make the scariest movie of the decade and I think we accomplished that.”

At this time of year, when the studios mostly schedule generic programmers and dump the turkeys for which they once had higher hopes, it’s a pleasure to find a movie that’s a couple notches better than it had to be.

That would be “Big Miracle,” a family-friendly drama inspired by the true story of highly publicized efforts in 1988 to free three gray whales trapped inland by ice in Alaska near the Arctic Circle.

One doesn’t want to oversell the movie — no one is going to be mentioning this one come Oscar time next year — but if you’re looking for a passable film to take the kids to this weekend, “Miracle” offers a smart enough take on its feel-good plot to keep adult viewers tuned in.

The movie’s basic story is grounded in fact: in the fall of 1988, the attempts to free three, trapped whales, an adult male and female and their baby, in tiny Barrow, Alaska, turned into a huge international story.

The film, directed by Ken Kwapis (“He’s Just Not That Into You”), focuses on various folk, some based on real persons and some fictional, who are trying to free the whales.

They include Adam Karlson (John Krasinski), a nice guy local TV reporter; Rachel Kramer (Drew Barrymore), a Greenpeace advocate who is Adam’s former girlfriend; J.W. McGraw (Ted Danson), an oil company bigwig who aids the rescue effort; and Nathan (Ahmaogak Sweeney), a local Eskimo boy whose grandfather is trying to teach him the old ways.

The cast is competent, with Barrymore and Danson making the biggest impressions. She does so by giving her underwritten heroine edge, portraying her as sometimes irritating and over-zealous, and he with his amusing strutting as a puffed-up, smirking captain of industry.

What “Miracle” does especially well is to mix inspiration with hard-nosed politics. It makes clear that while trying to save the whales was laudable and a publicity coup for its various participants, the financial cost –in the millions– was exorbitant.

It also deftly illustrates how varying, and sometimes opposing, political agendas come into play as each group tries to use the rescue effort to their own advantage. The White House (during the final months of the Reagan administration) hopes to enhance its dismal environmental record by encouraging the rescue efforts. Greenpeace sees a chance to raise its profile, an oil company wants to generate positive publicity, and the indigenous population of Barrow profits from the sudden influx of reporters by charging exorbitant rates for hotels and food.

The movie is less effective in portraying the rekindled love story between Adam and Rachel, which gets short shrift amidst the rescue efforts and politics.

News junkies will be amused by, and feel nostalgia for, the many contemporaneous clips that pop up featuring bygone network news anchors, including Peter Jennings, Connie Chung, Dan Rather and Tom Brokaw.

And near the end of the movie, there is a humdinger of a Sarah Palin joke that’s all the more effective because it is slipped in without fanfare and will go unnoticed by those unfamiliar with her brief stint as a TV sports anchor early in her career.

“The Hunger Games” is getting a limited IMAX run, Lionsgate said on Thursday.

The hotly anticipated adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ dystopian novel will only unspool in the big screen format for one week, starting on March 23, 2012.

The film will be remastered for IMAX screens.

Set in a post-apocalyptic future, the film centers on a group of young people who are forced to battle to the death in televised combat.

Jennifer Lawrence (“Winter’s Bone”), Josh Hutcherson (“The Kids Are All Right”), and Liam Hemsworth (“The Last Song”) star in the Gary Ross film.