Even though the original Star Wars trilogy of films ended 27 years ago, and the prequels completed their run in 2005, George Lucas’ epic franchise continues on in comics, novels, video games, toys and television. And maybe no more so than with Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the animated series that begins its third season on Cartoon Network next Friday night, Sept. 17, with two back-to-back new episodes. (For those who want to catch up, the first season is out on DVD and Blu-ray now, and the second season is set for an Oct. 26 release.) Set between the last two prequels — Episode II: Attack of the Clones and Episode III: Revenge of the Sith — The Clone Wars follows Jedi knights such as Anakin Skywalker (before he crosses over to the dark side and inevitably becomes Darth Vader), his apprentice Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda, as well as a whole mess of Republic clone troopers, as they keep the galaxy safe from Sith lords like Darth Sidious and Count Dooku, the Separatists and their droid army. And since the Star Wars universe is so expansive, the show has found a way to introduce new characters and reintroduce old favorites. “It’s an excellent time to actually have a Star Wars television series because you can touch upon not just those prequel characters, but you can show characters or events that affect things in the future, which is actually the original trilogy,” says Dave Filoni, directing supervisor for The Clone Wars and the man who works with Lucas in keeping Star Wars stories headed in the right direction. Read below for an extended interview with Filoni about the state of Star Wars in 2010 and what’s up with the third season of Clone Wars. (While hardcore fans may know who all these characters are, click the character links if you need to get up to speed via the StarWars.com Databank.) Also, check out this exclusive clip from the “ARC Troopers” episode — featuring the evil General Grievous and the Sith assassin Asajj Ventress — and go here for a clip from the “Clone Cadets” episode, also premiering next Friday.

Art courtesy of Lucasfilm

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If the extent of your on-screen cheerleading knowledge is limited to Bring It On and what the camera catches on the sidelines of televised football games, prepare to have your mind do somersaults. Premiering tomorrow night on The CW, Hellcats — an entertaining new series executive-produced by Smallville star Tom Welling — features Aly Michalka as Marti, a pre-law college student who loses her scholarship and has to resort to joining a talented squad of cheerleading guys and gals in order to pay for school. But it’s not all backflips and cartwheels, as Marti has to deal with her caring but flighty mom (Gail O’Grady); a brewing love triangle between her, her friend Dan (Matt Barr) and male cheerleader Lewis (Robbie Jones); and the Hellcats captain Savannah (Ashley Tisdale), who’s rubbed the wrong way by Marti’s initial distaste for all things cheerleading. A vet of Disney Channel shows and movies — and daughter of a one-time Raiderette — Michalka also is one-half of the music group 78violent (formerly Aly & AJ) with her sister Amanda, and she stars alongside Emma Stone in the upcoming comedy Easy A, in theaters Sept 17 (click here for a clip). Read below for what Michalka has to say about doing all those cheerleading stunts, what’s next for her character (beware for some minor spoilers) and what she does on location in Vancouver for fun, and check out this clip from tomorrow’s season premiere of Hellcats.

Photos courtesy of The CW

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I’ve always thought Ben Affleck was a good dude, and he’s made some pretty good flicks over the years. Armageddon was apocalyptically cool, Paycheck was neat, and he was a welcome appearance in many a Kevin Smith movie. His career has had a resurgence of late, with his brilliant directorial effort Gone Baby Gone and its follow-up, The Town, opening in two weeks and starring Affleck, Jeremy Renner and Jon Hamm. Affleck graces our cover this weekend — with sunglasses, a five o’clock shadow and a teddy bear, to boot — and told Marco R. Della Cava in the cover story about how his days of living in the glare of paparazzi flashbulbs and big-budget-movie lights is much different than now. He’s busy raising two young girls with wife Jennifer Garner, drawing attention to the plight of Congolese refugees and reshaping a career with an eye toward directing, writing and acting. “When you read about stars you often get this brief snapshot, not a deep evaluation or analysis of who that person is,” Affleck tells us. “As a result, it was often hard to distinguish between a picture of me, and the real me. Between my real life and the life that was happening around me.” So while he couldn’t leave his house back during the “Bennifer” period (aka, his high-profile engagement to Jennifer Lopez), he has no problem just standing on busy L.A. thoroughfares relatively undisturbed today. “I just love what I’m doing these days, which is deeply satisfying,” he says. “When you work on things that you feel are connected to who you are as a person and an artist, it’s a wonderful feeling.” If you want to see the work he’s up to now, check out this clip from The Town featuring him and Renner.

We love it when stars spill the beans. “I’ve been asked to host Saturday Night Live next month,” Bryan Cranston, fresh from his Emmy win Sunday night, said on Wednesday’s broadcast of ESPN Radio’s Mason & Ireland. “I am so thrilled and excited and a little scared. It’s going to be fun.” NBC would not confirm Cranston’s gig, but the Breaking Bad actor said he will make his hosting debut on the Oct. 2 episode. “That is huge, huge, huge,” he said. “I don’t know what’s going on. I think in a past life, I must’ve been greatly mistreated because I don’t know why I’ve been so fortunate in this one.” – Ann Oldenburg

Even Dr. Oz isn’t immune to cancer scares. Yup, Dr. Mehmet Oz, who talks — and walks — the importance of a healthy lifestyle, went in for a routine colonoscopy after his 50th birthday in June and his doctor found an adenomatous polyp, or precancerous growth, inside his intestine. “This was a shakeup for me,” Oz tells People. “I have done everything right. I don’t have any family history, and yet I’m high risk now.” He says that if the polyp had been detected, it could have likely become colon cancer. “There’s a lot of tension,” he says. “It’s frustrating. Why did this happen to me? It forces you to question the assumptions you make about life.” He adds that the test probably “saved my life.” Oz will discuss his health scare on The Dr. Oz Show’s Sept. 7 season premiere. – Ann Oldenburg

Sandra Bullock sat down with Matt Lauer at Warren Easton Charter High School in Louisiana over the weekend, where she opened a health clinic, for an interview that will air tomorrow on Today and NBC just released a bit of the conversation. One of the things he asked about was her adoption of baby Louie from New Orleans. “He’s a little Cajun cookie,” says Bullock. Lauer asked about the long process of finalizing that adoption and Bullock said, “It felt— it felt like it was time, you know. And the process— the way that the process is, for a very, very good reason, and I did not circumvent. I wanted to do everything exactly the same way everyone else did. And— it was— he was always mine, you know. It wasn’t like I felt like someone was going to take him away. But it was nice to have someone say, I think you’re a fit parent.” She tells Lauer that she didn’t request any particular child — male, female, etc. She just had faith that the right baby would come along for her. “I think, everything works out the way the universe wants it to work out. And— and we— we had always said that it didn’t matter where the child came from. If they had issues that were medical issues, we didn’t care. It’s like the child that needed us in the home is the child that’s going to be placed.” – Ann Oldenburg

Breast cancer affects women and families all over the world, from celebrities to maybe your next-door neighbor. In fact, the disease takes the life of one woman every 69 seconds, an astonishing stat that leads to a mortality rate of 465,000 deaths per year. But there is optimism and hope to be found as awareness grows, and those ideas are celebrated in the docudrama 1 a Minute, directed by Indo-American actress — and breast cancer survivor — Namrata Singh Gujral. Narrated by Kelly McGillis, the film chronicles Gujral’s own life as she is diagnosed and treated for breast cancer, as well as interspersing personal tales from famous survivors such as Melissa Etheridge, Olivia Newton-John, Jaclyn Smith and Diahann Carroll, Susan G. Komen for the Cure founder Nancy G. Brinker, Dr. Deepak Chopra, and William and Daniel Baldwin, whose mom Carol M. Baldwin is a breast cancer survivor and started a family research fund for the disease. On Oct. 6, more than 525 theaters around the country will simulcast a live panel discussion that features Gujral, Etheridge, and Newton-John among others, followed by a world premiere showing of the film. Donations from the event will support Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Tickets are on sale starting today for the event, so go to the movie’s website for more info and check out this exclusive trailer for 1 a Minute.

It’s said the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and that’s too true for Patrick Fabian’s character in the horror movie The Last Exorcism, in theaters today and directed by Daniel Stamm. His Louisiana preacher Cotton Marcus has been pulling fake exorcisms for years in order to help rid people of their “demons” and decides to take a documentary crew as he goes on one final jaunt. But he quickly finds out that the possession of a young farm girl named Nell (Ashley Bell) may be far more real than he ever expected. It’s a signature role for Fabian, who has been kicking around for 20 years as a supporting actor on TV, in everything from Friends and Veronica Mars to Saved by the Bell: The College Years and Big Love. He stars alongside Helen Slater and Grace Gummer (the real-life daughter of Meryl Streep) in the TeenNick show Gigantic beginning in October, but he begins a new role as dad beginning mid-September. That’s when his wife, actress Mandy Steckelberg, is due with the couple’s first child, daughter Abbey Ray. (First name is for Abbey Road Studios in London; middle name is in honor of Steckelberg’s grandfather who ran a Western wear store and saddlery in Oacoma, S.D.) “Whether the movie’s a hit or not, I don’t think my daughter’s gonna care,” Fabian says with a laugh. I had a chance to talk with the Pennsylvania native about his role, his career and what he really thinks about exorcisms, so read below for our conversation and check out this clip featuring him and Bell in The Last Exorcism.

Photos courtesy of Mackel Vaughn, Lionsgate

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Take the coolness of James Earl Jones and the charisma of Denzel Washington, and you get some of what makes Idris Elba so dang watchable. The man always makes a statement on screen, be it as memorable drug dealer Stringer Bell on The Wire or the controlled Charles amid the buffoonery of The Office. He’s taking that presence — and his natural British accent — to the action film Takers, in theaters today. Co-starring with Hayden Christensen, Paul Walker, T.I., Chris Brown and others, Elba plays Gordon, the head of an upscale team of thieves who are planning to $20 million and avoid pesky cops along the way. “It’s a good character. He’s a slick, well-presented guy,” says Elba, a part-time musician in his off-screen life who’s planning on starting a radio show on his blog site. That is, if he finds the time: He’s executive-producing a psychological thriller called Legacy, appearing in a four-episode arc of Laura Linney’s new Showtime series The Big C, and premiering the BBC drama Luther, which he produces and stars in, on BBC America Oct. 17. In addition, he was just named as the next Alex Cross (taking over from Morgan Freeman) in upcoming movie adaptations featuring author James Patterson’s signature character. I talked with Elba recently for an item on our Who’s News page, but read below for his thoughts on crime dramas, comedy and playing a comic book character in next summer’s epic Thor. Also, check out this clip of him in Takers.

Photos courtesy of Screen Gems, BBC America

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Whenever I play Monopoly, I always make sure to hit the Boardwalk as soon as I can — usually in a pewter race car. (Hey, I’m like a large 10-year-old, what can I tell you.) It turns out Mr. Monopoly thinks along the same lines I do. The popular board game celebrates its 75th anniversary this year, and yesterday Monopoly hit Atlantic City (which inspired many of the game’s integral properties) in full force. More than 750,000 spectators were on hand to see Mr. Monopoly parachute out of a plane during the eighth annual “Thunder over the Boardwalk” air show — landing on a big “GO” space, naturally — to deliver the dice and money for an anniversary game lead by Charles Darrow, grandson of the original Charles Darrow who found fame with his game during the Great Depression. And there’s only more to come this year for Monopoly lovers: the game-changing (pun intended) Monopoly Revolution has hit stores and is a contemporary twist on the old classic; the Monopoly Streets video game hits consoles this fall; and Monopoly is coming to Facebook later this year as a game application for friends to play against one another.

Photo courtesy of HASBRO/Ray Stubblebine

The new horror film The Last Exorcism arrives in theaters at midnight tonight on screens all over the country, and even though it’s a relatively low-budget affair, the word of mouth on Twitter and other social media platforms has been largely positive. (You can read more of my thoughts on it here from when I saw it at Comic-Con.) All that is very exciting for German filmmaker Daniel Stamm, who was successful in his goal of avoiding a straight, conventional horror movie. “I pride myself in that it’s more sophisticated and more complicated than that,” he says. One other reason it works on a large scale: It stars actors you haven’t seen a million times before, such as Patrick Fabian, who plays preacher and skeptical exorcist Cotton Marcus, and newcomer Ashley Bell, as the possibly possessed farm girl Nell. “It has that purity and that authenticity and the immediacy, because you hopefully buy these characters as these people, and you don’t always see the actor who’s trying to overcome his or her own persona to get into the character,” says Stamm, who says he hopes his next film will be a supernatural thriller. He likes the genre, and he found possession to be a fascinating theme because it’s not an external scare like a hungry vampire or a snarling werewolf. “It’s something that’s inside of us, which I always find scary,” Stamm explains. “The exterior is still the same – it’s someone you know, someone you love, but something on the inside of them is eroding away. That’s such a strong metaphor to a lot of stuff that happens to people, like people losing their minds. You’re losing grip on someone, but the person is still there. That to me makes it much scarier because you can’t fight it with conventional methods. A serial killer in a slasher movie, you can kill them and that’s it. But when it’s inside of you, it’s a whole different process and it’s much more character-based because it works with who you are as a character and perverts that.” Check out a clip from The Last Exorcism below, and come back tomorrow for an extended interview with star Patrick Fabian.

Photo courtesy of Lionsgate

George A. Romero’s been called everything from a genius to the devil’s spawn (His response to that one? “I wish I had the powers, man,” he quips), but it’s hard to argue against him being a horror institution. Without Romero, would his signature line “They’re coming to get you, Baaaaarbara…” be half as creepy? Without Romero, would people outside of Pittsburgh know about the Monroeville Mall? Without Romero, would Rob Zombie have been, say, Rob Werewolf? The legendary director and grand poobah of zombie flicks has been a genre icon ever since the first members of the undead shambled through the field of the 1968 classic Night of the Living Dead, and then hit the mall 10 years later in Dawn of the Dead. Released on DVD today, Survival of the Dead marks Romero’s sixth zombie film in his five-decade career, and both fans and the horrorati continue to hail his achievements. “The guy is a freaking genius. I don’t think I’m overusing the word,” says Scott Weinberg, film critic for Cinematical and FearNet. “It’s as simple as this: There’s your Carpenters and your Cronenbergs and your legendary, well-regarded horror filmmakers, and with no disrespect to those men, they didn’t invent a genre.” I had the chance to talk with Romero about his cinematic legacy, so read below for our conversation and his thoughts on sequels, which Romero classic he’d redo and the famous pals with whom he frequents horror movies.

Photos courtesy of Magnolia Pictures, Columbia Pictures

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When Modern Family returns for its new season this fall, gay couple – and parents to the adorable Lily – Cameron (Eric Stonestreet) and Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) will finally smooch, much to the relief of some fans. Show exec Steve Levitan assures E! that the pair’s kiss-less relationship in Season 1 was anything but intentional and that he doesn’t want their PDA episode to seem like response to viewer criticism that even sparked a Facebook campaign. “We’ve had an episode planned for a long time that dealt with that subject of [their being affectionate],” Levitan tells E!. “So it almost bothers us that there was a little bit of controversy about it. Because we don’t want to appear that we’re answering that criticism. But sure enough, we’re dealing with public displays of affection, and the power of a kiss. Seems simple, but intriguing – I hope.” – Ann Oldenburg

Rob Corddry may mostly play jerks in movies and on TV, but he is in fact smart, funny and, as it turns out, very responsible when it comes to caring for his Mac and backing up computer files. “I’ve got everything on here. This is the mothership,” Corddry says. And it’s even more important now since that’s where he keeps scripts, videos and even graphics for his brainchild, the comedy Childrens Hospital. A spoof of TV medical dramas that started out as a web series in its first season, the show has moved to Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim lineup for its season season, which premieres at 10:30 p.m. EST/PST on Sunday. Co-starring with Megan Mullally, Rob Huebel, Lake Bell, Erinn Hayes and Ken Marino, Corddry plays Dr. Blake Downs, a melancholic doctor sporting clown makeup, blood-spattered scrubs and a bedside manner leaving much to be desired. Read below for what Corddry, the one-time correspondent for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and recent star of Hot Tub Time Machine, has to say about the new season of Childrens Hospital and what his kids think of his character’s look.

Photos courtesy of Warner Bros. Television Entertainment/Darren Michaels

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Much like filmmakers before him such as Alfred Hitchcock, Quentin Tarantino, Spike Lee, Kevin Smith and others, horror lover Eli Roth has made cameos in his own movies, Cabin Fever and Hostel. Got a good part, though? The man is always up for taking on additional acting assignments. Roth had a particularly memorable role as Nazi-beaning “Bear Jew” Donny Donowitz in Tarantino’s Oscar-nominated Inglourious Basterds, and he plays the host of a wet T-shirt contest — held during a spring break that goes violently awry — in Alexandre Aja’s uber-bloody Piranha 3D. The movie is in theaters starting tonight at midnight and stars Elisabeth Shue, Ving Rhames, Adam Scott and an army of vicious, man-eating fish. For Roth, it might just be the role he was born to play. “That was very tough. Amazingly, I had spent years doing research for that,” he quips. “After Inglorious Basterds, I thought I’ll never top that experience ever, and then my friend Alex Aja called me and said, ‘You must be the wet T-shirt host in this film.’ He actually created the part for me, and for two days, I hosed down strippers on a raft. I remember calling Tarantino after the first day saying, ‘I think I found a director I like working with better than you. Sorry.’ ” Roth’s enthusiasm for all things horror is as infectious as that flesh-eating virus he unleashed upon campers in Cabin Fever, so read below for what’s next for him as well as what film will not be featuring his acting prowess.

Photo courtesy of Dimension Films

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Betty White will write two books for G. P. Putnam’s Sons. The first, titled Listen Up!, will offer life lessons White has learned during her long career in Hollywood. In her usual wise-cracking style, the actress will give her personal observations on a wide range of topics, including television, aging, life, love, sex and celebrity, including her recent stint on Saturday Night Live. It will be published in the spring. The second book, titled The Zoo and I: Betty and Her Friends, will be filled with stories and photographs capturing the daily life of her animal friends at the zoo. White is a longtime member of the board of the Los Angeles Zoo, and she has been a passionate supporter of animal health and welfare her entire life. The book is slated for a 2012 release. – Ann Oldenburg

Star Wars fans of all races, genders, sizes, shapes and alien species descended upon Walt Disney World this past weekend for Star Wars Celebration V, the fifth official convention showcasing that most epic of movie franchises. And one fan in particular had a truly spectacular Saturday — that would be The Daily Show host Jon Stewart, who was on hand to interview Star Wars guru George Lucas and host a special program entitled “The Main Event.” (Here’s some video from the goings-on.) “Next time, I’m definitely gonna bring my kids,” says Stewart, the proud dad of son Nathan, 6, and daughter Maggie, 4. (He’s just kidding by the way. “The kids were there. They had a ball.”) Original Star Wars stars Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher stopped by, fans got to see a deleted scene from Return of the Jedi that will appear next year in the long-awaited Star Wars Blu-ray set, and Lucas presented Stewart with his own one-of-a-kind Stormtrooper action figure made by Hasbro with two interchangeable heads (one featuring the goatee he recently sported on his show). The figure came packaged on a vintage-style Empire Strikes Back card, but did it make the trip home intact so it could get placed in his office at work today? Not so much. “I have a 6-year-old son. You really think I’m going to be able to take the Stormtrooper [to work]?” Stewart says, laughing. “It’s already been in like five different battles! My only rule is please, please keep this away from the dogs. I realize I’m going to have all kinds of scarring and skull fractures by the time I get home today.” Stay tuned for more from my interview with Stewart, who releases his new tome Earth (The Book) next month.

Photo courtesy of Hasbro

James Cameron celebrated his 56th birthday today under water. The Avatar director got into a Mir-1, the same type of submersible he used to film the 1997 blockbuster Titanic and zipped down to the bottom of Russia’s Lake Baikal in Siberia, RIA Novosti, the state-run Russian news service, reports. Cameron, who arrived in Russia on Sunday with wife Suzy, is known for his love of underwater diving and was invited by his friend Anatoly Sagalevich, who helped him shoot Titanic. Sagalevich heads the Science Academy’s deep diving research program of Mir-1 and Mir-2 mini submarines. Cameron also made the 5,200-foot dive because he’s concerned about the environment. According to the Russia Info-Centre, Cameron also visited the lake to draw attention to pollution problems there. – Ann Oldenburg

Eric Roberts says he has something exclusive to say about a possible role in Christopher Nolan’s upcoming Batman 3 film, and of course my ears perk up and my pen shakes in geeky, note-taking anticipation. “I’m going to break this only to you: I am Batman next time,” Roberts says, laughing. He’s joking … I think (if not, you’re on notice, Christian Bale!). While he did have a nice role as a gangster boss in the large-scale The Dark Knight (and probably ended up in the big underworld in the sky when Two-Face blew up his car), Roberts says he has never quite been in a movie as crazy, violent, physical or fun as his latest flick, The Expendables, in theaters today. Director, writer and star Sylvester Stallone “made this movie like kids play with train sets. He was just in his element. He was having a blast every day,” says Roberts, who stars as a rogue CIA agent with a lean, mean bodyguard played by Steve Austin. (For the record, Roberts does dead-on impressions of both Austin and Stallone.) Read below for Roberts’ description of his and Austin’s explosive first day on set in Brazil.

Photos by Karen Ballard/Lionsgate

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Check out the last-minute edition to Heritage Auctions’ Ultimate Elvis Memorabilia Auction being held Saturday at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis. This isn’t just a lock or strand of the King’s trademark pompadour. This “large quantity” of hair originated in the collection of Elvis’ personal barber, Homer Gilleland. Gilleland gave this hair to his friend Tom Morgan, of the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department, who was a close friend of the barber, as well as the King. The hair is expected to bring as much as $20,000. Bidding has already reached $13,000. This lot includes a notarized Letter of Authenticity, confirmed by Morgan and John Reznikoff, of University Archives, a known and trusted expert in the field. – Ann Oldenburg