While you were sleeping

... brought to you by John Cusack and a friend at a screening of The Raven.  (Frazer Harrison/Getty Images).

Mel Gibson takes time out from yelling incoherently Coming Soon: "Things are moving steadily forward on Robert Rodriguez's Machete Kills as Deadline reports that Mel Gibson is close to joining the cast and The Hollywood Reporter brings word that Rodriguez hopes to fully direct the sequel to the 2010 film (which he co-directed with Ethan Maniquis). Gibson's potential role is currently undisclosed but his name has been rumored for some time. Rodriguez, meanwhile, says that the current plan is to shoot the totality of the sequel himself but that, depending on scheduling with Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, he may turn to another director for help. ... Rodriguez had announced last summer that Machete Kills will include a Grindhouse style trailer for the third (at the moment fictional) entry in the franchise, Machete Kills Again... In Space!."

Vegas stint for Britney? Las Vegas Review-Journal: "Britney Spears' first multiweek deal as a Las Vegas resident headliner is being discussed with the Hard Rock Hotel. Vegas Confidential has learned Hard Rock President and Chief Operating Officer Paul Pusateri and Spears' manager, Larry Rudolph, have been talking. Spears, who has sold more than 100 million albums worldwide, would perform at The Joint, the Hard Rock's concert venue that can accommodate 4,000. "The queen of pop will be the queen of the Hard Rock if all goes according to plan," a source close to the talks said. Talks intensified after the success of Mötley Crüe's recent two-week engagement, "the most successful shows in the hotel's history," the source said. The Hard Rock's new management team wants to change the fan experience by offering more accessibility to celebrities. "People will be able to rub shoulders with the celebs. Gone are the days of hiding them behind velvet ropes," the source added. "You'll be able to gamble with DJ Pauly D, have dinner with Britney and have drinks with Mötley Crüe."

Noah Wyle arrested People: "Former ER star Noah Wyle has been arrested. The actor was pictured in handcuffs where he and more than 100 other people were arrested during a protest at Capitol Hill on Monday. Wylie and members of the group ADAPT were urging Congress not to cut Medicaid. The protesters were handcuffed in the rotunda of the Cannon House Office Building, according to the Associated Press. ADAPT maintains that cuts in Medicaid would force elderly people and those with disabilities out of their homes and into nursing homes to get services they require. Wyle is best known for his role as John Carter on NBC's hit medical drama ER. And, it was just about a month ago that another former ER star was arrested in D.C.: George Clooney found himself in the back of a secret service van after a Sudan protest."

More Voice Deadline: "With NBC’s The Voice heading into the homestretch of its second season, it looks like NBC is doing the same on new deals with star coaches Adam Levine, Cee-Lo, Blake Shelton and Christina Aguilera. I hear the pacts with Levine, Cee-Lo and Shelton are pretty much done, with Aguilera’s getting there too. Still, there is a lot of scheduling details to iron out as NBC is eying The Voice for fall next season. I hear the quartet are all getting salary bumps, with Levine, Cee-Lo and Shelton moving up to in the high seven-figure range per season, and Aguilera, who started off higher, still expected to cut the biggest paycheck. While it has been declining in the ratings for the last several weeks following a blazing start after the Super Bowl, The Voice remains NBC’s strongest non-football performer by a mile and is expected to be an anchor for the network’s schedule next season."

Spawn? Access Hollywood: "Megan Fox is pregnant, according to yet another report. On Monday night, E! News reported that a source claimed to the organization that the star is pregnant with her first child with husband Brian Austin Green. This marks the second report that Megan is pregnant. Just last month, Star Magazine also claimed the actress and Brian were expecting their first child together. The former “Transformers” star told Access Hollywood at the premiere of “Friends with Kids” in New York City earlier this year that she was hoping to have “at least two, maybe three” children. She also said she was leaving the timing up to a higher authority. “It’s up to God,” she smiled. “It’s gonna happen when it’s supposed to happen.”

Chaos Walking becomes more interesting Deadline: "Lionsgate has high hopes that the Patrick Ness young adult novel series Chaos Walking has the potential to become another futuristic Hunger Games-esque franchise. While the mission on most of those book to movie sensations is to stick close to the books, Lionsgate has done an intriguing thing on Chaos Walking: they’ve set Charlie Kaufman to adapt the first book in the series. The Carnegie Medal winning book is set in a dystopian future with humans colonizing a distant earth-like planet. When an infection called the Noise suddenly makes all thought audible, privacy vanishes, chaos ensues, and a corrupt autocrat threatens to take control of the human settlements and wage war with the indigenous alien race ... Kaufman seems an inspired choice. His previous adaptations of the Chuck Barris memoir Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, and the Susan Orlean book The Orchid Thief (which became the Meryl Streep-starrer Adaptation) took the subject matter into all kinds of imaginative directions not found in the pages of those books."