Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban Mount Blonde, Ambitious Tour

Urban, Underwood Double Bill: Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban will join forces for what is sure to be an incredibly lucrative 24-date early-2008 North American tour. At the end of each show, audiences will get to vote on which one is prettier. [Billboard]

McRory to Play First Lady — OF EVIL!: Helena McRory, or the memorably feisty Cherie Blair to fans of The Queen, joins the Harry Potter ensemble as Narcissa Malfoy, the wife of altogether different powerful man Lucius Malfoy, in the forthcoming film of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. This will rule. [CBBC]

Thomas Goes Under for Dutton: Charles S. Dutton will direct Henry Thomas as a young Mafia thug who joins the witness-protection program and becomes an NYPD patrolman in the A&E drama pilot Under. Dutton’s body of directorial work, including The Corner and Sleeper Cell, makes him ideal for the project, at least until he gets on set and has to take Henry Thomas seriously as a “thug.� [HR]

Verhoeven Has an Affair With Brosnan: Paul Verhoeven tells a Dutch radio show that he will direct Pierce Brosnan in The Topkapi Affair, the sequel to Brosnan’s 1999 thriller The Thomas Crown Affair. Verhoeven promises fans that this installment will contain more crotch. [Hollywood News]

Walsh, Ward Join Stepfather: This year’s Sean Bean Award for Way Less Scary Actor Cast in Horror Remake goes to Nip/Tuck’s Dylan Walsh, who will play the sinister titular psychopath originally assayed by Terry O’Quinn in Screen Gems’ remount of The Stepfather. Sela Ward also stars as the single mom with the faulty serial-killer detector. [Variety]