Black Celebrity Men

Congrats to Martin Lawrence! He and his longtime girlfriend Shamika Gibbs tied the knot Saturday night in an small, intimate ceremony at the couple's Beverly Hills home. According to People magazine, Lawrence, 45, and Gibbs, 35, exchanged Christian vows in the backyard in front of 120 guests, including Eddie Murphy and Denzel Washington. Their daughters Lyana, 9, and Ameria, 7, and Lawrence's daughter Jasmine, 14, from a previous marriage were flower girls. After the ceremony, the newlyweds joined their guests under a tent for a reception. For the family-style celebration, event designer Diann Valentine arranged for two long tables in the shape of an "X" for all the guests to sit together.

The four-course sit-down dinner, catered by Tres LA, included salad, crab cakes and salmon, Lawrence's favorite dish. The four-tiered wedding cake was by Rosebud Cakes in Beverly Hills.

"They wanted an intimate celebration," says a source. "This wedding was all about family.

Below are pics of Martin and Shamika leaving Boa restaurant with friends last week.

The world premiere of Death at a Funeral took place last night in Los Angeles. Celebrities in attendance included: Martin Lawrence (with his longtime girlfriend), Tracy Morgan, Chris Rock (and his wife), Columbus Short (and his date), Danny Glover, Christian Keyes, Tyler James Williams, Bob'be Thompson, Arsenio Hall, Eddie Murphy, John Salley, Barry Bonds, Common, Cedric the Entertainer, Chi McBride, Ne-Yo, Tamala Jones, Zoe Saldana, Ciara, Regina Hall, Loretta Devine and more.

Remember actor Tommy Mikal Ford who played Tommy 'ain't-got-no-job' Strawn on Martin?

Click link below to find out what he looks like now and if he's still jobless!

Martin Lawrence is going to be busy, busy, busy in 2010. He's executive producing TVOne's sitcom Love That Girl (which I had a really hard time watching) starring Tatyana Ali, he and Will have agreed to film Bad Boys III, there's talk of him hitting the road to embark on a comedy tour AND last but not least, in April Martin will begin shooting Big Momma's House 3 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Big Momma's House was originally released in 2000 and Big Momma's House 2 was released in 2006. The film was originally about an FBI agent (Lawrence) who disguises himself as an old lady to protect a beautiful federal witness and her son. The first film made $174 million worldwide on a budget of only $30 million, while its sequel made $138 million on a $40 million budget.
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Mike Lowwwwwwwwry and Marcus Bennett are back! I was beyond excited when I learned that Martin Lawrence and Will Smith have both signed on to film the third installment of their Bad Boys movie series which will be called Bad Boys III. According to HM magazine, Martin, who was the first to come aboard, discussed the new film with Will and from then on it was on. They've even started talking about a storyline. If they're going have heart-stopping scenes such as the freeway scene in Bad Boys II and the scene in the original Bad Boys where Will is running down the street with his shirt wide open (he was so fine) and had to push Martin out of the path of an oncoming car, I'm going to be the first one in the theater.

Anyhoo, no word yet on who will write the film or also star, but as of this writing it’s a good bet that the film is moving forward and with the star power that both Martin and Will possess, there's no doubt that this movie will make as much money as the last two. The first one cost $19 million to make, and made over $140 million worldwide; the second one’s budget ballooned to a whopping $130 million (that freeway scene I mentioned earlier costs millions) but still ended up making over $270 million worldwide.
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Chris Rock and Martin Lawrence star in Death at a Funeral which is a remake of the 2007 British movie of the same name. The movie revolves around a dysfunctional family which comes together for the patriarch's funeral, only to be rocked by gay revelations from the deceased's alleged former lover. The highlight of the film occurs at the funeral ceremony that turns into a debacle of exposed family secrets and lost corpses. Along with Chris and Martin, the film also features an all-star cast which includes: Tracy Morgan, Loretta Devine, Ron Glass, Danny Glover, Regina Hall, James Marsden, Zoe Saldana, Columbus Short, and Kevin Hart.

According to HumorMill magazine, some media outlets have deemed the remaking of this movie as being racist...which I think is rather hard to do since only the trailer, and not the full movie, has been released. Personally, after watching the trailer, I can't wait for it to hit theaters on April 16, 2010. I'm definitely going to see it. Look at the line-up! But to each its own though. Draw your own conclusions after watching the trailer.

As if Spike Lee didn't have enough to bitch about. Expect him to show Martin and Jamie the same contempt he showed to Tyler Perry about his Madea character.

According to variety.com, Screen Gems has acquired Sheneneh and Wanda, a vehicle for Jamie Foxx and Martin Lawrence to star in a comic caper playing female characters they developed during their stand-up comedy days. Foxx will write the script, which he and Martin will produce through Foxx's FoxxKing and Lawrence's Runteldat production banners. The project originated as a parody of a movie trailer for a film called Skank Robbers, which Foxx and Lawrence made for the BET Awards. The reaction was strong enough that the duo decided to turn the concept into a real film. In the comedy, Sheneneh and Wanda are modern-day independent women trying to make it on their own, one bank robbery at a time.

Foxx and Lawrence have long tried to find a vehicle to work together, and Screen Gems' Clint Culpepper is fast tracking the production.

Foxx, who last starred in Law Abiding Citizen, will next be seen in the romantic comedy Valentine's Day. Lawrence will next be seen in the Screen Gems comedy Death at a Funeral.

Martin Lawrence has big television and movie plans for 2009 and the following year. Personally, I'd love to see him on a weekly basis in some kind of sitcom, especially with the crap that's on tv now, but for now, I have no other choice but to take what I can get. Unfortunately, Marty-Mar's return to television will be behind the camera. He currently has three shows in development with his production company Runteldat and two shows already have network commitments. Fox has picked an animated comedy of his, written by Rodney Barnes, which is based on his experiences growing up in the D.C. area. Also, according to the Hollywood Reporter, Martin and fellow comedian Tracy Morgan have joined Chris Rock in his remake of the British comedy, 'Death at a Funeral.' The film revolves around a funeral that goes awry with new deaths and misplaced corpses. And, Martin's also working on one featuring an interracial family which, is based on the comedy of Gary Owen and that's been picked up by Starz.

Annnnnnnnnnd last but definitely not least, according to Variety, if everything goes according to plan, Martin is set to star in 'Back to America'...not 'Coming Back to America 2', but 'Back to America.' Lawrence, who has a first-look deal with Alcon partners Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove, created the pitch and will produce the film via his Runteldat Entertainment alongside the Alcon duo. The comedy centers on a working-class man from Queens who discovers he is heir to the throne of an African country and travels there to claim his birthright.

In the meantime and in between time, you all can catch the fourth season of Martin's 'Martin Lawrence Presents 1st Amendment Stand Up' on Starz.

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