Media Notes

Katie Couric: "Everybody needs recharging"

Katie Couric says she'll decide this fall whether to continue her long-running morning television partnership with Matt Lauer. The "Today" show co-anchor faces the question because her contract expires next May. "I have, when it's operating on all four cylinders, one of the best jobs in television," she told The New Yorker magazine. "At the same time, everybody needs recharging." Couric, 48, has been approached by CBS News about its evening news anchor job. NBC Universal executive Jeff Zucker said last month that he hoped Couric was at the network "for many, many years to come."

Thornton happy for Jolie

Billy Bob Thornton is happy for his ex-wife Angelina Jolie, who adopted an orphaned baby girl, Zahara Marley, in Ethiopia last month. "I love it. I knew for a while that she was going to adopt," Thornton tells People magazine in its Aug. 8 issue. "She cares so much for kids who don't have anything." Before their split in 2002, Jolie and Thornton adopted a baby boy, Maddox, from Cambodia.

Bacall: Cruise's behavior 'shocking'

Lauren Bacall has a few unkind words to say about Tom Cruise. In an interview in the Aug. 8 issue of Time magazine, now on newsstands, the 80-year-old actress says, "When you talk about a great actor, you're not talking about Tom Cruise. His whole behavior is so shocking," she says. "It's inappropriate and vulgar and absolutely unacceptable to use your private life to sell anything commercially, but I think it's kind of a sickness." Bacall was alluding to Cruise's displays of emotion and public courting of Katie Holmes in the weeks leading up to the release of his new film, "War of the Worlds." Cruise and Holmes became engaged in June after he proposed at the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Luke Skywalker's light saber sells for $200,600

It didn't come cheap, but an anonymous bidder now owns a piece of Jedi history. A light saber used by Mark Hamill when he played Luke Skywalker in the original "Star Wars" sold for $200,600 Friday in an auction of movie props and costumes, said Joe Maddalena, president of Profiles in History, which held the auction. Other items included a light saber used by the character Darth Vader in "Star Wars," which fetched $118,000; a leather jacket worn by Harrison Ford in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," which brought in $94,400; and a leather jacket worn by Arnold Schwarzenegger in "The Terminator," which went for $41,300.

Columbia polishing Diamond release

Neil Diamond's highly anticipated new Columbia album, which pairs the singer/songwriter with producer Rick Rubin, has been pushed back to Nov. 8. The project was originally slated to come out this summer, in conjunction with Diamond's U.S. tour, which includes shows at the Target Center Aug. 31 and Sept. 1. The album release move to Sept. 6, according to a source, was made to give Columbia more time to set up the album, as it is now considered one of the label's top holiday projects. — From wire services

Seann William Scott OK with image

Seann William Scott has made peace with the notion that he may be dolt on screen forever. Cottage Grove native Scott, who embodied the blockhead jock Steve Stifler in the "American Pie" movies, the nitwit in 2000's "Dude, Where's My Car?" and the sex crazed buffoon in "Road Trip," is now in the "Dukes of Hazzard" movie, playing Bo Duke. "Most of the comedies will have some similarity because most comedy roles are about guys that aren't that bright," Scott told the San Francisco Chronicle in Sunday's editions. "Every once in a while you'll get a 'Sideways,' not that I'm doing it." Scott, 28, was still working at Home Depot in Los Angeles when he was cast as Stifler, the Neanderthal hedonist with the horny mom in "American Pie."

Haley Joel Osment back in movies

Haley Joel Osment is making a return to movies, taking a starring role in the indie coming-of-age feature "Home of the Giants." Set in an Indiana town that lives for basketball, the story follows a teenager (Osment) who idolizes one of the town's basketball stars. The teen and his best pal are befriended by the player, who ends up being anything but the hero they thought he was. The movie goes into production early next month in North Carolina. Osment rose to international fame through his Oscar-nominated performance in "The Sixth Sense." He followed that with starring turns in "Pay It Forward" and Steven Spielberg's "A.I. Artificial Intelligence." His most recent role was in 2003's "Secondhand Lions," opposite Robert Duvall and Michael Caine.

La Rue joins 'CSI: Miami'

Eva La Rue has been cast as a lab specialist in CBS' "CSI: Miami." La Rue will portray Natalia Boa Vista, who focuses on unsolved cases, in the forensic drama series. The series, a spinoff of CBS' "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," stars David Caruso and is headed into its fourth season. La Rue is best known for her Daytime Emmy-nominated role as Dr. Maria Santos on ABC's "All My Children." She also had a recurring role last season on ABC's "George Lopez" as George's sister Linda.