Last week, Vulture ran a story saying a $400 million domestic gross is the new threshold for blockbusters.

To put this in perspective, the only movie to reach that number before "Star Wars:  Episode I - The Phantom Menace" came out in 1999 was "Titanic."

Since then, films like "Spider-Man" and "Shrek 2" hit the mark, and re-releases allowed others like "The Lion King" and "E.T." to reach the milestone as well.

In 2009, two movies passed $400 million, with "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" barely crossing and "Avatar" flying past as if it were nothing. 

Now, if one takes inflation into account, a lot of these trends seem meaningless. And 3D ticket and IMAX prices also play a role. But we're box office nerds, and we're sticking with the hard numbers. 

The box office climate is changing. With more emphasis placed on international grosses every year, domestic numbers may not seem as important. But 2012 is on the verge of setting a record that just a decade ago was unfathomable: Three $400 million domestic films in a single year… and possibly more. 

"Hunger Games" finally made it over the threshold this weekend, and "The Avengers" is long past that number.

"The Dark Knight Rises" will easily pass $400 million, the question is by how much. Additionally, Spider-Man's return to the screen after half a decade, and Peter Jackson's "Unexpected Journey" back to Middle Earth have a fighting chance. Let's take a closer look at our three contenders.

The Amazing Spider-Man (July 3) 

Of these three, "Spider-Man" has the toughest road ahead of it. Sandwiched between "The Avengers" and "Dark Knight," the web-slinger may get lost in the shuffle. Even if it does break out, it has less than three weeks before "Dark Knight" opens and takes its entire demographic. 

A breakout seems unlikely with its July 3 release date, a Tuesday. Clearly not making a play to match its own opening weekends (a game it would likely fail), Spidey is instead going for a strategy implemented successfully in the past by "Transformers," hoping for numbers close to or above $20 million for the first six days (and then the following second weekend). This is a good play to ensure the film wills its way to $300 million, and squeezes everything it can out of its pre-"Dark Knight" days, but it won't be nearly enough to hit the $400 million Spidey reached over a decade ago. Tracking has it heading for a $125 million six-day opening, but with numbers this big, reviews can sway that tally by tens of millions in either direction. 

A lot has changed since "Spider-Man" was the premier superhero franchise (Cough. Christopher Nolan. Cough.), and anything less than stellar reviews could spell disaster (any gross less than $250 million) for this big-budget reboot and hopeful franchise-starter. But "Spider-Man" shocked the world before, and that's enough to keep it in the conversation.

Verdict: No

The Dark Knight Rises (July 20)

We just covered this: It's not a matter of if this reaches the $400 plateau, but by how much and when. 

Can it pass its predecessor? Hype alone will drive the opening weekend to "Avengers"-level numbers (seriously, if you plan on seeing this opening day and don't already have your tickets, good luck), but does Bane + Catwoman = The Joker? Doubtful. Heath Ledger's performance was something special, and it drove non-superhero fans to check it out in theaters. Don't expect that this time around. 

Unrealistic expectations for the pic may hurt its legs, though a cushy release date will help prevent that, in what may end up being a weak finish to the summer 2012 box office.

Verdict: Yes. Guaranteed. 

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (December 14)

The "Lord of the Rings" films were never known for their openings (though they certainly weren't bad), but rather their impressive legs through December and January. For box office legs, it doesn't get better than a mid-December release, where a film that opens in the low-teens still has a chance to cross $100 million. Combining holidays and kids off from school with the fact that nothing even remotely good opens between December 26 and Martin Luther King Day, ensures the staying power of quality (and Chipmunk) pre-Christmas fare. It also gives audiences time to see a number of films, so competition from Leonardo DiCaprio's two Christmas films, "The Great Gatsby" and "Django Unchained," won't be a problem.

Expect part one of "The Hobbit" to follow in this regard. Typically part one of a two-part film may not reach the heights of its successor, but after a decade of waiting to return to Middle Earth, expect fans to come out in droves. Plus, though none of the LOTR films passed $400 million, when adjusted for inflation, they all clear the milestone easily. For these reasons, expect "Hobbit" to be our fourth $400 million earner of the year (even if it takes until 2013 to do so).

Verdict: Yes

SEE ALSO: OUR DREAM CAST FOR THE 'JUSTICE LEAGUE' MOVIE >

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In a soon-to-be published memoir, Jimmie "J.J." Walker of the 70s sitcom "Good Times," devotes an entire chapter to his relationship with Jay Leno and what he says will not have the late night host laughing.

Walker, famous for his "Dyn-o-mite!" catchphrase, hired both Leno and David Letterman as writers for his sitcom in the 70s and claims that once Leno became famous, he turned his back on all of the comedians who had previously helped him out, reports Sean Daly of the New York Post.

“Because of Jay Leno, we have changed and segregated comedy,” Walker tells The Post. “In his however many years on the air, he has not broken one comic.”

Walker says that Crantz helped Leno make it big, but that Leno snubbed Crantz when he was writing for "The Tonight Show" and did not use any of his jokes.  

Jay eventually fired Crantz, who died three years later—a death Walker blames on Jay.  Walker says he "saw it as a suicide" and that "You knew what this was about."

As we reported in May, Jay has certainly been getting a lot of bad press lately.

SEE ALSO: Watch Anderson Cooper Call Out An Annoying Airline Passenger >

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• At age 39, Jenny McCarthy graces the cover of Playboy for the sixth and final time in the July/August issue on newsstands Friday.

• "General Hospital" wins big at the Daytime Emmys while “Live with Regis and Kelly” won for best entertainment talk show for the first time—in Regis Philbin’s final year as co-host of the syndicated series.

• The Beverly Hilton is having a bad year. First, Whitney Houston died on the hotel's fourth floor on the eve of the Grammy Awards in February and just hours before Saturday's Daytime Emmy Awards at the hotel, two people died in an apparent murder-suicide.

• "NCIS: Los Angeles" star Eric Christian Olsen married actress Sarah Wright over the weekend in Wyoming—while both wearing J.Crew.

• Paris Hilton made her DJ debut in Brazil, where she revealed her new song "Last Night" with ex-boyfriend Afrojack. Make it stop.
  

• Despite rumors that Beyoncé was having Kim Kardashian banned from Jay-Z and Kanye West's Watch the Throne tour, the diva duo were photographed watching the concert together in England.

• Well what do ya know, Mayor Bloomberg is apparently a big fan of HBO's "GIRLS." "We love the show for inspiring people to move to New York City and become the ‘voice of a generation,’ as Hannah would say," said Bloomberg.

SEE ALSO: Last Night's "True Blood" Recap >

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Emma Stone sat down with Buzz Sugar editor, Becky Kirsch, to discuss her role in the upcoming "Spider-Man" film.

Stone opens up about what it's like to play the web-slinging hero's love interest, Gwen Stacy, why her superhero boyfriend, Andrew Garfield, is an "unbelievable" actor and why Spider-Man is better than the rest of this summer's action heroes.

"The Amazing Spider-Man" comes out July 3 in theaters. 

Watch the video below:

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A few weeks ago, CNBC aired a documentary on Walt Disney, "Walt: The Man Behind The Myth."

The two-hour special explored the life and legacy of the man who created one of the world's most beloved pop icons, Mickey Mouse, and the world-renowned Disney theme parks.

The documentary first aired in February of last year. Though educational, the special glossed over what we found to be the most interesting bit—Walt's original plans for Epcot in Disney World.

Check out Disney's original plan for Disney World and Epcot > 

After Disneyland was built in California, Walt had an idea for another Disney project in Florida; however, he passed away in December 1966 before he could see it come to fruition. Before he died, he filmed a video two months earlier expressing these plans in detail.

We found the nearly half hour video Disney produced for Florida Legislators to get permission and rights for his project. In it, Disney laid out his big ideas for his massive Florida project.  

Called "Project X," Walt's Florida expansion was meant to be much more than Disney World. Forget the theme park. Florida wasn't about Disney World, though it was a small part of the picture.

Rather, Disney's plan consisted of building his own perfect Utopian city: the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow—Epcot.

The video sounded like a scene straight out of Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" which envisioned a similar world back in 1932.

Located partly in Orange and Osceola Counties, Disney picked the center of the state for his Florida project on purpose, reasoning it would be easy for tourists and residents to arrive by car.

The land was located between Orlando and Kissimmee, a few miles from the crossing point of Interstate 4 and the Sunshine State Parkway (this was before I95 was finished, of course).

The theme park and all the other tourist facilities—hotels, motels and recreational activities—were meant to fill one small part of Disney's Florida project. This part alone is five times the size of California's Disneyland.

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• Following her divorce from Deathcab for Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard in October, "New Girl" star Zooey Deschanel has a new boyfriend: "We Are Marshall" and "Dear John" screenwriter, Jamie Linden. The pair were spotted holding hands at the "Magic Mike" premiere in Hollywood over the weekend. Perhaps he picked up a few moves?

• HBO's "The Newsroom" premiered to 2.1 million viewers on Sunday—but some may have recognized lines in the new show from past Aaron Sorkin projects. Check out 14 of the recycled lines of dialogue.

• News Corp is considering splitting into two companies, one dedicated to its film and tv assets, while the other is made up of its publishing components.

• Cher is working on a new Broadway musical about ... herself. The show will feature three Chers from three different time periods. The diva tweeted, “It’s a VERY SLOW PROCESS! been working on it quite a while now.” We may be alone in this, but where do we sign up?

• Not to be outdone, '90s pop band The Spice Girls announced plans for a musical of their own. The play will be based on their songs coming and is set to debut in London this fall.

• It's good to be George Clooney's ... dog. His pooch, Einstein, got seriously pampered with a bath, a haircut and a massage from pet grooming salon Comodog near his Lake Como villa in Italy.

• Blake Lively looked amazing in a Zuhair Murad gown at last night's "Savages" premiere in Hollywood, while John Travolta looked super creepy (and like a wax version of himself) as he made out with wife Kelly Preston on the red carpet. Sorry buddy, we're not buying it.

SEE ALSO: Is Disney/Pixar's "Brave" New Lead Character Gay? >

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Rapper 50 Cent has been hospitalized after a large, red, Mack truck rear-ended his bulletproof SUV Monday night on the Long Island Expressway in New York City.

The news was broken by 50's website, Thisis50.com, who report that the rapper was put on a stretcher and taken to the hospital in Queens to undergo tests on his injured neck and back.

His driver is also currently in the hospital as the SUV almost flipped over.

According to the site, "The truck driver reportedly told police his loaded shifted and lost control of the vehicle."

For more exclusive pictures of the rapper in the hospital after the crash, CLICK HERE.

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In an effort to promote a charity called MakeItRain.TV, rapper Daz Dillinger "made it rain" on the Venice Beach boardwalk, throwing $6,000 in singles into the air.

And some of the cash was thrown directly at unsuspecting homeless people, who, at the time, were too confused to understand what was happening.

The whole scene seemed a little humiliating for those getting money thrown directly at them, even if it was done with good intentions.

We can't decide if this is incredibly generous or just plain disturbing. Check out the video below and decide for yourself.

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Kate Upton just turned 20 years old last month and she's already shaping up to become this decade's Pamela Lee Anderson—a sort of queen of all media, even though she's famous for just one thing. Or perhaps two things.

In her latest photoshoot for GQ magazine, the unanswered question is, who is exploiting who?

It was shot by Terry Richardson, who has a mixed reputation, to say the least, in fashion.

The shoot doesn't seem to be about anything except Upton's clothes falling off. It makes fun of that fact by showcasing her "talents," such as dancing, hula-hooping and riding rollercoasters.

By insisting she's not a one-trick pony, Richardson underlines the fact that she kinda is. (At least Anderson could act.)

And then there's you, the viewer. Kate Upton is currently the media's prime linkbait, even when she's not making news (which she isn't here).

Pretty much everyone in this chain is being used in some way or other.

SEE ALSO: Check out Kate Upton dressed as a hipster in this new ad campaign >

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UPDATED

Family members have confirmed earlier reports that Nora Ephron died today. She was 71.

Ephron is famous for writing screenplays such as "Silkwood," "When Harry Met Sally," "Sleepless in Seattle," and more recently "Julie and Julia."

Her son, Jacob Bernstein, told the New York Times she died from pneumonia which was triggered by leukemia.

Ephron was married three times. Her second marriage was to journalist Carl Bernstein of Watergate fame, with whom she has two sons.

The couple's divorce inspired Ephron's popular 1983 novel "Heartburn," which was later turned into a film of the same name starring Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep.

Ephron has been married to her current husband, screenwriter Nicholas Pileggi, since 1987.

Developing...

Earlier, columnist Liz Smith published a remembrance of her friend, writer and filmmaker Ephron, who has reportedly passed away.

The piece was posted on Smith's WowOWow The Women on the Web site and ended with, "I won’t say, 'Rest in peace, Nora' – I will just ask 'What the hell will we do without you?' Maybe. I hope. Nora will answer.  Nora, we ARE  all basket cases.  There was no one like you.'"

But Ephron's reps told the New York Observer "no comment" on her current health status, while her publisher Knopf tells the New York Times that Ephron is still alive.

And moments ago, The Daily Beast/Newsweek West Coast Editor Kate Aurthur tweeted:

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HBO's newest show, Aaron Sorkin's "The Newsroom," premiered on Sunday, to middling reviews.

In HBO terms, anything less than raves means panic-mode, and they responded by giving away the pilot online for free (see it here). 

After watching it, it's clear this is a show worth watching, though not without some glaring faults.

So before Sunday's second episode airs, we'll tell you what was good, and what was not so good.

WRONG: Get Over Yourself, Sorkin

At times the show is so self-righteous it's corny. The moral seems to be that nobody in the media is properly delivering the news, so nobody is being held accountable, and America is suffering because of it.

Apparently, this news station is full of superheroes who will save America by season five. If this flawless journalism becomes a trend, and this particular newsroom handles every piece of breaking news better than anyone else, it's going to get old fast. 

RIGHT: Jeff Daniels

"Newsroom" features a very solid cast including Emily Mortimer, Sam Waterston, Allison Pill (standout of the group), and Dev Patel, but this is the Jeff Daniels show, and he takes full advantage of the pages upon pages of dialogue he has at his disposal. 

WRONG: Too Many In-Office Relationships

We just don't care ... yet. Granted, it takes more than one hour to become emotionally invested in characters, so this could change, but it could also get even worse.

Maybe by season two (there's probably going to be a season two) we will care who is dating who, but not right now. And not for the next few episodes, so hopefully these relationships play out slowly and aren't shoved down our throats.  

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• Jessica Simpson tweeted out a photo of her 8-week-old daughter, Maxwell Drew.  We're shocked it took this long.
• Federal Prosecutors say the man who hacked into Scarlett Johansson's email, releasing nude photos of the actress should pay her more than $66,000.
• Now there are photos of Lindsay Lohan posing with a gun taken in February by Terry Richardson. Will she ever learn?

• ABC's long-running soap opera "General Hospital" will move to the 2 p.m. slot starting September 10. Katie Couric's new daytime talk show, Katie, will take its place. 

• Board chairman of Hearst Corp, George Randolph Hearst Jr., passed away yesterday in Palo Alto at the age of 84.

• Will Arnett will voice Batman in Warner Bros. upcoming Lego film while Channing Tatum is in talks to play Superman. 

• Nathan Lane will join season 4 of "The Good Wife" in a recurring role. 

• Avengers crosses the $600 million mark domestically, making it the third film after "Avatar" and "Titanic" to cross the threshold. 

• The NYC nightclub WiP which played host to the Chris Brown / Drake brawl has had its liquor license suspended. 

• The Kardashian clan stepped out yesterday to go shopping … for graves. 

SEE ALSO: Whether Aaron Sorkin's "The Newsroom" is worth your time >

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On Monday, Nora Ephron surprised everyone (well, first Liz Smith did) by passing away at age 71 after a secret battle with leukemia.

Ephron, who was born in Los Angeles to two playwright parents, later moved to New York City where she became a famed journalist, blogger, essayist, novelist, playwright, Oscar-nominated screenwriter and a movie director.

And she did it it all with such humor and seeming ease.

Even when discussing difficult topics such as death, Ephron did so with a realistic wit: "Everybody dies. There's nothing you can do about it. Whether you eat six almonds a day. Whether or not you believe in God."

Ephron is survived by her husband of 25 years, screenwriter Nicholas Pileggi, and two sons from her second husband, Watergate journalist Carl Bernstein.

When speaking to her alma matter Wellesley's graduating class in 1996, Ephron told students, "Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim." And Ephron herself did just that.

It's difficult to narrow down Ephron's most memorable moments throughout her 50-year-long career because there are too many funny one-liners and poignant monologues to count, but here are some of our top picks from the woman who always said—or wrote—it best.

1986: Ephron turned her divorce from her second husband Carl Bernstein into a book and later film titled "Heartburn."

Ephron turned her divorce from her second husband, Watergate journalist Carl Bernstein, into a best-selling novel, “Heartburn,” which she then made into a Mike Nichols-directed movie starring Jack Nicholson as a philandering husband and Meryl Streep as a version of herself.

“I married him against all evidence. I married him believing that marriage doesn't work, that love dies, that passion fades, and in so doing I became the kind of romantic only a cynic is truly capable of being.” ―Nora Ephron, "Heartburn"

Watch the film's trailer below.

1989: Ephron became famous for her romantic comedies after the success of "When Harry Met Sally."

While most remember "When Harry Met Sally" for Meg Ryan's table-pounding "I'll have what she's having" fake orgasm scene, it is the below heartfelt ending to the film that showcases Ephron's realistic yet swoon-worthy romantic dialogue.

"I love that you get cold when it's 71 degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. I love that you get a little crinkle above your nose when you're looking at me like I'm nuts. I love that after I spend the day with you, I can still smell your perfume on my clothes. And I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night. And it's not because I'm lonely, and it's not because it's New Year's Eve. I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible." —Harry, "When Harry Met Sally"

2003: Ephron discusses being an intern for JFK in "All the President's Girls," an essay for The New York Times.

In 1961, Ephron was an intern in the J.F.K. White House. In an essay for The New York Times, she recalls she was probably the only intern that President John F. Kennedy had never hit on.

"Which brings me to my crucial encounter with J.F.K., the one that no one at the Kennedy Library has come to ask me about. It was a Friday afternoon, and because I had nowhere to sit (see above) and nothing to do (ditto) I decided to go out and watch the president leave by helicopter for a weekend in Hyannisport. It was a beautiful day, and I stood out under the portico overlooking the Rose Garden, just outside the Oval Office. The helicopter landed. The noise was deafening. The wind from the chopper blades was blowing hard (although my permanent wave kept my hair stuck tight to my head). And then suddenly, instead of coming out of the living quarters, the president emerged from his office and walked right past me to get to the helicopter. He turned. He saw me. He recognized me. The noise was deafening but he spoke to me. I couldn't hear a thing, but I read his lips, and I'm pretty sure what he said was, ''How are you coming along?'' But I wasn't positive. So I replied as best I could. ''What?'' I said.

And that was it. He turned and went off to the helicopter and I went back to standing around the White House until the summer was over."

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So long, cheeseburgers!

Almost three years after being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and nearly six months after revealing it to the world to much criticism, TV chef Paula Deen has finally dropped 30 pounds.

And now the 65-year-old if showing off her svelter figure on the cover of this week's People magazine.

"It took me a couple of years to get to this point,"  Deen reveals to the mag. "If you make a few small changes, they can add up to big results."

Some of those changes involve swapping foods like her famous Krispy Kreme bread pudding for lighter fare such as Greek salads and baked fish.

"I do think differently now" about food, adds Deen. "I'm more aware."

For more info, the People issue hits newsstands on Friday.

SEE ALSO: The 10 most disgusting things Paula Deen has ever put in her mouth >

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E.L. James' popular erotic series, "50 Shades of Grey" has taken America by storm. 

The sexy "Twilight" fan fiction that follows naive college graduate Anastasia Steele and the handsome, dominant billionaire Christian Grey has transformed the way women are reading porn—the book just became the first to sell more than 1 million copies on the Amazon Kindle.

The novels quickly rose among best-selling lists, copies are flying off shelves faster than book stores can stock them and its popularity has spiked sex toy sales across the nation. And, now, it's being turned into a film. 

Just how big has the 50SoG phenomenon become? We've broken down some stats. (Don't worry, we don't have 50.)

16 million: copies of the 50SoG series have been sold so far in the U.S.

The first book in the series, "Fifty Shades of Grey" became the fastest-selling paperback book ever beating out J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" series. 

$15 million: E.L. James' estimated net worth.

To put this in perspective, as of May 2012, J.K. Rowling, the creator of the "Harry Potter" franchise, has earned $17 million this year. Rowling recently dropped off Forbe's billionaire list this year. In 2011, the author was estimated to be worth $1 billion.

"Twilight" author Stephenie Meyer's net worth is estimated at $125 million. 

$5 million: The amount Universal and Focus features paid for film rights.

This is $2 million more than Dan Brown's "DaVinci Code" series sold.

In total, ten studios sparred over getting rights to the film adaptation of 50 Shades including Fox 2000, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros. and Paramount.

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Wednesday afternoon, Aaron Sorkin held a live one-hour Q&A on HBO.com to answer fan questions. 

The creator of HBO's new show "The Newsroom" has received a lot of media flack over his portrayal of working journalists, so the opportunity gave viewers the chance to ask Sorkin anything. 

For the most part, Sorkin played it safe, answering questions about how long it took him to come up with the pilot (nearly a year, not including the six weeks for writing), his biggest challenges while penning a television show, and his love for "His Girl Friday."

However, there were some great moments where Sorkin discussed his decision to cover past news, his knowledge of Pop-Tarts and his alleged "sorkinisms."

Don't plan on seeing any guest appearances by real reporters on "The Newsroom."

Q: Do you have any plans to guest-star any real reporters like Christiane Amanpour, Jake Tapper, or anyone else on the show?

Sorkin: "Real people will only play themselves in news footage. There are some shows where stunt casting is fun (in fact I've played myself on 30 Rock and Entourage) but I think on this show it would just seem out of place. These characters inhabit a heightened and idealized version of a newsroom."

Sorkin draws from old (recent) news because he didn't want to make up fake news.

Q: "You chose to tie storylines to prior current events. What was your reasoning behind this and how recent do you plan regarding current events?"

Sorkin: "The show's set in the recent past because I didn't want to make up fake news. I wanted to do "His Girl Friday" set against the backdrop of actual news events. I knew when the first season started and when it ended and it was a year ago this month that the staff and I began wallpapering the writers room with every single news event from that 18 month period."

Sorkin admits that "The Newsroom" may not have been his best work.

Q: "From working on Social Network to West Wing (both amazing works of art), what is the biggest difference between writing for film and TV?"

Sorkin: "When I'm writing a screenplay and it's not going well (which is most of the time) I can put it down for a few days. The only part about television I don't like is that because of the hard deadlines I have to write when I'm not writing well. I have to put a script on the table that I know is weak and we're going to shoot that script and you're going to see it. In a 10 episode season, one of the episodes is going to be your 10th best and I'm not goo [sic] enough to have my 10th best script seen by a couple of million people but that's what's going to happen. It's a tough pill to swallow.

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After a week of speculation, Ann Curry confirmed late Wednesday that she is, in fact, leaving her role as co-anchor on the "Today" show.

Curry broke the news to USA Today in a 40-minute phone interview, saying she expects Thursday to "be a bit of a tough day ... I'm going to have to tell our viewers. That's what makes me more emotional than anything. I don't want to leave them. I love them. And I will really miss them."

But while Curry may be down, she is definitely not out.

The 55-year-old journalist will remain with the network in a new role as anchor-at-large and NBC News national/international correspondent.

Curry's new contract, that she says lasts "a significant amount of time," more than just a few years, was negotiated on her behalf by lawyer Robert Barnett.

She declines to discuss her salary but says reports of $10 million or $20 million a year are inaccurate, "I can say that I'd love to earn that much."

But before a contract was in place or Curry had a chance to announce her anchor position departure, rumors swirled regarding her ousting by NBC.

"I don't know who has been behind the leaks, but no question they've hurt deeply," Curry revealed in the interview with the paper.

As for the show's recent ratings drop, she says, "I know I am not to blame for the ratings worries. And my bosses have said to me there are many factors involved. There is no doubt that the rating wars have become meaner and less focused on our responsibilities as journalists."

"You know, Matt and I have had great on-air chemistry for 14 years, been part of the No. 1 winning team for a history-making number of years," Curry continued. "That said, I just finished my freshman year as co-host. In every single co-host's first year, there have been kinks to be worked out, and perhaps I deserve as much blame for that as anyone."

So does she think she was given enough time to work out those kinks? "No, I do not," she revealed.

Would she have liked more time? "Oh, sure I would have," she says.

But instead, Curry will be heading up a new seven-person unit for NBC while Savannah Guthrie is still the rumored frontrunner to take her coveted place. 

Watch Curry officially announce her departure on the "Today" show below:

SEE ALSO: Watch Ann Curry Get Uncomfortably Danced On By Al Roker And Joe Manganiello >

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• "Dexter" executive producer, Sara Colleton, revealed to TV Guide that the show will end after season 8. 
• "My Three Sons" star Don Grady died Wednesday at age 68 after a battle with cancer.
• Michael Jackson's 13-year-old tiger Thriller died of lung cancer at actress-activist Tippi Hedren's wildlife preserve in California on June 11, the Los Angeles Times reports.
• After "30 Rock," Alec Baldwin will return to Broadway in Lyle Kessler's "Orphans."

SEE ALSO: Watch Ann Curry's Tearful Goodbye On The "Today" Show >

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The video for "Celebrate," Whitney Houston's last recorded song, just debuted online.

The song, to be included in Houston's last film, "Sparkle," is dedicated to the late singer who passed away February 11th. 

The video includes Jordin Sparks and guests at a party with clips of Houston from the film intertwined.

Sparks told BET the music video which was originally set to star herself beside Houston.

"We planned on it being Whitney and me, but she's not here, so we wanted to make it a tribute to her," said Sparks. 

The soundtrack for "Sparkle" will be released July 31 while the film comes out August 17.

Watch the video below: 

SEE ALSO: What Aaron Sorkin had to say about "The Newsroom" in a live Q&A >

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Natalie Portman has won an Oscar, she's a mother, a wife and a Harvard graduate. These accomplishments are admirable for anyone--let alone a 31-year-old.

So when one Quora user posed the below question of "How Intelligent is Natalie Portman?" while at the same time giving her impressive academic bio, we were curious to hear the answer.

Read below.

 Here's what one user, who overlapped with Portman at Harvard, had to say: 

Basically, she's one of those rare humans who possesses an unfair amount of both beauty and brains.

And if you don't believe Quora user Michael Bodell, just ask Portman's past professors at Harvard.

“It was very clear when she was a student that she is a very determined person and capable of focused effort over a sustained period,” Former Harvard Psychology Professor and Dean of the Social Sciences Stephen M. Kosslyn, who worked with Portman when she was a research assistant in his lab, told The Harvard Crimson after she won an Oscar in 2011. “She is now demonstrating the results of that determination and focus.”

Harvard Law School Professor Alan M. Dershowitz also considered Portman an exceptional student.

“She was in my seminar called Neuropsychology and the Law, and I didn’t know who she was because her name was Natalie Hershlag,” he said, referring to Portman’s birth name. “It was a few weeks into the semester that I learned she was an actress—but she was a terrific student.”

Portman earned an A+ from Dershowitz on her paper on new methods of lie detection and he later hired her as a research assistant for a book he was writing.

And in spite of her smarts, Portman still has a sense of humor about herself. Watch below.

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