Even though Brendan Fraser's "Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D" won't be out 'til July 11, "We're ready for the sequel now," reports producer Charlotte Huggins. "He's ready to tackle the next one."

And that's quite a commitment, because, well, forget that whole pampered movie star thing on her feature, suggests Huggins. When it came to "Journey 3D," production was punishing.

"The big thing our talent did was, they endured," reports the filmmaker, referring to Brendan, Josh Hutcherson and Anita Briem. "We rained on them, froze them, dunked them in water, put them in tight caves, hung them from wires, spun them around, got them very, very hot, threw slimy things at them, put them in an 18-foot dinosaur skull and bounced them down the side of Mount Vesuvius, had them fight against imaginary creatures … We took them to Iceland, where they had to walk up the side of a mountain … They kept encountering all these crazy environments and creatures.

"We had them on a raft that was supposed to be in the middle of the ocean, which was fairly isolating, and then we would rain on them," she continues. "This went on day after day. At one point, I would say about day five of the raft shoot, Brendan pulled out an umbrella, and the whole crew laughed. He was amazing."

Of course, Huggins is hoping moviegoers will feel that way about "Journey 3D," which is being touted as setting a new standard in technology and offering an experience "like going to a theme park for an hour and a half," she hyperbolates. It has the interest of Huggins' fellow 3D-enthusiast filmmakers, including Jeffrey Katzenberg and James Cameron, the latter of whom visited the set. And it's been the impetus for theater upgrades in North America and abroad.

"We have about 1,200 digital 3D cinemas," says Huggins. She adds that she and director Eric Brevig "are thrilled that Warner Bros chose to also release it in 2D, and it plays well. Some regions are fully up and operating in 3D, but most aren't."

ON THE PERSONAL SIDE: Singer/Broadway star Sam Harris says 2008 is turning into a banner year for him with his upcoming new album "Free," a talk show in the works — and topping it all, a new baby boy.

"That's the most important thing I'm doing," says the openly gay Harris, who adopted a newborn two months ago with his partner. "When it comes down to it, it's all about the poopy diaper, and that, my friend, is the meaning of life. He's 2 months old, and his name is Cooper Atticus Harris Jacobson, and I'm in awe. I love every second of it."

Unfortunately, sleepless nights with baby have left Harris "brain dead all the time" as he's about to launch his new "Free" CD. "It's about all kinds of freedom — freedom of spirit, freedom to be yourself, freedom for independence … " he says of the album due to drop mid-July. "I've been flying back and forth to Nashville, and now we're finishing it up."

Meanwhile, Harris, who most recently starred in CBS's "The Class" last year, says he was approached by his series' producer, Jeffrey Klarik, about "doing a talk show" based on the phenomenal popularity of his Internet site, samtube.com, after "The Boston Herald and several other papers declared 'Sam Harris is a talk show waiting to happen,''' he says. Now, "we're getting offers and interest from several major studios and networks."

'DESPERATE' FOR COMEDY: Scottish actor Dougray Scott, who many American audiences came to know as the villain in "Mission Impossible II," says he was glad to get the chance to show his comedic side in "Desperate Housewives," which he hopes to do more of in the near future. "It's such a popular show. It definitely exposed me to more people, and I had a great time doing it. I hadn't gotten to do something like that in quite a while, so I enjoyed playing that kind of character," claims Scott, who played Teri Hatcher's wealthy love interest. "I enjoy comedy. It's very different from anything else."

THE VIDEOLANDVIEW: "My Boys" actress Kellee Stewart notes that returning for the second season of the TBS sitcom, "I think we all feel a little bit more grounded … We know the voices of the characters better, so we're able to interject and play off of each other." Still, "It's always a journey for us to explore who these people are and take them beyond what is written for us." And then there are the more mundane challenges of doing the seven-character show: "It's tough trying to keep a straight face."

With reports by Stephanie DuBois and Emily Feimster.

To find out more about Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith and read their past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2008 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH

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