Despite not having a deal with Mad Men creator-executive producer Matt Weiner yet, AMC is officially moving ahead with a fifth season of the Emmy-winning period drama, exercising its option with the series’ producer Lionsgate TV. Because of the protracted negotiations with Weiner, referred to in a statement by AMC as “key non-cast negotiations,” the premiere of season 5 is being pushed from the summer to early next year.

Here is the full statement:

AMC has officially authorized production of season 5 of Mad Men, triggering our option with Lionsgate. While we are getting a later start than in years past due to ongoing, key non-cast negotiations, Mad Men will be back for a fifth season in early 2012.

Source: Deadline

Deadline reports that Christina Hendricks has signed on for a new movie role to star in Mike Figgis’ Seconds of Pleasure. Good to hear that she’s keeping herself busy during the Mad Men hiatus!

Mad Men‘s Christina Hendricks has signed on to star in Seconds of Pleasure, which Mike Figgis is directing from a Neil LaBute script. The story takes place on an airplane and connects the lives of people on the plane through vignettes. Hendricks plays a wife who catches her husband in a compromising position. Brendan Fraser plays the husband, and Julia Stiles, Matt Dillon and Kristen Scott Thomas also star. LaBute is producing, with production to begin this summer in the UK. Hendricks, also shooting the Doug McGrath-directed I Don’t Know How She Does It with an ensemble cast that includes Pierce Brosnan and Sarah Jessica Parker, is repped by Paul Kohner Agency and KLWG Entertainment.

But what does that mean for Hendricks and Mad Men? HitFix.com says:

The fate of Mad Men is still very much in the air, as weeks have passed without updates on the state of negotiations between Matthew Weiner and producer Lionsgate. Even if a deal were somehow reached tomorrow, it’s unclear when the writers would be able to begin writing, much less when pre-production and filming would be able to start. Even if everything were magically accelerated and Mad Men somehow began production by the early summer, presumably the vignette nature of Seconds of Pleasure wouldn’t have any impact on the return of Hendricks’ Joan.

Here’s to hoping that the Mad Men negotiations will come to a resolution soon… The wait is simply torturous!

With the cameras yet to roll on season five of AMC’s Mad Men, fans won’t have to wait much longer to catch a glimpse of the show’s red-headed knockout Christina Hendricks. The actress has recently signed on to be the face of Vivienne Westwood’s newest venture, the “Get a Life” Palladium jewelry collection. In conjunction with the Palladium Alliance International, the eco-friendly line aims to promote use of the precious metal in fine jewelry.

Westwood, known for her bold design aesthetic, created a collection that won’t disappoint her loyal fans. The over-sized heart pendant and Grecian-inspired tiara Hendricks donned for the promotional campaign are not only fashion forward, but eco-conscious as well. Drawing nature as an inspiration, “Get a Life” hopes to raise awareness for the future of the environment.

“Christina is the embodiment of beauty [and] she has proved to be the perfect model for the campaign,” Westwood said.

Entertainment Weekly reports that Christina Hendricks and her actor husband Geoffrey Arend recently taped the second episode of Top Chef Masters‘ upcoming third season.

The challenge Hendricks and Arend are involved with will be appropriately ’60s themed, harkening to Hendrick’s role on AMC’s period drama. Dishes from the ’60s will no doubt provide lots of ways for the reality competition series’ producers to have fun with the yet-to-be-announced celebrity chef contestants — the names of dishes from that era alone are a blast. (“We’ve got oysters Rockefeller, beef Wellington, [a] Napoleon,” Roger Sterling (John Slattery) once said on an episode of Mad Men, trying to persuade a lady-friend to stay for a meal. “If we leave this lunch alone, it’ll take over Europe.”)

For this third season of Masters, Bravo has announced that former host Kelly Choi will be replaced with Australian celebrity chef and Celebrity Apprentice contestant Curtis Stone. The network has yet to announce the show’s premiere date or celebrity contestants.

Source: EW

Christina Hendricks was photographed on the set of I Don’t Know How She Does It at Plymouth Church School on February 22, 2011 in New York City.

The situation with AMC’s Mad Men is a case where no news is not necessarily good news. Though many are proceeding under the assumption that the acclaimed drama will be back for a fifth season, a huge question mark — one shaped like a dollar sign — looms over the when, seeing as series creator Matthew Weiner has yet to renew his deal with Lionsgate, which in turn needs to negotiate a new pact with AMC.

“I know that there’s a Season 5 and we generally go back [to work] around May, June…. We’re just waiting for the word on when,” says Christina Hendricks, who plays pneumatic office manager Joan Holloway. “I’m anxious to get back and see what happens with [Joan], and to work with all my friends.”

In fact, so much work needs to be done toward hammering out each of the two aforementioned deals that some fret Mad Men won’t be ready in time for a summertime premiere. Hendricks, though, deems herself unqualified to broach that hot topic. “I’ve heard just as many rumors as anybody else about the scheduling,” she says. “It’s already a long wait in between seasons for the fans, so I hope they don’t have to wait any longer.”

Until Hendricks’ fans get their next Joanie fix, they can at least hear the actress voicing another fierce femme, ace reporter Lois Lane, in the new All-Star Superman animated film arriving on DVD this Tuesday. Here’s what she shared with TVLine about filling that iconic role:

TVLINE | Is your Lois plucky, strong-willed, hardheaded…?
Certainly! I think she has to be all of that, because that’s Lois Lane to me. If you’re going to play her, you must always remember those qualities about her.

TVLINE | What’s her take on dating the Man Of Steel (voiced by Desperate Housewives‘ James Denton)?
[Laughs] Well, it’s a life long dream, right? She’s been pining after him for years. And I think she holds her own with him, actually. She isn’t too intimidated.

TVLINE | What’s it like, as a voice actor, oohing and aahing over a Fortress of Solitude you can’t actually see?
This was my first time doing voiceover, so the oohs and aahs and sighs made me feel a bit silly at first, with the whole room looking at you. But the script was so well-written that it was very vivid as far as what these characters were responding to. One thing that was interesting to me is I enjoyed the movie so much that I forgot it was me a couple times. I was able to sit back and once in a while think, “Oh, wait, I’m Lois Lane. How cool!”