Here Comes the Olsens - A Daily News Cover Story

[musicradio77]

Here's an article from yesterday's Daily News:

A Twin bill like no other
By REBECCA LOUIE
Daily News Feature Writer

Double the pleasure, double the funds.

Wonder twins Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen have come a long way from earning scale wages as googly-eyed babies on the sitcom "Full House".

They now worth $150 million each, and their "mary-kateandashley" brand - everything from clothes to videos - will bring in about $1 billion this year alone.

Among the hundreds of Web sites devoted to the Olsen Twins are dozens counting down the days before Mary-Kate & Ashley turn 18 years old, and becoming adults in the eyes of the law - and a universe of teenage boys.

We'll save you the computer search: 201 days to go until June 13th, 2004.

And Ashley will get there a good two minutes before Mary-Kate.

"Boys will be boys, right?" Ashley told "48 Hours Investigates" when asked about the countdown sites.

"Yeah," chimed Mary-Kate. "Pests."

That day will be important for much bigger reasons, too.

On their 18th birthday, the petite pinups become co-presidents of Dualstar Entertainment Group, the umbrella operation that oversees their videos and merchandising.

They're stepping up from executive producers, their titles since the company started with their lawyer and manager, Robert Thorne, in 1993. (Thorne serves as CEO.) at the time, they were 7.

Tomorrow, the twins' movie "The Challenge" arrives in video stores.

It's the last of 47 straight-to-video films they've made since earning fame sharring the role of baby Michelle on "Full House".

"We've enjoyed a decade in video and DVD movies for younger audiences," Mary-Kate stated recently. "Now we're ready to make the big screen our home as producers and actresses."

Next Spring, they make their theatrical-movie debut in "New York Minute," about two sisters - one studious and one into punk rock - who band together in a series of mishaps. Jack Osbourne, son of Ozzie and Sharon, is also in the cast.

Shortly thereafter, the Olsens will be setting aside a few New York years as they moved from California's San Fernando Valley to attend college here. The twins have yet to reveal where they'll be studying - they swear they won't attend separate schools - but they will say that Ashley plans to go in for a psychology and Mary-Kate wants to pursue culinary courses.

Conveniently, Ashley's boyfriend, Matt Kaplan, is a quarterback for the Columbia University Lions.

"He visited her in Mexico while we were on set filming," says Craig Shapiro, who directed "The Challenge." "A lot of these stars have bad-boy byfriends, but this guy is every mother's dream. Very nice, very good-looking."

Having a nice beau isn't the only way to avoid becoming a child-star clitche. People who know the Olsens insist that, unlike a lot of their peers in show business, they have skipped the power trip and party-hearty ways that have destroyed many young careers.

The twins, who have spent nine years shuttling between the homes of their divorced parents, have known to keep themselves, study a lot and do regular-teen things like shopping and having sleepovers.

"People are always looking for the dirt on them, but there isn't any," says Elizabeth Kruger, who has written three of the twins films. She often see Mary-Kate & Ashley hanging out with high-school friends (yes, they attend a regular school) at a Coffee Bean Shop.

"They are just normal girls who try to lead a regular teenage life." Kruger says.

"These two girls have been working since they were little and know the value of hard work. They are very responsible."

[TJL]

So, the girls are coming to the Big Apple...

If I see them trying to get any bars, I'm calling Page Six!

[musicradio77]

Originally posted by TJL
So, the girls are coming to the Big Apple...

Yes it is, according to an article, the twins are attending college at Columbia University. They will be leaving California soon and heading to New York City and study. Way to go, girls!