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| Duncan Jones to direct "Warcraft" game movie Friday, Feb 01, 2013 11:04 AM PST LONDON (Reuters) - British filmmaker Duncan Jones has signed up to direct a movie based on the popular videogame World of Warcraft, according to a statement posted on its Facebook page. The film, which industry estimates say will cost more than $100 million to make, would be a major step up for the director behind the acclaimed low-budget space drama "Moon" and sci-fi thriller "Source Code" starring Jake Gyllenhaal. "We are pleased to announce that Duncan Jones ... has signed on with Legendary Pictures to direct the upcoming live-action film based on the Warcraft universe," the statement said. ... Full Story | Top |
| NBC News President Capus to leave network Friday, Feb 01, 2013 10:57 AM PST (Reuters) - NBC News President Steve Capus will be leaving the network in the coming weeks after struggles at the unit including lower ratings for its flagship morning show "Today." Capus had been the president of NBC News since 2005. No replacement has been named, according to a company memo obtained by Reuters. In a statement, Capus said it was "now time to head in a new direction." His departure had been rumored for some time. Comcast reorganized the news division in July, bringing in Patricia Fili-Krushel to head the news unit's business operations. ... Full Story | Top |
| Amazon unveils exclusive 'Downton Abbey' deal with PBS Friday, Feb 01, 2013 10:54 AM PST SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc said on Friday that it struck an exclusive deal to distribute seasons of the hit TV show "Downton Abbey" to members of its subscription-based video streaming service. Beginning June 18, Amazon's Prime Instant Video service will be the exclusive subscription service for streaming Season 3 of "Downton Abbey," as part of a new content licensing agreement with PBS Distribution, a unit of The Public Broadcasting Service. ... Full Story | Top |
| Mysterious YouTube video accuses Russia's Medvedev of treason Friday, Feb 01, 2013 09:08 AM PST  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Dmitry Medvedev is glimpsed exchanging confidential smiles with Barack Obama as sinister music plays. The dead body of Russian ally Muammar Gaddafi, driven from power by the West, is dragged through the dirt. A camera homes in on the prime minister sweating and shifting uneasily in his chair. The word 'treason' is uttered by a narrator. A more than hour-long Internet video employs methods reminiscent of the Soviet past in excoriating a prime minister already laboring in President Vladimir Putin's shadow. ... Full Story | Top |
| Schwarzenegger: Simple Austrian upbringing made me green Friday, Feb 01, 2013 07:19 AM PST  VIENNA (Reuters) - Arnold Schwarzenegger credited his simple upbringing amid the lakes and hills of Austria for a recent conversion to fully fledged green activism, the latest stage in his varied career. The former body-builder, star of the "Terminator" action films and governor of California grew up in Thal, a small village in the Austrian province of Styria, and emigrated to the United States at the age of 21. "Growing up in my house, we knew about sustainability before it was hip. We called it 'necessity'," Schwarzenegger told an environmental conference he hosted in Vienna this week. ... Full Story | Top |
| Rushdie says local government did not allow visit to Indian city Friday, Feb 01, 2013 05:11 AM PST  KOLKATA (Reuters) - British author Salman Rushdie accused local authorities on Friday of making it impossible for him to visit the Indian city of Kolkata to promote the film adaptation of his novel "Midnight's Children". On Wednesday, Rushdie, whose 1988 novel "The Satanic Verses" is banned in India due to its depiction of Islam, abandoned plans to attend a publicity event in the eastern city after about 100 protesters gathered outside the city's airport. ... Full Story | Top |
| Beyonce says sang along to pre-recorded track at inauguration Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 08:54 PM PST  NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - Singer Beyonce said she sang along to a pre-recorded track at the inauguration of President Barack Obama, but delivered a stirring a cappella version of the U.S. national anthem at a Super Bowl news conference on Thursday. She also said would be singing live at the half-time show of the National Football League championship game between the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens at the Superdome on Sunday. ... Full Story | Top |
| Singer Randy Travis pleads guilty to DWI, gets probation Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 06:25 PM PST  DALLAS (Reuters) - Grammy Award-winning country singer Randy Travis on Thursday pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated and was sentenced to two years probation for an incident in which Texas State Troopers found him lying naked near his crashed car. Travis, 53, was ordered to serve at least 30 days at an in-patient alcohol treatment facility and was not charged for threatening the troopers who arrested him August 7 in Tioga, Texas, about 60 miles north of Dallas. Travis' blood alcohol level was more than double the legal limit in Texas when he was arrested, authorities said. ... Full Story | Top |
| "30 Rock" closes its doors with a sentimental farewell Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 06:22 PM PST  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Emmy-winning TV comedy "30 Rock" bowed out after seven seasons on Thursday with bittersweet farewells but giving all its zany characters a happy ending. The satirical show-within-a-show about the inside workings of a fictional television sketch series saw Tina Fey's hapless writer Liz Lemon try to round up her unruly cast for a last hurrah. ... Full Story | Top |
| Afghan ''Buzkashi Boys'' bank on Internet campaign for Oscar trip Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 04:46 PM PST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The teenage stars of an Oscar-nominated short film from Afghanistan hope to walk the red carpet at the Academy Awards in February thanks to donations that are pouring in to pay for their travel. A representative for the "Buzkashi Boys" film said on Thursday that an online campaign is two-thirds of its way to the $10,000 needed for 14-year-olds Fawad Mohammadi and Jawanmard Paiz to travel from Kabul to Los Angeles in time for Hollywood's biggest night on February 24. ... Full Story | Top |
| Geraldo Rivera ''Truly Contemplating'' New Jersey Senate Run Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 04:31 PM PST LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Geraldo Rivera said Thursday he is "truly contemplating" running for one of New Jersey's U.S. senate seats as a Republican. The Fox News host said on his radio show that he would run against incumbent Democrat Frank Lautenberg or Newark Mayor Cory Booker, a likely candidate for the seat if the 89-year-old Lautenberg steps down. "I mention this only briefly, fasten your seatbelt," Rivera said. "I mentioned this only briefly to my wife ... but I am and I've been in touch with some people in the Republican Party in New Jersey. ... Full Story | Top |
| 'Girls' Star Zosia Mamet Taps Into 'Darkness' of 20-Somethings in 'Really Really' Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 03:58 PM PST LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Zosia Mamet could have spent her hiatus from "Girls," shooting a movie, racking up guest spots on TV or doing commercials. Something lucrative that would have helped push her rising star farther into the stratosphere. But Mamet, whose father David Mamet lobbed lit sticks of dynamite at American theater more than three decades ago with his profane portraits of battered male egos in dramas like "American Buffalo" and "Glengarry Glen Ross," decided that the time was right to make her own mark on stage. ... Full Story | Top |
| Former New York mayor Ed Koch moved to hospital intensive care Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 02:26 PM PST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch was moved to a hospital intensive care unit on Thursday, his spokesman said, in a sign that his health could be deteriorating. Koch spokesman George Arzt said the 88-year-old politician, who earned a reputation for being as outspoken as he is colorful, was being moved so his cardiologist could better monitor his condition. Koch has been treated at New York-Presbyterian Hospital on and off since January 19. Koch was re-admitted to the hospital on Monday after complaining of shortness of breath. ... Full Story | Top |
| Arab-American groups call Coke Super Bowl ad ''racist'' Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 02:24 PM PST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Arab-American groups have sharply criticized a Coca-Cola Super Bowl ad depicting an Arab walking through the desert with a camel, and one group said it would ask the beverage giant to change it before CBS airs the game on Sunday before an expected audience of more than 100 million U.S. viewers. "Why is it that Arabs are always shown as either oil-rich sheiks, terrorists, or belly dancers?" said Warren David, president of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, or ADC. ... Full Story | Top |
| Boosted by James Bond, MGM to announce $650 million debt deal Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 02:03 PM PST  (Reuters) - MGM, the studio behind the James Bond movie franchise, will close a $650 million refinancing of its debt on Friday, reducing the likelihood that the filmmaker will file a contemplated initial public offering in the next few months. MGM, which emerged from bankruptcy in 2010, will use the debt to replace its existing $500 million credit line and to repay studios that have advanced it funds for joint production on films such as "Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey", which was released in movie theaters on December 14 date and has sold $294.1 million of tickets in the U.S. and Canada. ... Full Story | Top |
| Roseanne Barr to Star in, Produce New Series for NBC Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 01:27 PM PST NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) - NBC is betting on the up-again-down-again Roseanne Barr, signing the television icon to an overall deal that calls for her to develop a show she will star in and produce for the network. She will executive produce the series with Steven Greener, with whom she collaborated on "Roseanne's Nuts" for Lifetime. As part of the deal, Barr also will guest star in a three-episode arc on NBC's "The Office" as talent agent Carla Fern. She will help Andy Bernard (Ed Helms) pursue the career in show business he has always dreamed about. That arc begins filming this week. ... Full Story | Top |
| Relativity Buys Into Jim Carrey Heist Comedy ''Loomis Fargo'' Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 01:22 PM PST  NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) - Relativity Media has acquired worldwide rights to the Jim Carrey heist comedy "Loomis Fargo," which it will finance, produce and distribute, the studio announced on Thursday. Jared Hess, who co-wrote and directed "Napoleon Dynamite," will direct the movie from a script by Emily Spivey that also counts Chris Bowman and Hubbel Palmer as writers. Inspired by true events, it tells the story of four Southerners who stole nearly $20 million from an armed Loomis Fargo truck in 1997. ... Full Story | Top |
| ''Warm Bodies'' Review: Zombified ''Romeo & Juliet'' Lurches With Life Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 01:16 PM PST LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Not every movie has to homer it out of the park. "Warm Bodies," a surprisingly genial and clever little zombie-teen romance mash-up, qualifies as a solid base hit. And that's plenty good enough for a release during the winter of every moviegoer's discontent. Based on a 2011 novel of the same name by Isaac Marion, this tale of star-crossed teenage lovers, one of whom is inconveniently a member of the walking dead, is very loosely based on Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet. ... Full Story | Top |
| Amazon Orders 5 Children's Shows to Pilot Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 12:57 PM PST LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Amazon is continuing to beef up its original programming, ordering five potential children's series to pilot, including shows from the creators of "Blue Clues" and "Rugrats," the company announced on Thursday. "Creative Galaxy," "Oz Adventures," "Teeny Tiny Dogs," "Tumbleaf" and an untitled J.J. Johnson project will join six other comedy pilots on Amazon Instant Video. Viewers can watch for free and give their feedback - after which Amazon will decide what shows get series orders. No launch date has yet been scheduled for the pilots. ... Full Story | Top |
| Whitney Houston anniversary to be marked with TV Grammy special Thursday, Jan 31, 2013 12:27 PM PST  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Grammy organizers plan to mark the first anniversary of the sudden death of Whitney Houston with a behind-the-scenes TV show on how they scrambled to honor the singer just 24 hours after she died. The Recording Academy said on Thursday that the hour-long special entitled "The Grammys Will Go On: A Death in the Family" will air on February 9, the day before the 2013 Grammy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles. ... Full Story | Top |
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