Category Archives: Film

French film star Alain Delon dies aged 88

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Celebrated actor and star of Plein Soleil and Le Samouraï has died, his children have said

Alain Delon, the celebrated actor who starred in a string of classic films such as Plein Soleil, Le Samouraï and Rocco and His Brothers, has died aged 88, his children have told French media.

“Alain Fabien, Anouchka, Anthony, as well as [his dog] Loubo, are deeply saddened to announce the passing of their father. He passed away peacefully in his home in Douchy, surrounded by his three children and his family,” they said in a statement, adding that the family asked for privacy.

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Alain Delon: how family feud brought Shakespearean tragedy to final years

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Tensions between his children had erupted behind the gates of the French actor’s home in the village of Douchy

It has been some time since Alain Delon was last seen in the village of Douchy, his country home for the past half a century and the place he designated as his final resting place. Local people remember when back in the 1970s and 80s he would be spotted at the nearby chemist shop or the only restaurant, or even at the annual school fete with Mireille Darc, an actor and one of the great loves of his life.

“When I was a schoolgirl they would come for the end-of-year party. They would play Father Christmas and give everyone a present,” one woman recalled.

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Corey Yuen, martial arts director and Jet Li collaborator, died in 2022, Hong Kong film federation confirms

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Film-maker who directed films starring Li, Jackie Chan and Michelle Yeoh and later worked as a Hollywood fight coordinator, died during the Covid pandemic two years ago

Celebrated Hong Kong martial arts actor and director Corey Yuen died two years ago during the Covid pandemic, it has been reported.

The Federation of Hong Kong Filmmakers confirmed Yuen’s death following a social media post by action star Jackie Chan naming Yuen (also known as Yuen Kwai) among a list of late disciples of China Drama Academy head Yu Jim-yuen, who died in 1997.

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Liza Minnelli announces memoir because documentaries ‘didn’t get it right’

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Cabaret star says she felt ‘mad as hell’ after hearing stories from people who didn’t know her or her family, and will release untitled book in 2026

Liza Minnelli is to release a memoir after she claimed previous screen depictions of her life “didn’t get it right”.

The 78-year-old US actor and singer will release the book in spring 2026, which will take readers through her career, struggles with substance abuse and love life.

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Tom Cruise to appear in Olympics closing ceremony – report

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Mission: Impossible star pre-taped stunts in Paris and Los Angeles for the 11 August ceremony, reports suggest

Tom Cruise is reportedly set to assist with the ceremonial Olympic Games handoff between Paris and the 2028 host, Los Angeles.

The closing ceremonies will get a boost from the Mission: Impossible actor who has filmed stunts in both cities as part of a pre-taped segment for 11 August, according to TMZ.

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Nigerian singer, actor and activist Onyeka Onwenu dies aged 72

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Nicknamed the ‘Elegant Stallion’, the revered star died after performing at a private party in Lagos

Onyeka Onwenu, the singer, actor, broadcaster and activist whose love ballads and songs about women’s rights were a soothing balm during Nigeria’s rocky 1980s and earned her the nickname “Elegant Stallion”, has died at 72.

She had just finished a performance at a private party on Tuesday night in Lagos when the singer became ill. Hours later, she died at a nearby hospital, having suffered a heart attack, according to local reports.

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More than half UK’s film and TV workers still unemployed after Hollywood strikes

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Bectu survey shows just 6% of workers have seen a full recovery in employment a year on from joint industrial action by Sag-Aftra and the Writers Guild of America

More than half of the UK’s film and TV workforce are still out of work a year after the Hollywood strikes of 2023, new research has found.

According to a survey of more than 2,300 film and TV workers by the Bectu trade union, 52% of workers in the UK film sector are out of work, 51% in TV drama, 57% in unscripted TV and 53% in commercials.

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Princess Leia’s Star Wars gold bikini fetches $175,000 at auction

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The famous costume, worn by Carrie Fisher in Return of the Jedi, was sold alongside a miniature aircraft used in A New Hope that fetched $1.6m

Princess Leia’s famous gold bikini worn by the late Carrie Fisher in Star Wars has sold at auction for $175,000 (£136,000, A$266,000).

The costume, made famous from the 1983 film Return of the Jedi when Fisher’s character wore it while chained to Jabba the Hutt’s throne, was bought at a sale by Heritage Auctions on Friday in the US.

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Deadpool & Wolverine shatters record for R-rated movies with $205m debut

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Film’s opening is eighth biggest ever in win for Marvel as Robert Downey Jr announces return to studio as Dr Doom

Marvel is back on top with Deadpool & Wolverine. The comic-book movie made a staggering $205m in its first weekend in North American theaters, according to studio estimates Sunday. It shattered the opening record for R-rated films previously held by the first Deadpool ($132m) and notched a spot in the top 10 openings of all time.

Including international showings, where it’s racked up an additional $233.3m from 52 markets, Deadpool & Wolverine is looking at a global opening of more than $438.3m.

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Royal stinker: how Henry VIII changed from heroic to hideous on our screens

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As Jude Law’s ripe and revolting portrayal of the Tudor monarch opens in cinemas, we look at the film and TV stars who have played him – as comedian, tyrant or heart-throb

Greasy, hairy, large and smelly are not words that instantly summon up the image of Jude Law. Until now. Because the actor’s latest role, Henry VIII in the film Firebrand, will show him in an almost entirely unflattering light. And the effect will be topped off in later scenes by the pustulant ulcers shown on his legs.

Law is, perhaps unfairly, still best known for his line in clean-shaven leading men, from the inconstant Alfie to the suave Dickie Greenleaf in The Talented Mr Ripley. He has clearly relished the chance to look so unappealing on the big screen.

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First trailer for Bob Dylan biopic shows Timothée Chalamet as the star

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A Complete Unknown, from Walk the Line director James Mangold, will show the musician’s rise to worldwide fame in early 60s New York City

The first trailer for A Complete Unknown shows Oscar nominee Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan in the much-anticipated biopic.

The Dune and Call Me by Your Name star has transformed into the legendary musician for an awards-aiming drama to be released in the US in December and in the UK in January. It comes from the film-maker James Mangold, who previously directed the Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line.

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Alec Baldwin’s Rust shooting trial dismissed after lawyers say evidence was withheld

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New Mexico judge agrees charges should be dropped after lawyers said state ‘buried’ evidence about live ammunition

Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter trial came to a dramatic end on Friday, after a New Mexico judge dismissed the case against the actor and found that the state had improperly withheld evidence related to how live rounds of ammunition ended up on the film set where the cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was fatally shot.

Just days after courtroom proceedings had begun, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer ruled in favor of the defense and agreed that the charges against Baldwin should be dropped, finding that the state had concealed evidence that would have been favorable to the actor. The dismissal, made with prejudice, puts an end to the involuntary manslaughter case against Baldwin.

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Alec Baldwin jury views video of grim aftermath of Rust film set shooting

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Actor on trial in New Mexico for involuntary manslaughter after shot from gun he was holding killed cinematographer

The jury in Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter trial on Wednesday viewed harrowing footage depicting the aftermath of the shooting on a New Mexico film set and medics’ desperate efforts to treat cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

The scene at the Bonanza Creek Ranch where the actor and crew were filming the western Rust was captured via body-camera footage from a New Mexico sheriff’s deputy who responded to the incident and testified in court this week.

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Alec Baldwin heads to trial for manslaughter over Rust shooting

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Actor to face court more than two years after death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins

Alec Baldwin is heading to trial on Tuesday on involuntary manslaughter charges in a case that will be closely watched by the entertainment industry, the news media, tabloids and legal experts.

It has been a long road to trial since the cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was fatally shot during production of the movie Rust on 21 October 2021, a rare deadly tragedy on set. Prosecutors in Santa Fe will have to overcome numerous hurdles to convince a jury of Baldwin’s criminal negligence in the complex and unusual case, but criminal law scholars say the 66-year-old actor’s previous comments could come back to haunt him.

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Jon Landau, Oscar-winning Titanic and Avatar producer, dies aged 63

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Titanic became first film to gross $1bn globally, and Landau topped that with Avatar, and Avatar: The Way of Water

Jon Landau, the Oscar-winning Titanic and Avatar producer who helped bring director James Cameron’s visions to life, has died at 63.

Alan Bergman, co-chair of Disney Entertainment, announced Landau’s death in a statement on Saturday. No cause of death was given.

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Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice to open Venice film festival

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The much-anticipated sequel to the director’s 1988 hit Beetlejuice will get its world premiere at the festival in August

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Tim Burton’s sequel to his 1988 hit Beetlejuice, has been selected as the opening film of the Venice film festival. The screening will be the world premiere of the film, which reunites original stars Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder with Burton.

Festival director Alberto Barbera said in a statement that it “marks the long-awaited return of one of the most iconic characters of Tim Burton’s cinema, but also the happy confirmation of the extraordinary visionary talent and the masterly realisation of one of the most fascinating auteurs of his time”.

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Cheap AI voice clones may wipe out jobs of 5,000 Australian actors

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Industry group says rise of vocal technology could upend many creative fields, including audiobooks – the canary in the coalmine for voice actors

Voice actors say they’re on the precipice of their work being replaced completely by artificial intelligence, with corporate and radio roles already beginning to be replaced by cheap generative AI clones.

While a high-profile actor like Scarlett Johansson can make the most prominent AI company in the world back down within a day from using her voice likeness in their AI products, everyday actors working on commercials, audiobook and video games worry they risk having their own voices cloned, or miss out on work entirely due to the rise of AI voice clones.

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Head of France’s cinema agency sentenced to three years for sexual assault of godson

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Dominique Boutonnat to step down from French industry champion CNC, and will serve sentence at home

Dominique Boutonnat, the head of France’s powerful National Centre for Cinema and the Moving Image (CNC), was on Friday given a three-year prison sentence, including two years suspended, after being convicted of sexually assaulting his godson in 2020.

In a statement released immediately after the ruling, Boutonnat announced he would step down as head of the CNC, a government agency whose role includes overseeing measures to curb sexual violence in the industry.

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Film and TV crew members reach deal with Hollywood studios to avert strike

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Iatse union agrees tentative three-year deal with Disney, Netflix and others over pay, AI protections and residuals

The union that represents film and television crews has reached an agreement with Hollywood studios that will stave off a major strike – a welcome development after the industry saw significant labor turmoil last year.

The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (Iatse) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) announced on Tuesday they had a tentative three-year agreement that will affect about 50,000 crew members.

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Oscar invitees: Lily Gladstone, Celine Song and Catherine O’Hara among those offered Academy membership

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Da’Vine Joy Randolph and the director and cast of Anatomy of a Fall are also among the 487 new artists and executives to judge the Academy Awards

Killers of the Flower Moon star Lily Gladstone, Past Lives director Celine Song, and actors Jessica Alba, Catherine O’Hara and Fiona Shaw are among the 487 artists and entertainment executives invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organisation announced on Tuesday.

Other invitees included Past Lives actors Greta Lee and Teo Yeo, Bottoms filmmaker Emma Seligman, New Zealand actor Rachel House – best known for her collaborations with Taika Waititi – and French director Alice Diop, whose feature debut, the legal drama Saint Omer, became an international festival darling in 2022.

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