The 3ft 8in actor, who starred in six Star Wars films as well as Time Bandits and Flash Gordon, was 81 The British actor who played R2-D2 in the Star Wars films has died at the age of 81 after a long illness. Kenny Baker, who was 3ft 8in tall, shot to fame in...
Category: Movies
Pinewood Studios to be taken private in £323m deal with Aermont Capital
Offer values each Pinewood share at 560p and gives film studio – home of James Bond franchise – funds for expansion plans Pinewood Studios is to be taken private in a £323m deal as the studio where James Bond is filmed seeks financial firepower for its expansion plans. The film studio has said it...
Gas-lit Leeds cinema among sites to receive heritage lottery cash
Hyde Park Picture House wins £2.4m grant while William Morris’s country home in Oxfordshire is one of 11 other recipients A tiny cinema that opened in Leeds within months of the outbreak of the first world war, now believed to be the only one in the world still lit by gas, has won a...
Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan detained at US airport again
Actor says experience ‘really, really sucks’ after being detained for a third time in seven years, this time in LA The Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan has expressed annoyance about being detained by US airport immigration authorities for a third time, saying the experience “really, really sucks”. The last time Khan, 50, was detained...
David Fincher set to reunite with Brad Pitt for World War Z sequel
The pair, who last collaborated on The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, are in talks to work together again on follow-up to the 2013 zombie thriller David Fincher is in talks to direct Brad Pitt in a sequel to the 2013 zombie thriller World War Z. According to Variety, Pitt is courting the Gone...
Film-makers demand inquiry into 'targeting' of people who record police
Group of more than 30 documentarians, including eight Oscar winners, has called on the justice department to investigate ‘harassment’ of citizen journalists People who film police violence are citizen journalists. We stand with them A group of more than 40 documentarians, including eight Oscar winners, has called on the justice department to investigate the...
Daisy Ridley takes social media break after gun violence post
The Star Wars: The Force Awakens actor deleted her Instagram account shortly after using the social platform to address gun violence in America Daisy Ridley has left Instagram, and taken a break from social media after a backlash for sharing a post about victims of gun violence, on Monday. A day after attending the...
Ava DuVernay becomes first woman of color to direct a $100m film
The Selma director will reach the milestone when she directs Disney’s upcoming adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time Ava DuVernay has made history as the first woman of color to direct a live-action film that boasts a budget over $100m, with Disney’s upcoming A Wrinkle in Time. The Selma director has been...
Bridget Jones's Baby on the way into print, Helen Fielding says
To accompany forthcoming film of the same name, the book will recount the bestselling heroine’s ‘somewhat bumpy journey into motherhood’ Bridget Jones is back: author Helen Fielding has reunited with her bumbling, much-loved creation yet again, with the latest instalment in her misadventures set to come out in October. Bridget Jones’s Baby: The Diaries,...
Zhang Yimou defends controversial casting of Matt Damon in The Great Wall
Director rejects accusations of whitewashing, claiming the fantasy adventure is ‘deeply rooted in Chinese culture’ Director Zhang Yimou has stood by his decision to cast Matt Damon as the lead role in his new film The Great Wall, after some critics claimed it amounted to a “whitewashing”. The film-maker, whose credits include Hero and...
Mr Robot's Rami Malek to star in Papillon remake
Actor will reprise Dustin Hoffman role in Devil’s Island prison-escape drama, opposite Charlie Hunnam Mr Robot star Rami Malek is hacking into a remake of the 1973 Steve McQueen thriller Papillon, according to Deadline. Malek, currently starring in the second season of the Amazon Prime series about a renegade computer whizz, will play the...
Bradley Cooper was surprised by uproar over Democratic convention appearance
Four-time Oscar nominee tells The Late Late Show he ‘was not expecting’ backlash from conservatives for attending the night Barack Obama spoke Bradley Cooper caused an online uproar among some Republicans during the Democratic national convention after being spotted by TV cameras listening to speeches last Wednesday evening, when Barack Obama spoke. The apparent...
Clint Eastwood defends Trump's 'racist' remarks: 'Just get over it'
The Hollywood tough guy has derided ‘a pussy generation’ obsessed with political correctness in an expletive-riddled Esquire interview Another Republican luminary has gone public with strong feelings about Donald Trump. Really, really strong feelings. He didn’t pussyfoot like Paul Ryan. He wasn’t a convention no-show, like John Kasich. Hollywood tough guy Clint Eastwood emptied...
Guillermo del Toro: 'I love monsters the way people worship holy images'
The film-maker’s fantastical world is not only expressed in his work but in his home – and now, thanks to a new exhibition in Los Angeles, anyone can visit When film-maker Guillermo del Toro was directing his 2006 fantasy, Pan’s Labyrinth, he told his art department to conjure a make-believe world more real than...
Jimmy Fallon to host the 74th Golden Globes
The late-night talkshow host is taking over from Ricky Gervais, who hosted four times Jimmy Fallon, host of NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, is to host the 2017 Golden Globes ceremony on 8 January 2017. This marks the comedian’s first time hosting the show. He previously hosted the 2010 Primetime Emmy awards,...