ITV

Tag: George Clooney

  • Grant Bowler to play Burton in Liz biopic

    Grant Bowler to play Burton in Liz biopic

    MUMBAI: Australian actor Grant Bowler will essay the role of Richard Buton in the Elizabeth Taylor biopic Liz and Dick. Lindsay Lohan plays Taylor.

    The biopic, being made into a TV film for Lifetime, will follow Richard Burton and Taylor‘s infamous romance that started on the set of Cleopatra and saw the couple marry twice.

    Incidentally, Bowler has landed the role beating A-list actors like George Clooney, who Lohan previously expressed her desire to see in the role, it is understood.

    Bowler, who made it big in the US with films like True Blood and Ugly Betty, is best known in his country for films like All Saints, Outrageous Fortune and Blue Heelers.

  • Two actors unions merge; bargaining power set to soar

    Two actors unions merge; bargaining power set to soar

    MUMBAI: Two of Hollywood‘s largest actors unions have decided to merge making way for the creation of a single organization that will have greater bargaining power with film and television studios.
     
    Members of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists(AFTRA) approved the plan supported by George Clooney and Alec Baldwin, with 82 per cent of SAG and 86 per cent of AFTRA members voting in favour, it is understood.
     
    The combined organization, with more than 150,000 members, will have the power to negotiate for better pay, pension and health benefits and also navigate the impact of changes to distribution.
     
    The merger campaign began during the strike after SAG dissidents criticized union leaders for failing to reach an agreement with the studios. After negotiations broke down, the pro-merger group Unite for Strength won seats on the national board by calling for a combination of the two unions. The discussions with AFTRA began after the strike ended in April 2009.
     
    It may be remembered that a 2009 strike by the Screen Actors Guild was weakened when AFTRA members remained on the job because their contract expired on a different date.

  • George Clooney arrested

    George Clooney arrested

    MUMBAI: George Clooney and his father have been arrested at a protest outside the Sudanese Embassy in Washington.

    The protesters were accusing Sudan‘s president Omar al-Bashir of provoking a humanitarian crisis and blocking food and aid from entering the Nuba Mountains in the county‘s border region with South Sudan.

    Clooney and others, including Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Moran of Virginia and NAACP President Ben Jealous, were arrested after being warned three times not to cross a police line outside the embassy.

    They were handcuffed and placed into the back of a U.S. Secret Service van.

    Clooney said earlier that he hopes to draw more attention to the issue and that if action is not taken in the next three to four months “we‘re going to have a real humanitarian disaster.”

  • ‘The Artist’, ‘Hugo’ win five Oscars each

    ‘The Artist’, ‘Hugo’ win five Oscars each

    MUMBAI: Silent black and white film ‘The Artist‘ and Martin Scorcese‘s 3D children‘s film ‘Hugo‘ bagged five Oscar Awards each this morning. The 84th edition of the show aired live on Star Movies.

    While ‘Hugo‘ dominated the technical categories winning in areas like sound, the Artist took home the big awards for picture, director and actor. It also won a couple of technical awards in score and costume design.

    The biggest applause, though, was reserved for Meryl Streep who won an Oscar after 29 years playing Margaret Thatcher in ‘The Iron Lady‘. She said, “When they called my name, I had this feeling I could hear half of America go, ‘Oh, no, why her again?‘ But whatever.

    “I really understand I‘ll never be up here again. I really want to think all my colleagues, my friends. I look out here and I see my life before my eyes, my old friends, my new friends.
    Really, this is such a great honour but the think that counts the most with me is the friendship and the love and the sheer job we‘ve shared making moves together”.

    After ‘The Artist‘ won, the director Michel Hazanavicius thanked Hollywood great Billy Wilder thrice showing the influence that old Hollywood had on the film.

    Streep received a standing ovation as did a tearful Octavia Spencer who won for ‘The Help‘ and Christopher Plummer who won for ‘Beginners‘. Plummer and Streep‘s awards could be seen as a reward for a lifetime of excellent work.

    It was a triumphant night for Harvey Weinstein who is back in the Oscar race with a big bang. Last year ‘The Kings Speech‘ which he championed took home best picture. This time he bought the rights to distribute the Artist. The Weinstein Company had also gone into overdrive pushing Streep for a long awaited win. Its documentary film ‘Undefeated‘ also won for best documentary.

    In the foreign language category, Iran‘s ‘A Separation‘ won. Woody Allen was a no show, although he won for Best Original Screenplay for Midnight In Paris. The George Clooney starrer, ‘The Descendants‘, was rewarded with Best Adapted Screenplay.

    Meanwhile ‘War Horse‘, the Steven Spielberg and Anil Ambani co-production, went home empty handed as did ‘The Tree Of Life‘ and ‘Moneyball‘. One of the highlights was a performance by Cirque Du Soleil. The show‘s host Billy crystal did a crisp job and the show finished in just over three hours. It was shorter in duration than most of the previous editions of the Oscar Awards ceremony Awards.

  • Emma Watson to star in Your Voice in My Head

    Emma Watson to star in Your Voice in My Head

    MUMBAI: Harry Potter actress Emma Watson will possibly reunite with the film’s director David Yates in her next Your Voice in My Head, a film about a suicidal writer.

    Your Voice in My Head is based on a memoir by Emma Forrest who, incidentally, is also the film’s screenwriter. The film follows a self-destructive writer who struggles with her personal issues and embarks on the difficult road to recovery.

    Watson will play the female lead of a young woman who tries to commit suicide before being saved by a New York-based psychiatrist who is dying of cancer. Warner is eyeing some high-profile names like Tom Hanks and George Clooney to play the male lead.

    Watson last played a supporting role in My Week with Marilyn that marked her first acting stint post Harry Potter.

    Next, she will be seen starring opposite Logan Lerman and Nina Dobrev in The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

  • US agency CAA signs up Priyanka Chopra

    US agency CAA signs up Priyanka Chopra

    MUMBAI: Los Angeles-based entertainment and sports agency, Creative Artists Agency, has signed up Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra to represent her in the international market.

    CAA represents A-list and emerging stars in movies, television, music, and sports and is often cited as the world‘s leading talent agency.

    Priyanka will join a CAA‘s clientele list which boasts of names like George Clooney, Brad Pitt, LeBron James, Oprah Winfrey, Julia Roberts, Steven Spielberg, and Will Smith, among others.

    The actress, who was part of commercially successful projects like Don 2 and Agneepath, is also working with international label Universal on her debut album, which is expected to release this year.

  • Dreamworks Reliance Entertainment’s ‘The Help’ dominates Sag Awards

    Dreamworks Reliance Entertainment’s ‘The Help’ dominates Sag Awards

    MUMBAI: At the Screen Actors Guild (Sag) Awards, ‘The Help‘ from Dreamworks and Reliance Entertainment won all the awards it was nominated for.

    The movie won for supporting actress Octavia Spencer, lead
    actress Viola Davis and also for best ensemble in a motion picture. In her acceptance speech, Davis paid tribute to fellow nominee Meryl Streep who plays Margaret Thatcher in ‘The Iron Lady‘.

    The ceremony aired live on Zee Studio. Jean DuJardin won best actor for ‘The Artist‘ which is expected to sweep the Oscar Awards. He beat out Hollywood hearthtrobs George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio as well as mexican actor Demian Bichir.

    On the television side, Best Ensemble in a Drama Series went to Boardwalk Empire while Best Ensemble in a Comedy Series went to Modern Family. Alec Baldwin won another award for his role in the sitcom 30 Rock. Best Female Actor in a Comedy Series went to Betty White for ‘Hot in Cleveland‘. She had won last year as well.

  • Sean Penn organizes charity for Haiti

    Sean Penn organizes charity for Haiti

    MUMBAI: 51-year-old Sean Penn recently hosted a benefit for the J/P Haitian Relief Organization. The event, called Cinema for Peace, was on the occasion of the second anniversary of the earthquake in Haiti.
     
    Subtitled Help Haiti Home with Sean Penn & Friends, the event was supported by Penn‘s friends that include Bryan Lourd, a partner at CAA; Jeff Robinov, the president of Warner Bros. Pictures Group; Oprah Winfrey, Bill Clinton and film stars like Demi Moore, Leonardo DiCaprio, George Clooney, Josh Brolin and Diane Lane, James Gandolfini, Hilary Swank, Orlando Bloom, Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts.
     
    Ms. Roberts said that Mr. Penn wrote her a “very long, eloquent letter” inviting her to participate in the evening. “At the end of the letter, he wrote, ‘So, wouldya?‘ How could I say no? You can‘t say no. And this is nothing compared to what Sean does for all these people.”
     
    In one of the more reported moments of the evening, Penn was named an Ambassador-at-Large to the country.

  • Critics Choice awards best actor award to Clooney

    Critics Choice awards best actor award to Clooney

    MUMBAI: The Broadcast Film Critics Association announced the Critics Choice Awards that had Michel Hazanavicius‘s The Artist score wins for best picture and best actor.


    Meanwhile, George Clooney won for best actor in The Descendants, Viola Davis, for best actress in The Help, Christopher Plummer, as best supporting actor in Beginners and Octavia Spencer as best actress in The Help.
     
    It is interesting to note that for two years running, the Critics Choice have correctly predicted every single acting winner at the Oscars. That goes to show the abovementioned four films have good reason to start getting some more speeches ready.
     
    Other winners included Moneyball and Midnight in Paris in the screenplay categories and A Separation in the foreign language film category.

  • Fox Star Studios’ debut release in 2012 is The Descendants on 26 January

    Fox Star Studios’ debut release in 2012 is The Descendants on 26 January

    MUMBAI: Fox Star Studios is all set to open its 2012 account with Alexander Payne and George Clooney’s The Descendants.

    The film will release across India on 26 January.

    Directed by Alexander Payne, the film has George Clooney essaying the role of Matt King, a privileged Honolulu attorney from a landowning family who is compelled to reevaluate his marriage and life while his wife lies exhausted in a hospital bed following a boating accident.

    With 5 Golden Globe nominations already under its belt and also being chosen as the best film of 2011 by Los Angeles Film Critics Association, The Descendants is expected to blitzkrieg all major film awards this year. The film is also in race for an Oscar nod.