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Hercule Poirot May Return for Future Detective Adventures

Back in 2017, he had said, “I think there are possibilities, aren’t there? With 66 books and short stories and plays, she – and she often brings people together in her own books actually, so innately – she enjoyed that.”..reports Asian Lite News

Kenneth Branagh’s version of the famous detective Hercule Poirot is very likely to return once again after his third outing as the Belgian detective from the Agatha Christie novels, as executive producer James Prichard is more than open to making more films as long as Branagh and writer Michael Green are still interested.

According to Aceshowbiz, “If Ken wants to do more, and Michael wants to write more, we’ll certainly do another. There’s a lot of material still to go, so we’re not going to run out of inspiration,” Prichard told ‘Total Film’ magazine.

Kenneth Branagh for his part has been more than open to return as the iconic detective once again, as he’s made it clear before that there is an element of charm and intrigue to the character, which got him interested to play the role in the first place.

The 62-year old veteran actor had earlier even teased the possibility of creating an entire Agatha Christie based universe, as there is a lot of material on Hercule Poirot and his many intriguing investigations into crimes of unique nature.

Back in 2017, he had said, “I think there are possibilities, aren’t there? With 66 books and short stories and plays, she – and she often brings people together in her own books actually, so innately – she enjoyed that.”

“You feel as though there is a world – just like with Dickens, there’s a complete world that she’s created – certain kinds of characters who live in her world – that I think has real possibilities”, he added.

The actor who was last seen as the Belgian detective in the 2020 film ‘Death on the Nile’ will be reprising his role as Poirot for a third time with ‘A Haunting in Venice’.

Kenneth Branagh was last seen in ‘Oppenheimer’ playing the scientist Niels Bohr.

Set in post-World War 2 era, the movie sees an old and retired Hercule Poirot who is living a quiet life, but returns to being a detective after a special case presents itself, where the renowned detective goes to Venice to investigate a mysterious murder which takes place in an aristocratic séance.

The movie is based on the 1969 novel ‘Hallowe’en’ Party’ and will adapt a supernatural horror based tune, in comparison to the earlier suspense based work, as Poirot too is unable to grasp what is going on due to the supposed supernatural part of the experience, putting his own reasoning into doubt.

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TikToker’s Taylor swift prank at Disneyland goes viral

For the Saturday outing, she donned a burgundy beret, sunglasses, black long sleeve shirt and jeans, giving off a “Red” era look…reports Asian Lite News

Pop singer Taylor Swift’s impersonator and  TikToker Ashley Leechin caused a buzz on social media for pretending to be the singer at a store here.

Leechin intentionally dressed up to look like the Grammy-winner and decoy Swifties at two locations in the Los Angeles area.

On Sunday, she entered The Grove outdoor shopping area with a few men wearing all-black, leading people to believe that they were security for her, reports aceshowbiz.com.

She wore a white top, blue jeans and a red cap with a pair of dark shades on while carrying a red bag. She also sported Taylor’s trademark red lipstick and let loose her long blonde hair as she entered the shop with her entourage, trying to prank some shoppers.

Almost instantly, people flocked to her in an attempt to get selfies with Leechin, whom people believed was the pop superstar. Her disguise apparently was quickly discovered though as security at the shop escorted her out.

One day before, Leechin also channeled Taylor while visiting Downtown Disney, the shopping district of Disneyland in Anaheim, California, along with some men in black.

For the Saturday outing, she donned a burgundy beret, sunglasses, black long sleeve shirt and jeans, giving off a “Red” era look.

Leechin later took to her Instagram Story to explain that she had sort of social experiment with her impersonation. “What a way to show what it’s like to live in the shoes of a well-known celebrity. I think this why they hire decoys so they can go to private events & enjoy themselves without being swarmed by fans,” she wrote alongside an image from YouTuber VicInTheGame, who admitted that the video they were collaborating on may have been too brazen.

The real Taylor Swift, meanwhile, was in New Jersey over the weekend to celebrate her longtime collaborator Jack’s wedding to actress Margaret. After attending the pair’s rehearsal dinner on Friday, the “Begin Again” songstress came to the nuptials on Long Beach Island on Saturday. She reportedly partied into the early hours of the morning with Cara Delevingne.

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FFI launches call for Indian films to compete at 96th Oscars

Kottarakara also called upon filmmakers to participate in large numbers to get nominated as India’s official entry to the 96th Oscars for which the FFI will provide all help…reports Asian Lite News

The Film Federation of India (FFI) — the country’s apex body of all film associations — has invited applications from Indian films which could go as the official entry to the 96th Academy Awards this year, an official said here on Tuesday.

FFI President Ravi Kottarakara said that the entries are open for 25 days — from August 15 to September 10 — for this year’s Oscars nominations.

“India is on the cusp of another amazing year in the films and entertainment space and our movies are making a mark at various international platforms, including the Oscars. Last year, films like ‘RRR’ and ‘The Elephant Whisperers’ brought glory to India at the Academy Awards,” Kottarakara said.

Soon, he said the FFI will nominate a chairman of the jury for the Oscars entry along with other big names from the creative field who will be part of the jury.

The jury will conduct a closed viewing of all the films that would apply for this year’s Oscars nomination between September 15 and September 25 in Chennai, and decide the country’s final entry which will be announced on September 26.

Kottarakara also called upon filmmakers to participate in large numbers to get nominated as India’s official entry to the 96th Oscars for which the FFI will provide all help.

Among the requirements for the International Film Feature category of Oscars, the films must be released between December 1, 2022 and October 31, 2023, and must be publicly exhibited for at least seven consecutive days in a commercial theatre.

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Seattle’s museum of pop culture removes J.K. Rowling’s exhibits amid controversy

While initially the museum kept a memorabilia, in light of her socio-political controversies, the MOPC removed that as well, as such fully dusting her off the shelf…reports Asian Lite News

The Seattle based Museum of Pop Culture (MPC or MoPOC) which is dedicated as implied by its name to celebrate pop culture has removed all exhibitions of English author J.K Rowling from its Harry Potter exhibition in light of her alleged “transphobic views.”

As reported by Deadline, the MOPC had previously published a blog explaining its decision to airbrush Rowling from its display, due to her controversial views and allegedly negative views.

Project manager Chris Moore, who is transgender, wrote in the piece: “There’s a certain cold, heartless, joy-sucking entity in the world of Harry Potter and, this time, it is not actually a Dementor.”

“We would love to go with the internet’s theory that these books were actually written without an author, but this certain person is a bit too vocal with her super hateful and divisive views to be ignored.”

“For the time being, the curators decided to remove any of her artefacts from this gallery to reduce her impact. It’s not a perfect solution, but it’s what we were able to do in the short-term while determining long-term practices.”

While initially the museum kept a memorabilia, in light of her socio-political controversies, the MOPC removed that as well, as such fully dusting her off the shelf.

Rowling has made no secret of her disdain for LGBTQ movement and its activists and while she has expressed her support for transsexual people, as well as the gay, lesbian and coloured community, she had said that gender is determined solely by biological sex, and as such cannot be altered on the basis of social identification.

For this comment she had received a lot of flak, including from her Harry Potter actors such as Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson all of whom said that they felt ‘hurt’ over Rowling’s comments. This led to her being barred from the 25th celebration of her first Harry Potter novel, ‘The Philosopher’s Stone’. In addition she also did not attend the Harry Potter re-union which marked two decades of the film franchise.

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‘Barbie’ beats ‘Oppenheimer’ at the box-office

The two movies worked together to fuel the biggest collective box-office weekend of the pandemic era, as well as the fourth-biggest overall weekend in history…reports Asian Lite News

Barbenheimer’ is more than just a meme (although Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling are still wondering what a ‘meme’ is!). It is, says ‘Variety’, a full-fledged box-office phenomenon.

Over the weekend, moviegoers in North America turned out in force for Greta Gerwig’s neon-coated fantasy comedy ‘Barbie’, which smashed expectations with $155 million to land the biggest debut of the year, ‘Variety’ reports.

But they also showed up to see Christopher Nolan’s R-rated historical drama ‘Oppenheimer’, which collected a remarkable $80.5 million in its opening weekend.

Hundreds of thousands of ticket buyers refused to choose between the seemingly different blockbusters with twin release dates. So they opted to attend same-day viewings of ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’, turning the box-office battle into a double feature for the ages.

The two movies worked together to fuel the biggest collective box-office weekend of the pandemic era, as well as the fourth-biggest overall weekend in history.

It’s worth noting the top three weekends were led by the debuts of sequels in massive franchises — ‘Avengers: Endgame’, ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ and ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’.

In the end, though, it wasn’t much of a competition as ‘Barbie’ loomed large over box-office charts, thanks to an inescapable marketing campaign, as well as quality to match the stratospheric hype, says ‘Variety’.

The $145 million-budgeted movie, backed by Warner Bros. and toymaker Mattel, dominated the zeitgeist in the weeks leading up to its debut (even reportedly causing a shortage of the colour pink) to a degree that’s rare for original fare, notes ‘Variety’. (Barbie is perhaps the world’s most famous doll, but the movie isn’t a sequel or part of a pre-existing franchise.)

Audiences and critics, in the words of ‘Variety’, dug the film, which landed an ‘A’ on CinemaScore and scored a whopping 90 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes.

Initial crowds were 65 per cent female, but that’s notable because it’s almost always the inverse for any movie that generates over $100 million in its debut.

Among its many records underlined by ‘Variety’, ‘Barbie’ also scored the biggest opening weekend ever for a film directed by a woman. ‘Captain Marvel’, which was co-directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, previously held the title with $153 million in 2019.

‘Wonder Woman’, from filmmaker Patty Jenkins, stood as the record-holder for a movie solely directed by a woman with $103 million in 2017.

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 ‘Gladiator 2’, ‘Mortal Kombat 2’, ‘White Lotus 3’ on pause

Major international shoots set to pause production due to the actors strike include the Paul Mescal and Pedro Pascal-starring ‘Gladiator 2’ movie, which was filming in Morocco, and martial arts sequel ‘Mortal Kombat 2’, which was filming in Australia, ‘Variety’ notes…reports Asian Lite News

As a historic dual strike by the WGA (Writers Guild of America) and SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists), last endured in 1960, gets ready to bring the global film and TV industry to its knees, the worst-case scenario many have dreaded for months is fast becoming a crushing reality, ‘Variety’ reports.

Talks between the US actors’ union and Hollywood’s collective bargaining agent, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, broke down on Wednesday after a turbulent 12-day period of extended negotiations.

At midnight (US Pacific Time), both sides concluded talks without reaching an agreement, thus triggering a strike vote by the SAG-AFTRA National Board for Thursday morning.

A strike is expected to be called, and the union will direct its 160,000 members to immediately stop all scripted film and TV work around the world.

Major international shoots set to pause production due to the actors strike include the Paul Mescal and Pedro Pascal-starring ‘Gladiator 2’ movie, which was filming in Morocco, and martial arts sequel ‘Mortal Kombat 2’, which was filming in Australia, ‘Variety’ notes.

‘Gladiator 2’ is not the only Ridley Scott venture in trouble. FX’s ‘Alien’, a series adaptation of the ‘Alien’ franchise written by Noah Hawley and Ridley Scott, is currently in pre-production in Thailand. Sources indicated to ‘Variety’ that the show will be a large-scale undertaking that reportedly booked out multiple Bangkok studios and hired vast quantities of lighting equipment.

The Sky and Peacock series ‘The Day of the Jackal’, starring Eddie Redmayne and Lashana Lynch, has been shooting around Central and Eastern Europe and is also likely to take a break.

Season 3 of HBO’s ‘White Lotus’ series is also slated to shoot in Thailand — another major shoot that would almost certainly employ SAG-AFTRA members. While the show is already paused due to the writers strike, the impact of an actors strike — which could muddle talent schedules in the future — means it could be delayed even further, ‘Variety’ adds.

In recent weeks, according to ‘Variety’, international productions led by SAG-AFTRA talent have worked furiously to wrap filming ahead of a potential strike.

Sky drama ‘Mary & George’, featuring Julianne Moore, completed its U.K. shoot earlier this summer, while Season 2 of Prime Video’s big-budget — and meticulously scheduled — ‘Rings of Power’ also wrapped a few weeks back, ‘Variety’ can confirm.

In France, Jacques Audiard’s musical thriller ‘Emilia Perez’, starring Selena Gomez and Zoe Saldana, wrapped filming just last week in Paris.

Sources told ‘Variety’ that Roland Emmerich’s high-profile gladiator series ‘Those About to Die’, starring Anthony Hopkins, completed filming its scenes with the Welsh actor in Italy weeks ago in anticipation of strike action.

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‘Oppenheimer is ‘full of paradoxes’

At various points, we try to burrow into Oppenheimer’s psyche and take the audience on his emotional journey…reports Asian Lite News

Filmmaker Christopher Nolan, who is known for films such as ‘Memento’, ‘The Dark Knight’ trilogy, ‘Inception’, ‘Tenet’ and others, is now gearing up for his forthcoming release, ‘Oppenheimer’. Ahead of the release, the filmmaker shared that the story of ‘Oppenheimer’, which is based on nuclear physicist J. Robert Oppenhimer, is full of paradoxes and ethical dilemmas.

Speaking about what ignited the fire within him to tell J. Robert Oppenhimer’s story, Nolan said: “Oppenheimer’s story is one of the great stories that there is. It’s full of paradoxes and ethical dilemmas, and that’s the kind of material I’m always interested in. While the movie tries to help the audience understand why people have done the things they’ve done, it’s at the same time asking ‘should they have done the things they’ve done?’.”

He further mentioned: “Films, as a narrative medium, are uniquely suited to pulling an audience into a subjective experience, letting them judge things the way the characters judge them, while at the same time looking at these characters a little more objectively. At various points, we try to burrow into Oppenheimer’s psyche and take the audience on his emotional journey. That was the challenge of the film: To tell the story of a person who was involved in what was ultimately an extraordinarily destructive sequence of events, but done for the right reasons, and tell it from his point of view.”

Produced by Universal Pictures (distributed by Warner Bros. Discovery), ‘Oppenheimer’ will release on July 21 across theatres in India with advance booking across IMAX theatres in India already open.

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Oppenheimer has ‘zero’ CGI shots

However, this is nothing new as Nolan has preferred to rely as little as he can on VFX on almost all his ventures be it ‘The Dark Knight’ trilogy, ‘Interstellar’ or ‘Tenet’…reports Asian Lite News

Ever since the announcement of ‘Oppenheimer’, Christopher Nolan has made it clear that he has zero interest in using CGI for the biopic, instead using practical effects for everything. With that in mind, ‘Oppenheimer’ will have absolutely no CGI.

The director is known for his penchant for realism and complex stories, but for his latest film, ‘The Dark Knight’ creator has insisted on keeping things as real as possible. Speaking with Collider, Nolan said that his latest film not only has a focus on practicality, but it contains “zero” CGI shots.

However, this is nothing new as Nolan has preferred to rely as little as he can on VFX on almost all his ventures be it ‘The Dark Knight’ trilogy, ‘Interstellar’ or ‘Tenet’.

Instead Nolan has always preferred using things such as camera work, real small-scale explosions and miniature sets to avoid having his work feel wholly unrealistic, employing VFX only when necessary and that too for enhancing the visual aesthetic of certain scenes.

But recreating a nuclear explosion, its immense radiation, the intricacies of the explosion along with other aspects such as  the aesthetics of a black hole is no mean feat, but Nolan and his team managed to pull it off without any CGI.

Based on the life of nuclear physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer who is widely regarded as the ‘Father of the nuclear bomb’, the film adapts the Pulitzer Prize-winning book American Prometheus by Kai Bird and the late Martin J. Sherwin.

With a particular focus on the Trinity Test and the Manhattan Project which led to creation of the atom bomb, the movie also showcases the race against time of the Americans to finish building their bomb before Nazi Germany can complete theirs.

‘Oppenheimer’ stars Cillian Murphy, Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh Jack Quaid, Benny Safdie, Rami Malek, Dane DeHaan, Josh Hartnett, Matthew Modine, Kenneth Branagh, David Krumholtz, Michael Angarano, and Alden Ehrenreich and will hit theatres on July 21, 2023.

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Arthur’s detective skills to crack ‘The Rings of Power’ role

The second season of ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ will soon drop on Prime Video…reports Asian Lite News

Actor Owain Arthur, who plays Prince Durin in the streaming series ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’, has shared that he did detective work to learn about his character in the show.

To understand his character, he approached it from different angle just like how a detective takes account of different permutations and combinations of the given set of situations,

Sharing his process of approaching the character, the actor said, “I think that you need to look for the given circumstances that you need to know. Like, what are the rules I need to follow? What do we know already? What is written down about Durin that we can find out? Because as an actor, you kind of hunt for that information and you do detective work and almost a psychologist’s work really, just to figure out who he is. And then you get a better grasp of how he would react to various scenarios.”

He further mentioned, “And you get a true … or you begin to get the order of this character. So I did that. Even though there’s not much written about Durin himself, there’s a lot on dwarves, obviously, in the books. And there’s a joy, I think, to the dwarves that I get from the source material. So that was the main thing I wanted to explore was where is the joy in Durin and where is the joy in the dwarves? And it’s a very human side to him that I enjoy exploring.”

The second season of ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ will soon drop on Prime Video.

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Tom Cruise’s death defying bike stunt in ‘Mission Impossible’

The stunt has been described by Cruise as one of the most dangerous he’s ever done, and it required months of prep work prior to its execution…reports Asian Lite News

Actor Tom Cruise-starrer action spy thriller ‘Mission Impossible-Dead Reckoning Part One’ premiered in Rome. The movie features some very detailed and elaborate stunt-work, one of which includes Cruise doing a death-defying stunt as he rides his bike off the edge of a cliff and does a parachute jump, which is among the film’s highlights.

The seventh installment in the franchise, ‘Dead Reckoning Part One’ follows the events of ‘Mission Impossible Fallout’, where Ethan Hunt and his crew of secret agents have to save the world from a global nuclear catastrophe.

The 2018 release has been the highest-grossing entry in the franchise yet, grossing $792 million at the global box office.

Speaking about the stunt, actor Simon Pegg who plays the hacker Benji told ‘Variety’: “It’s become a kind of self-perpetuating evolving relationship where they’ve just egged each other on and challenged each other to move the story forward; to increase the scale; increase the ambition.”

The stunt has been described by Cruise as one of the most dangerous he’s ever done, and it required months of prep work prior to its execution.

Speaking to ‘Deadline’ during the Monday premiere, Simon Pegg further added that there is a genuine fear that such death defying stunts may lead to them permanently losing Tom Cruise. He told ‘Deadline’, “You know, I’m lucky because Benji just kind of stays behind the computer and he does his thing.”

“Tom is jumping off cliffs on a motorbike he’s hanging his you know, hanging off trains – it’s genuinely dangerous stuff. There’s always a sense that, you know, one day, something might go wrong we might lose Tom, you know. Anytime there’s a big stunt, we all have that sense of, you know, fear, but he always pulls it off.”

Directed by Christopher Mc Quarrie and produced by Skydance, ‘Mission Impossible-Dead Reckoning Part One’ stars Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg, Esai Morales, Ving Rhames, Vanessa Kirby, Rebecca Ferguson and Henry Czrney in key roles and will release in US on July 12, 2023 with Part Two set for a June 28, 2024 release.

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