Actor Mel Gibson, who turned a Latin script on the crucifixion of Christ into box office gold last year, is in Mexico to shoot his latest film: an action movie shot entirely in an ancient Mayan tongue. The star turned independent director was in the eastern state of Veracruz this week where he is to film Apocalypto, a thriller set in an ancient Mayan settlement and shot in the Yucatec dialect.
Also taking on a new project, actor Michael Caine has signed up to portray a master 19th century magician in the movie The Prestige with Hugh Jackman, according to Variety.
He will also feature in the science fiction movie The Children of Men about efforts to save mankind's last baby. That movie will be directed by Batman Begins director Christopher Nolan.
Legal woes have been dogging several stars over the previous week. A judge on Friday refused to dismiss child pornography charges against Grammy Award-winning vocalist R Kelly, rejecting arguments that the period in which the offenses were supposed to have occurred was too vague. Judge Vincent Gaughan of the Cook County Criminal Court said the 14-count indictment against the 36-year-old entertainer would stand and "the evidence is sufficient for Kelly to prepare a defense."
Carl Morgan, a member of the So Solid Crew rap group, was jailed for life on Friday for shooting to death his love rival last year.
Carl Morgan, 24, was sentenced by the Old Bailey criminal court in London following his conviction last week for the murder of Colin Scarlett, who was shot outside his south London home on Nov. 6 last year.
Judge Brian Barker ordered that Morgan should serve a minimum of 30 years before he can be considered for parole.
The shooting resulted from a trivial domestic love feud that spiralled within hours into an armed confrontation over perceived "disrespect", the court had heard.
And music producer Phil Spector has been hit with a legal setback after a judge ruled that his comments to police after his arrest can be used by prosecutors in his murder trial.
Spector has pleaded innocent to murdering B movie actress Lana Clarkson at his home in February 2003. But he allegedly told police immediately after his arrest, "I didn't mean to shoot her."
Spector's lawyer claimed the comments should be inadmissible as he was suffering from dependency on prescription drugs, according to reports.
Lawyers for singer Janet Jackson have launched a legal offensive in a bid to remove from the Internet a video showing their client sunbathing nude in her back garden, according to MSNB.com.
The video first surfaced last week, at the same time as rumors that she had secretly given birth to a daughter 18 years ago. The clip was shot through a hole in the fence through which the photographer spied the singer lounging in the nude in an outdoor enclosure.
American actress Brooke Shields, who battled publicly over post-partum depression with superstar Tom Cruise, is pregnant with her second child.
The former child star of the controversial movie Pretty Baby, Shields, 40, and her screenwriter husband Chris Henchy, 41, are expecting their new baby in the spring of next year, according to the US entertainment media.
The announcement came just three weeks after Cruise and his fiancee Katie Holmes announced they were expecting their first child together.
RSS