Batman star Christian Bale apologized Friday for his expletive-laden tantrum during filming of a new Terminator film, saying he was “out of order beyond belief.”
Bale’s meltdown became an Internet sensation after a recording of his rant at a cinematographer found its way on to the Web.
The 35-year-old old British-born actor called a Los Angeles morning show on KROQ radio to apologize for the outburst.
“It has been a miserable week for me,” Bale told the show’s hosts. “I know I have a potty mouth but I was way out of order.
“The thing that I want to stress is that I have no confusion whatsoever. I was out of order beyond belief. I acted like a punk.
“I regret that and there is nobody that has heard that tape that is hit harder by it than me. I make no excuses for it, it is inexcusable, and I hope that is absolutely clear.”
Bale also said he hoped the fallout from his tirade would not deter people from watching Terminator Salvation when it hits screens later this year.
“I’m asking people, please do not allow my onetime lapse in judgment, my incredibly embarrassing meltdown, to overshadow this movie and to have all of those people’s hard work [from the film’s cast and crew] go to waste.”
In the audio clip of the incident, which took place on location in New Mexico in July, Bale can be heard lambasting cinematographer Shane Hurlbut for apparently wandering into the actor’s line of vision.
Bale repeatedly calls for Hurlbut to be kicked off the set and threatens to tear down the cinematographer’s lighting rig.
Bale’s rant is the latest incident involving the actor, who is renowned for his fiercely committed approach to acting.
Bale was arrested in London last year for allegedly attacking his mother and sister. Police later said the actor would face no charges because of insufficient evidence.
Actor James Whitmore, famed for his one-man stage shows and an Oscar-nominated turn as US President Harry Truman, died on Friday at age 87. Whitmore died at his home in the seaside enclave of Malibu, just northwest of Los Angeles, of lung cancer, with which he was diagnosed in November, according to his son, Steve.
Rags-to-riches drama Slumdog Millionaire continued its sweep through the Hollywood movie industry awards, on Saturday winning top honors for an adapted screenplay.
The Writers Guild of America honored the film, along with the biographical drama Milk, at its annual award ceremony for film writing.
The honor further cements frontrunner Oscar status for Slumdog, which is based on the novel Q&A by Vikas Swarup. The film has collected 10 Oscar nominations.
Other films nominated for the screenwriters award were Doubt, Milk, Frost/Nixon and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
Slumdog Millionaire also on Saturday won top honors from the Producers Guild of America Awards.
The film is considered a leading contender to collect an armful of gold statuettes at the Feb. 22 Oscars ceremony, including possible best picture honors.
The estate of The Godfather author Mario Puzo got an offer it couldn’t refuse and settled a US$1 million lawsuit relating to a videogame loosely based on the film, lawyers said Friday.
Lawyers for the Puzo estate had filed suit against Paramount Pictures Corp in June, alleging it was owed profits from sales and rentals of the game The Godfather: The Game, licensed by Paramount in 2006.
But the possibility of a trial was averted on Friday after the two sides reached a settlement, the terms of which were not immediately clear.
“We think it’s a terrific settlement,” said the Puzo estate’s attorney, Bert Fields. “This involved one of the most admired films of all time.”
Paramount attorney Hajir Ardebili was not immediately available for comment. In court papers filed in August, the studio denied it owed any money.
Puzo died in 1999.
His best-known novel The Godfather, charting the rise of a Sicilian mafia family based in New York, was published in 1969 and became one of the 20th century’s best-selling novels, with more than 20 million copies sold.
The book was adapted into an Oscar-winning movie by Francis Ford Coppola, followed by a sequel, The Godfather: Part II.
Rockers, rappers and record executives gathered in Los Angeles last night for the annual Grammy Awards, but there was little to celebrate at the music industry’s biggest night. Album sales have tumbled for the past decade, last year’s viewership was among the lowest ever, and now a recession is generating more layoffs at the major label. —AGENCIES
May 26 to June 1 When the Qing Dynasty first took control over many parts of Taiwan in 1684, it roughly continued the Kingdom of Tungning’s administrative borders (see below), setting up one prefecture and three counties. The actual area of control covered today’s Chiayi, Tainan and Kaohsiung. The administrative center was in Taiwan Prefecture, in today’s Tainan. But as Han settlement expanded and due to rebellions and other international incidents, the administrative units became more complex. By the time Taiwan became a province of the Qing in 1887, there were three prefectures, eleven counties, three subprefectures and one directly-administered prefecture, with
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday delivered an address marking the first anniversary of his presidency. In the speech, Lai affirmed Taiwan’s global role in technology, trade and security. He announced economic and national security initiatives, and emphasized democratic values and cross-party cooperation. The following is the full text of his speech: Yesterday, outside of Beida Elementary School in New Taipei City’s Sanxia District (三峽), there was a major traffic accident that, sadly, claimed several lives and resulted in multiple injuries. The Executive Yuan immediately formed a task force, and last night I personally visited the victims in hospital. Central government agencies and the
Among Thailand’s Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) villages, a certain rivalry exists between Arunothai, the largest of these villages, and Mae Salong, which is currently the most prosperous. Historically, the rivalry stems from a split in KMT military factions in the early 1960s, which divided command and opium territories after Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) cut off open support in 1961 due to international pressure (see part two, “The KMT opium lords of the Golden Triangle,” on May 20). But today this rivalry manifests as a different kind of split, with Arunothai leading a pro-China faction and Mae Salong staunchly aligned to Taiwan.
As with most of northern Thailand’s Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) settlements, the village of Arunothai was only given a Thai name once the Thai government began in the 1970s to assert control over the border region and initiate a decades-long process of political integration. The village’s original name, bestowed by its Yunnanese founders when they first settled the valley in the late 1960s, was a Chinese name, Dagudi (大谷地), which literally translates as “a place for threshing rice.” At that time, these village founders did not know how permanent their settlement would be. Most of Arunothai’s first generation were soldiers
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