Cellar victim Kampusch raped, starved in film of ordeal

VIENNA (Reuters) – A new film based on the story of Austrian kidnap victim Natascha Kampusch shows her being repeatedly raped by the captor who beat and starved her during the eight-and-a-half years that he kept her in a cellar beneath his house.Kampusch was snatched on her way to school at the age of 10 by Wolfgang Priklopil and held in a windowless cell under his garage near Vienna until she escaped...

Read More..

Cellar victim Kampusch raped, starved in film of ordeal

VIENNA (Reuters) – A new film based on the story of Austrian kidnap victim Natascha Kampusch shows her being repeatedly raped by the captor who beat and starved her during the eight-and-a-half years that he kept her in a cellar beneath his house.Kampusch was snatched on her way to school at the age of 10 by Wolfgang Priklopil and held in a windowless cell under his garage near Vienna until she escaped...

Read More..

Shia LaBeouf and Alec Baldwin “Incompatible”? Actor tweets about exit From “Orphans”

(Please note that this story contains strong language in paragraphs 10 and 21.)LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Shia LaBeouf is taking a cue from his former co-star Alec Baldwin and using Twitter to defend his actions – in this case his split from “Orphans” on Broadway.The show, which begins previews in less than a month, was to be the “Transformers” star’s Great White Way debut. In a brief statement Wednesday,...

Read More..

“Scary Spice” Mel B joins “America’s Got Talent” panel

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Former Spice Girl Mel B will join the judging panel on summer TV talent show “America‘s Got Talent,” broadcaster NBC said on Thursday.The 37-year-old Briton, known by the nickname Scary Spice when she was part of the chart-topping 1990s British girl band, will replace Sharon Osbourne who quit the series in a dispute with NBC over their decision to drop her son Jack from another...

Read More..

‘Good Day to Die Hard’ debuts with $28.6M take

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bruce Willis’ action sequel “A Good Day to Die Hard” hauled in $ 28.6 million to lead the box office over the long President’s Day weekend.The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Monday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Tuesday by Hollywood.com...

Read More..

Tony Sheridan, early Beatles supporter, dies aged 72: media

BERLIN (Reuters) – Singer-songwriter Tony Sheridan, an early supporter of the Beatles, has died in Hamburg aged 72 following a long illness, German media reported.Sheridan used the Beatles, then known as the Silver Beatles, as his back-up band when they played in seedy nightclubs in Hamburg’s red light district in the 1960s well before numerous No. 1 hits made the British band famous.Sheridan died...

Read More..

Dylan McDermott cast in CBS’s “Hostages” pilot

NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) – Dylan McDermott will join Toni Collette in “Hostages,” a CBS drama pilot about a family caught in a vast political conspiracy.The star of FX’s “American Horror Story” will play Duncan, a righteous FBI agent at the center of it.Collette, the star of Showtime’s “United States of Tara,” was cast last month as Ellen, a surgeon chosen to operate on the President. When her family...

Read More..

Obama State of Union speech watched by 33.5 million on TV

(Reuters) – Some 33.5 million Americans tuned in for President Barack Obama‘s economy-focused State of the Union speech live on television, just a slight drop from the TV audience for his 2012 address.According to ratings data from Nielsen on Wednesday, Obama’s speech on Tuesday night was carried live on 15 U.S. broadcast and cable networks and was tape-delayed on Spanish-language channel Univision.In...

Read More..

“Endless Love” leads Billboard’s top love songs

NEW YORK (Reuters) – When it comes to love, sometimes old songs say it best.The 1981 Motown ballad “Endless Love” by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie topped Billboard magazine’s “Top 50 ‘Love’ Songs of All Time” list on Wednesday, just in time for Valentine’s Day.The duet, written by Richie and used as the theme song for Franco Zeffirelli‘s film of the same name, earned Richie an Academy Award nomination...

Read More..

Helena Bonham follows Lindsay Lohan into Liz Taylor’s shoes with BBC biopic

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Move over, Lindsay Lohan – another actress is taking a crack at playing Elizabeth Taylor, and just might have the chops to one-up you.Helena Bonham Carter will play Taylor in an upcoming biopic “Burton and Taylor.” “The Wire” actor Dominic West will play Taylor’s on-again, off-again husband, Richard Burton, in the production, which will air on BBC Four.“Burton and Taylor”...

Read More..

“Midnight Express” editor Gerry Hambling dead at 86

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Gerry Hambling, the British film editor whose credits include “Midnight Express,” “Pink Floyd: The Wall” and “Mississippi Burning,” died February 5 in England. He was 86.Hambling, who entered the film industry at 16 as an editor’s apprentice, was a longtime collaborator of director Alan Parker, editing 14 of his films.“He was undoubtedly one of the finest film editors that...

Read More..

Broadway Motown musical features civil rights, love story

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Motown founder Berry Gordy Jr. watched with approval on Thursday as the cast of upcoming Broadway show “Motown: The Musical” tore through the storied record label’s hits at a 42nd Street rehearsal studio.The show traces Gordy’s rise from a struggling boxer and autoworker to a music mogul who made stars of Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye,...

Read More..

Beyonce electrifies at Super Bowl halftime show

If naysayers still doubted Beyonce‘s singing talents — even after her national anthem performance this week at a press conference — the singer proved she is an exceptional performer at the Super Bowl halftime show.Beyonce opened and closed her set belting songs, and in between she danced hard and heavy — and better than most contemporary pop stars.She set a serious tone as she emerged onstage in all...

Read More..

Beyonce says sang along to pre-recorded track at inauguration

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) – Singer Beyonce said she sang along to a pre-recorded track at the inauguration of President Barack Obama, but delivered a stirring a cappella version of the U.S. national anthem at a Super Bowl news conference on Thursday.She also said would be singing live at the half-time show of the National Football League championship game between the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore...

Read More..

Actress Kerry Washington wins big at NAACP Image Awards

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Actress Kerry Washington was the big winner at the NAACP Image Awards on Friday, picking up awards for her roles in the slavery-era Western film “Django Unchained” and television drama “Scandal,” as well as a special honor for professional achievement and public service.But on a night that celebrated the successes of artists of color, actor and activist Harry Belafonte struck...

Read More..

Amazon Orders 5 Children’s Shows to Pilot

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Amazon is continuing to beef up its original programming, ordering five potential children’s series to pilot, including shows from the creators of “Blue Clues” and “Rugrats,” the company announced on Thursday.“Creative Galaxy,” “Oz Adventures,” “Teeny Tiny Dogs,” “Tumbleaf” and an untitled J.J. Johnson project will join six other comedy pilots on Amazon Instant Video. Viewers...

Read More..

“Sin City 2″ casts Eva Green and Julia Garner

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – “Sin City: A Dame to Kill For” has cast Eva Green as a femme fatale and Julia Garner to portray yet another stripper struggling to make a dime in the gritty comic-book metropolis.Green (“Casino Royale”) will appear in the sequel to the 2005 hit, “Sin City,” as a deadly muse named Ava Lord. Garner (“The Perks of Being a Wallflower”) plays a stripper who appears in scenes...

Read More..

Actor Jason London arrested after Ariz. bar fight

PHOENIX (AP) — Authorities say actor Jason London has been arrested on suspicion of assault and disorderly conduct after an Arizona bar fight.Scottsdale police say London allegedly sneezed on a man who then asked him to apologize, but London refused and instead hit the man in the face.The Arizona Republic (http://bit.ly/VoULau ) says the two men were escorted out of the bar, but London began pushing...

Read More..

Rupert Sanders’ wife files for divorce in LA

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Rupert Sanders‘ wife has filed for divorce five months after it was revealed the director had a brief affair with actress Kristen Stewart.Liberty Ross, Sanders’ wife of more than nine years, filed for divorce Friday in Los Angeles citing irreconcilable differences.Ross’ filing cites irreconcilable differences for the couple’s breakup. They have two children, an 8-year-old daughter...

Read More..

Dick Van Dyke honored for lifetime achievement

LOS ANGELES (AP) — He’s acted, danced and sang his way through movies, television and the stage, making Dick Van Dyke an entertainment triple-threat long before Hollywood used such hyphenates.The 87-year-old actor, best known for the 1960s hit comedy “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and Disney’s big-screen musical “Mary Poppins,” can now add lifetime achievement honoree. He picked up that honor at Sunday...

Read More..