‘Kick-Ass 2′ Actress to Play Younger Version of Angelina Jolie in ‘Maleficent’
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- Published on Friday, 18 October 2013 03:45
- Written by The wrap
British actress Ella Purnell has replaced India Eisley in Disney’s live-action movie.Seventeen-year-old British actress Ella Purnell has replaced India Eisley as a younger version of Angelina Jolie’s title character in “Maleficent,” according to an individual familiar with the Disney project.The live-action fantasy film stars Jolie as Disney’s ultimate villainess. Story explores Maleficent’s origins and what led her to curse Princess Aurora (Elle Fanning) in Disney’s animated classic “Sleeping Beauty.” The casting switch, first noticed on IMDb by UpAndComers.net, a result of the recent reshoots that took place over eight days and addressed the opening of the film, which establishes young Maleficent’s role in the hierarchy of a peaceful forest kingdom.Veteran production designer Robert Stromberg made his directorial debut with the film, though Disney turned to its “Saving Mr. Banks” filmmaker John Lee Hancock to be on set for the reshoots, as he helped write new pages of the big-budget tentpole’s script.The movie, which was originally shot last summer, co-stars Sharlto Copley, Brenton Thwaites, Sam Riley and Juno Temple.Disney is scheduled to release “Maleficent” on May 30, 2014, the same day Universal releases Seth MacFarlane’s Western comedy “A Million Ways to Die in the West,” which is his follow-up to “Ted.”Purnell, who recently co-starred alongside Chloe Moretz in “Kick-Ass 2,” previously played a younger version of Keira Knightley’s character in Mark Romanek’s “Never Let Me Go.” She’s repped by UTA and Curtis Brown Group.
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Angelina Jolie: Hated by Hillary Clinton?
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- Published on Thursday, 17 October 2013 16:47
- Written by Showbizspy
ANGELINA Jolie almost certainly doesn’t have a friend in Hillary Clinton! The former First Lady and Secretary of State has blasted the actress as a “fake” and a “home-wrecker” — according to a new report.Clinton ripped in to Jolie after learning the star wanted to seduce her husband, former president Bill Clinton.“Not even a world’s stage is big enough for these two women,” a source told American tabloid the National Enquirer.“Hillary has gotten more and more riled up as she saw Angelina continually trying to steal her thunder.“The last straw came when Hillary heard that Angelina was going to get involved with the 2016 (presidential) election. While she hasn’t officially announced her run for the White House, it’s pretty clear Hillary sees herself as the leading Democratic candidate, and she doesn’t want Angie running off her mouth.” Last April, when both of them were at the Women in the World summit in New York, an insider says Angelina got word to Hillary that she wanted to meet her privately “to discuss important matters” in an empty room at the Lincoln Center.“Hillary was fit to be tied,” said the source.“‘Why on earth would I want to see HER!’ she raged. Hillary made it clear Angelina was not her favorite person and that if they met she would probably end up telling her, ‘You’re a fake!’” “Angie was mystified by Hillary’s cold snub.“Hillary believes Angelina encouraged Bill’s attention and that’s something she will never forget. When it comes to bearing a grudge, Hillary has a long memory. She’s also described Angie to some of her closest aides as a ‘homewrecker’ for the way she stole Brad Pitt from Jennifer Aniston.“To Hillary, working in politics is a lot more complex than being a part-time U.N. ambassador in between acting gigs and she firmly believes that Angie should stick to making movies.
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Chelsea Handler Ordered To “Stop Picking On Angelina Jolie”?
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- Published on Thursday, 17 October 2013 03:54
- Written by Gossip Cop
“Chelsea Handler’s TV bosses have told her to stop picking on Angelina Jolie — or there will be big trouble!” begins a sensationalized report from the National Enquirer.The mag claims the comedienne’s jokes are not sitting well with Jolie’s “high-powered showbiz allies at Comcast, which oversees both Universal studios and Hanlder’s ‘Chelsea Lately’ show on the E! Network.”According to a so-called “source” for the tabloid, “Angelina has a lot of support at the top and they’re dying to lock her into a long-term contract.”Umm… what kind of “contract”?The Enquirer doesn’t know.Still, the rag’s purported “insider” adds, “They don’t like the fact that Chelsea has really been saying some horrible things about her.”The magazine goes on to claim that Universal executives “read her the riot act,” and “banned Handler from spewing any more anti-Jolie gags.”Really?NO.None of this ever happened.This rumor has been circulating for years, and yet Handler continues to riff on Jolie whenever she feels like it.In any case, Gossip Cop checked in with a “Chelsea Lately” source, who tells us, “This is absolutely not true.”
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Top Photographer Names Angelina Jolie As Lone Modern Beauty Icon
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- Published on Monday, 14 October 2013 17:08
- Written by Contact Music
Angelina Jolie is the only modern beauty who could compete with silver screen legends Marilyn Monroe and Ava Gardner, according to celebrity photographer Terry O'neill.The Brit has captured the world's most iconic beauties during his prolific career and he insists the days of the movie siren are numbered - because so few current stars possess the look, the elegance and the class of the greats.But there is one actress who rises above the rest - Tomb Raider beauty Jolie.O'Neill tells Parade magazine, "Ava Gardner, Lana Turner, Marilyn Monroe, all of them were stunning. Now, they all seem the same. The only one who really stands out is Angelina Jolie, a different class of girl altogether. She's a stunning, beautiful woman - a rarity." O'Neill also reveals the stunning stars he caught on camera all had one thing in common - none of them would accept they were beautiful.The photographer, who was once married to actress Faye Dunaway and who romanced lifestyle queen Martha Stewart, explains, "Beautiful women see all their flaws, not their assets. I said to Ava, 'You are definitely the most beautiful of women'. She said, 'Oh, shut up!' "I said to Michelle Pfeiffer one day, 'You're stunning!' She said, 'Oh, don't be silly'. Liz Taylor wouldn't have it, either. She never believed it. Audrey Hepburn didn't. You tell them that they're beautiful, but they just don't see it."But, of course, when you get to know them, like when you're married to them, all the lust wears off and you're face to face with (just) a human being."
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Angelina Jolie Sets Japanese Singer Miyavi As Brutal WWII POW Camp Guard ‘The Bird’ In ‘Unbroken’
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- Published on Monday, 14 October 2013 04:12
- Written by Deadline
Universal Pictures and director Angelina Jolie have found their villain for the Lou Zamperini tale Unbroken. Jolie has set Japanese guitarist and singer Miyavi to play the role of Mutsushiro Watanabe, known as “The Bird.” That is the guard who made it his mission to break the spirit of Zamperini, and who haunted the athlete-turned-POW’s every step after he was captured in WWII. I’m told by individuals close to the project that it was no easy task to cast this role. After a long search for the perfect actor, the filmmakers continually found themselves returning to Miyavi’s captivating audition, one that mixed grace, ferocity, sensitivity and sophistication. That audition got Miyavi his first lead role in a Hollywood film. Jolie begins production in Australia in two weeks, and Universal releases the film December 25, 2014.Miyavi might be a new face onscreen, but he is well known in international music circles for his unconventional guitar and singing skills and music that incorporates period-authentic guitars and playing styles from the 1940s. Now he’s going back to that volatile wartime era in Unbroken. Miyavi will have to reschedule part of an upcoming Asia tour to perform the role.“As a musician, I questioned whether I should take a break from my craft to pursue this role,” Miyavi said in a statement. “After meeting Angie, it became clear to me that an underlying theme to this story is forgiveness. This resonated with me because that is exactly what I want express through my music. I look forward to taking on this challenge whole-heartedly.”
I must say, I have been fixated on The Bird since I first saw a wonderful short segment broadcast during the Nagano Olympics, where Zamperini returned to Japan in 1998. After running so compellingly in the final lap of his distance race in the 1936 Munich Olympics that Hitler asked to shake his hand, Zamperini was expected to bring home the gold with four more years of seasoning. The 1940 Olympics were scheduled to be held in Japan but all that fell apart in war. Zamperini instead arrived as a bombardier fighting in WWII. Sent on a rescue mission aboard a faulty aircraft, Zamperini and two other crewmen were the only survivors of a crash in the Pacific Ocean. After surviving in a raft for 47 days, the near-dead men were caught by the Japanese navy. And so began a POW ordeal that would have broken most men. In that CBS segment, Zamperini found the grace to forgive his captor, and offered to do it in person. The Bird was interviewed on camera, but he refused to meet with the hero he tormented for so many years.Universal first made a movie deal with Zamperini in 1957, when Tony Curtis planned to make the Zamperini story his followup to Spartacus. He waited forever. It was kept alive for over a decade by Matthew Baer, who is producing with Jolie, Erwin Stoff and Clayton Townsend. The big break was the publication of the book by Seabiscuit author Laura Hillenbrand, which gave the project a second wind. Jolie, who had impressed Universal executives with her 2011 feature directing debut In The Land Of Blood And Honey. She flipped for the book and for Zamperini, and won the job over several other accomplished directors. And suddenly the 96-year old Zamperini sees his movie go into production, with Jack O’Connell playing him.Joel and Ethan Coen wrote the most recent draft of the script, with earlier drafts written by William Nicholson and Richard LaGravenese. Jolie will have Roger Deakins as her DP, and Universal execs Kristin Lowe and Sara Scott are overseeing for the studio.
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