Hollywood

Dua Lipa granted Albanian citizenship

The 27-year-old pop star was born in London to Albanian parents and moved with her family to Pristina after Kosovo declared independence in 2008 but later relocated to London as a teenager to pursue a career in music and President Bajram Begaj described her as a “simple girl” who has given “great pride” to the country. He said: “It is a special pleasure to welcome the great artist Dua Lipa today. I say great artist, but she is also a simple girl, who has given the greatest pride to us, Albania, Kosovo and wherever there are Albanians in the world. Albanian youth is an example and a source of inspiration for you and you have shown that dreams can be achieved by working harder. Tomorrow we celebrate the 110th anniversary of the declaration of independence and today the joint meeting of the Assembly of Albania and the Assembly of Kosovo…

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Cara Delevingne’s sexuality confusion left her suicidal

The 30-year-old model-and-actress – who identifies as queer and gender fluid – worried she was “abnormal” when she was questioning her own identity but is “so glad” she didn’t take her own life because she’s now in a position to help and support other young people who are in the same state of confusion as she was. She said: “I couldn’t talk to anyone about it. I had a lot of internalised homophobia and shame. I thought that I was abnormal. “I thought about ending my life, like I had multiple times, and I’m so glad I didn’t because if I can help any other kid that means the world to me. “It means the world to that little queer kid I was. Or I am.” The ‘Suicide Squad’ actress previously declared herself to be bisexual, and then pansexual, but she’s now settled on queer. Speaking on her new documentary…

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‘Wakanda Forever’ set to cross $350 million, despite dull week in theatres

Marvel’s ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ is having no trouble staying above the competition at the North American Thanksgiving box office, even handily trouncing fellow Disney release ‘Strange World’, reports ‘Variety’. After bringing in $8.1 million on Thanksgiving, the superhero sequel exploded on Friday, adding $18.2 million more in ticket sales to its haul. ‘Wakanda Forever’ is the only resounding box office success story this season, on target to push beyond a $350-million domestic gross through Sunday. Overall, it’s been a fairly dire weekend for theatres. The five-day frame is projected to net $125.4 million in ticket sales across all releases, down 12 per cent from last year’s Thanksgiving weekend — which had the additional handicap of arriving during a time of heightened COVID-19 precautions. This year’s crop of films aren’t connecting as strongly as offerings last year, such as ‘Encanto’ and ‘House of Gucci’, ‘Variety’ notes. Case in point: Disney’s…

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Namor of ‘Black Panther Wakanda Forever’ can return, but not in standalone film, says producer

‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ has crossed $600 million worldwide. The film is a roaring success, despite the absence of Chadwick Boseman, late actor who died in 2020 of colon cancer. Directed by returning director Ryan Coogler and written by Coogler himself with Joe Robert Cole, the film brings back the original cast. Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, Florence Kasumba, Martin Freeman, and Angela Bassett star. Dominique Thorne, Michaela Coel, and Tenoch Huerta join the franchise with this film. Huerta plays the film Big Bad, Namor. While the character was left alive at the end, do not expect a standalone movie in near future. ‘Wakanda Forever’ producer Nate Moore told The Wrap while Namor can return, it will likely be a movie not centring on him. Universal Pictures owns the rights to the character, just like the Hulk, and that affected even how Marvel Studios marketed the film.…

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Kanye accused of showing explicit videos of Kim to Adidas employees

Controversies continue to swirl around American rapper Kanye West. Things have not yet settled between Kanye and the sportswear brand Adidas. A month after the brand cut ties with West, a group of former employees sent an open letter to the shoe company, alleging that it turned a blind eye to bullying and inappropriate behaviour from the rapper.  Many former staffers recalled his obsession with porn, several of them detailing stories where West, 45, would show staffers or job candidates porn on his phone. The report also states that there were allegedly several occasions where West showed staffers and a job candidate intimate photos and videos of his then-wife, Kim Kardashian. During a job interview in 2018, West showed an explicit image of Kardashian to one young creative professional. The rapper allegedly told him, “My wife just sent me this.” The Rolling Stone expose includes stories of West belittling or bullying staffers…

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James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water Advance Booking sells 15,000 plus tickets in 45 screens

New Delhi: India has welcomed the biggest cinematic spectacle and the movie of the generation Avatar: The Way Of Water with open arms with a bumper advance opening! The visual spectacle of the decade that will bring back families back to theatres with a widespread release in six languages across India (English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam), James Cameron’s magic has already taken over the Indian audiences. A new benchmark of box office records seems to have taken place. The sequel to ‘Avatar’ is off to a great start by selling over 15,000 tickets within 3 days of advance openings in premium formats, 45 screens, with still 3 weeks to go for the release! More shows open today across India! Indicating a promising and fantastic box office in December, the advance booking response has brought immense cheer to Indian theatre owners! As the film gears up for its massive release next…

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Black Panther Wakanda Forever director Ryan Coogler pens tribute for Chadwick Boseman, thanks fans: ‘Thank you for opening yourself up to the emotional journey’

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has been receiving immense love from audiences since it hit theatres earlier this month. The film has already earned over $561 million at the worldwide box office. On Tuesday, Marvel shared a note written by the film’s director Ryan Coogler, in which he thanks fans and paid tribute to late Chadwick Boseman, the lead actor of Black Panther that released in 2018. Expressing gratitude to the audience for their acceptance of Black Panther 2, Coogler wrote, “Gratitude. That is the only world that comes to my mind for your support of our work on the film Black Panther Wakanda Forever. I am filled with it.” “Thank you. Thank you to the people bought their tickets early and camped out opening weekend. Thank you to those of you who took their families and young ones and elders in tow. To those who organised youth screenings and afterparties, who bought theatres…

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Hugh Jackman says he is nothing like Wolverine: ‘Never felt safe as an actor’

Hugh Jackman opened up about the pressures of being in the business and taking more chances as an actor. Actor Hugh Jackman is opening up about the role that changed his career and made him a movie star. When the first X-Men movie released two decades ago, Hugh became a household name for playing the Marvel comics fictional character Wolverine. Yet, the actor now reveals that he is nothing like the mutant superhero that fans seem to associate him with at most times. “I think it’s important for me to be pushed into areas where I don’t know if I can pull it off,” he said. “I’ve never felt safe as an actor.”  “When I was getting into this business, the playbook for being a movie star was being mysterious,” the 53-year-old Academy Award-nominee said in a recent interview with IndieWire. “Don’t let anybody in. Leave them wanting more. Don’t reveal things.…

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Margot Robbie was unaware of what sexual harassment meant prior to ‘Bombshell’

Australian actress Margot Robbie has revealed why she took the role in ‘Bombshell’, the 2019 drama about the women who worked together to expose Fox News CEO Roger Ailes for his ongoing sexual misconduct. The actress, 32, admitted she didn’t know the definition of sexual harassment and took the role to help her better understand it, reports People magazine. “I realised that I – as a person with an established position in the industry, financially set up and self-sufficient – I didn’t know the definition of sexual harassment, and that’s shocking,” she said during a BAFTA Life in Pictures talk celebrating her career, according to Variety. According to People, Robbie also said that it “horrified” her that she knew so little about the topic, and ‘Bombshell’ taught her that sexual harassment and bad behaviours truly “flourishes in the grey area.” “Roger Ailes or Harvey Weinstein, they take advantage of the…

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James Cameron reveals Leonardo DiCaprio almost lost Titanic role over refusal to audition

James Cameron has revealed that Leonardo DiCaprio almost lost his role in Titanic because he didn’t want to audition. In a career retrospective video for GQ, the filmmaker explained that the Oscar-winning actor “charmed everybody” during his first meeting so he asked him to come back for a screen test with Kate Winslet, who had already been cast as Rose in the 1997 epic. However, when DiCaprio declared that he doesn’t have to audition for his roles, Cameron gave him an ultimatum – read for the part or wave goodbye to it. “He thought it was another meeting to meet Kate. So I said, ‘Okay, we’ll just go in the next room, and we’ll run some lines and I’ll video it.’ And he said, ‘You mean, I’m reading?’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ He said, ‘Oh, I don’t read.’ I shook his hand and said, ‘Well, thanks for coming by,'” the director…

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