Hugh Jackman exposes behaviour on ‘X-Men’ sets that ‘wouldn’t happen now’

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Hugh Jackman exposes behaviour on ‘X-Men’ sets that ‘wouldn’t happen now’

“X-Men” star Hugh Jackman has admitted that the early “X-Men” movies saw on-set behavior “that would not happen now.”

The Hollywood star has spoken about events behind the scenes on the hit film franchise after co-star Halle Berry previously claimed she had clashed with director Bryan Singer, reports ‘The Mirror’.

The Australian star thinks a positive change has occurred in the movie industry since he took on the project – his first big US release. Halle previously told ‘Variety’ how she had gotten in a row with Bryan on the set of the 2014 “X-Men” film, “Days Of Future Past”, claiming he was “not the easiest dude to work with”.

Talking to ‘The Guardian’, Hugh elaborated further on his own experience of the movie business.

“This was my first movie in America, you gotta understand; it was all so new to me. I think it’s fair to say that… there are some stories, you know. I think there are some ways of being on set that would not happen now.”

“And I think that things have changed for the better. There’s way less tolerance for disrespect, marginalization, bullying, or any oppressive behavior. There’s zero tolerance for it now and people will speak out, and I think that’s great,” he added.

‘The Mirror’ further states that Singer has found himself at the center of sexual misconduct claims recently, however, the filmmaker has robustly denied the allegations.

He released a statement to Deadline in 2019 branding the reports “rehashed claims from bogus lawsuits filed by a disreputable cast of individuals willing to lie for money or attention”.

Quizzed on if the accusations had changed his view of the films Hugh admitted it was a “really complicated question” and “there’s a lot of things at stake there”.

“‘X-Men’ was the turning point, I believe, in terms of comic-book movies and I think there’s a lot to be proud of and there’s certainly questions to be asked and I think they should be asked.”

He then admitted feeling the situation was “complex” and that he ultimately looks back “with pride at what we’ve achieved and what momentum that started”.

Sonu Sood feels ‘humbled’ as Army calls him ‘real hero’

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Sonu Sood feels ‘humbled’ as Army calls him ‘real hero’

Bollywood actor and humanitarian Sonu Sood said that he is humbled by the appreciation he received from the Indian Army.

Sonu took to Instagram where he shared a slew of pictures of jawans in snow-capped mountains with “Real Hero Sonu Sood” written by hand in the snow.

Overwhelmed with love, Sonu captioned the image: “Somewhere in Himalayas.”

“These pictures made my day. Humbled. My InspirationaIndian Army #indianarmy #himalaya.”

Sonu is known for helping those in need. From helping migrant workers during the Covid wave to medical arrangements amid the devastating pandemic, his work did not get unnoticed.

In September 2020, Sood was chosen for the ‘SDG Special Humanitarian Action Award’ by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for his humanitarian work during the pandemic.

On the Bollywood front, Sonu will next be seen in ‘Fateh’, which is inspired by real-life incidents and will feature high-octane action sequences.

The action-thriller is helmed by Abhinandan Gupta, who earlier worked as an assistant director on films such as ‘Bajirao Mastani’ and ‘Shamshera’.

After ‘Fateh’, he will begin work on another movie ‘Kisaan’.

When Naseeruddin Shah praised Arjun’s performance in ‘Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar’

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When Naseeruddin Shah praised Arjun’s performance in ‘Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar’

Bollywood actor Arjun Kapoor revealed how overwhelmed he was when stalwart Naseeruddin Shah appreciated his performance in ‘Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar’.

Arjun, who has again teamed up with Naseeruddin in his upcoming release ‘Kuttey’, said: “So, I’ve already worked with Naseer bhai in Finding Fanny and I had a very nice time, learned so much from him, spent a lot of quality time with him.”

“In ‘Kuttey’, he and I share screen space again, and on the first day that he came on set, it was a night shoot. And he’s somebody who you don’t really go out and talk about your work to. I’m so junior to him. It was really, really nice that he came on set, he hugged me and he said I saw Dibakar’s film where you were fantastic in it.”

He added: “For me, just the fact that he had taken out time to see one of my films, whether it was for Dibakar’s sake or my sake or for Parineeti’s sake, just the fact that he saw it, he appreciated it and he was so vocal about it.”

“I don’t think somebody like Naseeruddin Shah is very easy to please when it comes to working as an actor. So, I hold this compliment and I hold that moment very close to my heart.”

Arjun further added: “And not only that, I had Kumud Sir standing next to me.”

“So, to have Kumud Sir add value to that by saying yes, he also loved the film; he thoroughly enjoyed it and he thought my dialect was absolutely bang on and somebody like Kumud Mishra telling me about my dialect and Naseer Bhai telling me about my performance in a film, gave me so much of warmth and confidence stepping into Kuttey and shooting with Naseer Bhai and Kumud sir at that point.”

‘Kuttey’ is touted to be a caper that also has outstanding actors like Konkona Sen Sharma, Tabu, and Radhika Madan in it.

The film has been directed by debutant Aasmaan Bhardwaj, who is ace film-maker Vishal Bhardwaj’s son. It releases on January 13, 2023.

Ranbir, Alia hold hands, enjoy football match from stands

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Ranbir, Alia hold hands, enjoy football match from stands

Bollywood couple Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor, who is currently enjoying parenthood, were recently spotted watching a football match and supporting Mumbai FC.

Ranbir co-owns Mumbai FC, he was seen sporting his team jersey, a pair of denims and a black cap as his team squared off against Kerala Blasters.

Alia, on the other hand, kept it simple as she wore a black jacket and rounded up her look with open tresses.

During the match, the two were seen holding hands and discussing the game from the stands. After the match, the two walked onto the field and clicked pictures.

Ranbir is a huge football fan, the announcement of his and Alia’s daughter’s name serves as testimony to the fact. While announcing the name of their daughter – Raha in November last year, Alia had taken to her Instagram to share a picture of herself, Ranbir, and Raha.

While the three were out of focus, the Barcelona jersey hanging on the wall behind them had Raha’s name written over it. Ranbir is an avid fan of Barcelona which participates in the La Liga tournament.

On the work front, while Ranbir has Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s ‘Animal’ in the pipeline, Alia has ‘Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani’ and the Hollywood movie ‘Heart of Stone’.

James Cameron says ‘Avatar 2’ will ‘easily’ break even at the box office

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James Cameron says ‘Avatar 2’ will ‘easily’ break even at the box office

Award-winning filmmaker James Cameron said that ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ will turn the profit it needs in order to get the remainder of his franchise sequels made.

The director, who was speaking on this week’s episode of ‘Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?,’ went viral in November, after telling GQ magazine that ‘The Way of Water’ was so expensive to make that it would have to “be the third or fourth highest-grossing film in history” just to break even,” reports Variety.

The sequel has already earned over $1.5 billion worldwide to surpass ‘Top: Gun Maverick’ as the highest-grossing movie of 2022.

“It looks like with the momentum that the film has now that we’ll easily pass our break even in the next few days, so it looks like I can’t wiggle out of this and I’m gonna have to do these other sequels,” Cameron said.

“I know what I’m going to be doing the next six or seven years.”

Cameron added about the film turning a profit: “The point is we’re going to be okay. I’m sure that we’ll have a discussion soon with the top folks at Disney about the game plan going forward for ‘Avatar 3,’ which is already in the can – we’ve already captured and photographed the whole film, so we’re in extended post-production to do all that CG magic.”

“And then ‘Avatar’ 4 and 5 are both written. We even have some of 4 in the can. We’ve begun a franchise at this point. We’ve begun a saga that can now play out over multiple films.”

When Cameron said that ‘The Way of Water’ would need to become “the third or fourth highest-grossing film in history, just to “break-even”, it appeared he was referring to the $2 billion mark.

The director clarified his comment to Chris Wallace, saying: “I never actually gave it a number. I said it would have to be among the highest-grossing films in history and somebody else applied for that number and it got picked up. The number is actually less.”

Sources have told Variety that the movie’s break-even point was set at roughly $1.4 billion, a figure the movie has already crossed.

Insiders told Variety this week that the movie is going to generate a box office total of at least $1.825 billion, though $2 billion certainly remains in reach. Either way, Cameron says the film will be profitable enough to warrant the sequels.

So what can audiences expect to see as the ‘Avatar’ franchise moves forward? Cameron previously told France’s 20 Minutes that ‘Avatar 3’ will explore “different cultures from those I have already shown,” adding, “The fire will be represented by the people. I want to show the Na’vi from another angle because, so far, I have only shown their good sides.”

“In the early films, there are very negative human examples and very positive Na’vi examples,” the director continued. “In ‘Avatar 3,’ we will do the opposite.”

Producer Jon Landau told Gizmodo that once the ‘Avatar’ franchise reaches ‘Avatar 5,” the story will feature some Na’vi characters coming to Earth. He said: “In (‘Avatar 5’) there is a section of the story where we go to Earth. And we go to it to open people’s eyes, open Neytiri’s eyes, to what exists on Earth. Earth is not just represented by the RDA.”

“Just like you’re defined by the choices you make in life, not all humans are bad. Not all Na’vi are good. And that’s the case here on Earth. And we want to expose Neytiri to that.”

Taylor Fritz sends US into United Cup final

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Taylor Fritz sends US into United Cup final

Team United States sprinted to a 2-0 lead against Team Poland on Friday in the United Cup Final Four, and American Taylor Fritz finished the job Saturday morning.

The reigning BNP Paribas Open champion clawed past Hubert Hurkacz 7-6(5), 7-6(5) in the No. 1 men’s singles match to give his country an insurmountable 3-0 lead.

Jessica Pegula upset World No. 1 Iga Swiatek and Frances Tiafoe eased past Kacper Zuk to earn the Americans their first two points, reports unitedcup.com.

Fritz was followed by Madison Keys, who earned a 6-4, 6-2 triumph against Magda Linette. Fritz and Pegula then completed a 5-0 sweep with a 6-7(5), 6-4, 10-6 mixed doubles win against Lukasz Kubot and Alicja Rosolska. Team United States is now 4-0 in mixed doubles in Sydney.

In the championship match, Team United States will face Team Italy or Team Greece. Italy leads Greece 2-0 in their semi-final tie.

“I think whoever serves better is probably going to get over the line,” Tiafoe predicted for the Fritz-Hurkacz clash Friday afternoon.

That proved prophetic. Fritz won 88 percent of his first-serve points and was able to manoeuvre into comfortable positions in points behind his serve.

Hurkacz earned two set points on return at 5-4 in the first set. The Pole missed a mid-rally crosscourt forehand on his first opportunity and a forehand return just long on his second. Letting slip those chances proved his downfall.

The tension could be cut with a knife inside Ken Rosewall Arena during the first-set tie-break, as neither man relinquished a mini-break through the first 11 points. Fritz was able to take the initiative on his first set point and forced an error from Hurkacz’s backhand into the net.

Hurkacz also had opportunities to earn the match’s first break at 5-5, 15/40 on Fritz’s serve in the second set, but the American saved them with a big serve and forehand volley. The Pole once again seemed in position to force a decider with two serves at 5/4 in the tie-break, but he missed two forehands, which allowed Fritz to close out the match and with it, the tie.

Keys had split two previous encounters with Linette, both in the last two months. Indeed, Linette’s win had also been in team competition — a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 win in the Billie Jean King Cup Finals in November.

Both players brought an undefeated United Cup record into the match, and it was Keys who preserved hers with a dominant display of power. She did not face a break point throughout a tight first set while consistently creating chances on return. Though Linette was able to fend off the first two break points she faced, in the second and sixth games, Keys converted her fourth of the day — also a set point — by hammering a backhand return.

A classy drop shot paved the way to Linette’s only break of serve in the first game of the second set, but Keys responded by upping her focus to immediately break back and reel off six of the final seven games of the match.

No chinks in Thalapathi Vijay’s marriage, say sources denying rumours of split

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No chinks in Thalapathi Vijay’s marriage, say sources denying rumours of split

Tamil superstar Thalapathi Vijay’s fans, who were eagerly awaiting news about the upcoming January 12 release of his much-awaited movie ‘Varisu’, were instead struck by rumors that their hero’s marriage with his wife Sangeetha was heading for splitsville.

It all started with Vijay’s Wikipedia page reflecting his status as divorced in 2022. The rumors have started doing the rounds yet again, even as fans are celebrating the rushes of ‘Varisu’.

Sources close to the superstar, however, confirmed that all is fine between Vijay and Sangeetha, who have been married for 22 years. There is no basis for the rumors, they said.

The recent round of rumours started after Sangeetha skipped the baby shower of star director Atlee’s wife Priya. Sangeetha’s absence from the ‘Varisu’ music launch only added grist to the rumor mills.

Sources say that Sangeetha was with their children in the US when both events took place.

After the disappointment performance of ‘Beast’ at the box office, Vijay is back with ‘Vasrisu’, which has Rashmika Mandanna playing the lead role opposite the superstar.

Prakash Raj also has an important role in this movie directed by Vamshi Paidipally and produced by Dil Raju.

25th Arabian Gulf football championship kicks off in Iraq

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25th Arabian Gulf football championship kicks off in Iraq

The 25th Arabian Gulf Cup 2023 kicked off in the southern Iraqi city of Basra.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani on Friday announced at the opening ceremony the start of the Gulf championship, saying the ceremony bears connotations of “fraternity between the Gulf Arab brothers”, reports media.

The opening match between Iraq and Oman ended in a draw without goals after the opening ceremony. The Iraqi national team is in Group A alongside Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and Oman, while the second group includes the soccer teams of Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.

Qatar hosted the 24th edition of the tournament in 2019, which was suspended thereafter due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The tournament, founded in 1970, returned to Iraq for the first time after the Iraqi capital Baghdad hosted its 5th edition in 1979.

Iraq hopes the ongoing Gulf Cup will be an opportunity to show the country’s return to regional activities.

Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi, FIFA President Gianni Infantino, and heads of football federations in the Gulf countries participated in the ceremony.

Cameo by Malayalam superstar Mohanlal in Rajinikanth movie ‘Jailer’

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Cameo by Malayalam superstar Mohanlal in Rajinikanth movie ‘Jailer’

Malayalam superstar Mohanlal will be seen in a cameo in ‘Jailer’, the upcoming movie of the South Indian megastar, Rajinikanth.

This is the first time that Mohanlal and Rajinikanth are sharing screen space in their more than three-decade-long, almost parallel movie careers. The movie is slated for a global release on April 14.

Mohanlal, according to sources in team ‘Jailer’, has already signed up for the movie and will shoot for two days. The star is likely to be on the sets of ‘Jailer’ on January 8 and 9.

Mohanlal is likely to play an underworld don in the movie. Rajinikanth essays the title role and most of the movie has been shot inside a prison.

Directed by Nelson Dilipkumar, who has helmed some of Rajinikanth’s best-known hits, ‘Jailer’ has been produced by Kalanidhi Maran of Sun Films.

Kannada superstar Shiva Rajkumar is making his Tamil debut with ‘Jailer’. Yogi Babu as well as Vinayakan are also donning major roles.

Tamil actress Trisha Krishnan, most recently seen in Mani Ratnam’s blockbuster historical drama, ‘Ponniyin Selvan-1’, has an important part in the movie. Another familiar face is Ramya Krishnan of ‘Baahubali’ fame.

Music sensation Anirudh Ravichander is composing the movie’s score. This is his third movie collaboration with Rajinikanth after ‘Petta’ and ‘Darbar’.

‘To many more such awards’: Ram Charan’s best wishes for Rajamouli

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‘To many more such awards’: Ram Charan’s best wishes for Rajamouli

Before leaving for Los Angeles to attend the Golden Globes evening in Los Angeles on January 11, Tollywood star Ram Charan reacted to S.S. Rajamouli’s son posting a video of the ‘RRR’ helmer accepting the Best Director award at the prestigious New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC) gala recently.

Congratulating Rajamouli for his achievement, the ‘RRR’ star tweeted on Friday: “And to many more such awards!! Congratulations @ssrajamouli Garu”.

All eyes are now on the Golden Globe Awards night, where the movie is a frontrunner in two categories – Best Picture (Non-English Language) and Best Original Song for ‘Naatu Naatu’.

The movie starring Ram Charan and NTR Jr has shown no signs of slowing even after almost a year of its theatrical release. And it has left its imprint on the box office of the US and Japan in the recent months.

‘RRR’, incidentally, is the second movie collaboration of Rajamouli and Ram Charan. They had previously worked on the hit Telugu movie ‘Magadheera’.

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