Tony Scott Spent Final Days Working With Tom Cruise on 'Top Gun 2'

As late as Friday, director Tony Scott was meeting with Tom Cruise to research their planned Top Gun sequel for Paramount.

Top Gun 2 was one of three directing projects on Scott's plate that were in advanced development before the director jumped from a Los Angeles-area bridge Sunday in what authorities are calling a suicide. The popular filmmaker's next directing gig likely would have been Narco Sub at 20th Century Fox, but he also was keen to make Top Gun 2 and Fox's Lucky Stripe, according to sources close to him. Another possibility was a remake of The Wild Bunch for Warner Bros.The duo, who first collaborated on Cruise's star-making 1986 military drama, were in Nevada touring a naval air station as part of their research for the movie, a source close to the project tellsThe Hollywood and Bollywood Data base.

"Studios have to compete for directors who are in demand, and Tony was in great demand," says one studio insider who met with Scott for lunch two weeks ago. "Hyper-qualified directors are really rare."

TheHBDb  has learned that Fox -- where Tony and Ridley Scott's company Scott Free has its production deal -- tapped writer Jeffrey Nachmanoff (Traitor) to rewrite the script for Narco Sub, about a disgraced American naval officer forced to pilot a sub carrying a payload of cocaine to America. David Guggenheim penned the original script, and Michael Bomback did a rewrite.

Paramount Motion Picture Group president Adam Goodman revealed plans for a Top Gun sequel in May during an interview with THBDb. "Jerry Bruckheimer would produce, with Tony Scott returning to direct. All parties are moving ahead," Goodman said at the time. "We've hired Peter Craig to write the script."

The original Top Gun catapulted Scott to fame and resulted in a lasting friendship with Cruise, who also starred in the filmmaker's NASCAR-themed Days of Thunder (1990).

"Tony was my dear friend, and I will really miss him," Cruise said in a statement Monday. "He was a creative visionary whose mark on film is immeasurable. My deepest sorrow and thoughts are with his family at this time."

Scott, also a prolific film and television producer, leaves a slew of television projects in development through Scott Free, including an untitled diamond drama with Before the Devil Knows You're Deadscribe Kelly Masterson that is set up at AMC and Killing Lincoln at National Geographic Channel. Based on the best-selling book about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, the two-hour documentary will include re-enactments and is slated to air in 2013.

Additionally, Scott is an executive producer on A&E's miniseries Coma, which is scheduled to premiere on Labor Day.

Chuck Lorre, WBTV Near Deal That Includes Film Component

The prolific producer behind CBS' "Big Bang Theory," "Two and a Half Men" and "Mike & Molly" is close to signing a four-year deal with the studio.

Chuck Lorre is near a new mega-deal with Warner Bros. Television.

Lorre, whose previous deal with the studio expired in May, will develop feature film projects for the studio for the first time under his Chuck Lorre Productions banner, in addition to overseeing all three CBS comedies.The showrunner behind CBS' The Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men and Mike & Molly is closing a four-year overall production and development deal with the studio that would see the prolific producer add a focus on features, The Hollywood and Bollywood Data base  has confirmed.

The pact comes a year after the Two and a Half MenEP slogged through a public parting of ways with his former star, Charlie Sheen. The series was relaunched year season for a ninth season with Ashton Kutcher replacing Sheen, premiering to record numbers in September.

This season, Men is on the move to Thursdays following Big Bang Theory, which had an impressive ratings year, besting Fox's American Idol in the coveted adults 18-49 demographic in multiple airings.

Mike & Molly, meanwhile, continues to pick up awards-season recognition for starMelissa McCarthy.

Lorre, repped by ICM Partners, is also slated to release a book featuring his popular and often controversial vanity cards through CBS Corp.'s Simon and Schuster.

New York Film Festival to Offer First Look at Oliver Stone's Doc About U.S. History

The festival's Masterworks screenings will include Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," David Lean's "Lawrence of Arabia" and Rob Reiner's "The Princess Bride."

The New York Film Festival will screen the first three chapters of Oliver Stone's 10-part documentary project, The Untold History of the United States, the Film Society of Lincoln Center, which presents the festival, announced Monday. The episodes to be presented from the mini-series, which will air on Showtime in 2012, focus on events leading up to World War II, the war itself and former U.S. Vice President Henry Wallace.

The festival, which runs from Sept. 28-Oct. 14, also will present special Masterworks anniversary screenings of Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia and Rob Reiner's The Princess Bride.

“The addition of the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center allows the festival to expand on areas of programming already part of the NYFF--such as the inclusion of restored or re-discovered Masterworks in the Festival line-up--as well as to focus attention of topics such as "movies about movies" in the section Cinema Reflected or film's encounter with other artistic media in On the Arts,” Richard Peña, selection committee chair and program director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center, said.

NYFF will debut two new sidebar sections as part of the film festival’s special events programming. Cinema Reflected will feature documentary and non-fiction films, while On the Arts will present films that shine a light on the arts such as opera, theater, and even magic.

Flms in the Cinema Reflected section include: Tom Donahue’s Casting By, a look at the history and influence of casting directors in film; Shivendra Singh Dungarpur’s Culluloid Man, which profiles P.K. Nair, the founder and patron saint of the National Film Archive of India; György Pàlfi’sFinal Cut -- Ladies and Gentlemen,  which utilizes scenes from more than 450 international films and assemblies them into an epic tale; Dheeraj Akolkar’s Liv and Ingmar, focusing on the relationship between film legends, Liv Ullmann and Ingmar Bergman.

Marina Zenovich’s Roman Polanski: Odd Man Out continues her exploration into the title subject following her 2008 film, Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired; Rodney Ascher’s Room 237, exploring a handful of theories as to the real story behind the scenes of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining; and Francesco Patierno’s The War of the Volcanoes, telling the story of rival film productions that took place on Stromboli – one directed by Roberto Rosselini and starring his new lover, Ingrid Bergman, and the second starring his spurned former lover, Anna Magnani.

The On the Arts section includes Philippe Béziat’s Becoming Travata, which follows the staging ofVerdi’s masterwork at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in France; the world premiere of Molly Bernstein’s and Alan Edelstein’s Deceptive Practice: The Mystries and Mentors of Ricky Jay, about the magician/actor and the illusionists that influenced him; Bertrand Bonello’s Ingrid Caven: Music and Voice, about the extraordinary musical cabaret singer and performer; Keith Jones’ andDeon Maas’ Punk in Africa, which chronicles the development of the Punk Rock scene in South Africa and how it became a second front in the battle against the apartheid state; and Jeff Kaufman’s The Savoy King: Chick Webb and the Music That Changed America, which profiles the jazz legend.

Todd Phillips in Talks to Direct First Drama 'The Gambler'

The Paramount project could be the helmer's next film after "Hangover Part III."

Todd Phillips is getting serious about Paramount’s remake of The Gambler.

The Hangover helmer, who has worked entirely in the comedy genre since hanging up his documentarian hat in the ’90s, is in talks to direct the crime drama based on the studio’s 1974 film starring James Caan.

The project once had Martin Scorseseattached to helm. Scorsese’s The Departedscribe William Monahan wrote the screenplay, which centers on a UCLA literature professor with a gambling problem who runs afoul of gangsters.

Irwin Winkler, who produced the original, is back in the same role for the remake.

Phillips' move into drama might not be a surprise for those who have followed his career. While known as a director of broad comedies, his films -- such as Old School, Due Date and even theHangover franchise -- often are infused with darker undertones. He also is known for delivering films with a stronger visual aesthetic than is typical for comedies.   

But Phillips isn’t done with laughs just yet. The plan is for the helmer and Project X producer to direct The Hangover Part III beginning in September before seguing to The Gambler.

Phillips is repped by CAA and Sloane Offer.

'The Dark Knight Rises' Leads Page Views for U.K. Youth Websites

Christopher Nolan's movie with Christian Bale and Anne Hathaway is the biggest draw for film-related web content.

LONDON – Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises, starring Christian Bale and Anne Hathaway, leads the page views for U.K. youth-focused websites, according to research published Tuesday.

Youth web network w00t! Media said The Dark Knight Risesaccounts for 44 percent of all film-related web pages viewed across a collection of youth sites here.

The data, collated over the first six months of 2012 from sites including Holymoly, The Shiznit and Blogomatic, also shows thatRidley Scott’s sci-fi actioner Prometheus followed with 18 percent of page views amongst youth-focused websites while The Avengers, directed and co-written by Joss Whedon, snagged 16 percent of the page views. 

Film news at 29 percent and reviews with 26 percent are the most popular types of film content viewed on youth websites followed by plot spoilers (13 percent) and photos (12 percent).

w00t! Media used its network of youth site data to collate the research with the sites on its network accounting for just over eight million page views and one million unique visitors each month.

Perhaps surprisingly for movie content, words and images are much more popular than video content.

The research indicates trailers and film clips each account for just 10 percent of film pages viewed on youth-focused websites.

Reviews are the most likely film content to be shared -- accounting for 27 percent of shared film content, followed by news (23 percent), trailers (18 percent), film clips and photos (both 13 percent).

And only six percent of shared content is a plot spoiler, giving the researchers reason to call film fans "a considerate bunch."

Says w00t! Media’s Dan McDevitt: "Film content is a great way of engaging young Brits who watch about 80 of them per year. Entertainment content and youth audiences go hand in hand but it’s very important that, if advertisers want to use it as a way of reaching this group online, they understand exactly how youth and young adults actually consume film and entertainment content."

Warner Bros. Passes on 'Dark Tower'

The ambitious project from Imagine Entertainment has been turned down again, months after Universal said no.

An adaptation of Stephen King’s opus The Dark Towerwon't be hitting screens, big or small, anytime soon.

Warner Bros. has passed on the project, making it the second studio to do so.

The high-profile and ambitious package had Ron Howardattached to direct and Brian Grazer producing a script fromAkiva Goldsman. It was to consist of three movies and two TV miniseries.

The studio looked at the package as part of its weekend read and decided to pass.

The project previously was set up at Universal and came close to production, but budgetary and scale issues made the studio second-guess its involvement, leading Tower to be put into turnaround. Writer-producer Goldman has a first-look deal at Warners, so setting upDark Tower at that studio seemed like a logical move that could save the project.

King's Western-style fantasy series is set mostly in an alternate world heavy on magic and centers on a man who is part of a knightly order of gunslingers. But Goldman’s script is said to begin on Earth, with material seen in the latter parts of the second book.

Warner Bros declined comment.

'Twilight' Crosses 1 Million Followers on Twitter

The Summit franchise becomes the first film property to reach the milestone.

Call it Bella power.

Summit Entertainment says that its Twilight account has crossed the 1 million followers threshold on Twitter, marking the first time a movie page has reached the milestone.

The studio launched the handle in October 2009. Within 24 hours, @Twilight became a trending sensation.

To celebrate the million follower mark, Summit released a video to thank the fans who follow the film franchise on Twitter, which can be seen here.

The film franchise’s cast members are also thanking fans for their support, using the hashtag #Twihards4EVER.

Tony Scott Had Inoperable Brain Cancer (Report)

Director Tony Scott, who died in an apparent suicide Sunday night, had inoperable brain cancer, according to an ABC News report.

Scott’s body was found Sunday afternoon after police received a 911 call that someone had jumped from the Vincent Thomas Bridge near Long Beach.

The coroner identified the body as that of the 68-year-old Scott, who hailed from northeast England but lived with his wife and two kids in Beverly Hills. A note was found in his car, and another media report said a note was later found in his office.

Neither the coroner nor Scott's publicist have returned requests for comment.

The director, younger brother of fellow director Ridley Scott, made emotional, action-filled fare such as "Top Gun," "True Romance" and "Man on Fire." Scott also produced dozens more films under the Scott Free Productions banner, which he ran with Ridley.

An autopsy is scheduled for Monday. 

Italian News Program Says Venice Lineup Should Be Rated R

ROME – Italy’s TG 24 news program said that the upcoming edition of the Venice Film Festival should be rated R because of its lineup full of films about “Sapphic sex, violence, and religion.”

Festivals do not carry overall ratings for their lineups, though the festival can reserve the right to refuse admission to any specific film it screens to under-age viewers. And TG 24’s observation was made with tongue half planted in cheek. But the report did call attention to the large number of films set to screen on the Venice Lido that would be questionable to the young.

Among those highlighted by the program are Spring Breakersfrom Harmony Korine, which the program said was full of “sexual transgression”; Brian De Palma’s Passion, which explores a dark sexual relationship between a “cynical businesswoman” played by Rachel McAdams and her “sweet assistant” plated by Noomi Rapace; To the Wonder, the latest from Terrence Malick, which the program said was ruled “not suitable” for young viewers sue to a high content of sex and nudity; Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master, which tells the tale of the founding of a religious sect; and Marco Bellocchio’s Bella addormentata (Dormant Beauty), which explores the moral issues related to euthanasia as it applies to the real-life case of an Italian woman named Eluana Englaro.

TG 24 is the main news program on one of the three national television networks controlled by Italian billionaire and former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, whose own life story might not be suitable for minors. Berlusconi, who coined the term “bunga bunga” for a kind of sex party he often hosted, stepped down last year amid personal scandal including charges of corruption, bribery, and paying an under-age girl for sex.

Oliver Stone's 'Savages' to Open Zurich Film Festival

The film, which stars Taylor Kitsch, Aaron Taylor Johnson and John Travolta, begins its European rollout after the London Summer Olympics.

Oliver Stone's stoner action thriller Savages, starring Taylor Kitsch, Aaron Taylor-Johnsonand Blake Lively, will open the 8th annual Zurich International Film Festival on September 20.

Stone is no stranger to the young Swiss festival, having attended several times before, including in 2007, when the Oscar-winning filmmaker received Zurich's lifetime achievement honor, the Golden Eye. This year's Zurich Golden Eye winner is veteran producer Jerry Weintraub, whose credits include the Ocean's Eleven and Karate Kid franchises.

Savages, which also features John Travolta, Benicio Del Toro and Salma Hayek, has earned $46 million domestically for Universal Pictures since its July 6th release. But international distributors have held back the global rollout of the film, in part to avoid going head-to-head with this summer's big televised sporting events - the Euro 2012 Soccer Championships and the 2012 London Olympics.Stone is no stranger to the young Swiss festival, having attended several times before, including in 2007, when the Oscar-winning filmmaker received Zurich's lifetime achievement honor, the Golden Eye. This year's Zurich Golden Eye winner is veteran producer Jerry Weintraub, whose credits include the Ocean's Eleven and Karate Kid franchises.

Savages begins its European rollout September 13 in Russia and continues across Europe through September and October.

The 8th annual Zurich Film Festival runs Sept.20-30.

'Shawshank Redemption' Director Frank Darabont Named Zurich Festival Jury President

"Pulp Fiction" exec producer Michael Shamberg, "Dexter" casting agent Deborah Aquila and "Safe House" director Daniel Espinosa are also on the Zurich jury.

COLOGNE, Germany - Frank Darabont, the Oscar-nominated director of The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile and executive producer of AMC's The Walking Dead, will be president of the international jury at this year's Zurich Film Festival.

Joining Darabont on the international jury is Shawshank casting agent Deborah Aquila, whose credits also include My Week with Marilyn and Showtime seriesDexter; Pulp Fiction executive producerMichael Shamberg and Swedish director Daniel Espinosa (Safe House). Rounding up the jury are Swiss actorCarlos Leal (Sennetuntschi) and Oscar-winning editor Pietro Scalia, whose credits include Black Hawk Down, JFK, Good Will Hunting and Gladiator.

Zurich also confirmed the final members of the German-language jury, which will be headed by German singer and actorHerbert Gronemeyer (Das Boot). Joining Gronemeyer to judge the German, Austrian and Swiss productions running in this year's festival are German actress Julia Jentsch (Sophie Scholl - The Final Days), Austrian director Florian Flicker(Suzie Washington), Swiss producer Marcel Hoehn (Mostly Martha) and Swiss director Peter Luisi (Der Sandmann).

Director Jessica Yu, whose credits include episodes of Grey's Anatomy and The West Wing, will head up Zurich's international documentary jury. She is joined by directors Mohammed Al-Daradji of Iraq, whose credits include Son of Babylon; and Denmark's Janus Metz (Armadillo) as well as French director/producer Phillippe Diaz (The Empire in Africa).

Austrian producer Gabriele Kranzelbinder (Taxidermia) will head the German-language documentary jury with Swiss directors Stefan Haupt (Utopia Blues) and Mirjam von Arx (Seed Warriors) and German producer Martin Hagemann (The Turin Horse).

All four jury will vote on the winners of Zurich's Golden Eye honors. The 2012 Zurich International Film Festival runs Sept. 20-30.

'Easy Money II' Tops Swedish Box Office

The Stockholm crime noir knocks "The Dark Knight Rises" to number two in the Swedish charts.

COLOGNE, Germany - Easy Money II, the sequel to Daniel Espinosa's Stockholm crime thriller, has followed in its predecessor's footsteps, entering the Swedish box office at number one.

Easy Money II beat out returning entries including The Dark Knight Rises and Total Recall to take the top spot, earning around $1.5 million in its opening weekend.

Directed by Babak Najafi, Easy Money II is loosely based on theJens Lapidus' crime novel Never Fuck Up, the second in his so-called Stockholm noir trilogy. The sequel also stars Easy Moneylead Joel Kinnaman, known to U.S. audiences for his role as Stephen Holder in AMC's The Killing.

Acclaimed arthouse director Jens Jonsson (King of Ping Pong) has signed on to direct Easy Money III, the last film in the trilogy. Currently in production, Easy Money III will debut in Sweden September 2013.

Warner Bros. has picked up remake rights for the first Easy Money and Dark Knight producer Charles Roven is working on the adaptation with Zac Efron attached to star in Kinnaman's role as a young man who looks to make a quick buck by becoming a runner for a coke dealer.

TrustNordisk is handling worldwide sales for all the Easy Money titles. The first film has more or less sold out worldwide  while Easy Money II closed multiple territories following an exclusive buyers screening in Cannes in May.

Schweiger, Petzold and Von Trotta on German Oscar Short List

Action film "Guardian Angels," Berlinale winner "Barbara" and biopic "Hannah Arendt" among Best Foreign Film contenders.

COLOGNE, Germany - New films from Til Schweiger, Margarette von Trotta, Christian Petzold and Leander Haussmann are among the short list candidates for Germany's entry for the 2013 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.

Perhaps the most unusual title on the shortlist is the docu-dramaThis Ain't California from director Marten Persiel, which combines found footage with recreated scenes from the underground skateboarding scene in communist East Germany.Schweiger's action thriller Guardian Angels, von Trotta's biopicHannah Arendt and Petzold's East German period drama Barbaraare arguably the front runners in the short-list, which also includes Haussmann's tragicomedy Hotel Lux and the neo-Nazi drama Kriegerin from first-time director David Wnendt. Other German Oscar contenders are Ulrike Schamoni's Abscheid von den Froschen and Die Verlorene Zeit from director Anne Justice.

An independent jury will meet on August 29 and 30 to pick the official Oscar nominee, which will be announced August 30. The winner will be Germany's official candidate for Best Foreign Language Film for the 85th Oscars.

Canada's Entertainment One Inks South Korean Distribution Deal with UEK

The Canadian producer's first Asian deal will see United Entertainment Korea handle its home entertainment product.

TORONTO – Entertainment One has inked its first Asian distribution deal as United Entertainment Korea is on board to handle the Canadian producer’s home entertainment product in South Korea.

And the Canadian producer will market its own film slate to Korean buyers and distributors.The multi-year distribution deal will see UEK handle film product, while Entertainment One Television International handles TV product in South Korea.

UEK also distributes home entertainment product for Sony Pictures, NBC Universal and 20th Century Fox.

The South Korean deal comes as Entertainment One continues to build out a global distribution network for its product, initially in Europe, and now branching out into Asia.

The first titles to be released by UEK as part of its new partnership with Entertainment One areDragon Age and Mass Effect.

Yash Chopra's SRK-Katrina starrer: commemorating his five glorious decades

Fortuitous or what, Yash Chopra, who has now more than five decades of creative association with the world of Hindi cinema, has decided to hold the baton once again and Shahrukh Khan, Anushka Sharma, and Katrina Kaif should feel proud that they are a part of this historical occasion.

Yes, one is talking about the latest film from Yash Raj banners, which has still to get a name. Indeed, it would be for the first time in the world of cinema in all probability that the promos of the film have been released, but the name of the film has still not been decided. But the whole idea of creating an element of nostalgia around the five decade time line of association of Yash Chopra with the Hindi film industry is being used as the organic link to market the new offering.

Interestingly enough, the product is being sold as a saga of romance, the forte of Yash Chopra and Yash Raj films, which gave a new meaning and expression to the idiom of romance by interpreting it in his own way. Another underlining aspect of the film on offer is the fact that it has used London as the backdrop, may be, with the idea to create nostalgia around the city, as it was the city of London that had given Yash Raj banner one of the biggest romantic hits from their banner, as also one of the biggest romantic hits to grace the silver screen in Hindi, aka DIL WAALE DULHANIYA LE JAENGE.

There is a lot of talk about the promos being used as a platform to tell the world what Yash Chopra has done in the past, and the latest offering is not being talked about. Well, the moot point is that running such a referential sequence is with the avowed objective to remind the world that whenever Yash Chopra has held the baton he has added a new vista to the entity called romance, and the crowd should wait in anticipation to soak in, in the new era of romance. The reference to the films from the part directed by Yash Chopra is also perhaps to remind the present generation of movie goers of the kind of milestones that he created as they form a major construct of the film going public, and to prepare them for the contrast about the romantic offerings that they have privy to so far, and the offering that he is going to make with his new product.

The anticipation has been created and the wait would be worth its value for money. 

Tiger Salman turns railway announcer at railway stations

EK THA TIGER is leaving no stone unturned when it comes to grabbing the attention of the audiences. EK THA TIGER has gone all out on its posters and advertisements; the latest novelty in the campaign is railway promotions like never before. Keeping in mind the fan following of Salman, Yash Raj Films has introduced a whole new approach to communicate and reach out to their fans.



Salman Khan is promoting the action packed romantic film at 125 railway stations across India in the form of announcements. He has recorded a 15 second sound clip that's being played as an announcement on the railway platforms. This innovation by Yash Raj Films has been very well received as the railway commuters can't stop raving about hearing Salman with his quirky humor while catching their daily train.

''It was such a pleasant surprise to hear Salman Khan at the railway platform instead of the regular announcers one fine morning while rushing to work,'' said a daily rail user.

Released on the 15th of August, this Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif starrer, EK THA TIGER, is making all the right noise to break the box office records. 

Aishwarya mobbed by crowd in Kerala at Kalyan Jewellers store opening

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan fans throng in thousands to get a glimpse of their favourite star in Kochi, where she was there for the inauguration of the first Kalyan Jewellers store. 

It was a sight to be seen. Thousands of fans had lined up the roads on either side leading up to the Kalyan Jewellers store in Kochi on 19th August where Aishwarya Rai had come to inaugurate the store. A special stage was made anticipating such a large crowd outside the store for her to address the fans before she went ahead with the formalities of the launch of the store.

Aishwarya came looking resplendent in an off white lehenga by Abu-Sandeep and spoke to the crowds. She then alongside Malayalam superstar Dileep inaugurated the jewellery store and addressed a select invitee list of guests and media where she spoke about her connection with Kerala which she addressed as 'GODS OWN COUNTRY'.

Aishwarya was accompanied by daughter Aaradhya on this trip along with her mother Mrs. Vrinda Rai. 

Will Bollywood wake up to ultra-glam Kajal?

It's a slow but steady game plan for newbie Kajal Agarwal. She may be picking and choosing her films carefully, what with SPECIAL CHABBIS being the only Hindi film she has signed since the super success of SINGHAM last year. However she isn't doing anything drastically different from the 'salwar-kameez' dress up that she enjoyed in the Ajay Devgn starrer. 
''Yes, my dressing is according to the time in which the film has been set. In SPECIAL CHABBIS which is set in the early 80s, I would be seen as this pretty nice girl in 'salwar kameez','' smiles Kajal, ''I guess somehow it works quite for me as well because I like this attire.''

Though she has experimented with her look and attire in the films down South, most recently being Mahesh Babu starrer BUSINESSMAN which was a huge success, the girl is comfortable to be simple yet gorgeous in the Akshay Kumar led affair.

''I don't mind wearing a short skirt but then a role should really demand that. When the retro setting of my film demands me to go simple, I don't believe in strutting around in a hot-n-sexy look,'' she reasons.

Well, going by the Westernised look she has managed to carry so very successfully down South, one waits to see Bollywood filmmakers wake up and present her in an ultra-glam outing. 

Ken Watanabe to Star in Japanese Remake of 'Unforgiven'

The project will be a samurai version of the story set on Japan's northernmost island.

LONDON – Ken Watanabe is to take the Clint Eastwood role in a Japanese remake ofUnforgiven to be made by Warner Entertainment Japan.

Korean-Japanese helmer Lee Sang-Il (Hula Girls, Villain), who brought the idea of the project to Warner in May last year, will direct Yurusarezaru Mono (a thing that can’t be forgiven), which like the original, will be set in 1880. Watanabe will play a samurai with a violent past, living on Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido with his Ainu (the aboriginal people of the island) wife, who is brought out of retirement for one last job.

Koichi Sato (The Magic Hour) will play the Gene Hackman role, while veteran Akira Emoto(Villain) will take the part played by Morgan Freeman in the multi-Academy Award-winning original.

The production, due to start shooting in Hokkaido this autumn, and set for a Japanese release in fall 2013, is the first local remake of an Oscar Best Picture winner.

Midweek: 'Ek Tha Tiger' is Salman's 4th century

Film	Cast	Plusses	Minusses	Verdict
Ek Tha Tiger	Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Girish Karnad, Ranvir Shorey, Roshan Seth	Salman and Katrina's chemistry, gripping second hour, dazzling action, stunning international locales and stylish execution	First half could've been tighter	Has packed a solid punch in its opening weekend, smashing all records left, right and centre. The biz is bigger than Salman Khan's last release BODYGUARD, which is his biggest opener and grosser to date. It is the fastest 100 cr grosser ever and Salman's fourth [DABANGG, READY, BODYGUARD]. The business is expected to get further boost from Monday onwards [Eid]. Collected approx Rs 100.16 cr nett in its extended weekend [Wed to Sun]. Mind-boggling!

(Ratings are based on the box office collections and the cost of the film)