Ledger theatre to be built in Perth

Perth, Australia, is getting a new landmark: an $87-million US, 575-seat auditorium named for a native son, the Heath Ledger Theatre, People.com reports.

Western Australia state Premier Alan Carpenter said at a dedication ceremony yesterday that the name was appropriate, given how supportive the late actor had always been for fellow young performers, the Associated Press reports.

�Heath Ledger was totally dedicated to the craft of being an actor and that�s what made him successful,� Carpenter said. �I think what we�re doing is continuing that support for young people who want to make a career in the arts and acting, stage and in film, whatever it happens to be.�
Kim Ledger, the actor�s father, called the tribute a pleasant surprise.

�He was such a giver to the arts right across the board. I really feel that there�s not a lot of things he�d put his name to, but he�d put his name to that,� Kim Ledger told The Associated Press, who attended yesterday�s ceremony.

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Mania

   
Artist: Mania

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Other
   

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Discography:


   
 Looking For A Place

   Year: 2004   
Tracks: 6

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Eddie Murphy to return as "Beverly Hills Cop"

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - If Indiana Jones can make a successful comeback after almost 20 years, why not the Beverly Hills Cop?


Paramount Pictures has given the go-ahead for a fourth installment of its "Beverly Hills Cop" franchise, with Eddie Murphy on board to return to the role that launched his movie career, the studio said on Thursday.


Brett Ratner, the filmmaker behind the similarly themed "Rush Hour" movies starring Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan, is in negotiations to direct the latest "Beverly Hills Cop" adventure, a Paramount spokesman said.


Lorenzo di Bonaventura ("Transformers") will produce.


The film is expected to begin filming next year for a summer 2010 release.


According to Daily Variety, it was Murphy, 47, who approached the Viacom Inc-owned studio about reviving the film series in which he plays a Detroit police detective, Axel Foley, who ends up chasing crooks in Beverly Hills, California.


The original 1984 film and its two sequels, the last of which opened in 1994, collectively grossed more than $735 million in theaters worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo. The first movie alone took in over $316 million globally.


The decision to make "Beverly Hills Cop IV" follows Paramount's success with the revival of its "Indiana Jones" franchise after 19 years. The fourth film in that series, "The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," opened last Thursday and grossed nearly $152 million in its first five days in domestic release.


Murphy's last two films, the live-action comedy "Norbit" and the animated storybook satire "Shrek the Third," in which he supplied the voice of a talking donkey, grossed $159 million and $799 million worldwide, respectively, according to Box Office Mojo.


Reuters/Nielsen

Beyonc� to produce, star and sing in new film

Beyonc� Knowles has not only signed on to star in 'Cadillac Records' but Sony BMG Films have announced that she will act as executive producer on the project too.
Knowles will play blues singer Etta James and will also record four songs for the soundtrack.
The 1950's period film is about the seminal Chicago record label Chess Records and its founder, Leonard Chess, who started out selling albums out of his Cadillac.
Etta James, Elvis Presley, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and Chuck Berry are among the legends who recorded on Chess.
Adrien Brody has already been cast as Chess and Jeffrey Wright (Waters), Cedric the Entertainer (Willie Dixon) and Columbus Short (Little Walter) are also on board.
Knowles will donate a portion of her fees to recovering addicts through her family's charity the Survivor Foundation.
Her song 'Irreplaceable' earned a record of the year Grammy nod this year.

Spike Lee rips Coens and Eastwood at Cannes

CANNES (Hollywood Reporter) - Spike Lee is in Cannes to promote a new film, but he couldn't resist taking a few swipes at some fellow directors, including Joel and Ethan Coen and Clint Eastwood.


Speaking about his World War II drama "Miracle at St. Anna," Lee said that, unlike the Coens, he was respectful in the way he portrayed death.


"I always treat life and death with respect, but most people don't," Lee said at a news conference Tuesday. "Look, I love the Coen brothers; we all studied at NYU. But they treat life like a joke. Ha ha ha. A joke. It's like, 'Look how they killed that guy! Look how blood squirts out the side of his head!' I see things different than that."


Speaking about the casting for his tale of four black American soldiers in Tuscany, Lee said that black actors appear in war films too infrequently.


"Clint Eastwood made two films about Iwo Jima that ran for more than four hours total, and there was not one Negro actor on the screen," he said. "If you reporters had any balls you'd ask him why. There's no way I know why he did that -- that was his vision, not mine. But I know it was pointed out to him and that he could have changed it. It's not like he didn't know."


Lee said that "St. Anna" is in the final stages of postproduction, with an October 10 release date likely -- exactly one year after shooting started. He said the film is likely to premiere at a festival the month before, either Venice or Toronto.


The filmmaker also said Tuesday that he is starting work on a documentary about basketball great Michael Jordan, set for release in early 2009. Lee and Jordan starred in a series of ads for Nike in the late 1980s and early '90s.


Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

Hollywood actors and studios to renew labor talks

Hollywood actors and studios to renew labor talks

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Screen Actors Club and major Hollywood studios agreed to return to the bargaining table by May 28 to summarise contract talks that broke away more than a week ago, sources close to the talks said on Thursday.


Renewing dialogue by then testament give the parties a little more than four weeks to reach a dispense before the existing sign cover close to long hundred,000 telly and photographic film actors expires June 30, a date many studios are treating as a de facto hit deadline.


The two sides launched dinner gown negotiation on April 15 and twice agreed to go their roger Huntington Sessions in hopes of preserving labor peace of mind in an entertainment industriousness distillery recovering from a 100-day walkout by screenwriters that ended in February.


Simply the studios, represented by the Alliance of Movement Painting and Television system Producers, cut forth negotiations on Crataegus laevigata 6, expression momentum had been "thrust into reverse gear" by "unreasonable demands" from the uniting.


Stumbling blocks cited by both sides included union proposals for more generous "residual" payments earned by actors from sales of DVDs and for online streaming of amusement depicted object.


The studios in turn rankled Flag by quest fresh rules allowing them to use TV and film clips on the Net without first getting the consent of actors world Health Organization seem in them.


The next day, studios opened divide dialogue on a prime time TV sign on with SAG's smaller sis north, the American Federation of Television set and Receiving set Artists, widely seen as more likely to get a labor deal chop-chop.


Timing KEY 





Beatman

Phillippe addresses marriage rumours

Phillippe addresses marriage rumours

Doer Ryan Phillippe has spoken near his divorce from actress Reese John Witherspoon, denying allegations that he cheated on her.
The 33-year-old lead told W magazine that the end of his seven-year union left him in "the darkest, saddest position" that he had ever been in.
The player said: "Thither were a good four or




Coldplay boys go to church