NEW YORK – Scarlett Johansson was named the top-grossing actor of 2016 on Tuesday (Dec 27), thanks to her roles in the superhero movie Captain America: Civil War and the Hollywood satire Hail Caesar.

Forbes said Johansson just edged out her Captain America co-stars Chris Evans and Robert Downey with the box-office earnings of her second 2016 movie, Hail Caesar.

Johansson’s movies grossed a leading US$1.2 billion (S$1.7 billion) at the worldwide box office this year, compared with US$1.15 billion for Captain America: Civil War.

Released in May and featuring a conflict between Marvel comic book heroes like Iron Man, Spider-Man, Black Widow and Ant Man, Walt Disney’s Captain America was the biggest earner worldwide in 2016, according to data from Box Office Mojo.

Australian actress Margot Robbie, who enjoyed a breakout year, placed fourth with US$1.1 billion thanks to roles in two Warner Bros movies Suicide Squad and The Legend Of Tarzan.

The Forbes list was dominated by superhero and comic book movies, including Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice and Deadpool.

Britain’s Felicity Jones entered the Forbes list for the first time, with roles in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the thriller Inferno and the magical children’s story A Monster Calls. She came in ninth with US$805 million.

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2016-12-12 11:14:06

Photo Gallery

Star Wars Rogue One premiere

Source:

Reuters

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Forbes made its calculations based on global ticket sales from the films of top Hollywood actors, but it did not count animated movies such as Disney’s Finding Dory, the second biggest release of 2016 with US$1.02 billion.

Carrie Fisher died Friday after a heart attack on a flight from London to Los Angeles on Friday. She is 60 years old.

At the age of 19, Fisher was known in the Star Wars as Rhea princess. To her portrayal today is her most significant and easily recognized role. Fans and friends mourned Fisher quickly recovered a grainy black and white clip, featuring Fisher and Harrison Ford, as Korean soloists, reading each other’s lines.

Even with poor quality old-fashioned video, no clothing or pop music, it is clear why Fisher was chosen as a character.

Read the full article here.

Mashable is the go-to source for tech, digital culture, and entertainment content for its dedicated and influential audience around the world.

Next year, two faces familiar to Western audiences will appear on the large screens in China as former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and bumbling British TV character Mr. Bean join the cast of two productions from world’s second largest economy.

First up is Russian-Chinese fantasy flick Viy-2 with action stars Schwarzenegger and Hong Kong’s Jackie Chan.

It was shot in China on a budget of US$48 million (S$69.6 million), according to media reports.

As for Mr. Bean, actor Rowan Atkinson will appear in character in a movie aptly entitled Top Funny Comedian: The Movie that is based on a popular reality TV show.

Atkinson dons a rooster’s comb on his head alongside the Chinese cast in the movie poster-to usher in the Chinese New Year of the rooster that starts in late January.

Best known for campy antics in a 1990s British sitcom, Mr.Bean is a popular character in China. He has previously visited China to interact with fans and has also starred in an advertisement for the Snickers chocolate bar.

The actual screen-time for all three actors has not been announced.

Whether the appearance of international celebrities in these Chinese productions will propel the movies to the box office stratosphere remains to be seen.

Mega productions featuring “Chinese elements” that seek to appeal to audiences have met a mixed reception.

The Great Wall, an action packed move starting Matt Damon opened to lackluster reviews the weekend before Christmas, although it grossed $66 million.

China is tipped to overtake US as the top movie market in 2017, presenting new opportunities for an entertainment industry that is still trying to figure out how to lure audiences in the country.

Celebrities past the prime of their careers from Hong Kong and Taiwan in particular have enjoyed a revival in their careers on the mainland.

China is also the key market for South Korean pop culture exports, with soap operas and pop music regular hogging the trending topics list on the Weibo microblog.

The use of foreign actors in Asian productions and advertising is not unique to China.

Since the 1980s, visitors to Japan would gawk at campy advertisements (but lucrative) featuring megastars from the West who would not be caught dead in similar productions back home.

Well known entertainers such as Beyonce and Schwarzenegger, and even filmmaker Quentin Tarantino have appeared in Japanese commercials hawking anything from video games to energy drinks.

Carrie Fisher will forever dazzle the world with her wit and humour, even in her obituary.

Fisher died on Tuesday at the age of 60 after suffering a heart attack during a flight from London to Los Angeles last Friday. The news is heartbreaking, and many remembered Fisher for inspiring both young and old. From Fisher bravely speaking publicly of her struggles with mental health to her candid interviews and brazen online presence, the actress and author impacted many lives on and off the screen.

As first noted by Vanity Fair, Fisher’s sense of humour was showcased in a simple request she had lined up for her obituary.

In her autobiographical book Wishful Drinking, Fisher detailed some of the troubles she encountered while filming with Star Wars.

George comes up to me the first day of filming and he takes one look at the dress and says, “You can’t wear a bra under that dress.

“So, I say, “Okay, I’ll bite. Why?”

And he says, “Because. . . there’s no underwear in space.”

Fisher writes that George Lucas explained his reasoning by claiming that a bra would simply strangle someone to death.

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2016-12-28 10:36:12

Photo Gallery

Star Wars actress Carrie Fisher dies aged 60

Source:

AFP

Wikipedia

Walt Disney Pictures

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Now George came to my show when it was in Berkeley. He came backstage and explained why you can’t wear your brassiere in other galaxies, and I have a sense very soon, so here’s why you cannot wear your brassiere, per George.

So, what happens is when you go to space and you become weightless. So far so good, right? But then your body expands??? But your bra doesn’t – so you get strangled by your own bra.

Now I think that this would make for a fantastic obit – so I tell my younger friends that no matter how I go, I want it reported that I drowned in moonlight, strangled by my own bra.

Read the full article here.

Mashable is the go-to source for tech, digital culture, and entertainment content for its dedicated and influential audience around the world.

Viewers of Jackie Chan’s latest action thriller, Railroad Tigers, have been surprised to discover the film includes a major role for his son, Jaycee Chan.

The younger Chan’s role wasn’t revealed before the Dec 23 premiere.

Jaycee Chan has kept a low profile in showbiz circles since he was arrested for drug possession on April 18, 2014, and sentenced to six months in jail last January.

The first indication he wanted to return to the entertainment industry came in mid-June, when he appeared on the reality TV programme The Running Show.

Jackie Chan says the cast selection was decided by the director, Ding Sheng, when asked about his son’s role during the preview in Beijing on Dec 22.

“I found Jaycee really fit the character when I wrote the script,” Ding says.

Ding previously worked with Chan on the movies Little Big Soldier and Police Story in 2013.

Jaycee Chan didn’t attend the Beijing preview. Other stars, including Wang Kai and Huang Zitao, appeared at the event.

NEW YORK, LOS ANGELES – Carrie Fisher’s unexpected death on Tuesday did not just leave “Star Wars” fans heartbroken.

It thrust movie studio Walt Disney Co into a dilemma over the fate of her iconic character, Princess Leia, as it moves forward with the blockbuster film franchise.

Fisher, 60, enjoyed a new round of fame when Princess Leia, Harrison Ford’s Han Solo and Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker were reunited on screen for 2015’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,”which sold more than $2 billion in tickets at the global box office.

Read Also: Star Wars actress Carrie Fisher dies at 60

The actress had finished filming for the 2017 release of”Star Wars: Episode VIII,” Disney said, whose plot details have remained, as always, a closely guarded secret.

Fisher was also expected to play a key role in the ninth instalment of the sci-fi saga, due for release in 2019.

A Disney spokeswoman on Tuesday declined to comment on whether Leia would appear in films beyond “Episode VIII.” “Star Wars” director Colin Trevorrow said in a January 2016 interview that he was excited “to find new places that we can take” the characters of Princess Leia and her on-screen twin brother Luke Skywalker.

359054

2016-12-28 10:36:12

Photo Gallery

Star Wars actress Carrie Fisher dies aged 60

Source:

AFP

Wikipedia

Walt Disney Pictures

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“They are icons, but they’re also people that have suffered tremendous loss and challenge over the course of all these films,” Trevorrow told celebrity news outlet Entertainment Tonight.

“Star Wars” fans were already speculating on how the battle between good and evil in the Galactic Empire could continue without Fisher playing Leia, a fearless Rebel Alliance fighter who in “The Force Awakens” had become a general.

Leia appears briefly at the end of the standalone movie now in theatres, “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” as a digital recreation of the young princess.

Read Also: ‘Princess Leia’ Carrie Fisher suffers heart attack on flight from London

The late British actor Peter Cushing, who died in 1994, is brought back to life as Death Star commander Grand Moff Tarkin for “Rogue One” using computer generated imagery (CGI).

“I’m not crying now but I’ll probably cry when Disney shamelessly CGI’s Carrie Fisher’s face into episode IX,” a fan named Thug Lucas said on Twitter on Tuesday.

Under a 1985 California law, filmmakers must get permission from the estate of a celebrity to use his or her image for up to 70 years after death.

Read Also: Star Wars’ actress Carrie Fisher has mid-air heart attack

Other possibilities include redrafting the plot of “Episode IX,” re-shooting scenes from “Episode VIII,” or casting another look-alike actress, as the makers of “Harry Potter” did when Richard Harris, who played headmaster Albus Dumbledore, died after filming the first two movies.

On the entertainment website Heavy.com, some fans suggested that singer Stevie Nicks could stand in for Fisher in future movies.

Others said she should be given a glorious screen death.

“I swear they better find a way to write Princess Leia out of the movies, cause if they try and recast there will be hell to pay,” a fan identified as Kaitlin tweeted.