Entertaining Posts

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

A Minute With: Johnny Depp and his "Rum Diary"

By Zorianna Kit

LOS ANGELES | Wed Oct 26, 2011 5:13am EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Taking a break from his blockbuster "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies, Johnny Depp turns to a low-key role for his new project: starring in and producing "The Rum Diary."

Due in U.S. theaters on Friday, it is based on his friend Hunter S. Thompson's book of the same name.

After portraying a version of Thompson in the 1998 film "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," Depp again becomes the gonzo journalist's alter ego in "Rum Diary," playing the fictional journalist Paul Kemp in Thompson's pre-gonzo years working in Puerto Rico.

The film, set in 1960s, tells the story of Kemp, an American journalist who travels to the Caribbean island to write for a local newspaper. While enjoying a rum-filled lifestyle, he falls for the attractive fiancee (Amber Heard) of a shady businessman (Aaron Eckhart).

Depp spoke to Reuters about Thompson, who committed suicide in 2005, his own connection to the Caribbean and his next role as Tonto in "The Lone Ranger."

Q: You and Hunter were such good friends. Whose idea was it to turn "The Rum Diary" into a movie?

A: "It was his idea to produce it as a film. I found the manuscript (in his home). We were reading it, sitting cross-legged on the floor and he said, 'We have to make this into a film and produce it together.' I said 'Sure,' never knowing that we would full-on go through with it."

Q: What was the next step?

A: "Hunter and I had all these horrendous meetings. We weren't accustomed to doing a song-and-dance to try and drum up money. We'd be sitting with bottles of Chivas (Scotch whisky) and these (potential financiers) would arrive completely shocked and confused."

Q: How did you keep Hunter's spirit alive on the set?

A: "I wanted Hunter's spirit to permeate (the set) and I wanted everybody to know that Hunter was there. We had his chair with his name on it. We had his script with his name on it. We had a bottle of Chivas with a high ball glass, tumbler filled with ice. We had his cigarettes, his cigarette filters, his ashtray ..."

Q: Did you do anything with them?

A: "(Director) Bruce (Robinson) and I would dip into the Chivas and put it behind our ears so we had Hunter with us. Two weeks in, everyone was dipping."

Q: Does playing Hunter come naturally to you?

A: "Yeah, almost too naturally!"

Q: How did you and Hunter first meet and bond?

A: "I first met him when he walked into the Woody Creek Tavern waving a giant cattle prod and a Taser gun ... He invited me back to his place, and I was admiring a nickel plated shotgun on his wall, 12 gauge. He says, 'Wanna shoot it?'

Q: Did you?

A: "Well, It was about 2:30 in the morning and then he said, 'Let's build a bomb!' So we built bombs out of propane tanks with nitroglycerin, took it out in the backyard and I shot it. It exploded into, like, an 80-foot fireball.

"I think that was kind of my initiation. Had I potentially flubbed the shooting of the bomb, it might have been a different story. But I hit it dead on, square on and he was so happy. (laughs) From that moment on, it was nonstop."

Q: You shot 'Rum Diary' and the 'Pirates' films in various Caribbean locations, and now you have your own island there too. Do you feel a special connection to the Caribbean?

A: "I do. It's one of the most welcoming places in the world I've been to. The ultimate irony is that I was given an opportunity to do a pirate movie back in 2003 that even Disney thought was gonna crap out. That was the thing that allowed me to buy my dream, to buy the island -- a pirate movie!"

Q: Which changed everything for you on many levels.

A: "It's nuts. It's really nuts. I took a left when everybody said, 'take a right' and things happened somehow. I really didn't instigate any of it. It's pretty wild."

Q: Now you're about to play Tonto in "The Lone Ranger."

A: "I know the character pretty well so far. The main thing with Tonto is the fact that 60 plus years in Hollywood, the Indians have been treated like second and third class citizens. And I can't abide. So Tonto has to take the bull by the horns, in a way. But in his own way, a special way, and not the very obvious way."

(Editing by Bob Tourtellotte and Patricia Reaney)

Winehouse had high alcohol levels in blood: inquest

LONDON | Wed Oct 26, 2011 9:07am EDT

LONDON (Reuters) - British singer Amy Winehouse had more than five times the legal driving limit of alcohol in her blood when she died on July 23 aged 27, British media reported on Wednesday.

The "Rehab" and "Back to Black" singer had 416 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood, according to the findings of an inquest into her death, compared with the legal driving limit of 80 mg.

A hearing in London also learned that Winehouse, who battled drug and alcohol addiction throughout her brief but successful career, had not drunk alcohol in July until the day before she died.

The findings backed reports shortly after her death that the Grammy award-winning artist had been trying to deal with her addiction but ran the risk of complications from binge drinking.

A security guard checked on Winehouse at 10 a.m. on the day she died at her house in Camden, north London, and thought she was asleep. He checked again at 3 p.m. and called the emergency services.

The inquest ruled that she had died of "misadventure."

Members of her family, including her father Mitch, were present at the inquest, but made no comment to awaiting media as they left. A statement was expected to be released later on Wednesday.

Winehouse's last filmed performance was in Serbia in June, when she was jeered by the crowd as she struggled to perform her songs and stay upright. Her management then canceled all her scheduled performances.

Results from toxicology tests released in August showed there were no illegal substances in Winehouse's system when she died.

"Toxicology results returned to the Winehouse family by authorities have confirmed that there were no illegal substances in Amy's system at the time of her death," a spokesman for Winehouse said at the time.

"Results indicate that alcohol was present but it cannot be determined as yet if it played a role in her death."

(Reporting by Naomi O'Leary; editing by Mike Collett-White)

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Michael Jackson top earner among dead celebrities

LOS ANGELES | Tue Oct 25, 2011 2:52pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Michael Jackson was named this year's top-earning dead celebrity on Tuesday in a list compiled by financial website Forbes.com, earning the title for the second year in a row following his death in 2009.

"Thriller" singer Jackson, who died aged 50 of a drug overdose, is estimated to have earned $170 million in the past year, which also places him as the second highest-earning pop music act this year, dead or alive, Forbes.com said.

Jackson's physician at the time of his death, Dr. Conrad Murray, is currently on trial in Los Angeles, charged with involuntary manslaughter for administering the powerful anesthetic propofol as a sleep aid for the singer in Jackson's home. Murray has pleaded not guilty.

Jackson, whose name has rarely been out of the media headlines due to his sudden death and its cause, has seen sales of albums and memorabilia increase in the past year.

The theater group Cirque Du Soleil has mounted an extravagant show called "Immortal" that is based on the singer's life and music. Earlier this month, a tribute concert in Cardiff, Wales, lured tens of thousands of fans.

The King of Pop is followed closely by the King of Rock 'n' Roll Elvis Presley placed second on the list with earnings of $55 million. Like Jackson, Presley's estate has also benefited from Cirque du Soleil, who produced "Viva Elvis" in tribute to the late singer.

Hollywood's golden age pin-up girl, Marilyn Monroe, who died at age 36 in 1962, earned near $27 million, placing her third on the list.

Sultry screen icon Elizabeth Taylor, who passed away in March 2011 aged 79, was placed fifth after reportedly earning $12 million, with a large portion coming from the sales of her popular fragrance, "White Diamonds."

The Top-Earning Dead Celebrities list by Forbes takes into account any deceased famous figure who has earned at least $6 million between October 2010 and October 2011.

The full list can be viewed on Forbes.com at www.forbes.com/deadcelebs.

(Reporting and Writing by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing Bob Tourtellotte)

Lindsay Lohan plans to pose in Playboy

LOS ANGELES | Tue Oct 25, 2011 2:29pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Troubled actress Lindsay Lohan may have found a way to pay some of her mounting legal bills with a planned agreement to pose nude for Playboy magazine, a source who knew of Lohan's plans said on Tuesday.

Celebrity news outlets TMZ.com and Access Hollywood reported that Lohan, who has faced numerous legal charges in recent years including theft, will appear in the men's magazine and that a photo shoot had in fact already taken place.

Lohan's mother, Dina Lohan, told the website X17online.com "the photo shoot went well," at a Beverly Hills mansion.

A Playboy spokeswoman declined to comment, and a spokesman for Lohan said he would "neither confirm or deny" the reports about the "Mean Girls" star who rose to fame in Disney movies.

One source told Reuters the deal was not yet final, meaning anything could happen including Lohan not appearing. Speculation about the actress posing nude for the magazine has been reported previously but never materialized.

Still, details leaked out on Tuesday. TMZ reported Playboy initially offered Lohan $750,000, but the actress wanted $1 million. Playboy countered with a deal that approached that figure, TMZ said, citing unnamed sources.

Lohan's mother also told X17 that she fully supported her daughter's decision to pose, which according to the media reports has been in the works for months.

Yet Lohan currently has a lot on her mind. The actress has been in and out of legal trouble since a drunk driving and drug conviction in 2007. Just last week, she had her probation on a 2011 stolen necklace charge revoked after she neglected her community service sentence.

At that trial, her attorney Shawn Holley said Lohan was having trouble finding work in the United States and was forced to travel to several European cities for employment.

Lohan is due back in a Los Angeles courtroom on November 2 to determine if she violated probation, which could mean jail.

The Playboy spread, if it occurs, would not be Lohan's first nude magazine photos. She appeared partially naked in a New York magazine in 2008 for a piece referencing Marilyn Monroe's famous 1962 shoot with photographer Bert Stern.

Monroe also famously appeared as a Playboy centerfold.

(Reporting by Bob Tourtellotte; editing by Chris Michaud)

Stallone sued, accused of stealing screenplay

NEW YORK | Tue Oct 25, 2011 1:27pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Action movie star Sylvester Stallone is accused in a lawsuit of copying another writer's screenplay to make "The Expendables," a movie about mercenaries hired to defeat a military dictator.

The lawsuit was filed in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday by writer Marcus Webb, who said the screenplay for "The Expendables" is "strikingly similar and in some places identical" to his work entitled "The Cordoba Caper."

Webb seeks unspecified damages for copyright infringement and an order from the court stopping further infringement in any sequel by Stallone, his credited co-author David Callaham, Millennium Films, Nu Image Films and Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation.

Representatives of Stallone and other defendants could not immediately be reached for comment.

"The Expendables" -- produced by Millennium and Nu Image and distributed by Lions Gate -- was released worldwide on August 13, 2010. It featured a cameo appearance by Arnold Schwarzenegger after he left his post as California governor, along with other aging action heroes Stallone and Jet Li.

According to the lawsuit, Webb registered "The Cordoba Caper" screenplay and a short story with the same title and plot with the U.S. Copyright Office in June 2006. Between 2006 and 2009, the lawsuit said, the screenplay was made widely available by Webb for consideration in the movie industry.

"There can be no dispute that Stallone and/or Callaham had access to and copied protectable elements of the screenplay," the lawsuit said.

"The Cordoba Caper" tells the story of a team of elite, highly-trained mercenaries hired to defeat General Garza, a rogue army general of a small Latin American country," the lawsuit said.

The court document provides details of the ways in which Webb sees similarities between his screenplay and the released movie, including the opening "with a hostage rescue at sea, off a foreign coast, which has nothing to do with the main plot."

It said the main villain in both is a General Garza, a military dictator with a notorious human rights record.

Webb said he has been deprived of benefits from the screenplay such as potential earnings from the production, distribution and performance of "The Expendables."

"Expendables 2," a sequel to "The Expendables," is due for release on August 17, 2012. (See here).

The case is Marcus Webb v Sylvester Stallone, et al, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 11-7517.

(Reporting by Grant McCool; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)