OHMYGOSSIP — ‘Harry Potter’ star Robert Hardy has died at the age of 91.
The revered British actor had a fantastic career in theatre, television and film and became known across the globe in recent years for playing Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge in Warners Bros’ wizarding franchise.
Hardy also was beloved to British TV audiences for his portrayal as senior veterinarian Siegfried Farnon in the long-running BBC One show ‘All Creatures Great and Small’ from 1978 to 1990.
The show became a massive hit and attracted audiences of up to 20 million. Although the original run ended in 1978, the series was revived ten years later after the BBC obtained permission to write new storylines.
News of Hardy’s passing was confirmed in a statement released by his children Emma, Justine and Paul and the trio paid tribute to their dad’s incredible achievements across his 70-year career.
The statement read: “From his early start, post WWII, with the Shakespeare Memorial Company in Stratford, to his later role in the ‘Harry Potter’ films as Cornelius Fudge, The Minister For Magic, it is perhaps the case he will be most remembered for two iconic roles: as Siefried Farnon in the long-running and much loved BBC series ‘All Creatures Great and Small’ and in his many and magnificently distinguished portrayals of Winston Churchill.
“Dad is also remembered as a meticulous linguist, a fine artist, a lover of music and a champion of literature, as well as a highly respected historian, and a leading specialist on the longbow. He was an essential part of the team that raised the great Tudor warship The Mary Rose. Gruff, elegant, twinkly, and always dignified, he is celebrated by all who knew him and loved him, and everyone who enjoyed his work.”
His children also thanked all the staff at Denville Hall, a retirement home for actors located in Greater London, England, for the care they provided to Hardy in his final weeks.
The statement added: “We are immensely grateful to the team at Denville Hall for the tender care they gave during his last weeks.”
His two standout portrayals of World War II era British Prime Minister came in 2015’s ‘Churchill: 100 Days That Saved Britain’ and in 1981’s ‘Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years’.
Some of Hardy’s other notable roles included parts in TV shows ‘Middlemarch’ and ‘Little Dorrit’ and big screen performances in cult 1972 Hammer horror film ‘Demons of the Mind’, Kenneth Branagh’s 1994 re-telling of ‘Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein’ – which starred Robert De Niro as the monster – and Ang Lee’s 1995 adaptation of Jane Austen’s ‘Sense and Sensibility’.
He was awarded a CBE for his services to acting in 1981.

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OHMYGOSSIP — Samuel L. Jackson will start shooting ‘Glass’ in September.
The shock ending to the 2016 horror ‘Split’ revealed it was a follow-up to 2000’s ‘Unbreakable’, which starred Bruce Willis as security guard David Dunn who discovers he has super-human strength and resistance to injury.
Back in April, the director revealed in a tweet that the new film ‘Glass’ will be a follow-up to both ‘Split’ and ‘Unbreakable’.
In ‘Unbreakable’, Jackson starred as Elijah Price, who was born with Type I osteogenesis imperfecta, a rare disease that renders sufferers’ bones extremely fragile and prone to fracture.
This led to the character being dubbed ‘Mr. Glass’ by other kids and the inspiration for his search for Dunn’s character, who is his polar opposite.
‘Glass’ is set to follow Dunn as he tries to track down The Beast – the darkest version of multiple-personality sufferer Kevin Wendell Crumb (James McAvoy), who kidnapped Anya Taylor-Joy’s character Casey Cooke in ‘Split’.
Of the new movie, Jackson told Collider: “We start rehearsal on September 18th and I start shooting on the 25th.”
In January, Shyamalan revealed that ‘Split’ villain Crumb was actually included in his first drafts of ‘Unbreakable’ but had to be cut out.
‘Glass’ will be produced by Shyamalan and Jason Blum, who also produced the two previous films for Universal Studios.
Ashwin Rajan and Marc Bienstock will also be part of the new film along with Steven Schneider, who will serve as an executive producer.

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OHMYGOSSIP — Ron Howard has revealed an R2 unit will feature in the upcoming ‘Han Solo’ movie.
The Academy Award-winning filmmaker took over directing ‘Star Wars’ spin-off story after Phil Lord and Christopher Miller left Disney’s project due to “creative differences” with screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan, who penned classic ‘Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back’.
And Ron has now given fans a little insight into the much-anticipated movie, posting a picture on his Twitter account of a gold-plated R2 unit rather than its iconic blue bodywork.
He wrote: “These droids can be so damn intractable. But we’ll go until we get it right! #UntitledHanSoloMovie (sic)”
The ‘Han Solo’ spin-off movie is set to follow a younger version of the titular character, with Alden Ehrenreich taking over the iconic role from Harrison Ford.
Han and his wookiee sidekick Chewbacca will be seen first meeting Lando Calrissian – played by Donald Glover – and they will also encounter Woody Harrelson’s alter ego Beckett, who is believed to be a mentor to young Han who guides him on his journey to becoming a space smuggler.
Warwick Davis has been cast in the upcoming ‘Han Solo’ movie but it is not known what role he will take on in the movie.
The actor previously appeared in 1983’s ‘Return of the Jedi’, 1999’s ‘Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace’ and 2015’s ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’.
He will also appear in ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’, which is slated for release in December this year.
Meanwhile, Ron has also hinted that his brother Clint, who has made cameos in almost all of his films, could make an appearance in the ‘Star Wars’ spin-off.

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OHMYGOSSIP — Dame Helen Mirren thinks she’s “too old” to be a female James Bond.
The 72-year-old actress has admitted she would have relished the role in her younger years, but she no longer considers herself to be suited to the part of 007.
Dame Helen said: “I’m too old. In my youth, that would have been great of course.
“But that time was different; we could never even have imagined a woman playing that role.”
The Academy Award-winning actress has enjoyed a career full of major successes.
But Dame Helen believes she should have really been a “struggling artist”, given her modest upbringing.
Speaking to the Daily Telegraph newspaper, she explained: “Of course, it’s wonderful to have success, and the thing I love most about it is economic freedom.
“Coming from a background where there was no money – and if you didn’t work, there was nothing to live on – to have bought my own house and to have never been in debt or on welfare is something I feel proud of.
“But there’s a part of me that thinks I should have been a struggling artist.”
This comes shortly after former Bond girl Halle Berry said that the iconic secret agent is “steeped in history” and should always be played by a man.
The 50-year-old star – who appeared in ‘Die Another Day’ in 2002 – reflected: “I want women to be tough but I don’t know if Bond should be a woman. I mean, that series is steeped in history, you know from Ian Fleming’s stories. I don’t think you can change Bond to a woman.
“We can create a new Bond character that’s a woman, and give her a new name, based on that theory, but I don’t know if Bond should be a woman.”

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OHMYGOSSIP — Luc Besson relished turning Rihanna into Cleopatra for ‘Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets’.
The acclaimed movie-maker teamed up with the chart-topping star for the new sci-fi adventure, in which she delivers lines from the William Shakespeare play ‘Antony and Cleopatra’, and Luc has admitted he loved the experience.
He shared: “For me that’s the ultimate pleasure – Rihanna, the queen of music, as Cleopatra. It’s the sort of mix I love.
“We can all listen to reggae music in Greenland while eating sushi. We are allowed to do whatever we like!”
Luc, 58, conceded his new movie represents something of a career risk for himself.
But the French filmmaker isn’t afraid to take chances and has described making ‘Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets’ as the realisation of a long-held ambition.
He told the Guardian newspaper: “My dreams are my dreams.
“I wanted to do ‘Valerian’ for the longest time. I wondered, ‘Can I do it?’ But once I get started, I’m like the English foxhound: I will never let go.”
The sci-fi movie also stars model-turned-actress Cara Delevingne, who recently revealed she has an “amazing” friendship with Rihanna.
The British star loves how her close friendship with her ‘Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets’ co-star has developed since they met at a fashion show five years ago.
Cara also said she was also thrilled to work with Luc on the new movie.
She explained: “It’s been amazing. We met at a fashion show and five years later we’re doing a Luc Besson film.
“We all grew up watching his films so to be appearing in them as leading ladies is incredible.”

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OHMYGOSSIP — Dave Bautista refused to read the script for ‘Avengers: Infinity War’.
The 48-year-old actor and MMA fighter will reprise his role as Drax the Destroyer from the ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ franchise in the upcoming Marvel ensemble movie, and has said he’s only read his own scenes so he can be as surprised as the general public are when he watches the premiere.
When asked during a Twitter Q&A what his reaction was when he read the script, Dave wrote: “I chose not to read it. Gods honest truth! I want to sit there with my bucket of popcorn and bag on M&M’s and be surprised! #fanboy (sic)”
Dave had no choice but to read his own scenes, however, and was pleasantly surprised to see the “good chemistry” offered between his character and the heroic Iron Man, played by Robert Downey Jr.
When asked how quickly the chemistry between their characters forms, Dave said: “Immediately. Here’s the thing is that, I went to the premiere in London of ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’, and Robert went out of his way to come and meet me and say how much he loved me in the first [‘Guardians’] film. That meant the world to me, so it put me at kind of an automatic comfort level with him, so as soon as we hit the stage man, there was no pressure or walls there, I just felt like, ‘This guy is very supportive of me.’ I think that’s just him, he’s a very giving actor across the board. But for me personally, I just felt totally at ease with him, and it makes for good chemistry when you’re comfortable with someone.”
‘Avengers: Infinity War’ is due to hit screens on April 25 2018.

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OHMYGOSSIP — Chiwetel Ejiofor is in talks to play Scar in the live-action remake of ‘The Lion King’.
Disney are rebooting the beloved 1994 animated movie with ‘Jungle Book’ filmmaker Jon Favreau helming the project and now the ‘Doctor Strange’ actor is reportedly in talks to play the villain of the movie, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Sinister Scar, who is the brother of Mufasa and uncle to the young cub Simba, was originally voiced by Jeremy Irons in the award-winning 1994 animated Disney movie.
Another addition to the cast John Oliver, 40, will join the cast, which includes Donald Glover as Simba and James Earl Jones, who will be reprising his role as Mufasa from the cartoon classic.
Oliver will be voicing Zazu, a hornbill who serves as the king’s majordomo and was originally played by Rowan Atkinson.
Recently it was revealed that Seth Rogen and Billy Eichner were cast to play the comedy duo Timon and Pumbaa.
The movie is set for a July 2019 release and Favreau is already in pre-production, with Jeff Nathanson writing the script.
It has also been rumoured that Beyoncé is the preferred choice to play Nala in the movie.
As well as keeping Sir Elton John and Tim Rice’s original songs, which include ‘Can You Feel The Love Tonight’, ‘Be Prepared’ and ‘I Just Can’t Wait To Be King’, the remake will also feature some new tunes.
‘Can You Feel the Love Tonight’ played out over the credits and went on to win Best Original Song at the 1995 Academy Awards.
Disney has released a string of remakes as of late including ‘Maleficent’, ‘Cinderella’ and ‘Beauty and the Beast’.
Back in February, Disney revealed the movie is on the “fast-track to production” and the studio announced other remakes including ‘Dumbo’, ‘Aladdin’ and ‘Mulan’.

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OHMYGOSSIP — Hayley Atwell has joined the cast of Disney’s ‘Winnie The Pooh’ live-action movie.
The 35-year-old actress has jumped on board the forthcoming project alongside Ewan McGregor after she was approached to play Christopher Robin’s wife, although no specific details have been released about the character, according to Empire.
The movie, which is being directed by Marc Forster, is centred on Christopher Robin – played by McGregor – as a grown-up, who has lost his imagination and is too focused on work to have fun with his family until Pooh Bear surprisingly re-enters his life.
The Christopher Robin character was created by late English author A.A. Milne and featured in his two books ‘Winnie-the-Pooh’ from 1926 and ‘The House at Pooh Corner’ from 1928 – inspired by his own son and his beloved teddy bear – with both tomes focusing on the boy’s adventures with talking bear Pooh and the other animals of the Hundred Acre Wood.
Disney licensed the rights to Winnie-the-Pooh in 1961 and the honey-loving bear and his friends – Piglet, Eeyore and Tigger – have featured in various TV shows, including ‘The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh’, and four animated feature films; ‘The Tigger Movie’, ‘Piglet’s Big Movie’, ‘Pooh’s Heffalump Movie’ and ‘Winnie the Pooh’.
Disney are yet to announce a release date or production schedule for the movie, but it’s believed they are still in the casting stages of the process at the moment.
Meanwhile, Atwell’s casting comes just a few weeks after her legal drama ‘Conviction’ was axed by US television channel ABC.
The network will still produce the 13 episodes it had originally ordered, but no new episodes will be commissioned and the series will not be continuing.

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