Priyanka Chopra eases out Deepika Padukone from Captain Marvel

It was another feather in the cap of Priyanka Chopra. She is an Indian actor who has made a name for herself in Hollywood. The Russo Brothers wanted an actor for its forthcoming Captain Marvel movie. They had to choose between Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone who is also an Indian actor. The Russo Brothers pick Priyanka Chopra over Deepika Padukone for Captain Marvel. Deepika made her debut in Hollywood in 2017 with her in xXx: Return of Xander Cage but the dice fell in favor of Priyanka. It seems the Russo Brothers had come to India to promote their Netflix release The Gray Man. The press conference was in Mumbai and Dhanush was present. During the conference they revealed that they are friends of Priyanka Chopra and are keen that she portray the role of Captain Marvel. They are producers of Priyanka's debut web show, Citadel. They also categorically ruled out the name of Deepika Padukone. The Russo Brothers already have a Netflix film, The Gray Man.

Russo Brothers, the director-duo, hold Priyanka in high esteem. They describe her as an incredible star and admitted being her fan and good friend. They also revealed that they are producing a show, Citadel and it will stream on Amazon Prime Video. She thanked all those who had been a part of the mammoth project. Citadel is an American science fiction drama.

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Dhanush off to Belgium to shoot for his Hollywood debut film

Actor-filmmaker Dhanush has gone to Belgium to shoot his upcoming Hollywood debut film 'The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir'. He will be shooting there till the first week of August before returning back home. The film is based on the novel, “The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir Who Got Trapped In An IKEA Wardrobe” and it has collaborators from three continents. The film is an adventure-fantasy drama.
This is reported in indianexpress.com dated 28 June 2017.

The first part of the film was shot in Mumbai in May. It is directed by Ken Scott and has music Nicolas Errera. There are two Hindi songs also in the film and it stars Uma Thurman, Baywatch actor Alexandra Daddoria and Laurent Lafitte. Berenice Bejo will also be joining the film. The remaining two parts of the film will be shot in Brussels, Paris and Rome.


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Hollywood gives de-aging look to Johnny Depp in new movie

Johnny Depp is 53 years old but, thanks to special effects of Hollywood, looks a little over 26 in some portions of his latest new "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie. There was no involvement of any plastic surgeon but it was done through post-production visual effects.
Hollywood has successfully refined the process and it is becoming commonplace in major Hollywood movies. This has been reported in foxnews.com dated 29 May 2017.

Sometimes, some production houses will shoot a younger double to copycat an actor's performance. This they will later use as a sort of reference point to know how the younger skin should behave and look in certain lighting conditions.


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Legendary Hollywood actor Kirk Douglas celebrates his 100th birthday

It was a grand 100th birthday celebration of legendary Hollywood actor Kirk Douglas - he celebrated it with a glass of vodka, cake with his bust and 150 friends and family at the Beverly Hills Hotel. He had with him his and wife Anne Buydens Douglas (97), his son Michael Douglas (72) and his wife Catherine Zeta-Jones(47).
The birthday cake was a work of art - it was a multi-tiered affair which also featured a gold bust of the famous actor.
This has been reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 10 December 2016.

Also present were Kirk's grandchildren Dylan Michael Douglas(16), and Carys Zeta Douglas (13) and there was a gathering of around 150 people.
His memorable films were Spartacus (1960) - he played the title role and the film went on to win four Oscars. He also was in the 1956 movie Lust for life. Others included From Here to Eternity, Judgment at Nuremberg, Paths of Glory etc. His doctor had told him that if he lived to be a 100, he would get to have a glass of vodka - which he did.


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Jackie Chan gets an Oscar after a 56-year career

Jackie Chan has finally got an Oscar after a career spanning 56-years. He has more than 200 films under his belt and he was awarded an honorary Oscar at the Eighth Annual Governors Awards at the Hollywood and Highland Center in Los Angeles.
The award was presented to him by Tom Hanks, Michelle Yeoh and Chris Tucker. Hanks compared Chan to the likes of John Wayne and Buster Keaton.
This has been reported in thehindu.com dated 15 November 2016.

While accepting the award, he called it a “dream” and shared his memories growing up and watching the Oscars with his parents. He thanked his fans and promised them to keep working and making movies. He also thanked Hong Kong which is his hometown. He also thanked China, his country and Hollywood which has taught him so many things, and also make him a little bit famous.


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Hollywood inequality - women hardly get a chance to speak

That there is gender inequality in Hollywood has been revealed from a study of top 100 films released last year - the study has shown that 31.4 per cent of named or speaking roles went to women compared to 68.6 per cent for men. Also, just 32 per cent depicted a woman as a lead - the rest were men. And, to cap it all, just five films portrayed women over 45 in lead roles compared to 26 movies with a man of similar age in a similar part.
This has been reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 8 September 2016.

The study was conducted by the University of Southern California and in view of the facts above, it can be said that Hollywood is a place of ‘pervasive and systematic’ inequality. Women were more than three times as likely as men to be shown in revealing or sexy clothing and hardly 19 per cent of the directors were female, compared to 81 per cent who were male.
The study concludes that despite the recent controversies over diversity in Hollywood and equal pay, women are still ‘grossly underrepresented’ in the industry. Popular films in 2015 with strong female roles like ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ and ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’, had apparently led to a ‘misplaced optimism’ that things had changed.


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