Holly to Bolly: Rogue One premières in LA, La La Land confounds predictions and more

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Rogue One premières in LA

With a new band of rebels and a high-stakes journey, Star Wars ushered in a new chapter on Saturday by bringing a galaxy far, far away to the heart of Hollywood for the Rogue One premiere. Directed by Gareth Edwards, Rogue One is the first stand-alone film in Disney's Star Wars reboot. It stars a brand new cast in a storyline that does not follow the third trilogy that started with last year's hit, The Force Awakens. Ben Mendelsohn, who plays Imperial Commander Orson Krennic, described Rogue One as "the really tough cousin" to previous Star Wars films. "People are going to understand exactly where it lives in the Star Wars world and timeline, and I feel like this is a much grittier, harder-edged film and it really packs a hell of a wallop," Mendelsohn told Reuters on the red carpet, which featured a life-size Rebel Alliance X-Wing jet. Rogue One premières regionally on Wednesday, December 14, as the closing film of the Dubai International Film Festival before a full release the following day, and follows Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones), the daughter of a weapons specialist who has been in hiding under another name for years. Her fate is quickly tied in with Rebel Alliance pilot Cassian Andor, played by Diego Luna, and Imperial pilot Bodhi Rook, played by Riz Ahmed, who defects from the dark side. — Reuters

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La La Land confounds predictions

Disney's Moana continued to sit pretty atop the US box office for its third consecutive weekend last week, but Damien Chazelle's musical La La Land was what really had audiences singing at the weekend. Playing in just five theatres nationwide, the lively and well-reviewed La La Land grossed a staggering $855,000 (Dh3,140,543) for Lionsgate, according to studio estimates on Sunday, December 11. Its $171,000 per theatre average is an all-time high for a five-theatre release and for 2016 in general. According to exit polls, 52 per cent of audiences were female and 53 per cent were over the age 30. "We felt like we were going to have a strong opening, but I don't think anyone would have predicted a result this big," said David Spitz, Lionsgate's president of domestic theatrical distribution. The film cost a reported $30 million to make and has been gaining buzz throughout the fall since it premièred at the Venice Film Festival and continued wowing critics and audiences at various other festivals, including Diff, where it screened over the weekend. It recently picked up the best picture award from the New York Film Critics Circle and is expected to be a major awards contender this year. — AP

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Toni Erdman sweeps European Film Awards

The German-Austrian drama Toni Erdmann, written and directed by Maren Ade, swept this year's European Film Awards, winning five awards, including those for best film, director and screenwriter. Toni Erdmann also won best actress for Sandra Hueller and best actor for Peter Simonischek. The 29th European Film Awards took place on Saturday, December 10, in the Western Polish city of Wroclaw. The show was peppered with political commentary by presenters, with a focus on the plight of refugees and Russia. Maria Alyokhina from the punk rock group Pussy Riot, whose members have been jailed for criticising Russian President Vladimir Putin's, appealed for the release of Oleg Sentsov, a Ukrainian director carrying out a 20-year prison term in Russia on terrorism charges seen as politically motivated. — AP

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Hidden Figures cast pay tribute to John Glenn

Astronaut John Glenn, depicted in Hidden Figures as a space trailblazer who also gave critical support to pioneering black women at Nasa who helped him orbit the Earth, was fondly remembered by the cast at the movie's premiere. "He's a hero. John Glenn was always on the right side of history. During a time when these women, because of their gender and the colour of their skin, were often times treated like second-class citizens, he extended his hand out, and he trusted women, and women of colour, with his life," said Janelle Monae, one of the film's stars. Glenn, a former Democratic US. Senator, died last week at the age of 95. Also a former US military pilot in World War II and the Korean War, he became a national hero in 1962 when he succeeded in orbiting Earth. Hidden Figures tells the story of a trio of African-American mathematicians, also called "computers", at Nasa in the early 1960s who helped get him there. — AP

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Dhawan and Bhatt wrap Badrinath Ki Dulhaniya

Actors Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt have wrapped up shooting for Badrinath Ki Dulhaniya. Varun says he has put his heart into the upcoming film saying" "Finished shooting for Badrinath Ki Dhulania". I'm so grateful that I got to work with the most wonderful crew and reunite so many old friends," Varun tweeted on Sunday, December 11. The actor added that he usually wants to leave his on screen character and move ahead, but with this film, he doesn't want to. "Thank you Karan Johar for making me meet Shashank Khaitan and Alia Bhatt," he continued. "I dunno the fate of the film but I can tell you I feel that besides our minds, we've put in a lot of our heart into," he said. Actress Alia Bhatt, who ventured into Bollywood with Varun in 2012 with filmmaker Karan Johar's Student Of The Year, tweeted: "Thank you my Shashi Shashank Khaitan thank you dear Badri Varun Dhawan and thank you Karan Johar for making this happen ... AGAIN!" - IANS