Star Wars VIII starts filming

Plus: Kanye wants $1bn for his 'ideas'; Daniel Craig 'quits Bond for TV role'; DiCaprio pays $95,000 to go on expedition; Salman Khan hit-and-run probe rejected; Priyanka Chopra introduces gran to fans; and Shabana Azmi talks Neerja ban in Pakistan.

Benicio del Toro. Joel Ryan / Invision / AP Photo

Filming of Star Wars: Episode VIII is officially underway and Hollywood stars Benicio del Toro and Laura Dern have been added to the cast. Disney announced that principal photography started at London's Pinewood Studios on Monday. Written and directed by Rian Johnson, the sequel will continue the story from J J Abrams' box-office smash Episode VII – The Force Awakens, which was partly filmed in Abu Dhabi. There is no word yet on whether the new film, set for release in December next year, will return to the UAE for filming. Joining returning cast members – including Daisy Ridley (Rey), John Boyega (Finn) and Adam Driver (Kylo Ren) – are Oscar-winner del Toro, the Oscar-nominated Dern and newcomer Kelly Marie Tran. The announcement was accompanied by a brief video that showed location filming picking up where The Force Awakens left off, with Johnson directing Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) on a remote island off the coast of Ireland. – AP

Kanye wants $1bn for his ‘ideas’

Rapper Kanye West, who says he is US$53million (Dh194m) in debt, has asked Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg to invest $1 billion in his "ideas". West asked his Twitter followers to lobby Zuckerberg to support him. "World, please tweet, FaceTime, Facebook, Instagram, whatever you gotta do to get Mark to support me," he wrote. The rapper also asked Alphabet Inc chief executive Larry Page to help him with his financial problems. West said that people do not give money to "real artists" such as him, but rather open schools in Africa. Neither Zuckerberg nor Page have verified accounts on Twitter. On Saturday night, before releasing his eighth studio album and performing on TV comedy show Saturday Night Live, the rapper wrote on Twitter: "I write this to you, my brothers, while still 53 million dollars in personal debt. Please pray we overcome ... This is my true heart." West, who is married to reality-TV star Kim Kardashian, has reportedly been putting tens of millions of dollars into his fashion label. – Reuters

Daniel Craig ‘quits Bond for TV role’

Speculation is mounting that Daniel Craig, who has portrayed suave British secret agent James Bond role for nearly a decade, has quit the role after he signed up for a new American television series called Purity. It is an adaptation of Jonathan Franzen's novel, which is a dark comedy about an organisation that collects and trades in world secrets. If the series is a hit, the actor might not have time for that and a 007 movie, although the producers of the Bond franchise say they still hope to have him back for at least one more film. Last year, when latest Bond movie Spectre was released, Craig heavily hinted that he has had enough of playing the spy. However, he later said that he might not be able to leave as his contract requires another film. – The National staff

DiCaprio pays $95,000 to go on expedition

Bafta winner and Oscar nominee Leonardo DiCaprio has paid US$95,000 (Dh349,000)to go on an expedition with an explorer in Mongolia. The 41-year-old actor, the front-­runner for the Best Actor award at the Oscars for his role in The Revenant, is set to embark on a 10-day journey to Lake Hovsgol, according to femalefirst.co.uk. "When I do these trips, I take people out of their comfort zone in terms of the inner journey and get them doing things they normally wouldn't do," Swedish explorer Johan Ernst Nilson, who will lead the expedition, told the New York Post. "If you push your limits, the reward will be much higher. It's going to be amazing." – IANS

Salman Khan hit-and-run probe rejected

The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a petition seeking a CBI investigation into the 215 million rupees (Dh 11.5m) spent by Salman Khan in his hit-and-run case before his acquittal by the Bombay High Court. Dismissing the public interest suit, by advocate M L Sharma, the bench of Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar and Justice R Banumathi said the amount the actor's father, Salim Khan, claimed to have spent during the legal battle may have gone as fees to the lawyers, reports the Times of India. – The National Staff

Priyanka Chopra introduces gran to fans

Actress and singer Priyanka Chopra surprised her fans by introducing her 94-year-old grandmother to them for the first time on social media. She posted a photo of them together on set of Jai Gangaajal. She wrote: "Freedom fighter, social activist, MLA, registered nurse, mother, grandmother, wife and all around super woman – my nani is still rocking at 94." On Twitter, she wrote: "My grandma commands attention wherever she goes, even on a film set! I wanna grow up to be like her." – The National Staff

Shabana Azmi talks Neerja ban in Pakistan

Actress Shabana Azmi says she is confident her upcoming movie Neerja will be cleared for screening in Pakistan. The film – starring Sonam Kapoor and based on the true story of flight attendant Neerja Bhanot, who saved passengers during the hijacking of Pan Am Flight 73 at Karachi airport in 1986 – reportedly had been banned in Pakistan for showing the country in a poor light. But Azmi, who plays Bhanot's mother in the film, says she is confident that once it is seen by the selection committee in Pakistan, the movie will be approved for release, according to The Times of India. Bhanot, who lost her life in the hijacking, was awarded top civilian honours by India, Pakistan and the United States. – The National Staff​