Bryan Singer has confirmed he is nolonger directing ‘BohemianRhapsody’, claiming 20th Century

Fox refused to give him time off to lookafter an unwell parent. The 52-year-oldfilmmaker has claimed his services were“terminated” by the studio after heasked for some time off to go back tothe US to deal with “pressing healthmatters concerning one of my parents”.In a statement to the HollywoodReporter, Singer said: “I wanted nothingmore than to be able to finish this proj-ect and help honor the legacy of FreddieMercury and Queen, but Fox would notpermit me to do so because I needed totemporarily put my health, and thehealth of my loved ones, first.“‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ is a passion proj-ect of mine. With fewer than three weeksto shoot remaining, I asked Fox for sometime off so I could return to the US todeal with pressing health matters con-cerning one of my parents. This was avery taxing experience, which ultimatelytook a serious toll on my own health.Unfortunately, the studio was unwillingto accommodate me and terminated myservices. This was not my decision and itwas beyond my control.” Singer hasdenied speculation his exit was down to“a dispute” with lead star Rami Malek -who will play the band’s late frontmanFreddie in the motion picture - butadmitted they did have “creative differ-ences” on set at times. He added:“Rumors that my unexpected departurefrom the film was sparked by a dispute Ihad with Rami Malek are not true.“While, at times, we did have creativedifferences on set, Rami and I success-fully put those differences behind us andcontinued to work on the film togetheruntil just prior to Thanksgiving.” 20thCentury Fox confirmed Singer haddeparted the role, but didn’t say why.They said in a statement: “Bryan Singeris no longer the director of ‘BohemianRhapsody’” The studio revealed over theweekend that filming for the upcoming

movie had been temporarily suspendeddue to a personal “health matter” affect-ing Singer. They said: “TwentiethCentury Fox Film has temporarily haltedproduction on ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ dueto the unexpected unavailability ofBryan Singer due to a personal healthmatter concerning Bryan and his family...Bryan hopes to get back to work on thefilm soon after the holidays.” ‘BohemianRhapsody’ will chart the rock band’sstory up to their appearance at the LiveAid charity concert in 1985. As well asMalek, Ben Hardy will portray drummerRoger Taylor, Joe Mazzello is in line tostar as bassist John Deacon and GwilymLee will play lead guitarist Brian May.

L i f e s t y l e Wednesday, December 6, 2017

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John Boyega wants Yoda origin story

John Boyega wants to see a Yoda origin story. The 25-year-old actor made his first outing as Stormtrooper-turned-Resistance fighter Finn in 2015’s ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ and will reprise this role in ‘The LastJedi’. Recently Disney and Lucasfilm have announced they are working with Rian Johnson - who helmed the

eighth installment of the hit sci-fi franchise - on a brand new trilogy separate from the current Skywalker sagaand more spin-offs are planned. Boyega believes there are some great “fan theories” that could be used as storyideas for the big screen. Speaking to Collider, Boyega said: “I think they need to go back to the Old Republic, howthey do in the games, and discover what’s going on there. “There’s some cool stuff in the ‘Star Wars’ universe theycan use, there’s cool fan theories they can use that could be part of the movies too, I mean, why not? Personally, Iwant to see a Yoda origin story.” Yoda is the fan favorite, tiny green Jedi Master who appeared in two of the threeoriginal trilogy films and all the prequels. The character died during ‘Episode VI: Return of the Jedi’ but was seenas a Jedi-Force ghost alongside Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker at the end of the film. Yoda has alsoappeared in the animated TV spin-off series ‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars’. The ‘Star Wars’ universe has alreadybeen expanded away from the main movies with ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’ and the upcoming Han Solospin-off. Also there are reports circulating of an Obi-Wan Kenobi film in the works and Boyega admitted hewould love to see that film made. He said: “I’m there. I want to know what he was like, I want to know where heoriginated from in terms of him being a character being young.”

Christie inspiredby Princess Leia

Gwendoline Christie was inspired by Princess Leia. The 39-year-old actress joined the ‘Star Wars’ franchise as villainCaptain Phasma in ‘The Force Awakens’ back in 2015 and

will reprise her role as the First Order stormtrooper commanderthis December in the eighth installment ‘The Last Jedi’. When shewas growing up, Gwendoline admits the character Leia - who wasplayed by the late Carrie Fisher - “stayed” with her as she didn’t fitin with the “homogenized view” of women on presented on screenin the 1980s. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Christie said: “Iwatched TV and film obsessively from such a young age but [Leia]really stayed with me through my formative years. She doesn’tcare what people think and isn’t prepared to be told what to do ...That was really instrumental to me as someone who didn’t feel likeI fit in that homogenized view of what a woman is supposed to beand there was inspiration there.” ‘The Last Jedi’ marks Fisher’s lastouting as the iconic character after the actress tragically died lastDecember at the age of 60. Recently, Christie revealed she wasoverwhelmed with shyness when she joined the franchise andcame face-to-face with her idol. She said: “Princess Leia spoke tome ... she felt different, she was smart and she was strong. When Imeet someone I admire like that, I keep myself as far away as pos-sible from the person, you know, don’t bother them, eyes to thefloor - I am overcome with shyness.” But Christie found Fisher tobe an “incredibly warm” person and was able to relax morearound her. She added: “Everyone around her felt electrified byher wit and humanity. She was so open about her struggles withmental illness. The sheer force of personality is ravishing.”

Sir Ridley Scott to make AI led Alien movie

Sir Ridley Scott wants to do more ‘Alien’ movies but with more focus on artificial intelligence. The 80-year-old filmmaker cemented his status as a sci-fi legend with his breakthrough 1979 movie and alsowent on to helm 1982 cult classic of the genre ‘Blade Runner’. After having no involvement with the

three ‘Alien’ sequels, Scott revisited the cinematic universe in 2012 with prequel ‘Prometheus’, whichexplored the origins of the human race and the deadly Xenomorph creature, and released follow-up film‘Alien: Covenant’ in May this year. Scott has previously confirmed he will making a sequel to his last moviewhich will act as a bridge to the original ‘Alien’ and he has now spilled that the story will focus on danger-ous Artificial Intelligence beings. Speaking about the future of his prequel series to ‘Entertainment Weekly’,Scott said: “We are [going to make another], we are. I think what we have to do is gradually drift away fromthe alien stuff. People say, ‘you need more alien, you need more face pulling, need more chest bursting’, so Iput a lot of that in ‘Covenant’ and it fitted nicely. But I think if you go again you need to start finding anothersolution that’s more interesting. I think AI is becoming much more dangerous and therefore more interest-ing. “[Michael] Fassbender was an AI. Ian Holm [‘Alien’] was an AI; Roy Batty [‘Blade Runner’] was an AI; sowas Rachael [‘Blade Runner’].” ‘Alien: Covenant’ follows members on board the colony ship ‘Covenant’ dis-cover what they think to be an uncharted paradise. However, while there they meet David (MichaelFassbender) - the synthetic survivor of the doomed Prometheus expedition. The world soon turns dark anddangerous when a hostile alien-life form forces the crew into a deadly fight for survival. The acclaimed‘Alien’ was followed by director James Cameron’s all-action romp ‘Aliens’ in 1986, David Fincher’s atmos-pheric ‘Alien 3’ in 1992 and Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s much derided ‘Alien: Resurrection’ in 1997 - written by‘Avengers’ creator Joss Whedon. Two panned ‘Alien vs. Predator’ spin-offs came in the Noughties, inspiredby a video game series which pitted the Xenomorph against the Predator intergalactic hunter - a beingestablished in a separate series of movies which began in 1987 with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the lead role.

Tarantino to direct Star Trek movie uentin Tarantino wants to direct the next ‘Star Trek’ movie. The‘Pulp Fiction’ director has reportedly shared his idea for thenext Starship Enterprise adventure with J.J. Abrams, who is saidto have agreed to produce the film if it works out. According to

Deadline, Tarantino is keen to take the helm of the ‘Star Trek’ franchiseand has come up with a storyline for the next movie. J.J. - who helmedthe last two ‘Star Trek’ films for Paramount, but is now busy working onthe ‘Star Wars’ franchise - has apparently agreed for Tarantino to meetwith a team of writers to take his idea to the next level. The ‘Kill Bill’ film-maker tends to write and direct his own original ideas on the big screen,most recently taking on the Western genre with his last two films ‘DjangoUnchained’ and ‘The Hateful Eight’. He has worked with franchises on thesmall screen, directing episodes of ‘CSI’ and ‘ER’. Tarantino is currentlyprepping a movie about Charles Manson, which he had begun work onbefore the cult leader died in November this year. Margot Robbie andJennifer Lawrence are among the actresses he is said to haveapproached to play Sharon Tate - the pregnant wife of director RomanPolanski - who was stabbed to death by members of the Manson Familyin August 1969. Tom Cruise, Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt are all saidto have been in discussions for two male lead roles.

Andy Serkis: The Last Jedi is a powerful and emotional story

Andy Serkis was blown away by ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’because it is such an “emotional” story. The 53-year-old actorplays Supreme Leader Snoke in the new trilogy in the sci-fi saga

and will feature a lot more in the upcoming eighth movie - helmed byRian Johnson - than he did in ‘The Force Awakens’. Serkis admits whensaw the final cut of the movie he was stunned by how moving the storyis on the big screen. Speaking at a press event in Los Angeles, Serkissaid: “I was so caught up with it not least because it was really intimateand very emotional and I wasn’t expecting that at all. It’s very verypowerful, and it touches you. What Rian’s done incredibly is make thisdance tonally, between these great epic moments, and hilarious antics,literally flipping on a dime and then going right through into the heartof these beautiful characters and you really care.” Filmmaker Johnsonalso confirmed that the film will be darker than the previous movies andsaid it is “intense”. He said: “I think we’ve been kind of trained toexpect it will be a little darker and obviously it looks a little darker.We’re going to go to some intense places in the movie but I hope alsoit’s fun.” ‘The Last Jedi’ is set directly after 2015’s ‘The Force Awakens’and will show Mark Hamill return as Jedi Master Luke Skywalker - whobriefly appeared at the end of the last film - to train mysterious forcesensitive character Rey. The film marks the last outing for Carrie Fisheras the iconic General Leia Organa after she tragically died lastDecember. — Bang Showbiz

Singer ‘sacked’ from

Bohemian Rhapsody

Sam Rockwell think you’ve “got to have some levity” whenworking on a heavy topic. The 49-year-old actor starsalongside Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson and Peter

Dinklage in the new dark comedy movie by Martin McDonagh‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’, which tackles thetale of the kidnapping and murder of a teenage girl. However,despite the heavy topic, Rockwell admitted he likes to keep themood on set light and said he always needs to “have somelaughs” when he’s filming. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter,Rockwell said: “I think when you’re doing a heavy topic, you’vegot to have some laughs, don’t you think? I mean, you’ve got tohave some levity in between. It’s too heavy for 12, 14 hours. I gohome and watch ‘The Simpsons’ or something.” The film followsmonths after the murder of teenager Angela (Kathryn Newton)and there is still no culprit so her mother Mildred Hayes(McDormand) makes a bold move by painting three signs leadinginto the town with controversial messages directed at policechief William Willoughby (Harrelson). When Willoughby’s sec-ond-in-command Officer Jason Dixon (Rockwell) gets involved,the battle is only exacerbated. Newton, 20, also admitted she feltthe pressure to be at the top of her game because of who hercastmates were. Speaking previously to BANG Showbiz inOctober, she said: “I’m a huge fan of everybody in the movie. Ilove all of them so when you get to be in a movie you’re like, ‘OKI better not mess up.’ That’s how I acted. I couldn’t pass thisopportunity I would have done anything.” ‘Game of Thrones’ starDinklage also revealed that he knew that the script was going tobe fantastic. He said: “It’s Martin McDonagh. I knew when I readthe script it was one of the best scripts I’ve ever read.”

Sam Rockwell needslaughs on set

Q