Movies

'Bad Santa' sequel could be released before the end of the year with shooting is set to take place in autumn.
Now, 20 years on from the first Christmas-themed black comedy, scriptwriter Doug Ellin has hinted 'Fargo' actor Billy Bob Thornton will return as Willie and has confirmed they are in the process of penning the much-wanted second instalment.
Ellin confirmed to EmpireOnline.com: "The exact status is we're working on the script right now, and if we get it right, we'll shoot in September or October."
He also confirms that the project remains will stick with the adult theme of the original, with "hopefully a similar tone to the first one".
Talking about the return of leading star Thornton, Ellin said: "He's back and good to go."
While nothing is set in stone, it's said Doug and Billy want the film to have the same dirty humour as the last film.
Doug told website Collider.com: "I do, and Billy Bob wants to (have that) also."

Chris Pratt hasn't been contacted by anyone about starring in the new 'Indiana Jones' movie - yet.
The 35-year-old actor is aware a new instalment in the action franchise is being made by Disney but he is adamant he's not spoken to anyone about taking on the lead role in the series - which stars Harrison Ford.
Revealing how the rumours first impacted his life, he told GQ magazine: "I came home from a ranch, and then there was paparazzi asking me about it and people asking me to sign Indiana Jones pictures and Indiana Jones hats."
Following the success of Marvel movie 'Guardians of the Galaxy', Pratt has also been linked to the proposed new 'Ghosbusters' film, which is different to the all-female spin-off.
But Pratt claims the speculation about the film, which Channing Tatum is also wanted for, is "complete" crap.
He said: "No one has ever even spoken to me about that. Never. I've even seen Channing a couple times. As far as I know, that's complete bulls**t."
Pratt - who is married to 'The House Bunny' actress Anna Faris - is definitely committed to reprising his role as Star-Lord in 'Guardians of the Galaxy 2' and more movies beyond that sequel.
He said: "I'm tied to doing three more, or five more, 'Guardians of the Galaxy' or whatever it is, you know, two more 'Guardians...' plus another couple..."
Pratt will next be seen in 'Jurassic World', which is released on June 12.

Arnold Schwarzenegger says his children being on set with him was like "Christmas".
The 'Terminator: Genisys' actor admits that although being known as an action star can get frustrating when he's trying to take on different roles, he likes that his children were always enthusiastic about seeing him at work.
He said: "People know me as kind of the action star, and how many actors or people have their own M47 tank? I used to drive an American tank when I was in the Austrian army and they handed it over when it was outdated. They wanted to destroy the tanks completely but they shipped this one over and I drive it around. It works 100 per cent!
"My kids' friends, every time we did an action scene, they said, 'Make sure you're gonna be on the set when your Daddy blows things up'. It was king of Christmas for them, so I think people would enjoy driving around and crushing things in a tank."
The 67-year-old star - whose children Patrick, Christina and Christopher from his marriage to estranged wife Maria Shriver are now grown up - is also adapting to the different ways in which you have to promote a movie now.
Speaking about his new film 'Maggie', he told TheWrap: "We had a Reddit screening, that was really a huge success. It's funny, when I told the studio about it, they said, 'I don't know if this will work, let us get back to you.' I said, 'There is no getting back to me. This is what we're doing. I already told the Reddit people.'
"With 'Terminator', we've already been out there with posters and trailers. I feel very strongly about going directly to our audience and not having to worry about holding a press conference."

Jake Gyllenhaal's new movie 'Southpaw' had to be pulled from the screening schedule at the Cannes Film Festival because the actor is part of the judging jury. The 34-year-old star's boxing drama has been creating quite a buzz and was due to be entered...

Elton John's biopic 'Rocketman' is already being turned into a stage show, despite the film, starring Tom Hardy, not even having been released yet.
The film - which will tell the story of the 68-year-old superstar's life and will include classic songs like 'Your Song' and 'I'm Still Standing' - will be moving to Broadway and then the West End with the help of the creative team behind the music adaptation of 'Billy Elliot', including its writer Lee Hall.
Producer Sally Greene, who runs London's Old Vic, told The Sun: "It is in the works right now. It will be called 'Rocketman' but we will do the film first. It will open in Broadway before London.
"It will be Elton's back catalogue... he will never end his career."
While Tom is starring as Elton - whose real name is Reginald Kenneth Dwight - in the film of the singer's life, it's unlikely he will be in the stage version, have previously revealed he struggled with the role, due to his lack of singing abilities.
The 'Mad Max: Fury Road' star said: "I'm not a singer. I have no idea really. I'm really trying but it's hard to open my mouth in that way. I'm not really drawn towards singing and musicals and that stuff."

Brad Bird said makers of 'Mad Max' only focus on the bad news in life and wanted the opposite for 'Tomorrowland'.
The 57-year-old director - who is responsible for the works behind 'The Incredibles', 'Mission Impossible' and now, George Clooney futuristic movie, 'Tomorrowland'- has said that too many directors in the film industry aren't "seeing the alternative" of what the future could look like.
Speaking at the 'Tomorrowland' press conference about dystopian 'Hunger Games' movies and Tom Hardy blockbuster 'Mad Max', Brad revealed: "I feel like so many directors aren't seeing the alternative and I think so many of those films don't do the future justice - while entertaining to watch - I don't want to live in those realities and I don't want robots to kill me or zombies trying to eat me."
The screenwriter said that when researching Disney's history, the team learnt that science was a huge part of Walt Disney's vision.
"Disney's message is always about trying to make the world a better place and that's really what we wanted to do with this movie - Walt Disney had a vision of the future where science wasn't the enemy."
He added: "I think that Walt lived in a time which was just as turbulent as the time we live in now, if not more so."
Brad went onto explain that he wanted to ground Disney's thinking in their film and wished to make the movie fun and adventurous.
"Making this movie was about what we could do as opposed to what everybody else could do."
Revealing the secret to his movie success, he said that he hasn't got a recipe but he makes movies that he would like to watch instead and hopes people will connect with them too, although he did admit it can be difficult to achieve.
"Movies are tough because you're trying to connect with people whose lives are very different from yours ."

Rebel Wilson wants 'Pitch Perfect 3' to be set in space.
The 29-year-old actress revealed she has been considering possible future storylines for another 'Pitch Perfect' film following the success of the sequel - in which the a capella group the Barden Bellas compete in a global singing competition - and joked the cast are keen on doing an intergalactic third movie.
She said: "It's so good that everyone in the first movie is back in the second one, and we love working together, so who knows if there's future storylines but I would really wanna see the Bellas intact and see what they go on to do. We do have a joke that we're going to go into the Intergalactic championships against aliens, the galaxy champions."
Meanwhile, the star - who plays Fat Amy in the films - revealed she enjoyed her romantic storylines with co-star Adam DeVine in the most recent film, as they are both comedians so are always playing around with each other.
She told Glamour magazine: "I get a LOT of action in Pitch Perfect 2. Adam DeVine is such a sweetheart - who plays Bumper in the film - and we both have a similar background in comedy; we do stand-up and improvising, and sketch comedy, so when we're both on set it's really really spontaneous and we never quite know what each other's gonna say in the scene. And he's just so much fun to play around with."

Tupac Shakur's friend Gobi Rahimi is crowdfunding a film about the late rapper's final days.
The producer - who directed two of the star's music videos - is hoping to raise $300,000 in seed money through an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign to make the film, titled '7Dayz', which will tell the story of the week the musician spent in hospital before his death, after being wounded in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas in 1996.
Speaking about the story behind the movie, he wrote on the crowdfunding page: "I was waiting for Tupac at club 662 in Las Vegas after the Mike Tyson fight on September 7, 1996. Soon after, I was informed by rapper Nate Dogg that Tupac and Suge Knight had been shot and taken to University Hospital. I immediately rushed there to be by Tupac's side. This was the first of an emotional 7 days that I sat guard over Tupac who was in an induced coma, riding the line between life and death. 7Dayz is the story of my experience at the hospital amidst death threats, undercover FBI informants and an uncooperative Police Department."
Continuing to speak about what has spurred him on with the production, the filmmaker added he felt he owes it to the 'Ghetto Gospel' rapper, who died at the age of 25, to make the movie.
He wrote: "I was inspired to tell this story because I believe that 'history is written by great people's contemporaries'. I was witness to Tupac's final days and I owe it to him and to the world to tell this story."
However, Gobi's production isn't the only film being made about the musician, as Carl Franklin was recently announced as the replacement director for Morgan Creek's biopic of the rapper, for which filming is expected to begin in September.

Emily Blunt almost lost her 'Sicario' role to a man.
The 32-year-old actress plays Kate Macy in the crime drama but director Denis Villeneuve revealed the role was almost given to someone else as people kept telling him the part should be re-written for a man.
Turning to Denis during a talk at Cannes Film Festival, Emily said: "In this film, you'd been asked early on if you'd write my part for a guy."
Denis explained: "People were afraid [of the screenplay] because the lead was female.
"The screenwriter was asked to rewrite it several times."
Although Lionsgate studio later came on board and agreed the character should stay as a woman, Emily explained she believes they wanted to recast the role because she plays a police officer.
She said: "I found this character damaged and vulnerable. She's struggling in the role of being a female cop. It's not safe."
However, the 'Into the Woods' star admitted she has got to a point where she's "become quite used to" acting in films with few other females because of the rife sexism within the film industry.
When questioned about her lack of female co-stars, she said: "It's something I've become quite used to. It happens quite a lot on films. There aren't a ton of chicks around."