Entertainment Roundup - Dec 18

Dec 18, 2006, 22:32 GMT

11/29/2006 - Brittany Murphy - 16th Annual Gotham Awards - Arrivals - Chelsea Pier - New York, NY © Janet Mayer / Photorazzi

Los Angeles - Chat show host Oprah Winfrey is planning to expand her media universe with two new reality TV shows, according to a statement by her company Harpo Productions.

The Big Give will challenge ten contestants to make the best use of an as yet unspecified amount of charity - with the winner bagging a prize capable of fulfilling a contestant's 'wildest dreams,' the company said.

The challenge will be to find 'the most powerful, sensational, emotional and dramatic ways to give to others.'

The idea for the show stems from an episode in Winfrey's chat show in which she gave each of the 300 members of her audience 1,000 dollars to donate to a worthy cause.

The second show, Your Money or Your Life, will send experts to help families out of money crises.

Both programmes will be produced by Harpo Productions for US network ABC.

Brittany Murphy to star in Freud film The White Hotel

Los Angeles - Actress Brittany Murphy is to star in The White Hotel, an adaptation of the acclaimed DM Thomas novel about legendary psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, according to The Hollywood Reporter Monday.

In the movie Murphy will star as an opera singer who seeks out the services of Freud in post-World War I Vienna in a bid to make sense of her terrifying dreams. She becomes Freud's famous case study, known as Anna O, as together they figure out her memories and her premonitions of the future, which include the Holocaust.

Shooting is scheduled for spring 2007 in Vienna and Prague.

Seven vie for Visual Effects Oscar

Los Angeles - The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has announced the seven movies vying for the Oscar for Special Effects.

The list includes Hollywood blockbusters Casino Royale, Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and Superman Returns together with Poseidon, Eragon, X-Men: The Last Stand and Night At The Museum.

The shortlist will be reduced to three when the rest of the Oscar nominees are announced on January 25. The Oscars take place on February 25, 2007.

Disney World bans Santa lookalike

New York - Officials at Disney World in Florida have ordered a man who looked like Santa Claus to change his appearance or risk being kicked out of the massive theme park.

According to local TV reports, James Worley was told that officials 'considered Santa a Disney character' and that his unsanctioned appearance was upsetting children who had seen the park's officially sanctioned Santa in action.

Worley, 60, did not appear in full Santa regalia. But his white beard, portly frame and red hat and shirt gave him the appearance of the beloved symbol of Christmas gift-giving. When asked by children if he was the real thing Worley apparently was reluctant to disappoint and replied 'ho-ho-ho.'

'How do you tell a little kid, 'No, go away, little kid,'' Worley told local television. Worley said he remains a huge fan of Disney but that he reluctantly agreed to remove his red shirt and hat.