People News

Entertainment Roundup July 27th

Jul 27, 2010, 15:30 GMT

British actor Daniel Craig EPA/FRANK LEONHARDT

Los Angeles - James Bond actor Daniel Craig has closed a deal to star in the movie version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, plus the two potential follow-ups based on author Stieg Larsson's best-selling trilogy, according to The Hollywood Reporter Monday.

The movie will be directed by David Fincher (Fight Club, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) and will be shot on location in Sweden as soon as Craig completes work on his current project, Cowboys and Aliens, later this year. The film is set to be released in December 2011.

Pigeon droppings force Kings of Leon to cancel concert

Los Angeles - Exhaustion and technical problems are the usual excuses rock stars use to cancel a concert.

But the Kings of Leon have just invented a new one: Pigeon poop. The hard-charging rockers were forced to cancel a show in St Louis over the weekend after they took the stage and were bombarded with pigeon poop.

The avian excrement began even before the band had plated a single note, said bass player Jared Followill, who found the poop on his bass pedal and carpet when he walked out on stage.

'I was hit by pigeons on each of the first three songs,' he said. 'We had 20 songs on the set list. By the end of the show, I would have been covered from head to toe.'

Brad Pitt to star in Zombie movie

Los Angeles - Brad Pitt is to star in the film version of World War Z, a graphic novel by author Max Brooks that purports to be an oral history of an apocalyptic war between humans and zombies.

Brooks announced the move at the Comic Con convention in San Diego over the weekend. Pitt's role had been the subject of widespread speculation after his production company Plan B secured the rights to the graphic novel in 2007.

The film is to be directed by Quantum of Solace director Marc Forster and is set for release in summer 2012.

Stallone blasts 'insidious movie violence'

Los Angeles - One of the most violent movie stars of all time has come out against what he calls insidious movie violence. Sylvester Stallone, the star of films like Rambo and Rocky made the controversial statement to Fox News while promoting his latest hard- core action film, The Expendables.

'If you're going to do violence and make it heroic, okay,' said. 'But if it is insidious like a serial killer? Not good.'

Del Toro to direct Disney's Haunted Mansion

Los Angeles - Fantasy film-maker Guillermo Del Toro stepped down from directing The Hobbit last month, but has already found a replacement. He told trade paper Variety that he plans to write and direct a 3D live action version of The Haunted Mansion.

Disney previously made a film based on its popular theme park attraction in 2003 starring comic superstar Eddie Murphy, but Del Toro said his version will have little in common with that film.

'We will make The Haunted Mansion the most haunted place on Earth. We are not making it a comedy. We will make it scary and fun at the same time,' he said. 'For me, the Mansion needs to be the haunted house movie for this generation.'