Movies

Lady Gaga Isn't the Only Pop Sensation Cast in A Star Is Born. Surprise! Halsey will appear alongside Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper in A Star Is Born. The pop star revealed the casting news on Twitter, calling the entire experience "humbling and unreal." Halsey told her nearly 10 million social media followers that she plays herself in the highly-anticipated blockbuster, which premiered to rave reviews at last week's Venice Film Festival. "I guess now is a good time to finally tell you guys that I have a little cameo in A Star Is Born!" the "Bad at Love" songstress announced in a heartfelt statement. "Thank you so so much to Gaga and Bradley for including me. It was an honor to watch both of your talent and dedication on set. An all-time life highlight for me for sure." Halsey also said she was grateful to Lady Gaga and Cooper for seeing her "worthy of representing a piece of the current state of music in this film forever." She continued, "They could have picked any artist. It was so humbling and unreal." Unlike Gaga -- who is garnering plenty of award season buzz for her first starring role -- this isn't the first time Halsey's dipped her feet into the acting pool. Over the years, she's appeared in a handful of short films and is set to co-star in the upcoming Scooby Doo & Guess Who? animated series. In the film, Cooper plays Jackson, a rock star who discovers up-and-coming performer Ally (Gaga) and takes her on tour with him. Their relationship is threatened when his addiction issues resurface and she begins to eclipse his own stardom. We can't wait to see Halsey shine! A Star is Born is set for release on Oct. 5. (Eonline)

Amber Heard's film 'London Fields' to finally be released. Amber Heard film "London Fields" will finally be released Oct. 26, three years after it was meant to debut. In 2016, producers filed a $10 million breach-of-contract suit against the star, alleging that she tried to sabotage the film. Heard countersued, claiming a body double was improperly used to film explicit scenes and get around her contract. Deadline reports the dispute's been resolved. A rep told the site: "Amber is happy to put this matter behind her." (PageSix)

Gwen Stefani may have inspired Trump to run for president. Seth Meyers has taken credit for spurring Donald Trump's 2016 presidential run by making fun of him at the 2011 White House Correspondents' Dinner, but it was actually Gwen Stefani who inspired Trump, at least according to Michael Moore. In Moore's new Trump documentary, "Fahrenheit 11/9," which debuted Thursday at the Toronto Film Festival, Moore alleges that when Trump still starred on NBC's "The Apprentice," he realized Stefani's salary on the network's hit "The Voice" was higher than his. So as a negotiating tactic he staged his June 2015 Trump Tower announcement to prove his popularity. Moore says in the film: "Trump found out that NBC was paying Gwen Stefani more on 'The Voice' than Trump got paid for 'The Apprentice.' So, he planned a fake announcement to run for president .?.?. in order to prove to NBC he was more popular than Gwen and [they] would give him more money." While Moore doesn't give any backup for his assertion, a source points out that Hollywood agent Ari Emanuel reps both Trump and Moore. Emanuel's WME, as well as a rep for Stefani, did not get back to us on the allegation. Either way, after its Toronto premiere, Moore's film will screen at New York's Alice Tully Hall, Sept. 13. (PageSix)

Toronto: Gemma Arterton to Play Soul Icon Dusty Springfield in Biopic From 'Carol' Team. 'So Much Love' will mark the directorial debut of 'Carol' screenwriter Phyllis Nagy and will follow the 'Son of a Preacher Man' singer's journey to Memphis to record her career-defining record, 'Dusty in Memphis.' Dusty Springfield, the soul legend and Swinging Sixties icon who became one of the biggest British stars in the U.S., is getting the biopic treatment, with Gemma Arterton (Their Finest, The Escape) attached to star. So Much Love, which is being introduced to buyers in Toronto by Rocket Science, reunites Elizabeth Karlsen and Stephen Woolley's multi-award winning U.K. banner Number 9 Films with Oscar-nominated screenwriter Phyllis Nagy for the third time following 2014's critically acclaimed Carol and the Emmy-nominated HBO film Mrs. Harris in 2005. The film will mark the directorial debut of Nagy, who also wrote the screenplay. Set in 1968, at the peak of Springfield's popularity, So Much Love will follow the singer's journey to Memphis, Tenn., to record her career-defining record, Dusty in Memphis, which was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2001. As she navigates her way through the politics of both the recording studio and the city, what she sees, hears and experiences there draws her back to key moments in her life and artistic development -- including her destiny-altering encounter with the music of Motown, her stand against Apartheid policies during her aborted South African tour, and her thorny brushes with men in the music industry who were intimidated by both her talent and her insistence on moulding perfect performances rather than settling for good ones. Springfield's greatest hits, including "Son of a Preacher Man" and "Just a Little Lovin,'" will feature in the film, set to shoot in the U.S. and the U.K. in spring 2019. "Dusty Springfield has long been a hero of mine -- an innovative, brilliant artist and a complex, contradictory woman -- I can't wait to bring her to life on screen," said Nagy. Added Arterton: "I have been an admirer of Dusty Springfield since I was a teenager: her effortless husky voice, the way she conveyed emotion through music, how she helped bring Motown to the U.K. Dusty was ahead of her time in many ways and inspired so many future artists. She was generous, witty, mercurial, shy, extrovert and a true English eccentric. I simply cannot wait to play her." With further casting underway, So Much Love has been developed by Number 9 Films, which is working in partnership with Universal Music on the film's soundtrack. "In the tradition of Walk the Line and La Vie En Rose, all-time great films about female singers, So Much Love tells the as-yet un-filmed story of a woman whose work redefined the cultural landscape as the greatest soul singer to come out of the U.K.," said Karlsen. "Stephen Woolley and I are proud to follow Carol and Colette with So Much Love, a story that places a woman at its center and to be reuniting with two great female talents behind and in front of the camera, Phyllis Nagy and Gemma Arterton." Number 9 Films is also heading to Toronto for a special presentation of Wash Westmoreland's Sundance-bowing Collette, starring Keira Knightley and Dominic West, while Karlsen will be a governor at this year's TIFF Filmmaker Lab. (Hollywood Reporter)

Donald Sutherland to Get Lifetime Honor at Zurich Film Festival. Sutherland, whose career stretches from 'M*A*S*H' and 'Don't Look Now' to 'The Hunger Games,' will receive a lifetime achievement award. Canadian acting legend Donald Sutherland will be honored at the 2018 Zurich International Film Festival with a lifetime achievement award. Sutherland, 83, will attend Zurich and present his latest film, Ella & John: The Leisure Seeker. Sutherland stars alongside Helen Mirren in the English-language debut of Italian director Paolo Virzi. Zurich will also present a retrospective of Sutherland's work over the past 60 years, including such classics as Robert Aldrich's The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970) from Robert Altman, Nicolas Roeg's Don't Look Now (1973) and the Robert Redford-directed Ordinary People (1980). "Sutherland is an icon of, not just Hollywood but also international cinema, bringing his extraordinary presence to countless iconic roles over a truly formidable career," said ZFF co-directors Nadja Schildknecht and Karl Spoerri. "Sutherland's body of work includes films that are broadly considered as classics, and redefining, so we are extra pleased to be able to present this retrospective, including some of his best loved roles." Never one to slow down, Sutherland has several projects on the go, including playing J. Paul Getty in FX Network series Trust, appearing alongside Judy Greer in Jim Loach's The Measure of a Man and starring, together with Brad Pitt and Ruth Negga, in James Gray's upcoming sci-fi thriller Ad Astra. (Hollywood Reporter)

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