Alan Ball writing new HBO drama

Plus, Jay-Z announces new album with Samsung deal; Emma Watson bags Queen of the Tearling; Black Sabbath’s album 13 tops UK charts; Miley Cyrus’s parents file for divorce

Alan Ball, the man behind True Blood and Six Feet Under, is creating a new series for HBO. AFP

Alan Ball, the man behind HBO's True Blood and Six Feet Under, has announced that he's creating a new series for the network. "I have a series idea that I'm working on, and have two screenplays I'm trying to put together," Ball told The Hollywood Reporter. "The show is unlike either Six Feet Under or True Blood; it's very different. I'd definitely say it's a drama but it's too early to talk about." Ball stepped down last year as the showrunner of the vampire drama True Blood.

Jay-Z is teaming up with Samsung to release his new album, unveiling a three-minute commercial during the NBA Finals and announcing a deal that will offer the music to a million users of Galaxy mobile phones. The new album, called Magna Carta Holy Grail, will be free for the first one million android phone owners who download an app for the album. Those who do so will get the album on July 4, three days before its official release. – AP

Emma Watson has been roped in to star in the fantasy franchise The Queen of the Tearling. The actress, who shot to fame as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films, will star in the big-screen adaptation of Erika Johansen's book trilogy and is also serving as an executive producer on the project, according to Variety.com. Watson will reunite with the Harry Potter producer David Heyman for the movie, about princess Kelsea Glynn, who must reclaim her late mother's throne and kingdom, the Tearling, from the dark magic of The Red Queen. The news comes before the book series has even been released – Johansen's first instalment in the trilogy is slated to hit shelves next year. – IANS

The British rock band Black Sabbath's album 13 has given them a first British No 1 album in nearly 43 years, a record interval between chart-toppers. Black Sabbath were last seen at the top of the UK chart with their second album, Paranoid. "I'm in shock!" the Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne told the Official Charts Company. "The success of this album has blown me off my feet. We've never had a record climb the charts so fast." The band saw off competition from Liam Gallagher's band Beady Eye, in second place with BE. In the singles chart, the American R&B singer Robin Thicke made it three weeks on top with Blurred Lines. The song, featuring the rapper TI and Pharrell Williams, has sold over 580,000 copies, making it the fifth-best selling single of 2013.
– Reuters

The wife of the country singer Billy Ray Cyrus has filed for divorce in Los Angeles after 19 years of marriage. Tish Finley Cyrus, the mother of the 20-year-old pop star and actress Miley Cyrus, married the Achy Breaky Heart singer in December 1993. "We are doing what is in the best interest of our family," the couple said in a statement. Billy Ray Cyrus, 51, filed for divorce in 2010 but the couple later reconciled. The couple have three children together. – Reuters

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