D-Day garners rave reviews from Bollywood

Plus: Jamal Al Sharif talks Fast & Furious; Jay-Z album sells 500K in a week; Cory Monteith died of overdose; Downey Jr leads Forbes' highest-paid actors; Maroon 5's Levine engaged to model; Hanks and Howard to make Da Vinci Code 3.

Even before its release in cinemas today, Nikhil Advani's film D-Day has won acclaim from his fellow filmmakers Karan Johar and Abhishek Kapoor. "D-Day, taut, gripping and incredibly made ... a strong emotional layer that gives it gravitas ... performances are top notch," Johar posted on Twitter. After a special screening, Kapoor tweeted: "It is one of the best thrillers ever. Nikhil Advani is in absolute control of this fabulous moviegoing experience." - IANS

Jamal Al Sharif talks Fast & Furious

News broke this week that parts of the seventh instalment of Fast & Furious will be shot in Dubai. The casting call for extras in the action film franchise, starring Vin Diesel, is scheduled for September. Jamal Al Sharif, the chairman of the Dubai Film and Television Commission, would neither deny nor confirm the news. Al Sharif told The National: "We're always pleased to see the buzz and excitement that surrounds filmmaking in Dubai, and we welcome the increasing interest being shown by international filmmakers to utilise Dubai's unique setting as a premiere film location." - The National staff

New Jay-Z album sells 500K in its first week

Jay-Z's new album has sold more than 500,000 units its first week. Nielsen SoundScan said on Tuesday that preliminary data shows that Magna Carta... Holy Grail moved about 527,000 copies in the US. The album has the second-best first-week debut of the year after Justin Timberlake's The 20/20 Experience. It had more than 14 million streams in its first week on Spotify, beating a record that Daft Punk set in May with Random Access Memories. - AP

Coroner: Cory Monteith died of overdose

The Glee actor Cory Monteith died of an overdose of heroin and alcohol, said British Columbia, Canada, coroner's office. "There is no evidence to suggest Mr Monteith's death was anything other than a most tragic accident." The 31-year-old was found dead in his Vancouver hotel room on Saturday. - AP

Downey Jr leads Forbes' highest-paid actors list

With estimated earnings of US$75 million (Dh275m), Robert Downey Jr is Hollywood's highest-paid actor, according to Forbes.com. Downey Jr, 48, starred in The Avengers in 2012 and Iron Man 3 in 2013, each of which earned more than $1 billion at the box office. Channing Tatum, who self-financed Magic Mike, captured the second spot with earnings of $60m. Hugh Jackman, whose new movie The Wolverine opens in US cinemas next week, was not far behind with $55m. Rounding out the top five are Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. - Reuters

Maroon 5's Levine engaged to model

The Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine is engaged to the model Behati Prinsloo. Levine proposed to Prinsloo over the weekend in Los Angeles, says the singer's representative. The couple started dating last year. Prinsloo, 24, is from Namibia and models for Victoria's Secret. - AP

Hanks and Howard to make Da Vinci Code 3

Dan Brown's latest book Inferno, released in May, is being developed to become a movie. Sony, which released The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons, has given the film a December 2015 release date, reports Deadline. Tom Hanks will return, as will the director Ron Howard and the scriptwriter David Koepp. - The National staff

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Updated: July 17, 2013, 12:00 AM