Helena Bonham Carter will play the late screen icon Elizabeth Taylor in a television movie that will explore Taylor's tempestuous relationship with Richard Burton. The first photograph of Bonham Carter as Taylor and the British actor Dominic West as Burton was released by the BBC this week, ahead of the premiere of Burton and Taylor later this year. The film's central focus will be on Taylor and Burton's appearance as co-stars in a 1983 Broadway revival of Noel Coward's 1930 comedy play Private Lives. – Reuters
Archie's old Riverdale gang is headed to the big screen. Warner Bros will produce a live-action film based on the comic's characters. It will be the first feature film for the 72-year-old comic series. Directing will be Jason Moore, who helmed Pitch Perfect. The Glee writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa is penning the script. "The idea for this is to capture a very truthful, authentic coming-of-age story with these kids that includes heartache, that includes pain, that will obviously temper the fun and the high jinks," said Aguirre-Sacasa. – AP
The French electro-dance music duo Daft Punk held onto the top spot for a second week on the Billboard 200 album chart, staving off new entries from the veteran rockers Alice in Chains and John Fogerty. Daft Punk's 1970s-inspired retro record, Random Access Memories, is their fourth studio album. Alice in Chains landed in second with their latest, The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here, while the country rocker John Fogerty came in at third this week with Wrote a Song for Everyone. The British girl group quartet Little Mix, formed in 2011 on the UK's The X Factor, saw their debut album DNA come in fourth this week. – Reuters
Justin Bieber has signed up to go into space with Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic. Branson announced on Twitter that Bieber and his manager, Scooter Braun, were the latest "future astronauts". Bieber tweeted in response, "Let's shoot a music video in SPACE!!" Virgin Galactic commercial space flights, which are scheduled to begin next year, have already drawn high-profile passengers including Stephen Hawking, Tom Hanks, Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. A seat on Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo, a six-passenger, two-pilot spaceship, costs US$250,000 (Dh918,000) and will allow passengers to experience zero gravity and glimpse Earth from space. – Reuters
Carey Mulligan is in talks to play Hillary Clinton in the planned biopic Rodham. The British actress has emerged as the producers' top choice, after considering Scarlett Johansson, Jessica Chastain and Emma Stone, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The film, to be directed by James Ponsoldt (The Spectacular Now), will focus on the formative years of Clinton's career in public service – as a young lawyer on the committee involved in Richard Nixon's impeachment. – The National staff
