Amber Heard donating $7m divorce settlement
Amber Heard has announced she is donating her entire US$7 million (Dh25.7m) divorce settlement from Johnny Depp to a pair of charities. Heard wrote on Thursday that the money will be split between the American Civil Liberties Union and the Children's Hospital Los Angeles. She says the money to the ACLU is being given to help its efforts to combat violence against women. Heard and Depp settled their contentious divorce on Tuesday, a day before the actors were scheduled to begin a restraining-order hearing over Heard's allegations that Depp repeatedly abused her during their marriage. – AP
Apple releases Frank Ocean video album
Apple Music has released new, long-awaited music from Grammy-winning singer Frank Ocean in the form of a 45-minute visual album. The company tweeted a link to the music video for Endless by the R&B artist, available only to subscribers of Apple's music-streaming service. The video shows black-and-white footage of Ocean building a staircase in a warehouse to the sound of new music, which looks more like a visual-art project compared with the more cinematic approaches by artists such as Beyoncé and Prince. "It feels to me like what a bonus disc would be," said Jem Aswad, a senior editor at Billboard magazine. "I suspect the main album is yet to come." Ocean is credited as the director of the video, which also features a cover of an Isley Brothers song and guest musicians James Blake, Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead and the London Contemporary Orchestra. Fans have been awaiting the 28-year-old singer's first album in four years. His acclaimed debut album, Channel Orange, was released in 2012. Ocean has been teasing information about his next album on his website, www.boysdontcry.co. – AP
Shah Rukh Khan in talks to play the baddie in Dhoom 4
Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan is in talks with Yash Raj Films to play the villain in the fourth instalment of the popular Dhoom film franchise. According to Indian national daily, DNA, Aditya Chopra wants to make the franchiser bigger and cooler, and discussions have started about SRK's availability and wages. Another major change in the franchise will be the replacement of Abhishek Bachchan with Ranveer Singh. Uday Chopra, who played Bachchan's sidekick, will also be absent from the tentatively titled Dhoom Reloaded. It was earlier reported that Yash Raj Films had approached Salman Khan for the role, but he was unwilling to take on a negative role. – Sonali Kokra
Salman Khan announces gift for Indian Olympians
Salman Khan, whose appointment as the goodwill ambassador for the Indian team at the Rio Olympics proved controversial, has decided to reward each of the country's 121 athletes with 1 lakh rupees (Dh 5,470) to show his appreciation for their efforts. The 50-year-old actor made the announcement on Twitter, and also commended the government, several private companies and the Olympic Gold Quest for supporting sports and helping to nurture talent and encouraged fans to play their part as well. – Sonali Kokra
Jared Leto joins Blade Runner sequel
Fresh off a divisive turn as the Joker in Suicide Squad, actor Jared Leto is set for a new adventure in the sequel to Ridley Scott's 1982 dystopian cult classic Blade Runner. The Oscar-winning actor will play a previously unseen character, according to an announcement from Alcon Entertainment. He will star alongside Harrison Ford, who is reprising his role as Rick Deckard, in addition to Ryan Gosling, Robin Wright, Mackenzie Davis and Barkhad Abdi. Sicario and Prisoners director Denis Villeneuve is set to take on the still-untitled film, which is set several decades after the original, with a script by Hampton Fancher and Michael Green. Scott is an executive producer. The film is due out on October 6 next year. – AP
Guardians will team up with the Avengers
Vin Diesel, who provides the voice for the walking, talking tree Groot in Guardians of the Galaxy let it slip that the Marvel superhero team will appear in Avengers: Infinity War. On Friday, during a Facebook Live video, he said the intergalactic do-gooders will be part of the third Avengers movie. The Infinity War is expected to unite many Marvel characters from the previous 18 films. Diesel, also the star of the Fast & Furious movies, was in 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy alongside Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana and Bradley Cooper. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 is due out on May 5 next year, with Infinity War set for release on May 4, 2018. – AP
Tamannaah to make Malayalam film debut
Actress Tamannaah Bhatia will make her Malayalam debut with the upcoming movie Kammarasambhavam, which will be directed by Rateesh Ambat and also stars Dileep and Siddharth in the lead. A source from the film said: "Tamannaah has been verbally confirmed and she's expected to sign on the dotted line very soon. The project will mark her Malayalam debut and the makers are planning to get her to dub her own lines in the language." The film, loosely based on the life of a popular communist character from Kerala, started shooting on Thursday. The project also marks Siddharth's Malayalam debut. – IANS
Metallica to release first album in eight years
Heavy metal legends Metallica are preparing to release their first album in eight years – the longest the heavy metal group have gone between studio albums. Hardwired ... To Self-Destruct, featuring 80 minutes of music, is due out on November 18. Metallica debuted the album's first track, Hardwired, on a Minneapolis radio show and the accompanying music video on YouTube. They say their 11th studio album represents "the next phase of our journey". The album will be available in several forms: a double CD, vinyl and digital download, as well as a deluxe edition with "the riffs that were the origins of the album". – AP
