Holly to Bolly: La La Land director and star set sights on next year’s Oscars, coroner: George Michael died of ‘natural causes’, and more

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La La Land director and star set sights on next year’s Oscars

Acclaimed La La Land director Damien Chazelle may have finished one Oscar season, but it appears he may be headed for another, albeit with a film due out in 2018. Universal Pictures this week announced that Chazelle's First Man, starring Ryan Gosling as astronaut Neil Armstrong was set for an October 12, 2018 release. The film will return Chazelle to the heart of awards season with the follow-up to this year's musical film sensation. First Man focuses on Armstrong ifrom 1961-1969 and follows Nasa's race to get a man on the moon. The script, based on James R Hansen's book, is written by Spotlight scribe Josh Singer. The 32-year-old Chazelle became the youngest to ever win best director at the Academy Awards. La La Land, which has made nearly $400 million globally, took home six Oscars. — Associated Press

Coroner: George Michael died of ‘natural causes’

It's been confirmed that music legend George Michael died of natural causes. The cause of his death was confirmed on Tuesday after a British coroner acknowledged that heart failure and liver disease was to blame for Michael's death on Christmas day last year. The coroner said that there was no need for further inquiries into the death of Michael, 53, who rose to stardom in the 1980s with Wham! before going on to enjoy a successful solo career. "As there is a confirmed natural cause of death, being dilated cardiomyopathy with myocarditis and fatty liver, the investigation is being discontinued," Darren Salter, the senior coroner for Oxfordshire, said in a statement. Dilated cardiomyopathy is a heart condition that impairs the pumping of blood around the body. The initial autopsy into the singer's death had been inconclusive, though his manager said previously the star had died of heart failure. Wham! were one of the most successful pop duos of the mid 1980s, with singles such as Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go, Last Christmas, Careless Whisper, and Young Guns (Go For It!). - Reuters

TCM to honour late host

Turner Classic Movies will honour its late long-time host Robert Osborne with a 48-hour tribute celebrating his 23-year tenure with the network. The tribute will run from Saturday, March 18 and Sunday, March 19. Osborne, the longtime face of TCM, died Monday. He was 84. The tribute will feature long-form interviews conducted by Osborne, an interview of Osborne conducted by Alec Baldwin for the host's 20th anniversary and Osborne's very first movie intro, filmed for Turner Classic's first broadcast in 1994, for Gone With the Wind. Some of Osborne's interviews include sit-downs with Debbie Reynolds, Liza Minelli and Peter O'Toole. Earlier this week, TCM recalled Osborne as "fundamental in shaping TCM into what it is today". - Associated Press

Streep/Hanks dream team to unite for debut movie

Two of the most celebrated actors of their generation, Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks, will star together for the first time in new Steven Spielberg political drama The Post, according to Hollywood trade magazine Variety. The film will focus on the Washington Post's publication of the 1971 Pentagon Papers, which made headlines around the world when the newspaper's editor and publisher challenged the United States federal government over their right to publish them. Two-time Oscar winner Hanks will play the editor, Ben Bradlee, while three-time Oscar winner Streep will take on the role of the publisher, Kay Graham, Variety says. No dates for filming were revealed in the report, with award-laden director Spielberg currently in post-production on sci-fi action movie, Ready Player One, which is due to hit theatres in March 2018. — Reuters

Indian actresses release Women’s Day messages

Actresses Raashi Khanna and Rakul Preet Singh have released special videos for International Women's Day. In a video titled Believe in You, narrated and produced by Khanna, the Jil actress asks "Why are we afraid living the way we want to. Why do you have to compromise your dreams and give up. Whom are constantly fighting, whom are you competing with?" She went on add that as women, they are not here to race against men, but to thrive together. "A soul has no gender, yet we are fortunate to have a woman's body. Fortunate to be the most beautiful expression of the universe. Embrace it and celebrate. You're beautiful and powerful and deserve every chance in the world. Then, what is that stops you? Is that judgemental voices that discourage or is it something that's within," she said. Raashi said women should define the way they want to be. Rakul Preet, on the other hand, in a very different take on Women's Day, asked in a video why we remember women, their achievements and their struggle just for a day. She asked why it always takes a Sunita Williams or a Nirbhaya to make people talk about us. She also asked why it is an issue with what women wear and how they look, and why do they need to be corrected about whom they choose to love.

On a concluding note, she said women don’t need any hypocrytic celebration in the name of Women’s Day. — IANS

Scarlett Johansson files for divorce

Actress Scarlett Johansson has filed for divorce from her husband Romain Dauriac. The Avengers star's attorney Judith Poller served the divorce filings to Dauriac's lawyer, Harold Mayerson, on Tuesday, reports pagesix.com. Mayerson added that the estranged couple are "gearing up for a nasty custody battle" over their only daughter. "He would like to move to France with his daughter and Johansson does a lot of travelling. It will be an interesting process," he said. Johansson and Dauriac were first linked to each other in 2012. They got married in a private wedding ceremony in 2014, shortly after they welcomed their daughter. Earlier this year, it was confirmed that the two separated in summer 2016. — IANS