Online preview of time-travelling romantic drama Outlander is a huge hit
The pilot episode of the eagerly anticipated romantic time-travel drama
Outlander
attracted almost a million viewers – before it had even been broadcast. Developed and produced by Ronald D Moore, who created the highly acclaimed
Battlestar Galactica
TV reboot, and based on a popular series of books by Diana Gabaldon, it tells the story of a married British army nurse during the Second World War who is transported through time to the Scottish Highlands in 1743, where she finds romance and adventure. The show, filmed on location in Scotland, premiered on the Starz network in the United States on Saturday, but the channel made it available to watch for free online earlier in the week. As of Friday, it had been watched 897,000 times, according to
Entertainment Weekly
. Gabaldon has written eight novels in the series, the first of which was published in 1991, along with numerous spin-offs and short stories set in the same fictitious world.
–The National staff
PK posters finally ‘clothed’
A cut-out of a nude Aamir Khan from the forthcoming film
PK
, has finally got some clothes. The Mumbai Congress legislator Krishna Hegde “dressed Aamir Khan” in a bright-green pair of shorts and a grey T-shirt in front of a large number of people who cheered and clapped their approval. “Aamir Khan is a good actor and hosts
Satyameva Jayate
[a critically acclaimed TV show that deals with India’s pressing social issues]. These posters are distasteful and against Indian culture. They create a wrong impression in the minds of youth who consider him an icon,” Hegde said, adding that his intention was “not to indulge in moral policing but to send a message that such posters are not required for publicity for an acclaimed actor such as Khan”.
PK
also features Sanjay Dutt, Anushka Sharma and Sushant Singh Rajput and is due out in December.
– IANS
Menahem Golan dead
Menahem Golan, a veteran Israeli filmmaker who built an empire on the back of brawny men beating others senseless in a host of 1980s action films, has died in Tel Aviv. He was 85. Golan produced more than 200 movies and directed about 50 of them. He founded The Cannon Group production company with his cousin and partner Yoram Globus, running it for a decade and turning it into a major force in international film production and distribution. In the 1987 film
Bloodsport
, he introduced American audiences to an unknown Jean-Claude Van Damme. He also introduced Sylvester Stallone as a stone-faced cop in
Cobra
and a lorry-driving arm-wrestler in
Over the Top
. Golan, who died Friday, is survived by his wife and three children.
– AP
New season of Arrested Development is on the way
There was good news for fans of the cult TV comedy
Arrested Development
at the weekend when it was confirmed that a fifth season of the acclaimed show would be made. Will Arnett, one of the show’s main stars, told
The Tonight Show
host Jimmy Fallon: “It’s going to happen. We don’t know when, but it is going to happen.” This confirmed an earlier comment by Ted Sarandos, the chief content officer of the video-streaming service Netflix, who said he was positive season five would be made and “it’s just a matter of when”.
Arrested Development
, which was loved by critics and fans but struggled to attract a large audience, ran for three seasons on the Fox network between 2003 and 2006 before being cancelled because of low viewing figures. In 2011, Netflix stepped in to fund a fourth season, which was released on its video-streaming service last year.
– The National staff
Happy New Year is a masala film to boot
Shah Rukh Khan, who stars in Farah Khan’s forthcoming film
Happy New Year
, says he has tried to make the “ultimate Bollywood movie”. The teaser will be released on Thursday in a grand ceremony that will be attended by the cast and crew, including Deepika Padukone, Abhishek Bachchan and Boman Irani. SRK added that he is “not nervous. I do my best and leave the rest”. He said that Bollywood movies are expected to have dance and music, and in keeping with these expectations, has endeavoured to make “an entertainer” that includes “drama, revenge, romance, action, sensuality and happiness”.
Happy New Year
is out during Diwali this year.
– The National staff
