Warner Bros releases Mad Max: Fury Road trailer

Also: China to produce Bainiaoyi, its own version of Avatar; Ali Zafar dons director's hat; and Rihanna's stalker arrested.

Tom Hardy as Max in a scene from Mad Max: Fury Road. AP Photo / Warner Bros Pictures, Jason Boland

Warner Bros has released the much-awaited first official trailer for Mad Max: Fury Road, which debuted at this year's Comic-Con San Diego on July 27. The film will be "its own story" and will be released on May 15, 2015. Directed by George Miller of the Mad Max franchise, Mad Max: Fury Road stars Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises) as Max Rockatansky and the Oscar-winner Charlize Theron (Monster, Prometheus) as ­Imperator Furiosa. – The National staff

China to produce its own Avatar film

China is preparing to produce its own 3-D fantasy movie on a par with the American blockbuster science-fiction drama ­Avatar. The movie, titled Bainiaoyi, is expected to start filming in May next year in Hengxian County, in China's Guangxi Zhuang ­region, and will debut in the ­regional capital Nanning at the end of 2016. The movie is based on folklore from the Zhuang ­ethnic ­minority and tells the story of a young man named Guka who seeks bainiaoyi, a type of magical clothing, and defeats an evil dragon that bullies the Zhuang community. The production team "includes special-­effects directors from Avatar and Pirates of the Caribbean as well as a scriptwriter from ­Terminator 2", says Zhao Song, the ­general manager of ­Beijing Chinese Century Media ­Company, which is producing the film. The Bainiaoyi tale has been listed by the Chinese ministry of culture as a national-level intangible cultural heritage. – IANS

Ali Zafar dons director’s hat

The Pakistani singer and actor Ali Zafar, who made his ­Bollywood debut in 2010 with the acclaimed comedy Tere Bin Laden, will now direct a short film. Zafar tweeted a photograph of himself on set on July 27 with the caption: "At my set as director." The Indian filmmaker Ali Abbas Zafar, who directed the actor alongside Imran Khan in 2011 in the Bollywood romcom Mere Brother Ki Dulhan, replied to his tweet saying: "@AliZafarsays All the best now there will be even more confusion about you and me as 'Directors'." Zafar thanked him and said: "@Aliabbaszafar haha. Thx buddy. This one is a short film." – IANS

Rihanna’s stalker arrested

Police have taken into custody a man who was stalking the pop star Rihanna. Kevin McGlynn, 53, was arrested on July 24 after leaving threatening notes at Rihanna's rented house in New York, reports femalefirst.co.uk. McGlynn was charged with stalking, menacing and harassment and held without bail after writing a string of insulting notes and delivering them twice, on July 1 and July 8. Rihanna was forced to put her estate in Pacific Palisades, California, on the market in May after owning it for just over a year as stalkers kept showing up ­unannounced. – The National staff