New Zealand Showbiz Latest News and Updates

Jurassic Park franchise star has spoken to various outlets about writing his new memoir, Did I Ever Tell You This?, which he credits with giving him a “reason to live” following his diagnosis in March 2022.He told The Guardian: “I realised it was actually sort of giving me a reason to live. I would go to bed thinking, ‘I’ll write about that tomorrow… that will entertain me.'”Neill told the BBC that he was diagnosed with “a ferocious type of aggressive” non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

EXCLUSIVE: Crunchyroll has tapped Nichole Sakura (Superstore) for the title role in the English-language dub of their acclaimed animated feature Suzume, which in addition to the original subtitled version, debuts in theaters in Australia and New Zealand on April 13, coming to the U.S., Canada, the UK and Ireland the following day.

The Great British Bake Off finally returns to our screens on Sunday, with a whole host of amateur bakers keen to impress judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith. However, unlike the usual contestants, the new series of GBBO is actually a celebrity special, and will once again be hoping to raise money for the Stand Up To Cancer appeal.

A fresh batch of stars are competing in a new series of The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up to Cancer.

Sir Rod Stewart said he been forced to cancel a performance in Australia due to being told he has a “viral infection”. The 78-year-old singer-songwriter, who has had six number one hits in the UK charts including Baby Jane and Maggie May, was due to sing at the venue A Day On The Green in Mt Duneed Estate, Geelong. He posted a statement on Twitter that he was “absolutely downhearted” to be “disappointing” fans and is working hard to return to the stage.

Sir Rod Stewart has been forced to cancel an upcoming performance in Australia due to a mystery illness. The 78-year-old was due to play in the city of Geelong alongside his support acts Cyndi Lauper and Jon Stevens, as part of his ongoing A Day On The Green tour.

Jurassic Park star Sam Neill revealed he must follow a lifelong chemotherapy treatment after being diagnosed — and beating — stage 3 blood cancer.

Katie Reul editor RLJE Films has acquired the North America, U.K., Ireland, Australia and New Zealand rights to “Sympathy for the Devil,” an upcoming psychological thriller starring Nicolas Cage (“Mandy”) and Joel Kinnaman (“The Suicide Squad” film series). An agreement was reached between RLJE Films chief acquisitions officer Mark Ward and Christian Mercuri’s Capstone Global, an international company in charge of the feature’s global sales. “This is our eighth collaboration with Nicolas Cage, which includes ‘Mandy’ — a critically-acclaimed film that has a huge cult following,” Ward said. “Once again, he doesn’t disappoint. In this film, Cage and Joel Kinnaman bring to life a suspenseful tale on screen that will keep audiences guessing.”

RLJE Films has acquired the Nicolas Cage-starring psychological thriller “Sympathy for the Devil” from worldwide sales agent Capstone Global.The AMC Networks subsidiary will distribute the film in North America, the U.K., Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, with a release date set for July 28, 2023.Co-starring Joel Kinnaman (“The Suicide Squad” 1 & 2, “Hanna”), “Sympathy for the Devil” tells the story of a man (Kinnaman) who is forced at gunpoint to drive a strange passenger (Cage) in a game of cat and mouse where everything is not as it seems. Yuval Adler (“Bethlehem,” “The Operative”) directed from a debut script by Luke Paradise.

RLJE Films has snapped up rights to the psychological thriller Sympathy for the Devil, starring Academy Award winner Nicolas Cage (Mandy) and Joel Kinnaman (Suicide Squad films), for North America, the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. Bringing the film to the AMC Networks business unit was Christian Mercuri’s Capstone Global, which is handling global sales. It’s set for release on July 28.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Chilean filmmaker Maite Alberdi’s documentary about love, memory and Alzheimer’s disease “The Eternal Memory” has scored a slew of international sales after making a splash at Sundance and Berlin. Dogwoof, the British sales company specialized in high-profile docs, has announced multiple deals on “Eternal Memory,” which won the Sundance Grand Jury Prize for World Documentary in January and was a recent standout at the Berlinale where it had its European bow. The hot doc is screening later this week at the CPH:DOX documentary film festival in Copenhagen. Dogwoof partnered with MTV Documentary Films to represent “The Eternal Memory” for international sales soon after its Sundance premiere. They have now scored sales on the doc to: Edge Entertainment (Nordics); Madman (Australia and New Zealand); Sherry Media (Canada); I Wonder Pictures (Italy); BTeam Pictures (Spain); Periscoop (Benelux); Atnine Film (South Korea); Synca (Japan); LEV (Israel), and Restart (Former Yugoslavia).

Liam Gallagher has bought Noel Edmonds’ mansion near Cannes on the French Riviera, it has been reported.According to The Sun, the former Oasis frontman turned soloist bought the three-floor, six-bedroom property for £3million this month.TV presenter Edmonds (Deal Or No Deal, Noel’s House Party) is said to have listed the house for £4million in 2018 before moving to New Zealand.The mansion – located in Grasse, the world’s perfume capital – reportedly features numerous engravings of Edmonds’ first name, which he shares with Liam’s estranged brother and former bandmate Noel Gallagher.“Liam’s been telling mates, ‘I’ve bought Mr Blobby’s house’,” a source said. “Him and [fiancé and manager] Debbie [Gwyther] plan to put their own stamp on it.

Pedro Pascal, one of the most popular actors at the moment and best known for his current roles in HBO’s ‘Last of Us’ and Disney+’s ‘The Mandalorian,’ attended the Oscars not only to present an award, also to support someone special in his life, his sister, Javiera Balmaceda.While Pedro has been in the spotlight a lot lately, his sibling also has a very successful career in the film industry. Javiera is a producer, and while she didn’t receive a nomination, she was part of several projects recognized throughout the awards ceremony.

Three Pines” has been by canceled by Prime Video after just one season. The streamer confirmed to Variety that it has opted not to bring the Alfred Molina-starring show back for another run following an eight-episode first season that wrapped on Dec. 23. “We are proud of the work done on the series and the opportunity to work with great partners,” a representative for Prime told Variety via email. “Three Pines” was produced by Sony Pictures Television-owned Left Bank Pictures and aired exclusively on Prime Video in Canada, U.S., U.K., Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Greenland. The series is based on Canadian author Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache series of novels, which take place in and around a remote, fictional Quebec village called Three Pines.

New Duke Of Edinburgh Opens Sky Studios Sound Stage

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Singapore’s Mocha Chai Laboratories and Emissary Pictures, a company that straddles New Zealand, Australia and Indonesia, have announced a strategic partnership for the development and production of cross-cultural films, series and content in Asia. The venture will have offices in all four countries and will identify, develop and produce content across genres and formats, including films, television series, documentaries and digital content. The agreement was announced in Hong Kong on the first day of the FilMart rights market. The pair say that they have scripted and unscripted projects in development and production. Slate details, however, remain under wraps as do distribution plans.

There are a lot of films based on personal experience at this year’s SXSW, and Billy Luther’s narrative feature debut is one of the few that actually makes you wish it could go on longer. Using his authentic experience as a rough map rather than a beat sheet, Luther hits on something very special here, exploring universal themes of childhood and family in ways that transcend the specificity of its setting. Taika Waititi’s involvement as executive producer is understandable, not because it reflects his recent success in bringing a more subversively silly strain of comedy to Marvel movies but because, in its lovely, understated it way, it has all the simple warmth and heart of the New Zealander’s earlier works.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Meta, parent of Facebook and Instagram, said it is considering launching a new Twitter-like social network. “We’re exploring a standalone, decentralized social network for sharing text updates. We believe there’s an opportunity for a separate space where creators and public figures can share timely updates about their interests,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement to Variety. The rep said the company had no additional info on the prospective social network to share. News site Moneycontrol first reported on the potential Meta service, which is code-named “P92.” The new Meta app would be based on — and interoperable with — the framework that powers Mastodon, a Twitter-like service that launched in 2016 and has seen a surge in popularity since Musk’s takeover of Twitter last October.

Cocaine Bear, B-movie production company Wide Eye Releasing have confirmed the release of Cocaine Shark – check out the official trailer above.The trailer sets the scene for Cocaine Shark, which sees a crime lord create a highly addictive drug using caged sharks.“A mafia drug lord has unleashed a new, highly addictive stimulant on the streets called HT25, derived from sharks held captive in a secret lab, and which causes monstrous side effects. After an explosion and leak at the lab, an army of mutated, bloodthirsty sharks and other creatures are set loose on the world,” reads a synopsis.The first poster for ‘COCAINE SHARK’ has been released.The movie hits digital platforms this July.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italian sales company True Colours has closed a raft of sales following Berlin’s European Film Market. Italy’s box office hit “La Stranezza” (“Strangeness”) got picked up for a dozen territories and queer romantic drama “Norwegian Dream” also sold widely, including to North America. Directed by Roberto Andò, “Strangeness” (pictured) toplines Toni Servillo (“The Great Beauty”) as Nobel-prize-winning playwright Luigi Pirandello. This tragicomic period piece about how Pirandello found inspiration to write his masterpiece “Six Characters in Search of an Author” has been a sleeper hit at the Italian box office, coming from nowhere to pull more than €5.5 million ($5.8 million) and becoming the local 2022 box office champ.

rare picture with her daughter Renee - and fans cannot believe how alike the two look."She looks just like you!" commented one follower on the picture, which showed Rachel, 53, with a fresh face and her blonde curly hair loose as she took the selfie with Renee sitting to her left and throwing her hands up in the air. Rachel and Renee reunited in New ZealandRachel wore a black tank top while Renee, 30, wore a white tank, and both had big smiles on their faces as the sun shone in through the window."Heart Burst," wrote Rachel, who welcomed Renee with ex-husband Rod Stewart. Fans called the two "beautiful" as another added: "She has your great smile!""You’re reunited.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Mk2 films has enlisted leading distributors around the world for “Reality,” Tina Satter’s feature debut starring Sydney Sweeney, on the heels of its buzzy world premiere at the Berlinale. The movie, which bowed in the Panorama section, stars Sweeney (“White Lotus,” “Euphoria”) as Reality Winner, a 25 year-old whistleblower who spent five years in prison during the Trump administration. A former U.S. Air Force member and National Security Agency translator, Winner was convicted for leaking a confidential report on Russian election interference to the media. The film is based on Satter’s 2019 stage play “Is This a Room” and contains verbatim dialogue from the unedited transcript of a FBI audio recording. “Reality” captures the tense and surreal 90 minutes of FBI’s interrogation with Winner at her home in 2017.

Harry Styles has brought back a long-running inside joke with his fans in the form of the jokey ‘Banana Song’ while in Auckland, New Zealand.While performing in Auckland on Tuesday (March 7), Styles broke out ‘The Banana Song’ from his archives after seeing multiple fans donning banana suits in the crowd. He would go on to extend the song, incorporating peas and aubergines into the mix.“She’s dressed as a banana / She’s dressed as a banana / Aye, aye aye,” Styles sang while increasing the count of banana suits in the crowd.

An uneasy moment. Peta Murgatroyd recalled being hesitant to celebrate her second pregnancy after a failed IVF attempt.

Harry Styles has explained why he posted then swiftly deleted a picture of himself wearing a One Direction t-shirt this weekend.On Sunday night (March 5), the singer shared a mirror selfie to his Instagram Story, in which he was wearing merchandise from the band’s ‘Up All Night Tour’ (2011 to 2012).Numerous Instagram accounts screenshotted the photo before it was quickly deleted, as fans were quick to speculate as to why he removed it.Several suggested it was possibly meant for his ‘close friends’ Instagram story, while ‘He Deleted It‘ also trended on Twitter.when I thought I was the only one stuck in the 1D fangirl era also he deleted it … pic.twitter.com/Ap6dfNsrsS— thewalkingredflag (@twrf_) March 6, 2023The former One Direction singer has now explained what actually happened, telling the crowd at Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand during his ‘Love On Tour’ show yesterday (March 7), that it was an “accident”.“I guess some of us have secrets,” he said during an interaction with a fan.

While it's nothing new, and we're certainly not complaining, Harry Styles' name is inescapable right now.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Autlook Filmsales has sold “Smoke Sauna Sisterhood,” which won the directing award for Anna Hints in the World Cinema Documentary section at Sundance, to more than 20 territories in North America, Europe and Australia. Deals are confirmed with Neue Visionen in Germany, Trigon in Switzerland, Against Gravity in Poland, Fidalgo in Norway, Ost For Paradise in Denmark, Vedetta in Benelux, Filmtrade in Greece and Cyprus, FilmIn in Spain, Alambique in Portugal, Filmladen in Austria, Pasaka Films in Lithuania, Artcam in Czech Rep. and Slovak Rep., Best Film in Latvia, Mozinet in Hungary, and Madman in Australia and New Zealand. The rights in U.S. have been picked up by Greenwich Entertainment and in Canada by Sherry Media Group. The theatrical release in Estonia is by ACME Film.

Sam Heughan has teased the second season of his highly anticipated show Men In Kilts alongside Graham McTavish.

Ed Sheeran, Snoop Dogg and Russell Crowe have been pictured hanging out together in Melbourne, Australia.Last week, Sheeran played two consecutive nights at Melbourne Cricket Ground as part of his 2023 ‘+ – = ÷ x’ Australia and New Zealand tour (March 2, 3). Snoop, meanwhile, is Down Under for a run of ‘I Wanna Thank Me’ headline shows.Images and footage have since emerged of the two artists partying backstage at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne on Saturday night (March 4) after Snoop performed the first of two gigs at the venue (via Joe).The pair were with actor Crowe next to two tables filled with Red Solo Cups, a glass of green buds, numerous burned out rolled cigarettes and a what appears to be Snoop’s setlist.In a 30-second video, Snoop jokes that Sheeran will be stealing “all your drink” and “smoking all your weed”.

The timing may have been tres suspicious, but supposedly Justin Bieber canceling his tour had absolutely nothing to do with his wife Hailey Bieber’s resurfaced drama with Selena Gomez!

Just passing through town. Riverdale has made a name for itself with plenty of wild story lines, chaotic plot twists and surprising A-list guest stars.

While it's nothing new, and we're certainly not complaining, Harry Styles' name is inescapable right now.

Ashnikko has announced their debut album ‘WEEDKILLER’ and shared details of a huge world tour for 2023 – find all the details below.The album will be released on June 2 via Parlophone, and will be available to pre-order from today (March 2) at 6pm GMT from here.“My bioluminescent heart is glowing. My post-apocalyptic fae world is here for you to journey into,” Ashnikko shared in a statement.

Justin Bieber is cutting his world tour short.

Travis Barker is having surgery on his injured finger today (March 1) before heading out on tour with Blink-182 next week.Barker injured himself last month while rehearsing for the upcoming tour, dislocating it and tearing the ligaments while playing the drums. He then said he had hurt it again a couple of weeks later.Yesterday (February 28), he shared a video to Instagram in which someone put his finger back in place, alongside a photo of him with his injured finger in a brace with the caption ‘Surgery tomorrow’.A post shared by travisbarker (@travisbarker)The surgery should mean that the band’s upcoming tour, their first with Tom DeLonge since he rejoined the band in October after seven years away, will be able to proceed.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Corporate synergy! Crunchyroll, the global anime streaming service owned by Sony, is now just a button press away for owners of Sony’s 2023 Bravia lineup of HDTVs. Crunchyroll, which has more than 10 million paid subscribers, provides more than 18,000 hours of anime content comprising more than 44,000 episodes and feature films. In addition to a dedicated button to launch the Crunchyroll app on Bravia TVs, the remote control for the new models include buttons for Netflix, Disney+, Amazon’s Prime Video and Google’s YouTube. “Anime is a global phenomenon, and this partnership between Sony Corporation and Crunchyroll will make anime available faster than ever before,” commented Rahul Purini, President of Crunchyroll. “We’re excited for fans worldwide to use the Crunchyroll button on Bravia remote controls to enjoy their favorite anime series, welcoming them into our community.”