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  • Thursday, Jan. 16, 2014
Pepsi announces its troops for World Cup cola wars
The Sept. 10, 2013 file photo shows Argentina's Lionel Messi on during a 2014 World Cup qualifying soccer game against Paraguay in Asuncion, Paraguay. (AP Photo/Andre Penner, file)
LONDON (AP) -- 

Pepsi and Coke are slugging it out around the most global of stages: this summer's World Cup in Brazil.

With Coca-Cola as an ongoing main sponsor for the World Cup, Pepsi is again launching an attempt to draw attention to its own brand with major figures from the sport — without mentioning the every-four-year event, of course.

For the third tournament, Coca-Cola has been taking the World Cup trophy around the world in a highly publicized tour. Pepsi announced Thursday that its campaign would include Argentina forward Lionel Messi and 18 rivals including Brazil defender David Luiz, Netherlands striker Robin Van Persie and U.S. attacker Clint Dempsey. The superstars also include England midfielder Jack Wilshere, Spain defender Sergio Ramos and Belgium defender Vincent Kompany.

Some of the stars play together for their clubs as well as joining in the advertising campaign. Argentina striker Sergio More

  • Thursday, Jan. 16, 2014
Redford OK with Oscar snub, focused on Sundance
Robert Redford, founder and president of the Sundance Institute, addresses reporters during the opening news conference of the 2014 Sundance Film Festival on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2014 in Park City, Utah. The independent film festival runs Jan. 16-26, 2014. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)
By Sandy Cohen, Entertainment Writer
PARK CITY, Utah (AP) -- 

Robert Redford is far more excited about the beginning of the 30th Sundance Film Festival than concerned about his Oscar snub for "All is Lost."

The 77-year-old actor-director-producer discussed the Academy Award nominations Thursday on the first day of the independent film festival in Park City, Utah.

Redford is the only actor in the film, playing a shipwreck survivor struggling to stay alive.

He said he loved the experience of making the movie and said it "gave me the chance as an actor to go back to my roots." The film "suffered from little to no distribution," he said, and had no campaign to help it reach mainstream audiences and Oscar voters.

"Would it have been wonderful to be nominated? Of course," Redford said. "But I'm not disturbed by it or upset by it... I was so happy to be able to do this film because it was independent."

The Sundance Film Festival continues through More

  • Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014
Quarter of 'Wolf of Wall Street' cut in Dubai
This image released by NBC shows Leonardo DiCaprio accepting the award for best actor in a motion picture comedy for his role in "The Wolf of Wall Street" during the 71st annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Sunday, Jan. 12, 2014, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP Photo/NBC, Paul Drinkwater)
By Aya Batrawy
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- 

About 45 minutes have been cut from the nearly 3-hour high-finance extravaganza "The Wolf of Wall Street" for Dubai audiences, or a quarter of the film, leaving many viewers disappointed and confused about the sequence of events.

The cuts come as the movie has drawn criticism even from film critics in more liberal countries for its portrayal of drugs, sex and money. Detractors say the film glorifies unchecked greed, includes full nudity and is loaded with a reported record for F- bombs in a movie - more than 500.

Moviegoers said all profanities were bleeped out from the Martin Scorsese movie featuring Leonardo DiCaprio. One woman wrote on the Facebook page for Reel Cinemas, which operates two theaters in Dubai, that she and her friend walked out after about 40 minutes because they felt the movie was simply incoherent and unwatchable.

It is standard policy across most of the Middle East for More

  • Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014
Kristen Stewart 'terrified' to film 'Equals'
In this March 23, 2013 file photo, actress Kristen Stewart arrives at the 26th annual Nickelodeon's Kids' Choice Awards, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)
By Jessica Herndon, Film Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- 

Kristen Stewart has signed on to play the lead in "Like Crazy" director Drake Doremus' futuristic love story "Equals," and it's making her a nervous wreck.

"I can't believe I agreed to do it," said the "Twilight" actress about her upcoming role in the sci-fi drama, which also stars Nicholas Hoult of the upcoming "X-Men: Days of Future Past."

Stewart describes "Equals" as a slightly updated version of the 1956 film "1984," based on George Orwell's classic 1949 novel about rebellion in a repressed futuristic society. "Equals" begins filming later this year.

"I'm terrified of it," said the 23-year-old actress in a recent interview. "Though it's a movie with a really basic concept, it's overtly ambitious."

"In 'Equals,' things go wrong because you can't deny the humanity in everyone," said Stewart. "It's the most devastating story."

Adds Doremus of his sixth film: "It's about love in More

  • Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014
Billy Bob Thornton says TV's a haven for actors
Billy Bob Thornton arrives at the Fox All-Star Party on Monday, Jan. 13, 2014, at the Langham Hotel in Pasadena, Calif. (Photo by Richard Shotwell Invision/AP)
By Lynn Elber, Television Writer
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) -- 

Billy Bob Thornton said actors who want to work on sophisticated projects are finding them in television and not film.

He's proving the point with a starring role in the upcoming FX series "Fargo," inspired by the 1996 Joel and Ethan Coen movie.

Thornton told a Television Critics Association meeting Tuesday that while Hollywood studios churn out action movies, broad comedies and "movies where apparently vampires are all models," TV offers the kind of insightful work once common in films.

He says that's why peers like Kevin Costner, Dennis Quaid and Kevin Bacon have turned to television.

"The entertainment business can pretend all they want, but the movie world has changed drastically, particularly in the last five or six years," said Thornton, who won a best-screenplay Oscar for "Sling Blade" and was nominated for his role in the 1996 film.

"If you want to be an actor, get on a More

  • Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014
Oscars to celebrate big-screen heroes
In this Feb. 25, 2012 file photo, a Oscar statue is seen on the red carpet before the 84th Academy Awards in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File)
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- 

It's a bird. It's a plane. It's the Oscars?

The producers of the 86th annual Academy Awards say this year's ceremony will honor big-screen, real-life heroes, superheroes, popular heroes and animated heroes — both past and present — as well as the filmmakers who bring them to life.

Oscar producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron said Tuesday that they want to unify the March 2 show with an entertaining and emotional theme. They also teased that the Dolby Theatre ceremony will feature comedy from host Ellen DeGeneres, as well as a few musical surprises.

  • Monday, Jan. 13, 2014
EU antitrust body probes US film studio contracts
European Commissioner for Competition Joaquin Almunia gestures while speaking during a media conference at EU headquarters in Brussels, Monday, Jan. 13, 2014. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
By Juergen Baetz
BRUSSELS (AP) -- 

The European Union's antitrust watchdog is investigating whether major U.S. film studios' practice of selling rights to European pay TV broadcasters for only one country at a time is hurting competition.

The studios typically demand clauses in their contracts with European pay TV broadcasters limiting film rights to only their home country, rather than across the EU's 28 states. The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, said Monday it is investigating the legality of such clauses.

"Such provisions might constitute an infringement of EU antitrust rules," said Commissioner Joaquin Almunia, the bloc's antitrust chief. "More and more European citizens watch films, use pay TV services broadcast by satellite and increasingly available through online streaming," he told reporters in Brussels.

The probe covers Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. studio, Comcast Corp.'s NBCUniversal, Viacom Inc.'s More

  • Sunday, Jan. 12, 2014
WGN America tackles 10 Commandments
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) -- 

The Bible is still hot, at least as a television property.

The WGN America network said Sunday that it has ordered a 10-part series, "Ten Commandments," with a unique twist. Over 10 nights, 10 different filmmakers will take on a single commandment with a modern interpretation of its meaning. Five filmmakers already committed for episodes are Gus Van Zant, Lee Daniels, Jim Sheridan, Wes Craven and Michael Cera. Bob Weinstein and Bruce Cohen are producers.

WGN America is available in about 75 million American homes, or about two-thirds of the country.

The network is not saying when these films will be ready to air.

  • Friday, Jan. 10, 2014
"Girls" producers take on nudity, diversity issues
Lena Dunham on stage during the "Girls" panel discussion at the HBO portion of the 2014 Winter Television Critics Association tour at the Langham Hotel on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014 in Pasadena, Calif. (Photo by Richard Shotwell Invision/AP)
By Lynn Elber, Television Writer
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) -- 

The nudity that's a part of HBO's "The Girls" has raised eyebrows. A question about it raised the ire of the show's producers.

At a Thursday session with the Television Critics Association to promote the comedy's new season, a reporter asked Lena Dunham, the show's creator, executive producer and star, why her character was so often naked and for no apparent reason.

"It's because it's a realistic expression of what it's like to be alive, I think, and I totally get it," Dunham replied. "If you are not into me, that's your problem, and you are going to have to kind of work that out."

Filmmaker Judd Apatow (the "Anchorman" movies, "The 40-Year-Old Virgin"), who's an executive producer of the show about 20-something friends, jumped in, asking the reporter if he had a girlfriend and suggesting she wouldn't appreciate his question.

At another point in the session, producer Jenni Konner said More

  • Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014
EU antitrust body approves Omnicom-Publicis merger
BRUSSELS (AP) -- 

The European Union's antitrust authority has approved the merger of Omnicom and Publicis, clearing a deal that will create the world's largest advertising firm.

The European Commission, the 28-nation bloc's competition watchdog, said Thursday the merger raises no significant antitrust concerns thanks to the presence of other large competitors and the advertising and communication market's bidding nature.

Omnicom Group Inc., based in New York, and France's Publicis Groupe SA have said they are combining in a "merger of equals" that will create the Publicis Omnicom Group, a firm worth more than $35 billion.

Omnicom owns BBDO Worldwide, DDB Worldwide Communications Group and TBWA Worldwide, among other agencies. Paris-based Publicis runs its namesake agency as well as Leo Burnett Worldwide, Saatchi & Saatchi and DigitasLBi.

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