Zee Asks for Date Extension to Complete Merger With Sony

(Updated 5:07 PM PT with statement from RFK Jr gala organizers) The arguably greatest fictional TV POTUS ever is not endorsing the White House bid of Robert Kennedy Jr., and Martin Sheen sure as hell isn’t showing up as a warm prop at any RFK Jr fundraiser anytime soon.

Simon, Lord Lovat got the axe.The Scottish Jacobite was the last person to be beheaded in England, in 1747 — and the Oscar winner, 59, is apparently his descendant.Crowe took to X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday to reveal that he’s related to the late, great chief of Clan Fraser of Lovat, who was executed for high treason in the 18th century. The “Beautiful Mind” star added that he had “been on the hunt to track down my Italian forebears” for a while now and has been researching his linage, which has led him down “a number of wrong tracks.”He explained that his great-great-great grandfather on his mother’s side was one Luigi Ghezzi.Ghezzi, who at one point worked in Argentina, later left on a ship bound to India.

Kathy McDonald Palm Springs reigns as the undisputed, retro-chic capital of laid-back luxury. New restaurants, boutique hotels and revamped downtown, the Agua Caliente Cultural Plaza, includes a spring-fed, 73,000-square-foot deluxe spa. Here’s a taste of what’s around and to come: Thompson Palm SpringsThe 168-room Thompson Palm Springs is slated to open later this year above a highly visible corner in the Uptown Design District, complete with a chef-driven Mediterranean restaurant, pool area with stunning mountain views and a streetside tasting room from Napa Valley’s prestigious Hall Wines.

Lawmen Bass Reeves trailer has just arrived. The series is the new one from Yellowstone and Tulsa King creator Taylor Sheridan and will be released onto the Paramount+ streaming service very soon.

A popular Indian restaurant and takeaway has shared its sadness after 30 customers failed to show for pre-booked meals on Christmas Day, leaving the business out of pocket and with a huge amount of food waste.

Disney has taken another big step toward realigning its India strategy. The company has signed a non-binding term sheet with Reliance Industries that would see the two merge their Indian operations, the completion of which would create one of India’s biggest entertainment empires. The news was first reported by The Economic Times.

James Nesbitt is often cast as murder-solving detectives in TV dramas, but this December he’s playing a criminal with a festive twist in Sky’s film The Heist Before Christmas. The Bloodlands star is donning a Santa suit and robbing a bank in this Northern Ireland comedy - and admits that the role is a welcome break from his steady diet of dramas.

Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire saw $2.5 million in Thursday previews as the Telugu action thriller opens in about 800 locations in North America. Bollywood Superstar Shah Ruhk Kan toplines drama Dunki, his third film of the year after Pathaan and Jawan, both in the top ten of India’s highest-grossing films.

EXCLUSIVE: Streamers are slowly coming around in supplying viewing results, especially when the news is good. Apple has some good news.  

Laura Anderson and Gary Lucy have once again sparked reconciliation rumours as they appeared to enjoy a festive date night in Glasgow.

If you struggle to sleep, doing 20 minutes of yoga before hitting the hay could lead to a better snooze.

EXCLUSIVE: Disney+ Hotstar is going behind the curtains of Bollywood.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Neha Dhupia (“A Thursday”) and Adil Hussain (“Life of Pi”) will star in Egyptian director Ali El Arabi‘s upcoming drama “Blue 52,” about a young Indian soccer fan’s journey as a migrant worker to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. El Arabi’s “Blue 52” chronicles the true tale of a young man named Ashish, who is a fervent soccer fan.

The doors of the Love Island villa will be reopening as past contestants return for a second shot at finding the one. As the anticipated date of Love Island All Stars 2024 edges closer there's already been a rumoured lineup, welcoming back some of our favourite stars. In a teaser clip for Love Island: All-Stars, it was confirmed that Maya Jama, 29, who presented the winter and summer 2023 series of the hit ITV2 show, will return to host the new series.

EXCLUSIVE: Writer-director Adam Sherman (This Game’s Called Murder) has set the cast for his newest indie feature, the horror comedy Vampires of the Velvet Lounge. Mena Suvari (American Beauty) and Dichen Lachman (Severance) lead the ensemble, which also includes Stephen Dorff (Blade), Rosa Salazar (Alita: Battle Angel), Lochlyn Munro (Peacemaker), India Eisley (I Am the Night), Sarah Dumont (Scout’s Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse), Mark Boone Jr. (Sons of Anarchy), Tom Berenger (Platoon), Timothy V. Murphy (The Fabulous Four), Sherman Augustus (Strangers Things) and Tyrese Gibson (Fast & Furious franchise).

Naman Ramachandran Four BBC India staff members have quit and formed a new entity, Collective Newsroom, in order to comply with India’s strict foreign direct investment (FDI) in media rules. The Indian government’s cap on FDI investment in digital news outfits is 26%. BBC World Service India is 99% owned by the BBC.

The third annual Red Sea Film Festival handed out its Yusr Awards on Thursday night, with Zarrar Kahn’s In Flames taking Best Feature and Farah Nabulsi’s The Teacher scoring a pair of wins including Best Actor for Saleh Bakri. See the full list below.

Nick Holdsworth At the closing ceremony of the 3rd edition of the Red Sea Film Festival Thursday, which took place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in front of an audience that included Hollywood stars Nicolas Cage, Gwyneth Paltrow, Halle Berry, Jason Statham and Adrien Brody, the Golden Yusr for best film and a $100,000 cash prize went to Pakistani-Canadian horror film “In Flames,” directed by Zarrar Kahn. The director said that the indie movie was shot for “just $300,000 — the size of a Red Sea Fund production grant.” He urged “everyone who gets a grant to go make a movie, because this was made for nothing.” The Silver Yusr prize for best feature film went to Tarsem Singh for “Dear Jassi.” The film, an India/Canada/U.S.

In a village in the Indian state of Jharkhand, Ranjit and his wife Jiganti keep vigil at night over their home, a simple dwelling with packed-earth floors. If they don’t, anything could happen: Their neighbors have threatened to kill the couple and their children.

Naman Ramachandran The first image that the word ‘Bollywood’ conjures up is one of song and dance. And Netflix’s “The Archies” promises to be a prime example of that. “The Archies” is a 1960s-set feature film adaptation of the Archie comics, which are hugely popular on the Indian subcontinent.