City Media Showbiz Latest News and Updates

The Queen last visited Greater Manchester just over 12 months ago - including a special visit to one of the region's most iconic institutions.

Coronation Street star Millie Gibson has penned an emotional farewell message to fans as she prepares to exit the soap after four years. Millie, 18, who played Kelly Neelan, hosted friends to a leaving bash after announcing her departure. The actress, who won the British Soap Award for Best Young Actor in 2022, took to Instagram and shared a heartfelt message to her fans, thanking them for their support.

Coronation Street after more than three years on the ITV soap, and it’s all getting incredibly emotional. A Weatherfield regular ever since the summer of 2019, Millie, 18, joined the series as Kelly Neelan, the daughter of Rick and (Greg Wood) and Laura (Kel Allen). She joined the series after Rick’s death at the hands of Gary Windass (Mikey North), and was eventually fostered by Toyah Battersby (Georgia Taylor) and Imran Habeeb (Charlie de Melo).

These are your Manchester United evening headlines for Wednesday, August 10.

Manchester United fans are set to protest against the Glazer family's ownership on Sunday ahead of the start of the Premier League season.

Data shows that a quarter of the city's Bee Bikes have gone missing and not been found since the launch of the scheme last November.

EXCLUSIVE: Dominic Purcell (DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow), Nick Stahl (Let The Right One In), Kate Bosworth (Superman Returns), and Mel Gibson (Braveheart) are set to lead thriller Informant.

Bondit’s Buffalo 8 has hired Adam Harris Engelhard as head of production and B8 Services.

EXCLUSIVE: Buffalo 8 has struck a $15-million deal with BarBHouse Productions for production, post and distribution on three features. News of the strategic partnership follows the recent Tribeca premiere of BarBHouse’s acclaimed horror feature, A Wounded Fawn. Films to be made under the deal include the horror Mr. Yokai, the psychological thriller Bait and Switch and the fantasy pic Watermark.

A car flipped onto its side at a busy roundabout in south Manchester on Wednesday afternoon. The incident sparked a huge emergency services response on Birchfields Road (A34), in Fallowfield, shortly before 1.30pm.

EXCLUSIVE: Vertical Entertainment has locked down worldwide rights to the comedy The Donor Party, toplined by Malin Åkerman (Chick Fight), Rob Corddry (The Unicorn), Erinn Hayes (Gaslit) and Jerry O’Connell (Billions). The company’s plans for the recently-wrapped pic’s release have not yet been disclosed.

Rail bosses are under pressure to reinstate a ‘full service’ from parts of Stockport to Manchester city centre with angry commuters complaining of overcrowded trains and a timetable that makes juggling work and family commitments a near impossibility. Northern has cut the number of trains between New Mills and Manchester Piccadilly at peak times - a move campaigners say is causing ‘real issues’ for commuters in places such as Marple, Bredbury and Reddish.

Naman Ramachandran India’s Kamal Haasan is a true multi-hyphenate. Beginning as a child actor in 1960, he is one of the country’s most consummate actors with films like “Pathinaru Vayathinile” (1977) “Moondram Pirai” (1982) “Nayakan” (1987), “Thevar Magan” (1992) and “Vishwaroopam” (2013) behind him.He also produces via his Raajkamal Films International (RKFI), writes, directs, and runs the  Makkal Needhi Maiam political party.The upcoming “Vikram,” directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj (“Master”) and costarring Fahadh Fasil (“Maalik”) Vijay Sethupathi (“Kadaisi Vivasayi”), will be Haasan’s first release since 2018’s “Vishwaroopam 2.” It is produced by RKFI.Haasan was at the Cannes Market to launch NFTs based on “Vikram” from Fantico, a digital licensed platform of Singapore’s Vistas Media Capital.

Naman Ramachandran Indian activist filmmaker Pa. Ranjith has revealed an extensive production slate featuring top stars and socially relevant themes.Ranjith was at the Cannes Film Market, where he revealed “Vettuvam”, a linked film and TV series, a co-production between his and Aditi Anand’s Neelam Studios and Golden Ratio Films, the film production arm of Vistas Media Capital.First up for Ranjith is “Natchathiram Nagargirathu,” starring Dushara Vijayan (“Sarpatta Parambarai”), Kalaiyarasan Harikrishnan (“Kuthiraivaal”) and Kalidas (“Paava Kadhaigal”). The film is set against the backdrop of the Tamil-language theater scene and explores different facets of love that go beyond gender, and includes straight and LGBTQ+ romances, Ranjith says.

Saban Films has taken global rights to the John Travolta and Stephen Dorff feature, American Metal.

Naman Ramachandran Toronto-headquartered animation outfit Paperboat Animation Studios has revealed a new slate.The slate is led by “Kabuliwala: Man from Kabul,” a 3D animated feature based on the classic short story by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore. The story, which has already been adapted several times as live-action features, tells the story of the bond between a 6-year-old girl from Kolkata, India, and an immigrant hawker from Kabul, Afghanistan.Paperboat co-founder and chief creative director Soumitra Ranade, whose credits include “Bombay Rose” and “The World of Goopy and Bagha,” adapted the story and will direct.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaWestEnd Films has closed a series of new deals on “Out of the Blue,” an upcoming thriller that brings together Neil LaBute and Diane Kruger.Rights for the film, which LaBute writes and directs, have gone to Australia and New Zealand (Kismet Movies), France (Metropolitan Filmexport), Germany (Koch Films), Spain (A Contracorriente Films), Italy (Eagle Pictures), Middle East (Phoenicia Pictures) Israel (Forum Film), Poland (Galapagos Films), Greece (Spentzos Film), former Yugoslavia (Investacommerce) and Portugal (Nos Lusomundo). WestEnd is also sharing a moody first-look image.Kruger, best known for her performances in “Inglourious Basterds” and “Troy,” leads an ensemble that also includes Ray Nicholson (“Promising Young Woman”), Hank Azaria (“Love & Other Drugs”) and Chase Sui Wonders (“Genera+ion”).

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefIndian activist filmmaker Pa. Ranjith is to begin production later this year on “Vettuvam” (aka “The Hunted”), a linked film and TV series about standing up to injustice and which is largely set in a prison.The projects are backed by Golden Ratio Films, the film production arm of Vistas Media Capital, and Neelam Studios.The story involves a rural gangster, who is a modern day Robin Hood to his people, but who turns himself in to the police in order to avoid his enemies.

EXCLUSIVE: Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Laura Nyro, one of the most revered singer-songwriters of the 20thcentury, will be the subject of an upcoming documentary from Vistas Media Capital.

EXCLUSIVE: Singapore-based Indian financier Vistas Media Capital has launched a North American division to be run by film industry vet Ben Waisbren.

A drone is to be flown above Salford Quays to pinpoint the best place to install a nesting tray for peregrine falcons. It is hoped the move will help a pair who have tried to breed since 2017 have a family.

Rachel Riley was spotted leaving the Countdown studio with husband Pasha Kovalev and their daughter, after opening up about the abuse she receives on social media.The TV star, 36, and her Strictly Come Dancing dancer husband Pasha, 42, are the proud parents of two children - Maven, two, and Noa, five months. And the couple, who married in 2019, looked in good spirits as they left the TV studio, with the family wearing a array of contrasting outfits.

Plans to create a £26m food and drink venue at Media City have been scaled back, it has been revealed. Peel L&P’s revised proposals would now see the firm invest £5m to build a waterside venue at the Quayside shopping centre's southern walkway.

The E-scooter trial in Salford has been extended until November 2022 after a successful start with 180,000 trips made so far.

EXCLUSIVE: Jason Patric (Speed 2) and Cam Gigandet (Twilight) have been set to star in action-thriller movie Shrapnel.

A company heading up the regeneration of Droylsden has outlined its vision for how the town’s shopping centre can succeed – and it’s not through becoming dominated by bars.

Trams are disrupted in and around Salford Quays this evening, after a car crashed on the tracks.

EXCLUSIVE: Police officer turned video game writer and technical director Morley Nelson (MIB: Alien Crisis, The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct) is currently in production in Minnesota on Uncontained, a horror-thriller that he is directing from his original screenplay.

Redbox Entertainment and Red Sea Media have signed world rights to the action-adventure film King Of Killers, based on the graphic novel of the same name.