It's the film you can't knock out. A big-budget movie starring Will Smith as boxing legend Muhammad Ali is back in the ring at Columbia Pictures after reports that it was down for the count.
Director Michael Mann and producer Jon Peters have struck a deal with Columbia to keep the
project alive, days after top executives at the studio had shelved Ali over financial concerns.
Smith, the star of such blockbusters as Men in Black and Independence Day, reportedly regards the portrayal of Ali as the role of a lifetime.
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Meanwhile Ali and Arnold Schwarzenegger flexed their muscles to help to raise $US1.5 million ($3.75 million) for charity in an auction of celebrities' watches in New York this week.
The actor and the boxing champ were the hosts of the Christie's sale that featured Audemars Piguet timepieces worn and signed by them and by Mariah Carey, Jon Bon Jovi, Sophia Loren, Sharon Stone and about 30 other movie stars, singers and athletes.
Schwarzenegger's titanium and 18-carat gold chronograph wristwatch from the Royal Oak collection topped the bidding at $1 million. Ali's 18-carat pink gold watch from the Jules Audemars collection sold for $620,000.
Watches belonging to Loren and Stone sold for $200,000 each.
A bonus lot was added to the auction when Schwarzenegger took off the watch he was wearing, a prototype he wore during filming of his newest movie, The Sixth Day. It sold for $85,000.
The buyers were collectors, socialites and celebrities, Christie's said.
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Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello say America's big Macy's department store chain is kicking sand in their face.
The former stars of the 60s beach party movies are suing Macy's for using their photos in a brochure without their permission. Avalon, 60, and Funicello, 58, claim they have suffered embarrassment and humiliation. They want the photos removed and payment of at least $700,000 each.
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Sir John Gielgud left an estate worth nearly £1.5 million ($5.6 million), much of which will go to charity. The stage and screen star, renowned as one of Britain's greatest performers, died in May at the age of 96. In his will he made legacies to friends and charities such as RADA, the Actors' Charitable Trust and the King George V Fund for Actors and Actresses.
The bulk of the estate will go to general charitable causes chosen at the executors' discretion.
- NZPA
<i>Showbiz:</i> Movie about Ali still looks pretty
It's the film you can't knock out. A big-budget movie starring Will Smith as boxing legend Muhammad Ali is back in the ring at Columbia Pictures after reports that it was down for the count.
Director Michael Mann and producer Jon Peters have struck a deal with Columbia to keep the
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