Tom Arnold finally joins the league of DAD's.

Actor-comedian, Tom Arnold, 54, and his wife Ashley Groussman, 37, welcomed their first child on Saturday.

"We are still in a bit of shock," the couple told People. "It has been a long journey and the healthy birth of our son is a miracle."

The Roseanne star also tweeted a joke about becoming a first-time father later in life, "Game Changer: Jax Copeland Arnold. 8lbs 12oz. Looking forward to being a 70 year old Little League Coach".

Tom confirmed that the couple had named the baby boy Jax Copeland Arnold.

He was born at 9.53am weighing 8lb 12oz and is 21 inches long.

Family friend and Arnold Schwarzenegger's ex wife Maria Shriver and their daughter Katherine Schwarzenegger took to twitter to congratulate the pair.

Maria tweeted: "Bravo, you guys! You'll have a blast."

Groussman is Arnold's fourth wife. Arnold, who has no previous children from his marriages to former wives Roseanne Barr, Julie Lynn Champnella and Shelby Roos -- has been candid about his struggles with infertility.

"I’ve tried with other people, but since there is a God we were unable to conceive. Now God said, ‘This is it!’" Arnold told People in January.

"Harlem Shake" -- as we all know it, began to lose its shine from mid-feb as google trends indicate here.

New York Times has now reported that, two coined phrases in the song "Do the Harlem Shake!" and "Con los terrorists," already exist in a song composed by retired reggaeton artist Hector Delgado and Philadelphia rapper Jayson Musson in late 2001.

They're now seeking compensation from Baauer's label, Mad Decent Records.

According to the report, Musson found out that his "Harlem Shake!" line was being sampled in Baauer's song in late February. The snippet comes from the song "Miller Time," recorded in 2001 by the group Plastic Little. Hear the sample at 3:54:

Musson has been in friendly talks with Mad Decent to receive compensation for the sample and he even called Baauer to thank him for "doing something useful with our annoying music."

"Mad Decent have been more than cooperative during this," Musson told the Times.

As for Delgado, who gave up music five years ago to become a preacher, his former manager, Javier Gómez, called three weeks ago to inform him of the "Harlem Shake" phenomenon. In contrast with Musson, Delgado is taking a harder stance about the use of his "terrorists" line, which can be heard on the track "Los Terroristas" at the :20 mark:

"It's almost like they came on my land and built a house," Delgado told the Times.

Under the stage names Hector El Father and Hector Bambino, Delgado has sold 294,000 songs and 193,000 albums in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan. He's had three albums reach the top four on the Latin Albums chart, including "The Bad Boy," his highest-charting with a No. 2 peak in 2006. On Hot Latin Songs, he's charted 11 hits, including three top 10s (one of which went to No. 1 - "Sola" in 2007).

Lawyers for Delgado's former label, Machete Music, are in talks with Mad Decent over payment. Gomez insisted that Delgado will "get what he deserves. We can turn around and stop that song. That’s a clear breaking of intellectual property right."

Baauer, real name Harry Bauer Rodrigues, created the song in early 2012 during a "lazy day" in his Brooklyn bedroom. The sequence of events were documented in a recent Billboard cover story:

He gave the track the booty-popping BPM of hip-hop with the buildup/drop arc of dance music, plus Dutch house synth riffs, a rap sample, animal noises and drum'n'bass-inspired sub-bass-an unlikely collection of inspirations, cultural moments and sounds, coming together in one killer basement party. When it was done, he did what any 23-year-old would do: "I put it online, just to show people."

After that, it all happened fairly quickly for Baauer. Scottish DJ Rustie dropped "Harlem" in his April 2012 "Essential Mix" for BBC Radio 1. SoundCloud crawler Diplo heard it and snapped it up for Jeffree's, an imprint under his Mad Decent umbrella built to push out singles and EPs from fledgling artists. As an intern for New York-based label/DJ collective Trouble & Bass, Baauer went to the Ultra Music Festival in Miami that March and met his future managers, Ben Persky and Mason Klein of Mixed Management, who already had buzzy artists like RL Grime in their stable and investment from Complete Control, Tiesto's former management team. He sent them demos, including "Harlem Shake." They signed him two days later.

Since early February, "Shake" has risen to pop culture prominence thanks to the song's hugely popular meme (in which a person dances to the song alone for 15 seconds before others join in for the clip's second half). Aided by the addition of YouTube streaming data in calculating the Hot 100, "Shake" has spent three weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100. But people are also buying it: the song has sold 816,000 copies through March 3.

Sony said in a statement on tuesday, that it will release Russell's untitled Abscam film in a limited release on Dec. 13 before nationwide release on Christmas Day.

The film is produced and financially backed by Megan Ellison's Annapurna Pictures and Charles Roven's Atlas Entertainment.

The film stars Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, Christian Bale, Jeremy Renner, Amy Adams and Louis C.K.

The film is inspired by the famous FBI sting operation that implicated a number of Capitol Hill lawmakers in a scheme exchanging money for political favors in the late 1970s and early ’80s.

In a earlier precedented move, Warner Bros. has bought the rights for Julie Kibler's book Calling Me Home for an adaptation to be produced by Roy Lee of Vertigo Entertainment.

This seems to be studio's newfound willingness to seek out the adult audience that made Argo a best picture Oscar winner and financial hit and goes against its tradition of developing big spectacles.

The studio and Lee are now seeking a writer to adapt the book.

The book is described as a cross between Driving Miss Daisy and The Help, and Warners’ development is noteworthy in two ways.

Kibler is repped by Jody Hotchkiss of Hotchkiss and Associates and the Elizabeth Weed Agency.

Pictured Below is the author Julie Kibler

Drew Barrymore has signed Sandler's untitled romantic comedy with Warner Bros.

Plot focuses on a man and a woman who, after a disastrous first date, get trapped at a family resort with their kids from previous marriages in tow. An attraction begins to grow despite comedic mishaps.

We all remember the pairing of Sandler-Barrymore in The Wedding Singer (1998) and 50 First Dates (2004) -- which were immensly appreciated by all section of critics as well as movie-goers.

Marcus Sakey's upcoming novel 'Brilliance' has found its way to the Legendary Pictures studio to be a part of a trilogy.

Joe Roth and his Roth Films partner Palek Patel will produce the sci-fi flick and Alex Hedlund will represent Legendary Pictures.

Sakey is repped by CAA and Scott Miller at Trident Media Group.

The book is due to hit stores in July this year.

The story mainly takes its cue from X-Men -- In a world where a rare set of people are born with extraordinary abilities and are called “brilliants.” At the center of the story is a federal agent with great hunting gifts who is drafted to hunt down a terrorist, another such brilliant who intends to start a civil war.

IT'S OFFICIAL! Tina Fey and Taylor Swift don't have any sense of feud among them.

How it all began:

During the Globes, Fey had joked that Swift should keep her hands off Michael J. Fox's son. Swift had just split with Harry Styles of One Direction and had a summer romance last year with Robert Kennedy Jr.'s son, Conor.

Swift in a response told Vanity Fair that there was a "special place in hell for women who don't help other women."

A paparazzi photographer asked if she thought Swift had "overreacted" to a Golden Globes joke, in which Fey lightly poked fun at the singer's dating life.

With three magical words, Fey laid the nonexistent feud to rest.

"Go f--- yourself," she told the photographer with a smile on her face. Fey repeated, "You can go f--- yourself."

Before the interaction concluded, photographer informed Fey that she was "not being nice," she replied, "get a job, dude."

Fey previously addressed Swift's remarks, telling Entertainment Tonight that it was "just a joke" and that she "did not see that one coming." Meanwhile, Fey's Globes co-host Amy Poehler told THR, "I am going to hell. But for other reasons. Mostly boring tax stuff."

Justin Timberlake on Monday Night's Late Night Show with Jimmy Fallon said: "For the record, I absolutely love Kanye. So there's that." also cautioned, "You know, really, everyone: keep calm. Keep calm."

Timberlake downplayed the media hype over a performance targeting Kayne West past weekend on Saturday Night Live show hosted by him when he purposely changed the lyric of the song "Suit & Tie" from:

"Aww, s--- so sick, got a hit and picked up a habit"

to

"my hit's so sick, got rappers acting dramatic."

He was apparently referring to West's remarks during a concert in February, in London, where the rapper announced:

"I got love for Hov, but I ain’t f---ing with that 'Suit & Tie.'"

Hov, aka Jay-Z, collaborated with Timberlake on the single; the two embark on a tour together this summer.

The Madison Square Garden Co. (MSG) said on Tuesday that it has sold approximately 3.9 million shares in Live Nation Entertainment for about $44 million in a complete cash deal.

Majority of the 2% stake sold, is owned by John Malone's Liberty Media.

MSG had acquired this stake earlier when Live Nation bought artist-management firm Front Line Management Group from Irving Azoff, former Live Nation chairman.

Last month, MSG chairman James Dolan resigned from the Live Nation board.

Stock update:

Live Nation's stock on Monday closed at a 52-week high of $11.63.

MSG's stock closed at $55.95, near its 52-week high of $57.13.

Justin Beiber pushed back a photographer at the London hospital where he had been sent after collapsing backstage at a concert.

Bieber had to be controlled by bodyguard to avoid any further damage to his already damaged persona, and the photo that the paparazzi captured of the incident was far more widely circulated on the internet than any normal picture would have been. Some say Bieber overreacted; others blame intruding photographers.

John Darnielle, the singer-songwriter behind The Mountain Goats, sees both sides of the coin, and is offering a simple solution in the form of a short, reason-filled melody.

"Now, on the one hand, it's hard to feel sorry for the very rich, you can record an album of Mountain Goats covers and torpedo your career overnight," Darnielle sings. "But on the other hand, even a rich guy needs some space, and should be able to get to his car without people getting all up in his face and getting on his case. You don't have to leave Justin alone ... but don't be an asshole."

Mark Cuban's AXS TV is set to toast Quincy Jones on his 80th Birthday.

The music cable network has signed on to be the exclusive broadcast partner for the Keep Memory Alive’s Power of Love Gala honoring the 80th birthdays of Jonesand Michael Caine. The net will air the special live April 13 from MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

The event marks the third time the two men -- the former a music icon, the latter an Oscar-winning actor -- have joined forces to celebrate their birthdays together. A-listers expected to make appearances with special performances and tributes include Bono, Carlos Santana, Chaka Khan, Chris Tucker, Herbie Hancock, Jennifer Hudson, Jordin Sparks, Scarlett Johansson, Terrence Howard, Patti Austin, Snoop Dogg, Stevie Wonder, Whoopi Goldberg, will.i.am and Barbra Streisand.

“There are no two greater living icons with a larger influence on the worlds of music and pop culture than Quincy Jones and Sir Michael Caine, Joining the celebration of their 80th birthdays with the Power of Love Gala as the broadcast partner underscores AXS TV’s commitment to being the foremost live destination on television for fans of music and pop-culture events." said Cuban, chairman and founder of AXS TV.

"We are committed to improving the lives of patients and their families as they face the many challenges associated with brain diseases. We put together an exciting show and are thrilled that the mission of Keep Memory Alive will be shared and supported by the viewers of the live broadcast." added Larry Ruvo, founder of Keep Memory Alive, whose gala raises funds in support of the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health and its fight against neurode-generative brain disease such as Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s and Parkinson’s diseases; multiple sclerosis; ALS (aka Lou Gehrig's disease); and memory disorders of all kinds.

In a bid to drum up preshow attention, Jones -- a 27-time Grammy winner who will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame five days after his birthday -- will appear live Monday night on the network’s nightly music program, AXSLive.

Steven Spielberg during his maiden trip to India announced that he plans to produce a film set along the border between India and Pakistan, in the politically troubled Kashmir region.

"We have finalized a script for a movie," he said. "Part of it will take place on the India-Pakistan border in Kashmir. But we're still trying to figure out the casting, locations and who's going to direct it."

The new Spielberg-produced India project will be the celebrated filmmaker’s first foray in the country in nearly three decades. He last shot in India in 1983 for Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. He also filmed portions of Close Encounters of the Third Kind in India in the mid 1970s. He scouted many places including banaras, delhi and jaipur for a location for the Indiana Jones movie. However, he then settled for a shoot in neighboring Sri Lanka.

PARIS: Celine Sallette and Raphael Personnaz were recognized as the most promising actors of French cinema with the twin prizes of Romy Schneider and Patrick Dewaere bestowed on them at an intimate ceremony on Monday night.

“Patrick Dewaere is one of my favorite actors, so to have a prize with his name is really moving for me,” Personnaz said in a statement. “I really admire his career being able to move from comedy to drama and he has been an example for me, so I take this as a little bit of encouragement in my career.  I will still hope to be an actor when I’m 80, if I reach it.”

Sallette, in Giambattista Valli, said she hoped the award would create new opportunities for her.

History of Twin Awards

Established in 1981, the awards are handed out annually to two young actors who are thought to represent France’s most promising new talent by a jury of critics and journalists, and are named in honor of the late French screen legends.

Universal Studios has completed a settlement with the makers of Fifty Shades of Grey: A XXX Adaptation. According to a court filing, Smash Pictures will make a payment of a confidential sum to make the lawsuit go away and also will consent to a permanent injunction that will prohibit the distribution of the XXX Adaptation.

Universal and its Focus Features division spent $5 million in March 2012 to acquire rights to make Fifty Shades of Grey movies based upon E L James' series of novels about a literature student who meets a young billionaire entrepreneur and the erotic passions and bondage they have together.

Smash Pictures and James Lane (aka Jim Powers) thought the story was a natural adult movie, so they made one. Smash exec Stuart Wall told a newspaper, "Since they are going to make a mainstream [film] of the books too, dabbling in the adult world, we're choosing to go with a XXX adaption which will stay very true to the book and its S&M-themed romance."

Slapping a "parody" tag onto the title wasn't enough to keep Universal from protecting its rights. Along with Fifty Shades Ltd., the copyright owner of the original material, a lawsuit was filed in November that called the XXX Adaptation a"willful attempt to capitalize on the reputation of the book."

In January, the plaintiffs requested a permanent injunction and the case looked headed toward a determination of whether Universal could show there was no fair use to the material and that an adult film version of an adult book irreparably harmed its market.

Universal seemed to have a good edge in this case, but Smash Pictures presented an interesting defense.

The defendant offered that Fifty Shades of Grey was in the "public domain" because the author originally published it online on fan fiction websites.

Andrew Thomas at Jenner & Block, the attorney for the plaintiffs, responded quickly, saying that the claim was "misleading and legally flawed" and that it was really an early version on websites and no matter because there wasn't any basis to suggest that injected the work into the public domain.

The lawsuit will go no further. The parties provided notice of settlement on Friday and will be entering the terms of the injunction soon.

NFL player Zoltan Mesko: "I show up in LA and already an earthquake... sorry, didn't know I couldn't drop the dumbbells in the gym."

Russian model Anne V‏: "Just survived my first Californian 5.2 earthquake. It was kinda fun."

Emmy-award winning video editor Berto Kahlo had one of the funniest Tweets of the day: “Take that Harlem! How do u like THAT shake?”

Other celebrities reached out to their fans to check in after they felt the quake:

Adam Shankman‏: "Oh no way! It was a real friggin earthquake! It was 5.2! Is everyone ok?"

Paula Abdul: "Who felt the #earthquake? Hope you, your friends, and family are all fine. Sending love! xoP"

Actress Jillian Murray: "‏Did anyone else get freaked out by the earthquake this morning?"

Michael Bearden, musical director for Michael Jackson's This Is It: "OK. Just felt that #earthquake. Been in LA a long time. Not sure you ever get used to these. Baby one? Perhaps. Still gets ur attention!"

Others didn’t feel it at all, but were quick to chime in on Twitter:

Singer Stacy Francis: "Seriously I didn't even feel the #earthquake .. ugh the media is so dramatic.

Singer Michelle Branch: "Am I the only one oblivious to the earthquake that just happened? Didn't feel a thing."

Ugly Betty actor David Blue: "I only ever find out there was an earthquake by my parents texting to see if I'm okay."

Tennis star Anastasia Rodionova: "Apparently we just had an earthquake 5.2.... I didn't feel it at all and everyone around were running around and panicking... Hmmm"

While tennis star Rodionova didn't feel the quake, many athletes in Palm Springs for the BNP Paribas Open did. The Tennis Channel was even filming during the quake (see the video below.)

Former tennis player Annabel Croft: "The earth moved this morning in Indian Wells! Just experienced an earthquake measuring 4.7! No cracks in centre court though!"

Australian tennis player Matt Ebden:  "Nothing like an #earthquake in the morning? Hmmm 5.2. whole room shaking around.... really does show you how small you are on this earth."

Watch the Tennis Channel's clip below.

Sybil Christopher, whose marriage to Richard Burton ended with his infamous affair with Elizabeth Taylor on the sets of the 1963 film Cleopatra, died on March 9 in New York City. She was 83.

As actress Sybil Williams, Christopher met Burton during the production of the British drama The Last Days of Dolwyn (1949) -- her only movie appearance and his first. She was 19 and he was 23. They were wed in 1949, and she ended her acting career, which included work in the West End of London, to accompany her husband to Switzerland and then to America.

“I loved theater and what I was doing, but I certainly wanted to go as a wife to America when Richard was offered a job there,” she told The New York Times in 1994. “It was very clear to me that I wasn’t making a sacrifice. I knew that Richard would have an exciting career and that it would be fun, two Welsh kids on the Queen Mary, traveling first-class."

“In retrospect, that is what I would like to preserve, that nice warm feeling I had on the boat. I had the 23-year-old, the best. I look at the pictures, but I don’t know that other guy. I had the golden boy.”

After the breakup, Christopher settled in New York City and opened the Manhattan nightclub Arthur, named for what George Harrison nicknamed his hairstyle in the 1964 Beatles film A Hard Day’s Night.

In 1991, Christopher co-founded the nonprofit Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor, N.Y., on eastern Long Island, drawing on the talents of such locals as playwright Terrence McNally and attracting such actors as Ben Gazzara, Mercedes Ruehl, Hal Linden, Twiggy and Tony Roberts. She stepped down as the theater’s artistic director last year after 22 years of service.

“She was the heart and soul of Bay Street Theatre and will not only be missed by all her friends at Bay Street Theatre but also by the entire Sag Harbor Village community,” said a statement on the theater’s website.

She has two daughters with Burton -- actress Kate Burton and Jessica -- and another daughter, Amy, whom she had with musician Jordan Christopher. They married in 1966; he died in 1996.

Oz's Final numbers on Monday summed up to $79.1 million as against $80.3 million (estimated earlier).

Sunday numbers and Monday's official tally often vary, since companies are only modeling what Sunday's movi-goer traffic will be.

Overseas, it grossed $69.9 million from 47 territories.

Oz was up more than 35 percent from Friday to Saturday.

Families contributed to 41 percent of the audience, while Couples made up 43 percent and teenagers made up 16 percent.

The movie audience was slightly female dominated (around 52 percent).

"The families absolutely came out, but we also did great business during the evening," said Disney distribution chief Dave Hollis. "After six weekends of decline at the box office, Oz has become a water-cooler movie and gets people back in the mood to see movies."

Around 53 percent of the domestic gross came from 3D theaters, a pleasing number considering the overall decline in 3D attendance. IMAX theaters contributed 10 percent of the 3D total, or $8.2 million. Overseas, IMAX grosses came in at $4 million, setting a March record.

Theaters owners are delighted over a court ruling blocking Mayor Michael Bloomberg's ban on the sale of sugary drinks 16 oz. and larger in New York City.

In his decision, handed down one day before the proposed ban was take effect, Supreme Court Judge Milton Tingling said the city's health department had overstepped its authority. Bloomberg had championed the law in an effort toward controlling obesity.

The prohibition would have been a major blow for theater owners, who can see a profit of as much as 85 percent on concession sales. The New York branch of the National Association of Theatre Owners was a party to the lawsuit opposing the ban.

"We are elated with today’s decision," NATO said in a statement. "This issue was never about obesity, nor about soda. This was all about power. The court rejected the mayor’s attempt to unilaterally tell New Yorkers what to drink and where to drink it."

"We are pleased that the court’s decision shows that serious problems like obesity cannot be addressed by the imposition of an arbitrary and porous mayoral fiat, Greater education, awareness and collaboration with all stakeholders will make a far greater impact than any unpopular and unfair executive decree."

Tingling added that the way the soda ban was pushed into law "eviscerate(s)" the separation of powers and found that "to be more troubling than sugar sweetened beverages."

Adam Driver, the male star of HBO’s Emmy-nominated comedy Girls, is in negotiations to join the cast of Warner Bros.' This Is Where I Leave You.

The movie is an adaptation of the book by Jonathan Tropper, who also wrote the script. Where I Leave You focuses on a man (Bateman) whose father dies and tasks his dysfunctional family of four grown siblings with one last request: to spend seven days following the funeral together under the same roof for first time in a decade.

Shawn Levy is the director and Jason Bateman will be joined by Tina Fey, Jane Fonda, Kathryn Hahn and Corey Stoll.

One issue that needs to be dealt with is the Driver's schedule for Girls. If a deal is closed, he will play the brother of Bateman, Fey and Stoll -- the rebel of the family.

Levy is producing along with Paula Weinstein.

Driver has had roles in films such as J. Edgar and Lincoln, but it’s his work as Lena Dunham’s on-again, off-again boyfriend in the acclaimed HBO comedy Girls that has people noticing the actor.

Driver, who is repped by Gersh, will be seen next in the Coen brothers’ upcoming Inside Llewyn Davis.

Millennium Entertainment has signed an all media rights deal (U.S. Only) of horror-comedy Hell Baby. This flick is directed Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon.

Our sources say, Video on demand launch is planned for 2013 fall followed by a theaterical release 30 days later.

The plot focuses on “an expectant couple who moves into the most haunted fixer-upper in New Orleans -- a house with a demonic curse. Things soon spiral out of control and only the Vatican's elite exorcism team can save them -- or can they?”

Darko Entertainment’s Sean McKittrick and Jeff Culotta, and Principato-Young’s Peter Principato and Paul Young produced with Garant and Lennon. The flick was financed by Darko (only production).

Th flick also features Rob Corddry, Leslie Bibb, and Michael Ian Black.

Nancy Meyers has signed a deal with Sony Pictures to direct an untitled romantic-comedy.

The script has already been penned down by (500) Days of Summer duo Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber.

She will be joined by Matt Tolmach to produce and direct the project.

Plot focuses on an American woman whose life gets turned upside down when she begins dating a younger Brit.

This romantic-comedy will be entirely shot in United Kingdom and our sources say, she also plans to have an all-british cast other than the female lead.

In the meantime, Columbia Pictures president Doug Belgrad said in an official announcement, "This is the kind of movie that Nancy does better than anyone else".

MUMBAI: Steven Spielberg -- who landed in Mumbai on Monday -- participated in a lively ninety-minute Q&A session with Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan in the presence of an exclusive, hand-picked audience of 61 Indian directors and film personalities.

Also present were Spielberg’s wife Kate Capshaw, DreamWorks’ co-chair Stacey Snider, Reliance group chairman Anil Ambani and his wife Tina Ambani. Held at the ballroom of the upscale Taj Land’s End hotel, the by-invitation-only evening was organized by DreamWorks’ equal partner Reliance Entertainment.

Bachchan - who has a role in Baz Luhrmann’s upcoming The Great Gatsby (starring Leonardo DiCaprio) -- opened the session by welcoming Spielberg to India. Spielberg first came here in 1977 to shoot a sequence for Close Encounters of the Third Kind. He then returned for location scouting in 1983 for Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom recalling that he visited various cities including Banaras, Delhi and Jaipur among others. (That film was eventually shot in neighboring Sri Lanka). “What I really remember is the warmth of the people here -- they would just invite me to their homes even without knowing me,” Spielberg replied when Bachchan asked him about his impressions of India.

There are two parts of this session: Steven Spielberg answers the questions and then ask his questions.

Steven Spielberg answers the questions

The session kicked off with how he got started in film, with the Oscar-winning director sharing his now famous story about crashing his toy trains as a young boy and filming them with his father’s Super 8 mm camera. “That really showed me the power of cinema, that I could watch the train wrecks again and again,” he said. Referring to Duel, the film that put Spielberg on the map, Bachchan recalled, “I remember the effective use of sound for the truck - was that deliberate?” to which Spielberg replied that he set out to create an “aural threat which gave the truck personality.”

Bachchan then asked Spielberg about how he chooses actors: “In your earlier years and sometimes even now your films are driven by characters such as a fish or aliens or robots. Lots of actors feel threatened by that!” As the laughter subsided, Spielberg smiled and replied: “As I move beyond middle age, I am turning more towards actors to save my career. So that’s why I work more with the likes of Daniel Day Lewis and Leonardo DiCaprio.”

Bachchan specifically pointed to his “unusual choice” of casting Tom Hanks as a soldier in Saving Private Ryan. “Tom is a great leader,” said Spielberg. “He started as a comedian but in every comedy actor there is a dramatic actor. As Tom matured, his films became serious and I thought he could do anything so that’s why I cast him as John Miller.”

Spielberg’s fascination with the James Bond films is well-known and when Bachchan asked him if he made the Indiana Jones films as an homage to the superspy, he replied: “Well, it was really George Lucas who was inspired by the cinema serials we saw as kids (such as those by Republic Pictures) to do Indiana Jones. But I called (James Bond producer) Cubby Brocolli after I did Jaws and told him I’d like to direct a Bond movie. And Cubby replied that I was not experienced enough but if we do a Bond movie on water we might consider you!”

Delving further into his continued attempts to win over Broccoli, Spielberg added, “Cubby asked me permission to use the famous five musical notes in Close Encounters for Moonraker. I said sure and by the way, do you have a slot for me for Bond and he said no!” The saga continued with the Spielberg-produced Goonies. “One of the kids in the movie is a 007 fan and plays the Bond theme on his ghetto blaster so I called Cubby to get permission. He initially refused so I reminded him that I gave him the five notes from Close Encounters to which Cubby replied that the Bond theme has seven notes! Eventually he did give permission.”

Moving on to Spielberg’s role as a producer over the years, Bachchan asked him he how he chooses his projects. “It has to grab me passionately. My wife first read American Beauty and suggested I direct it but somehow it didn’t speak to me, as great as the script was. I ended up hiring a then-unknown director, Sam Mendes, who ended up winning an Oscar for it. Some movies are destined for the people they are destined for.”

When Bachchan asked how knowledgable Spielberg was of Indian cinema, the director confessed “not so much. And that’s more to do with the lack of access we have in the U.S. to Indian and even films from other cultures. There could be mostly commercial reasons for that. On the other hand Robert Redford has done a great thing with the Sundance Channel which showcases movies from other countries as does the Independent Channel. But the truth is that not enough countries are represented on U.S. television.”

Elaborating further on how the world has “shrunk to a postage stamp thanks to the information highway,” Spielberg added, “We in the U.S. need to do more to be exposed to other cultures.”

“And can DreamWorks propagate that change?” inquired Bachchan in his famous baritone voice. “DreamWorks and Reliance, led by Anil Ambani and his team, have that goal to build the cultural bridge. We are actually doing that this very moment,” said Spielberg.

The discussion then moved to Spielberg’s iconic films E.T. and Schindler’s List as Bachchan asked the director why he has said that he wants to be remembered by these films. “These two films are what people really talk about the most everywhere I travel in the world. The E.T. demographic grew up and watched Schindler’s List. E.T. also got me to be a dad. When I was working with the child actors in the film (including Drew Barrymore), by the end of it I wanted to take those kids home and raise them. It was a personal film as my parents also got divorced when I was about 17.”

“So what do your kids (seven children and three grand-children) have to say about your films?” asked Bachchan. “They tell me the truth - they like some but not all. They like E.T. and the Indiana Jones movies, not so much the last one!”  Spielberg replied.

Bachchan, who asked questions without referring to any notes, touched upon Spielberg’s relationship with fellow filmmakers of his generation - Martin Scorsese, Francis Coppola, Brian DePalma and others - and whether there was any envy amongst among them. “Envy is a good thing,” Spielberg said. “And so is jealousy and ambition. But we also tried to inspire and collaborate with each other. My movies are better for the input given by them. I mean nobody but George Lucas could have done Star Wars. I want my aliens in my backyard - he wants them far, far away. The first Godfather is one of the greatest movies ever made and only Coppola could have done that.”

Bachchan then threw the session open to questions from the audience. Bollywood director Kunal Kohli - known for romantic films such as 2006’s Fanaa - asked Spielberg why he has made movies in most genres “but not so much love stories.” “I am living a love story with my wife and family,” replied Spielberg. “Sometimes if you don’t have something in your life you try and fill that void with films. But if you have a good love story let me know!”

Nagesh Kukunoor, whose credits include his autobiographical 1997 title Hyderabad Blues, wanted to know why Spielberg was not using storyboards now as much as he did earlier. “The reason I storyboarded a lot when I was starting out was because I wanted to have a plan when I got on set. As I gained more confidence, I got better ideas on location than sitting away at a storyboard. But for action and VFX films storyboarding is essential. I am doing that for my next, Robopocalypse. It helps you during budgeting and if you go over-budget you can always tear off some storyboards.”

Acclaimed writer and lyricist Prasoon Joshi asked how Spielberg reflected his relationship with his father in some of his films. “You can’t help who you are and that comes out in the wash. It will end up in the script. There are parts of me in Indiana Jones even though I can’t use a whip. My parents’ divorce was reflected in E.T. and that was autobiographical. Once my dad showed me the stars through a home-made telescope and said, “How can something so beautiful in nature come down and destroy us? There is only good up there - the only bad things are down here.””

Renowned scriptwriter, lyricist and poet Javed Akhtar - his credits include screenplays for iconic films like Sholay and Deewar, both starring Bachchan - wanted to know if Spielberg was shifting away from his earlier more child-like films towards more serious cinema. “Well, recently I did Tintin and then I followed that with Lincoln. I sometimes recall the famous scene from Woody Allen’s Stardust Memories. A flying saucer lands just as Woody Allen is on his way to an awards show. And the aliens come out and tell him, We liked your earlier work! I get that moment many times! As I started to have kids, I also wanted to tell stories for them which they could watch growing up. My next film Robopocalypse is a cautionary tale about robots taking over. Had the U.S. lost the Civil War there would have been two Americas.”

Director Sudhir Mishra, known for tackling the unconventional with acclaimed films such as Hazaaron Khwaishen Aisi, wanted to know how a film’s creation starts off differently compared to the final result. “I am sure when all of you in this room see the final result of your films you probably question yourself whether its really that good. I do that,” said Spielberg. “I’ll go home and shake my head after seeing the first cut and Kate will say, you can fix it. And that’s why, next to the cinematographer and writer, the editor is your third eye. I have fixed a lot by reshooting or cutting. There have only been a couple of moments when I have liked the first cut.”

“When you hire directors, do you interfere in any way?”, asked Bachchan. “If it gets bad, they have to solve the problem,” said Spielberg. “Stacy and I can make our best or worst mistakes when we select our directors. They can take or leave my notes even if they don’t have final cut.”

When asked by an upcoming film-maker which was his hardest film, Spielberg replied: “Jaws was the hardest. The adverse shoot went on for nine months and that almost stopped me from being a film-maker. But then it turned out to be this big hit - there was this big white turd floating around the water and people in the audience were loving it, throwing popcorn in the air.”

Spielberg also referred to the long gestation for Lincoln: “Daniel Day Lewis turned me down twice as he was the first choice. Liam Neeson accepted the role but we eventually had a difference after Tony Kushner’s script. But we parted ways and are still good friends. Daniel Day Lewis was actually introduced to the project by Leonardo DiCaprio. One night he was having dinner at my home and he asked about Lincoln. The next day he called and said write down a number. Its Daniel Day Lewis’ phone number in Ireland. I have spoken with him and he is expecting your call. So he really set it up.”

Steven Spielberg asks the questions

Bachchan then asked Spielberg if he had any questions for the Indian film fraternity present. Spielberg took the chance to do a spot poll and asked how many directors present did action movies (not too many hands went up), comedies (some hands) and musicals (the hall erupted in laughter given Bollywood is driven by song and dance). “I’d like to know what kind of movies are made, not just Bollywood. Is there freedom here for different genres?” asked Spielberg. “It is getting better,” replied Sudhir Mishra. “Audiences are also changing and there is a new breed of directors, and many of them are in this room. And even mainstream cinema is changing.” As Mishra pointed to director Rajkumar Hirani, known for the superhit comedy 3 Idiots, Spielberg said, “Yes, I saw it - I loved it.”

Steven Spielberg answers the questions..... again!

As the long-running host of the Indian version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, Bachchan wanted to know Spielberg’s views on TV. “The best writing in the U.S. currently is being done for TV,” said Spielberg, citing examples like Girls, Breaking Bad, Modern Family and others. “We look to TV for great writing. There are so many TV outlets, they need a lot of writers who have more opportunities in TV than in films. I mean I got started in TV as well.”

When asked about his views on technology, Spielberg said: “I love technology. A major paradigm change is the shift to digital, especially for VFX. On the other hand it is sad that digital is replacing some arts such as physical make-up which has masters like Rick Baker and Dick Smith. 3D has been around since the 19th century as stereovision. IMAX is a new form of Cinerama. I think the next big paradigm change will be how the story will appear all around you, even though virtual reality is an old word.”

Acclaimed veteran actress and Bachchan’s wife Jaya asked: “Would you not make a film because it didn’t have the right actor?”

“Yes, I could not have made Lincoln without Daniel Day Lewis or Amistad without Djimon Hounsou. I was about to shut down Amistad and at the last minute I saw these pictures by (the late fashion photographer) Herb Ritts of Hounsou and I selected him. Empire of the Sun was not possible without Christian Bale.”

One of India’s new breed directors, Anurag Kashyap (credits include the two-part epic Gangs of Wasseypur which premiered at Cannes) asked Spielberg about Peter Biskind’s book Easy Riders, Raging Bulls revolving around the brat-pack movie makers of the seventies including Spielberg, Coppola and Scorsese. “The book states that you were the kid of the gang. How do you recall that time?” asked Kashyap. “I really don’t like that book. Someday someone should do a great book about that era. But the truth is that we helped and supported each other and that part of the book is true. To this day, we love each other,” replied Spielberg.

Bachchan then returned to DreamWorks’ relationship with Reliance and Anil Ambani. “For one, this has brought me to India,” said Spielberg. “We were introduced at the Cannes film festival. In 2008 as the economic turmoil hit, Reliance continued to support us. We will never forget this.” As the crowd applauded, Spielberg added, “They believe in loyalty and freedom as much as we do. We speak the same language.”

The event reached its conclusion as Anil Ambani delivered closing remarks thanking Spielberg, Bachchan and the audience “for this fascinating exchange.” Ambani then had questions of his own as well: “Lincoln had 12 Oscar nominations and it won two. How did it feel not to win best director and best film? And my second question is, can you please share more about the making of Lincoln?”

Addressing the second question first, Spielberg said: “Making Lincoln was one of the best experiences of my life. It had 145 speaking actors with an eloquent screenplay. Unlike most of my earlier films, here the camera was a silent partner (in the story-telling process). The spotlight was on the characters and screenplay. As for the Oscars (and other awards), the nominations were award enough. Oscar night to me was about watching a show. You sit there and you like everyone in the room. Rivalries are fuelled by the media. I mean, during the Oscar commercial breaks, we were all schmoozing with each other as if we were at a tea party in somebody’s home. As for winning, five seconds before the envelope opens, everyone thinks they are going to win.

Michael Fassbender who was earlier reported to play the male lead in Jane Got a Gun has exited from the project, While Joel Edgerton who was to play the villain will now step into the hero role.

Sources tell Funrahi, that Jude Law (The doctor in the Sherlock Holmes series) has agreed to play as the villain.

Jane Got a Gun focuses on a woman whose outlaw husband returns home riddled with bullet wounds and barely alive. When her husband’s gang eventually tracks him down to finish the job, she is forced to reach out to an ex-lover and ask if he will help defend her farm.

Edgerton will now play the ex-lover while Law will be the leader of the gang that lays siege to the homestead.

All the sudden changes in roles come as a result of conflict of dates with Fassbender as he is sheduled for a shoot for his next X-Men: Days of Future Past in Montreal. Finally after a series of changes the movie will be begin shooting in April in New Mexico.

TORONTO: Entertainment One has acquired the Canadian distribution rights to David Hewlett’s sci-fi thriller Debug.

An early 2014 release is slated for Hewlett’s second film from Copperheart Entertainment that stars Jeananne Goossen (Alcatraz), Jason Momoa (Game of Thrones), Adam Butcher, Kjartan Hewitt, Sidney Leeder, Jaydn Wong and Adrian Holmes.

Debug focuses on six young computer hackers sent to debug computers on a derelict space freighter, where they are forced to match wits with a vengeful artificial intelligence that would kill to be human.

Debug received financing from Telefilm Canada and the Ontario Media Development Corp.

MTV is kicking into high gear with a new promo touting the MTV Movie Awards, taking place in April.

In this teaser, host Rebel Wilson and Channing Tatum endure a dangerous drive in a race against their enemy as they ready for the annual awards show. When Tatum asks Wilson to take a shot, the task proves extremely difficult with the Bridesmaids and Pitch Perfect star struggling to get a decent angle from the passenger seat.

"What are you doing?!" Tatum asks, before Wilson props herself onto Tatum's lap. Because, according to her, it's a better angle.

"Ah, yes, this is a better position," Wilson says. "They're gaining on us! Take your shirt off!"

The promo will debut Monday during MTV's 10 Spot.

Get More: 2013 MTV Movie Awards, Latest Movie News, Rebel Wilson, Channing Tatum

Harrison Ford will receive the CinemaCon Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2013 convention.

CinemaCon, the annual convention of theater owners, runs April 15-18 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Ford will be presented with his award at the CinemaCon Big Screen Achievement Awards ceremony on April 18.

Mitch Neuhauser, CinemaCon 2013 Managing Director said,

“With a career spanning five decades, Harrison Ford has brought some of the most memorable characters of our time alive on the big screen, From Han Solo to Indiana Jones, he has showcased his innate ability to embrace and mold these remarkable roles into characters that will forever be remembered by movie lovers around the world for decades to come.”

Ford’s career began in 1973, when he portrayed the hot rod fanatic Bob Falfa in George Lucas’ Oscar nominated film, American Graffiti.

Ford stars in several films hitting theaters in 2013. He'll star in the Jackie Robinson biopic 42, which hits the theaters on April 12 and the Relativity thriller Paranoia, hitting theaters on October 4. On Nov. 1, he can be seen in Ender’s Game, where he plays a colonel in the International Military.

Ford, who will most likely reprise his role as Han Solo in the new Star Wars films, will also be appearing in the highly anticipated comedy sequel, Anchorman 2.

Micky Moore (Michael D. Moore), a child actor, a top-notch second-unit director, a disciple of director Cecil B. DeMille and a action king -- man behind many of the iconic action sequences of Indiana Jones saga, has died at 98.

Moore died on March 4 of congestive heart failure at his home in Malibu, Los Angeles Times reports.

What the industry said about moore:

"Micky Moore was exceptional... He was confident behind the camera and knew when to speak up to make things better," -- George Lucas' foreword to Moore’s book My Magic Carpet Ride of Films (2009)

Moore was the preferred choice when it came to choosing a second-unit director for any movie weighing heavily on action sequences. So much so that, when producer George Lucas, director Steven Spielberg needed a second-unit director for Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Moore was their first choice.

Moore suggested that the truck-chase scene in Raiders which we all now remember as the one of the iconic chase sequences could be improved by moving it from a desert to narrow tree-lined streets to give it context. Lucas wrote describing the result, "speak for themselves."

Career of Micky Moore:

Moore worked in silent films as a child artist with stars such as Mary Pickford and Gloria Swanson -- one of his roles was as the 16th president's son Willie in The Dramatic Life of Abraham Lincoln (1924) -- and with DeMille. When Moore's acting career didn't work well, Cecil B. DeMille got him a job in the prop department at Paramount. Moore was undoubtedly one of diamonds in the paramount's crown.

Moore's work as second-unit or assistant director (most of the work was on action sequences):

The Paleface (1948)

The Great Gatsby (1949)

The War of the Worlds (1953)

The Ten Commandments (1956) by Cecil B. DeMille

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)

King Creole (1958)

Blue Hawaii (1961)

The Carpetbaggers (1964)

Rooster Cogburn (1975)

The Electric Horseman (1979)

Never Say Never Again (1983)

102 Dalmatians (2000) -- His Last Movie

Moore's work as lead director:

Paradise, Hawaiian Style (1966) by Elvis Presley

The Fastest Guitar Alive (1967)

Kill a Dragon (1967)

TV series: Please Don’t Eat the Daisies, Hondo, Bonanza and Spielberg’s Amazing Stories.

Moore's Family:

Moore’s wife, Laurice Lillian Abdo-Moore, also a Paramount employee; she worked for the studio for more than 50 years. Abdo-Moore, served as a personal assistant to producer Howard W. Koch Sr. for more than three decades. She died at the age of 87 in 2011.

Moore’s brother, Patrick appeared in dozens of silent pictures, including DeMille's 1923 version of The Ten Commandments, and he also worked at Paramount behind the scenes. He died at age of 91 in 2004.

Ace Hollywood Director Steven Spielberg is in India to celebrate the success of 'Lincoln' with Indian Billionaire Anil Ambani, chairman of Reliance Group. Spielberg will also conduct a "master class" for Indian directors, sharing tips and stories from his forty-plus years in filmmaking. As many as 61 professionals from Indian film industry are expected to attend the event.

The 66-year-old director and his wife Kate Capshaw arrived in India Monday morning and are staying at the Taj Mahal Hotel in the Coloba section of Mumbai. Anil Ambani and his wife Tina Ambani will be hosting the celebrated Hollywood couple. A special party is being organized in the director's honor tonight at their residence.

Some of the big names from Bollywood that are attending tonight's party are Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Rajkumar Hirani, Anurag Kashyap, Farhan Akhtar, Zoya Akhtar, Abhishek Kapoor, Habib Faisal, Ram Gopal Varma, Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Farah Khan.

Speaking about the masterclass -- a source said "It can be called master class session wherein Spielberg will be imparting knowledge to Indian directors and [will] be learning from them as well."

The celebrities to be present at the masterclass are:

1. Abhay Chopra
2. Abhishek Kapoor
3. Anurag Kashyap
4. AR Murgadoss
5. Ashutosh Gowarikar
6. Ayaan Mukherjee
7. R.Balki
8. Bejoy Nambiar
9. David Dhawan
10. Farah Khan
11. Gauri Shinde
12. Habib Faisal
13. Homi Adajania
14. Indra Kumar
15. Javed Akhtar
16. Kabir Khan
17. Kapil Chopra
18. Karan Bhutani
19. Karan Johar
20. Karan Shah
21. Kiran Rao
22. Kunal Deshmukh
23. Kunal Kohli
24. Madhur Bhandarkar
25. Mahesh Bhatt
26. Milan Luthria
27. Nagesh Kukunoor
28. Nishikant Kamath
29. Onir
30. Priyadarshan
31. Prabhudheva
32. Prasoon Joshi
33. Rahul Bhatt
34. Rajkumar Gupta
35. Rajshree Ohja
36. Rajkumar Hirani
37. Rakesh Roshan
38. Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra
39. Ramesh Sippy
40. Ram Gopal Varma
41. Reema Kagti
42. Renzil D'Silva
43. Rohan Sippy
44. Rohit Dhawan
45. Rohit Shetty
46. Sajid Khan
47. Sanjay Leela Bhansali
48. Shimit Amin
49. Shoojit Sircar
50. Shyam Benegal
51. Sriram Raghavan
52. Subhash Ghai
53. Sudhir Mishra
54. Sujoy Ghosh
55. Tigmanshu Dhulia
56. Vikas Bahl
57. Vikram Bhatt
58. Zoya Akhtar
59. Vikramaditya Motwane
60. Vipul Shah
61. Vishal Bhardwaj

'Oz the Great and Powerful' managed to bag the No. 1 spot at international box office, by garnering $69.9 million from 46 markets, bringing its total gross to $150.2 million.

It also managed to charm the russian audiences where it collected $15 million (21 percent of the total opening).

Things that worked to Oz's advantage: International Women's Day -- a holiday.

Even though the movie's history isn't well known to international audiences, Oz managed to spell its magic -- thanks to excellent international marketing spend (about $75 million) by Disney.

Things that might work to Oz's advantage in near future:

As it portrays itself to be a family film, it could get a boost as school holidays are on the way.

Oz has yet to open in several major markets, including France and China.

'Oz the Great and Powerful' managed to bag the No. 1 spot by garnering $69.9 million from 46 international markets, bringing its total gross to $150.2 million.

Hansel and Gretel came in No. 2 overall at the international box office, grossing $11.2 million from 48 markets, bringing its international total to $142 million and total gross to $197 million.

Jack the Giant Slayer grossed $4.9 million from 10 markets bringing its international total to $22.6 million and total gross to $66.4 million.

Things that proved fatal to Jack: Of course, Strong 'Oz' and New Line's decision to release in few international markets.

Harmony Korine's Spring Breakers dives deep into the 2013 youth culture: sex, drugs and dance.

Disney's dolls Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens don't just shed their good-girl image, but also manage to effectively drop a 50-megaton bomb on them.

Heaps of cocaine on female torsos, boys in jockstraps standing over them wielding overflowing beer bongs, and James Franco hovers above it all as Alien, an unforgettable underworld entrepreneur who could easily have beamed down from another planet. His encounter with two loaded guns won't make any Oscar moments, but will undoubtedly be one of the most talked-about scenes of the year.

Korine after the the film's U.S. premiere: "The movie came to me like a dream, I’d been collecting spring break imagery for a couple of years from fraternity and co-ed pornography [websites]...There were all these hypersexualized, hyperviolent subjects. But then there’s all these interesting, childlike details -- like nail polish and bags, stuff like that. So I just imagined girls on a beach in bikinis robbing fat tourists. I thought that was funny, and from there I started building that image and dreaming this story."

Working with Franco had been something the two had talked about for years, but it wasn't until Korine started researching the locals of St. Petersburg, Florida, where the bulk of the action takes place, that the cornrowed character started to come into focus.

"He sent me some videos of this weird white guy with dreadlocks rapping in a car," Franco recalls.

"I couldn’t really understand what he was saying. Harmony said, 'Listen to this, this is the model for your character.'"

The plot is simple enough: Four girls, played by Gomez, Hudgens, Pretty Little Liars' Ashley Benson and Rachel Korine, the director's wife, rob a chicken joint to fund a trip down to Florida for the annual collegiate rite of passage. Alien soon sweeps in to spring them from jail, and the group proceeds to tumble down the rabbit hole from there. Pink balaklavas figure prominently -- echoes of Pussy Riot -- as do the kinds of assault rifles currently facing a Senate vote.

Rachel Korine, director's wife says, "Personally, I had never handled a weapon before, It’s a bit intimidating. It’s heavy, it’s dangerous. But I think that it was important for the film, for the feeling Harmony was trying to evoke. [The film] has a real intensity. It has beauty, but it also has sadness and humor and danger."

Gomez on the other hand announces, "It’s not me wanting to quote-unquote break any image," -- implying she's not into re-thinking her carrer.

"It’s just me being a 20-year-old actor. I want to do what I love. The show I did was incredible and I’m super blessed that I had that opportunity, but this has been a departure."

Korine, too, insists there's no grander scheme at play here, adding, "I’ve never thought of my career in terms of strategy. All my movies are like songs or something."

Franco when asked about wheather there was any pressure on him to keep the details of his latest project under the carpet ? he says, "No, not at all, They didn’t say one thing about it."

Spring Breakers parties its way into theaters nationwide on March 22. Its L.A. and New York party comes one week prior.