LOS ANGELES, July 27:  ‘Game of Thrones’ star Maisie Williams is in line for the lead role of Ellie in ‘The Last of Us’.
Writer Neil Druckmann and producer Sam Raimi confirmed during a surprise Comic-Con panel that they have had a meeting with 17-year-old Williams, but nothing has yet been signed, reported E! online.
“I think it’s going to be a great character journey and a great love story, and a great horror picture,” said Raimi of the video game adaptation.
Druckmann said that his priority in working on the script was to “laser-focus” on the central relationship between Ellie and Joel, who are two survivors in a post-apocalyptic United States.
The acclaimed 2013 game follows the pair as they work together to survive their cross-country journey in search of a cure for the plague that has all but destroyed the human race.
“There’s never been a really great movie made from a video game,” Druckmann said.
“There have been ones that we’ve enjoyed but we thought, ‘What if we could make the first great one?’ We’re gonna work our asses off to make that happen.”
A director for ‘The Last of Us’ is yet to be announced. (PTI)

LONDON, July 27:  The Saturdays Rochelle Humes has banned her husband from wearing scoop-neck tops and feels he has a great style now.
The singer has had many of her own style disasters, but she doesn’t think they are as bad as spouse Marvin Humes’ infamous low-cut shirts, reported Contactmusic.
“I’m lucky because he has great style. Although he had to get rid of those tops with the scoop neck – they had their day,” she said.
When asked what her own biggest fashion disaster had been, she added, “Anything from my teens! I used to wear these cord, mustard flares. They were so bad.”
The 25-year-old beauty also confessed she’s worried her and Marvin’s 14-month-old daughter Alaia-Mai will grow up to have a more unisex style and she’ll have no one to give her old designer bags to. (PTI)

LOS ANGELES, July 27:  The trailer of new thriller ‘Another Me’, featuring ‘Game of Thrones’ star Sophie Turner, has been released.
Turner, 18, portrays Fay, a teenager who has the sneaking suspicion that she is being followed by a dark force, reported Ace Showbiz.
Fay’s school classes, photography trips and rendezvous with her boyfriend (Gregg Sulkin) all seem to be observed by someone who looks exactly like her.
Rhys Ifans, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Claire Forlani all have supporting roles in director Isabel Coixet’s thriller.
Coixet is an acclaimed Spanish filmmaker who has previously found international success with ‘Elegy’ and ‘The Secret Life of Words’.
‘Another Me’ is expected to hit theatres later this year. (PTI)

LOS ANGELES, July 27:  Warner Bros’ upcoming film ‘Justice League’ movie may have found its writer in Chris Terrio.
Terrio, who wrote the Oscar-winning ‘Argo’ for the studio, was hired to rewrite David S Goyer’s script for ‘Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice’ last year, reported Deadline.
Terrio is now in line to write the script for the long-awaited ‘Justice League’ movie, which will be directed by Zack Snyder.
Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck and Gal Gadot are expected to appear as Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman respectively.
Warner Bros president of worldwide production Greg Silverman has confirmed that Batman vs Superman “will lead into Justice League”. (PTI)

LOS ANGELES, July 27:  Pop star Mariah Carey and her husband Nick Cannon have sold their sprawling Bel Air mansion for USD 10 million.
The superstar singer and her TV presenter spouse have earned a cool USD 3 million profit by selling their lavish estate, according to TMZ.
The couple, who have three-year-old twins Moroccan and Monroe, bought the house for USD 7 million in 2009, a year after they wed, but are now planning to uproot from the West Coast permanently and live in New York City.
The USD 10 million payday is significantly lower than the stars’ asking price as they initially put the pad on the market for USD 13 million.
The sprawling Californian home boasts its own cinema room, a gym, an indoor basketball court and a putting green. The mansion also boasts a luxury outdoor swimming pool, the bottom of which is monogrammed with Mariah’s initials, MC. (PTI)

LONDON, July 27:  Singer Gary Barlow’s former ‘X Factor’ protege Marcus Collins feels it was unfair for the Take That star to be condemned over his use of tax avoidance schemes.
Barlow, 43, is alleged to have invested in two separate tax avoidance schemes, variously used by his bandmates and other celebrities including George Michael, Arctic Monkeys and Sir Michael Caine.
He was ordered to pay back the money by Prime Minister David Cameron in Parliament, and faced calls to be stripped of his OBE when details of the first scheme, Icebreaker, were revealed in May, reported Digital Spy.
Collins said that he supported Barlow throughout the difficult period, and argued that the star had been subjected to “horrible” and “ugly” abuse after being made a scapegoat.
“I notice it more with Gary than anyone else, that as soon as something comes up where people feel they can discredit him, they come down on him like a ton of bricks,” Collins said.
“I don’t know why people are so quick to wish people to fail. It’s such an ugly trait.
“I don’t sit there and go over Gary’s financial details, but I do know that it wasn’t just his name that got brought up. I didn’t think that was fair, it’s horrible.” (PTI)

MEXICO CITY, July 27:  Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wrapped up a two-day visit to Mexico, taking a break from sealing energy deals to tour pyramids with President Enrique Pena Nieto.
Abe and Pena Nieto visited the pre-Columbian city of Teotihuacan yesterday with their wives Akie Abe and Angelica Rivera de Pena, donning palm-leaf hats and posing for pictures.
The couples did not speak with the press.
But Pena Nieto’s office released a statement saying Mexico expects greater trade and cooperation with Japan in coming years.
Abe struck a series of energy deals Friday with Pena Nieto at the start of a five-country Latin American tour.
Abe, whose visit to the region comes on the heels of one by Chinese President Xi Jinping, inked a deal between Mexican state oil firm Pemex and Japan’s development bank, and another between Pemex and the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation.
With Japan on the lookout for new power sources after the Fukushima disaster forced the shutdown of its nuclear reactors, energy is high on the prime minister’s trip agenda.
Mexico is undergoing sweeping changes in its energy sector, with Congress poised to end struggling Pemex’s 75-year monopoly and open up the oil and gas sectors to foreign investment.
Japan is Mexico’s fourth trade partner, with total trade of USD 19.3 billion last year. There are some 800 Japanese companies that have investments in Mexico, especially automobile giants like Nissan, Mazda and Honda.
Abe is the first Japanese leader to visit Mexico since Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi did in 2004.
Abe’s nine-day trip — which will also take him to Trinidad and Tobago, Colombia, Chile and Brazil — comes just days after China’s Xi wrapped up his own four-country tour of the region.
With its emerging economies, Latin America holds promise as a relatively untapped market for Japanese exports, in addition to its coveted raw materials. (AGENCIES)