Brad Pitt pauses filming on F1 blockbuster in support of Hollywood strikes
Brad Pitt has paused production on his forthcoming Formula 1 feature film in support of the US actors’ and writers’ strike.
The Hollywood star, 59, had been shooting scenes for the project recently including filming at the Silverstone Circuit ahead of the British Grand Prix earlier this month.
The production has now ground to a halt as Pitt “very much stands” alongside his fellow actor union members, the PA news agency understands.
The film joins a string of productions which have stopped after the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (Sag-Aftra) announced a strike on 13 July.
Seven-time world champion Sir Lewis Hamilton is acting as co-producer on the currently untitled Apple film, which is being made in collaboration with F1, providing the project with special access to the race tracks and drivers.
In the film, the Fight Club star plays a driver who competed in the 1990s but moved to racing in other disciplines after suffering a horrible crash.
It follows the driver coming out of retirement to compete alongside a rookie, played by Damson Idris, for the fictional APXGP team which is sitting at the bottom of the leaderboard.
The actors’ strike came after the union failed to reach agreement on a number of issues, including pay and the use of artificial intelligence, with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the major film studios, TV networks and streaming giants.
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Why has the Emmys been postponed?
Hollywood stars are among the 160,000 actors on strike, joining the 11,500 members of the Writers Guild of America, who walked out on 2 May.
Deadpool 3, which stars Ryan Reynolds in the titular role, has also paused filming in London due to the strike.
The cast of Christopher Nolan’s new movie Oppenheimer walked out of the London premiere earlier this month as news of the impending strike broke, and planned junkets for films including Barbie have also been affected.
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Strike: Hollywood stars gather in London
Read more:
US actors’ strike: Why are Hollywood stars walking out?
Succession star Brian Cox says Hollywood strike could last until end of 2023
On Friday, it was confirmed the Emmy Awards, which were due to be held in September, have been postponed due to the strikes.
Rules laid out by the actors’ union say stars cannot campaign for the Emmys or attend award shows while undertaking industrial action.
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Taylor Swift has revealed the release date for her new album, The Life Of A Showgirl.
The pop megastar announced her 12th studio album earlier this week but didn’t give many details.
Now, in social media posts and an appearance on boyfriend Travis Kelce’s sports podcast, Swift revealed just what fans can expect from the new album.
Taylor Swift and boyfriend Travis Kelce on the New Heights podcast. Pic: New Heights
The Life of Showgirl, written during the European leg of her record-breaking Eras tour, will be released on 3 October.
It consists of 12 songs, including the title track that features pop star Sabrina Carpenter.
The full track list is:
1. The Fate Of Ophelia
2. Elizabeth Taylor
3. Opalite
4. Father Figure
5. Eldest Daughter
6. Ruin The Friendship
7. Actually Romantic
8. Wi$h Li$t
9. Wood
10. Cancelled!
11. Honey
12. The Life Of A Showgirl (featuring Sabrina Carpenter)
Long-time collaborators Max Martin and Shellback, two Swedish producers who worked with Swift on some of her biggest hits, joined the pop star for this album.
Within four hours of posting the full podcast episode on YouTube, it had already gathered 4.7m views.
The cover of Taylor Swift’s newly announced album. Pic: Republic Records
The back cover of Taylor Swift’s 12th studio album The Life Of A Showgirl. Pic: Republic Records
‘The hardest-working star in pop’
The album follows last year’s The Tortured Poets Department, which was released during the Eras tour.
That tour, with shows on five continents and in 51 cities, raked in more than $2.2bn (£1.62bn) and was the highest-grossing tour of all time.
Read more about Taylor Swift:
Swift’s final London show was the ‘best’
The impact of the ‘excruciating’ Era’s tour
Her new chart record
“This album is about what was going on behind the scenes in my inner life during this tour, which was so exuberant and electric and vibrant,” Swift said during her podcast appearance.
Sky News culture and entertainment reporter Gemma Peplow said after her globe-trotting tour and a swathe of re-releases over recent years, the new album cemented Swift’s reputation “as the hardest-working star in pop”.
Disgraced US film producer Harvey Weinstein is to be tried for a third time in a sexual assault case.
A jury in New York could not reach a verdict in June against the 73-year-old who was accused of raping actress Jessica Mann, and a mistrial was declared.
Judge Curtis Farber has said he wants the new trial to happen before the end of this year.
The same jury found Weinstein guilty in June of sexually assaulting former Project Runway production assistant Miriam Haley in 2006 and not guilty of assaulting Polish former runway model Kaja Sokola the same year.
Weinstein will be sentenced for the guilty verdict in Ms Haley’s case on 30 September.
He denied all of the charges. Throughout the retrial, his lawyers insisted the sexual encounters with his three accusers were “transactional” and “consensual,” and labelled the women as opportunists.
Weinstein was originally convicted of rape and criminal sexual act by the same court in 2020 and sentenced to 23 years in prison for the crimes.
Last year, however, New York’s highest court overturned the conviction, prompting Weinstein’s retrial this summer.
Weinstein was once one of the most powerful people in Hollywood – the co-founder of film and television production companies Miramax and The Weinstein Company, who produced films such as the Oscar-winning Shakespeare In Love, Pulp Fiction, and The Crying Game.
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In 2017, a series of sexual misconduct allegations against him propelled the #MeToo movement.
Some of those accusations later led to criminal charges and his convictions in New York and California.
Before the retrial, Weinstein was also serving a 16-year prison sentence after being found guilty of rape in California in December 2022. He has also denied this charge.
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