In brief: Meyers to take over NBC’s ‘Late Night’
Seth Meyers is moving from his “Weekend Update” desk to his own late night show on NBC.
The network said Sunday that the longtime “Saturday Night Live” cast member will replace Jimmy Fallon at the 12:35 a.m. “Late Night” show. Fallon will be moving up an hour as Jay Leno’s replacement on the “Tonight” show.
Meyers’ show will originate from New York’s Rockefeller Center, just like Fallon’s “Tonight” show. Meyers’ premiere date has not been set.
Longtime “Saturday Night Live” producer Lorne Michaels will be the executive in charge of both shows.
‘Star Wars’ will be shot in Britain
The next “Star Wars” movie will be shot in a galaxy far, far away from Hollywood: Britain.
Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy says the company has reached a deal with British Treasury chief George Osborne to make “Star Wars: Episode VII” in the U.K.
She said Friday that the production company was “revisiting the origins of ‘Star Wars’ ” for the new movie. Parts of all six previous movies were made in Britain.
Osborne said the announcement was “great news for fans and our creative industries.”
“Star Wars” maker Lucasfilm was bought last year for $4.05 billion by The Walt Disney Co., which has announced plans for a new trilogy of films.
The first new movie, directed by sci-fi wunderkind J.J. Abrams (“Star Trek”), is due for release in 2015.
‘Django Unchained’ back in China
Quentin Tarantino’s violent slave-revenge movie “Django Unchained” has returned to Chinese theaters a month after it was pulled on opening day for unspecified “technical reasons.”
The rare suspension order on April 11 by the movie’s importer, China Film Group Corp., led to speculation that the Hollywood film had run afoul of Chinese censors despite weeks of promotion.
“Django Unchained” reportedly already had some violent scenes cut and had been cleared by China’s rigorous censors, who generally remove violence, sex and politically edgy content.
A manager at a UME Cineplex cinema in Beijing said Sunday the new version was one minute shorter than the previous one.
The manager speculated that a nude scene might have been cut.
The birthday bunch
Actor Buck Taylor is 75. Actor Harvey Keitel is 74. Singer Stevie Wonder is 63. Actor-comedian Stephen Colbert is 49. Singer Darius Rucker (Hootie and the Blowfish) is 47. Actress Samantha Morton is 36. Rock musician Mickey Madden (Maroon 5) is 34. Actress-writer-director Lena Dunham is 27. Actor Robert Pattinson is 27.