Jolie as Maleficent
BURBANK, Calif. - Production has started on "Maleficent," with Angelina Jolie starring as the classic Disney villain from "Sleeping Beauty."
Work on the film began June 13, the Walt Disney Studios announced Tuesday. The studio also released the first image of Jolie in character, wearing a dark headdress and dramatic makeup.
"Maleficent" tells the beloved "Sleeping Beauty" fairy tale from the perspective of Aurora's evil nemesis, revealing the back story that led her to curse the girl as a baby. And it'll probably look pretty spectacular: "Maleficent" marks the directing debut of longtime visual effects and production designer Robert Stromberg, a two-time Oscar winner for "Avatar" and "Alice in Wonderland."
The film is scheduled for release on March 14, 2014.
Depp splits from partner
LOS ANGELES - Johnny Depp and his longtime partner, Vanessa Paradis, have split.
A publicist for Depp said in a statement Tuesday that the two "have amicably separated." The statement requested privacy for the former couple and their two children, 9-year-old son, Jack, and 13-year-old daughter, Lily-Rose.
Depp and Paradis met in 1998 and never married during their 14-year relationship. The American actor and the French model-singer lived together with their children in France.
Baldwin in spat
NEW YORK - Another anger mismanagement allegation has arisen against Alec Baldwin, this time on his way to the altar.
A newspaper photographer filed a complaint with police on Tuesday accusing the "30 Rock" star of punching him outside a marriage license bureau.
No charges had been filed, and the actor vehemently denied throwing any punches.
Daily News photographer Marcus Santos said Baldwin became enraged as he and other photographers were snapping pictures of the 54-year-old actor and his fiancee, Hilaria Thomas, outside the lower Manhattan office where marriage licenses are obtained.
Santos told the newspaper, "I knew he was going to attack me. I stepped back, and he kept coming." He claimed the actor shoved him before punching him "one time, right in the chin."
A statement on Tuesday from Baldwin's publicist accused the photographer of being the aggressor.
Pearl Jam theft
SEATTLE - A man who worked as the chief financial officer for Pearl Jam's management company has been charged with 33 counts of theft.
In charges filed earlier this month, 54-year-old Rickey Charles Goodrich, of Navato, Calif., is accused of using his position with Curtis Inc. to bilk the grunge rock band out of $380,000 from 2006 until he was fired in September 2010.
Prosecutors say Goodrich transferred money from company accounts to pay debts and personal expenses including family vacations and wine.
Actor in Beatles films dies
LONDON - Victor Spinetti, a comic actor who appeared in three Beatles movies and won a Tony on Broadway, has died, his agent said Tuesday. He was 82.
Spinetti died Tuesday morning after suffering from cancer for several years, said Barry Burnett, the actor's close friend and agent.
Spinetti won a Tony award in 1965 for his Broadway performance in "Oh, What a Lovely War," but became most well-known for his appearances in the Beatles movies "A Hard Day's Night," "Help," and "Magical Mystery Tour."
At a London Beatles Day event in 2010, Spinetti said he was included in the cast of "A Hard Day's Night" at George Harrison's insistence.
"He said, 'you gotta be in all our films otherwise me mum wouldn't come and see 'em, because she fancies you,'" Spinetti said. "That was why I was in."
