"Avatar" director donates dive craft, says 3D movie due in fall

By John Gaudiosi

(Reuters) - Film director James Cameron is donating the Deepsea Challenger craft he used to make a record-setting solo dive a year ago to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to speed research into the deepest parts of the world's oceans.

Cameron, who is focused now on pre-production for the sequels to his blockbuster movie "Avatar," said he hoped the donation to the non-profit research facility in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, would bring the technology he developed for the undersea craft into the mainstream.

In a telephone interview marking the one-year anniversary of his nearly 7-mile-deep (11.2-km-deep) dive in the western Pacific, the Oscar-winning director said that scientists had identified more than 60 new species, including bacteria, from material he brought back.

Cameron expects to release a long-awaited 3D movie of the dive in movie theaters in the fall of 2013.

Cameron also directed the 1997 movie "Titanic" as well as undertaking and filming several underwater expeditions exploring the wreck of the ship in the North Atlantic.

Q: What impact do you hope the Deepsea Challenger's transfer to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) will have on continued research?

A: It drives public attention to the need for new technology and funding for deep ocean work, which WHOI is the leader of in this country. It will have a very specific and immediate effect of new vehicles and new vehicle platforms, our cameras, our communications, our syntactic foam and battery systems, they'll incorporate into their future stuff. The way we solved problems is so outside the box, they're eager to bring that into their projects.

I could leave the sub in my barn, but that's not going to do anybody any good while I'm off making "Avatar" films for the next few years. I want this technology to be out there and dynamic and adaptive.

Q: What are some of the new species and findings that have come from this dive?

A: I met with Doug Bartlett out of the Scripps Institute of Oceanography (who was the chief scientist on the dive expedition) and he said there are at least 68 new species coming out of this, and that includes a number of arthropods and invertebrate animals and a lot of new bacteria.

Q: What will audiences experience when your 3D movie of this dive is released.

A: "The Deepsea Challenge" is coming out this fall. You go on the journey. It's about the team of these young guys and how they tackled the problems and overcame a lot of hurdles and set-backs. They got to see some pretty amazing stuff and got to bring back the footage in 3D. You'll feel like you've been through the whole thing, including actually diving inside the sub. I was jammed into this 42-inch (106 centimeter) sphere with all this equipment and a 3D camera with me at all time.

Q: How has filming underwater in 3D with this dive and past Titanic dives helped you as a Hollywood director?

A: There's always been a good synergy between the technology that's been developed for these expeditions and the technology that's used for the films. "Avatar" was shot with a second generation of the 3D cameras that were built for my 2001 Titanic expedition. We're constantly building and improving the technology. Some of the things that went into building the Deepsea Challenger cameras, which had to be so tiny, will probably be used in action cameras in the next "Avatar" films.

The odds are other filmmakers will use this technology before me because my company, Cameron Pace Group, supplies cameras to most of the big movies that are shooting in 3D. We develop something new, I use it on an expedition, and while I go off and write and design and fool around in pre-production, five other movies have gone out and used the cameras in the meantime. That was the case even when I had made "Avatar," a number of other films had already used those cameras.

(Reporting By John Gaudiosi in North Carolina, editing by Jill Serjeant and Cynthia Osterman)

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Justin Bieber flies back to Los Angeles and into more trouble

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Pop sensation Justin Bieber flew from Europe back to his Los Angeles area home on Tuesday and into an argument with one of his neighbors - the latest in a series of odd incidents involving the teen singer.

Deputies were called to the 19-year-old's house in Calabasas, California, on Tuesday morning after a neighbor claimed that he had been threatened and struck by Bieber, said Los Angeles County Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore.

A police report alleging battery and threats by Bieber had been filed and was being investigated, Whitmore said. No charges have been filed against the Canadian pop star and Whitmore declined to give details, citing an ongoing investigation.

Under California law, a misdemeanor battery charge can include unwanted touching or spitting.

The alleged altercation took place after the "Boyfriend" singer flew overnight from Poland, startling photographers and Lodz airport officials by stripping off his shirt on a freezing evening as he walked through security and to his private jet.

Bieber's publicist did not return calls for comment on Tuesday's incident, which follows odd behavior by the singer during his European tour, including turning up late for a London concert and wearing a gas mask on a night out.

A source close to the star said the Calabasas dispute stemmed from a neighbor who came by to complain about parties at the house while Bieber was away. Words were exchanged but no physical altercation took place, the source said, citing the singer's security detail.

Celebrity website TMZ.com said the dispute was provoked by Bieber driving a newly delivered Ferrari up and down the street at high speed early on Tuesday morning. The Bieber source disagreed with that claim.

Bieber has been playing concerts around Europe for his "Believe" tour for several weeks, and his next concert is scheduled for Munich, Germany, on March 28.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

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France's Bruni makes emotional defense of husband Sarkozy

PARIS (Reuters) - Former French first lady Carla Bruni took up a passionate defense of her husband Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday, saying it was unthinkable he could have tricked an old lady out of millions of euros.

In a blitz of interviews with French media, Bruni said a formal investigation of the ex-president opened last week for allegedly exploiting the mental frailty of 90-year-old L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt was causing her great pain.

"It's impossible to imagine that this man could have abused the frailty of a lady the age of his mother... It's unthinkable," Bruni told RTL radio in a shaky voice.

Sarkozy, who retreated from front-line politics after losing his re-election bid last May, rejects accusations that he took advantage of Bettencourt, France's richest woman, in 2007 to raise funds for his first election campaign. He wrote on Facebook this week that the probe against him was "unfair and unfounded".

The case could scupper any political comeback for Sarkozy, whose remains a popular figure for center-right voters and has said he would consider running for president again in 2017.

His lawyer, Thierry Herzog, has said he would seek to have the case thrown out on grounds that the investigation conducted by judge Jean-Michel Gentil was biased against Sarkozy.

Singer-songwriter and former model Bruni played a restrained role as first lady while Sarkozy was in power but has since returned to the media spotlight, performing last week at the ECHO Music Awards in Berlin.

Her public defense of Sarkozy coincides with her promotion of a new album due for release on April 1.

Bruni's 2008 marriage to Sarkozy after a whirlwind courtship irritated many French people who felt the high-profile romance blurred the lines between the president's private and public lives.

Asked if she was tempted to fight back publicly against the accusations and "show her claws", Bruni said: "Yes, I want to but I don't dare. It is difficult for me to talk about this, it's painful for my family."

(Reporting by Nicholas Vinocur; Editing by Catherine Bremer and Toby Chopra)

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U.S. rapper Gucci Mane jailed for alleged assault

ATLANTA (Reuters) - Rapper Gucci Mane was jailed in Georgia on Wednesday for allegedly hitting a fan in the head with a champagne bottle at an Atlanta nightclub earlier this month.

Mane, whose real name is Radric Davis, turned himself in to authorities late on Tuesday, according to Fulton County Sheriff's Office records.

Mane, 33, faces an aggravated assault charge after causing a "severe laceration" to the man whom he hit with a champagne bottle on March 16, according to a police report. The fan had approached Mane and tried to strike up a conversation, police said. Mane left the nightclub before police arrived.

A magistrate judge denied bond for Mane at his first court appearance on Wednesday, sheriff's spokeswoman Tracy Flanagan said.

Mane did not enter a plea. His next hearing will be on April 10, Flanagan said.

Mane's attorney, Drew Findling, told Reuters he would appeal the denial of bond to a higher court. He said six witnesses interviewed by his office about what he described as a melee at the club did not pin blame on the rapper.

"None of them said Gucci had anything to do with it," Findling said.

The incident is the latest in a long string of legal troubles for the rapper, who has appeared in remixes with the Black Eyed Peas and Usher.

In 2001, Mane was arrested for cocaine possession and spent 90 days in jail. He served a six-month prison term in 2005 for assault, and in 2009 was imprisoned for a year for violating probation in that case.

A Georgia judge sentenced Mane to six months in jail in 2011 after he admitted to pushing a woman out of his car.

(Reporting by David Beasley; Editing by Colleen Jenkins, Bernadette Baum and Leslie Adler)

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French actress files complaint over Hollande liaison rumor

PARIS (Reuters) - A French actress has filed a complaint with the Paris prosecutor for breach of privacy over Internet rumors alleging she has a relationship with President Francois Hollande, the prosecutor's office said on Thursday.

A spokesperson for the prosecutor's office told Reuters that actress Julie Gayet had filed a complaint against "persons unknown", a common formulation under French law, on March 18 over rumors circulating on Twitter and blog sites for some weeks.

A lawyer for Gayet did not immediately respond to phone calls and Hollande's office declined to comment.

Hollande and first lady Valerie Trierweiler are unmarried but have been in a relationship for several years. They met when she was working as a journalist for a French magazine.

Their relationship came under media scrutiny during Hollande's campaign for the May presidential election and in the months afterwards as Trierweiler became an active tweeter and maintained a literary review column in Paris Match magazine.

Gayet, 40, has dozens of film credits to her name including a minor role in the 1993 Franco-Polish drama "Three Colors: Blue" and a leading role in "Select Hotel", for which she won two awards for her depiction of a young drug addict.

(Reporting by Chine Labe; Writing by Catherine Bremer; editing by Mark John and Michael Roddy)

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Trailblazing TV journalist Barbara Walters to retire in 2014

(Reuters) - Pioneering journalist Barbara Walters, the first woman to co-anchor a U.S. evening news program, plans to retire in May 2014 after more than five decades as a prominent figure on U.S. television, a source familiar with her plans said on Thursday.

Walters, 83, is expected to announce her retirement to viewers herself in the coming weeks, the source said.

"It was very much her decision. I think she will best explain it herself," the source told Reuters.

ABC will broadcast a series of specials and tributes to Walters in the weeks before her exit, the source added.

ABC News executives declined to comment.

Walters, the creator and host of ABC's all-women talk show "The View," had open heart surgery in 2010.

She fainted, hit her head and suffered a concussion in January, and was then diagnosed with chicken pox, causing her to miss more than a month of work.

Walters is best known as one of the top interviewers on U.S. television, counting an array of world leaders as subjects, including Cuba's Fidel Castro, Britain's Margaret Thatcher, Saddam Hussein of Iraq and every U.S. president since Richard Nixon.

She got her start in television journalism in 1961 as a writer on NBC's "Today," a show she would later become the first woman to co-host.

In 1976, she became the first woman to co-anchor a television evening news broadcast on any U.S. network for "ABC Evening News." Walters has also worked as a producer and host of the ABC news magazine "20/20" and as a correspondent for ABC News.

ABC is a unit of Walt Disney Co.

(This story has been repeated to fix a typo in the lead)

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Todd Eastham)

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Fay Kanin, Oscar-nominated screenwriter and Academy President, dies at 95

By Brent Lang

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Fay Kanin, an Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning screenwriter, died Wednesday of natural causes. She was 95.

In addition to her award-winning work, Kanin served as the second female president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science, the nonprofit organization behind the Academy Awards, from 1979 to 1983.

"She was committed to the Academy's preservation work and instrumental in expanding our public programming," the Academy said in a statement. "A tireless mentor and inspiration to countless filmmakers, Fay's passion for film continues to inspire us daily."

Kanin's credits bridged the small and big screen, and she often specialized in romantic comedies that explored the age-old theme of the battle of the sexes. She received her Oscar nomination for penning the 1958 romantic comedy "Teacher's Pet," which served as a vehicle for Doris Day. Other film credits included "My Pal Gus," a 1952 comedy with Richard Widmark; "The Opposite Sex," a 1956 musical remake of "The Women"; and "Rhapsody," a 1954 musical romance starring Elizabeth Taylor.

On TV, Kanin won three Emmys - two for writing "Tell Me Where It Hurts" (1974), which followed a disenchanted housewife who forms a discussion group, and another for producing "Friendly Fire" (1979), which starred Carole Burnett and dramatized a family's discovery that their son had been killed by accidently by U.S. troops.

Kanin's career was briefly derailed after she and her husband, screenwriter Michael Kanin, ran afoul of the House Un-American Activities Committee and were blacklisted in the early '50s for their alleged Communist sympathies. The couple was unable to work for two years until director Charles Vidor asked them to write the screenplay for "Rhapsody."

In addition to her work with the Academy, Kanin served as the president of the Screen Branch of the Writers Guild of America and as chair of the National Film Preservation Board of the Library of Congress, and was involved in other film industry organizations.

Although she worked regularly and was in demand at a time in which screenwriting remained closed to all but a handful of women, she shied away from making too much of her glass ceiling shattering legacy.

"I don't think you think of yourself as a pioneer," Kanin said. "I just felt very fortunate."

Kanin remained married to her husband for five decades. The couple got married in 1940 and Michael Kanin died of lung cancer in 1993. They had two sons, Joel and Josh, and two grandchildren. Josh died at age 13 of lung cancer.

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Pioneering rock journalist Paul Williams dies at 64

By Steve Pond

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Paul Williams, a pioneering music journalist who started the first magazine devoted to rock 'n' roll criticism, died on Wednesday in Southern California. He was 64.

Williams was the founder of Crawdaddy! magazine and the author of more than two dozen books about music, popular culture and new-age philosophy. He died of complications related to Alzheimer's, which came on after he suffered a brain injury in a 1995 bicycle accident.

Williams was a 17-year-old student at Swarthmore College when he launched Crawdaddy in 1966. At a time when the mainstream media looked askance at rock music and the only magazines devoted to the sound were teeny-bopper publications like Tiger Beat, Williams wrote in the first issue that his goal was "neither pinups nor news briefs" but "intelligent writing about pop music."

"Paul was the first to write about rock music seriously," singer-songwriter Mojo Nixon told the San Francisco Chronicle in 2009, when he participated in a benefit to raise money for Williams' medical expenses. "Most pop music was meaningless fluff, but Paul realized that something else was going on there."

Crawdaddy!, whose early writers included Jon Landau and Richard Meltzer, predated Rolling Stone, which Jann Wenner launched in 1967 after meeting with Williams. Williams left Crawdaddy! in 1968, but relaunched it in 1993 as a subscription-only newsletter.

In addition to his work with the magazine, Williams wrote for a number of other publications, including Rolling Stone, for which he interviewed the seminal science-fiction writer Philip K. Dick in 1974. Williams became friends with the author and served as the executor of Dick's literary estate after the writer's death in 1982.

He also took on tasks as disparate as volunteer firefighter and campaign manager for Timothy Leary's run for California governor.

Williams' books include "Outlaw Blues," "Das Energi," and a number of works on Bob Dylan - including "Dylan - What Happened?" about the singer's 1979 conversion to Christianity. After the book's publication, Dylan's office reportedly ordered 114 copies so the singer could give them to friends.

Williams suffered an accident riding his bicycle in 1995, and was hospitalized for a month with a brain injury. He recovered, but later began to show signs of dementia. His wife, singer-songwriter Cindy Lee Berryhill, put him in a managed-care facility in Encinitas, Calif., in 2008.

On Sunday, three days before his death, a one-day celebration of Williams' life was held at the Boo-Hooray Gallery in New York City, with music provided by Berryhill and Lenny Kaye.

According to a Facebook post by Berryhill, Williams died on Wednesday night in the company of his oldest son.

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Post head-injury, Kristin Chenoweth goes on a "Family Weekend"

By Zorianna Kit

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Tony and Emmy Award winning singer and actress Kristin Chenoweth is known for her perky personality ranging from roles in Broadway's "Wicked" to television's "Glee" and performing a closing number at February's Oscar ceremony with host Seth MacFarlane.

On Friday, the diminutive (4ft 11in) actress moves to the dark side in the indie movie "Family Weekend." She plays a mother so consumed by work that she ignores her own children and squabbles with her husband, until her teenage daughter kidnaps and ties up both parents in a bid to get their attention.

Chenoweth, 44, talked to Reuters about the film, her Christian faith and the serious accident last year that forced her to re-evaluate her life.

Q: What was it like being tied up for most of the duration of "Family Weekend?"

A: I am done with that tape! I was mostly in the same room and in the same position for four weeks. Lots of times I couldn't speak so I had to moan or grunt. And when I was spoken to, the tape (on my mouth) had to be ripped off. I was constantly getting waxed, I guess you could say.

Q: Are the parents the villains in the film?

A: One thing I learned is the basic good nature of people. They want to do right. This woman has a full plate and it has gone awry. It wasn't always bad. But with the pressure of being the breadwinner, she lost sight of what was truly important.

Q: Speaking of things going awry, you were cast on "The Good Wife" TV series but that all changed when a lighting rig fell on your head on the set last July.

A: It was bad. I was banged up, completely black and blue. My head was cut open, I had a skull fracture and cracked teeth. I had to get my memory going again (because) I was knocked out. My mom and dad came to stay with me and I was saying, "Why me? Why me? I was just standing there!"

My mom said: "Why not you? Life happens and you're no special or different or worse off or better off than anybody else. You're lucky to be alive and we are going to be grateful." It was a great piece of advice.

Q: Besides the physical trauma, what was the emotional damage?

A: One thing I really struggled with was having to stop and be quiet and still. That was the worst part about it. So I was like, Okay, clearly I'm supposed to be still. I've been going at it for so long, and so hard in so many different areas. Honestly, I think it was good. I can't believe I'm saying that, but it really makes you take stock of what's important.

Q: So how have you restructured you life post-accident? You still have a lot going on - voicing next year's animated film "Rio 2" and promoting a new ship that's being built for Royal Caribbean, among others things.

A: I'm being choosy with how I spend my free time. I can be very much a hermit and I'm trying not to do that anymore. I'm trying to enjoy the moments instead of going, 'Okay, I've got that behind me, what's next? I've got to do that and that and that ...' I want to enjoy it when it's happening.

Q: How does your Christian faith inform your professional and personal life?

A: Being a person of faith in show business is interesting. I've done lots of things maybe some Christians wouldn't do. But I've also said no to a lot of things that nobody knows about. It's a fine line to walk, but I have to keep true to my faith and pray and do the best I can.

I was at the History Channel (premiere) for "The Bible" miniseries and it's as important for me to go to that event as it is for me to go to a GLAAD event because I'm a gay rights activist. In some people's views, that is a direct conflict. But I don't see it as such. It's something that I've taken heat for and been praised for.

Q: You're adopted. How does that shape you?

A: Mainly that I feel a lot of love from my mom and dad who adopted me. Maybe I would have had a very different life had I not been adopted but my parents have really helped shape who I am. I do things sometimes they don't agree with, but I'm their kid and they love me. I know they feel like they won the lottery and I feel like I won the lottery. They got me and I got a home. The right home.

(Reporting By Zorianna Kit, Editing by Jill Serjeant)

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Harry Potter actor Richard Griffiths dies after surgery

LONDON (Reuters) - British actor Richard Griffiths, best known for his roles in 'Withnail and I' and the Harry Potter films, has died at the age of 65 after complications following heart surgery, his agent said on Friday.

Griffiths spent almost four decades in radio, film, on television and on stage, and received some of his industry's top awards for his role in Alan Bennett's play "The History Boys".

The portly actor filled the screen as the lascivious Uncle Monty in the cult 1987 film 'Withnail and I'.

But younger fans will remember him for his portrayal of a much crueler avuncular figure - Harry Potter's red-faced and bullying uncle Vernon Dursley.

Daniel Radcliffe, who played the boy wizard and performed with Griffiths in the stage play "Equus", said the veteran performer had encouraged and coached him and helped him get over his nerves.

"Richard was by my side during two of the most important moments of my career ... any room he walked into was made twice as funny and twice as clever just by his presence. I am proud to say I knew him," Radcliffe said in a statement.

Griffiths' agent, Simon Beresford, described him as "a remarkable man and one of our greatest and best-loved actors". He said Griffiths died in hospital on Thursday.

The actor was born in Thornaby-on-Tees in Yorkshire, northern England, the son of a steelworker. Both his parents were deaf and he learned sign language to communicate with them.

After studying drama in Manchester, he worked in radio and theatre, building a reputation as a Shakespearean clown.

He reprised his role as teacher Hector in a film of "The History Boys" in 2006. One of his best known roles on television was a cookery-loving detective in "Pie in the Sky".

On stage, he was known for his intolerance of mobile phones ringing during performances, and halted plays several times to complain and even eject offending audience members.

Nicholas Hytner, director of Britain's National Theatre, said Griffiths' unexpected death would devastate his "army of friends".

"Richard Griffiths wasn't only one of the most loved and recognizable British actors - he was also one of the very greatest," Hytner said in a statement.

Griffiths was given an OBE in 2008 and is survived by his wife Heather.

(Reporting by Belinda Goldsmith; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

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