Singer Kesha accuses producer of abuse, asks out of contract

Pop singer Kesha on Tuesday sued pop hit-making music producer Dr. Luke to let her out of her record contract, accusing him of sexual, physical, verbal and emotional abuse.

The 27-year-old "Die Young" singer, whose legal name is Kesha Sebert, has been under contract to record for Dr. Luke's music production company and record label since 2005.

The civil lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court accused Dr. Luke, whose legal name is Lukasz Gottwald, of forcing Kesha to "take drugs and alcohol in order to take advantage of her sexually while she was intoxicated."

The lawsuit accuses the 41-year-old producer of drugging and raping the singer and threatening her career if she told anyone about it.

"This lawsuit is a wholehearted effort by Kesha to regain control of her music career and her personal freedom after suffering for 10 years as a victim of mental manipulation, emotional abuse and sexual assault at the hands of Dr. Luke," the singer's attorney, Mark Geragos, said in a statement.

The lawsuit also names Dr. Luke's companies as defendants. It demands unspecified damages and to void Kesha's current contracts with Dr. Luke.

Representatives for Dr. Luke did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

The lawsuit alleges the producer's insults to Kesha's appearance caused her to develop bulimia nervosa.

She finished a more than two-month treatment for the condition in March.

The lawsuit says physicians at the rehab clinic determined that Kesha continuing to work with Dr. Luke would be "life threatening."

Dr. Luke has helped write and produce hits for singers such as Miley Cyrus, Kelly Clarkson, Britney Spears and Katy Perry.

'Harry Potter' spinoff book to be adapted for trilogy

Author JK Rowling has confirmed that "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them", a spinoff of her "Harry Potter" series, will be brought to the big screen via a trilogy.

However, Rowling, 49, has said that the project will be "neither a prequel nor a sequel to the 'Harry Potter' series, but an extension of the wizarding world."

David Yates, who directed the final four films in the "Harry Potter" series, will helm the new project at hand.

Based on the magical creatures and characters inspired by the character Harry Potter's Hogwarts textbook, it will be set in the early 1920s, and will follow the adventures of author and Magizoologist New Scamander, reports mirror.co.uk.

The movies will be released in 2016, 2018 and 2020.

Michael Jackson tops Forbes list of highest-earning dead celebrities

Five years after his death, singer Michael Jackson is generating a fortune and is the top-earning dead celebrity, raking in an estimated $140 million in the past year for his estate, Forbes said on Wednesday.

He earned more than twice as much as singer Elvis Presley, who died in 1977 and came in second with $55 million, and three times more than cartoonist and Peanuts comic strip creator Charles Schulz, who took third place with $40 million.

"Few celebrities prove the point that there is (financial) life after death better than Michael Jackson," according to Forbes.

It is Jackson's second straight year atop the list. He regained the title in 2013, a year after being pushed into second place by actress Elizabeth Taylor.

Jackson's second album released after his death, "Xscape" debuted at No. 2 on the pop charts in the past year and the singer also appeared as a hologram at the Billboard Music Awards. Two Cirque du Soleil shows, "Immortal" and "One," account for much of Jackson's earnings along with his music catalogue and publishing empire.

Taylor, who died in 2011, came in at No. 4 with $25 million and reggae singer Bob Marley completed the top five with $20 million in earnings in the year to October 2014. Marley died of cancer at the age of 36 in 1981.

Singer John Lennon, the former Beatle who was gunned down in New York in 1980, was No. 7 with $12 million.

The 13 deceased celebrities included on Forbes list earned a total of $363.5 million.

Forbes compiled the list by talking to estate managers, lawyers and licensor and analysing estimated posthumous earnings between October 2013-14.

Sunny Leone's 'Leela' a family drama!

Filmmaker Bobby Khan has roped in adult star Sunny Leone for his "Leela" and says his directorial debut is a clean family drama, but adds that the actress' glamour quotient will be high and he would try for an U/A certificate for the movie.

"The script of the film is very strong and it's a clean family drama, but we do understand that since Sunny is part of the project, there is a lot of expectation from the audience, so I can't cheat my audience," Bobby told IANS.

The actress had scorched the screen with her bold avatar in "Ragini MMS 2" and "Jism 2".

"All I can say is though it is a family drama, Sunny's glamour quotient will be high in the film. There are a few scenes in the film which require a little boldness, but we have shot it subtly and not shown it over the top.

"As a director I will try my best to fight and get a U/A certificate for the film, so let's see," he added.

The film has been widely shot in Rajasthan.

Talking about Sunny's look in the film, Bobby said: "Sunny plays three characters in the film, so she has three different looks. I can assure you that Sunny will be seen in a never-seen-before avatar on the celluloid. I have tried to make her look like a Bollywood heroine and I hope the audience accepts it."

Penelope Cruz named 'sexiest woman alive' by Esquire magazine

Spanish actress Penelope Cruz has been named this year's "sexiest woman alive" by Esquire, the men's lifestyle magazine said on Monday.

The 40-year-old follows last year's winner, American actress Scarlett Johansson, to earn the honour chosen by Esquire editors.

Cruz, whose last film was director Ridley Scott's 2013 thriller "The Counselor," alongside husband Javier Bardem, will star in the upcoming Spanish-language drama "Ma Ma," and is currently in production on the Sacha Baron Cohen comedy "Grimsby."

The Madrid-born actress, who won a supporting actress Oscar for her performance as an emotionally volatile artist in Woody Allen's "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," told the magazine that she is no longer as attracted to dramatic roles as before.

"I had an attraction to drama," Cruz said in the magazine's upcoming issue. "Most of us have that, especially if you are an artist - you feel like you are tempted to explore the darkness. I could not be less interested now."

Cruz and Bardem, 45, have two young children together.

She rose to international prominence in 2001 with roles in Hollywood films "Vanilla Sky," and "Blow".

She also frequently collaborates with acclaimed Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar, who has called Cruz a muse while the actress told Esquire that the "Talk to Her" director is her "biggest source of inspiration".

American actress Mila Kunis, Barbados-born pop star Rihanna and South African actress Charlize Theron have all recently been given the distinction by Esquire.

Brad Pitt's 'Fury' all the rage at US, Canada box office

Brad Pitt's gritty World War Two drama "Fury" conquered all box office foes over the weekend, ringing up $23.5 million in ticket sales at theatres in the United States and Canada.

"Fury" kicked two-time box office leader "Gone Girl" to second place. The thriller starring Ben Affleck collected $17.8 million from Friday through Sunday, according to data from tracking firm Rentrak.

Animated movie "The Book of Life" earned the No. 3 spot with a debut of $17 million at domestic theatres.

In "Fury," Pitt plays a hardened war veteran who leads men overcome by fatigue and travelling by tank in Nazi Germany during the final months of World War Two.

Shia LaBeouf, Jon Bernthal, Michael Pena and Logan Lerman play the rest of his US Army crew.

Critics gave high marks to "Fury" for strong performances and a fresh take on the genre, with 80 percent recommending the film in reviews collected on the Rotten Tomatoes website.

The movie, which cost $68 million to make, fell just shy of industry projections of an opening of at least $25 million.

"We're in it for the long haul," said Rory Bruer, president of worldwide distribution at Sony Corp's movie studio, which released the film, calling the figure "within the realm of what we expected" and "a very good start".

Bruer noted that "Fury" appeals strongly to men, but that "women who have seen it love it as well," and that the film received an A- CinemaScore grade based on audiences' ratings.

"The Book of Life" draws on Mexican art and wooden puppets to animate a colourful love story rooted in the Mexican Day of the Dead festivities.

It follows childhood friends Manolo (Diego Luna), Joaquin (Channing Tatum) and Maria (Zoe Saldana).

The movie is a co-production of Reel FX Creative Studios and Twenty-First Century Fox Inc's Twentieth Century Fox studios. The production cost $50 million.

Fox also released "Gone Girl", the big-screen book adaptation that stars Affleck as a writer who becomes a suspect when his wife disappears. The movie has collected $107.1 million domestically since its Oct 3 debut.

Walt Disney Co family film "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" came in fourth, earning $12 million, while newly released romance "The Best of Me" finished in fifth.

Based on a Nicholas Spark book, "The Best of Me" stars James Marsden and Michelle Monaghan as high school sweethearts who reunite years later.

Released by privately held Relativity Media, it took in $10.2 million, missing Boxofficemojo's projection of an opening of around $15 million.

A Relatively representative said the firm was confident the film would do well in the coming weeks, "given its word of mouth and strong CinemaScore."