BuzzSugar

Sugar Bits - ET Stands by False Angelina Birth Story

PopSugar — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 09:28:20 PDT

Entertainment Tonight has not retracted its false story that the Jolie-Pitt twins were born, although Angelina's attorneys say someone posing as her personal assistant, Holly Goline, sent out the incorrect story. - AP
In other Jolie-Pitt news, the bidding over Brad and Angelina's baby photos is allegedly up to $15 million, with People and OK! Magazine as the final two in the game. - TMZ
Made of Honor star Michelle Monaghan is expecting her first baby, due in late Fall. - lilsugar
There are rumors that Hillary Clinton is conceding the race for President tonight; do you think she will end her run? - CitizenSugar
Legendary rock and roll singer Bo Diddley died of heart failure yesterday at age 79, after months of illness. - AP
Tatum O'Neal is blaming the death of her Scottish terrier for causing her to fall back on drugs and says she is happy she was arrested before she could use again. - NY Post
Sarah Larson is devastated over her breakup with George Clooney, which was apparently sudden and unexpected since the two had discussed the possibility of marriage, according to her friends. - Fox News
The fire at Universal Studios this weekend was ruled accidental, as it started from workers using a blowtorch to repair a set. - E! Online

Fire at Universal Studios: Like Backdraft, But Real

BuzzSugar — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 09:27:58 PDT

A fire broke out at Hollywood's Universal Studios around 4:30 a.m. Sunday morning. Nobody was seriously hurt, though the fire destroyed some set pieces and soundstages, including the courthouse square used for Back to the Future. According the AP, "Two mock New York and New England streets used both for movies such as Bruce Almighty, Spider-Man 2 and Transformers and as tourist displays were a total loss," and in addition to the courthouse square, "the famous clock tower that enabled Michael J. Fox's character in Back to the Future to travel through time was damaged." Thousands of videos were also destroyed, though Universal has duplicates of all the lost footage.

Today officials are saying the fire took over 12 hours to extinguish due to low water pressure and because "the sprinkler system on the outdoor sets was nearly useless." The cause of the fire is still unknown.

Many of the people quoted about the fire can't help but quip that the incident was just like what filmmakers crave when making a disaster film, except, you know, real.

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Sugar Bits - Tatum O'Neal Arrested For Cocaine and Crack

PopSugar — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 09:27:47 PDT

Tatum O'Neal was arrested in NYC at 7:30 p.m. last night for buying cocaine and crack. Tatum said she was doing research for a movie role, but police found a pipe on her.- NY Post
Yves Saint Laurent died of a brain tumor Sunday night at his home in Paris. The fashion icon was 71 years old. - FabSugar
Sex and the City broke every R-rated comedy record, earning $55.7 million over the weekend and taking the number one spot at the box office. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull went down to second place with The Strangers coming in third. - BuzzSugar
Ted Kennedy underwent surgery at Duke University Medical Center this morning for his malignant brain tumor. Following the surgery the senator will be treated with chemotherapy and radiation. - CitizenSugar
Jack Black's second son was born about a week ago, the actor revealed at his Kung Fu Panda LA premiere, and the baby is named after his father. - lilsugar
A fire at Universal Studios broke out on a backlot stage early Sunday, destroying a Back to the Future set, the King Kong exhibit, and a video vault. - AP
As expected, Charlie Sheen and Brooke Mueller were wed Friday night in a small ceremony in Los Angeles. - People

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Harry Potter Theme Park: It Was Only a Matter of Time

BuzzSugar — Thu, 31 May 2007 16:36:30 PDT

Well, Harry Potter fans, it's official: Universal Studios in Florida is opening a Harry Potter theme park called "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter" in 2009. The park will include the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the Forbidden Forest and Hogsmeade village. The Variety article continues:

"The plans I've seen look incredibly exciting, and I don't think fans of the books or films will be disappointed," said author J.K. Rowling, who has been working with a creative team to make sure the park resembles the books and films.

The Potter park will allow visitors to view the iconic locations in Rowling's magical world, like Dumbledore's office in Hogwarts and the shops in Hogsmeade. Some locations may be in upcoming books.

Actually, I think this has the potential to be fun, and hopefully not too cheesy. The sketches for the theme park look pretty cool, so to view them,

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Universal Studios Bans Trans Fats

FitSugar — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 15:37:21 PST

If you're planning on visiting Universal Studios anytime in the future, you'll still get a taste of the thrilling rides that attracts so many people each year. What you won't get a taste of? Trans Fats.

Like so many others, Universal Studios has jumped on the healthy band wagon and stopped serving trans fats in 90% of the food served at its parks in efforts to combat heart disease in America. Walt Disney Co., announced in October that it will serve more nutritious kids' meals and phase out the artificial fats at its resorts as well.

Universal Studios has even gone a step further and added healthy side options too, including salads and fruit bowls. If you still can't fathom going to a theme park and not having fries, then you still can, they just won't be nearly as bad for your heart. NYC has already made the decision to ban trans fats and Massachusetts is on its way to banning them as well.

Fit's Tip: For now, skip the churro, a Spanish fried-dough pastry, because they will not be trans fat-free until the end of 2007.

Let's Be Social: This Week's Best Celebrity Snaps From Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

Marisa Tom — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 11:01:13 PDT

As much as we love spotting our favorite celebs on the red carpet, it's just as much fun seeing what they're up to via quick iPhone snaps, Twitter updates, Instagram shots, and Facebook statuses. Jessica Alba posed with her adorable family while seeing the sights in Seoul, Beyoncé posted a cool self-candid from her beachy getaway to her Tumblr, Nina Dobrev got silly while hitting the rides at Universal Studios, and Alexa Chung and Poppy Delevingne hung out at Chanel's Tribeca Film Festival dinner party. Meanwhile, Victoria Beckham documented her trip to Hong Kong while Lady Gaga helped her stage crew prep for the Born This Way ball. It was a busy week, indeed, but we've got the most stylish (and star-studded) social media bits right here. Click through now to catch up on it all, and don't forget to follow FabSugar on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram!

Why Pixar's First Leading Lady Merida Is the Bravest Princess of Them All

Tara Block — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 12:44:25 PDT

I recently attended a Pixar event at the animation film company's HQ for its upcoming Summer flick Brave. I was able to watch the first 30 minutes of the film, interview the director Mark Andrews and producer Katherine Sarafian, learn all about Scottish traditions, and even channel my inner Merida with archery lessons. Not only am I hooked on archery (pretty proud of my bull's-eye), I'm also hooked on Brave's heroine Princess Merida - Pixar's first leading lady! But don't let Merida's royal title fool you. As an adventurous girl in ancient Scotland who'd rather shoot arrows than get married, she's far from a typical Disney princess. Katherine and Mark both shared the ways she's breaking the princess mold and what makes her a great role model for us all. And as you'll see in the clip from the film below, the last thing Princess Merida wants is a Prince Charming.

Brave producer Katherine Sarafian agrees that the studio's latest project is especially exciting because it stars a girl. She asked me, "Who among us wouldn't want to give our daughters or sons a great cinema role model?" And not only is Merida a "powerhouse of a girl" with "fire and gusto and vigor" as Katherine describes her, she's also relatable, as she doesn't come with any special superpowers. "She just has great skills and she practices them," Katherine explains, "and she earned her skills by working hard and practicing and playing archery and playing sword fighting with her dad."

What really makes Merida someone little girls and adult women alike can relate to is that she's not perfect. At one point Merida's mom, Elinor, who's trying desperately to persuade her daughter to conform to her traditional role as a lady, says, "A princess strives for perfection." As women, we're constantly feeling that pressure to meet impossible expectations and aspire to society's ideal of who we should be and what we should be doing. But we rarely hit the mark. Katherine tells me, "I find her very relatable as someone who's coming of age and struggling with that central question of how can I really be seen for who I am in a world where there's an expectation of me that is incongruous to who I am?"

So why is such a relatable female lead so rare? Katherine tells me she's never understood why we haven't seen more strong female characters onscreen. With Brave, the filmmakers weren't trying to produce a story with a leading lady; it was the story, that happened to be about a girl, that got the project made. "If more filmmakers are developing ideas with great females at the center of the story, we should be able to take the world by storm," Katherine says.

The good news is with hits like The Hunger Games that are incredibly popular with both sexes, perhaps Brave is a part of a trend toward more female-driven films. Katherine points out that the box office figures have proven that people want to see girls and women lead stories. She adds, "I'm hoping people are realizing and studios realize that there is an audience, that this is half the population."

I found it interesting that Pixar (a subsidiary of Disney) would have its first female lead in a feature film be a princess, meaning, technically, Merida is a Disney princess. It appears that for a girl to be the lead in an animated movie she has to be princess. But both Katherine and director Mark Andrews insist the princess decision had nothing to do with the classic Disney princess archetype, but rather it was about a more exciting plot. "If you're a teenager and you make a stupid decision, maybe you get grounded," Katherine explains. "If you're royalty, your bad decision can have consequences that could cause a war in your kingdom. It was important that her decisions be tied to something much bigger than herself and her immediate family."

14 Rock Stars in Movies That Knock Our Socks Off

Anna Monette Roberts — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 15:00:11 PDT

Rock stars symbolize rebellion, freedom, and youth with their long locks, tight leather pants, and loads of tattoos, which explains why everyone wants to be one! In honor of Tom Cruise's upcoming role in Rock of Ages - and yes, Cruise uses his own pipes to bellow Bon Jovi - we've rounded up our favorite actors who've played fictional rock stars.

Photos Courtesy of Warner Bros. and Universal Studios

The Lucky One's Taylor Schilling Talks Love Scenes With Zac Efron: "Not a Bad Day to Come to Work"

Shannon Vestal — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 10:56:22 PDT

Zac Efron's The Lucky One costar Taylor Schilling is the lucky one, indeed - the actress plays his love interest in the drama, and when I visited the set of the film, I got to chat with her and a few other reporters about her dreamy leading man. Schilling also joked about shooting their love scenes, and gave us some insight into her character Beth.

Is it tough shooting the love scenes with Zac?
Taylor Schilling: I mean, I don't know. I don't think so. I wonder what he’ll say. . . [it's] not a bad day to come to work and do that. But you know, it’s not as exciting as you would think it is either; it’s a day that’s very technical when you have to do that in front of a camera.

What were your expectations of Zac?
TS: The thing is, honestly, I didn't know much of anything about Zac before I got this because I'd never seen those High School Musical movies - which at this point, I can't wait to see them when we're done shooting because I'm excited to see what he did before. But I did not really have much of an expectation about him. I knew that he's incredibly famous, but in terms of his work as an actor, I didn't really know. So I really got to know Zac when I tested for this film with him and he was just such an incredibly charming, down-to-earth guy - for me, coming in and having never done a studio film before - he made me so comfortable at that test, and he was so generous and so wonderful, and was also so interested in the work. He was so engaged in the scenes and was so good. So good. So talented. It's just been wonderful to work with someone I really feel has my back as a scene partner. There's some really vulnerable stuff in this movie, and I feel like I could trust Zac with anything I got. He's a special guy, a good guy.

To find out what else Schilling talked about, just keep reading.

Take a Tour Through the World of Harry Potter

Kristy Korcz — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 12:07:36 PDT

Want to see the world of Harry Potter up close? You'll have to take a trip to the Warner Bros. Leavesden Studios in London. Actual sets, props, and special effects from the films are on display starting March 31, and a trip there is sure to please any Potter megafan. Those stateside can always trek to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter inside Universal Studios, Orlando, FL, which is a good alternative for those without the bankroll for international jet-setting.

Take a photo tour of the London studio in the gallery!