You would think Russia had more important things to worry about than the recently revealed, “Nice, exclusively gay moment in a Disney movie”, that director Bill Condon says will occur in the upcoming live-action Beauty & The Beast. However, almost the moment the news broke, politicians in Russia started frothing at the mouth about gay propaganda.
For example, MP Vitaly Milonov called for a ban – and he seemed as upset about the human-buffalo romance as he was about the gay moment – saying that the film (which he hasn’t seen) contained “perverted sexual relations” and would contravene the Russian law banning, “gay propaganda against minors”.
He hasn’t quite got his wish, but the Russian Ministry Of Culture has decided that the Disney fairytale is evil enough to give it a 16+ rating, the second highest rating, meaning it’s been deemed suitable only for those over 16.
Disney isn’t likely to be weeping too much though, as while they had the highest grossing movie in Russia last year, Zootopia, it still only made £39 million in the country. As Beauty & The Beast is currently tracking for a gargantuan $120 million opening just in the US, if a bit of homophobia affects it in Russia, it shouldn’t matter too much. The film will be out on March 17th.
She’s one of the most storied actresses in film history, but Meryl Streep has never appeared on-screen in a Steven Spielberg movie. They have worked together, as Streep voiced one of the mechas in Spielberg’s AI, but it’s only now that she’s planning to get in front of the director’s lens, for the Post.
If you grew up in the UK in the 1980s you’ll probably remember Maid Marian & Her Merry Men, where it was Marian who was the brainy hero robbing from the rich to give to the poor, while Robin Hood was a bit of a dim and fey fellow, even if he ending up getting all the credit. It now seems Hollywood is keen on a similar idea, as 
A couple of days ago, 
Being LGBT in India is complicated, with gay sex having been legalised and then recriminalised in recent years. Societal attitudes towards homosexuality are becoming more more welcoming in some areas, while being hardened in others.
Ross Lynch is perhaps best known for appearing in the hit Disney channel movie, Teen Beach Party, and the same channel’s series Austin & Ally, but now he’s got a very different role, as he’s playing infamous serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer in My Friend Dahmer. Now the first pic of Lynch in character has arrived, via Ross’s Instagram.
As well as all sorts of live-action reimaginings of its animated classics as live-action movies, Disney is also in the process of bringing one of its greatest live-action films back to the big screen with a sequel to Mary Poppins. That follow-up, Mary Poppins Returns, is now filming, and the first image of Emily Blunt taking on the role made famous by Julie Andrews has been released.
At one point it seemed like audiences were happy to see anything with Tom Cruise in it, but in recent years the only surefire hits he’s had are with the Mission: Impossible franchise. A couple of films ago, he was supposedly leaving the series behind, but then decided to stick around when several of his others films bombed, but people still couldn’t get enough of him as Ethan Hunt.
With Marvel, Pixar, its animated films and its live-action versions of classic animations, Disney has had huge amounts of success in the past few years. It’s also had some bombs, where films were hyped to the hilt and then underperformed at the box office. That includes John Carter, The Lone Ranger and Tron: Legacy.