The weekend is here, and we bring you the fresh news from the world of Hollywood. 

Cruise 'too short' to play Jack Reacher 

Action hero Jack Reacher will get a reboot for the small screen with a new actor in the lead after creator Lee Child admitted Tom Cruise, who played him in two films, is "too short". 

In Child's books, Reacher is described as 6feet 5inches tall with hands the size of dinner plates. Cruise is 5'7". 

"Cruise, for all his talent, didn't have that physicality," Child told BBC Radio. 

Readers had complained about the Hollywood actor's suitability to play the imposing former major in the US military police since his casting was announced in 2011. 

The author said a deal was signed last week to make a new streaming show. 

Praising Cruise for his talent, Child admitted "ultimately the readers are right. The size of Reacher is really, really important and it's a big component of who he is. 

"The idea is that when Reacher walks into a room, you're all a little nervous just for that first minute. And Cruise, for all his talent, didn't have that physicality. 

The child has decided there would not be any more movies with Tom Cruise. "Instead we're going to take it to Netflix or long form streaming television, with a completely new actor," BBC quoted Child as saying.

The creator also urged readers to help him choose the right actor for the TV series. "We're rebooting and starting over and we're going to try and find the perfect guy." 

The first Jack Reacher film, directed and adapted by Christopher McQuarrie, debuted in 2012. With mostly positive reviews and it fetched $218 million at the global box offices.

But the last Jack Reacher: Never Go Back grossed only $162 million. 

YouTube Premium service expands to seven new countries 

YouTube Premium, the paid streaming subscription service, and YouTube Music Premium are being rolled out to seven new countries, taking the services to 25 and 21 global markets, respectively. 

Initially launched in June and formally known as YouTube Red, YouTube Premium gives users access to advertisement-free video streaming. 

The new countries are Chile, Colombia, Japan, Peru, Portugal, Switzerland, and Ukraine. India is yet to get the YouTube Premium services. 

"If you want ad-free access and offline streaming, you can get Music Premium. The more all-encompassing YouTube Premium gives you the same benefits as Music Premium plus an ad-free experience across all of YouTube's videos and access to exclusive content," Android Police reported late on Wednesday. 

YouTube Premium includes Music Premium but adds the full YouTube experience while adding background and offline playback along with exclusive YouTube original series. 

The subscription costs $11.99 per month. 

Charges for YouTube Music Premium are $9.99/month that bring the entire former Google Play Music catalogue and YouTube's exclusive mixes, covers, and live performances. 

Children are magical things: Eddie Redmayne

Oscar-winning actor Eddie Redmayne says his wife and children bring magic in his life. 

Asked about magical moments in his life, Redmayne said, "It is cliche. It is (with) my wife and children." 

Redmayne is married to Hannah Bagshawe. They have a daughter and a son. 

"Children are magical things. The fact that somehow they come out in the world robust ...That's a thing which I can't get my head around," the actor said. 

The actor will be back as magizoologist Newt Scamander in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. It is the second part of the planned five movies spin-off franchise from the Harry Potter films. The Warner Bros Pictures project will open in India on 16 November. 

The first part Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them came out in 2016. 

He says it is "amazing" to come back to the characters. 

"It is why actors love doing plays because if you do one play and you screw it up, you can go back and fix it. In films, you can't do that. But what is lovely about this is that we get to jump back into it."

The film also features Johnny Depp, Katherine Waterston, Alison Sudol, Dan Fogler, Ezra Miller, Claudia Kim, Zoe Kravitz, Callum Turner, William Nadylam and Brontis Jodorowsky. It will release in India in English, Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu. 

Claudia Kim's magical experience in Hollywood 

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald star Claudia Kim says coming to Hollywood from Korea was a magical experience. 

"For me, getting pulled out of Korea and brought into Hollywood was the first thing which was so magical for me," Kim said during a roundtable discussion here while promoting the project.

Kim will soon be seen as Nagini in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. The Warner Bros Pictures project will open in India on 16 November. 

"I have done a couple of US projects but not an iconic character like this one. To take on a role like this feels incredible. The fans have so much love and excitement. I think that was the biggest change...Coming to this family," added the actress, who has featured in projects like Avengers: Age of Ultron, Equals and The Dark Tower.
 
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is the second in the planned five movies spin-off franchise from the Harry Potter films. The first part Fantastic Beasts and Where to find them came out in 2016.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald takes forward the story, bringing a darker and complex view of the world and sets the foundation for the events leading to the universe of the popular Harry Potter world. 

It was not hard for her to keep details about her role a secret. 

"I have been more trained because being part of Marvel universe as it was also about secrets. Like at the red carpet all I could say was that I was a doctor who helps the Avengers."

Talking about Nagini, she added, "She is suchan important character that I felt such a responsibility that I can't say anything and that I won't spoil this for anybody." 

I love my fans: Stan Lee's last message 

After the demise of comic book legend Stan Lee, his social media handlers shared an emotional video clip which has Lee's final message to his fans. 

Lee's message of gratitude was posted on Thursday Today via his official Twitter account. 

"I love my fans. I cannot tell you how much I love my fans. Sometimes at night, I am sitting here and I'm thinking 'What's it all about?' And then I get a letter from a fan or I read something or I see something or I remember something, 

"And I realize, it's so lucky to have fans, fans who really care about you. That's the reason I care so much about the fans because they make me feel so great," Lee said. 

Known for co-creating Marvel's beloved superheroes like Spider-Man, The X-Men, The Fantastic Four, the Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, Daredevil, Black Panther and Doctor Strange, Lee died at the age of 95 after suffering from Pneumonia. 

Lily James, Armie Hammer in a new adaptation of 'Rebecca'

Actors Lily James and Armie Hammer will star in the new adaption of Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier's 1938 gothic thriller. 

James will play Mrs de Winter and Hammer will play her husband Maxim de Winter in the Netflix film, reported by media publications. 

Ben Wheately is directing the screenplay from Jane Goldman. It follows a newly married young woman who, upon arriving at her husband's imposing family estate on a bleak English coast, finds herself battling the shadow of his deceased first wife, the mysterious Rebecca, whose legacy continues to haunt the house. 

Working Title's Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan will produce the film along with Nira Park. The film is expected to go into production in Spring 2019. 

James most recently starred in Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again and will next be seen in an untitled Danny Boyle film while Hammer will next appear in Mimi Leder's On the Basis of Sex, Anthony Maras's Hotel Mumbai and Babak Anvari's yet untitled movie. 

Kanye didn't know Trump's policies: Kim Kardashian 

Reality TV personality Kim Kardashian West, who feels her rapper-husband Kanye West is "very misunderstood", says he liked US president Donald Trump's personality but was unaware of his policies.

At Variety and Rolling Stone's Criminal Justice Reform Summit, when CNN commentator Van Jones implied that Kim and Kanye have different politics, the reality TV star objected, reported by media publications. 

"I feel like he's very misunderstood and the worst communicator," she said. 

"But when we talk about it, we have very similar politics. He's very not political, actually, he just happens to like Donald Trump's personality but doesn't know about the politics. So, I have educated him recently. 

"I think it gets really misconstrued. He will always say he was friendly with him before, and he is the same person and friendly with him now," she added. 

Kim stressed that she could also co-exist with someone and still have different political views. 

"My mom and my step-dad did that. It's fine to be different and have your own view," she added.

Kim further explained the intent behind her husband's recent White House appearance.
 

"What he fights for is the right to like what he wants to like. Even if it's different from what you like. He never said, ‘Okay, I know what's going on with immigration, and I know this and I know that.' If he really knew, he would feel very compassionate about it. 

"He never said that he supports that. I know it's very confusing because when you see someone wearing a red hat you would think that they are supporting that. But he's just fighting for free thought and freedom to like a person even if it's not the popular decision."

I often wonder if I'll be employed again: Eddie Redmayne 

Eddie Redmayne is having a successful run in Hollywood, but there are days when he wonders if he will get employed again. The Oscar-winning actor says he still remembers all the rejections that he faced and that is what keeps him grounded. 

"You never forget the rejections. You never forget the years of being told no. It is quite deeply in us. It is why a lot of actors are neurotic and nervous," Redmayne told leading publications while promoting his film Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald here. 

"I remember reading an interview of Rachel Weisz saying that she never believes that she will be employed again. That time I was a young and struggling actor and I was like ‘You are Rachel Weisz. You are gonna be fine'. 

"But now even though in some ways, I have had a successful run, I still feel the same. I really do feel the same. My concern is that I hope people enjoy this film and I hope I get to make another one of these films," added the actor on a candid note. 

"That is what keeps you working hard." 

Do you also wonder whether you will be employed again? 

"Yes, frequently," said Redmayne, who grew up in London and worked as a waiter and at a pub before pursuing his dream to become an actor. 

"The worst job was being a waiter at the British Soap Awards. There were many actors. I was about 21 and I had to take empty glasses and they had put many champagne glasses and that thing just crashed and I was laughed at. And I was like ‘Maybe I will try to be an actor one day'." 

He walked into the industry with a career-breaking role in Twelfth Night at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in 2002, but got his ticket to the film world with his role in My Week with Marilyn back in 2011. 

He showed off his acting and singing skills in Les Miserables in 2012, and since then, his career trajectory has been growing upwards. 

But it was his role as Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything which took him to the next level. He won an Oscar, Bafta, Golden Globe, and SAG for his heart-rending performance. 

Next came, The Danish Girl which also made noise at the Oscars, and Redmayne earned applauds from all quarters for bringing forward the complexities of a man going through an identity crisis with conviction.

At the moment, he is basking in glory for his role as magizoologist Newt Scamander in the Fantastic Beasts franchise. 

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald -- the second in the planned five movies spin-off franchise from the Harry Potter films -- will release in India on Friday. The Warner Bros Pictures project will release in India in English, Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu. 

Redmayne, 36, says winning an Oscar has not changed his way of picking a project.

"What is interesting is that when you are starting out, you get a script with details that this director is making this film with this actor. This is where it starts and you are there for this part. 

"But sometimes, which is more complicated, is that when you are the first person to be sent the script and you have to decide kind of by yourself whether the film will be good or not, rather than having people lean on, like the talent involved." 

But the truth of the matter, as Redmayne puts, is that there is only one rule or process through which he picks a role. 

"And that is by instinct and gut feeling."

(Source: IANS)