Sir Ben Kingsley Raves About Mary-Kate Olsen
Sir Ben Kingsley Raves About Mary-Kate Olsen
You’ve been falling in love with her (and her sister) since their debut in the 1990s on “Full House.” But actor Sir Ben Kingsley reports that Mary-Kate Olsen is still as charming as ever.
The British actor/icon recently revealed to press that he is an ardent admirer of Olsen, with whom he co-starred in “The Wackness.”
In an interview, Kingsley gushed, “Mary-Kate is a genius. She’s great company and a very good actor indeed.”
And he knows his stuff. The 63-year-old actor has been a permanent resident on Hollywood’s A-list ever since his breakthrough role in “Ghandi” as the title character. He’s set to begin working on “Taj Mahal” soon, opposite Indian actress Aishwarya Rai.
Saturday Box Office: SuperBad Dips, but Still Headed for $31M
The Judd Apatow-produced SUPERBAD (Sony), written by KNOCKED UP star Seth Rogan and directed by Greg Mottola (THE DAYTRIPPERS), couldn’t hold up the furious box office pace it set on Friday, but, even with its estimated 12% Friday-to-Saturday drop, the raucous teen comedy still delivered a very solid $10.64M. With an anticipated $8.5M on Sunday, SUPERBAD will wrap up the weekend with a phenomenal $31.24M.
RUSH HOUR 3 (New Line) added a stronger than expected $8.7M on Saturday, and the Tucker/Chan/Ratner action-comedy has a revised 3-day estimate of $20.81M. That’s a 58% drop as opposed to the expected 60% drop that was
expected. It’s likely that a fair number of teens bought tickets to see RH3, then crossed over to see the R-rated SUPERBAD. THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM (Universal), also PG13-rated, may have also been boosted by kids crossing over to see Jonah Hill, Michael Cera and friends. The Damon/Greengrass thriller grabbed approximately $7.93M on Saturday, and BOURNE’s 3rd weekend will likely be $18.7M or so, just a 43% dip.
Joel Silver’s mess THE INVASION (Warner Bros) only managed $2.14M on its 2nd day of release. The $75M body snatcher tale, starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig, is headed for a miserable $5.5M weekend. The film, directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel (DOWNFALL), was supposed to be released last year, but Warner Bros and Silver didn’t like the original cut. So, Silver called in the Wachowski brothers (The MATRIX Trilogy) and James McTeigue (V FOR VENDETTA), who added some action sequences. In the end, nobody could salvage this misfire.
MGM/Weinstein’s THE LAST LEGION continued to sputter through its opening weekend with an estimated $957,000 Saturday. With a cast that includes Ben Kingsley, Anthony Hopkins, Colin Firth and Bollywood superstar Aishwarya Rai, the film may sell tickets abroad, but it will finish the weekend with just $2.49M.
There was more good news for the well-reviewed MGM comedy DEATH AT A FUNERAL, directed by Frank Oz (IN & OUT, DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS). The US Comedy Arts Festival winner on 260 screens picked up another $530,000 or so. The dark comedy will have banked $1.23M by Monday morning.
Leonardo DiCaprio’s THE 11TH HOUR (Warner Independent) suffered a 37% Friday-to-Saturday drop at its 4 locations, but it will still finish the weekend with an estimated $62,000. Its $15,531 PTA is the best of the weekend, edging gritty Brazilian doc MANDA BALA: SEND A BULLET (Slowhand Releasing) with $12,185 on its single screen and SUPERBAD with a PTA of $10,483.
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Aishwarya Rai Biography
Aishwarya Rai was born November 1, 1973 in Mangalore, Karnataka, India. Born in a traditional south Indian family, Aishwarya started modelling at a young age. This green-blue eyed beauty stole ads for many prestigious firms, the ones which brought her into the limelight were the garden sari and the pepsi ad.
Aishwarya Rai is one of the highest-paid actresses in India’s prolific movie industry, the Julia Roberts of the Asian subcontinent. She began modeling at 14, came to fame as the gorgeous new neighbor in Indian Pepsi commercials, and won the Miss World beauty pageant in 1994.
In more than two dozen movies, Rai has never been kissed on screen. It simply isn’t done in Bollywood. Instead, when an on-screen scene reaches that moment, characters typically burst into song-and-dance sequences intended as metaphors for steamy passion. Rai has, however, attempted to broaden her fame by appearing in the English film Bride and Prejudice with Martin Henderson, a comedic singing-and-dancing adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. She has signed to co-star in Singularity with Brendan Fraser in 2005.
So at some point soon, a script may require a smooch instead of a song. “It would definitely be a topic of discussion [in India],†she says. “They’re going to enjoy (the controversy)… In our society, you don’t really see people around the street corner kissing or being extremely or overtly physically demonstrative.â€
Rai is no stranger to controversy, having dated movie star Salman Khan — he is Muslim, she is Hindu. When Rai appeared at an Indian awards ceremony sporting a black eye, there were rumors that Khan had beaten her, but Rai explained otherwise. “For some perverse reason, no one wants to believe me, that I fell down the stairs. First the media calls me the woman of the millennium, a woman of substance. Then how can the same media make me out to be such a doormat? I’m a self-respecting woman, I don’t take nonsense from anyone. No one tries caveman tactics on me. Even Arnold Schwarzenegger can fall and get hurt, so why should I be any different?â€
After they eventually broke up, there were reports that Khan stalked her, and Rai admitted that there “were times when Salman got physical with me.†Her family filed a police complaint against Khan, when he showed up drunk and started pounding on her door and screaming late one night.
Rai made her film debut in 1991′s forgettable Mamagaru . Her other early films included bombs like Iruvar and Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya , and even the Tamil-Telugu hit Jeans which was disastrously received by India’s Hindi audiences. By 1998, critics were carping about Rai’s lack of talent and “three stock wooden expressions.â€
Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam , of course, changed everything, and Rai’s spirited performance as the emotionally complex Nandini made her a star instead of a joke. Her other triumphs include Mohabbatein , Chokher Bali , and the epic Devdas.
In 2003, Rai was injured on the set of Khakhi when a driver lost control of his Jeep and ran into Rai, who landed on a cactus.