New York - Little Miss Sunshine star Abigail Breslin is to play disabled advocate Helen Keller in her Broadway debut, it was announced Thursday. Breslin, 13, will play the blind and deaf trailblazer Keller in a revival of the 1959 hit play The Miracle Worker, which opens in March.
"I am so honoured," said the Oscar-nominated teenager. "It's always been something I wanted to play. Helen is a hero of mine - for so many reasons. She never gave up on herself."
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Disney plans new Los Angeles studio
Los Angeles - Disney plans to build a new production center outside Los Angeles, creating almost 3,000 new jobs in the struggling film capital, the entertainment conglomerate announced Thursday.
Disney's plans call for 12 sound stages plus production offices, a commissary and other facilities that could be used for film, television, commercial and new-media projects. It will help the company concentrate its production efforts at one location, rather than spread them around the city and at rented sound stages as it currently does.
The move comes as Los Angeles struggles to retain film and television production in the face of strong competition from elsewhere in the US and internationally.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the 23-hectare project in northern Los Angeles County has been praised by local and state officials and is due to open in 2013.
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Twilight returns to theatres ahead of sequel
Los Angeles - Teen vampire sensation Twilight is to return to cinemas across the US for a single day ahead of the release of its sequel New Moon on November 19, it was announced Thursday.
"Despite the first film already being on DVD, fans across the nation have been calling out to see the film once again on the big screen, and the studio is honoring their request," Summit Entertainment said in a statement.
Twilight has earned 191.5 million dollars in the US and 383.7 million dollars on a worldwide basis since its debut on November 21, 2008. Its sequel is widely expected to be the top-earning movie this year.
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Miley Cyrus voted worst celebrity influence of 2009
Los Angeles - Teen actress Miley Cyrus has been voted the worst celebrity influence of 2009 in a poll on AOL's celebrity website JSYK.com (Just So You Know), which is aimed at teens.
Cyrus, 16, took 42 per cent of votes in the unscientific poll, pushing Britney Spears and rapper Kanye West into second and third places.
The results came after Cyrus made headlines by dating a 20-year- old male model, making "slant eyes" in an informal snapshot criticized as mocking Asians and pole-dancing in a performance on a teen awards show.
The poll comes amid criticism of Cyrus' younger sister, Noah, who attended a charity event in Los Angeles wearing a revealing Halloween costume.
