Holly to Bolly: Stan Lee launches new Indian superhero; Taylor Swift's alleged stalker arrested; and more

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Stan Lee’s company launches new Indian superhero

Comic book legend Stan Lee’s POW! Entertainment and Graphic India, an entertainment company, have come out with Mighty Girl, a new female superhero for India.

The new Chakra The Invincible and Mighty Girl comics were unveiled on Saturday at the Bengaluru Comic Con.

The comic was also done in collaboration with Unicef’s ‘World’s Largest Lesson’ initiative, supported by GEMS Education, as part of an effort to promote the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals of ending poverty, reduce inequalities and combat the threat of climate change by 2030.

Mighty Girl expands the story of Lee and Sharad Devarajan’s previous Indian superhero creation, Chakra- The invincible, which premiered as an animated film on Cartoon Network India and as digital shorts worldwide through Rovio’s Angry Birds Toons TV platform.

IANS

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Robert Redford shifts focus to direction

Film star Robert Redford says he’s retiring soon from acting to focus on directing.

In an online interview with his grandson Dylan Redford, the 80-year-old star says he’s getting tired of acting.

He notes in the interview – published in the blog of the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis – that he has two acting projects in the works: Our Souls at Night, with Jane Fonda, which he calls “a love story for older people who get a second chance in life,” and The Old Man and the Gun, with Casey Affleck and Sissy Spacek. The actor said once those are done, he’ll quit acting.

Redford won the Oscar for directing in 1981 for Ordinary People, and an honorary Oscar in 2002.

AP

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Taylor Swift’s alleged stalker arrested for following her in Texas

Taylor Swift’s alleged stalker has been arrested.

Frank Andrew Hoover, 39, was put behind bars on Thursday after Austin police officials arrested him following an incident that occurred on October 22.

Police documents obtained by the entertainment portal note that Hoover stalked Swift after her concert at the Formula 1 race, allegedly following her motorcade back to the airport where a private jet picked her and her parents up. The documents say he got within 50 feet of Taylor’s car before bodyguards noticed him and asked what he was doing.

He reportedly told them that he was trying to get a photo and “possibly accompany Taylor wherever she goes.”

The incident violated a previous protection order Swift had filed in Kansas that required the 39-year-old Hoover to stay at least 500 feet from the singer. Thus, police found and arrested him on Thursday. He is currently being held on $100,000 bail.

The National Staff

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‘The Croods 2’ scrapped by DreamWorks Animation and Universal Studios

DreamWorks Animation and Universal Studios have pulled the plug on the long-gestating sequel to the 2013 hit The Croods.

Universal Pictures Chairman Donna Langley met with workers at DreamWorks Animation’s Glendale headquarters on Thursday to confirm that production of The Croods 2 was being stopped immediately, reports variety.com.

Some 30 employees who have been working on the film, launched three years ago, will be looking for new jobs.

The initial Croods film charmed audiences with the tale of a family that deals with problems small (gathering food) and large (the impending destruction of the world). It made $587 million worldwide at the box office, on a production budget of $135 million.

There are no near-term plans to bring back the prehistoric family, voiced in the original by Nicolas Cage, Catherine Keener and Emma Stone.

– The National Staff