Oscar-nominated actress Helena Bonham Carter has been awarded a Commander of the Order of the British Empire medal (Cbe) in Queen Elizabeth II’s New Year’s Honours list.

The Brit, who portrayed the Queen’s mother in The King’s Speech, has been recognised for her career achievements and will be presented with the accolade during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace in London next year.

TV mogul Peter Bazalgette, the producer credited with turning reality show Big Brother into an international phenomenon, is to receive a knighthood, while author Penelope Lively, who won the Booker Prize for 1987′s Moon Tiger, will be made a Dame, according to Reuters.

Veteran British comedian Ronnie Corbett will be feted with a CBE, while golfers Rory McIlroy and Darren Clarke are to pick up Member of the British Empire (MBE) and Officer of the British Empire (OBE), respectively.

The annual New Year’s Honours list acknowledges the public service of British and Commonwealth citizens in a variety of fields including entertainment, industry and government.

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By Celyn • December 31, 2011 • Awards & Nominations, News • Comments: 0

Based on the collective online response to Warner Bros.’ recent decision to greenlight a live-action reworking of Akira, you’d be forgiven for believing that literally no one on the planet (other than a few studio heads) actually thinks this project is a good idea.

TRON: Legacy‘s leading man Garret Hedlund is – for better or for worse – said to be the top contender to headline the new Akira movie, which will be an Americanized take on the acclaimed Japanese comic book/animated movie created by Katsuhiro Otomo. However, he could potentially be surrounded by some well-respected acting talent.

Twitch has it on good authority that Gary Oldman and Helena Bonham Carter have been offered roles in director Jaume Collet-Serra‘s Akira remake. Oldman is reportedly being eyed for the role of “The Colonel” – a part previously rumored to have been offered to another beloved actor, Morgan Freeman – and Carter is apparently wanted to play a character known as Lady Miyako (in Otomo’s original comic/movie, at least).

Carter is somewhat similar to Oldman: her filmography as a whole is very strong, save for a handful of big-budget missteps here and there (ex: Tim Burton’s Planet of the Apes). However, she has somewhat of a busy schedule right now, seeing how she’s currently appearing in Burton’s Dark Shadows, Mike Newell’s Great Expectations – and is rumored to costar in Tom Hooper’s Les Misérables adaptation next spring – around the same time that Akira is expected to begin production.

With all that said: bringing Oldman and Carter onboard for your film is rarely (if ever) a bad move; it could also be a turn for the Akira remake which won’t simply infuriate fans.

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By Celyn • October 24, 2011 • Film, News • Comments: 0

She’s been a critics’ darling and a fashion fascination for three decades. And now actress Helena Bonham Carter, 45, is the very first winner of the Anglo Fan Favorites women’s tournament, pulling out a 55-45 percent victory over Harry Potter novelist JK Rowling. Dame Maggie Smith, the 76-year-old recent Emmy winner for Downton Abbey, overwhelmed 21-year-old Emma Watson 68-32 percent in the third-place matchup.

It’s been a great year for Bonham Carter. She received an Oscar nomination and a BAFTA for playing Queen Elizabeth II‘s mother in The King’s Speech, starred in the hugely successful Harry Potter franchise finale, and was honored with the British Artist of the Year award from BAFTA Los Angeles.

Bonham Carter joins men’s champ Alan Rickman on the winner’s stand this year. Both have enjoyed diverse careers, excelling at both villains and heroes. At age 19, Helena first came to prominence as passionate, conflicted Lucy Honeychurch in the 1986 Merchant/Ivory adaptation of E.M. Forster‘s turn-of-the-century romance A Room With a View. Later, playing Ophelia in Mel Gibson‘s Hamlet showed that the beautiful ingenue could serve up some major “cray-cray,” and a legendary cinema eccentric was born. (Becoming Tim Burton‘s muse only strengthened her outré status.) And certainly portraying Bellatrix Lestrange in the globally successful Harry Potter films launched her into a new stratosphere of fame.

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By Celyn • October 07, 2011 • News • Comments: 0

Deadline are reporting that the problems have been all but resolved at the studio, and an official announcement is expected next week.

The key players – Johnny Depp as Tonto, Armie Hammer as the masked hero and Ruth Wilson (Luther) as the female lead – are expected to be back, and we’re hoping Helena Bonham Carter will return, too.

While it seemed strange that a project from the Pirates Of The Caribbean power-combo of Depp, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Gore Verbinski could ever be shelved, the primary concern was the budget, which was edging north of $250m.

Bruckheimer and director Gore Verbinski have apparently chipped that figure down to a mere $215m.

Deadline suggests the disappointing performance of this summer’s western-themed Cowboys & Aliens could have caused Disney’s hesitance.

The vintage property still sounds like a slightly risky proposition, but there’s always the underlying hope that Depp, Verbinski and Bruckheimer could recapture the spirit of the first Pirates, with plenty of laughs, adventure and old-fashioned swashbuckling.

It’s not yet clear if The Lone Ranger is still expected to hit its original December 2012 release date.

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By Celyn • September 24, 2011 • News • Comments: 0

A few interesting bits of news about Tom Hooper‘s Les Miserables adaptation have surfaced today. One, it seems the project has found a couple of villains in previously rumored stars Russell Crowe and Helena Bonham Carter. And two, we finally know when, exactly, we can expect to see the finished product.

The Hollywood Reporter writes that Crowe is in talks for Javert, the primary antagonist to Hugh Jackman‘s Jean Valjean, while Carter is up for the role of greedy Madame Thénardier. Crowe, Carter, and Jackman are the only stars who have been announced at this point, though Anne Hathaway, Geoffrey Rush, and Emma Watson are among the other names who’ve been rumored for various parts.

Carter seems like a great fit for Les Miserables as well. She’s already proven her vocal capabilities in Sweeney Todd, and her ability to play cruel but fascinating in projects like the Harry Potter franchise. It’s also worth nothing that her last project with Hooper, The King’s Speech, earned her an Oscar nod.

As for when we’ll finally see the project hit theaters, Deadline reports that Universal has the film scheduled for a December 7, 2012 bow. With that release date and this pedigree, it’s probably reasonable to expect we’ll be seeing Hooper raking in the Oscar nominations again next winter.

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By Celyn • September 10, 2011 • News • Comments: 0