• ‘Dirty Dancing’ Sequel Producer Vows Not to Bring Patrick Swayze Back with AI

  The team behind the sequel to the iconic film Dirty Dancing is determined to honor Patrick Swayze’s memory and has no plans to recreate the late actor using artificial intelligence. Producer Nina Jacobson made the announcement...

• ‘Disastrous Nonsense’: Fans Slam Trailer for Greta Gerwig’s New ‘Narnia’ Film

  The first trailer for Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew, directed by Greta Gerwig, has sparked a fierce backlash from fans of C. S. Lewis’s beloved book series. Some viewers branded the footage “weird, disastrous nonsense,” while others accused the filmmakers of relying too heavily on CGI and turning the iconic fantasy into yet another Marvel-style blockbuster...

• Steven Spielberg to Make Film About Mobster Sammy Gravano, the Man Who Betrayed John Gotti

  Steven Spielberg is developing a film about Salvatore “Sammy the Bull” Gravano, one of New York’s most notorious mobsters, who betrayed his boss, John Gotti, and helped the FBI bring down the Gambino crime family’s empire. Page Six reports the news...

• Brad Pitt Returns to the World of Zombies: Paramount Officially Greenlights World War Z Sequel

  Plot details are being kept strictly under wraps...

• Ben Shirinian’s feature directorial debut, The Housewife, has had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival

  Ben Shirinian’s feature directorial debut, The Housewife, has had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, Armenian Film Society writes…

• ArmenՅԱՆs: Jack Topalian, the Armenian Star of “Euphoria”: How He Traded Business for Acting, “Tortured” Jacob Elordi, and Spoke Armenian in the Hit Series

  We Armenians, wherever we are in the world, always feel proud when we suddenly see one of our compatriots in a major international project...

• There’s No Place Like Home: The Human Stories Behind Artsakh’s Tragedy Told in New Documentary Premiered in Yerevan

  “There’s no place like home” is the message at the heart of Diana Madison’s documentary, a painful retrospective of Artsakh, lost after the 44-day war...

• Nicole Kidman Says She Had a Different View of What Her Life Was Going to Be Before Divorce from Keith Urban

  Nicole Kidman has opened up about life in the wake of her divorce from Keith Urban in British Vogue...

Andy Serkis said in a recent interview with the BBC that his new “Lord of the Rings” movie, “The Hunt for Gollum,” will “somewhat acknowledge” the franchise’s lack of diversity, Variety reports. The film, which is now in production, has announced a cast so far that is made up entirely of white actors: Jamie Dornan, Anna Taylor-Joy, Kate Winslet, Lee Pace, Leo Woodall, Elijah Wood and Ian McKellen, plus Serkis’ return in the title role. The BBC asked Serkis why this is the case.

“Tolkien himself was influenced a lot by Norse mythology, there’s a lot of that feeling,” Serkis explained about the lack of the diversity. “The Shire feels very, very much like a very, a very white, you know… They’re not very concerned about what goes on beyond the borders of The Shire, but they know they don’t want people coming in.”

“Yes, there have been criticisms,” Serkis added. “This particular film is somewhat acknowledging that. But I don’t think we will be doing a politically correct just-casting-for-the sake-of-casting-and-ticking-boxes version of the film. So, it’s where relevant basically.”

Additional cast members for “The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum” have yet to be announced. The Prime Video series “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” previously faced backlash from racist Tolkien fans for its diverse casting. The outrage became so loud that Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” cast members Elijah Wood, Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan banded together on social media to support the show’s inclusive casting. The trio wore shirts that featured the ears of Middle-earth creatures in various skin tones.

The “Rings of Power” actors then released a joint statement condemning “the relentless racism, threats, harassment, and abuse some of our castmates of color are being subjected to on a daily basis.”

“Tolkien created a world which, by definition, is multi-cultural,” read the statement. “A world in which free peoples from, different races and cultures join together, in fellowship, to defeat the forces of evil. ‘Rings of Power’ reflects that. Our world has never been all white, fantasy has never been all white, Middle-earth is not all white.”

“The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum” opens in theaters Dec. 17, 2027.

Photo: Weiss Eubanks/NBCUniversal via Getty

Follow NEWS.am STYLE on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram