Movie News & Gossip

GENEVA - The U.N. refugee agency says its goodwill ambassador Angelina Jolie is heading to Haiti to meet with earthquake victims.

The Hollywood star spoke with hospitalized Haitian survivors in the neighboring Dominican Republic on Monday.

HONG KONG - The Hong Kong studio behind "TMNT" and "Astro Boy" has shut down as its parent company tries to recover from losses.

Imagi International Holdings Ltd. said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange that it stopped funding its computer animation studio on Feb. 5 "to further preserve its limited liquidity and shareholder value." The studio will ask a Hong Kong court to name liquidators, the statement issued Monday said.

MEXICO CITY - Actor Benicio del Toro says he signed on for the lead role in "The Wolfman" remake because he has a soft spot for monsters.

The Oscar winner says the werewolf he portrays and many other dark characters in literature get a bad rap. In a Monday meeting with journalists in Mexico City, he said: "I have always been on the monsters' side."

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic - Hollywood star Angelina Jolie has met with hospitalized Haitian earthquake victims in the Dominican Republic.

Dario Manon is a spokesman for the Dario Contrera Hospital in the capital of Santo Domingo, where dozens of survivors of the Jan. 12 earthquake in neighboring Haiti are receiving medical help.

LOS ANGELES - Keith Carradine's ex-wife has been sentenced to community service for trying to cover up illegal wiretapping by former Hollywood private eye Anthony Pellicano.

Sandra Carradine was sentenced Monday in federal court in Los Angeles to 400 hours of community service, two years of probation and a $10,000 fine.

LONDON - Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have begun legal action against a British tabloid that reported the celebrity couple was going to split, a lawyer acting on their behalf confirmed Monday.

Keith Schillings, of London-based Schillings lawyers, said in a statement that the couple had begun legal proceedings against the News of The World, a Sunday tabloid and Britain's highest selling newspaper.

LOS ANGELES - The travel adventure "Up" was the winner of the best animated feature at the 37th annual Annie Awards.

"Up" director Pete Docter won the award for directing in a feature production.

LOS ANGELES - A sci-fi love story has given way to an earthbound romance at the box office, livening up typically slow times at theaters over Super Bowl weekend.

Released by Sony's Screen Gems banner, "Dear John" debuted as the No. 1 movie with $32.4 million, knocking off "Avatar" after seven weekends in first place, according to studio estimates Sunday.