France’s love with cinema threatens to be an overwhelming experience next week, when theatres finally reopen — the scheduling challenge of a massive backlog of 400 films.

On the outskirts of Paris, cinema owner Stephane Goudet is poring over the long list of options, trying to figure out how to give as many films as possible their shot at succeed.

Some had just been released and were scoring well when the second lockdown in October stopped them in their tracks.

Among them were French film “DNA”, by award-winning director Maiwenn. And also doing well when the curtains fell was Thomas Vinterberg’s “Another Round”, starring Mads Mikkelsen, which picked up this year’s foreign film Oscar.

No less than 45 films are slated for release when cinemas reopen on May 19 after six months of pandemic-induced closure — two to three times the usual number.

The authorities have encouraged cinemas to play multiple films in each screening room, so Goudet crams in 18 movies across his six screens for the opening week.

Russia’s space agency said Thursday it was sending an actress and a director to the International Space Station in October to make the first feature film in space.

“Filming will take place at the International Space Station. The start of the expedition is scheduled for October 5, 2021 from the Baikonur cosmodrome on the Soyuz MS-19 manned transport spacecraft,” Roscosmos said in a statement.

Actress Yulia Peresild, 36, and director Klim Shipenko, 37, will undergo special training, including tests on a centrifuge and flights in zero gravity, starting no later than 1 June.

Their pre-flight training will be documented by one of Russia’s main TV channels, Channel One, which will also be involved in producing the film.

The film’s working title is “Challenge” and will be in the genre of a “space drama”, Roscosmos said, without providing details about the plot of the film or Peresild’s role.

Roscosmos said in September the movie will aim to “popularise Russia’s space activities, as well as elevate cosmonaut profession”.

The film will be co-produced by Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Russia’s space agency, with the ambition of making Russia the first country to shoot a film in space.

Last year, US space agency NASA confirmed that it will be teaming up with actor Tom Cruise to make a Hollywood movie on the ISS.

A year after leaving their royal duties to move to Los Angeles, Madame Tussauds has now decided waxwork models of Prince Harry and his wife Meghan now belong in the attraction’s Hollywood zone and not with the other members of the House of Windsor.

The couple, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, quit royal duties to forge new independent careers on the other side of the Atlantic.

Now their waxwork models have been shifted from their place in the royal section of Madame Tussauds in London to join other celebrities, the famous attraction said on Thursday.

“Harry and Meghan have moved zones – Madame Tussauds London has moved its figures of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to their brand new Awards Party zone to reflect their move from Frogmore to Hollywood,” Madame Tussauds said in a statement, referring to the couple’s former British home Frogmore Cottage.

Harry appeared on the “Armchair Expert” podcast hosted by U.S. actor Dax Shephard, in which he likened his life as a royal to the “Truman Show”, a film about a man who unwittingly grew up as the central character in a popular worldwide television reality show.

He also disclosed that when he first began dating Meghan, they met in a supermarket to avoid paparazzi photographers, and that the couple enjoyed more freedom after moving to California with young son Archie.

“Living here now, I can actually lift my head and actually I feel different, my shoulders have dropped, so have hers, you can walk around feeling a little bit more free,” he said.

“I get to take Archie on the back of my bicycle. I would never have the chance to do that.”

Singer Baba Dee has debunked reports his younger brother Sound Sultan has throat cancer.

According to multiple media reports on Wednesday, May 12th, the 44-year-old born Olanrewaju Fasasi was said to have been reportedly diagnosed with throat cancer and currently undergoing chemotherapy in the US.

However, Baba Dee has expressed surprise at the news making rounds on social media while confirming the ‘Jagbajantis’ singer is ill but does not have throat cancer.

Baba Dee, in an interview with QENng,said: “He is sick and he is getting better in New York. But throat cancer. Na lie,” the man born Dare Fasasi wrote in the message.

He did not disclose the illness the younger brother is suffering from.

Lagos Commissioner of Police Hakeem Odumosu has stated Nollywood actor Olanrewaju Omiyinka aka Baba Ijesha, who was arrested for allegedly molesting a minor, will be kept in custody till when judiciary workers resume their strike.

The Commissioner stated this while addressing Nollywood actor Yomi Fabiyi, who staged a protest on Wednesday at Panti, the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department.

Fabiyi had led protesters to the station, demanding the release of his colleague, Baba Ijesha over the continuous detention, which he described as “illegal.”

The police commissioner disclosed that Baba Ijesha has been held in custody based on legal advice from the Directorate of Public Prosecutions in the state Ministry of Justice and after a prima facie case had been established against him.

He also revealed that Baba Ijesha’s continuous detention will be reviewed if the JUSUN strike continues indefinitely.

Genevieve Nnaji will join the cast of the audio adaptation of FELA!, Fela Ten Twenty, written and directed by filmmaker Funa Maduka, to premiere on Clubhouse, May 15 and May 16.

Proceeds from the show will support GEANCO, whose work provides full-tuition, healthcare, and social and psychological support to young female survivors of terrorism and gender inequality in Nigeria and across the continent.

“The contemporary issues highlighted in the script are what sold me. This is an artful retelling of Fela’s story and I’m honoured to be a part of it. I grew up on radio plays and the experience is nostalgic for me – the power of voice to influence minds and touch hearts is undeniable,” says award-winning actor, writer and director, Genevieve Nnaji.

Genevieve Nnaji is a Nigerian actress, producer, and director. She won the Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role in 2005. In 2011, she was honoured as a Member of the Order of the Federal Republic by the Nigerian government for her contributions to Nollywood. Her directorial debut film, Lionheart, was Nigeria’s first submission to the Oscars.