Fassbender and Cotillard topbill new ‘Macbeth’ film

FASSBENDER AND COTILLARD. Team up in screen version of Shakespeare’s tragedy.

SHAKESPEARE’S “MACBETH” has been adapted anew for the movie screen and topbills Academy Award nominee Michael Fassbender in the title role, with Oscar award-winner Marion Cotillard as Macbeth’s wife.

Justin Kurzel’s new film is as relevant as today’s issues related to politics and abuse of power. Aside from intense and contentious dramatic scenes, the film teams with blockbuster battle sequences. It opens in cinemas on Jan. 13.

‘The Force Awakens’ returns

After the conclusion of the Metro Manila Film Festival, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” returns to local screens. J.J. Abrams’ sci-fi epic has been breaking attendance records everywhere, grossing $1.4 billion—and counting.

It is now the seventh highest-grossing film of all time, and is predicted by some analysts to surge to the very top after it opens in China, the world’s second-largest film market, on Jan. 9.

Kitchen prodigy

Estie Kung, the child prodigy discovered on Lifetime Channel’s hit TV show, “Man vs. Child: Chef Showdown,” will be visiting Manila later this month. She will meet the press on Jan. 13 at Marriott Hotel, as part of the popular program’s local launch.

New locations

TGIFridays has four new stores that will bring its spirit of fun, energetic vibe and great dining experience to the Evia Lifestyle Center in Daang Hari, Las Piñas, Solenad in Nuvali, McKinley Hill in Taguig, and the party island of Boracay. There are now 20 TGIFridays branches in the country, boosting the celebration of the restaurant chain’s 21 years in the Philippines.

Alex Roe is ‘making waves’

Young British actor Alex Roe stars as the conflicted protagonist in the highly anticipated sci-fi adventure, “The 5th Wave,” opposite Chloe Grace Moretz.

Roe became popular in the UK by way of teen shows like “The Cut” and “The Fugitives” before he moved to LA and bagged the male lead in J. Blakeson’s “The 5th Wave”— which could be the big break he needs to become a certified film star.

‘Our Brand Is Crisis’

Producer George Clooney is proud of his latest project, “Our Brand Is Crisis,” starring Sandra Bullock and Billy Bob Thornton. He may not be acting in it, but he’s promoting it as a topical and involving production.

It takes a timely and satirical look at the high-staked gamesmanship behind the scenes at a presidential campaign in Latin America, with Bullock and Thornton playing rival campaign strategists who are prepared to do anything to make their respective candidates win.

‘The Big Short’

Brad Pitt plays an ex-banker who helps investment upstarts portrayed by Finn Wittrock and John Magaro to make millions after they brilliantly foresee the collapse of the global economy. “The Big Short” also stars Christian Bale, Steve Carell and Ryan Gosling, and opens this month in local theaters.