Beyonce, Jay-Z’s Security Team Didn’t Disrupt Hospital, Says Health Department

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Mama drama over!

Beyonce and Jay-Z welcomed baby Blue Ivy Carter on Saturday at Lenox Hill Hospital in NYC, but not without some complaints! However, according to E! Online, the two complaints received by state health officials about security surrounding Blue’s birth were dropped on Wednesday.

First-time parents Beyonce, 30, and Jay-Z, 42, did require a 10-man security team during their hospital stay, but it didn’t interfere with other new parents and visitors having access to the facilities.

The hospital denied that the birth of Blue Ivy disrupted other patients’ care, although one new dad, Neil Coulon, told the New York Daily News he was stopped three times “from entering or exiting the NICU [neonatal intensive care unit]… just because they wanted to use the hallway.”

But the state health department told E! Online that the two complaints (one done anonymously, and the other by someone who wasn’t even at the hospital when Blue Ivy was born) have been dismissed.

Still, Beyonce did get some star treatment at the Upper East Side hospital. Sources tell Us Weekly she and hubby Jay-Z (real name: Shawn Carter) had special suites built for the express purpose of Blue’s arrival. Six to eight rooms were torn down and turned into 2 deluxe suites in preparation for the baby’s birth.

Sexy! Olivia Munn Gets Naked for New Anti-Fur Billboard

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Olivia Munn’s first nude photo shoot isn’t gratuitous in the least.

The 31-year-old actress, who next appears in this summer’s Magic Mike, bares all in a new anti-fur billboard in L.A.

NEWS: 25 Things You Don’t Know About Olivia Munn

Munn is just one of many stars to participate in PETA’s “I’d Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur” campaign: Khloe Kardashian, Taraji P. Henson and Elisabetta Canalis have all stripped down for the cause.

Munn also filmed a video exposing the Chinese fur industry, which is currently the world’s top exporter of animal pelts.

“As a proud person of Chinese descent, it broke my heart to learn just how terribly animals suffer and die on Chinese fur farms and that there are no penalties for this abuse,” Munn says.

“When you think about even that little tiny trim of fur on your gloves or on your collar, that is still coming from an animal that had to endure so much pain just for you,” she adds. “There’s nothing good about pretending like you don’t know.”

Previous supporters of the PETA campaign include Charlize Theron, Eva Mendes, Lea Michele, Pink and Christina Applegate.

Jury will hear Gibson deputy’s discrimination case

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — A jury should decide whether the sheriff’s deputy who arrested Mel Gibson for drunken driving suffered workplace discrimination, a judge ruled Thursday despite expressing serious concerns about whether the man can win his case.

Superior Court Judge Barbara Scheper said James Mee should be allowed to argue to jurors that he suffered discrimination and a hostile work environment after arresting Gibson in Malibu in 2006.

Mee, who is Jewish, claims his Christian superior officers ordered him to remove Gibson’s anti-Semitic remarks from a report and then ostracized him and blocked his chances for a promotion.

Attorneys for the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department have denied any wrongdoing and written in court filings that the deputy was insubordinate at times after Gibson’s arrest and subjected to the same discipline as others.

Mee was investigated as the potential source who leaked his initial report containing Gibson’s anti-Semitic rant, but after a lengthy investigation prosecutors found no evidence that he provided the details to celebrity website TMZ.

Scheper noted that Mee remains a deputy, although he no longer patrols for drunken drivers in the coastal community of Malibu. She dismissed his allegation Thursday that he was retaliated against and questioned whether he would be able to recoup any damages at trial.

While Mee complained to others in the department that Gibson’s arrest was mishandled, it didn’t appear he ever cited his religion as a cause for discrimination, the judge said.

“While I think it’s thin, I think there are enough facts to create a question for the jury to decide,” Scheper said during a hearing in which Los Angeles County attorneys tried to dismiss the case.

Mee’s attorney Yael Trock said she was pleased the case is going to trial, although her client is still open to reaching a settlement. She said she did not yet know whether Gibson, who is not a party to the lawsuit, will be called as a witness.

“Mel Gibson is not the issue here,” Trock said. “The issue is that the department mistreated Deputy Mee, who dared to arrest Mel Gibson and treated him like any other person.”

Gibson’s arrest and the revelation of his anti-Semitic rant in Mee’s patrol car damaged the Oscar-winning director’s reputation for years. He apologized for his conduct and his conviction was expunged in 2009 after he completed all the terms of his sentence.

A trial on Mee’s allegations is scheduled to begin on Feb. 14.

Kelly Osbourne Explains Her New Gray Hair Color

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In 2011 several stars experimented with pink, purple and even blue hair. But Kelly Osbourne was the only one who went gray.

But don’t expect her new hair color (she was first spotted with it in December) to stick around much longer.

“It’s not staying!” the E! Fashion Police host, 27, told Us Weekly at the People’s Choice Awards Wednesday. “I’ll change it tomorrow.”

When asked why she chose the rather odd hue, Osbourne explained: “I can’t keep bleaching my hair and I want to grow it so I take breaks in between. I did it a year ago but it was more of a lavender gray, but I went straight gray this time.”

Her mom Sharon Osbourne added: “She hates it!” and the two bickered over who was responsible for the look.

“This is the woman who made me the person that I am today and she questions it. I don’t understand it!” Kelly vented.

“Don’t blame me for that hair color!” Sharon retorted.

Kutcher wants to return to ‘Two and a Half Men’

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PASADENA, California (AP) — A clean-cut Ashton Kutcher said Wednesday that he’s interested in continuing with “Two and a Half Men” beyond this season — and CBS wants him, too.

Kutcher’s addition to television’s most popular comedy following star Charlie Sheen’s implosion was a grand experiment that has worked out better than CBS or the producers could have dreamed.

The show is up 20 percent in viewers over Sheen’s final season, the Nielsen ratings company said, and Kutcher has also brought in a younger crowd.

“I’ve had a blast,” said Kutcher, who plays the heartbroken Walden Schmidt. “Since I stopped doing ‘That ’70s Show’ I’ve always wanted to go back and do television.”

Kutcher appeared at a news conference without the long hair and beard he has worn this season. It was cut as part of the plot in an episode of “Two and a Half Men” that airs Monday, he said.

Kutcher will be working on movies after filming for this season of “Two and a Half Men” concludes, but “right now I’m looking at it as a hiatus,” he said.

CBS would have to strike a new deal with actors and producers to continue the show beyond this season. All parties seem interested in working it out, CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler said.

“In spirit and intent, everybody is very motivated,” she said.

Series creator Chuck Lorre said he gave thought to ending the series after Sheen left last season and couldn’t imagine it continuing. But CBS and his co-creator, Lee Aronsohn, nudged him to continue.

“Lee said, ‘Why not try? If we fail, no one would be physically harmed,’” Lorre said. “It seemed like such a heartbreaking way to end, and we didn’t want it to, so we said let’s keep the light on.”

Writers were able to change the tone by making Kutcher’s character a heartbroken Internet billionaire who has everything he wants except the woman he loves. Jon Cryer, who played Sheen’s annoying little brother, is now Schmidt’s older friend. It was all a welcome tone change, Aronsohn said.

“It’s been a lot of fun and a challenge to create a different show with a lot of the same elements,” he said.

Lorre, who was the target of sharp barbs from Sheen last spring after he was fired, said he wished his former star well.

“I really do,” he said. “I’m glad he’s sober and I think it’s terrific.”

Isabelle Fuhrman in Negotiations for M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘After Earth’

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“Hunger Games” actress Isabelle Fuhrman is in negotiations to co-star alongside Will Smith in M. Night Shyamalan’s sci-fi film “After Earth,” TheWrap has confirmed.

If Fuhrman’s deal is finalized, she would play a friend of the central character, a young boy played by Smith’s son, Jaden Smith. In the movie, the boy navigates an abandoned Earth 1,000 years in the future to save himself and his estranged father (Will Smith) after their ship crashes.

“After Earth” is currently in preproduction. Shooting is to begin in March, and a theatrical release date of June 7, 2013, is targeted.

The project is being developed at Overbrook, the production company Smith operates with his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, James Lassiter and Ken Stovitz. All four of them will produce “After Earth,” along with Shyamalan.

The screenplay was written by Stephen Gaghan and Gary Whitta.

The cast also includes Zoe Kravitz and Sophie Okonedo. Bruce Willis, Bradley Cooper and Gwyneth Paltrow had previously been attached.

Fuhrman will play Clove in “The Hunger Games,” which is one of 2012′s most-anticipated films. She also played the creepy kid in 2009′s “Orphan.”

Beyonce Birth Sparks Health Department Investigation at Hospital

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Beyonce Knowles has apparently birthed a controversy along with a daughter.

New York Daily News reports.

“We have received complaints,” a department spokesperson told the newspaper Wednesday. “Whenever we receive a complaint, we look into it. It’s not necessarily an investigation. It could be a review. Most likely in this case, it would be an investigation.”

Also read: Jay-Z to Profit From Occupy Wall Street — But Won’t Share the Wealth

Spokespersons for Lenox Hill and the New York State Department of Health have not yet responded to TheWrap’s request for comment on the investigation.

Earlier this week, multiple outlets reported that patients were complaining about being prevented from seeing their newborns in the hospital’s neonatal unit by security guards who refused to give them access to the unit during Knowles’ hospital stay with her husband, rapper/mogul Jay-Z. TMZ even reported that some of new mothers were considering filing a lawsuit at the hospital, after allegedly being “neglected” by hospital staff, while some mothers were seen arguing with “extremely rude” private security.

On Monday, Lenox Hill’s executive director Frank Danza sought to minimize allegations that mothers were being prevented from visiting their newborns. He acknowledging that the powerful couple did “have its own security detail on site but said that “the hospital has been and continues to be in control of managing all security at the facility.”

“We have made every effort to ensure minimal disruption to other families experiencing the births of their own children over the past three days,” Danza said in a statement obtained by TheWrap.

Also read: Beyonce and Jay-Z Top-Earning Couple

He said that no security plan that either the hospital that we or the couple’s security team put in place “would have prevented or delayed families from gaining access to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), and to date, no families have complained to the hospital about being denied access to the NICU.”

Danza also dismissed reports that couple had rented out an entire floor of the maternity ward during their stay, saying that they stayed in “an executive suite at the hospital,” and that such suites are available “for any patient.”

‘Dark Knight,’ ‘Spidey,’ ‘Hobbit’ lead 2012 films

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hollywood is respecting the environment and recycling — again.

The prospect of a few dozen sequels, prequels, remakes and assorted other reworkings of familiar tales might sound tiresome until you look over the guest list studios have lined up.

More Batman with “The Dark Knight Rises.” More Peter Parker with “The Amazing Spider-Man.” More short guys on a quest with “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.” More vamps and werewolves with “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 2.” More cool sunglasses with “Men in Black 3.” More Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and Incredible Hulk with “The Avengers.” More prehistoric pals with “Ice Age: Continental Drift.” More traveling zoo animals with “Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted.” There’s even more Curly, Larry and Moe with “The Three Stooges.”

Add in three action flicks based on classic fairy tales and four 3-D reissues of major blockbusters, and 2012 might make good on Hollywood’s aim to lure back audiences after movie attendance last year dipped to its lowest since 1995.

Here’s a look at the year’s coming attractions:

SUPERHERO PARADE:

Nicolas Cage provides a winter warm-up with “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance” (Feb. 17), returning as the bounty hunter from hell on a mission to rescue a child from the devil.

The heavy-hitters arrive this summer. First up is “The Avengers” (May 4), teaming Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Chris Evans as Captain America, Mark Ruffalo as the Incredible Hulk, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow and Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye.

Directed by Joss Whedon, “The Avengers” has S.H.I.E.L.D. leader Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) assembling a superhero dream team to battle Thor’s bad brother (Tom Hiddleston).

After two “Iron Man” flicks with his billionaire inventor Tony Stark at center stage, Downey said it was an adjustment joining an ensemble.

“In his world, there are just people who satellite around him. So this was sort of a mandatory humility, and it’s definitely getting me in the right mindset for parenting,” said Downey, who’s expecting a baby with wife Susan.

Next comes “The Amazing Spider-Man” (July 3), with Andrew Garfield taking over as Peter Parker in director Marc Webb’s new take on how a mutant spider bite turns the gangly teen into the web-slinging hero.

“Every single human being can relate to feeling like this ordinary person that wishes they could do so much more, and what would happen if all of a sudden, you’re a skinny kid that could?” said Emma Stone, who plays Peter’s romantic interest, Gwen Stacy. “If you’ve ever been a teenager, you’ve felt like that. If you’ve ever been bullied, you’ve felt like that. I can relate to Peter Parker in so many ways.”

Then, Christian Bale returns as Batman in “The Dark Knight Rises” (July 20), director Christopher Nolan’s third and final tale of the wealthy vigilante with all the cool gadgets. Anne Hathaway joins the cast as Catwoman.

After the late Heath Ledger’s Academy Award-winning performance as the Joker in “The Dark Knight,” Nolan went with a lesser-known villain over more familiar Batman baddies such as the Riddler or the Penguin. This time, it’s Bane (Tom Hardy), known to comic-book fans as the brawny brute who breaks Batman’s back and puts him in a wheelchair.

How will Bale’s spine fare?

“I’m sworn to secrecy, and we’re not allowed to really talk about it much,” said Gary Oldman, who returns as Batman’s police ally Jim Gordon. “I can say this much, that the story’s terrific, that he’s going to really go out with a bang.”

FAIRY-TALE MAKEOVERS:

We’ve had dueling asteroid flicks and dueling Truman Capote biopics. Why not dueling Snow Whites?

Julia Roberts is the wicked queen to Lily Collins’ Snow White in “Mirror Mirror” (March 16), with the banished heroine raised by dwarfish rogues and leading a battle against the mean old monarch.

“Twilight” star Kristen Stewart is the warrior princess in “Snow White and the Huntsman” (June 1), trained by a rugged hunk (“Thor” star Hemsworth) to wage war against her own wicked queen (Charlize Theron).

A magic beanstalk unleashes an army of super-sized warriors in “Jack the Giant Killer” (June 15), starring Nicholas Hoult, Stanley Tucci, Ian McShane and Ewan McGregor.

PLAY IT AGAIN, IN 3-D:

George Lucas begins his sci-fi saga all over, in 3-D, with “Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace” (Feb. 10), the first of his six space epics converted to three dimensions.

James Cameron gives the same treatment to “Titanic” (April 6), whose 3-D version coincides with the 100th anniversary of the luxury liner’s sinking.

Disney follows the success of “The Lion King” in 3-D by adding an extra dimension for reissues of “Beauty and the Beast” (Jan. 13) and the Pixar Animation blockbuster “Finding Nemo” (Sept. 14).

FAMILY TIME:

Also in 3-D is the latest from Pixar, “Brave” (June 15), an action adventure set in mystical Scotland with a voice cast that includes Kelly MacDonald and Emma Thompson.

Among other family flicks: “Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted” (June 8), reuniting the zoo animals voiced by Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer and Jada Pinkett Smith; “Ice Age: Continental Drift” (July 13), with Ray Romano, John Leguizamo and Denis Leary back to voice the threesome of prehistoric buddies; “Dr. Seuss’ the Lorax” (March 2), with Danny DeVito as the voice of a grumpy forest creature; “The Pirates! Band of Misfits” (March 30), with Hugh Grant and Salma Hayek voicing rival buccaneers; Tim Burton’s “Frankenweenie” (Oct. 5), featuring the voices of Winona Ryder and Martin Short in the story of a boy who pulls a Frankenstein to bring back his dead dog; and the summer vacation sequel “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days” (Aug. 3).

CREATURE FEATURES:

It’s a new beginning for Middle-earth and twilight time for Bella Swan.

“The Lord of the Rings” director Peter Jackson returns to J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy realm with “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” (Dec. 14) the first in his two-part prequel chronicling how Bilbo Baggins came to possess that pesky evil ring.

“It’s just such a fresh and different story,” Jackson said. “‘Lord of the Rings’ had that very serious, grand, epic tone, and ‘The Hobbit’ is much more mischievous and kind of irreverent, which is a breath of fresh air for me.”

“The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 2″ (Nov. 16) picks up where we left off in Stephenie Meyer’s supernatural romance — with Bella (Kristen Stewart) newly changed into a vampire, while her bloodsucking hubby (Robert Pattinson) and his werewolf rival (Taylor Lautner) aim to defend her against a world of evil.

Unlike the romance-heavy “Breaking Dawn — Part 1,” the finale is filled with action and battles.

“It sort of turns into a Kurosawa movie,” said director Bill Condon. “It’s epic. It’s vampires from all across the world meeting in one field.”

Other creature features: “Dark Shadows” (May 11), with Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer and Helena Bonham Carter in director Burton’s take on the vampire TV soap opera; “Prometheus” (June 8), Ridley Scott’s return to his “Alien” sci-fi world with a space adventure starring Theron, Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender; “Wrath of the Titans” (March 30), with “Clash of the Titans” stars Sam Worthington and Liam Neeson in another battle among Greek gods and heroes; “Underworld: Awakening” (Jan. 20), with Kate Beckinsale returning to her vampire-werewolf franchise; “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” (June 22), featuring the president (Benjamin Walker) emancipating the world from bloodsuckers; “The Woman in Black” (Feb. 3), with “Harry Potter” star Daniel Radcliffe as a grieving lawyer who encounters a vengeful ghost; and “World War Z” (Dec. 21), starring Brad Pitt in the story of a worldwide zombie outbreak.

TIME FOR ACTION:

Will Smith’s Agent J travels back in time to save his partner, Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones), in “Men in Black 3″ (May 25), which reunites both actors with director Barry Sonnenfeld and nicely casts Josh Brolin as the young Agent K.

Other sequels, updates and spinoffs include: “Total Recall” (Aug. 3), with Colin Farrell as a blue-collar guy who learns he might be a deadly super-agent with falsified memories; Dwayne Johnson and Channing Tatum in “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” (June 29), the commando sequel inspired by the line of toy soldiers; “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island” (Feb. 10), with Johnson and Michael Caine in a modern Jules Verne twist that follows 2008′s “Journey to the Center of the Earth”; “21 Jump Street” (March 16), with Tatum and Jonah Hill in a new take on the TV show about undercover cops at a high school; “The Bourne Legacy” (Aug. 3), with “Avengers” co-star Renner as a new agent caught up in the fallout from the earlier films; “Taken 2″ (Oct. 5), with Neeson going after more bad guys that threaten his family; “47 Ronin” (Nov. 21), a remake of the Japanese classic, with Keanu Reeves joining a band of samurai avenging the death of their master; and “The Expendables 2″ (Aug. 17), reuniting Sylvester Stallone and his all-star action crew on another mission gone wrong.

Not everything on the action front is a sequel or remake. With “Harry Potter” done and “Twilight” nearing its end, a new youthful literary series debuts in “The Hunger Games” (March 23), with Jennifer Lawrence among teens fighting to the death in a televised bloodbath in post-apocalyptic North America.

Among other new action entries: “John Carter” (March 9), with Taylor Kitsch as Edgar Rice Burroughs’ beefy Mars hero; “Battleship” (May 18), featuring Kitsch, Neeson and pop star Rihanna in a naval adventure based on the Hasbro game; “Contraband” (Jan. 13), starring Mark Wahlberg as an ex-smuggler forced back into his old business; “Haywire” (Jan. 20), director Steven Soderbergh’s thriller about a betrayed black-ops expert (mixed martial-arts star Gina Carano); “Safe House” (Feb. 10), with Denzel Washington as a renegade agent and Ryan Reynolds as a CIA guy on the run from mercenaries; “The Grey” (Jan. 27), starring Neeson as leader of a team of oil workers stranded in the Alaska wilderness; and “Bullet to the Head” (April 13), with Stallone as a cop chasing his partner’s killer.

FOR LAUGHS:

The knuckleheads are back. Directors Peter and Bobby Farrelly revive Curly (Will Sasso), Larry (Sean Hayes) and Moe (Chris Diamantopoulos) in “The Three Stooges” (April 13), with the dimwits bumbling to stardom on a TV reality show.

Also among comedy highlights: “American Reunion” (April 6), reteaming the “American Pie” gang for a high school reunion; “The Dictator” (May 11), with Sacha Baron Cohen oppressing the masses as a Third World tyrant; “Wanderlust” (Feb. 24), starring Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd as Manhattanites on hiatus from urban life; “This Is 40″ (Dec. 21), Judd Apatow’s “Knocked Up” offshoot, with Rudd and Leslie Mann reprising their roles as troubled marrieds; “I Hate You Dad” (June 15), starring Adam Sandler as a bad father trying to make amends; “The Five-Year Engagement” (April 27), featuring Jason Segel and Emily Blunt on a marathon road to marriage; “Jeff Who Lives at Home” (March 16), starring Segel as a man-child helping his married brother (Ed Helms); “Joyful Noise” (Jan. 13), a musical comedy about church choir divas (Queen Latifah and Dolly Parton) at odds; “This Means War” (Feb. 17), starring Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine and Tom Hardy in an action comedy about CIA pals who fall for the same woman; “Ted” (July 13), “Family Guy” creator Seth MacFarlane’s story of a grown man (Mark Wahlberg) saddled for life with a talking teddy bear; “Neighborhood Watch” (July 27), with Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn as suburbanites battling alien invaders; and “Parental Guidance” (Nov. 21), starring Billy Crystal and Bette Midler as a couple enlisted to help their daughter (Marisa Tomei) with their grandkids.

SERIOUS STUFF:

While studios will add more sober dramas to their late-year lineups for Academy Awards consideration, some heavy-duty stories already are on the schedule: Executive producer George Lucas’ “Red Tails” (Jan. 20) features Cuba Gooding Jr. and Terrence Howard in the World War II story of black pilots in the Tuskegee Airmen program; “The Great Gatsby” (Dec. 25) stars Leonardo DiCaprio in the title role of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic about 1920s blue-bloods; “Won’t Back Down” (March 30) casts Viola Davis and Maggie Gyllenhaal as mothers aiming to salvage their kids’ inner-city school; and Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln” (December) has Daniel Day-Lewis as the 16th president.

Spielberg has spent more than a decade preparing for his Abraham Lincoln chronicle and settling on the right actor.

“This was a project I simply had to do,” Spielberg said. “It was a story that needed telling, and I finally have found my Lincoln after many years of searching.”

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Writer Dan Harris Boards Disney’s ‘Hovercar’

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Disney has tapped production designer Robert Stromberg (“Avatar,” “Alice in Wonderland”) to direct the live-action movie about Sleeping Beauty’s evil foil “Maleficent,” The Wrap has confirmed.

Touted as a modern take on the classic fairy tale, the fantasy is told from the viewpoint of Beauty’s fairy godmother, to be played by Angelina Jolie.

Also read: Brian Beletic Onboard for Next Disney Movie Inspired by a Disneyland Ride

It will mark Stromberg’s directing debut.

“Maleficent” is written by Linda Woolverton, who also wrote the script for Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” and co-wrote the script for “The Lion King.” Don Hahn, Joe Roth and Richard D. Zanuck produce.

The “Maleficent” news comes following the announcement that Disney had tapped another first-time director, Brian Beletic, for a Matterhorn-ride-inspired movie referred to as the “Untitled Explorers Project.”

Channing Tatum: “I Know I’m Not the Best Actor”

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Unlike most leading men, Channing Tatum has his ego in check.

In the February issue of Details, the 31-year-old actor defends his decision to appear in so many chick flicks, explaining that “you gotta do the Dear Johns. You gotta do The Vow.”

“I’m conscious about why I did those parts, those movies,” Tatum explains. “I wanted to learn from Rachel [McAdams] on The Vow. I wanted to learn from Lasse Hallstrom on Dear John — he did The Cider House Rules and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. I didn’t go to acting school, so my knowledge of story, filmmaking and character comes from just being on set and doing it.”

Going forward, Tatum hopes to be in full control of his career.

“I really don’t want to be in any more movies that I don’t produce,” he says. “Unless it’s with one of the 10 directors that I really want to work with, I don’t have any interest in not being on the ground floor of creating it.”

That’s exactly what Tatum did when he teamed up with director Steven Soderbergh to create his next project, Magic Mike. The film — which costars Alex Pettyfer and Matthew McConaughey — is loosely based off the eight months Tatum spent as an exotic dancer in Florida.

“To clarify, it’s not really my story,” Tatum, who owns his own production company, Iron Horse Entertainment, tells Details. “It’s really about that world: the people and the decisions you have to make. It’s not as dark as you might think. Soderbergh really had a clear vision as far as not making it overly sexual, overly dark.”