Reuters Entertainment News Summary
Following is a summary of current entertainment news briefs.
'Cinema under the stars' offers Indonesians safe entertainment amid pandemic
Perched on a hilltop overlooking the Indonesian city of Bandung neat lines of teepee-style tents are set up each evening on a patch of lawn in front of a large screen. Known as 'Cinema Under the Stars', the outdoor camp-style movie space opened two months ago in the capital of Indonesia's most populous province of West Java with the aim of keeping people both entertained and socially distanced.
Discovery partners with Verizon to distribute new streaming service
Discovery Inc. is launching a new streaming service, called discovery+, and has a U.S. distribution deal with Verizon Communications Inc that will make the service available to 50 million customers on day one, following Disney's lead. Discovery+ will be available on Jan. 4 in the United States where it will include 55,000 episodes from channels in the Discovery portfolio, which include HGTV, Food Network and Animal Planet.
Singer Cher says Kaavan will live life as an elephant, not a prisoner
Pakistan's lonely elephant Kaavan began his new life in a Cambodian wildlife sanctuary on Tuesday, the result of years of campaigning for his relocation by U.S. singer Cher. She was there to see him beginning to explore his new home and said: "You know this is amazing for him... his life is going to be the life of an elephant and not the life of a prisoner."
South Korea passes law to allow BTS to postpone military service
South Korea's parliament on Tuesday passed a bill to allow globally recognised K-pop artists such as BTS to postpone their mandatory military service to age 30. All able-bodied South Korean men aged between 18 and 28 must serve in the military for about two years as part of the country's efforts to guard against North Korea.
Oscars 2021 to be 'in-person telecast', will not be held virtually - Variety
The Oscars 2021 will not be a virtual event and will be organized traditionally as an "in-person telecast," according to a report from Variety. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences moved the 73rd Academy Awards ceremony to April 25, 2021, so that theaters would be open again in the spring, which will allow more films to compete in the awards, the report said.
'Juno' actor Elliot Page comes out as transgender
The Oscar-nominated star of "Juno" and "The Umbrella Academy," formerly known as Ellen Page, on Tuesday said he was a transgender person and had changed his first name to Elliot.
"I can't begin to express how remarkable it feels to finally love who I am enough to pursue my authentic self," Page wrote on Instagram. "I love that I am trans. And I love that I am queer."
Pennsylvania Supreme Court hears appeal of Bill Cosby's 2018 sexual assault conviction
A lawyer for Bill Cosby on Tuesday told the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that the judge at the entertainer's 2018 sexual assault trial should have barred five prosecution witnesses who testified that Cosby had also drugged and raped them. Two years ago the once-popular comedian and actor was found guilty of drugging and raping a one-time friend, Andrea Constand, at his home near Philadelphia in 2004. He is serving a three-to-ten-year sentence in a state prison near Philadelphia.
