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American film director Irvin Kershner has died at the age of 87.

Kershner was best known as the director of second Star Wars film The Empire Strikes Back.

According to Yahoo News, Kershner’s goddaughter Adriana Santini confirmed his death earlier today following his long illness.

As well as directing the most popular instalment in the long-running science fiction series, Kershner also helmed Robocop 2 and unofficial James Bond film Never Say Never Again.

Despite his advanced years, Kershner was still working on a number of film projects at the time of his death.

Eve Myles has revealed that she plans to move to Los Angeles when Torchwood: The New World begins filming in the US.

The star, who plays Gwen Cooper on the sci-fi series, told Wales On Sunday that she and partner Bradley Freegard have recently purchased a house near a famous LA landmark.

“We are going to be living in the Hollywood Hills, literally underneath the Hollywood sign. It looks like something out of Austin Powers,” she said.

Myles continued: “It’s a step back in time to Hollywood in the 1960s. It’s really, really retro. It’s had one owner and it’s been kept exactly as it was.”

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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Leslie Nielsen, who went from drama to inspired bumbling as a hapless doctor in “Airplane!” and the accident-prone detective Frank Drebin in the “The Naked Gun” comedies, has died. He was 84.

His agent John S. Kelly says Nielsen died Sunday at a hospital near his home in Ft. Lauderdale where he was being treated for pneumonia.

Nephew Doug Nielsen, who lives in Richmond, B.C., says his uncle had been hospitalized for about the past 12 days and died in his sleep.

Friends and wife, Barbaree, were by the Regina-born actor’s side.

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Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 has managed to remain at the top of the US box office for Thanksgiving weekend.

The latest offering in the long-running franchise benefited from the extended five-day weekend and took in $76.3 million, bringing its domestic total to $220.4 million.

Disney’s latest 3D film Tangled entered the charts at two with a respectable $69 million, followed by DreamWorks Animation’s Megamind with $17.3 million.

Musical film Burlesque, starring Christina Aguilera and Cher, enters in fourth place with $17.2 million while Denzel Washington thriller Unstoppable rounds out the top five by taking $16 million.

Next weekend, the likes of I Love You, Phillip Morris and Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan will receive a limited release along with a wider release for western film The Warrior’s Way.

The US box office top ten in full:
1. (1) Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 – $76,300,000
2. (-) Tangled – $69,000,000
3. (2) Megamind – $17,300,000
4. (-) Burlesque – $17,200,000
5. (3) Unstoppable – $16,000,000
6. (-) Love & Other Drugs – $14,000,000
7. (-) Faster – $12,200,000
8. (4) Due Date – $7,300,000
9. (5) The Next Three Days – $7,800,000
10. (6) Morning Glory – $5,900,000

Director Michael Bay has denied rumours that the next film in the Transformers franchise is experiencing problems with its 3D filming.

According to reports, Transformers: Dark Of The Moon is being shot entirely with 3D cameras and has been experiencing issues because of this.

“We have problems with our 3D? Really?” Bay wrote on his website’s message board. “Come into my edit room and I will show you beautiful 3D.”

“There has never been a live action show that has pushed the boundaries of 3D like Transformers 3,” Coming Soon quotes Bay as saying. “I actually loved shooting in 3D.”

In Bay’s statement, the director also hinted that the first teaser trailer for the film will launch at cinema showings of Tron: Legacy and The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader.

Transformers: Dark Of The Moon is scheduled to be released on July 1, 2011.

Columbia Pictures are reportedly in the midst of searching for a “superstar cameo” for their upcoming sequel to Zombieland .

The company are hoping to replicate the success of the first film, which featured Bill Murray in a memorable cameo as himself.

According to Collider, some of the names currently rumoured for the part include Harrison Ford and Anthony Hopkins.

Following the supposed leaks, Zombieland 2 director Ruben Fleischer tweeted that the rumours were false, but failed to clarify whether he was referring to the rumour of a cameo in the film, or simply the names suggested for the part.

It has also been revealed that the sequel will focus on more of a single lead villain than the first film.

Zombieland 2 will be shot in 3D, but a release date for the film has yet to be announced.

Billy Bob Thornton has claimed that he was uninterested in making a return to acting until he saw the script for the new Gayton brothers action film Faster.

Thornton’s role in the film marks his return to acting after touring the country with his band the Boxmasters.

“The last movie was Eagle Eye and then we decided to hit the road,” Thornton explained to The Hollywood Reporter. “With the economy, they aren’t making as many movies so when you see a good one you got to grab it, and Faster was that.

“The great thing about every character in it, pretty much, there’s a sort of ambiguity to all of them, and I always like characters like that,” Thornton said of the film, which also stars Dwayne Johnson.

Faster opened in US cinemas last week, but has received a mixed response from critics so far. It will be released in the UK on February 25, 2011.

Michelle Rodriguez has hinted that she may return in James Cameron’s ocean-set sequel to Avatar.

The actress played pilot Trudy Chacon in the first film, who died during the final battle. She told Total Film that she would like to work with Cameron again.

She said: “Jim Cameron can kill me anytime. It’s a pleasure to die for him! But Jim’ll tell you himself… in science fiction films nobody really dies”.

“I would work with him in a heartbeat. He’s so intelligent. He’s like Yoda, man.”

Avatar 2 is set to be released in 2014, with a further sequel coming the following year.

Actress Emma Stone has admitted to feeling nervous about her role in Marc Webb’s Spider-Man reboot film.

Stone will star in the film opposite Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man’s primary love interest, the doomed Gwen Stacy.

“The way I have to approach it, and I think Andrew [Garfield] would agree, is just like any other movie,” Stone told MTV News. “I’ll probably feel different when we start to do press.

“The approach I’m trying to take so I won’t psych myself out is to approach it like anything else, put the same amount of work in, and don’t worry so much,” she added.

Stone also admitted to avoiding reading internet opinions of her casting in the film, and said that she hopes that Gwen Stacy fans will give her room to interpret the character in her own way.

The currently-untitled Spider-Man film is scheduled to be released in cinemas in 3D on July 3, 2012.

French movie star Gilles Lellouche has joined the cast of Sherlock Holmes 2.

The actor’s rep confirmed the reports in Paris on Friday morning, in what will be Lellouche’s first Hollywood role.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the role is yet to be confirmed, though Lellouche told reporters: “I’m thrilled, and I’ll play a nice bad guy.”

Lellouche’s latest film Little White Lies was released in France in October. He is currently working on a screenplay for Le Jour J (D-Day).