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The Lord of the Rings helmer received the honour at a ceremony in the town of Wellington on Wednesday, reports BBC News.

His official title is now Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

Jackson said that he was accepting the title on behalf of his collaborators in the film industry.

“I feel incredibly humbled. The truth is, making movies is not a solo effort – it involves hundreds of people, thousands of people – so I feel as though I’m accepting it on behalf of the industry,” he said.

Jackson recently confirmed that both scripts for the upcoming Hobbit films have been delivered to MGM and the project is currently in the budgeting stages.

Sharlto Copley has revealed that a District 9 follow-up is two years away.

Copley, who played Wikus van der Merwe in the sci-fi film, told Empire that both he and director Neill Blomkamp are keen to revisit the property.

“Neill wants it and I want it. Neill’s doing another film first. Then I think if everything goes according to plan we’ll do the second film in about two years time,” Copley commented.

The actor added that Blomkamp has not yet decided whether to make the next District film a sequel or prequel.

“That story can go in so many different ways. There’s a whole universe,” he noted. “I’m sure a lot of writers say that, but we actually have an entire universe. There’s a million ways you can go. Neill’s actually very interested in prequels as well; he’s said that a few times. We wouldn’t do the traditional Hollywood version of the sequel which would just be 100 aliens fighting humans.”

Copley can next be seen as ‘Howling Mad’ Murdock in The A-Team, opening in the UK in July.

How To Train Your Dragon has remained at the top of the US box office with $15 million.

Debuting are Jennifer Lopez’s rom-com The Back-Up Plan at number two with $12.2 million, action film The Losers at four with $9.6 million and documentary Oceans in eighth place with $6 million.

Meanwhile, last week’s debuts Kick-Ass and Death At A Funeral slip to number five and seven respectively.

Finally, Miley Cyrus’s The Last Song and Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland claim the ninth and tenth positions.

The US box office top ten in full:

1. (1) How To Train Your Dragon – $15,025,000
2. (-) The Back-Up Plan – $12,250,000
3. (3) Date Night – $10,600,000
4. (-) The Losers – $9,605,000
5. (2) Kick-Ass – $9,500,000
6. (5) Clash Of The Titans – $9,000,000
7. (4) Death at a Funeral (2010) – $8,000,000
8. (-) Oceans – $6,000,000
9. (6) The Last Song – $3,700,000
10. (8) Alice In Wonderland (2010) – $2,200,000

Avatar has set an all-time record for Blu-ray sales on its first day of release.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Avatar has sold 1.5m copies in the US, outpacing sales of the former reigning top-seller The Dark Knight.

An early industry estimate set overall disc sales of the title comfortably above 4m units, putting it well on track to become the year’s top-selling release to date.

Retailers sold out of 60% of their Blu-ray inventory on average, a Fox rep said. He declined to specify unit shipments.

Mass merchants moved roughly 50% of their “Avatar” DVDs, the spokesman added.

The release was intended to coincide with Earth Day, following the film’s ecological theme.

James Cameron has called for studio bosses to form a special organisation to regulate the quality of future 3D films.

The director utilised the technique on his hugely successful sci-fi epic Avatar, but criticised the “stupid” decision to retro-fit movies such as Clash Of The Titans to incorporate 3D effects.

Cameron declared that industry officials need to establish a committee to publicise as well as protect 3D films, insisting that poor quality effects will harm the fledgling genre.

He told WENN: “What I’d love to do is put together some kind of a forum with the DGA (Directors Guild of America), let’s say, and maybe the ASC (American Society of Cinematographers) and we’d have to do it in Canada, too. I think some quality standards do need to be discussed. I think the studios and big distribution companies need to be included in that dialogue. Let’s not do stupid stuff that’s going to hurt this burgeoning marketplace.”

Cameron singled out the Clash Of The Titans remake as an example of such cynical use of 3D, after producers delayed its release in order to add the special effects.

He added: “They worked against themselves with that film. I’ve heard people say that they couldn’t watch [Clash Of The Titans] in 3D and thought it looked better in 2D and they enjoyed the film more. I haven’t seen the film, so I don’t want to say too much, but I heard from enough sources that it was borderline unwatchable. And I have to say, I predicted that.

“When they said they were going to try to convert it to 3D in seven weeks, I said it’s not possible. You can’t do it. You can slap a 3D label on it and call it 3D, but there’s no possible way that it can be done up to a standard that anybody would consider high enough.”

Ridley Scott has confirmed that his new Alien film will involve Space Jockey extraterrestrials.

The director, who also revealed that he has a fourth draft script for the prequel, told MTV that the action takes place decades before Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley boards the Nostromo spacecraft.

He said: “It’s set in 2085, about 30 years before Sigourney. It’s fundamentally about going out to find out, ‘Who the hell was that Space Jockey?’ The guy who was sitting in the chair in the alien vehicle – there was a giant fellow sitting in a seat on what looked to be either a piece of technology or an astronomer’s chair.

“Our man [Tom Skerritt’s Captain Dallas] climbs up and says, ‘There’s been an explosion in his chest from the inside out – what was that?’ I’m explaining who the space jockeys were.”

Scott added that the colonial corporation Weyland-Yutani has yet to be formed and the sci-fi movie will deal with “terraforming – taking planets and planetoids and balls of earth and trying to terraform, seed them with the possibilities of future life”.

When asked if Weaver will be involved in any capacity, Scott replied: “It will be before she was born! But the main character will be a woman.

Rex Features

Michael Lohan reportedly stormed his daughter Lindsay’s apartment earlier today accompanied by officers from the LA Country Sheriff’s Department.

It is being reported that Michael intended to carry out a “welfare check” on his 16-year-old Ali, who is currently staying with her sister.

He later told TMZ that the two “were in a car driving back from Palm Springs at 115 miles an hour”. It is thought that
Michael had Lindsay’s vehicle followed by a photographer friend.

The Machete actress wrote on her Twitter afterwards: “OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have no choice but to make this public, due to my sister’s safety, as well as my own. ‘my ex-dad’ just WALKED INTO MY APT like the devil’s advocate with officers (sic).”

Deputies apparently spoke with Ali at Lindsay’s home. However, she was allowed to stay with her sibling following their unannounced visit.

Michael is now said to be seeking advice from the LA County Department of Children and Family Services.

Cartoon Network has announced that it plans to create a new version of Looney Tunes.

The Hollywood Reporter says that the animation series will see classic characters like Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck move into the suburbs, where they will live alongside “unusual neighbours” including Yosemite Sam, Tweety and Sylvester.

The network will also revive the music video series Merrie Melodies, which sees the characters performing original songs, while new CG shorts will focus on the Road Runner and Wile. E. Coyote.

Elsewhere, Cartoon Network announced a new animated series from Warner Bros. Animation based on DC Comics’ Mad magazine and Young Justice, a cartoon about a teenage superhero.

The network also unveiled plans to include more sport and live-action programming in its schedule.

Stuart Snyder, president of Turner Broadcasting’s Animation, Young Adults and Kids Media division, said: “We’re delivering and adding great brands and beloved franchises that represent the breadth and scope of Cartoon Network’s ongoing evolution.”

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