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George A Romero has dismissed The Walking Dead as a “soap opera” that is missing the satirical element of his own works.

The Night of the Living Dead director confirmed to The Big Issue that he turned down the chance to work on a couple of episodes of the AMC drama.

“They asked me to do a couple of episodes of The Walking Dead but I didn’t want to be a part of it,” Romero said.

“Basically it’s just a soap opera with a zombie occasionally. I always used the zombie as a character for satire or a political criticism and I find that missing in what’s happening now.”

When he first revealed in 2011 he had turned down the chance to direct episodes of the show, he claimed not to have watched it yet.

“I love the [comic] books, [but] I never watched any of the episodes because… my zombies are sort of my own,” he said.

“I’ve been waiting to see the whole first season, which I missed because I’ve been travelling. I’ve been waiting to look at it, but I haven’t seen any of it.”

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Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa has knocked Gravity off the top spot at the US box office this weekend.

The Johnny Knoxville hidden camera comedy film debuted at number one with $32m, while Gravity slipped to second place with $20.3m.

Sandra Bullock’s Gravity was the film to beat this weekend as it has remained in the number one spot for three weeks in a row since breaking box office records on its debut weekend earlier this month. Its total gross is now $199.8.

Bad Grandpa features Knoxville dressed up as an 86-year-old man who goes on a road trip across the US with his grandson (Jackson Nicoll). Cameras were hidden as the duo performed stunts and pranks.

The film was written by Knoxville, Spike Jonze and Jeff Tremaine, who also served as director.

Bad Grandpa and Gravity were followed by Captain Phillips in third place, earning $11.8m. The Tom Hanks drama debuted in second place and its total gross is $70m.

Ridley Scott’s latest film The Counsellor opened in fourth place with $8m. The drama thriller features a star-studied cast – Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz, Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem – and centres around a lawyer who gets into drug trafficking.

12 Years a Slave, which also stars Pitt and Fassbender, jumped from 16th spot to eight, taking in $2.1m.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, Carrie, Escape Plan, Enough Said and Prisoners round up the top ten list.

The US weekend box office top ten in full:
1. (-) Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa – $32,000,000
2. (1) Gravity – $20,300,000
3. (2) Captain Phillips – $11,800,000
4. (-) The Counsellor – $8,000,000
5. (5) Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 – $6,100,000
6. (3) Carrie – $5,900,000
7. (4) Escape Plan – $4,340,000
8. (16) 12 Years a Slave – $2,150,000
9. (7) Enough Said – $1,555,000
10. (6) Prisoners – $1,063,000

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JJ Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan are to rewrite Star Wars: Episode VII.

They are taking over the screenwriting duties from Little Miss Sunshine writer Michael Arndt, who is exiting the project.

Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy said of the change: “I am very excited about the story we have in place and thrilled to have Larry and JJ working on the script.

“There are very few people who fundamentally understand the way a Star Wars story works like Larry, and it is nothing short of incredible to have him even more deeply involved in its return to the big screen. JJ of course is an incredible storyteller in his own right.

“Michael Arndt has done a terrific job bringing us to this point and we have an amazing filmmaking and design team in place already prepping for production.”

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Gravity has held onto its number one spot for a third week at the US box office.

The Sandra Bullock and George Clooney-fronted science fiction movie added more than $31m this week, bringing its total takings to $170.5m.

The pair star as two astronauts who must try to survive in space after their shuttle is damaged.

Captain Phillips spent a second week just behind Gravity having made $17.3m, fighting off Carrie‘s debut weekend which pulled in $17m.

The supernatural horror movie’s third adaptation sees Chloë Grace Moretz star as the titular Carrie White, a shy girl pushed to unleash telekinetic terror over her town.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 fell one place to number four, followed by Escape Plan, which entered the chart at number five.

Prisoners remained in sixth place with a further $2.1m added to its earnings, while Enough Said re-entered the top ten climbing from 11 to seven thanks to a boost in theatre showings.

The Fifth Estate starring Benedict Cumberbatch as WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange landed at number eight in its opening weekend, scoring $1.7m.

Meanwhile, Runner Runner dropped four places to number nine and Insidious: Chapter 2 went down to number ten, rounding off the top ten with around $1.5m each.

The US weekend box office top ten in full:
1. (1) Gravity – $31,030,000
2. (2) Captain Phillips – $17,300,000
3. (-) Carrie – $17,000,000
4. (3) Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 – $10,100,000
5. (-) Escape Plan – $9,800,000
6. (6) Prisoners – $2,065,000
7. (11) Enough Said – $1,800,000
8. (-) The Fifth Estate – $1,714,000
9. (5) Runner Runner – $1,625,000
10. (7) Insidious: Chapter 2 – $1,533,000

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Sam Worthington has revealed that production on the upcoming Avatar sequels is set to begin in 2014.

Director James Cameron last year revealed plans to make three Avatar sequels that would expand the universe of his original 2009 film.

In an interview with Australian radio station Nova 96.9, Worthington said that principal photography on the movies was set for October 2014.

According to Worthington, shooting for subsequent movies in the franchise will be completed within a year of each new movie’s yearly release.

The films themselves are expected to come out between December 2016 and December 2018.

In addition to the three new sequels, Cameron recently announced that a series of four original Avatar novels will be penned by author Steven Gould.