Cinema of the United States

A businessman who had been kidnapped on December 27 was released on Friday.

Nikos Mavrikios, 51, was abducted outside his home in the port city of Piraeus but his family were never contacted for ransom, police said.

The Trianon cinema doffs its hat to Ireland on Sunday, December 23, by screening "The Dead," an adaptation of the short story by James Joyce that was the last film directed by John Huston before his death in 1987 and stars his daughter, Angelica Huston. After the 6.30 p.m. screening, DJ Giorgos Apostolou will take over, with a program of tunes from or inspired by Ireland.

The Athens State Orchestra performs the score penned by Danny Elfman for Tim Burton's iconic 1993 stop-motion animated musical dark fantasy film "The Nightmare Before Christmas," which will be screened simultaneously with Greek supertitles, at the Athens Concert Hall on December 15 and 16. The show starts at 9 p.m. on Saturday and 5 p.m. on Sunday, and tickets cost 17, 22 and 27 euros.

U.S. actor Robert De Niro received on Dec. 1 a tribute award at the Marrakech International Film Festival from the hands of his old friend, director Martin Scorcese.

The relocated U.S. Embassy in Ankara will be situated along Malcolm X Street, which was given a new name on Nov. 29 in honor of the civil rights leader.

Submarine thriller Hunter Killer built sets at Ealing Studios in west London and used water tank facilities at Pinewood, while also filming Bulgarian locations as Russia, reports TransmediumNews. 

The story follows Gerard Butler's submarine commander as he attempts to rescue the president of Russia when the leader is kidnapped by a rogue Russian general.

"Halloween" ruled the North American box office for a second week running, frightening off the competition as it raked in another $32 million, according to estimates reported on Oct. 28 by industry tracker Exhibitor Relations.

The Onassis Cultural Center in Athens will be staging Michael Frayn's classic British farce "Noises Off" in a Greek adaptation from October 10 to 27. Directed by Ektoras Lygizos, the play stars Konstantinos Avarikiotis, Michalis Kimonas, Giannis Klinis, Sofia Kokkali, Emily Koliandri, Ektoras Lygizos, Anna Mascha, Aris Balis and Areti Seidaridou.

"Thomas Jeffrey Hanks started following you." It was this beguiling message that set off a bizarre chain of events in August that led to the Hellenic Institute of Cultural Diplomacy believing that American actor Tom Hanks would appear at an event it was organizing in Athens.

A company called Hellenic Institute of Cultural Diplomacy (HICD) said on Thursday is was working to clarify if its representative had been "deceived" over an alleged agreement with American actor Tom Hanks to participate in an event honoring his work.