Taika Waititi

Fan favorite Baby Yoda will co-star in a new Star Wars movie entitled "The Mandalorian & Grogu," Lucasfilm announced on Jan. 9.

The film will be directed by Jon Favreau, who created the hit Disney+ streaming show "The Mandalorian," in which the character was first introduced.

It's hard to imagine a paparazzi-followed, international pop star losing confidence, but that was Rita Ora.

"I think, as humans, we always tend to doubt ourselves. And so, I think over the course of my last album… a lot happened," said the 32-year-old singer, who recently married, changed record labels and became busier with more TV gigs. "I lost a bit of confidence."

Despite concerns the delta variant would keep moviegoers at home, Ryan Reynolds' sci-fi action comedy "Free Guy" had a better-than-expected start at the domestic box office.

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Two Indigenous filmmakers are smashing the caricatures and stereotypes of Native Americans, who since the earliest days of film and TV have often played supporting roles or been portrayed as bloodthirsty killers standing in the way of white, westward expansion.

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Two friends from the Aegean province of Aydın have adopted a rabbit who endured the trauma and physical scars it suffered in a laboratory conducting experiments on animals in a bid to save its life.

The rabbit's ears were cut off and two legs were severely damaged due to laboratory experiments conducted on it.

New Zealand filmmaker Taika Waititi will write and direct a new "Star Wars" film, Disney announced on May 4.    

Waititi has shot from indie acclaim to mainstream Hollywood success in recent years, overseeing Marvel superhero smash hit "Thor: Ragnarok" in 2017 before winning a screenplay Oscar for Nazi satire "Jojo Rabbit" in February.    

Hollywood's directors handed World War I thriller "1917" their top annual prize on Jan. 25, one of the final major award shows that typically spells success at next month's Oscars.

The win makes British auteur Sam Mendes hot favorite for the best director Oscar -- the Directors Guild of America Awards have correctly predicted the victor the past six years running.

The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) awarded the Quentin Tarantino with Best Direction.

Here's the full list of winners.

AACTA International Award for Best Film

THE IRISHMAN
JOKER
THE KING
ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD
PARASITE (winner)

AACTA International Award for Best Direction

"Jojo Rabbit" on Sept. 15 won the Toronto film festival's top prize, an Oscars bellwether which gives the satirical Nazi comedy a boost as Hollywood's award season kicks into gear.  The movie from "Thor: Ragnarok" director Taika Waititi tells the story of a young German boy living during World War Two whose imaginary friend is a make-believe version of Adolf Hitler.