Is Shakespeare the hottest ticket this season? Trevor Nunn’s Royal Shakespeare Company production of King Lear, which transfers to the New London theatre for a limited season from 15 November 2007 to 12 January 2008, has already sold out. (Of course, that’s no doubt to its title star Ian McKellen ? The Seagull, running in rep with King Lear, is also a sell-out, at least for the performances in which McKellen, who shares the role with William Gaunt, appears.)Meanwhile, Patrick Stewart’s “Macbeth of a lifetime” is causing a box-office rush at the Gielgud Theatre, where it’s just opened for ten weeks only. At the Donmar Warehouse, public booking doesn’t open until 15 October 2007 for Michael Grandage’s much-anticipated staging of Othello – starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Ewan McGregor and Kelly Reilly and running from 4 December 2007 (previews from 29 November) to 23 February 2008 (See News, 11 May 2007) – but members of the theatre’s Friends scheme, who have only been allowed to purchase a maximum of four tickets each, have already made it a near sell-out.Source: www.whatsonstage.com

By ALISON MALONEYSeptember 25, 2007 EWAN McGREGOR is to give film hopefuls a helping hand at the Raindance Festival.The Star Wars star will head up a ‘Dragon’s Den’ style panel of industry bigwigs to hear film pitches and decide which scripts have enough merit to go further.Live! Ammunition! is an annual event which has, in the past, picked up scripts such as 51st State and Meet the Parents.Joining Ewan on the panel of judges are NIK POWELL, producer of The Crying Game, SALLY CAPLAN, from the UK Film Council, DAVID SCALENGHE of Al Gore’s Current TV and producer MALCOLM GERRIE.Anyone who thinks they have a script idea can go along to the event at BAFTA in London’s Piccadilly. You will have up to two minutes to convince the panellists to read your script or make your film and you run the risk of being gonged off if you are boring.Entrants are asked to drop a fiver in the hat and, at the end of the night the money, and the possibility of script development, goes home with the winner.The fun will continue with a networking party from 9pm at The Club Bar and Dining 21 Warwick Street, London, W1B 5NF.Live! Ammunition! kicks of at 7.30 on October 1st.Source: www.thesun.co.uk

Live! Ammunition is Raindance’s now-legendary pitching event where your idea for a movie can be heard by the people who matter. Where else would you have the undivided attention of not just one, but FIVE people who could help get your film made? This year that illustrious crowd includes Ewan McGregor, NFTS head Nik Powell and UK Film Council Premiere Fund head Sally Caplan.To pitch, just drop a fiver in the hat and the floor is yours. You have up to two minutes to convince the panellists to read your script or make your film. They can and will gong you off if you are boring. The best pitch will win all the money in the hat, and, who knows, could be picked up for development.They have an extraordinary line-up this year for our Festival Live!Ammo! Special. Confirmed panellists so far:Ewan McGregor is one of Britain’s biggest acting talents, and his incredible career spans arthouse and indie flicks, Hollywood blockbusters, musicals and theatre.Nik Powell has produced a raft of great British movies including the Oscar-nominated MONA LISA and LITTLE VOICE and Oscar-winning THE CRYING GAME.Sally Caplan is head of the UK Film Council’s Premier Fund, and as such has an annual budget of £8m to help in the production of British films.Davide Scalenghe manages the Viewer Created Content Outreach Department at Al Gore’s Current TV, meaning he can get your film seen by millions online.Malcolm Gerrie has over 25 years worth of experience as a producer and is currently Head of Whizz Kid TV Source: www.netribution.co.uk

By Chris Newbigging18 September 2007 10:30Ewan McGregor surprised Moto Guzzi fans from across the globe when he rode into the annual Giornate Mondiale Guzzi (World-Wide Guzzi Days).The star of the Long Way Round and Long Way Down is a Moto Guzzi fan and currently owns a Griso 1100, and after a trip round the factory Museum, Ewan McGregor picked up his new white Moto Guzzi California and rode it back to London.Moto Guzzi fans rode into the event on the banks of the River Lario in Italy from as far afield as Norway and Denmark, as well as the UK, and the highlight of the weekend was a huge party on the riverbank, where Moto Guzzi owners were rewarded for their loyalty with a selection of awards, including one for the youngest fan (just 16), and the oldest attending Moto Guzzi rider, who was 76.Source: www.motorcyclenews.com

TORONTO (CP) ? Ewan McGregor has had an array of vastly different roles throughout his acting career, among them a strung-out junkie, a brave Jedi knight, a lovesick playwright with an impressive singing voice and a suave JFK-era playboy.The next onscreen persona for the versatile Scottish actor is in Woody Allen’s latest film, “Cassandra’s Dream,” in which he plays a struggling Londoner so eager for a well-heeled life that he agrees to kill off a wealthy uncle’s business nemesis in order for the big pay-off that will secure his future.McGregor’s enthusiasm for the movie and his self-serving character, Ian, was infectious as he discussed “Cassandra’s Dream” on Tuesday at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film goes into mainstream release on Nov. 30.”He doesn’t really know what he’s doing, Ian – he doesn’t really know where he’s going but he can just sense that around the corner is a better life,” the 36-year-old McGregor said as he leaned forward intently in his chair.Source: canadianpress.google.com