WHAT YOU WANT TO HEAR

When Peter Jackson directed the first Lord Of The Rings trilogy, released between 2001 and 2003, the combined cost of the three movies was $281 million.

A little over a decade later, when Jackson returned to direct The Hobbit trilogy, the combined cost before any promotion or advertising was $675 million.

Amazon Studios today secured the rights - and just the rights, mind you - to the The Lord Of The Rings, for a wallet-busting $250 million, according to Deadline.

That is before the company have spent a single penny on any development, talent, production, or any advertising. The budget is estimated to be around $150 million per season, and Amazon have signed on for a multi-season contract, as well as the rights to a potential spin-off series.

Sharon Tal Yguado, the Head of Scripted Series at Amazon Studios, had the following to say about the property:

"The Lord of the Rings is a cultural phenomenon that has captured the imagination of generations of fans through literature and the big screen. We are honored to be working with the Tolkien Estate and Trust, HarperCollins and New Line on this exciting collaboration for television and are thrilled to be taking The Lord of the Rings fans on a new epic journey in Middle Earth."

It is clear that there is going to be a major rush to fill the gap left after Game Of Thrones ends in 2019, and both HBO and Netflix were part of the bidding war with Amazon to become the lord of the rights.

Amazon are reportedly intending to produce a series which will take place before the events of The Lord Of The Rings, but are not told in the story of The Hobbit.

The Lord Of The Rings trilogy went on to make $2.91 billion, while The Hobbit trilogy went on to make $2.93 billion, so there is clearly a lot of money to be made from this franchise, and according to The New York Times, HBO banks around a billion dollars a year from Game Of Thrones.

Gotta spend money to make money, we guess.

STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI

The wait for the space saga’s highly anticipated Episode VIII will soon be over. The Last Jedi takes a deeper dive into Rey’s life and her relationship with Luke Skywalker. “She’s greeted not so warmly by Luke,” says Daisy Ridley. “It will take a little bit of work and a little bit of trust, then it becomes a wonderul, emotional story.” In theaters Dec. 15.

I, TONYA

Margot Robbie takes on the role of infamous ’90s figure skater, Tonya Harding, who was embroiled in scandal after a hit man hired by her ex attacked her rival Nancy Kerrigan. “The coolest thing about the movie is that we see everyone has their own version of the truth,” says Robbie. In theaters Dec. 8.

ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD

The film, starring Michelle Williams and Mark Wahlberg, has been making headlines after it was announced director Ridley Scott replaced Kevin Spacey who is facing mounting allegations of sexual harassment, with Christopher Plummer for the role of J. Paul Getty. The drama tells the story of the 1973 kidnapping of oil heir John Paul Getty III. In theaters Dec. 22.

THE POST

Hollywood’s dream team — director Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep — come together to tell the story of how Katherine Graham (Streep), the first female publisher of The Washington Post, and editor Ben Bradlee (Hanks) worked together to unveil the Pentago Papers in 1971. In theaters Dec. 22.

DOWNSIZING

Matt Damon takes on his smallest role yet in this satire, directed by Alexander Payne and also starring Jason Sudeikis. Damon’s character and his wife (Kristen Wiig) decide whether or not to shrink themselves to live a more luxurious lifestyle. In theaters Dec. 22.

THE GREATEST SHOWMAN

Hugh Jackman says playing P.T. Barnum, the founder of Barnum & Bailey Circus, was a dream role. “The guy could turn lemons into lemonade,” Jackman says of Barnum. “It’s so much fun to play a guy with that kind of bravado.” In theaters Dec. 20.

PITCH PERFECT 3

Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Anna Camp, Hailee Steinfeld and Brittany Snow return for the a cappella comedy’s third installment. In theaters Dec. 22.

FERDINAND

An adaptation of the classic children’s book about a gentle bull (voiced by John Cena) who would rather smell the flowers than fight aims to warm hearts big and small. In theaters Dec. 15.

THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI

When the police make no headway in solving the rape and murder of her daughter, Mildred Hayes (Frances McDormand) rents three billboards on a back road and plasters them with blunt questions about the neglected case. The film also stars Woody Harrelson as the police chief and Sam Rockwell as his deputy. Harrelson says working with McDormand, who is earing Oscar buzz for her role, is like “going into the ring with the greatest prize fighter in the world and she doesn’t break your nose and instead you have a great time and get to dance.” In theaters Nov. 10.

THE DARKEST HOUR

Gary Oldman has become an awards front-runner as Winston Churchill, fighting pressure to seek peace with Nazi Germany or risk Britain’s annihilation early in WWII. In theaters Nov. 22.

Nigerian footballer, John Mikel Obi Or Mikel John Obi  (born 22nd April 1987) currently plays for Chinese club Tianjin TEDA in the Chinese Super League which he joined in January 2017 after a 10-year sojourn with Chelsea FC in England. He is currently named one of Nigeria’s richest footballers and his net worth as at 2017 is estimated at $25million  (N12.8 billion). His weekly salary is over 140,000 Euros (N55 million) which amounts to $6 million annually (N3.9 billion). John Obi Mikel not only makes a lot of cash playing football but also from his endorsements like Pepsi and Samsung.

Here is how Mikel Obi spends his millions in photos:

Mikel owns a massive mansion in London worth $6 million which includes a Swimming Pool • Jacuzzi • Home Cinema • Sports Room • Spa •

He owns a Bentley Continental GT (worth a whooping about N35m), Mercedes G Wagon, Black Mercedes G 500 and a Range Rover Sport

The veteran musician blasted the Okoye twins, Peter and Paul for embarking on solo careers, predicting that they were doomed to fail.

Paul aka Rudeboy was having none of that and was quick to fire a shot back at him and boy does it sting.

He shared a photo on Instagram with the caption, "Pls I advise!! before u get high, make sure you arrange beta food by the side to back am up....otherwise! oyo is the case. You won't even remember the way to the studio.. #veterans," he wrote.

Ghollywood Producer and director, Francis Francis Dzogbetsi popularly known Nebu Ur' Majesty has done the undoable, after he named his 3-weeks old son after the World's largest search engine, Google.

During Christening of the boy, Francis decided to name his son,Google Ahmed Banda, a name that has since caused mixed reactions among folks on Social Media.

Popular Nigerian singer, Tiwa Savage has revealed how she overcame the crisis that rocked her marriage with her husband Tunji Balogun aka Teebillz in 2016 who accused her of sleeping around with men. Speaking in a recent interview, Tiwa Savage said she relied on God for help.

She said: "My mother has always told me that, in this life, God only gives you what you can handle. It was a very trying time but God in his infinite mercies gave me the grace to see it through. It only made me stronger." In recent times, the couple have rekindled their love again as the husband does not miss any opportunity to praise her on social media. The duo have been pictured smiling happily on outings and also seen attending church events together with their son Jamil. The singer's fans have urged them on to continue in this light.

Expectedly, beauty queens are not permitted to be in a relationship during their reign. Most of them claim they abide by that rule, including the current Miss Nigeria, Chioma Obiadi.

When Saturday Beats asked the young beauty queen how she has been able to cope with that, she said it was just a protective measure put in place for her to stay away from scandals and other "unnecessary things."

She said, "One needs to be protected against scandals. Some of these scandals come from people who you are close to and trust. It is just a protective clause to help me to be better."

According to her, it will be hard to keep a relationship as she has been overwhelmed with both her school's activities and her role as Miss Nigeria. But then, the pretty girl said the clause has not hindered guys from stalking her.

She added, "I have stalkers. Every girl has a stalker, but I feel God has given us a way to handle it without hurting anyone. I was not even in a relationship before becoming Miss Nigeria. I have been jostling between school and Miss Nigeria, so I barely have time.

"The way I handle men now is pretty much the same way I handled men before I won the pageant. I have been a girl all through my life and I feel all girls get pressure from men. Like I said earlier, the organisation is very protective. So, they have in a way protected me from unnecessary exposure. If they feel an exposure is not good for me, they don't let me experience it."

She, however, admitted that winning Miss Nigeria was her turning point, as her life became better and her ideas became bigger than they used to be.

"The lowest point is learning how to be patient, especially with the environmental battle I've embarked on. It is very tough. We had a beach cleanup two weeks ago and before we finished cleaning up half of it, the other part which was already cleaned up had been messed up again. That was very frustrating, so it takes patience and passion for one to actually keep doing that."

The beauty queen said she intends to complete her education once she is through with her reign.

"I don't believe in starting up something when you are not ready for it. I believe you have to lay your bed properly before you lie on it. I have a couple of business ideas, but I have yet to make up my mind. I don't feel bad that the spotlight will be off from me soon. I wish I could still hold on to it because once you've eaten sugar, you don't want to stop. But don't forget that if you keep eating sugar, you will get diabetes.

I think I have had my own share and I have gathered things I can tap from to become whoever I want to be. The wise thing for me is to grow and become a greater person. I am just looking forward to handing over to the next Miss Nigeria."

Already the search for the next Miss Nigeria has begun and the organizers told Saturday Beats that even though the event was rested for about 20 years, it is here to stay.

About Freetel;

Created by Japanese engineers with 40 years of experience, FREETEL handsets are designed to give consumers world-class products at affordable price points. The brand is focused on Japan quality, design and affordability. We ensure that the highest quality products are created by carefully managing the design, manufacturing, and even packaging, every step of the way. This attention to detail is how we make sure that you will benefit and receive feature rich phones.

Freetel smart phones will come in four (4) different models of Andriod smartphones into the Nigerian market with prices ranging from N13, 000 to N38, 000. Freetel smartphones are designed in the state of the art design centre in Tokyo, and the manufacturing is supervised by Japanese engineers with over 40 years experience all of them Google GMS certified. Freetel smartphones are Google’s GMS certified and quality checked by Japanese engineering experts. The GMS Certification is the confirmation that a specific device meets Googles’ performance requirements and properly runs the Google Apps.

Singer and dancer Peter Okoye aka Mr. P has revealed that Psquare surely has hopes of coming back together but one essential thing has to be in place, respect! The singer and self-proclaimed upcoming artiste made this known in a new interview. Peter who covered the October edition of Vibe magazine tagged One Named Peter declares that if the group comes back together now, the public will believe it was a stunt all along.

"Of course we will still work together as I have said before, but the respect has to be there. This separation will bring respect" Peter had said. According to Peter, being apart and working separately will make the brothers respect each other more while in the future, they might come back together as a group.

Peter is definitely trying all his best to move on since the separation. In a matter of weeks, Peter released a song Cool it Down with a nice video that is trending on YouTube.

But wait, what would Paul think about this idea of "there must be respect?"

HipTV Studio engulfed by Fire today, October 6 at about 5:30 pm.
According to the reports and video clip that has been in circulation, neighbours and passersby helped to battle the fire while the Lagos State Fire Service was called to the scene.

The fire service later arrived at the scene to put out the fire.

Instablog9ja reports that the cause of the fire remains unknown as an investigation into the situation has been launched.

Stay with us as the story develops.

Akon
Superstar to host
The Senegal-born superstar will handle the event proceedings of the live broadcast award

According to a statement by the African Union Commission and the International Committee of AFRIMA, the Senegal-born superstar will handle the event proceedings of the live broadcast award show, with support from the co-host, Ms. Sophy Aiida, a Cameroonian-French entertainment broadcaster.

With a track record of outstanding success in the global music industry that has brought immense recognition to Africa’s creative energy and originality, Akon, a multi-Grammy award winning singer, songwriter, record producer and actor, has put his name in the Guinness Book of World Record as the number one selling artiste for master ringtones in the world.

Ranked the fifth most powerful celebrity in Forbes’s Africa list of 40, Akon is also a business man and philanthropist who is passionate about the African continent. He provides electricity for 15 African countries through his “Light Africa Project” and supports underprivileged African youngsters through his Konfidence Initiative. He runs music labels, Konvict Music

Multi–award winning African-American music star, Akon, has been unveiled as host of the 4th annual All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA) scheduled to hold on Sunday, November 12, 2017 at the Eko Convention Centre of the Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria.

According to a statement by the African Union Commission and the International Committee of AFRIMA, the Senegal-born superstar will handle the event proceedings of the live broadcast award show, with support from the co-host, Ms. Sophy Aiida, a Cameroonian-French entertainment broadcaster.

With a track record of outstanding success in the global music industry that has brought immense recognition to Africa’s creative energy and originality, Akon, a multi-Grammy award winning singer, songwriter, record producer and actor, has put his name in the Guinness Book of World Record as the number one selling artiste for master ringtones in the world.

Ranked the fifth most powerful celebrity in Forbes’s Africa list of 40, Akon is also a business man and philanthropist who is passionate about the African continent. He provides electricity for 15 African countries through his “Light Africa Project” and supports underprivileged African youngsters through his Konfidence Initiative. He runs music labels, Konvict Music and Kon Live Republic successfully.

Akon will handle the event proceedings of the live broadcast award show, with support from the co-host, Ms. Sophy Aiida, a Cameroonian-French entertainment broadcaster.
» more Akon will handle the event proceedings of the live broadcast award show, with support from the co-host, Ms. Sophy Aiida, a Cameroonian-French entertainment broadcaster.  (AFRIMA)
Co-host Sophy Aiida is a prolific broadcaster who is known on radio as Cameroon’s biggest-girl-next-door. Sophy was born in Paris, movement  to New York where she spent 15 years before returning to Cameroon to contribute to her homeland. The multilingual and multi-talented woman is regarded as one of Central Africa’s biggest show host. Sophy has also acted in rave African French-speaking movies and has also dropped a debut single. Sophy Aiida is the co-founder of the Nakande Project, an initiative that supports the emergence of great young women through its education, empowerment and mentorship programmes. She has hosted various annuals show and events in Africa.

Meanwhile, Africans on the continent and in the diaspora are in eager anticipation for the AFRIMA 2017 main awards ceremony and the AFRIMA Music Village scheduled to hold on Friday, November 10. The Music Village is an evening of non-stop open music festival of live performances from African stars and nominees, with an audience of 40,000 people. It will also be broadcast live and produced by a prominent experiential marketing/production agency in Africa, Backstage Pro.

The annual All Africa Music Awards in partnership with the African Union Commission, is a celebration of Africa by rewarding the creativity and originality of African artistes and songwriters with the resplendent 23.9 carat gold-plated AFRIMA trophy. The 2017 Main Awards Ceremony, in association with Lagos State of Nigeria, the Official Host City, will be a colourful, performance-packed event graced by music stars, industry legends, captains of industries, diplomats, government officials, music lovers across the continent. The event will be broadcast live across 84 countries in Africa.

The Mavins record label owned by Don Jazzy is arguably the best record label we have around and parts of what they do best is breeding the Next Rated Artistes to become stars in the music industry
Some months ago when the record label announced the signing of three unknown artistes namely:
Reekado Banks, Korede Bello and Di’Ja , we already knew those are the next set of stars to watch out for.
As expected, the trio didn’t disappoint as they are proving to us they are relevant to us by staying afloat right from their introduction till date.
Korede Bello and Reekado Banks have had amazing years with multiples of hit singles and individual awards to their names as the struggle for superiority still on between them in the record label.
Korede Bello fans never get tired of him and so thus Reekado’s. Many arguments have emerged from fans on who is the golden boy of the record label.
As a music fan, Who Do You Think Is The Golden Boy Of The Mavins Record Label?

According to a video shared by Andrew Kibe, an angry Kenyan man, he sees no reason why Kenyan ladies would choose to relate with Nigerians instead of them.
While complaining in the video, Kibe said Nigerian women are ugly and the men can't speak good English, yet the Kenyan women fancy them for some reason he couldn't understand.
Kibe went ahead to say that the last time Nigeria had a noticeable 'beautiful woman' was about 20 years ago, and the woman happened to be Nollywood actress, Rita Dominic.
Andrew Kibe says Nigerian women are ugly and the men don't know how to speak good English

An Instagram handle dedicated to Davido, named @DavidoTeam in an effort to try and promote the image of OBO posted a throwback picture of Davido when he was just 14 with D'Prince and Wande Coal.

The Insta page captioned that Davido had to beg for a picture with Wande Coal and D'Prince when he was just 14 years but now they do beg him for one now.

But wait, please is that true?