Newsmakers

June 22, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Newsmakers

Wrestler Jericho plays it safe on show

LOS ANGELES

Pro wrestler Chris Jericho is willing to take hits in the ring but will be playing it safe as host of ABC’s new game show “Downfall.”

“Downfall” is staged atop a 10-story downtown Los Angeles building, with contestants vying for prizes and up to $1 million cash by taking a trivia quiz. Players face the risk of being pushed off the roof — strapped into a decelerator harness — if they lose. Jericho is on the rooftop, too, but tethered to a platform to avoid an unexpected trip. The game show begins its six-episode run tonight at 9 on ABC.

Controversial film to be shown in Japan

TOKYO

“The Cove,” an Oscar-winning film about a dolphin-hunting village in Japan, will be shown in the country next month, despite pressure from nationalist groups that caused several theaters to cancel screenings. The domestic distributor, Unplugged, said Monday that six theaters around the country will start showing the movie July 3, with 16 more to show it later.

Initial screenings of the film at three other theaters were canceled early this month after protests by nationalist groups, who say the film is anti-Japanese, distorts the truth, and has deep connections with a militant anti-whaling organization.

The issue erupted into a broad debate on freedom of speech after those theaters pulled out to avoid disruptive protests on their doorsteps. National newspapers widely condemned the cancellations in editorials, and prominent filmmakers, journalists and lawyers publicly urged theaters not to back down.

Ruling disappoints Jackson’s family

LOS ANGELES

Michael Jackson’s youngest brother said Monday that his family is disappointed in a recent ruling allowing a doctor charged in the pop singer’s death to keep his medical license, but they have faith in the judicial process.

Randy Jackson’s written statement came a week after a Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled he didn’t have the authority to suspend the license of Dr. Conrad Murray. Murray faces an involuntary manslaughter charge in Jackson’s death nearly a year ago. The cardiologist has pleaded not guilty.

Filmmakers cast singer as Bruce Lee

HONG KONG

Filmmakers have cast a rising star from Hong Kong to play Bruce Lee in an upcoming biopic that focuses on the late kung fu icon’s youth. Aarif Lee rose to fame by playing a high-school track star in the recent hit “Echoes of the Rainbow,” a nostalgic look at 1960s Hong Kong. The 23-year-old was a physics major at London’s Imperial College.

The actor bowed to a statue of Bruce Lee on Hong Kong’s waterfront at a press conference Monday. He said he was preparing by watching Lee’s films and practicing the wing chun fighting style he learned as a teenager in Hong Kong. “Bruce Lee: My Brother’s Story” is funded by a consortium of studios from Hong Kong and mainland China.