newsmakers

newsmakers

‘Anchorman 2’ bumped up to Dec. 18

LOS ANGELES

Ron Burgundy wants us to stay classy — and wants himself to be early. “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues,” the sequel to the comedy hit of about a decade ago, will have its release date moved up two days to Dec. 18, Paramount Pictures said Tuesday.

The Will Ferrell film looks to get a jump on a crowded Christmas that will see a bevy of new releases, such as Ben Stiller’s “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” and presumably strong holdovers, such as “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.” The film now hits on a Wednesday, several days before the traditionally busy pre-Christmas weekend.

“Anchorman,” which picks up as Burgundy and the gang travel to New York to join a nascent cable news channel, has been nearly omnipresent lately, with Burgundy-based ads being used to hawk everything from underwear to cars.

Whether audiences will respond to the sequel as they did to the original, directed by Adam McKay and co-starring Paul Rudd and Steve Carell, remains to be seen.

Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher finalize divorce

LOS ANGELES

Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher are officially divorced.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Scott Gordon finalized the couple’s split Tuesday, roughly a year after Kutcher sought to end the couple’s marriage.

Moore and Kutcher were married in September 2005, and the actress announced they had separated in November 2011.

The former couple has no children together. During their marriage, they started a foundation to combat sexual exploitation of girls around the globe.

Kutcher stars in “Two and a Half Men” and is dating his “That ’70s Show” co-star Mila Kunis.

Moore starred in 2011’s “Margin Call” and appears in the upcoming film “Very Good Girls.” She previously was married to Bruce Willis, and the pair had three daughters.

The judgment first was reported Wednesday by celebrity website TMZ.

Artist Jack Armstrong accused of rape

LOS ANGELES

Jack Armstrong, a California painter who bills himself as the “cosmic artist,” has been arrested and accused of raping a woman in Beverly Hills while she was passed out.

The Los Angeles Times reports the 56-year-old Armstrong was taken into custody Friday and charged with one count of rape of an unconscious person. He was released after posting $100,000 bond.

Prosecutors say evidence was collected after the purported incident in March 2010. The alleged victim said Armstrong bought her “several beers” at a club, and the next thing she remembers is waking up in a hotel naked from the waist down.

The Times says Armstrong’s brightly colored paintings are priced from $600,000 to $6 million.

Vindicator wire services