newsmakers

newsmakers

Dancing with Charles ‘better than sex’

LONDON

Actress Emma Thompson says dancing with Prince Charles is “better than sex.”

Thompson makes the comment in a Time magazine feature on the 64-year-old heir to the British throne.

Charles tells the magazine he has had a lifelong desire to “heal and make things better.”

The prince, who backs a host of charitable and environmental causes, said he feels it is his “duty to worry about everybody and their lives in this country, to try to find a way of improving things if I possibly can.”

He also reveals that he recently staged a rehearsal to help teach his son, Prince William, how to host an investiture ceremony in which Britons receive knighthoods and other honors.

William presided over his first investiture at Buckingham Palace last week without any problems.

B.o.B hopes to join Bruno Mars on Super Bowl stage

ATLANTA

B.o.B is happy Bruno Mars is the halftime performer at Super Bowl XLVIII, especially if he gets an invitation to join him onstage.

B.o.B says with a laugh: “I ain’t got my phone call yet, but I hope I’ll be on there.”

Mars and the rapper collaborated on the 2010 No. 1 hit, “Nothin’ on You.” The song was nominated for multiple Grammy Awards and helped Mars launch his successful solo career, which includes two platinum albums and 10 Top 5 hits.

B.o.B said in an interview Wednesday that he and Mars came up the music ranks together, performing in the studio before the singer became a pop star.

Super Bowl XLVIII will take place Feb. 2 in East Rutherford, N.J.

B.o.B will release his third album, “Underground Luxury,” on Dec. 17.

Screenwriter Arndt exits ‘Star Wars VII’

NEW YORK

Screenwriter Michael Arndt is exiting “Star Wars: Episode VII” with director J.J. Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan assuming scripting duties.

Lucasfilm made the unexpected announcement Thursday. Kasdan co-wrote “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi,” making him a revered figured in “Star Wars” lore. The 64-year-old scribe, who also wrote “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” had been serving as a consultant on the film.

“There are few people who fundamentally understand the way a ‘Star Wars’ story works like Larry,” Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy said in a statement. “Michael Arndt has done a terrific job bringing us to this point.”

Arndt was named the sole screenwriter last year. He won an Oscar for the script to “Little Miss Sunshine,” and also wrote “Toy Story 3” and “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.”

Shooting for “Star Wars: Episode VII” is to start in the spring, with the film due out in 2015.

Associated Press