Washington [US], March 18 (ANI): The ace filmmakers Russo Brothers, who are known for their blockbuster Marvel movies, and are huge fans of ‘Fornite’, have teamed up with Epic Games to co-direct the cinematic opener for the popular battle royale game’s latest installment.
The Marvel filmmakers are huge fans of ‘Fortnite’ and their recent collaboration with the game developers is proof.
In an official statement made after launching the new installment of the game on Tuesday, the developers explained that the ‘Chapter 2 Season 6: Primal’, is the most story-driven event which the company has ever produced for the game.
Anthony and Joe Russo- the duo behind major Marvel films including ‘Avengers: Infinity War’, ‘Avengers: Endgame’ and recently helmed ‘Cherry’ for Apple TV Plus in a statement provided to Variety, shared their experience of working with the game developers as a fantastic collaboration.
They said, “Fortnite holds a unique place in pop culture, and we think Donald Mustard [Epic’s chief creative officer] is a visionary storyteller who continues to take us all into unexplored territory.”
Donald Mustard revealed that the Russo Brothers and their team worked with the game’s developers to write storyboard and direct not only the opening cinematic but also much of the character setup in Chapter two Season six that has yet to be disclosed.
Although this is not the first time Epic and the Russo Brothers have collaborated. In 2018, they also derived the idea for the ‘Fortnite’/’Infinity War’ crossover event.
Variety reported that Mustard also unveiled the storyboard of the latest installment of the online royal battle and told that the ‘Zero Crisis Finale’ is a defining moment for what’s coming next in the evolving experience of the island and ‘Chapter 2’ in the game.
“When we were laying out the story for Season 5 and Season 6 we wanted to tell it in a really authentic and character-driven way, and we knew there was no one better to help us do that then the Russos,” Mustard added.
The collaboration resulted in the three-minute cinematic introduction for ‘Chapter 2 Season 6’, which shows the lead Agent Jones descending to the island and then fighting his way through several characters from different story universes, in an attempt to reach a massive glowing orb.
In the meantime, he meets a cyborg-like character named ‘The Foundation’, who agrees to help him on his mission.
After being released, yesterday on Youtube, the cinematic opener for the animated series was watched by more than 4.8 million people.
The new version of the game is reportedly a solo-mission event that will allow the users to play through Agent Jones’ mission in the Zero Crisis Finale. The new season is followed by ‘Chapter 2 Season 5’, in which Agent Jones brought the best trackers from numerous real factors — including the Mandalorian, Ripley and the Xenomorph from ‘Alien’, Predator, Michonne and Daryl from ‘The Walking Dead’, and others to the island to prevent anybody from getting away from the Loop.
The ‘Section 2 Season 6’ of the game depends on the real world being imploded in the process of containing the Zero Point, bringing about a Primal biome where present-day lifestyles are no more. Amid the ‘Fortnite’ map there exists a transcending stone tower and another stucco village encompassing it, beyond which are other Primal focal points like Boney Burbs and Colossal Crops.
Variety reported that for the first time, animals including frogs, chickens, wolves and wild boar will also be seen making an appearance on the island.
In the new season, Epic Games also teased that at some point Brazilian soccer star Neymar will make an appearance. (ANI)

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], March 18 (ANI): Bollywood star Katrina Kaif on Thursday flaunted her new haircut for an upcoming film and treated fans to a stunning picture.
The ‘Namaste London’ star hopped on to Instagram and shared a snap in a casual avatar as she showed off the new haircut. The picture sees Katrina in an all-blue ensemble look.
She is dressed in a sea blue spaghetti top and faded denim shorts, which accentuates her toned figure perfectly.

The actor’s luscious locks stole the limelight as she had her beachy waves open in the air. The ‘Bang Bang’ actor shared in the caption that she has donned the new hairstyle for a new film.
She wrote, “New day (sun emoticon) New haircut (woman getting a haircut emoticon) New film (tiger emoticon).”
From the Tiger emoticon, it seems the actor has got this haircut for her upcoming film ‘Tiger 3’.
Celebrities including Anushka Sharma and more than 5 lakh followers liked the post within an hour of it being posted. While many chimed into the comments section as they adored the new haircut.
Katrina’s sister Isabella Kaif dropped fire and lovestruck emoticons. Celebrity fashion designer Manish Malhotra commented with lovestruck and red heart emoticons and said, “gorgeous.”
On the work front, Katrina has ‘Tiger 3’, ‘Phone Bhoot’, ‘Sooryavanshi’ and a superhero movie with Ali Abbas Zafar coming up. (ANI)

Washington [US], March 18 (ANI): A new study in Behavioral Ecology, published by Oxford University Press, found that women are less likely to procreate in urban areas that have a higher percentage of females than males in the population.
Although the majority of modern cities have more women than men and thus suffer from lower fertility rates, the effects of female-biased sex ratios – having more women than men in a population – is less studied than male-biased ratios.
Researchers here analysed how female-biased sex ratios are linked to marriages, reproductive histories, dispersal, and the effects of urbanisation on society.
The research team from the University of Turku, University of Helsinki, and Pennsylvania State University used a massive internal migration event that occurred in Finland during WWII, when 10 per cent of Finnish territory was ceded to the Soviet Union and over 400,000 citizens were evacuated.
The Finnish government implemented a settlement act to provide land for farmers to replace the territory they lost. Each village in the ceded territory was assigned to a specific location in western Finland to keep communities together, though evacuees were not required to move to their assigned location.
Researchers consulted a database of the evacuees, which was compiled of interviews of evacuees between 1968 and 1970. The database entries list the name, sex, date of birth, birthplace, occupation, year of marriage, reproductive records, and the years and names of all places the evacuee lived from birth until the time of the interview.
Researchers followed the annual reproductive and dispersal decisions of 8,296 evacuee women from 1945 to 1955 who were between the ages of 19 and 42 during this time, were unmarried when the war ended in 1945, and whose reproductive status and annual place of residence were known. Researchers measured the sex ratios in the locations these women lived throughout this period and estimated women’s probability to start a family or disperse.
The study found that the likelihood of reproducing was strongly influenced by the local sex ratio but that this relationship differed between rural and urban environments. While female-biased population sex ratio lowered women’s probability to reproduce for the first time in urban environments this was not the case in rural areas. However, women did not move into areas with more men, instead, they were more likely to relocate to urban areas, despite the sex ratio being strongly female-biased in these locations.
The researchers concluded that women probably moved to urban areas for work and education opportunities, but then experienced a competitive market for finding a spouse and thus were less likely to have children than women who lived outside of urban areas. Overall, women were 15 per cent less likely to reproduce in urban areas compared to rural areas. In towns, every percentage of increase of men in the population increased women’s probability to have a first child by 2.7 per cent whereas in rural areas increase was only 0.4 per cent .
Researchers also noted that while the population they studied is historical, the findings can be applicable to present-day urban environments. Women outnumber men in many cities across the developing and developed world, and they may be finding themselves in the same predicament experienced by Finnish women many decades ago. (ANI)

Washington [US], March 18 (ANI): Actor Natalie Portman and film producer Sophie Mas’ MountainA production company has set a first-look TV deal at Apple.
According to Variety, the information on the arrangement comes seven days after it was reported that Portman had signed on to star in the Apple series ‘Lady in the Lake’ with Lupita Nyong’o.
Portman is also an executive producer on the series, as is Mas through their production company MountainA. The show also represents Portman’s first TV featuring role.
“We launched MountainA to support meaningful, timely projects and we couldn’t imagine a better partner to start this adventure with than the fantastic team at Apple, who in only a short time already have a track record of working with some of the world’s most inspiring filmmakers.We are excited to create and develop daring stories together,” Portman and Mas said in a joint statement.
As per Variety, under the multi-year agreement, Apple will have a first look on TV projects to be created and delivered by Portman and Mas through their recently formed production company. This marks the first producing deal for the duo.
‘Lady in the Lake’ takes place in 1960s Baltimore, where an inexplicable homicide pushes housewife and mother Maddie Schwartz (Portman) to rethink her life as an analytical columnist and sets her on an impact course with Cleo Sherwood (Nyong’o), a hard-working woman juggling motherhood, many jobs and a passionate commitment to advancing Baltimore’s Black progressive agenda.
The series will be co-written by Alma Har’el and Dre Ryan, with Har’el writing the pilot and directing.
Endeavour Content is the studio.
Both Har’el and Ryan will executive produce, as well as Portman, Mas, and Nyong’o.
Har’el executive produces along with Christopher Leggett via Zusa. Crazyrose’s Jean-Marc Vallee and Nathan Ross will also serve as executive producers, along with Julie Gardner for Bad Wolf America. Lipmman is an executive producer on the project too. (ANI)

Washington [US], March 18 (ANI): American singer-actor Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez were spotted getting cozy and spending some quality time in the Dominican Republic after breakup rumours.
As per Fox News, a week ago, reports claimed that the duo had called it quits following four years of being together. However, not long after, the two in a statement to Fox News said, “All the reports are inaccurate.”
“We are working through certain things,” the statement added.
Only days prior, it was reported that Rodriguez had travelled to the Dominican Republic, where Lopez is currently shooting a film. In photographs acquired by an outlet, the pair could be seen sharing a kiss outside while the ‘Husters’ star relaxed in a white shower robe.
In other photographs, JLo appeared to joyfully welcome Rodriguez upon his appearance and even folded her arm over him as he kneeled down to her level.
A source additionally disclosed to People magazine that Lopez “was eager to see” Rodriguez “face to face” in front of their DR reunion.
The source further added that the pair are ‘truly’ attempting to ‘sort things out, and “it was a glad get-together.”
On Monday, Rodriguez wrote on his Instagram Story, “New week. New day. Forward. Upward,” as he panned a tropical scene and tagged Lopez.
A source additionally told Fox News that, while reports of their separation were untimely, the two have as of late run into certain issues.
“Nothing was concrete. They hit a tough situation yet are working through it,” the source said.
An initial report from Page Six said that Lopez was occupied in the Dominican Republic recording a film while Rodriguez is “in Miami preparing for baseball season.”
Recent reports also pointed to previous rumours stemming from earlier this year regarding an alleged romance between Rodriguez and ‘Southern Charm’ star Madison LeCroy. Multiple sources indicated at the time that there was no connection between the two, however.
A source claimed to Fox News on Saturday that a third party “did not contribute” to the couple’s recent troubles.
“Jennifer and Alex have a lot greater things – like organizations and their [respective] kids – to stress over,” the source asserted. (ANI)

New Delhi [India], March 18 (ANI): Actors Janhvi Kapoor and Rajkummar Rao’s recently-released horror-comedy ‘Roohi’, which is the first major Bollywood release post the COVID-19 lockdown, is failing to make a mark at the box office.
The film, which also stars Varun Sharma, witnessed a further decline on the seventh day of its release. It earned a total of Rs 1.22 crores on Wednesday. Indian film critic and trade analyst Taran Adarsh shared the box office collection of the movie on his Twitter handle.
“#Roohi is looking at approx Rs 17.50 cr total in its *extended* Week 1… A respectable number, in view of the #Covid scenario… Thu 3.06 cr [#MahaShivratri], Fri 2.25 cr, Sat 3.42 cr, Sun 3.85 cr, Mon 1.35 cr, Tue 1.26 cr, Wed 1.22 cr. Total: Rs 16.41 cr. #India biz,” he tweeted.
The horror-comedy had earned Rs 3.06 crores on its opening day. It witnessed a decline in figures on Friday, minting Rs 2.25 crores. However, the film performed well on Saturday and Sunday, earning Rs 3.42 crores and Rs 3.85 crores, respectively.
On Monday, the film raked in just Rs 1.35 crores and reported nearly similar numbers on Tuesday, raking in Rs 1.26 crores. Whereas, on Wednesday it faced further downfall by accumulating Rs. 1.22 crores. The total earnings of the movie stand at Rs 16.41 crores currently.
Helmed by Hardik Mehta, the movie, which hit the theatres on Thursday, is the first major Bollywood release post the COVID-19 lockdown.
‘Roohi’ which was previously called ‘Rooh Afza’ and then ‘Roohi Afzana’, was initially slated to hit the theatres in the first week of June, last year. However, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the makers had to postpone the release date.
A Jio Studios Presentation, ‘Roohi’ is produced by Dinesh Vijan and Mrighdeep Singh Lamba. The film marks the first-ever collaboration of Rajkummar and Janhvi. Rajkummar and Varun have earlier shared screen space in the 2015 release ‘Dolly Ki Doli’.
The horror-comedy also become the first film to arrive in theatres after the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting allowed cinema halls nationwide to operate at full capacity from February 1 with COVID-19 safety protocols put in place.
The film is based on the lines of the 2018 hit film ‘Stree’, which featured Shraddha Kapoor and Rajkummar Rao in lead roles. (ANI)