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Music purists, you might want to take a seat and a few deep breaths.

The writer and co-director of Disney’s smash hit Frozen has a new project – turning Meg Murray from the novel A Wrinkle in Time into Disney’s next big heroine.

Jennifer Lee is writing the adaptation of the Madeleine L’Engle’s book, which was one of her favourites as a child.

The science fiction novel stars 14-year-old Meg Murray, who travels the universe with her brother Charles Wallace and friend Calvin O’Keefe to rescue her scientist father.

With the help of three supernatural women, the trio journey to a dangerous world to save Meg’s father from the evil IT.

Not only does Meg save her father, but she also saves her younger brother from the grasp of IT when her father can’t.

According to

One of the most alarming facts a person can wake up to is that the 90s show you used to watch religiously is now 25 years old. Which is to say, the 90s happened a full two decades ago.

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For over 50 years now, The Doctor has been running through time and space saving planets and Great Britain from monsters, aliens, robots and much more – and if we play our cards right, he could possibly even save Hamilton as well.

It’s been something that you may have heard about – that people behind the scenes have been trying to find a way to get an episode or two of the longest running sci-fi show in the world to film down here, in the second country in the world to originally watch it.

All this stemmed from an interview done by the Waikato Times with then Doctor, Matt Smith. Not long afterwards uber-fanboy Sir Peter Jackson said he’d jump at the chance to direct the episodes here, New Zealand-based Doctor Who scribe Neil Cross said he’d love to write an episode or two set here, and show runner Stephen Moffatt said they’re keen, and he’s spoken to Sir Peter and if it happens, then it would need to be after The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies is finished.

What this sets up is a very highly anticipated episode, of one of the most watched television shows in the world. There will be press coverage, publicity, and the eyes of the world will be firmly pointed towards the location. And that’s where Hamilton can come in.

Hamilton city already has something called Film Friendly Status, a honorarium presented by Film New Zealand to councils which have promised to look at ways to support incoming productions to their regions. I pitched it to the council as a twofold idea – “it would be great for the creative sector”, and “think of the money”. But in the time since then, Hamilton has never gone and promoted itself as a viable film location. It’s been lucky that some productions have swung through here, The Hobbit, The Emperor, that mystery one with Michael Fassbender a few months back – but we still don’t sell ourselves to potential film markets. Knowing that there’s a very specific project – an episode or two of Doctor Who – we can pitch for could be the impetus we need to start getting out there more.

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Naturally it helps that the Waikato has some stunning resources already, places like Bridal Veil Falls, Mt Pirongia, Karapiro and Arapuni Dams, the occasional industrial dairy factory and the odd quarry – all staples of Whovian production – but we also have places like Mystery Creek and Claudelands Events Centre for internal production spaces and let’s face it, some of our city councillors would get on great with the hate-fuelled emotionless Daleks.

Of course, this all seems like a bit of fun fantasy on paper, a pipe dream – and maybe that’s what it is. But it could be more. It could be the test subject we need to prove the viability of promoting the region to film-makers.

When Taranaki landed the Tom Cruise film The Last Samurai, Venture Taranaki put in a lot of effort to find out exactly what a production that size brought to their region. The economic impact of that film saw economic stimulus to the region to the tune of $170 million, with almost 60 per cent of the film’s budget spent there. Of course a TV show’s budget will be far less – making it a great microcosm to study. And then, like The Hobbit before it, there’s the added tourism spin.

Hobbiton in Matamata was recently touted by Tourism New Zealand as the main reason tourist numbers to our shores have increased. Imagine how we could grow those again with the help of rackety old Tardis parked in Hamilton Gardens. Some estimates have the worldwide audience for the show at 110 million people. To find an audience of that magnitude is a coup for anyone wanting to be noticed and Cardiff – the usual home to filming – has made the most of it with museums, location tours and sometimes even the show itself being seen on the streets.

It seems like a far-fetched idea on paper – that little old Hamilton could play host to something as iconic as Doctor Who – but Hamiltonians are surprisingly good at far-fetched ideas. At one stage the idea of a statue of Richard O’Brien seemed strange, or that anyone would want to visit a swamp to look at tractors and farm equipment, or build an empire out of electric fences. If we never followed far-fetched ideas, where would Hamilton be now

– Waikato Times

Millie Elder-Holmes spoke through tears at Connor Morris’ funeral as she made her final farewell to her boyfriend, Woman’s Day reports.

Morris was laid to rest at Waikumete Crematorium Chapel in Glen Eden on Thursday last week, following his death in a street fight in the Auckland suburb of Massey.

Elder-Holmes sat beside the coffin during the service, reading from her cellphone when it was her turn to speak, Woman’s Day reported.

“When I first met Connor, he came into my life at a time when no-one mattered to me, not even myself, and he changed everything. He was not only my strength but my weakness. I could never say no to him.

“He was my best friend, protector and provider. He taught me so much about life. He always encouraged me … He gave me the best life perspective.

“We went through so much together and grew so much together during the years we shared. I feel like I have lost a part of me. I’ll miss every little thing about him, especially the way he made me feel safe and loved.”

She spoke of how she would miss his “beautiful baby blues”.

“I can’t believe he’s been taken from me like this,” she said.

“He meant everything to me. Rest easy, baby Morry. I love you more than I can say. You took my heart before you were taken from us, but there’s no-one I would rather have it. I love you, Mr Morris.”

New Idea gave readers a glimpse into the lives of Victoria and David Beckham.

According to friends of the couple, the former Spice Girl was a “control freak” and carefully managed the family’s public image, even monitoring their outfits before they were permitted to leave the house.

“She will stop at nothing to protect Brand Beckham,” one friend said.

Among the couple’s rituals was stripping down in front of a mirror every Sunday and saying what they liked and didn’t like about each other.

“They have been doing it for years. It was Posh’s idea. David says it makes sure they stay disciplined and don’t let themselves go,” another friend said.

“A few weeks ago she put him on a diet and ordered him to lose 4.5 kilograms because he had love handles.”

The couple also had their own hyperbaric oxygen chamber to keep them “youthful”.

They were also paranoid about security, with a panic room, secret doors and escape routes, and cameras everywhere.

New Idea also revealed that for Victoria’s 40th birthday, David bought her a butler who used to work at Buckingham Palace.

Meanwhile, the Women’s Weekly cover girl was none other than the Queen.

Like a fancy cheese, it seems the Queen is only getting better with age, becoming “more relaxed” and allowing the public to see her humour shine through – as shown when she photobombed the selfie of two Australian hockey players at the Commonwealth Games recently.

But the Queen has always had a naughty side, the Women’s Weekly said.

When posing for artist Lucian Freud, she told him about a commotion at a pheasant shoot.

“I was picking up after the guns, as I always do, when a wounded cock pheasant scratched me and drew blood,” the Queen reportedly said.

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“The detective assumed I’d been shot, threw himself on top of me and began giving me mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. I consider we got to know each other rather well.”

Another of the Queen’s little-known hobbies is aircraft spotting.

Apparently her party trick is recognising by ear the types of aircraft that pass over Windsor Castle on the Heathrow flight path.

– Stuff

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has shared an emotional message after his mother and cousin WWE Diva Savelina Fanene, escaped a horrific car crash.

The Hercules star posted a photo of the aftermath of the accident caused by an alleged drunk driver on Instagram.

The wrestler-turned actor admitted his first reaction was to find the person responsible and “do unrelented harm to them.”

“But then you realise the most important thing is my family lived thru (through) this and we can hug each other that much tighter these days.”

He ended the message by adding, “Hug your own family tighter today and be grateful you can tell them you love them.”

Fanene shared a photo of herself in a sling, writing, “Still all smiles! Very grateful to be alive and for the love from all of my family and friends! Incredibly blessed!”

Pandora isn’t as far off as you might think, with James Cameron saying he’s nearly finished the scripts on the “mega project” he calls Avatar 2, 3 and 4.

For Cameron, life is a constant juggling act between his two passions – filmmaking and deepsea exploration.

While many remember Cameron helmed Titanic, they perhaps don’t know the Oscar-winner also travelled to the ship’s grave himself and directed the 3D IMAX documentary Ghosts of the Abyss in 2003.

Although he’s known for sci-fi flicks including Aliens and The Terminator, in another underwater doco Aliens of the Deep, he got up-close to the strange beings living far beneath the surface of our own planet.

And when Avatar was in production, it wasn’t the only record-breaker being made.

At the same time Cameron was making the world’s highest grossing movie, a submarine was being created so he could dive to the deepest possible part of the ocean.

It was a feat he achieved on March 26, 2012, and the claustrophobic expedition is now the focus of a new documentary Deepsea Challenge 3D.

But with that done and dusted (bar the press tour), Cameron says, “now I’m fully dedicated to Avatar 2, 3 and 4.”

“Which are sort of, I call a mega project because we’re doing all three together.”

“Where I am right now is the scripts are almost done, much of the preliminary design work has been done, so new creatures design, new settings, environments, other places you’ll see on Pandora and other places in the Avatar universe.

“So it’s all coming together, it’s all right on track.”

He says it’s not the typical, but they’re making all three at the once and then they will hit cinemas one after the other over a few years.

“They’ll drop a year apart, so they stay within the public consciousness as one big story,” he says.

“Christmas 2016, Christmas 2017 and Christmas 2018 is the target.”

The countdown is on.

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OPINION:

MTV has announced it will award Beyonce the