Former Shortland Street star KJ Apa is being hailed as "the next Tom Cruise" by Hollywood execs. He joins an elite set of former Short St stars to crack Hollywood.

Hollywood has been shining the light on mental-illness. At least half a dozen recent releases reflect characters, both real and fictional, whose experience with mood disorders is central to the story.

He couldn't get a job pushing supermarket trolleys, but he's now managed to land a lead role in a Hollywood movie.

The last big superhero movie of the year hits cinemas today with a reboot of The Fantastic Four. Here's how the new squad shape up ...

Amy Winehouse really was a musical force of nature. Her voice and her songwriting were incredibly special.

British star Jamie Bell has spoken about filming the SAS thriller 6 Days in New Zealand.

Amongst the dozens of teams Marvel has put out over the decades, there are plenty that don't have any cinematic selling power. In honour of the latest team to hit the big screen, here are four not-so-fantastic teams.

They wrote a string of hits that most Kiwis, and many Australians could sing along to word-perfect - April Sun in Cuba, Are You Old Enough, and Rain.

The official version of Ryan Reynold's superhero flick Deadpool has been released - and it's not safe for work.

Robert Downey Jr has topped the Forbes list of highest-paid actors in the world with a cool US$80 million (NZ$137.79 million) in earnings.

Rube Goldberg machines are named for the American cartoonist who thought up contraptions that accomplish the simplest task by the most complicated means imaginable, writes Peter Calder.

The stars of Marvel's Fantastic Four were left reeling after they were subjected to awkward and offensive questions from two US radio hosts.

Will Smith has taken to Facebook to angrily deny the latest round of divorce rumours to rock him and Jada Pinkett Smith.

Having starred in Star Trek and Mission Impossible, Simon Pegg's got plenty of nerd cred - with more on the way thanks to a small part in the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Actress Jane Seymour has revealed she fell asleep during her romantic bedroom scene with Sir Roger Moore for the James Bond film Live and Let Die.

The latest Hollywood trend of turning random brands into movies is proving unstoppable, with possible the strangest entry yet joining a growing list of films no one asked for.

"If God exists, why did he make ugly people?" Derek Zoolander returns, asking the big questions.

The most talked-about movie at the film festival, Amy hits cinemas this week. Kathryn Bromwich talks to the manager who tried to 'make her go to rehab', and others whose lives were touched by the doomed soul singer.

Hollywood seems to have set out to make remakes and reboots of everything from Greg Dixon's youth, and he isn't happy.

A Finland artist has reimagined what he thinks well-known Disney princes would look like if they were real humans. Swoon.

Amy Schumer and co-star Bill Hader talk to Leena Tailor about getting paid, sex scenes and making Trainwreck, a romantic comedy with a difference.

Dominic Corry's pick of gravity-defying Tom Cruise stunts.

Cara Delevingne says the American talk show hosts who told her to "take a nap" don't understand her British sense of humour.

Actor Chris Pine is set to romance Gal Gadot in the forthcoming Wonder Woman movie.

"I take notes all the time when ideas hit me," Woody Allen told TimeOut in a 2012 interview, "and I throw them in a drawer. So I have a drawerful of ideas and I could probably make a lot more films."

The debut feature for its young writer-director, this unassuming but engaging French dramedy deserves the prizes it picked up at Cannes and at the country's Oscar-equivalent Cesars.

Cara Delevingne appears to be sick of talking about her new movie role - or perhaps she's just tired of overly-chatty talk show hosts.

Hollywood is as eager as ever for Chinese money, courting investors, including state-owned enterprises.