Current Entertainment News Round up: Kenyan children's musical, Half of 'Last Jedi', 'Mad Men'

Following is a summary of current entertainment news briefs.

'I was told I would never make it in film,' veteran Judi Dench says

Veteran actress Judi Dench, who has won an Oscar, BAFTAs, Golden Globes and various theatre awards during her 60-year career, says her biggest achievement was to star in a movie - because she was once told she had the "wrong" face for films. The 83-year-old, whose big screen roles have included Queen Elizabeth I and James Bond's mentor M, said on the green carpet at the Zurich Film Festival on Wednesday evening she had been told early on in her career "you'll never make a film".

Peggy Sue, namesake of Buddy Holly rock classic, dies in Texas

Peggy Sue Gerron, whose name has echoed in the annals of rock 'n' roll for six decades as the crush in the Buddy Holly classic song "Peggy Sue," has died at the age of 78 in Lubbock, Texas, where she and Holly went to high school, officials said. The 1957 song from Holly and his band the Crickets was an anthem of the early days of rock 'n' roll and inspired a sequel tune from Holly called "Peggy Sue Got Married," which was also the title of a 1986 movie.

Tom Hardy brings out Marvel's darker side in new movie 'Venom'

In the new movie "Venom," British actor Tom Hardy plays an investigative journalist whose body is invaded by an alien with violent instincts who feeds on a diet of human flesh. It is a darker tale from the Marvel Comics superhero universe than what audiences have seen in recent films such as "The Avengers" series released by Walt Disney Co.

Kenyan children's musical roars in to U.S. for off-Broadway premiere

Feathery costumes, multi-coloured makeup and East African instruments are packed into boxes, ready for shipping as Kenya’s National Theatre prepares to take its popular children’s show "Tinga Tinga Tales" to New York. The cartoon by multiple BAFTA award-winner Claudia Lloyd and Kenyan singer-songwriter Eric Wainaina feature Kenyan children's fables to explain questions from the animal kingdom, such as why the giraffe's neck is long and how the chameleon got its colours.

Online radio firm Pandora to handle U.S. advertising for SoundCloud

Internet radio company Pandora Media Inc and music-sharing service SoundCloud said on Wednesday that Pandora will take over handling the U.S. advertising for SoundCloud. The deal illustrates how Pandora, best known for its streaming music service, is gaining a revenue stream by selling its back-end advertising technology to others. Under the deal, Pandora becomes the exclusive operator of SoundCloud's advertising business. Financial details were not disclosed.

Half of 'Last Jedi' haters were bots, trolls, activists, study says

How much did movie fans hate "Star Wars: The Last Jedi"? Perhaps not as fiercely as social media might suggest, according to a U.S. academic study which found that half of the negative tweets about the 2017 movie came from bots, trolls or political activists, some of whom may be Russian.

'Mad Men' creator returns to identity theme with 'The Romanoffs'

"Mad Men" creator Matthew Weiner is back with a new television series, but while this one is set far from the 1960s world of advertising, he says the themes are much the same. "The Romanoffs" features eight contemporary drama stories about people who believe they are descendants of the Russian royal family and a handful of "Mad Men" actors including Christina Hendricks and John Slattery.

Chinese movie star Fan Bingbing hit with huge tax evasion fines

China has ordered A-list movie star Fan Bingbing to pay about 884 million yuan ($129 million) in overdue taxes and fines, state news agency Xinhua said on Wednesday, as a crackdown on tax evasion in the entertainment industry gathers momentum. The 37-year-old actor, whose June disappearance touched off wild speculation about her whereabouts, has appeared in the "X-Men" and "Iron Man" film franchises, attracting more than 62 million online followers in China.

Actress Ruby Rose named 'most dangerous' celebrity to search online

Actress and model Ruby Rose, known for her role in Netflix's "Orange Is The New Black," was named the most dangerous celebrity to search for online on Tuesday because of results that could expose fans to malicious websites carrying viruses. Cybersecurity company McAfee said reality television star Kristin Cavallari came in second place, while actresses Marion Cotillard, Lynda Carter and Rose Byrne were also among the top five celebrities whose name searches can lead fans to click on suspicious links.

U.S. agency considers how it might implement new music royalty rules

As the Justice Department considers an overhaul of music royalties rules, its top antitrust enforcer said on Wednesday that regulators are considering how to minimize disruption for streaming services and other players if they move to a new system of compensating artists. The Justice Department, as part of a larger review, is reviewing two consent decrees from the 1940s that determine what digital streaming services, radio and television stations, bars and others pay Broadcast Music Inc or BMI, and American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, or ASCAP, to play music.

(With inputs from agencies.)