Sony Pictures said Tuesday it will screen madcap comedy "The Interview" in some U.S. theaters on Christmas Day, a dramatic U-turn after its widely criticized decision to cancel the film following a cyber-assault blamed on North Korea.

The Puerto Rican superstar Ricky Martin has announced his first studio album in four years as he promised an active 2015.

Martin, in video messages in English and Spanish to his millions of followers on social media sites, said Monday the album would be called "A Quien Quiera Escuchar" ("To Whoever Wants to Listen") and will come out on February 10.

The USS Enterprise is about to get a little faster. "Fast & Furious" director Justin Lin is taking the helm of the third installment in Paramount's rebooted "Star Trek" franchise.

Lin's rep confirmed the news Monday.

U.S. magazine Rolling Stone said Monday it has asked the highly regarded Columbia Journalism School to look into its discredited story about a gang rape at a major American university.

In a statement to appear in the magazine's next issue, co-founder and publisher Jann Wenner said Columbia would be investigating "the editorial process that led to the publication" of the 9,000-word story on sexual assault at the University of Virginia.

Tolkien epic "The Hobbit" worked its magic at the North American box office this weekend, signaling a farewell to the blockbuster fantasy franchise, industry data showed Monday.

The last of six films adapted from J.R.R. Tolkien's books by Oscar-winning director Peter Jackson, "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies" took $54.7 million on its debut weekend in the United States and Canada, according to box office tracker Exhibitor Relations.

Joe Cocker, whose intense, gritty voice won him wide acclaim that spanned both rock and blues, has died at age 70, his agent said Monday. 

Bright colors, strange clothes and a striking white mask steal the attention of everyday people going about their business in downtown Cairo. This is the stage for Mohammed Saeed (aka Sheetos) who is waging a lonely campaign to introduce the art of mime to modern Egypt.

"I know I look like the strangest thing in their eyes. But I do this to publicize this art. I believe in this art," said Saeed, 21. "I try to help people smile during their difficult lives. My wish is to draw smiles on faces."

The festive wreath above the New York stage bore the insignia "MC" -- at once "Merry Christmas" and the initials of the evening's attraction, Mariah Carey.

Indeed for the pop diva, the holiday and her identity as an artist increasingly go hand-in-hand.

North Korea hates the currently scrapped Hollywood film that revolves around the assassination of its beloved leader, but the country has had a long love affair with cinema — of its own particular styling.

In the six decades since North Korea began to cultivate its own film industry, a South Korean director and his movie star wife have been kidnapped, a Godzilla-inspired monster movie has bombed at the box office in the South, American defectors have hammed it up in anti-U.S. propaganda films — and there has even been a foray into "girl power" cinema with the more recent "Comrade Kim Goes Flying."

The son of kung fu star Jackie Chan has been charged with providing a venue for others to use drugs, the state Xinhua news agency reported Monday, citing prosecutors.

Jaycee Chan, who like his father has worked as an actor and singer, was detained in August after police said they found 100 grams of marijuana in his Beijing home.