Lionsgate recently released the first official movie trailer from the upcoming action film Transporter 3 by director Olivier Megaton and starring Jason Statham (Deathrace, The Brazilian Job), Robert Knepper and Justin Rodgers Hall (Star Trek).

Jason Statham’s professional driver with a lethal kick is back in Transporter 3, with The Red Siren’s Olivier Megaton taking over the directing duties from Louis Leterrier.

The EuropaCorp production continues the successful series, with Luc Besson and Steven Chasman returning as producers. - Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide Stay tuned to Toxic Shock TV for the latest Transporter 3 movie news and trailers. Olivier Megaton directs from a script written by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen. The film follows the return of Frank Miller, the ex-Special Forces operative who specializes in high-risk deliveries.

Transporter 3 is due out November 26, 2008.

Transporter 3 Teaser Trailer

Transporter 3 is directed by French filmmaker Olivier Megaton, of Exit, The Red Siren, and Angie previously, with a script penned by both Robert Mark Kamen and Luc Besson, the same two who also wrote the first and second Transporter. Lionsgate will be releasing Transporter 3 on November 26th later this year. [via Latinoreview]

Actor and comedian Bernie Mac has died at the age of 50.

The star was best known in the UK for film roles in Ocean’s Eleven, Charlie’s Angels and Transformers.

But in the US, he achieved critical and popular acclaim for the long-running sitcom The Bernie Mac Show, which earned him two Emmy award nominations.

He was admitted to hospital in Chicago last week and died early on Saturday morning due to complications arising from pneumonia, his publicist said. “We ask that his family’s privacy continues to be respected,” said Damica Taylor.

Inspiration
The comedian was born Bernard Jeffrey McCullough in Chicago, Illinois in October 1957. According to his uncle, there were once as many as 10 people living in the two-bedroom apartment in which he grew up. Mac was raised by his mother and grandparents. “We learned to entertain ourselves,” he wrote in his 2003 autobiography, Maybe You Never Cry Again. “I used to have long conversations with the living room wall.”

The memoir told how, as a child, he had discovered his mother doubled up with laughter at Bill Cosby appearing on Ed Sullivan’s TV show. “‘That’s what I want to be, Mama, a comedian’” he recalled saying. “Make you laugh like that, maybe you never cry again.” He began performing as a stand-up at a church dinner at the age of eight, progressing to open mic nights and a regular stint at Chicago’s Cotton Club by the time he was 20. But his success was far from immediate and along the way he worked as a janitor, furniture mover, appliance hauler, and delivery man to supplement his comedy income. [BBC NEWS]

US rapper Snoop Dogg has made his debut in a Bollywood film which is being released on Friday.

Dogg, whose real name is Cordozar Calvin Broadus, sings and acts in a romantic comedy called Singh is Kinng.

Fusing hip hop and bhangra, Dogg appears in the film with leading Bollywood star Akshay Kumar, singing the eponymous title track. The song has already made it to the top of the Bollywood music charts and is a hit at Indian nightclubs.

The producer of the film, Vipul Shah, told the BBC that Akshay Kumar, the star of the film, and his friends approached Dogg to sing and act in the $11m film. “When Dogg was satisfied with the scale of the film, he agreed to be a part of it. The song was filmed with his sensibility and he had creative control,” he said.

Mr Shah said the song cost $475,000 to record and film.

Controversial
Wearing a tradition Indian turban and a tunic, Dogg and Akshay Kumar were filmed for the song in Chicago. In the track, Dogg sings: “This is Snoop Dogg/Singh is the king/This is the thing.” The words in the song are a combination of English, Hindi and Punjabi language lyrics and rap. Snoop Dogg and Akshay Kumar in Singh is Kinng

The rapper’s introduction to the song gives an indication. He says: “Yo, what up. This Big Snoop Dogg. Represent the Punjabi. Aye ya, hit em with this.” Last year, Dogg was honoured at the fourth annual VH1 hip-hop awards show in New York for his musical achievements. He was also arrested at Bob Hope Airport in California on suspicion of carrying marijuana. Dogg was later charged with gun possession after police found a firearm at his home. [BBC NEWS]