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Entertainment news roundup

Jun 30, 2005, 19:37 GMT

Los Angeles - Actor Ben Affleck and pregnant actress Jennifer Garner got married in a beachfront ceremony in the Turks & Caicos Islands, celebrity magazines reported Thursday.

The couple, who starred together in the 2002 action flick "Daredevil", have been dating since soon after Affleck's 2003 split with Jennifer Lopez.

According to the National Enquirer, Garner, wearing white, sealed her union with Affleck Wednesday evening on a sandy beach on the Caribbean islands.

Her co-star Victor Garber reportedly watched as Garner, 33, and Affleck, 32, embraced and kissed in the sunset, according to the report.

"Access Hollywood" reported that the couple is staying at actor Bruce Willis' house in the luxury resort of Parrot Cay.

After 17 years James Brown rape claim dismissed =

Los Angeles (dpa) - A U.S. judge has dismissed a civil rape case against soul legend James Brown by a woman who claimed that he molested her in 1988.

Jacque Hollander, 48, claimed that Brown raped her at gunpoint in his van in 1988 and that the incident left her so traumatized that she only found the strength to pursue the incident last year.

While Brown's lawyer called the charges absurd, Hollander's attorney said the ruling was an injustice.

"The idea that somebody could get away with the brutality Mr Brown has - even after 17 years - and not see a day in court based on the idea that he has successfully managed to instill fear in my client is an injustice for any victim."

British actor set to play pope =

Los Angeles (dpa) - British actor Sir Ian Holm has been chosen to play the late Pope John Paul II in a U.S. television mini-series about the Polish pontiff.

Holmes, 73 - whom audiences may remember as Bilbo Baggins in the Lord Of The Rings trilogy - will portray the late Pope in the four- hour biopic for US television network CBS, Variety reported Thursday.

Holmes will portray the pope from the time of his 1978 election to his death earlier this year aged 84. A younger actor will play the soccer-playing cleric in his earlier years.

Warner Bros. settles Hazzard case for 17.5 million dollars =

Los Angeles (dpa) - Warner Bros. Pictures has agreed to pay a producer at least 17.5 million dollars after a judge found that the producer's obscure 1974 film was the basis for the upcoming movie "The Dukes of Hazzard".

According to the judge, Robert B. Clark's 1974 film "Moonrunners" became the basis of the hit Warners TV show "The Dukes of Hazzard" about a clan of rednecks in rural America. The movie, due out in August, is based on the TV show.

The amount paid to Clark is more than what the studio spent on actors' salaries for the movie. But Warners was forced to pay after federal judge Gary Allen Feess granted a preliminary injunction against the studio, which would have cancelled the August release date and seen all the copies of movie impounded by federal marshals.