A drama set around the French Revolution starring German-born Hollywood actress Diane Kruger as Marie Antoinette will open next month's Berlin film festival, organizers said Wednesday.

"Les Adieux a la reine" (Farewell My Queen) by French director Benoit Jacquot will kick off the 62nd edition of the Berlinale, as the event is known, on February 9, the festival said in a statement.

The Academy Award for visual effects is shaping up into a showdown among such heroes as Harry Potter, the X-Men, the Transformers and Captain America.

Oscar organizers Wednesday announced 10 finalists for the visual-effects prize.

Britain's film academy is honoring Martin Scorsese for his "outstanding and exceptional" contribution to cinema.

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts said Wednesday that Scorsese will receive its highest honor, the Academy Fellowship, at a ceremony next month.

Meryl Streep, whose portrayal of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher in "The Iron Lady" is tipped for an Oscar, takes to the red carpet Wednesday for the film's European premiere in London.

Streep's performance has earned her a a Golden Globe nomination, putting her in line to win the third Oscar of her career next month.

Even movie super-spy Jason Bourne needs help against the nightmarish traffic in the Philippine capital Manila, the city's administrator said on Wednesday.

Metro Manila chairman Francis Tolentino is taking steps to avoid chaos on the roads when the latest installment in the blockbuster series, "The Bourne Legacy", starts filming in this country later this month.

World-renowned Senegalese singer Youssou Ndour has announced he is running for president in a bid to unseat incumbent Abdoulaye Wade, whose plans for a third term have stoked tensions in one of Africa's most stable countries.

"I am a candidate" in the February 26 election, Senegal's most famous export declared late Monday on his privately-owned television station after weeks of speculation about his plans.

The Berlin film festival said Monday it would award Oscar-winning U.S. actress Meryl Streep an honorary Golden Bear next month in recognition of her decades-long career.

Streep, 62, whose latest film sees her portraying Britain's former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the biopic "The Iron Lady", will receive the award during the February 9-19 festival, organizers said.

Aerosmith front man and "American Idol" judge Steven Tyler is tying the knot with longtime companion Erin Brady, the rock star's manager said Monday.

"I can confirm he's engaged," Eric Sherman told Agence France Presse, giving no other details, amid reports that Tyler, 63, surprised model Brady, 38, with a five-carat diamond ring either just before or during a Christmas holiday in Hawaii.

Burglars broke into the Paris mansion of French screen star Jean-Paul Belmondo over the New Year weekend and also robbed his former wife who has a flat there, police said Sunday.

Police said a probe had been launched but did not disclose the value of the goods stolen from the homes of the veteran actor and director, whose breakthrough film was New Wave director Jean-Luc Godard's "Breathless" in 1960, and his ex-wife Nathalie Tardivel.

Tom Cruise's "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" topped the North American box office for a second straight weekend, ringing in the New Year with $30 million in ticket sales, industry estimates showed Sunday.

The action film, the fourth in the series, thus far has taken in $133 million, according to Exhibitor Relations.