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Lindsay Lohan really wants to do a 'Mean Girls' sequel, and she's already writing it

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Mean Girls Paramount

Since it was released in 2004, "Mean Girls" has become a modern high-school comedy classic thanks to its spot-on performances by Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams along with the Tina Fey script, which captured what it's really like to survive your teenage years.

Fans of the movie have been praying for a sequel for years (yes, there was a "Mean Girls 2," but it didn't include any of the leads from the original or Fey) and it turns out Lohan has been working to make that happen.

"I have been trying so hard to do a 'Mean Girls 2.' It is not in my hands," she said on a recent CNN Facebook Live chat. "I know that Tina Fey and Lorne Michaels and all of Paramount are very busy. But I will keep forcing it and pushing it on them until we do it."

Lohan has even taken a stab at writing the sequel herself, or at least a treatment — which gives an overview of a project idea — to start.

“I have already written a treatment for it. I just need a response. I know Mark Waters, the director; he’d happily come back,” said Lohan, who also mentioned that she'd like to see Jamie Lee Curtis and Jimmy Fallon in the movie.

However, Fey has been against a sequel.

"It's too late now," she told Entertainment Weekly when the magazine did a reunion piece on the movie in 2014.

But that doesn't mean we'll never see the Plastics again.

It turns out Fey and her husband, composer Jeffrey Richmond, have been working on a "Mean Girls" musical. It will premiere in the fall of 2017 in Washington, DC.

Watch Lohan's complete Facebook Live interview below:

SEE ALSO: RANKED: Every character in "Rogue One" from best to worst

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NOW WATCH: Watch the mysterious trailer for the new Transformers movie that could change everything you know about Optimus Prime


Here's the surprising reason we drop a ball on New Year's Eve

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The dropping of the New Year's Eve ball in Times Square has been a tradition for over 100 years. We spoke with the agent for the ball itself, Jeffrey Straus, and climbed to the top of One Times Square to find out why millions join together on December 31st to watch a lighted ball drop down a pole. 

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Here are the must-see movies that are going to win Oscars in 2017

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manchester by the sea amazon studios

With the start of a new year comes the narrowing of the Oscar field.

Since our last pass at predicting the people and films in the running for the 2017 Academy Awards, the pretenders have fallen off, and we've gotten a chance to catch all the most serious players. Now it's time to get serious.

With multiple Golden Globe nominations, "Hacksaw Ridge" may be more of an Oscar contender than once thought. But it will have strong competition from movies like "La La Land" and "Manchester by the Sea," which are still the big frontrunners.

Below is our latest look at the movies and talent that have a chance to take home Oscar gold next year. Check them out while you still have time.

SEE ALSO: 19 famous movies that have been banned around the world

Best visual effects

In the running:

"Arrival"
"Doctor Strange"
"Captain America: Civil War"
"The Jungle Book"
"Rogue One: A Star Wars Story"

If the Oscars were handed out today, the winner would be: When it comes to visual effects this year, there wasn't any movie in which the effects brought the movie to a higher level more than Marvel's "Doctor Strange." 



Best documentary

In the running:

"13th"
"The Eagle Huntress"
"Gleason"
"I Am Not Your Negro"
"Life, Animated"
"O.J.: Made In America"
"Weiner"

If the Oscars were handed out today, the winner would be: Ezra Edelman's "O.J.: Made in America" is a true treasure. Hopefully the Academy feels the same way.



Best cinematography

In the running:

Roger Deakins, "Hail, Caesar!"
Greig Fraser, "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story"
Stephane Fontaine, "Jackie"
James Laxton, "Moonlight"
Rodrigo Prieto, "Silence"
Linus Sandgren, "La La Land"
Bradford Young, "Arrival"

If the Oscars were handed out today, the winner would be: You can honestly give the Oscar to anyone here. But with the beautiful coastal shots and intense scenes done with great skill, it has to go to Rodrigo Prieto for "Silence" — for now.



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An unearthed Carrie Fisher 'Star Wars' interview from 1977 shows off her charm

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Carrie Fisher Rachel Wolf YouTube final

Since Carrie Fisher's death on Tuesday, we have celebrated her talents not just on the screen but behind it as a best-selling author, script doctor, and candid speaker about her own experiences to bring notice to mental-health issues.

And now we can gush over how cultured she was. While promoting the first "Star Wars" movie in 1977 in France, she was near-fluent in French, as we can see in this rarely seen clip from a TV interview.

Sitting alongside a dapper Harrison Ford smoking a cigarette (these were certainly simpler times), Fisher engages in a conversation with the French interviewer about her Princess Leia character. 

Showing shades of the authentic voice we'd go on to fall for as she got older, here in her 20s she speaks on the importance of George Lucas creating a character like Leia.

"He also wrote the script to 'Star Wars' and he made the character very specific, very well I think, because she's not a victim, the princess. She is very strong," Fisher said in French. "There aren't a lot of strong females in films right now."

Watch the clip (with subtitles) below:

SEE ALSO: The 22 most exciting new shows of 2017 you have to see

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NOW WATCH: Psychiatrists studied 400 movies to find the most realistic psychopath

Data reveals the 20 most popular TV shows of 2016

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daenerys on her ships

"Game of Thrones" was by far the most popular show around the world in 2016, according to a new analysis from Parrot Analytics. "The Walking Dead" came in second, followed by "Pretty Little Liars" and "Westworld."

Parrot analyzed not only ratings data (where available) but also peer-to-peer sharing, social media chatter, and other factors to estimate viewer demand for various shows. These combined measurements determine each show's "demand expressions" per day. Though the formula is opaque, the ranking appears to be one of the best ways to compare shows across platforms and measure how popular they really are.

What other shows ruled the past year? Check out the top 20 below.

DON'T MISS: Google reveals the biggest stars on "Game of Thrones"

SEE ALSO: Netflix is getting so smart it's scary

1) HBO’s "Game of Thrones" with 7.2 million demand expressions per day. People around the world were desperate to learn the fate of Jon Snow and watch the rise of Daenerys Targaryen, as the epic adaptation moved past the novels into uncharted territory.



2) AMC’s "The Walking Dead" with 4.7 million demand expressions per day. The shocking beginning of season 7 led to an explosion in social media interest.



3) ABC’s "Pretty Little Liars" with 3.8 million demand expressions per day. This teen drama had a devoted following through seven seasons and its series finale in October.



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Here are the 11 best memes of 2016

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There seems to be an almost universal consensus that this year was pretty awful when it came to the news, but we also had lots of weird stuff on the internet to cheer us up. From a frog riding a unicycle to a gorilla that will live on forever in our hearts and our Twitter feeds, 2016 was jam packed with memorable memes. Here is a look back at the best of the bunch.

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Hugh Hefner's son reveals what it was like growing up in the Playboy Mansion

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While most people associate the Playboy Mansion with scantily clad playmates and sex-fueled debauchery, it served as the childhood home for Hugh Hefner's sons. 

Now 25, Hefner's youngest son, Cooper, recounts his childhood spent in what many consider to be a sort of adult fantasyland. For Cooper, it was quite the opposite: a child's wonderland fueled by Indiana Jones-inspired adventures in the Grotto, a zoo full of exotic animals, and epic games of hide-and-seek played in the mansion's private forest of redwood trees.

Cooper shared his experiences growing up inside the mansion, and invited Business Insider along on a private tour of the grounds.

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How Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson makes and spends his millions


The 13 best original "Star Trek" episodes, ranked

The 12 events that made 2016 a truly unpredictable year

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Donald Trump

2016 was an eventful year.

It saw a string of unexpected shakeups in music, entertainment, and politics, both in the United States and abroad.

From the deaths of cultural icons like Prince, shocking wins and losses in the sports arena, and Donald Trump's unprecedented rise to the presidency, here are some of the world-changing events we never saw coming.

David Bowie dies after battling cancer

Music legend David Bowie died in January at the age of 69 following an 18-month-long battle with cancer. The music industry and fans around the world erupted with messages of support and grief for the late singer. 

"David Bowie was one of my most important inspirations, so fearless, so creative, he gave us magic for a lifetime," Kanye West tweeted

"As well as being a wonderful and kind man, [Bowie] was an extraordinary artist, and a true original," The Rolling Stones wrote

"He never seemed of this earth. Now he's left it. He bent rules, gender, genres, and our minds. RIP David Bowie. One. Of. A. Kind," tweeted Josh Groban. 

 



The death of boxing great Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali, perhaps the biggest name in sports history and a decorated civil rights activist, died in April at age 74 after a 32-year battle with Parkinson's Disease.

Even as his health waned, Ali stayed true to his lifelong involvement in activism and did not shy away from controversy —  he was one of the first to speak out against President-elect Donald Trump's proposal to ban all Muslims from immigrating to the US, saying, "We as Muslims have to stand up to those who use Islam to advance their own personal agenda." 

Ali was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005, and his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky opened the Muhammad Ali Center, which is dedicated to chronicling the heavyweight champion's life and career, but also to promoting equality and tolerance. 

 



The death of pop icon Prince

Prince Rogers Nelson, died unexpectedly at the age of 57 in April from an overdose on fentanyl, a powerful painkiller that's 50 times stronger than pure heroin.

Best known simply by his first name, Prince was one of the singular music talents of his generation, crossing genres from funk and soul to rock and pop.

Born in Minneapolis, he performed in the local music scene from a young age before his breakout 1979 album, "Prince," went platinum.

Often compared to the likes of Michael Jackson and Madonna, he was one of the most commercially successful artists of all time, selling over 100 million records worldwide. He brought a unique R&B sensibility to the mainstream, spanning albums like "Controversy," "1999," and "Purple Rain," the hit soundtrack for the 1984 film of the same name. He frequently performed with his backing band, The Revolution.



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Here are all the comic book movies coming out in 2017

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It's a whole new year, and with it comes a whole new set of comic book-inspired movies to get hyped about. Get ready for baby Groot, young Spider-Man, old man Wolverine, and many more to hit the big screen in the months ahead. Here's a quick look at what you can expect and when each film is set to release.

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Carrie Fisher helped people realize the power of speaking out about mental illness

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Carrie Fisher 2 AP

Carrie Fisher, who died on December 27 after suffering a heart attack, was best known for her career in the arts as an actor, author, and script doctor. But for many people, she was an inspiration for far more personal reasons.

Fisher was of course famous for her role as Princess Leia in the "Star Wars" films, and she was also a funny and incisive writer.

But — as many have pointed out since her death — she was also outspoken about her struggles with mental illness, something that can be a huge help for other people dealing with similar issues.

Just several weeks ago, Fisher wrote to a young person suffering from bipolar disorder — the same serious illness that she struggled with — in her advice column at The Guardian:

"We have been given a challenging illness, and there is no other option than to meet those challenges. Think of it as an opportunity to be heroic – not "I survived living in Mosul during an attack" heroic, but an emotional survival. An opportunity to be a good example to others who might share our disorder."

That willingness to be an example was noticed by many.

Speaking out about personal experience with mental illness can make a huge difference for people struggling to seek treatment — and the choice to seek treatment can be dramatically important. Many don't seek help because they aren't comfortable acknowledging their struggle, largely because of social stigma.

Mental illness is common, Bethany Teachman, a professor and director of clinical training in UVA’s Department of Psychology, tells Business Insider via email. Approximately 25% to 50% of the population will experience mental illness at some point in their life. If people recognize that it's not abnormal to have these struggles, it makes it easier to get treatment.

"Stigma of mental illness remains a serious problem that interferes with people seeking treatments that could dramatically improve their quality of life," says Teachman. She says that people with social anxiety disorder often wait 15 to 20 years before seeking treatment, even though we know we have effective ways to deal with that condition. "This means people struggle for years, trying to hide their problems and not getting help, with enormous costs to their relationships, work, emotional and physical health."

An illness like bipolar disorder can be particularly dangerous if untreated. Somewhere in between one-quarter and one-half of people with bipolar disorder attempt suicide at some point in their lives.

"It can make a big difference when people speak out about their mental heath challenges because it helps people to realize that these problems are common and don’t need to be hidden," Teachman tells Business Insider.

And it's important that people share their own real experiences. It's not enough to just educate people about the existence of a condition like bipolar or anxiety or depression; it's more helpful to actually hear what those experiences are like, since "people need opportunities to interact and realize that there is no 'us' versus 'them,' and to recognize that they are not alone and there is no shame in experiencing mental heath challenges or in seeking help," says Teachman.

By frequently discussing and writing about her struggles, Fisher did exactly that.

At the same time, Teachman says it's important that we hear these experiences from people we know, not just celebrities, since a celebrity experience can be a lot harder for many of us to relate to. For that, it may be helpful to glance at the tweets Fisher fans have been posting with the hashtag #InHonorOfCarrie, talking about their own struggles.

That openness is encouraging, but it's important to note that the struggle to deal with stigma about mental illness has a long way to go. Teachman says that even people who aren't consciously discriminatory can harbor implicit biases against people struggling with these conditions, and that it's important to deal with those attitudes to make sure people get help.

"We have good treatments for many mental heath challenges, but people are not getting the care they need," she says.

SEE ALSO: Scientists discovered an absurdly easy way to seem convincing

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NOW WATCH: Women are more attracted to men with these physical traits

'Rogue One' continues its box office dominance, now second-highest grossing movie of 2016

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rogue one

Disney rang in the new year by putting an exclamation point on their incredible 2016 at the box office.

By the time the clock struck midnight on Saturday night the studio's latest "Star Wars" release, "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," became the second-highest grossing movie of the year at the domestic box office with a $408.96 million total, according to Deadline. That beats out "Captain America: Civil War," which took in $408.084 million.

But "Rogue One" isn't through. Winning the weekend box office for a third consecutive week with an estimated $50 million ($64 million by the end of the New Year's holiday weekend), according to Variety, the first standalone "Star Wars" movie should pass 2016's top-grossing movie at the domestic box office, "Finding Dory" ($486.2 million), sometime during the first week of 2017.

Disney now has the top three box office earners of 2016.

Coming in second place is the latest animated movie by the creators of "Despicable Me," "Sing," which took in and estimated $41 million ($54 million for four-day). The movie has quietly been the go-to title for kids who are a little too young for the mature material in "Rogue One." Having brought in an estimated $170 million-plus total domestically, it proves that animated movies continues to be a draw for moviegoers both young and old.

La La Land LionsgateOutside of "Rogue One," the other big box office story going into 2017 is the success of Oscar contender "La La Land."

The modern-day musical starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, which has already become the top-grossing limited release of the year with over $37 million (for movies shown in under 1,000 theaters, passing "Hell or High Water"), cracked the top ten this weekend as it's projected to make $12 million by Monday.

As it moves into a wider release, look for this one to continue to find audiences as we go deeper into awards season.

SEE ALSO: Here are the must-see movies that are going to win Oscars in 2017

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NOW WATCH: The 7 best holiday movies on Netflix to watch this Christmas

'Star Wars' actor says there's an 'enormously different' version of 'Rogue One' out there

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Rogue One Mendelsohn Disney final

Since the release of the "Star Wars" standalone movie, "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," we have begun to realize how much tinkering was done to the movie not just in the reshoot phase but throughout principal photography. 

The most recent example is an interview with actor Ben Mendelsohn, who plays Orson Krennic in the movie, in which he hinted at the amount of alternative footage there is for the movie. So much that he believes an "enormously different" version of it could be released (if Lucasfilm/Disney ever wanted to do such a thing).

"We did have multiple, multiple ways of going at any given scenario, we had multiple readings of it," Mendelsohn told Collider. "So should they ever decided to, there would be a wealth of ways of approaching these different things. And I know from having seen sort of the crucial kind of scenes throughout it, I know there’s vastly different readings of at least four of those scenes… enormous differences within I would’ve said 20 or 30 of the scenes. There really would be. There would be enormously different renderings."

Comparing the footage in the movie to what was teased in the trailers proves that there were many different options, especially for the ending, which underwent major reshoots. But Mendelsohn's comments will feed fans' interest in seeing alternate versions of this movie.

at at rogue oneDisney is always up for making more money. There have been numerous versions of "The Force Awakens," all featuring deleted scenes, but whether the studio would ever allow "Rogue One" director Gareth Edwards to go in and do a directors' cut or some kind of "extended version" of the movie is the big unknown.

It certainly would be a major seller (I'd love to see how Jyn, Cassian, and K-2SO ended back on the beach after getting the plans for the Death Star and where they were headed) and you would think Disney would want to control that aspect instead of releasing deleted scenes that someone on the web can cut into a pirate alternate fan version. 

SEE ALSO: RANKED: Every character in "Rogue One" from best to worst

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NOW WATCH: Watch the explosive new trailer for the latest 'Planet of the Apes' film

The best movies and TV shows coming to iTunes, Amazon, and HBO Go in January

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The Blues Brothers Universal Pictures

With 2017 right around the corner, it’s time to check out what’s coming to your favorite streaming service.

There’s the thriller “The Girl on the Train” on iTunes, you can watch Carrie Fisher try to destroy John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd in “The Blues Brothers" on HBO Go, or watch all the “Lethal Weapon” movies on Hulu.

Below are all the titles that will be available, and we've gone ahead and highlighted some in bold we think you should definitely check out.

SEE ALSO: Here are the 10 most pirated TV shows in 2016

iTunes

Available January 3

“The Girl on the Train”
“Operation Avalanche” 
“Kevin Hart: What Now?” 
“Max Steel” 
“Bob the Builder: Building Fun at the Zoo”
“Tower”

Available January 6
 
“Arsenal” (same day as theaters) 
“Between Us” (same day as theaters) 

Available January 10

“Christine” 
“Pinocchio” 
“Queen of Katwe” 
“Barney Playground” 
“I’m Not Ashamed” 
“An Act of Love” 
“Ouija: Origin of Evil”

Available January 13
 
“Alone in Berlin” (same day as theaters) 

Available January 17

“Jack Reacher: Never Go Back” 
“Roger Corman's Death Race 2050”

Available January 20
 
“Detour” (same day as theaters) 

Available January 24

“American Pastoral”  
“Loving” 
“Almost Christmas” 
“Desierto”
“The Handmaiden” 
“The Light Between Oceans” 
“Miss Saigon: 25th Anniversary Performance”  
“The Hangman: Shepherds and Butchers”

Available January 27
 
“I Am Michael” (same day as theaters) 

Available January 31

“Arrival” 
“Bleed for This”
“The Edge of Seventeen”  
“Priceless” 
“Miss Hokusai” 
“Tyler Perry's Boo Madea Halloween” 



Amazon Prime

Available January 1

“Blood Diamond” 
“13 Hours: Secret soldiers of Benghazi”                                                             
“Across the Universe” 
“Happy Feet”  
“Rent”
“Hellboy”
“Radio”
“Stardust 2007”
“American History X”  
“Norm of the North” 
“Are We There Yet” 
“Are We Done Yet” 
“Maid in Manhattan”

Available January 3

“The Girl on the Train”
“She’s All That”

Available January 4

“Bones” (Season 12)

Available January 5

“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (Season 12)

Available January 7

“Sleepy Hollow” (Season 4)

Available January 9

“The Infiltrator 2016”
“We’re Going on a Bear Hunt” (Season 1)

Available January 10

“Ouija: Origin of Evil”
“Deepwater Horizon”   
“The Accountant”

Available January 13

“Sneaky Pete” (AMAZON ORIGINAL, Season 1) 
“Just Add Magic” (AMAZON ORIGINAL, Season 2)

Available January 15

“Young Pope” (Season 1 premiere)

Available January 17

“Red Rock” (Season 2)
“The A-Word” (Season 1)

Available January 22

“Where to Invade Next”

Available January 23

“The Choice”

Available January 24

“Inferno”

Available January 26

“America Divided” (Season 1)

Available January 27

“Z: The Beginning of Everything” (AMAZON ORIGINAL, Season 1)
“Dirty Grandpa”

Available January 29

“Mercy Street” (Season 2)
“Black Sails” (Season 4)

Available January 30

“Swiss Army Man”



HBO Go/Now

Available January 1

“Above the Law”
“Baby Mama”
“Beautiful Creatures”
“The Big Lebowski”
“The Blues Brothers”
“Blues Brothers 2000”
“Bringing out the Dead”
“The Cell”
“Cloud Atlas”
“Cold Mountain”
“Dallas Buyers Club”
“Dr. Suess’ Horton Hears a Who!”
“Evil Dead 2”
“Fool’s Gold”
“Forgetting Sarah Marshall”
“Friday”
“The Happening”
“Innerspace”
“Lady in the Water”
“Lost & Found”
“Mad Max: Fury Road”
“My Cousin Vinny”
“Risky Business”
“The Road Warrior”
“The Sixth Sense”
“Steel”
“Unbreakable”
“The Village”

Available January 7

“Demolition”


Available January 8

“Genius”


Available January 13

“The Visit”


Available January 14

“Now You See Me 2”

Available January 15

“The Young Pope” (Series Premiere)


Available January 21

“The Boss” (Extended Cut)
“Real Time with Bill Maher” (2017 premiere)

Available January 23

“Beware the Slenderman”


Available January 28

“The Nice Guys”

Available January 30

“Becoming Warren Buffett”



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The most controversial part of 'Rogue One' has finally been explained

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lucas film tarkin

Warning: Spoilers ahead if you haven't seen "Rogue One."

As "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" continues to dominate the box office, more and more people are getting in on the conversation about one of the movie's characters.

Grand Moff Tarkin, the commander of the Death Star and one of the prominent villains in 1977's "Star Wars: A New Hope," is brought back to the screen in "Rogue One," thanks to advances in motion capture.

The actor who played Tarkin in "A New Hope," Peter Cushing, died in 1994. But the CGI wizards at Industrial Light & Magic created a digital version of the legendary actor so Tarkin could be featured in the movie — and not just in a one-shot cameo, but as a main figure of the Empire brass who are making the Death Star operational.

"If he's not in the movie, we're going to have to explain why he's not in the movie," Kiri Hart, a Lucasfilm story development executive and "Rogue One" coproducer, told The New York Times. "This is kind of his thing."

Lucasfilm cast the English actor Guy Henry to play Tarkin during principal photography of "Rogue One." He wore motion-capture materials on his head so it could be replaced by a computer-generated version of Cushing's head in postproduction.

John Knoll, the chief creative officer of ILM and visual effects supervisor on "Rogue One," told The Times that the process was "a super high-tech and labor-intensive version of doing makeup."

Moff Tarkin and Darth Vader Star WarsThis included paying attention to how Cushing was lit in "A New Hope," since the lighting was different than in "Rogue One." Adjustments had to be made so the CG Tarkin would fit in with the other characters. And the animators at ILM also had to pay attention to small details like how Cushing's lips would move when saying certain words. They would then mimic those movements for the character in "Rogue One."

According to Knoll, if the CG Tarkin didn't work while developing, the backup plan was to make the character a hologram for some scenes or transfer his dialogue to another character.

Though Lucasfilm got the approval of Cushing's estate before creating him in CGI form, critics and "Star Wars" die-hards have flooded the internet questioning the ethics of bringing Cushing back.

Knoll said he was aware of the "slippery slope argument."

"It is extremely labor-intensive and expensive to do. I don't imagine anybody engaging in this kind of thing in a casual manner," he said. "We're not planning on doing this digital re-creation extensively from now on. It just made sense for this particular movie."

SEE ALSO: How this scene-stealing character from "Rogue One" was created

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NOW WATCH: Psychiatrists studied 400 movies to find the most realistic psychopath

Everything we know so far about the next season of 'Game of Thrones'

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The next season of "Game of Thrones" doesn't premiere until the summer of 2017, but rumors are already swirling about what we can expect. Here are some of the biggest moments some hardcore fans expect to see now that Winter is here.

WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD.

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'Celebrity Apprentice' contender Snooki: 'Arnold's boardroom is way more terrifying than Trump's'

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nicole snooki polizzi

"Jersey Shore" star Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi wasn't sure what she would be in for if she signed on to the new season of NBC's "Celebrity Apprentice," which premieres Monday at 8 p.m.

"I’m not really into competition," Polizzi, who's now a married mother of two children, told Business Insider recently. "I like to just go, have fun, meet friends, then go home, so ["Celebrity Apprentice"] was sort of out of my comfort zone."

Polizzi is no stranger to reality shows.

Along with being controversial for the hard-partying lifestyle of its young adult cast and perceived Italian-American stereotypes, "Jersey Shore" was MTV's highest-rated series ever. At its peak in 2011, nearly nine million people tuned into its third season. Polizzi was its standout star and went on to have her own MTV spinoff, "Snooki & JWOWW," competed on ABC's "Dancing With the Stars," and appeared on other cable reality shows. But "Apprentice" is a different animal for Polizzi.

"I had never even watched the show before. I had heard of it, but I never figured I’d be on it," Polizzi, 29, said. "So when they did ask me to be on the show, I kind of had to watch the season before because I didn’t know what to expect."

Polizzi wasn't alone. Donald Trump, who hosted the business competition reality show for seven seasons since it debuted in 2004, threw a wrench in the works when he announced his presidential run in June 2015.

arnold trump celebrity apprentice gettySlammed with protests over remarks Trump made about Mexican immigrants during his speech, NBC pulled out of airing the Miss Universe pageant, which was partially owned by the real estate mogul at the time. The network also said it was cutting business ties with Trump, which reportedly included removing him as host of  "Apprentice" (though Trump says he quit). Since then, it has come to light that the president-elect continues to have a producing role on the show.

Nevertheless, NBC announced movie star and former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger would take the "Apprentice" reins as its new host in September 2015 – a major factor in Polizzi's decision to join the cast.

"It was for a great cause. I can’t say no to that," Polizzi, who chose to play for the North Shore Animal League because of its dedication to no-kill pet adoption shelters, told us. "And also I’m a huge fan of Arnold. So it was kind of a no-brainer, you know, just try it out and see how it goes."

NBC has held details of Schwarzenegger's "Apprentice" close to the vest, especially his version of Trump's famous "You're fired" dismissal tagline. Polizzi, though, gave us a sense of how the movie star compares to the president-elect.

"I feel that Arnold has his own way of managing us," the reality star said. "Arnold’s boardroom is way more terrifying than Trump’s, because he’s ‘The Terminator,’ so it just made it that much scarier. He definitely brought his own vibe to it."

Nicole Snooki Polizzi Laila Ali celebrity apprentice nbc.JPG"He’s definitely a hardworking, tough boss," she continued of Schwarzenegger, "but he criticizes you in a good way in order to help you and give you advice on how to do it better. Even though he’s scary and it’s intimidating to be in front of him in the boardroom, he’ll always kind of lift you up with his criticism. So he wasn’t like a bad, mean boss, but his mannerisms and him being him made it scary."

Polizzi's goal going into the show was to "learn more about myself and business." Though she can't reveal how well she did on the competition, she did say that she learned a lot from the "crazy," sometimes grueling 12-hour tasks on the competition.

"I have to be more assertive when it comes to making decisions," she said of what she learned during "Apprentice." "Even in my own business ventures, sometimes I’m not as bossy as I should be because I care about people’s feelings and I don’t want to hurt their feelings. So I just realized that it’s business and it’s not personal."

SEE ALSO: Trump is retaining his executive producer title on NBC's new 'Celebrity Apprentice'

DON'T MISS: A history of Trump's love-hate relationship with NBC

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NOW WATCH: Arnold Schwarzenegger: Republicans need to stop treating climate change like a political issue

What Mariah Carey's manager says really went wrong at the singer's disastrous New Year's Eve show

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Mariah Carey made some surprising news for herself at the end of 2016 with a botched performance on "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest" in which she talked more than she sang.

After a cheeky response from Carey, the singer's manager, Stella Bulochnikov, has talked to Entertainment Weekly to try to clarify the audio issues involved in the already infamous moment.

Bulochnikov told EW that Carey did in fact rehearse for the show, despite rumors to the contrary, but had issues with her "in-ears," the devices musicians use to hear tracks they're performing, that were never resolved:

"So, right when it goes live, she can't hear anything. The ears are dead. They're dead. So she pulls them out of the ear because if the artist keeps them in their ears then all she hears is silence. Once she pulled them off her ear she was hoping to hear her music, but because of the circumstances — there's noise from Times Square and the music is reverberating from the buildings — all she hears is chaos. She can't hear her music. It's a madhouse. At the point, there's no way to recover.

"On the third song when she could hear her track playing it was so bad she said, 'F--- it, I've had enough.'"

The manager also defended Carey against charges that the artist was supposed to be lip-syncing.

"It's not lip-syncing," Bulochnikov said. "Lip-syncing is when people don't sing at all. This is what people should understand. Every artist sings to a track, especially in circumstances like that when it's really loud and impossible to have a great musical performance. You're not singing at the Philharmonic."

Bulochnikov put the blame squarely on Dick Clark Productions, which handles production of "Rockin' Eve," and particularly producer Mark Shimmel, who she said refused to cut the West Coast airing of the performance after it went awry:

"I asked, 'What happened?' He said, 'I just talked to my guys and I confirmed her in-ears didn't work. Couldn't she just wing it?' I'm like, 'What are you talking about "winging it"? Are you on glue?' He's like, 'What do you want me to do?' I said, 'I want you to cut the West Coast feed.' He calls me back and says, 'We can’t do it.' So I’m like, 'You would prefer to air a show with technical glitches so you can have a viral moment rather than protect the integrity of your show and Dick Clark Productions?' He said, 'We just won't do it. Do you want to do a joint statement?' And I said, 'No, I want you to go f--- yourself.'"

A representative for Dick Clark Productions didn't immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

SEE ALSO: Here are the must-see movies that are going to win Oscars in 2017

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Singer Rebecca Ferguson agrees to Trump inauguration if she can perform a famous song about racism

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Singer Rebecca Ferguson said she will perform at President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration celebration if he'll allow her to sing a very specific and racially charged song.

After saying she had been asked by Trump's team to perform, Ferguson, the 2010 runner-up on the British TV singing competition "The X Factor," said she would accept the invitation on one condition: Ferguson would like to sing "Strange Fruit," which was originally recorded by legendary jazz singer Billie Holiday.

"I've been asked and this is my answer," Ferguson wrote on Twitter. "If you allow me to sing 'Strange Fruit,' a song that has huge historical importance, a song that was blacklisted in the United States for being too controversial. A song that speaks to all the disregarded and down trodden black people in the United States. A song that is a reminder of how love is the only thing that will conquer all the hatred in this world, then I will graciously accept your invitation and see you in Washington."

Originally written as a poem by Abel Meeropol, "Strange Fruit" protested the immense racism against black people in the US in the early 1900s and was inspired by a photo of a lynching.

In 2015, Ferguson released an album of Billie Holiday covers, though "Strange Fruit" wasn't one of them.

Representatives for Trump didn't immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment about Ferguson's proposal.

Unlike Ferguson, many artists reportedly turned down invitations to perform at Trump's inauguration, including Elton John, Justin Timberlake, Katy Perrry, Bruno Mars, Celine Dion, and Garth Brooks.

Those who have accepted Trump's invitation include "America’s Got Talent" singer Jackie Evancho, the Radio City Rockettes, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

SEE ALSO: Seth Meyers blasts Trump's 'dire' attitude toward climate change: 'It's literally life or death'

DON'T MISS: Alec Baldwin gets paid $1,400 every time he plays Trump on 'SNL'

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