Entertainment and Celebrity News

Actor-turned-environmentalist Pierce Brosnan is urging government officials to take a stronger stand against whale hunting in international waters.

The Irish actor has become passionate about preserving marine life since narrating new Disneynature documentary Oceans, which explores the seas and what lies beneath them.

And he’s outraged after learning whale hunting has continued in Japan, Norway and Iceland despite a global whaling moratorium, which took effect in 1986.

The U.S. and other anti-whaling countries recently sought to strike a deal to create an international monitoring system to ensure a steadily-declining whale hunt.

But Brosnan wants officials to take a no-tolerance policy: “They (U.S. government) seem to be in favor of allowing Japan and Norway to go out and hunt whales again. It means they can go out there and start killing whales. It’s in moratorium so it’s not determined how many they can kill. Normally, there’s no justification for killing these creatures. Scientifically, there’s no justification. So if you want to do something about stopping the possible slaughter of whales, then you have to pick up the phone and call The White House.”

And the movie star hopes his new nature film will encourage youngsters to fight to save the world’s whales.

He adds, “That is why this film is so important to be seen. I think it will inspire many young people to do good things for the ocean… That is why I’m so passionate about this movie, so people can go see it and hopefully oppose this deal agreement.

“These creatures are in jeopardy once more.”

Pierce Brosnan’s upcoming The Thomas Crown Affair sequel has been thrown into jeopardy after director Paul Verhoeven quit in a dispute over the script.

The former James Bond star is planning to reprise his role as a high class art thief in a sequel to the 1999 thriller, which was a remake of a 1968 film, starring Steve McQueen.

The Irish actor confirmed the project in February (10), insisting movie bosses had “a script and a structure that is good”.

But the project now appears to be in trouble after Total Recall filmmaker Verhoeven walked out – blaming his departure on a “regime change” and a decision to use a different script.

He tells Moviehole.net, “I am not (involved) anymore. Things happened there, the regime changed. The initial ideas that they had about Thomas Crown 2 were interesting I thought. There was a script written by two young writers that used the fact that now we’re living 15, 20 years later. Ultimately, (the studio) decided not to (use) that script anymore. Then there was a regime change. And basically I felt that I could not (continue).”