Moore and Kutcher separated in November 2011. —Photo (File) Reuters

LOS ANGELES: Actress Demi Moore is seeking alimony from estranged husband Ashton Kutcher, according to divorce documents filed in a Los Angeles court on Thursday.

Kutcher, the star of CBS television comedy “Two and a Half Men”, filed for divorce from the “G.I. Jane” actress in December 2012 after more than a year of separation.

Requesting financial support from Kutcher, 35, is an unusual move for Moore, 50, who was one of the top female earners in Hollywood during the 1990s. Her court filing did not specify an amount sought.

Kutcher and Moore both cited irreconcilable differences in their divorce papers filed in Los Angeles Superior Court. In Kutcher’s filing, the actor said he would not seek spousal support but would not deny support to Moore.

Forbes magazine has estimated Kutcher earned $24 million from May 2011 to May 2012, making him the highest-paid TV actor.

Representatives for Moore and Kutcher did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Moore began dating Kutcher a few years after her split from actor-husband Bruce Willis, when Kutcher was a young star on the TV sitcom “That ’70s Show”.

Their relationship became tabloid fodder due to their 16-year age gap, and the couple married in September 2005 in Los Angeles.

Moore and Kutcher separated in November 2011 following six years of marriage, after a San Diego woman said she had a brief affair with Kutcher.

Kutcher is currently dating his former “That ’70s Show” cast-mate Mila Kunis.

Ashton Kutcher (R) and Josh Gad (L) discuss the biopic “jOBS” at the Macworld Expo on January 31, 2013 in San Francisco, California.–Photo by AFP

SAN FRANCISCO: Hollywood actors Ashton Kutcher and Josh Gad went before the Apple faithful, sharing the terror and elation of portraying the “two Steves” long revered by the cult of the Mac.

The actors were at the Macworld Expo discussing the biopic “jOBS,” set for release in April and recently screened at the Sundance Film Festival.

Kutcher – an Internet technology entrepreneur and investor – plays the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs while Gad took on the role of Steve Wozniak, the engineering wizard of the duo whose accomplishments changed the way people live.

They faced perhaps their toughest audience in San Francisco during an on-stage chat at Macworld, billed locally as the largest gathering of “iFans” in the world.

“I wanted this story told in a way that honors my hero,” Kutcher said. “I had never played someone who had lived before and was somewhat terrified by the notion.” Steve Jobs’ legacy is so great that theatergoers are likely to use their own memories to rate the actors, Kutcher reasoned.

“It’s not like you are playing (Abraham) Lincoln,” he said in reference to the former US president. “We don’t have a lot of video of Lincoln, but we have a lot of video of Steve.” “And we have a lot of daily reminders of him at our fingertips,” he continued in a reference to iPod, iPhone, iPad gadgets introduced by Jobs prior to his death in late 2011,” he said.

“Playing that guy who everyone has a memory of is really scary.” Gad, meanwhile, admitted knowing little about either Jobs or Wozniak before taking on the project.

“I was as computer illiterate as Steve Wozniak was a computer literate,” Gad joked, saying he took computer p programming classes to prepare for the role, so he would know what his character was talking about.

The film focuses on the life of Jobs from when he dropped out of Reed College in Portland, Oregon, in the early 1970s, to when he introduced the first iPod MP3 player in 2001.

To prepare, the actors met with people Wozniak and Jobs knew in those years and shot some of the movie in the Silicon Valley garage where the first Apple computer was created.

Kutcher and Gad told of immersing themselves in their respective roles for months, saying the movie is meant as a reverent interpretation of the story that captures the essence of who the men were and what they did.

Kutcher said he even went on a fruit-only diet Jobs had tried, only to wind up “doubled over in ridiculous pain” and hospitalized with pancreatitis.

“I learned everything I could about Steve (Jobs),” Kutcher said. “I walked around repeating everything he said to other people, because he said enough brilliant things that you sound like you really are brilliant.” Gad compared the story of Jobs and Wozniak to that of famed Beatles band members Paul McCartney and John Lennon.

“That these two would meet and it would be this perfect storm fascinated me,” Gad said.

Kutcher told the packed auditorium that playing Jobs changed his life.

“Don’t settle for what life gives you; make life better and build something,” Kutcher said.

“That passion and dream and understanding that you can be part of something that makes In news reports this week, Wozniak trashed the film based on what he has seen of promotional clips and the script.

“I hope that when he sees the movie in its entirety he will understand we went to great lengths to capture the essence of his journey,” Gad said when asked about the Apple co-founder’s comments in the press.

“It was done with the utmost love and respect.”

Steve Jobs biopic called “jOBS” that stars Ashton Kutcher.

SAN FRANCISCO: The first film based on the life of legendary Apple co-founder Steve Jobs will be released in April, according to a distribution deal for “jOBS” announced on Thursday.

The “biopic” starring Ashton Kutcher as Jobs, who died in 2011, will premier later this month on the closing night of the Sundance Film Festival, according to independent distributor Open Road Films.

Written by Matthew Whitely and directed by Joshua Michael Stern, “jOBS” focuses on the Apple co-founder’s life from 1971 through 2000.

A deal was announced for the film to be distributed in North America by Open Road, which is owned by major cinema chains AMC Entertainment and Regal Entertainment.

“jOBS” is certain to resonate with audiences and we are thrilled to partner with Five Star Films to bring this film to theaters,” said Open Road chief executive Tom Ortenberg.

Sony Pictures is backing the film based on the biography of the Apple co-founder’s life written by Walter Isaacson.

The screenplay is being written by Oscar winner Aaron Sorkin, whose works include “The Social Network,” a film on the birth of Facebook.

This undated publicity film image provided by the Sundance Institute shows Aston Kutcher as Steve Jobs in “JOBS,” the 2013 Sundance Film Festival’s closing night film in January. — Photo by AP Photo

NEW YORK: Ashton Kutcher’s turn as Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s directorial debut about a modern day Don Juan are leading a slew of star-studded premieres unveiled Monday for the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.

Kutcher stars in “Jobs,” a biographical look at the career rise of Jobs from wayward hippie to charismatic inventor and entrepreneur, which Sundance said Monday will officially close the indie film festival backed by Robert Redford that runs Jan 17 to Jan 27.

The premiere lineup also features Gordon-Levitt directing, writing and starring in “Don Jon’s Addiction,” about a self-centered porn-addict attempting to reform his ways opposite Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore and Tony Danza.

Behind-the-scenes tales of pornography will also be explored in British director Michael Winterbottom’s “The Look of Love,” starring Steve Coogan and based on British adult magazine publisher and entrepreneur Paul Raymond.

“Lovelace,” starring Amanda Seyfried and James Franco, tells the story of porn star Linda Lovelace famed for the film “Deep Throat.”

Sundance, the top US film festival for independent cinema held in Park City, Utah, unveiled the premieres section – which typically feature more established directors – after it announced its competition films last week.

Adding to the premieres list is “Before Midnight,” director Richard Linklater’s third film collaborating with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy after “Before Sunrise” and “Before Sunset,” in which the audience encounters their characters nine years later in Greece.

New Zealand director Jane Campion will screen her new six-hour epic, “Top Of The Lake,” a haunting mystery about a pregnant 12-year-old girl who disappears, with Holly Hunter.

Other big-name actors in the lineup include Steve Carell and Toni Collette in “The Way, Way Back,” Naomi Watts and Robin Wright in “Two Mothers”, Dakota Fanning and Elizabeth Olsen in “Very Good Girls,” and Shia LaBeouf and Evan Rachel Wood in “The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman.”

Australian actresses Nicole Kidman, Mia Wasikowska and Jacki Weaver star in psychological thriller “Stoker,” which marks South Korean director Park Chan-wook’s English-language debut.

Wikileaks, politics lead documentaries

Among documentaries premiering at Sundance in January is Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney’s insight on WikiLeaks, the power of the Internet and the beginning of an information war in “We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks.”

Author and documentarian Sebastian Junger chronicles the life of late photojournalist Tim Hetherington in “Which Way Is The Front Line From Here?” after Hetherington’s death in Libya in 2011. The photojournalist had collaborated with Junger on the 2010 Oscar-nominated film “Restrepo” about the Afghanistan war.

“The World According to Dick Cheney” promises to examine the former vice president while “Anita” profiles how Anita Hill’s allegations in 1991 of sexual harassment against then-US.

Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas brought sexual politics into the national consciousness for the next two decades.

“Linsanity” offers a portrait of basketballer Jeremy Lin and “Running From Crazy” follows actress Mariel Hemingway, granddaughter of Ernest Hemingway, and her insights into her family’s mental illness and suicide.

“Pandora’s Promise” looks at a growing number of environmentalists and anti-nuclear activists changing their minds after decades of opposition to support nuclear power.

Continuing the rise of music documentaries in the last several years, Foo Fighters’ musician Dave Grohl looks at the history of Sound City studios in California, where Grohl’s former band Nirvana had recorded their classic 1991 album “Nevermind.”

Veteran Los Angeles rock band The Eagles will also showcase their past in “The History of the Eagles Part 1.”

In a statement issued late Tuesday, Jones said he had the highest regard for all of the people he has worked with on the comedy, including creator Chuck Lorre and Warner Bros studio chief Peter Roth.  — Photo by Reuters

NEW YORK: Teenage actor Angus T Jones of the comedy “Two and a Half Men” apologised Tuesday for a series of interviews denouncing his own show, an episode that has rivaled former colleague Charlie Sheen’s meltdown as an off-screen oddity.    

Speaking to religious media outlets, the 19-year-old Jones has called the CBS comedy “filth” and “very inappropriate” and talked about how his religious awakening has affected his attitude toward life and work.

“Two and a Half Men,” television’s third most popular comedy, remains heavy on sexual innuendo even with Ashton Kutcher replacing bad-boy Sheen following his firing for drug use and a subsequent public meltdown.

Jones, who started on the show when he was 10, plays Jake Harper, son of the uptight character portrayed by Emmy winner Jon Cryer.

In a statement issued late Tuesday, Jones said he had the highest regard for all of the people he has worked with on the comedy, including creator Chuck Lorre and Warner Bros studio chief Peter Roth.

“I apologise if my remarks reflect me showing indifference to and disrespect of my colleagues and a lack of appreciation of the extraordinary opportunity of which I have been blessed,” said Jones, who reportedly makes $350,000 an episode. “I never intended that.”

Jones wasn’t at the studio lot for a rehearsal on Tuesday. He’s not scheduled to appear on the two episodes that are being filmed before the end of the year, said a person close to the show who spoke on condition of anonymity because Warner Bros and CBS haven’t commented publicly on Jones.

His character has recently joined the Army and his airtime has been cut down. His real-life adventure came to light on Monday, when he said in a video posted by the Forerunner Chronicles in Seale, Ala., featured him talking about not wanting to be on “Two and a Half Men” anymore.

“Please stop watching it,” Jones said. “Please stop filling your head with filth.”

In a radio broadcast, “The Voice of Prophecy,” recorded for the Seventh-day Adventist Church on Jones’ birthday in October, Jones described his religious path. He has been attending a Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Los Angeles area.

Jones said he felt drawn to God after a tough time in his life when his parents were going through a divorce and he experimented with drugs.

“I never drank,” he said. “That was one thing God protected me from, and I’m still a virgin. God protected me from those things.”

Jones said that “it’s very weird that I’m on a television show, especially now that I am trying to walk with God. My television show has nothing to do with God and doesn’t want anything to do with God.”

Still, he said he had no plans to get out of his contract.

In another interview posted on Tuesday with Christianity Today, Jones described himself as a “paid hypocrite.”

“Even though it’s my job to be an actor, I have given my life to God,” he said. “I am very comfortable and firm in that, but I still have to be on this show. It’s the No. 1 comedy, but it’s very inappropriate and the themes are very inappropriate. I have to be this person I am not.”

“Two and a Half Men,” which has seen its ratings tumble this fall with a move to Thursdays, is now behind “The Big Bang Theory” and “Modern Family” in the comedy ratings

Actress Demi Moore and actor Ashton Kutcher attend a news conference at the United Nations Headquarters.—Reuters Photo

LOS ANGELES: Actress Demi Moore, who announced late last year that she was ending her marriage to actor husband Ashton Kutcher, has finally made the split official…by changing her Twitter name.

“So hard finding a name that was fun somewhat playful and available. So for now it will be @justdemi It could grow on me!” Moore said on the popular microblogging site, dumping her old user name – @mrskutcher.

“Thanks everyone for your help in finding my new name!” she tweeted to her more than five million followers.

The 49-year-old Moore was treated for “exhaustion” in January, two months after the couple split amid reports of Kutcher’s infidelity with a woman less than half Moore’s age.

A call to emergency services released in January features one woman telling the operator that Moore “smoked something, it’s not marijuana but it’s similar to incense… and she seems to be having convulsions of some sort.”

Moore and Kutcher, 34, announced their separation in November, after months of media reports about problems between the couple, who married in 2005. She had earlier been married to actor Bruce Willis for 13 years.

The actress made her name in movies including “Ghost” (1990), “A Few Good Men” (1992), “Indecent Proposal” (1993) and “G.I. Jane” (1997), as well as for a 1991 Vanity Fair magazine cover photo of her naked and heavily pregnant.

Kutcher is best known for TV shows including “That 70s Show” and “Punk’d,”and last year replaced troubled actor Charlie Sheen in the popular comedy “Two and a Half Men.”

Actor Ashton Kutcher poses for photographers at the premiere of “Open Season” in Los Angeles, in this Sept. 25, 2006 file photo. An online ad featuring Ashton Kutcher as an Indian man has been pulled offline after it received online criticism. The images and video for Popchips featuring the 34-year-old “Two and a Half Men” star in brown make-up portraying a Bollywood producer named Raj who is “looking for love” was removed from YouTube and Facebook after it was criticized for being racist. – AP Photo

Ashton Kutcher.

LOS ANGELES: Ashton Kutcher will play Steve Jobs in a movie about the late Apple co-founder from his early days as a “wayward hippie” up through to his technology ventures, according to show business publication Variety.

The independent film “Jobs” is based on a script by Matt Whiteley and will be directed by Joshua Michael Stern (“Swing Vote”).

A separate movie project about Jobs, based on the 2011 biography by Walter Isaacson, is being developed at Sony Pictures Studios.

Kutcher, who replaced Charlie Sheen on the long-running television sitcom “Two and a Half Men,” is scheduled to shoot the movie during that TV series’ production hiatus.

Kutcher’s big-screen credits include “Valentine’s Day,” “What Happens in Vegas” and “The Butterfly Effect.”

Hollywood Actor Ashton Kutcher. - File Photo

WASHINGTON: Actor Ashton Kutcher, the first person to amass a million followers on Twitter, is taking a break from the service after a tweet landed him in hot water.

Kutcher, who has 8.27 million followers on Twitter, sent a tweet Wednesday night about the firing of Pennsylvania State University’s iconic football coach Joe Paterno.

“How do you fire Jo Pa? #insult #noclass as a hawkeye fan I find it in poor taste,” Kutcher, the star of the television series “That ’70s Show” and husband of actress Demi Moore, wrote on his Twitter feed @aplusk.

Kutcher later removed the tweet, apologized and said in a subsequent blog post that he did not know the circumstances of Paterno’s firing when he wrote the message.

Paterno, 84, was fired by the board of trustees of Penn State on Wednesday amid an uproar over the handling of allegations of child molestation by one of his longtime assistant coaches.

“Last night after returning home from work I walked by the television and simply saw a headline that Joe Paterno had been fired,” Kutcher said in his blog post.

“Having no more information than that, I assumed that he had been fired due to poor performance as an aging coach,” he said.

“With that assumption (how dare I assume) I posted a tweet defending his career.”

Kutcher said he subsequently learned the full story and when he returned to twitter his feed was full of messages calling him an “idiot.”

He deleted the offending tweet and wrote: “As of immediately I will stop tweeting until I find a way to properly manage this feed. I feel awful about this error. Won’t happen again.”

Kutcher, who is active in the fight against child sex trafficking, added: “As an advocate in the fight against child sexual exploitation, I could not be more remorseful for all involved in the Penn St. case.”

In his blog post, Kutcher said he would be turning over management of his Twitter feed to his production company, Katalyst Media, to “ensure the quality of its content.”

Up until today I have posted virtually every one of my tweets on my own,” he said.

“But clearly the platform has become too big to be managed by a single individual.”

Jon Cryer (3rd R) poses with his TV series “Two and a Half Men” co-stars (L-R) Marin Hinkle, Conchata Ferrell, Ashton Kutcher, Angus T. Jones and Holland Taylor during a ceremony honoring Cryer with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles September 19, 2011. - Reuters Photo

NEW YORK: Both Ashton Kutcher and Charlie Sheen have something to brag about during their big nights on television.

Kutcher’s debut as Sheen’s replacement in the CBS sitcom ”Two and a Half Men” was seen by 27.8 million people on Monday. The Nielsen Co. said Tuesday that was more than any other episode in the show’s first eight seasons, when Sheen was the star.

The sitcom’s previous best came in May 2005 following the final episode of ”Everybody Loves Raymond.”

Meanwhile, Sheen appeared Monday as the ”victim” of a Comedy Central roast that reached 6.4 million people. That is the second most-watched telecast in the cable network’s history, behind only Jeff Dunham’s holiday special in 2008.

The season-opening episode of ”Two and a Half Men,” television’s most popular comedy, was much anticipated. Producers kept it a secret how they would kill off Sheen’s character and introduce Kutcher’s.

Sheen had been fired from the show last season for drug use and erratic behavior. He launched a weekslong tirade against his bosses, including show creator Chuck Lorre, and Lorre got revenge in Monday’s episode.

Sheen’s Charlie Harper character was killed when he was hit by a subway train in Paris.

Meanwhile, Kutcher appeared as an Internet billionaire unsuccessful in a suicide attempt over a crumbled relationship. He fell right into the show’s randy ways, picking up two women during a bar visit that same night.

The success of ”Two and a Half Men” gave a boost to the premiere of CBS’ new comedy ”2 Broke Girls” that followed it. That show had an audience of 19.2 million, the largest audience for a fall sitcom premiere since ”Inside Schwartz” a decade ago.

The veteran CBS comedy ”How I Met Your Mother” had its best season premiere numbers. By contrast, the season premiere of ”Hawaii Five-0” had a relatively modest audience of 12 million.