News

In a split ruling today, a state appeals court panel reinstated a grant of parole for former Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten, overturning an earlier decision by Gov. Gavin Newsom to block her release.

Tuesday’s decision does not automatically mean Van Houten will be released. The state could still appeal the ruling to the California Supreme Court. Neither the governor’s office nor the state Attorney General’s Office immediately returned a message seeking comment.

Van Houten, now 73, is serving a potential life prison sentence for taking part in the killings of Leno and Rosemary Labianca in their Los Feliz home more than 50 years ago.

The Manson killings shook Los Angeles and defined a generation. The story of the Manson family has inspired countless shows and films, including, most recently, Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Victoria Pedretti played a character called “Lulu” in the film,...

For more than 45 years, the fascination surrounding the deaths of seven people at the hands of Charles Manson's followers has never waned. For two nights in August 1969 in Los Angeles, Charles Manson instructed a handful of his followers - including Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten - to kill seven people. Linda Kasabian, another Manson follower, became the state's key witness and was granted immunity in exchange for her testimony. In the Lifetime movie Manson's Lost Girls, which airs Feb. 6, the story focuses on the days leading up to the gruesome murders of Sharon Tate, Jay Sebring,...

For more than 45 years, the fascination surrounding the deaths of seven people at the hands of Charles Manson's followers has never waned. For two nights in August 1969 in Los Angeles, Charles Manson instructed a handful of his followers - including Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten - to kill seven people. Linda Kasabian, another Manson follower, became the state's key witness and was granted immunity in exchange for her testimony. In the Lifetime movie Manson's Lost Girls, which airs Feb. 6, the story focuses on the days leading up to the gruesome murders of Sharon Tate, Jay Sebring,...

Thank You for Your Service

Haley Bennett ("The Equalizer") is in talks to play a love interest of Miles Teller in Jason Hall's post-traumatic stress disorder drama "Thank You for Your Service" for DreamWorks Pictures. Bennett is the top choice but no offer has been made as yet.

Based on David Finkel's 2013 book of the same name follows up the fate of a battalion chronicled in an earlier Finkel book which engaged in a 15-month tour of Baghdad during the surge of 2007-08. [Source: Variety]

Fist Fight

Chanel Celaya ("21 Jump Street") is set to join Richie Keen's comedy "Fist Fight" at New Line. Christina Hendricks, Tracy Morgan, Jillian Bell and Dean Norris are also on board to star in the film which Evan Susser and Van Robichaux penned.

Ice Cube and Charlie Day play two teachers who work in a broken-down school system and wind up in a fist fight with each other.