Ever since Ryan Murphy revealed that he was trying to bring back some original castmembers for “American Horror Story’s” second season, we’ve been waiting patiently for news on who will be popping up next year. Finally, we have something!

Murphy confirmed last night to Andy Cohen on “Watch What Happens Live” that a fan favorite will be returning. So who’s coming back?

NEW YORK (AP) — Ben Gazzara, whose powerful dramatic performances brought an intensity to a variety of roles and made him a memorable presence in such iconic productions over the decades as the original “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” on Broadway and the film “The Big Lebowski,” has died at age 81.

Longtime family friend Suzanne Mados said Gazzara died Friday in Manhattan. Mados, who owned the Wyndham Hotel, where celebrities such as Peter Falk and Martin Sheen stayed, said he died after being placed in hospice care for cancer. She and her husband helped marry Gazzara and his wife, German-born Elke Krivat, at their hotel.

Foreboding gun wielding? Check. Slick black impeccably bespoke outfit? Check. Abundance of fancy spy technology? Check. Wizened, grizzled mug with de rigueur steely gaze? Double-oh check.

Yep, the pieces are all in place in this first look image of Daniel Craig reprising, for the third time, his role as superspy extraordinaire James Bond in the 23rd installment of the 007 franchise, Skyfall.

Eve Arnold, a globe-trotting photojournalist who captured iconic images of Marilyn Monroe, has died, the Magnum photo agency said Thursday. She was 99.

Magnum spokeswoman Fiona Rogers said Arnold died peacefully Wednesday in a London nursing home.

Born in Philadelphia in 1912 to Russian immigrant parents, Arnold began working as a photographer in the 1940s and took pictures for Life magazine during a golden age of magazine photojournalism.

Sick of watching that “Smurfs” DVD over and over again? Fear not, parents — 2012 offers a toybox full of animated and other movies for kids.

3-D is a controversial topic. The extra dimension jacks up ticket prices, some kids refuse to wear the special glasses, and often it doesn’t do much for a film but make it murkier. But we have high hopes for the 3-D conversion of two beloved movies this year. “Beauty and the Beast 3-D” comes out Jan. 13 and “Finding Nemo 3-D” swims into theaters Sept. 14. (3-D versions of “Monsters Inc” and “The Little Mermaid” are coming in 2013.)

The world’s supposed to end in 2012, if you believe certain folks. But before it does, there’s a boatload of big movies to eagerly anticipate. I tried to pick just one per month, but my resolve quickly fell apart there.

January
There’s plenty of Oscar talk surrounding Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher in “The Iron Lady.” As an Anglophile as well as a person who doesn’t mind getting often-grossly-error-ridden history from movies, I can’t wait for this one.

THE VILLAGES, Fla. (AP) — Singer and actress Kaye Stevens, who performed with the Rat Pack and was a frequent guest on Johnny Carson’s “The Tonight Show,” has died at a central Florida hospital. She was 79.

Close friend Gerry Schweitzer confirmed that Stevens died Wednesday at the Villages Hospital north of Orlando following a battle with breast cancer and blood clots.

Stevens, a longtime South Florida resident, performed with Rat Pack members including Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and Joey Bishop. She also sang solo at venues like Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas and the Plaza Hotel’s Persian Room in New York City.

LOS ANGELES — “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol” cruised to No. 1 at box offices on Sunday, even as major new movies opened on Christmas Day which may change top 10 results when final numbers are tallied.

The new Tom Cruise movie rang up an estimated $26.5 million in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales over the three-day weekend, according to studio estimates, after expanding from a limited release in Imax and other large-screen theaters last week.

LISBON, Portugal — Cesaria Evora, who started singing as a teenager in the bayside bars of Cape Verde in the 1950s and won a Grammy in 2003 after she took her African islands music to stages across the world, died Saturday. She was 70.

Evora, known as the “Barefoot Diva” because she always performed without shoes, died in the Baptista de Sousa Hospital in Mindelo, on her native island of Sao Vicente in Cape Verde, her label Lusafrica said in a statement on its website. It gave no further details.

Just the two words of the title may scare some potential moviegoers away. “War Horse” isn’t a neutral title like “Secretariat,” it hints to animal lovers that the beautiful creature seen in the trailers is going to be shot at, terrified, manhandled and might not survive.

Spoiler alert: This is a PG-13, family friendly, Steven Spielberg movie, and animal lovers can breathe easy. “War Horse” is based on a book for 8-year-olds, and as befits that, the horse, Joey (Joey? Yes, Joey,) is carefully protected. Even battle-hardened army men go out of their way to keep him safe.