Monster Mash: Ai Weiwei film opens; Julia Roberts in ‘Normal Heart’

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Eagerly awaited: The new documentary on artist Ai Weiwei premiered Sunday at the Sundance Film Festival. (Los Angeles Times)

Star power: Julia Roberts has signed on to appear in the movie adaptation of Larry Kramer’s ‘The Normal Heart.’ Alec Baldwin and Mark Ruffalo have also joined the cast. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stepping down: Cate Blanchett and her husband, Andrew Upton, will conclude their run as the artistic directors of the Sydney Theatre Company at the end of the 2013 season. (Sydney Morning Herald)

Back home 1: New Zealand received 20 ancestral heads of Maori ethnic people once held in several French museums as a cultural curiosity. (Associated Press)

Back home 2: Italy has returned the head of a 2,000-year-old statue that was smuggled out of Libya in the 1960s. (Associated Press)

Coming soon: The Detroit Symphony Orchestra, still reeling from last season’s strike, has announced its 2012-13 season. (Detroit Free Press)

Artistic couple: Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Reynolds are expected to star in the movie ‘Big Eyes,’ a biopic of painters Margaret and Walter Keane. (Variety)

New leader: The Japanese American National Museum has appointed G.W. ‘Greg’ Kimura as its new chief executive officer. (Los Angeles Times)

Expensive: A Stradivari cello has sold for more than $6 million. (New York Times)

Also in the L.A. Times: Music critic Mark Swed reviews the performance art programs of Pacific Standard Time; a review of Cirque du Soleil’s ‘Ovo’ at the Santa Monica Pier.

-- David Ng