It's been an eventful few days for Rowan Atkinson, who has 'died', come back to life and attended the premiere of his a new film, all in the same week.
Fans of the Mr. Bean actor were shocked on the weekend to hear reports that Atkinson had been killed in a car crash. The report emerged on Twitter via a fake account posing as U.S. broadcaster Fox News. The tweet, which got the actor's age wrong, read " "FOX BREAKING NEWS : Mr. Bean (Rowan Atkinson) died at 58 after car accident. -March 18, 2017."
The tweet was shared and liked over 300,000 times. Many were understandably relieved when the news was deemed false.
A website Hoax Alert was quickly launched to counter the claims. It said: "Celebrity death hoaxes are nothing new on the internet yet this one is special in that it managed to be liked/shared over 300,000 times in a short period of time by employing some devious technical tricks."
Just days later, Atkinson appeared alive and well in China as part of the premiere of his new film 'Top Funny Comedian.' The film is said to be a Chinese 'The Hangover'-style movie, where a number of characters experience misadventure while in Macau, and ultimately, require assistance from Mike Tyson.
Mr. Bean, who is better known as 'Mr. Foolish Bean' in China, is one of the main characters in the film and stars alongside other well-known Chinese actors.
