DAMON WAYANS JR. TO LEAD NBC DRAMA PILOT PUZZLED AS A MAN WITH ACQUIRED SAVANT SYNDROME

   DAMON WAYANS JR.  

TO LEAD NBC SERIES PILOT PUZZLED

According to Deadline, NBC has set Damon Wayans Jr. as the lead of their new drama pilot PUZZLE. After barely escaping a tragic fire, once promising college athlete Mike Brink is transformed by a traumatic brain injury that gives him the unique ability to see the world in an unexpected way and helps him solve crimes with local police. Mike makes his living by betting on sports and is uniquely equipped to do this because he developed Acquired Savant Syndrome as a result of the brain injury. This rare phenomenon gives him exceptional skills in puzzle-solving, higher math functions and pattern recognition.

2026 PERIOD SET NETFLIX TV SERIES AND FILMS FROM AUSTRALIA: MY BRILLIANT CAREER, EAST OF EDEN, THE MOSQUITO BOWL

 NETFLIX AUSTRALIAN SERIES 

EAST OF EDEN TV ADAPTATION 

A small screen adaptation of a classic coming to Netflix in 2026 will be a contemporary reimagining of John Steinbeck’s classic novel shot exploring the mult igenerational saga of the Trask family with Florence Poo, Christopher Abbott, Mike Faist, Hoon Lee, Tracy Letts, Martha Plimpton, Ciarán Hinds leading the cast. It is set in California’s Salinas Valley over a period that stretches from the Civil War to end of World War I.

 

 1901 SET MY BRILLIANT CAREER

A TV adaptation of Miles Franklin’s novel follows Sybylla (Phillipa Northeast), a shockingly modern young woman in 1901. Australia with one searing ambition: to be a writer. With an irrepressible taste for fun, the choice between adventure and a safe marriage is easy, until she falls in love. Should Sybylla marry, or should she throw herself to the winds of fate and risk a creative life? Anna Chancellor also stars.

 

WW2 THE MOSQUITO BOWL

Will be a Second World War drama based on the true story of four college football stars who enlist in the Marines following the attack on Pearl Harbor. As they prepare for the brutal invasion of Okinawa, they participate in a legendary game featuring some of the greatest players in history — a game that, for many, will be their last. The cast led by Nicholas Galitzine and Bill Skarsgård is under the helm of director Peter Berg.

FIRST LOOK AT DAMIEN MOLONY, HUGH SKINNER, JESSICA RAINE IN NEW BBC GREECE SET MINI TV SERIES TWO WEEKS IN AUGUST

   TWO WEEKS IN AUGUST 

DAMIEN MOLONY, HUGH SKINNER IMAGES

I told you last year that BBC was working with Catherine Shepherd on TWO WEEKS IN AUGUST thriller series that tells the story of a woman who goes on holiday to Greece with her family and friends to rediscover joy in her life and today we have the first images. It follows Zoe who begins to act on her deepest desires and the holiday she hoped for becomes a reckoning for a group of adults who refuse to grow up. But when they discover they are trapped on the island, and become faced with real life-or-death situations, the group soon turn on each other to find out who is to blame. Is Zoe responsible for the drama and destruction around her or, as heaven turns to hell, are bigger forces at play? We are in Greece after all, the land of the ancient Gods...The cast is led by Jessica Raine as Zoe, Damien Molony as her troubled husband Dan, Nicholas Pinnock as their old friend Solomon and Antonia Thomas as his new wife Jess, alongside Leila Farzad and our dearest Hugh Skinner as uni friends Nat and Jacob.

SEE ALEKSANDAR GORBATOV AS EMPEROR PETER I IN TRAILER FOR BIRTH OF AN EMPIRE HISTORICAL MOVIE WITH MILOS BIKOVIC, YULIA PERESILD

   BIRTH OF AN EMPIRE   

TRAILER FOR PETER I HISTORICAL MOVIE

Back in 2022 I reported that Serbian star Milos Bikovic will lead historical movie THE BIRTH OF AN EMPIRE (Рождение империи) butthen exactly a year ago I told you that it will be Aleksandar Gorbatov who will play the lead role of Tzar Peter I at the time after the defeat in the Battle of Narva and before the victory in the Battle of Poltava. And now we have the first trailer from the film which is supposed to arrive to Russian cinemas October 29th 2026. In addition to Peter I, the film will also feature his courtiers Menshikov, Sheremetyev, Romodanovsky and Foreign Minister Golovin. Menshikov will actually be played by Milos Bikovich, Romodanovsky by Vitaly Khaev, Sheremetyev by Alexey Guskov. The female roles will be played by Yulia Peresild (Anna Mons) and Ksenia Utekhina (the future Catherine I). Andrei Kravchuk is directing.

 WHAT IS THE STORY OF THE FILM?

Returning to his homeland after the Grand Embassy (Russian diplomatic mission to Western Europe from 9 March 1697 to 25 August 1698led by Peter the Great), Peter the Great stepped into a protracted war with Sweden for the access to the sea. On the way to a great victory, serious trials await him: disappointment, deception and betrayal - only by overcoming all of those will Peter become Emperor, find true love, and Russia will be proclaimed a great Empire.

 

SEE WILLIAM FRANKLIN MILLER IN NEW CLIP FROM YOUNG WASHINGTON HISTORICAL MOVIE WITH KELSEY GRAMMER, BEN KINGSLEY

   YOUNG WASHINGTON  

NEW CLIP WITH WILLIAM FRANKLYN MILLER

The movie is out this July in cinemas

Coming from the creator of House of David series Jon Erwin is new feature movie YOUNG WASHINGTON  with young William Franklin Miller in the lead role and I have a new clip for you today. The chronicle of the future politician and general begins with his mistake attacking a patrol that triggers the French and Indian War, forcing the ambitious 22-year-old Washington to face his failures and find the courage to become the leader that will forge a nation. Angel Studios is preparing to release the film on July 4th weekend, 2026. Kelsey Grammer also stars and so do Ben Kingsley and Andy Serkis and Mary Louise Parker. See the brand new movie clip  below:

 

FIRST IMAGE OF JOHNNY FLYNN AS DOSTOYEVSKY AND AIMEE LOU WOOD AS HIS WIFE IN THE IDIOT(S) PERIOD SET MOVIE DRAMA

  FIRST THE IDIOT(S) IMAGE 

FROM A MOVIE ON DOSTOYEVSKY

First image has been released with Johnny Flynn and Aimee Lou Wood from IDIOT(S) period set movie which also stars Vicky Krieps and Christian Friedel. The film follows the lives of the famous writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky and his wife Anna during a period that inspired him to write “The Idiot” at the time a commercial flop, but today, considered one of the greatest novels in the history of literature. He wrote it in Switzerland where they ran off from debts in Russia.

SPOTLIGHT ON YOUNG SHERLOCK TV SERIES WITH HERO FIENNES TIFFIN, JOSEPH FIENNES, MAX IRONS, NATASCHA MCELHONE AND COLIN FIRTH

   YOUNG SHERLOCK   

NEW TV SERIES STARTS NEXT MONTH

Sherlock starts March 4th next year

First trailer that was released from Guy Ritchie's new period set television series YOUNG SHERLOCK with young Hero Fienness Tiffin in the lead role has broken record becoming Prime Video's best watched trailer ever with 223 million views in first seven days. To stream from March 4th on Prime Video, this brand new costume drama adventure follows the origin story of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s beloved detective in a re-imagining of the iconic character’s early days. Sherlock Holmes is a disgraced young man, raw and unfiltered, when he finds himself wrapped up in a murder case that threatens his liberty. His first ever case unravels a globe trotting conspiracy that changes his life forever. Unfolding in 1870s Oxford

Hero Fienness Tiffin takes the lead role

 and adventuring abroad, the series will expose the early antics of the anarchic adolescent who is yet to evolve into Baker Street’s most renowned resident.

 

  WHO IS IN THE CAST?

 Dónal Finn stars as James Moriarty, Joseph Fiennes as Sherlock's father Silas Holmes even though in real life he is Hero's uncle (Tiffin is the son of Joseph's and Ralph's sister Martha, the director), Natascha McElhone as his mother Cordelia Holmes, Zine Tseng as Princess Gulun Shou’an, Max Irons, another son of a famous actor, as Mycroft Holmes, an older brother to Sherlock, and Colin Firth as Sir Bucephalus Hodge. 

 

HBO ADS NEW CAST MEMBERS TO SEASON FOUR OF THE GILDED AGE 19TH CENTURY TV SERIES

   THE GILDED AGE SERIES  

SEASON FOUR NEW CAST ADDITIONS

HBO has added some new names to the fourth season of their 19th century costume drama THE GILDED AGE. After Bertha Russell (Carrie Coon) changed society at a cost, her family must reckon with the consequences while Agnes van Rhijn (Christine Baranski) seizes an opportunity to regain her position. Meanwhile, Marian (Louisa Jacobson) forges a new path for herself, 

Neal Huff, James Scully and Taylor Trensch have joined the cast

and Peggy (Denée Benton) works to be accepted by her future in-laws. Taylor Trensch will play Oliver, a new addition to the van Rhijn household. James Scully is Lee Klein, an artist who sells his first painting at an unforgettable society event, and an apprentice to the famed artist William Merritt Chase. Dennis Haysbert is Dr. Reginald Harris, William Kirkland’s mentor, who visits New York to fundraise for the Freedman’s Hospital in Washington DC and makes a surprising connection. Maggie Kuntz is Fiona Summers, cousin to the prominent Astors, a free-spirited young woman from a good family who is not afraid to explore the limits of convention. Neal Huff is John D. Rockefeller, the famed businessman and oil tycoon, a self-made man of humble origins, now one of the richest and most powerful in the world,  and philanthropist, he does not always see eye to eye with his fellow robber barons. Bonnie Milligan is Mrs. Knapp Curtis, the trailblazing editor of the popular periodical The Ladies’ Home Journal.

SEE NEW IMAGES FROM JANE AUSTEN INSPIRED THE OTHER BENNET SISTER PERIOD SET SERIES FROM BBC AND BRITBOX

  THE OTHER BENNET SISTER  

NEW IMAGES FROM BBC AND BRITBOX SERIES

After the first images released back in December last year, BBC and BritBox have released some new images for their THE OTHER BENNET SISTER which tells the story of Mary Bennet, played by Ella Bruccoleri, the seemingly unremarkable and overlooked middle sister in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Richard E. Grant and Ruth Jonesplay her parents, with Indira Varma and Richard Coyle set as Mr and Mrs Gardiner, Mary’s worldly aunt and uncle. The Gardiners take Mary under their wing as governess to their three children, Marianne (Roisin Bhalla), George (Reggie Absolom), and Rebecca (Jasmine Sharp), introducing her to a new social world that includes Mr Hayward (Donal Finn), Mr Ryder (Laurie Davidson), and Ann Baxter (Varada Sethu). It will have ten half hour episodes and will air sometime in March this year on BBC One in United Kingdom and on BritBox over in Northern America. You can also check out the early teaser trailer that was released a month ago.

 

THE EMPRESS CREATORS AND NETFLIX PREPARING NEW SERIES WITCHES ON THE 17TH CENTURY WITCH HUNTS IN GERMANY

   WITCHES EPIC SERIES  

FROM THE EMPRESS CREATORS AND NETFLIX

After their The Empress series ends later this year with the final third season, the creators are teaming up with Netflix on another historical series. WITCHES  will be set in medieval Germany,  following the story of three sisters as they face the rising terror of a rarely dramatized chapter of European history: The German witch hunts. The show will revolve around a family torn apart by suspicion, accusation and betrayal, and tell a story of protecting loved ones in the grip of fear and fanaticism and of unyielding resistance in the shadow of one of Europe’s darkest chapters.