SF WEEKEND: RUSSIAN APOCALYPTIC SERIES VONGOZERO: THE OUTBREAK AND SF THRILLER THE BLACKOUT ARE STRANGELY PORTINENT TO OUR CURRENT SITUATION

    'VONGOZERO: THE OUTBREAK' 

WHEN VIRUS HITS MOSCOW

Outbreak premièred last November in Russia

I'm quite sure that, back when they were producing it a year or so ago, the writers of Russian science fiction apocalyptic series VONGOZERO: THE OUTBREAK did not really anticipate the events that are happening around the world right now. The series, which premiered at last year's Canneseries in April and took part in the official competition, streamed on Russia's internet platform Premier last winter, is based on the bestselling book Vongozero by Yana Vagner which was translated into more than ten languages around the world. It was also turned into a feature length movie. Check out the English subed trailer below and tell us what you think.

The series consists of eight episodes

Outbreak set against the backdrop of a global catastrophe, portrays an unknown virus that quickly paralyses Moscow and turns it into a city of the dead. There is no electricity, money has lost all value and those who are still not infected, are desperately fighting for food and fuel. Sergey (Kirill Karo), accompanied by his new lover and her autistic son, as well as his ex-wife, his own son and several other companions, are trying to escape beyond the borders of the quarantine to reach a hunting lodge on a remote, uninhabited island in Karelia where they

The series and film were based on a book by Yana Vagner

can begin life anew. However, escape is only half the battle, as they must learn to live with each other. Both the global outbreak and Sergey's family dramas put their journey in jeopardy.

    'THE BLACKOUT' 

 WILL HUMANKIND SURVIVE?

Somewhere around the same time, last year in November, Russian cinemas also played their sf thriller THE BLACKOUT (aka Avanpost) and it

The Blackout aired last winter in cinemas

had its UK release in December. It was one of the first such films in Russia and it took years to produce.  No meteorites hit Earth, no terrorists put the world in danger, no atomic war was started, but something did go wrong. Contact between most towns on Earth has been severed. A small ring-like area in Eastern Europe still has electricity, and signs of life are being reported from the Space. What military forces find outside the Ring is shocking. There are dead corpses everywhere: in stores, in cars, on roads, in hospitals and railway stations. Who or what is destroying all life on Earth? How long will the last outpost of mankind survive?

SF SATURDAY: SNOWPIERCER SF SERIES GETS AN EARLIER PREMIERE DATE AT TNT WITH JENNIFER CONNELLY! EDGAR WRIGHT TO HELM SET MY HEART TO FIVE SF BOOK ADAPTATION

    'SET MY HEART TO FIVE' 

EDGAR WRIGHT TO DIRECT

Edgar Wright will helm the adaptation of the new book

In sf news this weekend, as Deadline reports, director Edgar Wright is set to helm the movie adaptation of Simon Stephenson's debut novel SET MY HEART TO FIVE which is out at Harper Collins later this year. The story takes place in an all-too human 2054 and introduces Jared, an android who undergoes an emotional awakening and embarks on a quest to convince humans that he and his kind should be permitted to feel. It’s a quest, sparked in part by Jared’s introduction to 80’s and 90’s movies, that leads to an unforgettable adventure across the West Coast of America, after he determines to write a film script that will change the world.

    'SNOWPIERCER' 

TO START ITS JOURNEY EARLIER!

Eventhough most films and series are getting postponed, TNT has decided to move the premiere of new sf series SNOWPIERCER from May

SnowPiercer will now start May 17th, Sunday

31st to May 17th! Jennifer Connelly leads the cast of the 20 episode adaptation of the legendary sf movie in which the story is set seven years after the world has become a frozen wasteland! The action revolves around the remnants of humanity, who inhabit a gigantic, perpetually moving train that circles the globe. Class warfare, social injustice and the politics of survival are questioned in this riveting television adaptation. The story has already been told in the Chris Evans movie which was based on the 1982 French graphic novel Le Transperceneige, later retitled Snowpiercer, written by Jacques Lob and illustrated by Jean-Marc Rochette. 

COMEDY VETERAN LESLIE JORDAN JOINS NEW SITCOM CALL ME KAT AT FOX WITH MAYIM BIALIK, SWOOSIE KURTZ AND CHEYENNE JACKSON!

    'CALL ME KAT' SITCOM

GETS ITSELF A STELLAR CAST OF COMEDY VETERANS

While the future of most sitcom pilots hangs in the air (almost none got shot or were cut in the middle of production) and the ones that are airing on

Leslie Jordan has just joined the cast

TV currently are facing shorter seasons this and next month (Fran Drescher's Indebted ends April 15th and Will and Grace final episode EVER also airs this month, April 23rd) due to cease of production in the midst of corona outbreak, there are some new sitcoms that already got a full season orders. CALL ME KAT at Fox is one of them and it just got Leslie Jordan (from Cool Kids and Will and Grace) as a regular! 

Call Me Kat Is A
new multi camera sitcom which centres around Kat (Big Bang Theory's Mayim Bialik), a 39 year old woman who struggles every day against society and her mother Sheila (Mike and Molly's Swoosie Kurtz) to prove that you CANNOT have everything you want — and still be happy. Which is why she spent the money her parents set aside for her wedding to open a Cat Café in Louisville, KY. Leslie Jordan will

Mayim Bialik and Cheyenne Jackson will lead the cast

play Phil, who works for Kat and bakes all the pastries at the cat cafe. Kat is helping Phil get a new lease on life after his recent breakup with his longtime partner. Cheyenne Jackson will play Kat's super hunky love interest.

1ST PHOTO FROM RUSSELL TOVEY'S NEW MYSTERY TV SERIES THE SISTER! HOWIE MANDEL, NICK CANNON, WHOOPI GOLDBERG TO VOICE PIERRE THE PIGEON HAWK ANIMATED MOVIE

    'THE SISTER' SERIES

1ST PHOTO WITH RUSSELL TOVEY

He's really in everything these days, but we ain't complaining as we love him so: after Years and Years and Flesh and Blood, Russell Tovey will lead THE SISTER (formerly known as Because The Night) and we have the first photo from it. In the ITV and Hulu four part series, he plays well-meaning but directionless Nathan, a man with a terrible secret he’s prayed would stay

Bertie Carvel plays the old friend with shocking news

buried and for which he’s worked hard to make recompense. Years into his new and devoted married life, Nathan is rocked to the core when Bob, an unwelcome face from his past, turns up on his doorstep with shocking news, triggering a series of catastrophic decisions which drive a tense and compelling narrative of psychological suspense, dread, love and possible redemption.

    PIERRE THE PIGEON HAWK

LENDS ITS VOICE CAST

When it comes to animated movie news, Howie Mandel, Nick Cannon and Whoopi Goldberg will lead the voice cast of animated movie PIERRE THE PIGEON HAWK which,  set in NYC, follows Pierre, born as a product of forbidden love between a hawk and a pigeon, who is rejected by

John D. Eraklis is remote directing the animated adventure

both the pigeon and hawk communities. Dejected and confused, Pierre sets out on a mission to find out where he belongs. During his adventure, he unites with a band of unlikely friends including a bear that has recently escaped from the Central Park Zoo, an owl whose genius is outweighed only by his madness,

Pierre is under production currently over at New Zealand

and a pair of rag tag, pop-cultured city squirrels with attitude. Amidst a journey of self-discovery, Pierre finds the courage to inspire animals from all backgrounds to change their ways and open their minds to a new way of thinking. It will take a hybrid bird to unite a hybrid world.

SAM CLAFLIN GETS ANOTHER CHANCE AT LOVE IN LOVE WEDDING REPEAT NETFLIX ROMANTIC COMEDY TRAILER WITH OLIVIA MUNN, FREIDA PINTO, ELEANOR TOMLINSON, JACK FARTHING

    LOVE WEDDING REPEAT

PUTS SAM CLAFLIN IN A PICKLE

The movie will stream on Netflix from April 10th

We've been waiting for this one a long time because we needed our regular Sam Claflin fix and it is finally here now: the trailer and poster for LOVE WEDDING REPEAT new romantic comedy movie which will stream on Netflix from April 10th also starring Olivia Munn, Freida Pinto and Poldark stars Eleanor Tomlinson and Jack Farthing in a film about a disparate group of interconnected people whose worlds collide when a man is unexpectedly reunited with an old flame at his sister's wedding. Check out the delightful movie trailer below and tell us what you think.

  The Power Of Chance
 Sam Claflin (is it just me or does he look unhealthily skinny in the trailer, he's seemed unwell to me ever since his divorce from Laura Haddock) plays

This is an English Language remake of French wedding comedy 'Plan de Table'

Jack, a young man whose angry ex-girlfriend (Freida Pinto), a misplaced sedative, and a former love interest that got away (Olivia Munn) threaten to

Eleanor Tomlinson plays the sister of Sam Claflin's character

derail his sister's day of marital harmony. As Jack navigates the trials of such an unexpected clash of personalities, we are presented with alternate versions of the same day as Jack ponders a route to his own happy ending. Along the

Freida Pinto and Allan Mustafa as wedding guests in the film

way, he must dodge compromising situations (including a particularly comical moment with a male companion in a private bathroom), rekindled romantic feelings, and his enraged ex's flying fists.

ANNE HATHAWAY TO LEAD FRENCH CHILDREN DON'T THROW FOOD ADAPTATION! NORMAL PEOPLE MINI TV SERIES SETS AIRING DATES ON BBC AND HULU

    ANNE HATHAWAY

Anne Hathaway will take the lead role

TO LEAD FRENCH CHILDREN DON'T THROW FOOD MOVIE 

There's not a lot of casting news these days, my dear spylings, but here's at least one for you to somehow survive this week: as Deadline reports, Anne Hathaway will lead FRENCH CHILDREN DON'T THROW FOOD movie adaptation of Pamela Druckerman's biography for Studiocanal.  Druckerman’s autobiography follows her real life experience as a 35 year old American journalist in Paris contending with pregnancy and parenthood. Unlike her fellow Americans, Druckerman learns that pregnant French women aren’t purchasing every parenting bible known to man, nor are they obsessed about natural births or C-sections. As she tries to balance family life and her career, she looks to uncover why the French have such well-behaved children. However, it’s all a façade.

    'NORMAL PEOPLE' TRAILER

FOR NEW BBC AND HULU SERIES

Here's another suggestion on what to watch during the corona lockdown: although the plot and the cast do not sound overly exciting, the trailer itself

Normal People will air on BBC3 and Hulu

offers a rather human vibe and warmth which will obviously radiate throughout NORMAL PEOPLE, a new 12 part series which will air all its episodes from April 26th on BBC3 and then on Hulu from April 29th.

The story follows Marianne (Daisy Edgar Jones) and Connell (Paul Mescal), from different backgrounds but the same small town in Ireland, as they weave in and out of each other's romantic lives. The sporadic and complicated relationship of two friends and lovers starts in the late stages of their school education, and the

The series is based on a bestselling book by Sally Rooney

story follows their lives through their university years at Trinity College. The series is based on the best selling book by Sally Rooney.

STAY HOME AND WATCH NEW COMEDY SERIES TRYING WITH RAFE SPALL AND IMELDA STAUNTON THIS MAY ON APPLE TV

    'TRYING' TRAILER

 PUTS RAFE SPALL AND IMELDA STAUNTON IN A SITCOM

Here's another new programme launching on Apple TV soon: trailer for their first ever British comedy series TRYING led by two of our favourite British thespians Rafe Spall and Imelda Staunton alongside Esther Smith. The eight episode series is set to launch May 1st!

    What's Trying All About? 
All Nikki (Esther Smith) and Jason (Rafe Spall) want is a baby—but it’s the one thing they just can’t have. How are they going to fill the next 50 years if

Judging by the trailer Imelda Staunton will play the couple's therapist

they can’t start a family? They already went through The Sopranos in a weekend. After ruling out every other option, Nikki and Jason decide to adopt

The comedy series will air in eight half hour long episodes

and are confronted by a world of bewildering new challenges. With their dysfunctional friends, screwball family, and chaotic lives, will the adoption panel agree that they’re ready to be parents?

STAY HOME AND HAVE SOME JOLLY GOOD FUN WITH HISTORICAL COMEDY SERIES NORSEMEN OVER AT NETFLIX!

    'NORSEMEN' EPIC COMEDY

IS THE VIKING SITCOM YOU NEVER KNEW YOU NEEDED

Here's another thing that can entertain you while you are staying put in your homes like good citizens during the corona self isolation: the first season,

The series streams over at Netflix!

which has just six episodes, of historical comedy series NORSEMEN is already airing over at Netflix and, if I'm not mistaken, the second season is available as well with the same amount of episodes, set in 790 AD, and following the Vikings of Norheim who have a hectic schedule that includes pillaging, plundering, enslaving others and solving problems with violence. It is interesting that the series, coming from Norway, was recorded simultaneously in both Norwegian and English language versions by filming each scene twice. The upcoming third season is named

The third season is coming soon!

'Season 0' as it tells the story that led up to the first season, but  it won't stray too far as the creators said!

Norse men Takes Place
 in 790s Norway, with various characters taking the leading role as the series develops. The story covers the life of Vikings in the town of Norheim and them dealing with day to day life and conflict of varying comedic degrees. As the series progresses, disputes with neighbouring villages, including a rival tribe led by the ruthless Jarl Varg (Jon Oigarden), and the efforts of a Roman slave,

The series was shot both in Norwegian and English language

Rufus (Trond Fausa), to modernize Norheim's culture result in ongoing conflicts. In the second season, the sea road to the west has been found, but Norheim's villagers must still cope with power struggles and the ever-present threat of Jarl Varg.

Who's In The Viking Clan?

The cast includes Henrik Mestad as Chieftain Olav, the leader of the village. He found a route to sail west, and from this has a much-coveted map. Marian Saastad Ottesen as Hildur, Olav's wife! Nils Jørgen Kaalstad as

The first season was watched by one million out of five million people in Norway

Arvid, the chieftain's second-in-command. He loves to go on raids but he also wants to settle in the village. Kåre Conradi as Orm, husband of Frøya and

The stories in the series often reflect our times, not just the Viking ones

acting chieftain while his brother Olav, the chieftain is on a raid Silje Torp as Frøya, Orm's unhappy wife and a shield-maiden! Trond Fausa Aurvåg as Rufus, an enslaved actor from Rome who befriends Orm and plans to

Marian Saastad Ottesen plays the chieftan's wife Hildur

modernize the village. Øystein Martinsen as Kark, a freed slave who has voluntarily returned to his life as a slave and Jon Øigarden as Jarl Varg, a rival chieftain, who desires the map to the west!

RYAN REYNOLDS TO PLAY A DARING KNIGHT IN NETFLIX MOVIE ADAPTATION OF POPULAR GAME DRAGON'S LAIR!

    RYAN REYNOLDS TO LEAD

DRAGON'S LAIR ADAPTATION

Ryan will also produce the movie

I don't think we've seen him in an epic adventure so far, but I do think he'd be perfect in it: as The Hollywood Reporter writes today, Netflix and Ryan Reynolds are teaming up again, this time on the movie adaptation of legendary arcade game DRAGON'S LAIR which was hugely popular back in the 80s. Dan and Kevin Hageman who wrote The Lego Movie (and are also writing Croods 2 in which Ryan lends his voice) are set to pen the story here as well.

     Beside producing, Ryan Reynolds would also play the lead protagonist, a knight called Dirk the Daring, who gets the task of rescuing Princess Daphne from the evil dragon Singe and a wizard named Mordroc.

Ryan Reynolds is also set to star, next to Will Ferrell, in a musical movie version of A Christmas Carol based on Charles Dickens's story of a miserly misanthrope who is taken on a magical journey.

STAY HOME AND WATCH ASIAN SUPERSTAR HENRY GOLDING FALL IN LOVE WITH A MAN IN THE FIRST TRAILER FOR MONSOON MOVIE DRAMA!

     'MONSOON' TRAILER

SENDS HENRY GOLDING INTO THE ARMS OF A HANDSOME MAN

This one is awaiting its cinematic release but it premiered at famous film festival in Karlovy Vary last summer! New drama MONSOON stars Henry Golding as Kit, a young British Vietnamese man, who returns to his birth country for the first time in over 30 years. He was just eight years old when he and his family escaped Saigon as 'boat refugees' after the Vietnam War. No longer familiar with this country and unable to speak his native language, Kit embarks on a personal journey from Saigon to Hanoi in search of a place to scatter his parents’ ashes. Along the way he meets his estranged family through Lee

The movie was scheduled for May 1st release in UK before corona outbreak

(David Tran) and falls for Lewis (Parker Sawyers), an American whose father had fought in the war. During his travels, Kit finally starts to connect to the memories of his parents and his own roots.