I know Sunday is not the best day for war, but I have three war projects for you today. As Deadline reports, The Amazing Film Company will shoot
A picture of real life Varian Fry
COURAGE ON DEMAND eight part series about Varian Fry, the American journalist who ran a daring rescue network in France that helped Jewish people escape persecution in Nazi controlled France. Set in 1940s war torn Marseille, it will follow young American Varian Fry who was dispatched to France by Eleanor Roosevelt to save a selected list of artists, scientists and opposing politicians from Nazi concentration camps. When Fry realizes there is no legal way of getting these endangered refugees out of France, he builds his own underground railroad of spies, thieves, forgers and adventurers to bring more than 2200 people to safety.
THE FORGOTTEN BATTLE
SEE TOM FELTON IN WAR
As of this Friday, this Dutch war movie is already streaming on Netflix: THE FORGOTTEN BATTLE, second most expensive film ever coming from Holland, has the story told through the perspective of three different
The Forgotten Battle is airing on Netflix as of October 15th
participators of the Battle of the Scheldt, a Dutch axis pilot, a British air pilot, and a female resistance fighter from Zeeland. It was one of the bloodiest battles with over 12,000 casualties among Allies. Gijs Blom and Tom Felton lead the cast.
THE ROYAL GAME
STEFAN ZWEIG ADAPTATION
Currently playing in Germany and Russia is their WW2 thriller based on Stefan Zweig's novel THE ROYAL GAME (Schachnovelle)! Vienna, 1938:
It comes from our dearest Studiocanal!
Austria is occupied by the Nazi regime. Shortly before the lawyer Bartok (Oliver Masucci) can flee to the USA with his wife Anna, he is arrested and taken to the Hotel Metropol, headquarters of the Gestapo. As the asset manager of the nobility, he is supposed to give the Gestapo leader Böhm access to accounts. Since Bartok refuses to cooperate, he is placed in solitary confinement. Bartok remained steadfast for weeks and months, but became increasingly desperate - until he happened upon a chess book. Check out the super exciting trailer below:
Although Ridley Scott was supposed to return to the medieval world after his Last Duel (which is currently proving to be a major flop in cinemas most probably for the worst casting the world has even seen outside the latest Dune snoozefest) he will be replaced by Michael Matthews (Love and Monsters) as Disney has hired him to helm their MERLIN movie, based on T. A. Barron's book series. As Deadline reports, the film, which is in very early stages of production, will follow the origin story of a young Merlin who would go on to become the mentor of the classic literary character King Arthur.
PAUL W.R'S LAST JOURNEY
AN ECOLOGICAL SF TALE
Staying still in Europe, which has been our destination this week, we offer today a trailer for PAUL W.R'S LAST JOURNEY a new sf adventure which
The film was a huge hit in France after cinemas opened
was a rather big hit in France earlier this year and has been sold to North America and many European countries (including UK, Germany, ex Yugoslavia, Poland) starring gorgeous Hugo Becker, Jean Reno, Lya Oussadit Lessert and Paul Hamy. Set in a near future marked by ecological havoc, a mysterious red moon heads straight to Earth. Paul W.R., the only astronaut capable of saving mankind, discovers the secret behind the red moon and the reason why it must not be destroyed. Relentlessly hunted down, Paul encounters Elma, a feisty teenage girl who follows him on his quest for truth.
And here is your period set project for today: Paramount + will air, sometime next year, MISS FALLACI TAKES AMERICA mini series on the life of Italian celebrity journalist Oriana Fallaci. The series which will also air in UK, Germany, Ireland and over 20 other European countries portrays
The series has been sold to Europe ahead of the production start
Fallaci’s early life as an Italian journalist in Hollywood in the 1950s as she worked as an entertainment correspondent. With a disenchanted gaze, Fallaci observes the society and customs of America during the time and is fascinated by its contradictions. Miriam Leone is in talks to lead.
A BOOKSHOP IN PARIS
ILL MATERIALE EMOTIVO
Speaking of Italy, check out a charming trailer for their movie A BOOKSHOP IN PARIS which is currently out in their cinemas as the story of Vincenzo (Sergio Castellitto), a Paris bookseller dedicated to the search
Castellitto has also directed the movie
for rare volumes, a passion in line with his profession. His day is not only occupied by antiques books, but also by his paraplegic daughter, Albertine (Matilda De Angelis), whom he takes care of. Due to an accident, the young woman left the university and abandoned any form of social life, giving up friends. In addition, Albertine no longer speaks and her father tries to encourage her every day, conversing with her, despite the fact that the dialogue is unique. This sometimes monotonous and sometimes routine life of Vincenzo is upset by Yolande (Bérénice Bejo), a young woman who bursts into his life like a storm followed by a wonderful rainbow ...
Premiering at London Film Festival and then in January on Netflix is new war drama movie MUNICH: THE EDGE OF WAR for which today I can show you the first photos which feature a rather strong cast indeed: our
Our beloved Jannis Niewohner takes the lead role
favourite German superstar wildly charismatic Jannis Niewöhner, George MacKay and Jeremy Irons! Based on a novel by Robert Harris, the film is set in Autumn, 1938: once again Europe is on the brink of war as Hitler eyes
George Mackay is British civil servant Hugh Legat
the nation of Czechoslovakia for his expansion of Nazi Germany. In Britain, the Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain (Jeremy Irons), is desperately seeking a peaceful resolution to the conflict, in the hope to avoid a
Jeremy Irons is British prime minister in the new movie
catastrophic war.
Meanwhile, a British civil servant, Hugh Legat (George Mackay), and the German diplomat Paul von Hartmann (Jannis Niewöhner), travel to the Munich conference. Political Subterfuge threatens
The film will arrive to Netflix sometime next January
to destroy any hope of peace, as the pair face real danger while the eyes of the world are watching, in the hopes war will be averted. Jessica Brown Findlay plays Legat's wife.
CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG
NEW TRAILER IS HERE
Since this one was postponed to November 10th, we are now getting a new trailer for CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG comedy adventure which
Clifford will arrive November 10th
will hit cinemas and Paramount + streamer. When middle schooler Emily Elizabeth (Darby Camp) meets a magical animal rescuer (John Cleese) who gifts her a little, red puppy, she never anticipated waking up to find a giant ten-foot hound in her small New York City apartment. While her single mom (Sienna Guillory) is away for business, Emily and her fun but impulsive uncle Casey (Jack Whitehall) set out on an adventure that will keep you on the edge-of-your-seat as our heroes take a bite out of the Big Apple. Based on the beloved Scholastic book character, Clifford will teach the world how to love big!
I'm not into movies that glorify mafia, but at least this one sounds funny: Catherine Hardwicke has cast Toni Collette as the lead in her new comedy MAFIA MAMMA which already has Monica Bellucci. Toni will
Toni Collette and Monica Bellucci will star in Mafia Mamma
play a suburban American woman who inherits her grandfather’s Mafia empire, and guided by the Firm’s trusted consigliere defies everyone’s expectations, including her own, as the new head of the family business.
FIRST HOTEL PORTOFINO
PICS FROM PERIOD SET DRAMA
Beside Sisi and La Fortuna, our dear Beta Film has, over at MipCom, also closed deals for another of their period set series HOTEL PORTOFINO which has been sold now to Scandinavia and Holland and will air on ITV and
Natascha McElhone will lead the cast of the new series
PBS, Sky Italia and Foxtel in Australia. Embued with the emancipated social attitudes of the 1920s, and set on the enchanting, beautiful Italian Riviera, The
Mark Umbers is also in the Hotel Portofino cast
six episode series follows a British family who emigrate to open a high-end hotel in Italy, and captures the long-established literary tradition of comic and
Adam James also stars in the series shooting in Croatia
idiosyncratic British “innocents abroad,” set against the historical backdrop of the rise of Fascism in Mussolini’s Italy. Beside Natascha McElhone, it also stars Adam James, Mark Umbers, Anna Chancellor, Daniele Pecci, Lorenzo Richelmy and Rocco Fasano.
Period set movie drama from director Corte Voorhes about America's first female archaeologist CANYON DEL MUERTO has just added Finn Jones, Abigail Breslin and Jacob Fortune Lloyd to the cast which already has Tom Felton, Ewen Bremner, James Hillier, Hanako Footman, Wes Studi, Tatanka Means, and David Midthunder. Based on Ann Morris’s book Digging in the Southwest, the film tracks how Ann Axtell Morris (Abigail Lawrie) and her husband Earl Morris excavated the ancient Anasazi civilization in the American Southwest under the direction of Sylvanus Morley at the beginning of the 20th century. Morris and Morley were thought to be inspirations for Indiana Joes. As Deadline reports, Breslin and Jones will play the famous aviator couple Anne and Charles Lindbergh, while Fortune Lloyd stars as renowned French muralist Jean Charlot and love interest of the female protagonist.
THE SHRINK NEXT DOOR
TRAILER FOR APPLE TV SERIES
Apple TV + has released a trailer for their new eight part series THE SHRINK NEXT DOOR which will start airing November 12th! Inspired by a true story, itt examines the bizarre dynamic that unfolds between soft spoken New Yorker Martin “Marty” Markowitz (Will Ferrell) and Dr. Isaac “Ike”
First three episodes will stream November 12th and the rest weekly
Herschkopf (Paul Rudd), the psychiatrist who manipulates and exploits him for nearly three decades.
Dr. Ike is joined in infiltrating Marty’s life by his unsuspecting wife Bonnie (Casey Wilson), and though Marty may be blind to the shrink’s abuses, his hard-headed sister Phyllis (Kathryn Hahn) is not.
Ahead of its world premiere tonight at Canneseries, German RTL has greenlit the second season of SISI six part historical drama following the life of Austria's 19th century empress Elizabeth (Dominique Devenport) and
Sisi six part saga will stream on TVNOW at the end of the year
her husband emperor Franz (Jannik Schumann) after she, a Bavarian princess, marries him and moves to Vienna! It will air in France, ORF in Austria, Mediaset in Italy, Globoplay in Brasil, NPO in the Netherlands, RTL
Beta Film is selling the series over at Canneseries
in Hungary, VTM in Belgium, RTVS in Slovakia and Epic Drama channel throughout Eastern Europe, Greece, Cyprus and Turkey. See the stunning first trailer:
THE COLOUR ROOM TRAILER
A NEW SKY ORIGINAL
Sky has announced November 12th as the airing date for their movie THE COLOUR ROOM which follows the journey of a determined, working class woman, Clarice Cliff, as she breaks the glass ceiling and revolutionises the workplace in the 20th century. Clarice Cliff (Phoebe Dynevor) is a vivacious young factory worker in the industrial British midlands of the 1920s. Her
The Colour Room arrives to Sky Cinema November 12th
creativity and ambition drives her to move factory to factory, despite the financial impact on the household she shares with her widowed mother Ann (Kerry Fox) and youngest sister Dot (Darci Shaw). Bursting at the seams with ideas for colours and shapes, Clarice takes more and more dangerous risks – but she manages to stay one step ahead of the workhouse and impress the eccentric factory owner Colley Shorter (Matthew Goode) on the way
Phoebe Dynevor takes the lead role in the film
with her talent and innovation. Apprenticed to renowned Art Designer Fred Ridgeway (David Morrissey) and with support from Colley and other women in the factory, Clarice fights her way through to design the unprecedented Art Deco ‘Bizarre’ range. In the middle of the Great Depression, she ensures the factory’s survival and her future as one of the greatest Art Deco designers and a household name.
It seems that there will be more festive films this year than usual, but for some reason most of them will arrive as soon as November which is the case with A CASTLE FOR CHRISTMAS as well, arriving to Netflix November
Cary Elwes plays the cranky owner of a castle
26th! Famed author, Sophie Brown (Brooke Shields), travels to Scotland hoping to buy a small castle of her own, but the prickly owner, Duke Myles
Brooke Shields leads A Castle for Christmas movie
(Cary Elwes), is reluctant to sell to a foreigner. Working to find a compromise, the pair constantly butt heads, but they just may find something more than they were expecting.
SINGLE ALL THE WAY
Arriving to Netflix December 2nd is gay romantic comedy SINGLE ALL THE WAY. Desperate to avoid his family’s judgment about his perpetual single status, Peter (Michael Urie) convinces his best friend Nick
Michael Urie leads Single all the Way Netflix movie
(Philemon Chambers) to join him for the holidays and pretend that they’re now in a relationship. But when Peter’s mother (Kathy Najimy) sets him up on a blind date with her handsome trainer James (Luke Macfarlane)— the plan goes awry.
THE WALTONS: HOMECOMING
CW will, meanwhile, air their TV movie remake THE WALTONS: HOMECOMING November 28th! Marking the 50th anniversary of the original Christmas classic, it will star Bellamy Young (Olivia), Christian Finlayson (Jason), Marcelle LeBlanc (Mary Ellen), Logan Shroyer (John
The first family photo of the Waltons in the new remake
Boy), Ben Lawson (John Sr.), Tatum Sue Matthews (Erin), Callaway Corrick (Elizabeth), Samuel Goergon (Jim Bob)! The story again follows the Walton family awaiting John’s belated arrival home for holidays during a snowstorm.
THE CLAUS FAMILY
Launching the season of Christmas movies at Netflix on November 1st is THE CLAUS FAMILY: When his grandfather suddenly falls ill,
Dutch film Claus Family already aired in Holland last year
holiday-hating Jules learns of his family’s magical legacy and realizes he’s the only hope to save Christmas. Jan Decleir, Mo Bakker and Stefaan Degand star.
LOVE HARD ROMCOM
November 5th is bringing LOVE HARD to Netflix: Hopeless romantic but eternally single LA journalist Natalie (Nina Dobrev) thinks things are beginning to look up when she swipes right on a dreamy guy from
Nina Dobrev leads Love Hard festive romantic comedy
the East Coast, Tag (Darren Barnet). Taking a leap of faith she jumps on a flight to surprise her crush for the holidays, only to discover that she’s been
Love Hard will arrive November 5th to Netflix
catfished by Tag’s childhood friend who is equally unlucky in love, Josh (Jimmy O. Yang). This lighthearted romantic comedy chronicles her attempt to reel in love.
The film has a rather stellar cast indeed
FATHER CHRIST MAS IS BACK
I've announced this one, if you remember back in January and now it will finally air on Netflix November 7th. Elizabeth Hurley, John Cleese and Kelsey Grammer star in the film about four feuding sisters who get a crash course in family togetherness when their long lost father shows up for Christmas at their posh ancestral manor.
A BOY CALLED CHRISTMAS
A Boy Called Christmas will play in cinemas too
Will probably be the biggest festive film this year arriving to Netflix November 24th with Henry Lawfull, Jim Broadbent and Maggie Smith,Toby Jones, Sally Hawkins, Kristen Wiig, Michiel Huisman, Stephen Merchant (voice), Joel Fry! An ordinary young boy called Nikolas sets out on an extraordinary adventure into the snowy north in search of his father who is on a quest to discover the fabled village of the elves, Elfhelm. Taking with him a headstrong reindeer called Blitzen and a loyal pet mouse, Nikolas soon meets his destiny in this magical, comic and endearing story that proves nothing is impossible. Adapted from the book by Matt Haig.
PUPS ALONE COMEDY
Pups Alone will bring laughter to Christmas
In cinemas November 19th and on VOD November 23rd is PUPS ALONE with Jerry O'Connell, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Rob Schneider, Dolph Lundgren, Eric Roberts, Danny Trejo and Malcolm McDowell! While everyone is away on a company ski trip, a jealous inventor hires two thieves to break into his co-worker's house and steal his top secret new creation. But they are no match for a mischievous pack of neighborhood pups, who set up tricks and traps to protect the home and save Christmas.
With the news that Apple has renewed Foundation sf epic series for a second season, we also have new casting info on Amazon Prime's THE WHEEL
Behold the fugliest new Wheel of Time poster
OF TIME epic series which was also renewed for a second season even though the first one is only starting November 19th. In the series in which Rosamund Pike plays Moiraine, a member of the incredibly powerful all female organization called the Aes Sedai, Ceara Coveney will portray Elayne Trakand, with Natasha O’Keeffe and Meera Syal also joining season 2. In the first one, Moraine embarks on a dangerous, world spanning journey with five young men and women, one of whom is prophesied to be the Dragon Reborn, who will either save or destroy humanity. Check out the new poster and clip which also features Josha Stradowski and Daniel Henney.
VIOLET MOVIE TRAILER
OLIVIA MUNN & LUKE BRACEY
In the trailer department, you can also check out a trailer for unusual movie drama VIOLET both directed and written by Justine Bateman and out this November with Olivia Munn, Luke Bracey and Justin Theroux in the
Violet will be out in cinemas and VOD November
lead roles. Our dearest WestWorld star Simon Quarterman also stars. What would you do if you weren't afraid? The film follows Violet Calder (Olivia Munn) as she realizes that she can no longer ignore the daily barrage of self criticisms (voiced by Justin Theroux) that clouds her life. These self criticisms cause her to make fear based decisions and hold her back from the kind of professional, personal, and romantic life she knows she wants. Unsure how to live a life free from that self doubt, like her childhood friend Red (Luke Bracey), Violet realizes she has no choice but to travel the road that is more frightening to her than the fear that holds her back: Doing everything differently.
We're family friendly today (don't miss our spotlight on Christmas 2021 movies on Sunday), starting with a fairy tale movie coming this
The film is out this November on Norway
November from Norway. THREE WISHES FOR CINDERELLA with pop star Astrid Smeplass in the title role and Cengiz Al as the prince. Game of ThronesKristofer Hivju and Vikings' ThorBjorn Harr also star. It is a magnificent remake of Czech Christmas' classic. Join Cinderella into snow covered forests, and up on the sparkling Norwegian high mountains in her battle against the evil stepmother. Astrid Smeplass makes her feature film debut in the lead role as Cinderella, in a movie which will be a breathtaking ride, including brilliant archery and of course - castle ball with crazy dresses and a solid dose of magic.
THEODOSIA TV SERIES
AN ADVENTURE FOR KIDS
Here's something period set but for kids: Federation Entertainment, ZDF and HBO Max are arriving soon to MipCom with a 26 half hour episodes series THEODOSIA based on the books by Robin LaFevers.
Theodosia arrives October 12th to MipCom
HBO Max will launch it October 26th around Europe with Eloise Little in the lead role of Theodosia, Nana Agyeman Bediako as her magician friend Will and Yasmina El-Abd as Egyptian princess Safiya. Theodosia Throckmorton is the smart, bold 14 year old daughter of two intrepid Egyptologists, excavating in the Valley of the Kings in 1906. When Theo and her younger brother, invention mad Henry, stumble upon a hidden tomb and a mysterious artifact, the 'Eye of Horus', Theo unlocks the power to see and perform true magic, thus discovering a whole new world of mystery as well as danger. Now,
Theodosia will air on HBO Max, German ZDF and Salto in France
from her parent's home, the world famous Museum of Legends and Antiquities in the heart of Edwardian London, Theo must do battle with ancient forces, dark magic and comic chaos as she and Henry, along with their friends, street magician Will and Egyptian Princess Safiya, try to survive teenage life, get through education and... save the whole world.
