LUKE EVANS, DANIEL BRUHL TO LEAD 'THE ALIENIST' 19TH CENTURY CRIME TV SERIES! NEW 'HIDDEN FIGURES' POSTER WITH TARAJI P. HENSON, OCTAVIA SPENCER, KEVIN COSTNER

  LUKE EVANS TO STAR IN

'THE ALIENIST' PERIOD SET SERIES

In the long series of Hollywood movie stars who are moving over to the small screens, the latest one is our beloved Welshman Luke Evans! He and Daniel Bruhl will lead new period set THE ALIENIST TV series at TNT!

An adaptation of Caleb Carr's novel THE ALIENIST is set in the Gilded Age of New York City in 1896, a city of vast wealth, extreme poverty and technological innovation. When a series of haunting, gruesome murders of boy prostitutes grips the city, newly appointed Police Commissioner Theodore Roosevelt calls upon criminal psychologist (or alienist) Dr. Laszlo Kreizler (Daniel Brühl) and newspaper reporter John Moore (Luke Evans) to conduct the investigation in secret. They are aided by a makeshift crew of singular characters, among them the intrepid Sara Howard, a young secretary on Roosevelt’s staff who is determined to become NYC’s first female police detective. Using the emerging disciplines of psychology and early forensic investigation techniques, this band of social outsiders tracks down one of New York’s first serial killers.

  'HIDDEN FIGURES' POSTER

WITH TARAJI P. HENSON, OCTAVIA SPENCER, KEVIN COSTNER

You can also check out a new poster for Taraji P. Henson's new drama movie HIDDEN FIGURES which is out from January next year.  As the United States raced against Russia to put a man in space, NASA found untapped talent in a group of African American female mathematicians that served as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in U.S. history. Based on the unbelievably true life stories of three of these women, known as "human computers", we follow these women as they quickly rose the ranks of NASA alongside many of history's greatest minds specifically tasked with calculating the momentous launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit, and guaranteeing his safe return. Octavia Spencer, Kevin Costner, Kirsten Dunst and Jim Parsons also star. 

1ST PHOTOS OF GEOFFREY RUSH & JOHNNY FLYNN AS EINSTEIN IN 'GENIUS' PERIOD SET TV SERIES! MESMERIZING 'THE DUELIST' TRAILER FOR RUSSIAN 19TH CENTURY ACTION DRAMA

  'GENIUS' SERIES PICS WITH

GEOFFREY RUSH AS EINSTEIN!

Earlier this year I've announced that National Geographic Channel is preparing a GENIUS TV series on Einstein and now we have first photos showing Geoffrey Rush and Johnny Flynn portraying the famous scientist in his older and younger years!

RON HOWARD HELMS 
 Oscar winner Ron Howard is helming the ten episode GENIUS series on the famous physicist Albert Einstein which will describe how an imaginative, rebellious patent clerk, who couldn’t get a teaching job or a doctorate, unlocked the mysteries of the atom and the universe. Each episode will explore Einstein’s extraordinary scientific achievements, along with his volatile, passionate and complex personal relationships.

  MESMERIZING 'THE DUELIST'  

19TH CENTURY DRAMA TRAILER

You also have an honour today to check out the wildly gorgeous trailer for Russian epic drama THE DUELIST  (Duelyant) which has recently played in Russian cinemas and will hit USA December 2nd! Set in 19th century Imperial Russia, the story of this visually beautiful movie revolves around a retired army veteran who makes a good living by settling duels for aristocrats, a common practice of the era. Shot in IMAX its cast includes Russia's favourite actor Petr Fedorov alongside Vladimir Mashkov, Martin Wuttke, Julia Khlynina, Yuri Kolokolnikov!  

 

1ST PHOTOS FROM DECEMBER PERIOD SET NEW TV SERIES 'WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION', BRONTE SISTERS 'TO WALK INVISIBLE', 'HALCYON' WW2 HOTEL, EPIC 'LAST DRAGONSLAYER'

  BBC'S AND AGATHA CHRISTIE'S  

'WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION'

First photos are arriving for upcoming new period set television series, among them BBC's latest adaptation of Agatha Christie! After scoring amazing success with their last year's And Then There Were None, which boasted a tremendous cast, BBC is bringing us THE WITNESS FOR THE PROSECU- TION this December within their festive programme schedule! Admittedly it does look much weaker than the last year's project and does not have such a strong cast. This one stars Kim Cattrall, Toby Jones, Andrea Riseborough and Billy Howle.

With the long terrible shadow of the Great War falling across the rackety, feral 1920s, THE WITNESS FOR THE PROSECU- TION is a compelling story of deceit, desire, murder, money and morality, innocence and guilt, heartbreak and most painful and dangerous of all, love. The story starts after the murder of glamorous and rich Emily French (Kim Cattrall). All the evidence points to Leonard Vole (Billy Howle), a young chancer to whom the heiress left her vast fortune and who ruthlessly took her life. At least, this is the story that Emily’s dedicated housekeeper Janet McIntyre (Monica Dolan) stands by in court. Leonard however, is adamant that his partner, the enigmatic chorus girl Romaine (Andrea Riseborough), can prove his innocence.

  BBC'S 'TO WALK INVISIBLE'  

BRONTE SISTERS MINI SERIES

Speaking of BBC December will also bring us their new mini series on Bronte sisters TO WALK INVISIBLE which shows them in a new light and tells the story behind these three women who, despite the obstacles they faced, came from obscurity to produce some of the greatest novels in the English language. Jonathan Pryce plays the role of the Brontë sisters’ father, Patrick, and is joined by Chloe Pirrie as Wuthering Heights author Emily Brontë. Finn Atkins portrays ambitious older sister Charlotte who wrote Jane Eyre and Charlie Murphy plays the determined, level headed younger sister Anne the author of novels Agnes Grey and The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall. Their reckless brother Branwell, whose destructive behaviour threatened to destroy his family, is played by always great Adam Nagaitis.

  ITV'S 'HALCYON' SERIES

SET IN WW2 HOTEL 
Their rival ITV is, meanwhile, ready to air their eight part period set series HALCYON  set in the luxury of the Halcyon Hotel in World War II London! Fast paced and filled with music of that era, it shines a spotlight on the class divide between the upstairs and downstairs inhabitants of the hotel and their enduring relationships, lives and politics, set against the backdrop of World War II as it reaches its ferocious peak.  Olivia Williams is lady Hamilton, the owner of HALCYON, Steven Macintosh is the hotel manager. Lord and lady Hamilton also have two sons: Freddie (Jamie Blackley), a young Spitfire pilot, who's in love with Emma, manager's  daughter, the hotel receptionist, and younger son Toby (Edward Bluemel), who is secretly gay.

  'THE LAST DRAGON SLAYER'  

SKY'S CHRISTMAS TV MOVIE

Meanwhile, Sky One's Christmas festive programme will include a new television adaptation of THE LAST DRAGON SLAYER  based on the  first in the series of popular fantasy novels written by Jasper Fforde. Little Ellise Chappell plays an orphan Jennifer Strange, a young inhabitant of the Ununited Kingdoms, who discovers that her destiny is to become the last Dragonslayer. This magical series also stars Ricky Tomlinson, Pauline Collins and John Bradley.

PREMIUM SPOTLIGHT ON BBC'S NEW 'RILLINGTON PLACE' PERIOD SET TRUE EVENT SERIES WITH TIM ROTH, NICO MIRALLEGRO, SAMANTHA MORTON

  'RILLINGTON PLACE'  

 NEW BBC MINI TV SERIES

Now here's something very new that starts as soon as next week, primetime Tuesday, November 29th over at British National Broadcaster BBC One: Tense and impactful three part thriller series RILLINGTON PLACE, based on the tragic and disturbing real life events, which explores the crimes of serial killer John Christie and the subsequent tragic miscarriage of justice in 1940s and 50s London. The cast is lead by almost unrecognisable Tim Roth, alongside always brilliant Samantha Morton as his wife and one of our most beloved among the young Brits, deeply charismatic and magically convincing Nico Mirallegro!

 NICO MIRALLEGRO, TIM ROTH, SAMANTHA MORTON STARRING
Presenting each episode from the separate viewpoints of his wife Ethel,  their neighbour Timothy and finally Christie, RILLINGTON PLACE retraces the steps that led an innocent man Timothy Evans to be accused of murder and hanged for a crime he did not commit,  whilst Christie went unchallenged until his arrest in 1953. Reconciled after living apart for nine years, John Reginald Christie (Tim Roth) and his wife, Ethel (Samantha Morton), move into the ground floor flat of 10 RILLINGTON PLACE, West London. The adjustment to a new life, in a small, rundown property, is particularly felt by Ethel but she strives to please her husband. Ten years on, Timothy Evans (Nico Mirallegro) and his wife Beryl (Jodie Comer) move into a flat upstairs and fall prey to Christie’s influence and tales. When Beryl becomes pregnant with a second child, already struggling to make ends meet following the birth of baby Geraldine, the Evans allow Christie to help them with deadly consequences for the young newlyweds. The series told in three episodes is based on a true story which later on contributed towards the abolition of capital punishment in Britain.

MINDBLOWING TRAILERS FOR RUSSIAN SF BLOCKBUSTERS 'DANCE TO DEATH' AND FEDOR BONDARCHUK'S 'ATTRACTION'! POSTER FOR RUSSIAN SF 'COMA'

  'DANCE TO DEATH' TRAILER  

DANCE FOR YOUR LIFE!

Since America is sleeping today or black Fridaying, we're seeking comfort in the warm arms of great Mother Russia with amazing trailers for two of their new sf movies. DANCE TO DEATH (Tantsy nasmert) is out next March set in the 2070s Moscow. The old energy technologies, such as oil and coal, were lost decades ago during the nuclear war. But a new technology has been developed that converts the human body directly into energy, leaving behind only a flurry of gray ashes. In a sealed bunker in the post apocalyptic ruins of Moscow, young people struggle against each other in a deadly dancing tournament. The winners will live. The losers will be consumed for energy to power the city. One of the young people in the bunker is Kostya (Ivan Zhvakin), who was captured during a police raid and forced into the tournament. There he meets and falls in love with Anya (Lukerya Ilyashenko), the daughter of a high ranking official who has willingly offered herself to the tournament for the sake of the city. Who will survive?

  'THE COMA' SF MOVIE  

  WITH ANTON PAMPUSHNYY
This one still doesn't have a trailer since it is scheduled for cinematic release in 2018, but the poster and script certainly are impressive: THE COMA starring one of our fave Russian actors Anton Pampushnyy! After a colossal and mysterious accident a young talented architect comes back to his senses in a very odd world that only resembles the reality. This world is based on the memories of the ones who live in it - people who are currently finding themselves in a deep coma. Human memory is spotty, chaotic and unstable. The same is the COMA - odd collection of memories and recollections - cities, glaciers and rivers can all be found in one room. All the laws of physics can be broken. The architect must find out the exact laws and regulations of COMA as he fights for his life, meets the love of his life and keeps on looking for the exit to the real world which he will have to get acquainted with all over again after the experience of COMA.

  'ATTRACTION' SF TRAILER  

 MOSCOW UNDER ALIENS!

And I've already shown you a trailer for this one, but now we have an exciting new trailer for another Russian sf movie ATTRACTION (Prityazhenie) which will land in Russian cinemas next January starring Alexander Petrov, Oleg Menshikov and Irina Starshen baum!  After an alien ship crash lands onto a Russian city, many who have saw the inside and the occupants start to question their own existence while there are those who demand the aliens to leave Earth! Legendary Russian film maker Fedor Bondarchuk who brought us cult Russian sf saga The Inhabited Island and war movie Stalingrad is helming this one as well! 

MICHELLE YEOH IS STARFLEET CAPTAIN IN 'STAR TREK: DISCOVERY'! 'THE BOOK OF LOVE' TRAILER WITH JASON SUDEIKIS, JESSICA BIEL, MAISIE WILLIAMS

  MICHELLE YEOH IS CAPTAIN  

IN 'STAR TREK: DISCOVERY'

Great news, people, after a very long wait we finally have the first name in the cast for new STAR TREK: DISCOVERY TV series which will air at CBS next spring and through Netflix around the world! Michelle Yeoh has been announced by one of the show's producers as the new captain!

Sadly, it won't be the lead role since this series will have a female starship lieutenant commander of colour as the protagonist thus marking it as the first of the STAR TREK series that won't have their lead star commanding the ship! Michelle Yeoh will apparently have a reoccurring role as a character named Han Bo a captain of another ship named the Shenzhou and should have an important role in the first season which won't have individual stories in each episode but will follow a longer storyline set ten years before the original series when Star Federation was first venturing into the unknown space.  If the rumours are right DISCOVERY will also have a male British doctor aboard and at least one gay character!

  'THE BOOK OF LOVE' TRAILER  

JASON SUDEIKIS & JESSICA BIEL

And a lovely first trailer for Jason Sudeikis' (looking better than ever in it) new movie THE BOOK OF LOVE which is out this January in cinemas. Originally titled The Devil and the Deep Blue See it will see Sudeikis playing Henry an introverted architect. After the death of his wife (played by Jessica Biel) in a car accident, he sets out to help Millie, a homeless teen (played with a very, very bad accent, by Maisie Williams), to build a raft to sail across the Atlantic. Also starring Paul Reiser, Orlando Jones and Mary Steenburgen the movie features beautiful original music from Justin Timberlake! 

DRAMATIC NEW TRAILERS FOR 'THE LAST FACE' WITH CHARLIZE THERON, JAVIER BARDEM, JEAN RENO AND SCORSESE'S 'SILENCE' EPIC DRAMA WITH ANDREW GARFIELD, LIAM NEESON

  'THE LAST FACE' TRAILER  

 STARRING CHARLIZE THERON AND JAVIER BARDEM

Two trailers for you today, both kinda bland to me, but you might find them interesting yourself? 

The first one is for THE LAST FACE out next year in which Charlize Theron plays a director of an international aid agency in Africa who meets a relief aid doctor (Javier Bardem) amidst a political and social revolution, and together face tough choices surrounding humanitarianism and life through civil unrest. Jared Harris and Jean Reno also star in the movie directed by Theron's ex lover Sean Penn.

  'SILENCE' TRAILER  

 SET IN FEUDAL JAPAN

Martin Scorsese has revealed the first trailer for his new epic drama movie SILENCE which opens in cinemas this Christmas with Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver (both looking worst than ever) playing two Portuguese Jesuit priests who travel to a country hostile to their religion, where feudal lords force the faithful to publicly renounce their beliefs. Eventually captured and forced to watch their Japanese Christian brothers lay down their lives for their faith, the priests bear witness to unimaginable cruelties that test their own beliefs. Liam Neeson plays their mentor with Ciaran Hinds and Tadanobu Asano also starring!

  'EMERALD CITY' TRAILER

I have also added the first trailer for EMERALD CITY new NBC epic fantasy series in our Premium spotlight on the show which you can check out here!

SF TUESDAY! 'DUNE' TO BE TURNED INTO MOVIE AND TV SERIES AGAIN! TOM HIDDLESTON TO LEAD 'HARD BOILED' SF ADAPTATION! 'MONSTER HUNTER' GAME TO BECOME A FILM! HEINLEIN'S 'STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND' TO BECOME SYFY SERIES

  TOM HIDDLESTON  

TO BE A ROBOT IN 'HARD BOILED'

We're all sf today, people, beginning with the news on our beloved Tom Hiddleston who might work with director Ben Wheatley again after the bizarre and mildly boring High Rise on another adaptation - HARD BOILED! Based on Frank Miller and Geof Darrow comic book the action movie would follow an insurance investigator Carl Seltz, who learns that he’s really a homicidal cyborg tax collector codenamed Nixon. A fellow robot informs him that he’s the last hope for their race to escape their programmed slavery.

'MONSTER HUNTER' MOVIE
After he is finished Resident Evil franchise, Paul W.S. Anderson is looking to turn MONSTER HUNTER video game into another sf movie saga! For every Monster, there is a Hero. An ordinary man in a dead end job discovers that he is actually the descendant of an ancient hero. He must travel to a mystical world to train to become a Monster Hunter, before  the mythical creatures from that world destroy ours.

   'DUNE' TO BE TURNED

INTO NEW MOVIE AND A TV SERIES

But probably the most important sf news of the day is that Legendary has secured movie and TV rights on Frank Herbert's classic sf saga DUNE and is looking to make not just a movie but also a TV series out of it!  Set in the distant future, DUNE tells the story of Paul Atreides whose family accepts control of the desert planet Arrakis. As the only producer of a highly valuable resource, control of Arrakis is highly contested among the noble families. After Paul and his family are betrayed, the story explores themes of politics, religion, and man's relationship to nature as Paul leads a rebellion to restore his family's control of Arrakis.

  STRANGER IN STRANGE LAND 

TO BE TURNED INTO SF SERIES 
That is not the only sf classic that will be turned into a sf TV series since 'Deadline' reports Robert A. Heinlein's STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND will be turned into a series for SyFy!  It tells the story of Valentine Michael Smith, a human who comes to Earth in early adulthood after being born on the planet Mars and raised by Martians. The novel explores his interaction with, and eventual transformation of, terrestrial culture. It predicted many of the movements and messages of the 1960’s – from free love and hippie communes, to organized attempts at world peace.

GUY PEARCE, VANESSA REDGRAVE JOIN TONI COLLETTE, CLIVE OWEN IN 'ANDORRA'! 'ALI AND NINO' EPIC LOVE STORY TRAILER! TNT ORDERS 'SNOWPIERCER' SF SERIES PILOT

  GUY PEARCE IN 'ANDORRA' 

WITH TONI COLLETTE, CLIVE OWEN, VANESSA REDGRAVE

In movie news today, Guy Pearce has taken over the lead role from Clive Owen in ANDORRA, but Clive is still in and will now play a supporting role of Toni Collette's husband. Vanessa Redgrave has also joined Gillian Anderson, Joanna Lumley in the movie in which Pearce will be Fox who arrives to ANDORRA in search of the chance to reinvent himself, but gets entangled with the ancient Mrs Reinhardt (Redgrave) as well as the Australian Dents (Collette and Owen) and Mrs Quay (Lumley), the kayaking matriarch of an Andorran dynasty who seems to recall Fox from long ago. As he finds comfort in the company of Miss Quay (Anderson), the mystery of his origin deepens. When a woman’s body is found, the local lieutenant, Afgroni  becomes strangely convinced that Fox is responsible. With an emissary from his past threatening his newfound paradise, Fox finds himself in a crisis of conscience and identity.

 TNT ORDERS 'SNOWPIERCER' 

EPIC SF TV SERIES PILOT 
In TV news, as 'Deadline' reports, TNT has officially ordered a pilot for possible new series based on SNOWPIERCER sf cult movie with Chris Evans. With Josh Friedman as the show runner, it is set seven years after the world has become a frozen wasteland and the remnants of humanity inhabit a gigantic, perpetually moving train that circles the globe. The show questions class warfare, social injustice and the politics of survival.

  'ALI AND NINO' TRAILER

 FALLING IN LOVE WHILE THE WORLD IS FALLING APART

Meanwhile, Fanny from Dezzy's spying squads has sent us the first trailer for ALI AND NINO epic love story with Adam Bakri and Maria Valverde (a very weak performance judging from the trailer)!

   Ali is an upper class Muslim man, whose family holds a great deal of power in Baku, Azerbaijan. At that time, before World War One, Azerbaijan was part of the Russian Empire. Nino, Ali's lover, is from neighbouring Georgia and is Christian, but the two are deeply in love and elope to the countryside. The story follows the two, who get married, through World War One, which only sees some of Ali's friends sent off to war. After the Russians surrender, however, conflict comes to Baku. Ali fights the Bolsheviks with the Azerbaijani militia and Nino helps nurse wounded soldiers during the March Days massacre in Baku.

PREMIUM SPOTLIGHT WITH STUNNING CHARACTER PICS FOR TARSEM'S 'EMERALD CITY' EPIC TV SERIES WITH ADRIA ARJONA, OLIVER JACKSON COHEN, JOELY RICHARDSON, VINCENT D'ONOFRIO

 TARSEM'S 'EMERALD CITY' 

EPIC TV SERIES PHOTOS!

I'm sure you will agree with me, my spylings, that this year's television season hasn't brought many particularly good things to the small screens and that is why we are awaiting the midseason with great hunger, and with it the launch of new programmes. The one we are especially looking forward to is Tarsem Singh's EMERALD CITY which will bring some enchanting epic fantasy to Friday evenings from January 6th with its two hour special opening over at NBC! After you've seen amazing character posters earlier this summer, today you can check out equally amazing new character photos for the Wizard of Oz re imagining told in ten episodes with the cast lead by Adria Arjona, Oliver Jackson Cohen, Joely Richardson and Vincent D'Onofrio!

 SAY GOODBYE TO KANSAS
Emerald City is described as a modern and dark reimagining of the classic tale of Oz. Swept up into the eye of a tornado, 20 year old Dorothy Gale and her K9 police dog are transported to another world — a mystical land in great peril, where an all powerful Wizard has outlawed magic and rules over a mystical land of competing kingdoms, lethal warriors, dark magic and a bloody battle for supremacy! This is the fabled Land of Oz in a way you’ve never seen before — where lethal warriors roam, wicked witches plot in the shadows and a young girl from Kansas becomes the headstrong hero who holds the fate of their world in her hands.

TARSEM'S STELLAR CAST

Created by Matthew Arnold, the series sees young Adria Arjona playing the grown up Dorothy  Gale, Oliver Jackson Cohen is Lucas, the Scarecrow and also her love interest, he is handsome, mysterious and quick witted. Dorothy finds him, beaten, bloodied, and moaning on a post outside the ruins of his village. The sole survivor of what appears to gave been a mass crucifixion, he remembers nothing of his past, not even his name. He joins Dorothy on her journey to the EMERALD CITY, and as they survive challenge after challenge, he proves his loyalty to the brave but bewildered newcomer.

Florence Kasumba is a rather dramatic new Wicked Witch of the East with a rather glitzy fashion taste. Gorgeous Joely Richardson is the Good Witch Glinda, while Vincent D'Onofrio is the big Wizard himself, the enigmatic leader of Emerald City. A man of science in a world of magic, he rules through inspiration, fear and a tenuous accord with the grand witches!

The Wicked Witch of the West is played by Ana Ularu, she is a force of nature who has entered an unholy alliance with the Wizard. Corrupt and languorously seductive, she is a creature of perverse humour and unsavoury appetites. She lives in a lavishly appointed brothel where she is the madam of sorts. When confronted with the news of the First Sign that foretells the coming of the Beast, she’s clearly deeply affected by the portent’s significance…and what it means for her.

Mido Hamada is brave warrior Eamonn, Stefanie Martini is lovely Lady Ev, while Jordan Loughran is Tip, and Gerran Howell is Jack, brave, adventurous and perpetually positive!
And in a dream come true for your spy, our most beloved Trevor Morris, the genius who created heavenly music for epic series such as The Tudors, The Borgias,  Vikings, Reign and Dracula, is composing the music for EMERALD CITY as well!