DIANA RIGG IS A NEW DUCHESS IN 'VICTORIA' EPIC TV SERIES SECOND SEASON! 'THREE DARK CROWNS' FANTASY SAGA TO BE ADAPTED BY SHAWN LEVY

'VICTORIA' EPIC TV SERIES

 DIANA RIGG JOINS THE CAST

We've had a really epic post yesterday on Russian Grand Duchess Sophia and today, here's another Duchess for you: as you know the production on the second season of the super popular ITV historical series VICTORIA on the 19th century monarch is fully on and now they have a new cast addition. Legendary Diana Rigg will play the very much outspoken Duchess of Buccleuch, the young Queen Victoria's new Mistress of the Robes! With Jenna Coleman again as the queen, Tom Hughes as prince Albert and brilliant David Oakes as prince Ernest, the eight episode second season (plus a two hour Christmas special) will start about a month after the queen gives birth to her first child.

'THREE DARK CROWNS' 

GETS MOVIE ADAPTATION
Meanwhile, a new big screen book adaptation coming our way: as 'Deadline' reports Fox has bought the movie rights on Kendare Blake's THREE DARK CROWNS YA fantasy saga and has set Shawn Levy to produce it. The second book One Dark Throne is out this Autumn and two more books are planned in upcoming years. Three Dark Crowns is the first of four planned volumes, a fantasy series about magically gifted triplet queens who must use their powers against each other in a battle to ascend the throne.Levy's production company has worked both on Oscar nominated Arrival this year and Stranger Things Netflix hit series.

PREMIUM SPOTLIGHT ON RUSSIAN LAVISH EPIC TV SERIES ON 15TH CENTURY GRAND DUCHESS 'SOPHIA' PALAIOLOGINA OF MOSCOW!

'SOFIA' EPIC TV SERIES

ON THE 15TH CENTURY GRAND DUCHESS OF RUSSIA

Now, we've seen many different periods and eras in epic television and movie projects, but I don't think we've seen much of Byzantium or Eastern Roman Empire in them, so this one is certainly unique. Russian television has started airing SOPHIA epic TV series earlier this winter in eight one hour episodes following the life of famous princess Sophia of the Byzantine royal line of Palaiologos who became the Grand Duchess of Moscow and later on the grandmother of legendary Ivan the Terrible, the first Tsar of All Russia. Below you can check out the magnificent video for the epic song 'Я тебе верю' (I Believe You) from the opening sequence performed by singer Grigory Leps of the lavish series which had more than one thousand costumes for the cast!

THE STORY OF SOFIA
The second half of the 15th century. Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III (Yevgeny Tsyganov) takes an offer by ambassadors from Rome to marry princess Zoe (Mariya Andreyeva) of an ancient Byzantine Palaiologos family. He sends  voivode Khromoy and a monetary master Ivan Fryazin to Rome, who bring Zoe to Moscow, where she takes a new name after rebaptism – SOPHIA. She did not meet the expectations of the Pope to expand an influence of the Catholic Church in Russia. The attempts to send emissaries with the aim of urging Sophia to follow the line of Rome and further killing her end in failure. The most notable moments of Ivan III's rule are shown, including: the war with Novgorod Republic, disagreement and further peace with Ivan's brothers (Boris and Andrey Bolshoy), victory over Golden Horde, and also opposition of Sophia with a wife of Ivan's elder son Elena.

DEZZY'S HISTORY LESSON

The niece of a Byzantine emperor, the wife of a Russian Grand Duke, the grand mother of a Russian Tzar, SOPHIA Palaio- logina was  a daughter of Despot of Morea, the younger brother of the last Byzan- tine Emperor, Constantine XI Palaiologos. Her mother was Catherine, the princess of Achaea. Both of their daughters were married of to powerful European rulers, Zoe or Sophia to the Russian duke, and her sister Helena to Despot Lazar of Serbia. Since Morea was invaded by the Ottomans, she spent her childhood in Italy and Corfu and after the death of her father she, as an Imperial Byzantine daughter, actually lived at the court of Pope Sixtus IV in Rome. After negotiations which lasted three years he gave her to prince Ivan of Moscow probably in hopes to strengthen Catholic influence in Orthodox Russia. Her travel from Rome to Moscow with a grand entourage lasted from June till November 1479! But Pope's aims failed since she went back to Orthodox religion as soon as she became Grand Duchess! Prince Ivan III built a special palace and gardens for her and she was not confined to the women's quarters like other noble women of the time, but greeted foreign representatives from Europe similarly as the queens of Western Europe.

TIMOTHY OMUNDSON JOINS CAROL BURNETT'S 'HOUSEHOLD NAME' SITCOM! MATT CZUCHRY JOINS MANISH DAYAL IN 'RESIDENT' MEDICAL SHOW. MATTHEW JAMES THOMAS IN PAUL HAGGIS NEW MEDICAL SHOW

TIMOTHY OMUNDSON JOINS

CAROL BURNETT'S 'HOUSEHOLD NAME' SITCOM PILOT

I've announced tons of TV comedy news yesterday, but here's another one, this time from a multi camera sitcom front: Galavant's Timothy Omundson has just scored the lead role in Carol Burnett's new sitcom HOUSE HOLD NAME which got a pilot order over at ABC.

It follows a family who gets the deal of a lifetime on a house, but it comes with an unusual caveat: the original owner of the home, ageing former movie star Vivian Valmont (Carol Burnett), has to live in it with them until she dies. Timothy Omundson will play Edward Von Glimpse, Vivian’s longtime, gay best friend. Edward’s her confidant, hype man, and apologist, sometimes all within the span of a single sentence. He’s droll with a dry wit and seen it all attitude, a throwback to a more civilized, elegant time.

MATTHEW JAMES THOMAS

 JOINS PAUL HAGGIS' NEW EXTREME EVENT MEDICAL SHOW

I'm sure you all loved Paul Haggis Oscar winning master piece Crash and now the amazing director is preparing a catastrophe medical TV series for NBC which is still without a title but it has Matthew James Thomas and Paola Lazaro in the cast. Set as a real time “extreme event” medical series it will follow the nurses and doctors of an understaffed Brooklyn hospital that becomes the borough’s last viable trauma centre after a catastrophic hurricane wreaks havoc on the city. Thomas will play a young doctor and Lazaro will play a triage nurse!

MATT CZUCHRY JOINS

MANISH DAYAL IN 'THE RESIDENT'

Speaking of medical series, two days ago I announced Manish Dayal as the lead in Fox THE RESIDENT medical pilot and now another sinfully gorgeous hunk is joining as he co-lead - Gilmore Girls' Matt Czuchry!  It centres on Devon Pravesh (Dayal), an idealistic young doctor who begins his first day under the supervision of a tough, brilliant and cocky senior resident, Conrad Hawkins (Czuchry) who pulls the curtain back on all of the good and evil in modern day medicine. Lives may be saved or lost, but expectations will always be shattered. Brian Greenwood plays Chief of Surgery Dr. Soloman Bell.

COMEDY FRIDAY: LAUREN GRAHAM TO LEAD 'LINDA FROM HR' SITCOM! DYLAN MCDERMOTT IN 'LA -> VEGAS', BRETT GOLDSTEIN IN 'SPACED OUT' SITCOM! JENNA ELFMAN'S 'IMAGINARY MARY' SITCOM CAST PHOTOS

LAUREN GRAHAM TO LEAD

'LINDA FROM HR' COMEDY

Comedy Friday today, people, to end your week with some fun topics! After her return to Stars Hollow in Gilmore Girls event series, it seems Lauren Graham will stay in comedy waters on the small screens since, as Deadline reports, she has just taken the lead role in Fox single camera comedy series LINDA FROM HR! The new series centres on the eponymous heroine, Linda Plugh (Graham). All it takes is one bad decision to throw Linda from HR’s monotonous, unfulfilled life into an exciting but dangerous tailspin of balancing work life, home life and a secret that could unravel everything. She recently starred in Matthew Perry's The Odd Couple sitcom as well!

DYLAN MCDERMOTT TO LEAD

'LA - > VEGAS' COMEDY
Also overt at Fox, they have found their lead actor for new single camera comedy series LA - > VEGAS in Dylan McDermott! The comedy is set on the Friday night flight from LAX to Vegas and the returning flight on Sunday. It is about a group of underdogs trying to find their place in the world who all share the same goal: to come back a winner in the casino of life. McDermott will play the pilot on Flight 1710, Captain Dave, cocky but also a baby, a likeable narcissist who feels connecting with his passengers is just as important as flying the plane.
'SPACED OUT' NBC SITCOM
Meanwhile, the creators of NBC's beloved sitcom Undateables are returning to the same network with new single camera comedy series SPACED OUT a workplace comedy that centres on a working class genius and his struggles to fit in with an established team — all made more difficult when their job is building a rocket to Mars. Brett Goldstein is the first one to be cast in the new series as Leon Ness, the brilliant, eccentric and unpredictable founder of Space One, a man who dreams big and never gives up!

'IMAGINARY MARY' 

JENNA ELFMAN TV COMEDY

Meanwhile, a series that has already been shot and is ready for the launch of its first season over at ABC is hybrid comedy sitcom IMAGINARY MARY which will air its sneak peak on March 29th and then continue with regular premiere on April 4th!  A mix of live action scripted comedy series and CGI elements it will see Jenna Elfman leading the thirteen episode first season run! The series has been postponed a few times since ABC needed time to improve and enhance the CGI elements (Mary's imaginary friend is CGI animated!

UNHINGED IMAGINARY FRIENDS  
Imaginary Mary centres on Alice (Jenna Elfman), a fiercely independent career woman whose life is turned upside down when she meets the love of her life – a divorced father (Stephen Schneider) with three kids. This triggers even more upheaval when the slightly unhinged imaginary friend she created as a child suddenly reappears to help her navigate the transition from single girl to a woman ready for a family.

ZANE HOLTZ TO LEAD CW'S 'SEARCHERS' FANTASY ADVENTURE TV SERIES! TOUCHING '1 MILE TO YOU' OR 'LIFE AT THESE SPEEDS' TRAILER WITH BILLY CRUDUP, TIM ROTH

'SEARCHERS' TV SERIES

 ZANE HOLTZ TAKES THE LEAD

Well, it seems CW has found their male lead for new fantasy adventure series SEARCHERS in Zane Holtz: it is a story about a group of unlikely heroes who find themselves on the journey of a lifetime. Ten years after the death of their parents, Cooper (Holtz) and his free spirited sister Fable are forced to team up when they learn that their mother’s terrifying and bizarre stories might be a road map to discovering the great legends, myths and unexplainable mysteries of the world. Holtz’s Cooper is a brilliant tech innovator who has accepted his parents’ deaths. But all that changes when Fable drags him on a dangerous mission to learn what truly happened to them 10 years ago. Jeanine Mason will play a cunning thief in the series, while William Miller will be captain of a pirate ship!

'1 MILE TO YOU' TRAILER

LIFE AT THESE SPEEDS

The only trailer I have for you today is for drama 1 MILE TO YOU also known as LIFE AT THESE SPEEDS an uplifting and emotional romantic drama about the power of our happiest memories to sustain us in the worst of times. After a teenager's best friends die in a tragic accident, he finds that running allows him to remember them perfectly. Running, however, also brings him a certain notoriety, and he soon finds himself caught between keeping the past alive and making new memories in the present. Out this year it stars Billy Crudup, Graham Rogers and Tim Roth. 

JESSIE BUCKLEY, BEN HARDY, DOUGRAY SCOTT, CHARLES DANCE IN BBC VICTORIAN MINI SERIES 'WOMAN IN WHITE'! MANISH DAYAL TO LEAD 'RESIDENT' FOX TV SERIES

'THE WOMAN IN WHITE' 

JESSIE BUCKLEY, BEN HARDY TO LEAD BBC VICTORIAN SERIES

Here's a new BBC project for us: they've announced today the beginning of production on their small screen adaptation of Wilkie Collins Victorian thriller THE WOMAN IN WHITE and they've also announced Ben Hardy (X-Men) will star as Walter Hartright and our beloved Jessie Buckley (War And Peace, Taboo) as Marian Halcombe, with Dougray Scott, Charles Dance and Art Malik also in the cast!

The five episode mini series starts in early Victorian London after Walter Hartright encounters a ghostly woman dressed in all white on a moonlit road, and then soon finds himself drawn into a mysterious and disturbing world. Romance, suspense, and danger combine as secrets come to the fore in the haunting tale of insanity and identity. Viewed by many as the first psychological thriller novel, THE WOMAN IN WHITE will take viewers on a chilling ride down the shadowy paths and corridors of English country houses and ultimately into the depths of the Victorian madhouse.

MANISH DAYAL TO LEAD

 'THE RESIDENT' MEDICAL SERIES

Meanwhile, another of our absolute fave's, always lovely Manish Dayal (100 Foot Journey) will lead new medical drama THE RESIDENT at Fox! He will be Devon Pravesh, an idealistic young doctor who begins his first day under the supervision of a tough, brilliant senior resident, Conrad Hawkins who pulls the curtain back on all of the good and evil in modern day medicine. Lives may be saved or lost, but expectations will always be shattered. Devon is a first year resident at Kings County Hospital. Top of his class at medical school, the type to follow rules, driven and passionate when it comes to medicine, Devon is a hard working perfectionist from a working class background. In Phillip Noyce directed and Antoine Fuqua produced series, Bruce Greenwood will play Chief of Surgery Dr. Soloman Bell, every inch the image of an ideal surgeon.

NEW POSTERS FOR 'LIFE' WITH RYAN REYNOLDS, JAKE GYLLENHAAL, REBECCA FERGUSON, 'THEIR FINEST' WITH SAM CLAFLIN, GEMMA ARTERTON, BILL NIGHY, WW2 'ANOTHER MOTHER'S SON' WITH JOHN HANNAH, RONAN KEATING, JULIAN KOSTOV

'LIFE' SF MOVIE POSTER

WITH RYAN REYNOLDS AND JAKE GYLLENHAAL IN SPACE

Poster day today, starting with the brand new one for sf action thriller LIFE out this March with Ryan Reynolds, Jake Gyllenhaal and Rebecca Ferguson playing some of the six astronauts aboard the space station which study a sample collected from Mars that could provide evidence for extraterrestrial life on the Red Planet. The crew determines that the sample contains a large, single celled organism - the first example of life beyond Earth. But things aren't always what they seem. As the crew begins to conduct research, and their methods end up having unintended consequences, the life form proves more intelligent than anyone ever expected.

'ANOTHER MOTHER'S SON' 

FOR WW2 MOVIE DRAMA
Also out this March is John Hannah and Ronan Keating World War II drama movie ANOTHER MOTHER'S SON! Based on the true story of Louisa Gould, the drama is set  on the Nazi-occupied island of Jersey. Lou (Jenny Seagrove) took in an escaped Russian POW (Julian Kostov) and hid him over the war's course. The tension mounts as it becomes clear that Churchill will not risk an assault to recapture the British soil, and the island-community spirit begins to fray under pressures of hunger, occupation and divided loyalty. Against this backdrop, Lou fights to preserve her family's sense of humanity and to protect the Russian boy as if he was her own.

'THEIR FINEST' POSTER

SAM CLAFLIN IN WW2 MOVIE

The first poster has been released for another WWII movie out this spring THEIR FINEST starring Sam Claflin, Gemma Arterton, Bill Nighy, Jack Huston, Richard E. Grant, Jeremy Irons and many others as  a British film crew that attempts to boost morale during World War II by making a propaganda film after the Blitzkrieg.

LIV TYLER JOINS KIT HARINGTON'S 'GUNPOWDER' 17TH CENTURY TV SERIES! JACK DAVENPORT TO LEAD 'DOOMSDAY' ABC SERIES! JULIA ORMOND, JOSEPH QUIINN JOIN MATTHEW MACFADYEN'S 'HOWARD'S END' MINI SERIES

'GUNPOWDER' EPIC TV SERIES

LIV TYLER JOINS KIT HARINGTON

OK, people, we're back after a three day break, the longest one in our history (not that any of you lazy bastards actually noticed - which makes the spy a bit depressed), we were without internet, but I do have delish news, beginning with new casting update for GUN POWDER epic mini series which I announced last winter. Joining Kit Harington in the lead role are now Liv Tyler and Mark Gattis!

It will be the story of GUN POWDER Plot, the 1605 attempt by a group of provincial English Catholics to blow up the House of Lords and kill King James I in order to help restore a Catholic to the throne. The plot was foiled on November 5 when authorities at Westminster Palace found Guy Fawkes guarding the explosives. While he played a pivotal role, Fawkes did not devise the plan. The man behind it was Robert Catesby (Harington), a 30 year old Warwickshire gentleman and committed Catholic at a time when Protestant England persecuted the church’s members relentlessly. Harington, who is a direct descendant of Catesby, is also producing!

'DOOMSDAY' ABC SERIES

JACK DAVENPORT TO LEAD

Meanwhile, another of our fave epic stars, always delightful Jack Davenport has been cast by American ABC to lead the pilot for their DOOMSDAY about U.S. government's secret think tank featuring the most creative minds in science and entertainment that is tasked with dreaming up man made disaster scenarios and their possible solutions. When a catastrophe occurs that’s ripped from the pages of the missing doomsday book, the team is brought back to work to prevent the disasters of their own making. Davenport will play Warren, a well-known intellectual playwright turned middle brow action screenwriter. Member of the former Doomsday Project think tank, he is imaginative and creative and sees the world like a story which helps him think like (and even empathize with) the enemy.

'HOWARD'S END' MINI SERIES

 LIV TYLER, JOSEPH QUINN, JULIA ORMOND JOIN THE CAST

I announced last week that BBC and Starz are going to produce period set mini TV series on HOWARD'S END with Matthew MacFadyen and now we have new cast members including Joseph Quinn (whom we fell in love with in Dickensian), Julia Ormond and Alex Lawther among others!

Telling the story of two couples caught in a swirling landscape of social and class divisions in turn of the century England, the four part series focuses on Margaret Schlegel (Hayley Atwell), an idealistic, woman who is courted by the older Henry Wilcox (Matthew Macfadyen), a conservative businessman, after his wife Ruth Wilcox (Julia Ormond) dies unexpectedly. Meanwhile, Margaret’s passionate and capricious younger sister Helen Schlegel (Philippa Coulthard) takes up the cause of Leonard Bast (Joseph Quinn), a young bank clerk who falls on hard times at work and at home with his partner Jacky (Rosalind Eleazar). In the absence of their parents, who have died, the sisters’ loving but interfering Aunt Juley (Tracey Ullman) tries to keep the young ladies and their brother Tibby (Alex Lawther) on the straight and narrow.

MATTHEW MACFADYEN, TRACEY ULLMAN TO LEAD BBC'S 'HOWARD'S END' MINI SERIES! 'RADIOACTIVE' BIOPIC ON MARIE CURIE! TOUCHING 'MAUDIE' TRAILER WITH ETHAN HAWKE, SALLY HAWKINS

'HOWARD'S END' MINI SERIES

 MATTHEW MACFADYEN AND TRACEY ULLMAN LEAD THE CAST

In their tradition of adapting classic books into mini series BBC has already announced the new adaptation of E. M. Forster's HOWARD'S END but now we have the cast as well: Matthew MacFadyen, brilliant comedian Tracey Ullman and flop star Hayley Atwell have been hired!

To air on BBC One in UK and on Starz in USA, the four part series explores the changing landscape of social and class divisions in England at the turn of the century through the prism of three families: the intellectual and idealistic Schlegels, the wealthy Wilcoxes from the world of business and the working-class Basts. Hayley Atwell will be Margaret Schlegel, Matthew Macfadyen will be widower Henry Wilcox, and Tracey Ullman will play Aunt Juley Mund.

'RADIOACTIVE' MOVIE

A MARIE CURIE BIOPIC

Speaking of the turn of the century, 'Deadline' reports that Marjane Satrapi will helm RADIOACTIVE, a movie adaptation of Lauren Redniss graphic novel on famous scientist Marie Curie, the Nobel Prize winner, and her extraordinary scientific discoveries through the prism of her marriage to husband Pierre, and the seismic effects their discovery of radium had on the 20th century.

Born in Poland in 1867, Curie moved to France in 1891 and married Pierre in 1895. They worked together to develop the theory of radioactivity and techniques for isolating radioactive isotopes and discovered the elements polonium and radium. The pair were at the dawn of a new scientific and technological era that ushered in the nuclear age.

'MAUDIE' TRAILER

ETHAN HAWKE & SALLY HAWKINS

There's also a touching first trailer and colourful poster for British drama movie MAUDIE which, starring Sally Hawkins and Ethan Hawke, which opens up in cinemas this spring and summer following  an arthritic Nova Scotia woman who works as a housekeeper while she hones her skills as an artist and eventually becomes a beloved figure in the community. 

GORGEOUS NEW 'THE OTTOMAN LIEUTENANT' POSTER & TRAILER WITH MICHIEL HUISMAN, JOSH HARTNETT! ADAM HAGENBUCH REGULAR IN 'FULLER HOUSE', GENEVIEVE ANGELSON TO LEAD 'HAPPY PEPPERS' SITCOM

'FULLER HOUSE' SITCOM

ADAM HAGENBUCH UPPED TO REGULAR IN THE THIRD SEASON

Comedy news first today, people: beside the info that FreeForm has moved their tentpole comedies Baby Daddy and Young and Hungry to Mondays, starting their Happy Monday Hour from March 13th, another info from the world of multi camera sitcoms is that handsome hunk Adam Hagenbuch has been upped to a regular cast member in the third season of super popular FULLER HOUSE Netflix sitcom in which he plays Kimmy Gibbler’s brother Jimmy. After the success of the holiday themed second season, the third one is coming up later this year. He previously also had a gig in NBC's beautiful comedy Undateables.

'HAPPY PEPPERS' SITCOM
Speaking of NBC, they have just cast gorgeous Genevieve Angelson as the female lead in HAPPY PEPPERS which comes from the creators of Will and Grace and Friends and is eyed as the companion multi camera sitcom to the return of Will and Grace next season. This one follows an adult brother and sister, Henry and Heather Pepper (Angelson), who wind up living together for the first time since they were kids after one of them suffers a big loss. After dropping out of grad school and bouncing from bad relationship to worse, Heather is still trying to find herself and finds herself on the couch of her best friend and brother, Henry. He’s the one stable thing in her life, and right now he needs her, which is good, and bad, for both of them!

'THE OTTOMAN LIEUTENANT'

EPIC NEW POSTER AND TRAILER

You can also check out a gorgeous first poster and a new trailer for epic drama THE OTTOMAN LIEUTENANT which hits cinemas next month!  A strong willed woman (Hera Hilmar), who, frustrated by ongoing injustice at home, leaves the United States after meeting Jude, an American doctor (Josh Hartnett) who runs a remote medical mission within the Ottoman Empire - a world both exotic and dangerous, and on the brink of what is about to become the first World War. There, she finds her loyalty to Jude and the mission's founder tested when she falls in love with their perceived enemy, a lieutenant (Michiel Huisman) in the Ottoman Imperial Army. Now, with invading army forces at their doorstep, and the world about to plunge into all-out war, she must make a decision if she wants to be what other people want her to be, or to be herself. Ben Kingsley also stars.

IMPERIAL RUSSIA IN MINDBLOWING 'MATHILDE' EPIC TRAILER WITH DANILA KOZLOVSKY! MATT OBERG IN 'HOUSEHOLD NAME', ANNIE POTTS IN 'DISTEFANO' SITCOMS! 'STAR TREK DISCOVERY' BOARDS NEW CREW

'HOUSEHOLD NAME' SITCOM

MATT OBERG & CAROL BURNETT

Something that is shaping up to become one of our most anticipated sitcoms, the pilot for Carol Burnett's multi camera comedy TV series HOUSEHOLD NAME, has just got new cast addition: ABC has cast Matt Oberg to play Tim, a teacher who views life as a never ending education. He’s a people pleaser, who always tries to do the right thing and make everybody happy, only to find that he can’t. HOUSEHOLD NAME revolves around a family who gets a chance to buy the house of their dreams but under extremely abnormal circumstances: They must live with the current owner — an eccentric, larger than life movie diva(Burnett) — until she dies.

ANNIE POTTS JOINS 'DISTE- FANO'
 Meanwhile, rival CBS has cast comedy veteran Annie Potts to play Chris Distefano's passive aggressive yet vulnerable Irish Catholic mother in the multi camera sitcom pilot for DISTEFANO in which he plays an Italian American from Brooklyn and a new dad who married a Puerto Rican woman and together they are  raising their newborn daughter and merging their meddling families – one Puerto Rican, one Italian.

'STAR TREK: DISCOVERY' 

 BOARDS YET MORE NEW CREW

In other TV news, CBS has also cast new names for their new STAR TREK: DISCOVERY sf series which will start this May following a commander of a new Star Fleet ship played by Sonequa Martin Green with Michelle Yeoh playing the captain of ship Shenzhou. New additions include: Terry Serpico as Admiral Anderson (a high ranking official of Starfleet), Maulik Pancholy as Dr. Nambue (the Chief Medical Officer of the Starship Shenzhou) and Sam Vartholomeos as Ensign Connor, a Junior Officer in Starfleet Academy assigned to the Starship Shenzhou. The story will be set in the first years of Star Fleet's exploration of space, sadly.

'MATHILDE' EPIC TRAILER

THE IMPERIAL ROMANOVS!

You can also check out a truly mindblowing trailer and poster for Russian sprawling epic movie MATHILDE out this March in cinemas around Mother Russia in which the story is set In the twilight of Imperial Russia, where prima ballerina Matilda Kshesinskaya becomes the mistress of not one but three Grand Dukes. This stunning visual spectacle stars Michalina Olszanska, Lars Eidinger, Grigoriy Dobrygin and one of our all time favourite Russian stars Danila Kozlovsky! See the trailer below and tell us what you think:

ROYALS GO NAUGHTY IN EXCITING NEW 'VERSAILLES' SECOND SEASON EPIC TV SERIES TRAILER AND POSTER WITH GEORGE BLAGDEN, ALEXANDER VLAHOS

'VERSAILLES' EPIC TV SERIES

NAUGHTY SECOND SEASON TEASER AND NEW POSTER!

It was only a week ago that I showed you the first teaser for the second season of VERSAILLES epic series, and now we have a very naughty new trailer and first poster announcing the airing which starts March 20th in France and later on in English version on BBC 2 and Ovation.

Season two looks at the dark underbelly of power as Louis (George Blagden) sees the dream of his grand palace crumbling before his eyes. With phase one complete, most of France’s eminent lords and ladies now live under the Sun King’s roof. Drugs, gambling and alcohol are rampant, as nobles begin to poison each other in order to get closer to him. Blinded by passion for his mistress, Louis refuses to listen to the advice of the church and his closest advisors and leaves for war against arch enemy William of Orange, but he must discover the path back to light and redemption to save his vision of Versailles. Alexander Vlahos will return in the role of his royal brother Monsieur Philippe Duke of Orleans!  Tygh Runyan will again be the king's faithful marshal Fabien and Stuart Bowman his dedicate right hand Bontemps. The first season has positioned VERSAILLES among top four best epic TV series last year with Medici, Victoria and Poldark.

NEW ANIMATED MOVIES: PEACEFUL BULL 'FERDINAND', BIBLICAL DONKEY IN 'THE STAR', SF 'STONERUNNER', ROLAND EMMERICH'S 'LOST AMAZON', 'THE SON OF BIGFOOT'

'FERDINAND'

THE PEACE LOVING BULL!

Tons of new animated movies ahead of us, with the latest big screen adaptation of beloved FERDINAND ready to bring us the peaceful bull to cinemas as soon as this December. Coming from the ICE AGE and RIO team, with the voices from Donald Sutherland and Adam DeVine, it will follow the little bull which prefers sitting quietly under a tree just smelling the flowers instead of butting heads with other bulls. As Ferdinand grows big and strong, his temperament remains mellow, but one day five men come to choose the "biggest, fastest, roughest bull" for the bullfights in Madrid and Ferdinand is mistakenly chosen. The movie will feature hits from Adam Lambert, Shakira, Rihanna.

BIBLICAL 'THE STAR'

 THE FIRST EVER CHRISTMAS

Before that, this November, with the voices from Zachary Levy, Christopher Plummer, Steven Yeun, Sony will bring us THE STAR the story of the first Christmas following a small but brave donkey named Bo who yearns for a life beyond his daily grind at the village mill. One day he finds the courage to break free, and finally goes on the adventure of his dreams. On his journey, he teams up with Ruth, a lovable sheep who has lost her flock and Dave, a dove with lofty aspirations. Along with three wisecracking camels and some eccentric stable animals, Bo and his new friends follow THE STAR and become accidental heroes in the greatest story ever told – the first Christmas.

'STONERUNNER'

GALACTIC ANIMATED ADVENTURE
To be released sometime this year is also animated sf adventure STONE RUNNER!  In a distant future,  teenage boy Tyson stares out over the ruins of a long forgotten civilization which we soon come to realize is planet earth. He spends his days as a stonerunner, scavenging for priceless military technology hidden within the rubble. When he stumbles across a long abandoned sophisticated war machine a strange and powerful meeting of minds occurs and a strong friendship is formed. Together they find themselves caught up in a battle against the evil dictator Delacorte and his army of the Old Guard. For Tyson, it’s about choice, freedom and optimism in the face of all the odds!

'LOST AMAZON'

FROM ROLAND EMMERICH!

A lush adventure awaits us also in Roland Emmerich produced animated movie LOST AMAZON set for 2018 release. The story of the movie is set a long, long, long time ago somewhere deep in the Amazon Jungle and centres on Yano, son of the village chief, who is desperate to prove to his father that he can be a warrior. While he is often the laughing stock of the village, he and his spirit animal (the poisonous dart frog Fred whose venom makes the victims skin sprout instantly with wild tufts of hair) find themselves suddenly responsible for saving all the warriors of the tribe and the entire Amazon Forest when they are kidnapped by aliens. Yano's team will also include the village tomboy Ayira and her sidekick capybara, Capo, Nana (the Fred loving piranha) and a devious monkey Rupert!

'THE SON OF BIGFOOT'

FRENCH ENGLISH LG ANIMATION
Meanwhile, French and Belgian animated movie shot in English language THE SON OF BIGFOOT will arrive this August  following  teenage outsider Adam who sets out on an epic quest to uncover the mystery behind his long lost dad, only to find out that he is none other than the legendary Bigfoot! He has been hiding deep in the forest for years to protect himself and his family from HairCo., a giant corporation eager to run scientific experiments with his special DNA. As father and son start making up for lost time after the boy's initial disbelief, Adam soon discovers that he too is gifted with superpowers beyond his imagination. But little do they know, HairCo. is on their tail as Adam's traces have led them to Bigfoot!