German television ZDF, together with Game of Thrones executive producer Frank Doelger, is venturing into international TV series market waters with an expensive effort of making an eight part English language series out of Frank Schaetzing's THE SWARM world best selling novel! The story is actually a global environmental thriller set in a present day where anomalies and unnatural behaviour in marine animals are causing upheaval all over the world. Millions of strange worms suddenly appear on the bottom of the North Sea, drilling their way through frozen methane, threatening to destabilize the entire continental
The series will be shot in English
shelf. Swarms of mussels stop large vessels from manoeuvring. Toxic jellyfish, lobsters and whales start attacking human beings along the coasts of the world. It follows a global group of scientists and military who come together to tackle one of the biggest challenges mankind has ever faced. They make the chilling discovery that we are not the only intelligent species on this planet – and that deep down at the bottom of the sea resides a collective intelligence which has suffered the ravages of civilization on its habitat and decided to fight back.
STUNNING 'AIR STRIKE' TRAILER
SENDS BRUCE WILLIS AND ADRIEN BRODY INTO WORLD WAR 2
Air Strike strikes cinemas and VOD October
I've presented you with this one earlier this year, but now it has been announced that BruceWillis WW2 epic drama AIR STRIKE (aka The Bombing) will hit US cinemas October 26th and VOD at the very same time. Also starring Adrien Brody and Asian super stars Fan Bingbing, Ye Liu and Nicholas Tse, the movie is set during World War II following five different Chinese people who fight their way through Japanese Air Force attacks to protect an important military machine in Chongqing, 1940. Bruce Willis plays a U.S. Army colonel who trains Chinese aviators to battle Japanese fighters! The movie was shot with a rather expensive $65 million budget! And did I tell you Mel Gibson is the artistic producer?
I'm guessing he has waited for this role all his life: as 'Deadline' reports Dwayne Johnson will play Hawaiian king Kamehameha in Robert Zemeckis directed epic adventure THE KING based on the script from Braveheart's Randall Wallace!
Kamehameha is the legendary king who was the first to unite the
warring Hawaiian islands, which fulfilled the prophecy that surrounded
his fabled life since birth. He took control of Hawaii’s destiny, and
gave the islanders leverage in advancing the culture in trading with the
foreign ships from Europe that began showing up on the shores of
islands that must have seemed like paradise, albeit a sometimes
dangerous one as explorers like Simon Metcalfe and Captain James Cook
discovered before Kamehameha forcibly unified the islands.
1ST 'BENEDETTA' PHOTO
FROM PAUL VERHOEVEN'S 17TH CENTURY LESBIAN NUNS DRAMA
You can also check out the first photo of Virginie Efira in Paul Verhoeven's historical drama BENEDETTA (aka Blessed Virgin) also starring Charlotte Rampling and LambertWilson. Efira plays Benedetta
The movie should cinemas next year, currently shooting!
Carlini, a novice nun capable of performing miracles, who joins an Italian convent in the late 17th century, as plague is ravaging the land.
While at the convent she begins a love affair with another woman.
Continuing our coverage of the upcoming Toronto Film Festival, check out the first clip for Judi Dench's period set drama RED JOAN in which she plays Joan Stanley, KGB’s longest serving spy in Britain.
EVERYONE HAS THEIR REASONS Judi Dench plays her as a retired scientist living in today's London
who gets arrested for crimes done decades ago. Sophie Cookson plays her
younger version back in 1938, when she was a new student at Cambridge,
where a
Sophia Cookson plays Joan Stanley in her youth
chance encounter with Sonya (TerezaSrbova), an alluring fellow
student, draws her into a circle of politicized youths supporting the
Republicans in Spain and the Soviet dream of a classless society. Joan
falls for Sonya’s brother
Tom Hughes leads the male part of the cast
Leo (Tom Hughes), a dashing idealist in search
of adventure. When the Second World War begins, Joan goes to work for
Max (Stephen Campbell Moore) at a top-secret British intelligence
project of great interest to Leo.
Red Joan will premiere at Toronto Film Festival next week
Joan is soon facing several difficult
choices: between national loyalties, between belief systems, between
men. Somewhere in all this, she will also discover her tremendous
potential
Toronto Film Festival is just around the corner, so we're period set and international today, people, starting with the first photos from German and French language historical drama ANGELO set in early 18th century when an African slave boy is chosen by a European Comtesse to be baptized and educated. Reaching adulthood, Angelo achieves prominence and becomes the Viennese court mascot until he decides to secretly marry a white woman. Being close to the emperor he decides to marry Magdalena, a young maidservant, with whom he falls in love. Doing so, Angelo inevitably suffers from the rejection from the
Five different actors play Angelo throughout the movie!
court. On the height of his prestige, he has to realize, that his otherness will never be erased. He will never know a normal life, and he will always remain
Alba Rohrwacher plays the Comtesse
an outsider. Based on true events,
Angelo is the story of an African who is Europeanised by force.
At the beginning of the 18th century, as a child, he is
Angelo is a coproduction between Austria and Luxembourg
taken from his homeland and, after being sold, given the eponymous name through the sacrament of baptism. The film is inspired by the few surviving records of the life of the Viennese court moor Angelo Soliman.
MADEMOISELLE DE JONCQUIERES
FIRST TRAILER AND POSTER!
The movie hits French cinemas September 12th
This one will open next week at Toronto Film Festival before it hits cinemas in France. MADEMOI SELLE DE JONCQ UIERES sees Cecile de France playing madam of the Pommeraye, a young widow removed from the world, who assigns to the court of the marquis of Arcis (Edouard Baer) who is notoriously licentious . After a few years of a happiness without flaw, she discovers that the Marquis is tired of their union. Madly in Love and terribly injured, she decides to take revenge on him with the help of Mademoiselle of Joncquières (Alice Isaaz) and her mother.
Comedy Sunday this weekend! NBC has revealed some of the celebrities who will guest star in the second returning season of their WILL AND GRACE
Will and Grace returns this October
sitcom which is back on the small screens from October 4th with 18 new episodes! Matt Bomer will guest star as McCoy Whitman, a smooth talking, self satisfied TV news anchor who dates Will (EricMcCor- mack), while Minnie Driver is back as Lorraine Finster, Karen's (Megan Mullally) nemesis and stepdaughter. Olympic scater Adam Rippon is also appearing in one of the new episodes, while Friends star David Schwimmer will have a multiple episode arc as Grace's (Debra Messing) new love interest. Alec Baldwin will be back as Karen's multi millionaire lover.
'LAST MAN STANDING'
CASTS KRISTA MARIE YU
Krista Marie Yu will play the Chinese exchange student
Over at Fox, where one of our dearest ever multicam sitcoms has moved
this season, they also have new cast members. Tim Allen's LAST MAN
STANDING will see Mike Baxter left in the house alone with his wife
Vanessa (Nancy Travis), since his two older daughters are now both
married and youngest Eve is at academy. This will inspire Vanessa to
take a young scholar from China under her wing letting her stay with
them while she completes her schooling in the States. Krista Marie Yu
will play Jen who Vanessa feels particularly tied to because she’s
interested in geology and Vanessa’s always wanted to encourage
The Baxters are back September 28th, this time on Fox!
young
women to go into the sciences. Since she comes from a different
political system this will open some new fun discussions and conflicts
with Mike. Seventh season is back September 28th!
'THE SANCHEZ WAY'
NEW SITCOM FROM KELLY RIPA AND MARK CONSUELOS
ABC is developing new half hour comedy produced by Kelly Ripa and her husband MarkConsuelos. THE SANCHEZ WAY will follow a loud, proud, Mexican American family that lives by a very strict working class code.
No word whether Kelly and Mark will also star in the new sitcom!
Show centres on Pedro Sanchez, the patriarch of the family, whose code is threatened when his “fresa” brother-in-law (a Mexican yuppie) moves to town and wants to be part of the family. No word whether Kelly and Mark will star in the sitcom.
HULU PREPARING MINI SERIES ON RUSSIAN EMPRESS CATHERINE
Elle Fanning will be Catherine the Great
Or not so great when you hear who wants to take the lead role. While Sky and HBO are preparing Helen Mirren mini series on the same topic, it seems Hulu is ready to order THE GREAT mini series on famous Russian Tzarina Catherine the Great starring Elle Fanning (Good Lord!) and Nicholas Hoult! She is, apparently, also producing the series which would describe the rise to power of Catherine the Great and her explosive relationship with husband Peter (Hoult), the emperor of Russia!
A GERMAN PRINCESS ON THE RUSSIAN IMPERIAL THRONE
Nicholas Hoult will play the crazy Tsar Peter
As Deadline reports, Catherine, born Princess Sophie of Anhalt
Zerbst, was the daughter of a Prussian general, who was introduced to
the prospective tsar Peter of Holstein Gottorp when she was only 10 as
part of European Royal families’ use of marriages as a tool for
strengthening (and weakening) political ties between countries. Though
she admitted to finding him detestable at first, the two eventually
married after she had turned 16.
Their union was tumultuous, with both rumoured to have extramarital
affairs, and Peter’s temper becoming unbearable. Only six months into
him ascending to the Russian throne, Catherine organized his opponents
to overthrow him to start her successful 34-year rule. He was later on
assassinated.
The shooting is well under way, but BBC still keeps casting roles for their eight episode TV adaptation of Philip Pullman's HIS DARK MATERIALS epic saga. The latest one to join the cast is Ruta Gedmintas from The Tudors, who will play Serafina Pekkala, the queen of the Lake Enara witches.
The story, that follows two children who embark on a magical adventure
through parallel universes, will see Dafne Keen in the lead role of
little Lyra, James McAvoy as Lyra's father Lord Asriel, James Cosmo as
elderly Gyptian Farder Coram. Ruth Wilson will be the magnetic and
dangerous Mrs Coulter. Clarke Peters, Georgina Campbell and AnneMarie
Duff (McAvoy's ex wife) also join the cast as the Master of Jordan College, journalist
Adele Starminster and Ma Costa! Will Keen (Dafne’s father) will play
Father MacPhail, a mysterious man whom Lyra meets at a London society
party. Joining him there is Ariyon Bakare as Lord Boreal.
Well, he sure was atrociously miscast and bad in Warcraft, but someone obviously thinks he is still suited for period set movies: Ben Foster will lead the cast of new historical adventure MEDIEVAL which will describe the story of Czech 14th century national hero Zizka (Jan Zizka of Trocnov), a revered military tactician who defeated armies of the Teutonic Order and the Holy Roman Empire.
He is known for his innovative strategies and for quickly training
peasants to face skilled and armoured opponents who usually outnumbered
his own troops. The English language film helmed by Czech director Petr
Jákl will also depict his relationship with a local heiress and his
face-off against a rival king.
BBC One has announced new two 90 minute part drama THE ELEPHANT MAN starring Charlie Heaton as Joseph Merrick - better known as The Elephant Man. It follows his compelling and extraordinary life from his
Charlie Heaton will take the lead role!
working class beginnings in Leicestershire, through the work houses, music halls and freak shows that punctuated 19th Century society; to his time at the London Hospital and his vital friendship with Dr Frederick Treves. Starting with his birth and ending with his death, the series covers the true events of Merrick’s personal odyssey, his extreme courage, determination and human dignity despite challenges arising from his disability.
DID YOU KNOW? Born in Leicester in 1862, at the age of five years old he began to
develop physical deformities to his skin, face, arms and feet. When he
was 11 years old, his mother died, his father soon remarried and by 17
he was a resident of the workhouse after his relationship with his
father deteriorated. Seeking to escape the workhouse several years
later, Merrick found his way into a human oddities show in London where
he was exhibited as 'The Elephant Man’. He met Dr Frederick Treves in
1884, after he had witnessed Merrick being exhibited in a shop across
the road from the London Hospital. Treves brought Merrick to the London
Hospital where he lived until his death in 1890, aged 27.
Earlier this week I informed you that ITV's ultra popular period set family drama THEDURRELLS, which sees Keeley Hawes playing a mother who gets fed up with everything and moves herself and children to the island of Corfu, will end after next year's fourth season, and now we have the first info on what is gonna happen in it!
HEARTBREAK AND ANIMALS Following the events of the last series, the future is looking bright
for the Durrells, with all of the family channelling their heartbreak
in different ways. Choosing to keep herself busy, Louisa has opened the
doors of the family villa
The final season starts shooting this month!
as a guest house, but with Basil as their only
paying guest, the business is still to find its feet and customers.
Meanwhile, Larry (JoshO’Connor), struggling to get his risqué Black
Book published, is enjoying the love of two ballet dancers, whilst
heartbroken Leslie (Callum Woodhouse) has thrown
The Durrells are based on a real life story and family
himself back into his
job and shooting. True to form, Gerry (Milo Parker) continues to collect
animals, ambitiously planning to open a zoo with a new owl and some
lemurs joining the menagerie, and Margo (Daisy Waterstone) seeks a new
challenge, starting her own beauty salon.
'THE SISTERS BROTHERS'
MAKE A KILLING, MAKE A LIVING
The movie is out this Autumn
While they're enjoying wild East, over at wild West the first trailer and poster are on the horizon for THE SISTERS BROTHERS which is out this Autumn in cinema starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Joaquin Phoenix, Riz Ahmed, John C. Reilly, Rutger Hauer!
THE SISTERS BROTHERS, based on Patrick DeWitt's novel, revolves
around the colourfully named gold prospector Hermann Kermit Warm, who's
being pursued across 1000 miles of 1850s Oregon desert to San Francisco
by the notorious assassins Eli and Charlie Sisters. Except Eli is having
a personal crisis and beginning to doubt the
longevity of his chosen
career. And Hermann might have a better offer. Check out the first trailer below.
EPIC TV SERIES CAST REVEALED Earlier this year I announced that ITV is preparing 19th century India set mini series BEECHAM HOUSE and now the cast has been revealed as well! Set on the cusp of the 19th century in Delhi before the British ruled in that
Tom Bateman is taking the lead role
region, the drama depicts the fortunes of the residents of BEECHAM HOUSE, an imposing mansion surrounded by acres of exotic woods and pristine lawns.
Tom Bateman will play enigmatic, soulful John Beecham, a handsome former soldier who has purchased the magnificent mansion to begin a new life with his family.
Wealthy and distinguished, John has witnessed profiteering and exploitation during his time with the controlling East India Company and has resolved to conduct his business as a trader in a more equitable manner. Determined to escape his previous life, John appears haunted by his past, but is inspired to become an honourable member of the region’s trading community.
In spite of John’s good intentions his life is shrouded in mystery and when he arrives at the house with an ‘olive-skinned‘ child named August and two Indian nursemaids, Chanchal (Shriya
Leo Suter will play his brother
Pilgaonkar) and Maya (Trupti Khamkar), it causes speculation amongst the servants that he may be the boy’s father. One of the nursemaids, the beautiful Chanchal, is overly protective and particularly fond of the child. Could she be John’s lover and the mother of August?
Lesley Nicol plays John’s robust, interfering mother Henrietta who has travelled from England to India to stay with her son. She is accompanied by a young family friend Violet (Bessie Carter) who she is determined to help form a union with John.
The pair are accompanied by an old friend of John’s, Samuel Parker (MarcWarren) who has also left the East India Company and has returned to India for a fresh start. Samuel helps John to find his brother Daniel who he has not
Pallavi Sharda and Shriya Pilgaonkar will star in the series.
seen for 10 years. John convinces Daniel (Leo Suter) to leave the East India Company and join him at BEECHAMHOUSE.
Gregory Fitoussi plays General Castillon, a French mercenary working for the Emperor at a time when the French are challenging the East India Company for India. Castillon is suspicious of John and his motives and conspires to stop John being granted a trading licence.
Adil Ray is John’s neighbour Murad Beg who dislikes General Castillon intensely and agrees to help John secure a trading
Marc Warren, Gregory Fitoussi and Adil Ray will star in the series
licence. Murad’s daughter, Roshanara, (Kanika Kapur) has an English governess Margaret Osborne (Dakota Blue Richards) whose beauty and intelligence catches John’s attention. However, when beautiful Chandrika (Pallavi Sharda) arrives at Beecham House with her entourage she is shown to luxurious guest quarters and immediately insists on seeing August. What secrets does Chandrika bring with her to Beecham House?
'OUTLAW KING' TRAILER
CHRIS PINE IS THE BRUCE Ahead of its premiere at Toronto Film Festival next month, Netflix has released trailer for OUTLAW KING which, out November 9th, sees Chris Pine playing Robert the Bruce who transforms from defeated nobleman to
Outlaw King hits Netflix November 9th worldwide
outlaw hero during the oppressive occupation of medieval Scotland by Edward I of England. Despite grave consequences, Robert seizes the Scottish crown
Chris Pine takes the lead role of Robert the Bruce
and rallies an impassioned group of men to fight back against the mighty army of the tyrannical King and his volatile son, the Prince of Wales. Aaron Taylor-Johnson,Florence Pugh and Billy Howle also star.
To this very date it remains one of the most tragic examples of sacrifice, suffering and heroism. Serbia is marking the hundred years since the end of
The movie arrives to cinemas this November
the World War I with epic war drama KING PETAR I which describes the exodus of Serbian army in 1915, after German, Austro Hungarian and Bulgarian armies invaded the kingdom from all sides following Serbia's heroic efforts to stop the enemy in successful battles at Cer and Kolubara which were some of the first major battles of WW1 but have cost Serbia around 170,000 people even before the exodus. The Serbian army, lead by Serbian King Petar I, retreated through the frozen mountains of Albania in order to save its remains. During the long march, some 240,000 retreating Serbs died from the cold, starvation, disease and combat with Albanian tribesmen. The survivors who managed to get to the Greek island of Corfu,
The movie will be turned into a ten part series by Serbian National TV
either died there from weakness, hunger, wounds and illnesses, (which is why Serbs call the sea around the island the Blue Tomb as the island is small and the dead had to be thrown into the sea, thousands of them) or moved to the Greek front where they will join the fights again.
KING PETER'S SOCKS The subplot of the film will see a Serbian mother asking the king to
take warm socks she knitted to her young son who is lost somewhere among
hundreds of thousands of retreating soldiers. The king finds him too
late, already frozen
The movie is based on Milovan Vitezovic's book King Peter's Socks
somewhere along the way but will ask to be buried
in those very socks years later after his own death. The boy's mother
died along the way broken hearted over the corpse of a young Austrian
enemy soldier while crying the tears in the
The soldiers included kids and young boys too defending their country
name of all the mothers in
the world and their sons - the innocent victims of wars. Serbian losses
are among the highest per capita of any country involved in the war as
they lost about one million people (half of all their people) only
Lazar Ristovski toplines, produces and directs the film himself
to
lose another half more during WW2. Check out the moving teaser below for the movie which hits Serbian cinemas November and will be turned into a ten part mini series later in 2019! 'My soldier' is what the king says to the kid in the end of the clip.
The only thing I have to show you this boring weekend is epic trailer for Korean historical adventure THE GREAT BATTLE (aka Ansi Fortress) which is out next month starring In-sung Jo and directed by Kwan-shik Kim.
THE STORY OF THE GREAT BATTLE
describes the siege of Ansi
Fortress in year 645, and the epic eighty-eight day battle that Yang
Man-chun and his Goguryeo troops fought against 500,000 invading Tang
dynasty men to defend it.
Sad news, Loyals! E! has decided to cancel their first ever scripted series THE ROYALS after four amazing, much loved and super fun seasons! The series that follows the lives of an imaginary royal family that rules England led
William Moseley and Elizabeth Hurley led the popular royal saga
by Elizabeth Hurley's Queen Helena, might still continue if we can believe the rumours that say the producers are trying to find a new channel for the show! They might move to Pop which is also owned by Lionsgate and could use a ratings boost with it.
H.G. WELLS' 'THE TIME MACHINE'
The adaptation is in very early stages of production
TO BECOME SERIES AT SKY?
While we are anxiously awaiting to see what they will do with Helen Mirren's Catherine the Great mini series, British Sky is, according to 'Deadline', now also working on a small screen adaptation of H.G. Wells' THE TIME MACHINE to be written by Nick Payne. Published in 1895 the novel follows an English scientist living in Victorian England who recounts that time is simply a fourth dimension and demonstrates to his dinner guests how to travel through it.
'ALIENIST' GETS
'THE ANGEL OF DARKNESS' SECOND SEASON AT TNT
While some series get cancelled, some get renewed as is the case with TNT's Alienist which will be getting a second season titled THE ANGEL OF DARKNESS also based on a Caleb Carr's novel. Luke Evans, Daniel
The cast will return to the second season led by Luke Evans
Bruhl and Dakota Fanning will return as a team that, one year after The Alienist at the turn of the century, investigates the kidnapping of a young girl in New York.
'THE DURRELLS'
TO END AFTER SEASON 4 Meanwhile, ITV's super popular series THE DURRELLS will end after next year's fourth season which starts shooting next month. Based on the real life
The series comes to its natural end next year with season four
story that follows KeeleyHawes as the mother who moves her kids to the island of Corfu it will end its story a year before WWW2 when they all left the island.
First up today some news from the romantic genre! The latest Sophie Kinsella's best selling novel (it has been sold in more than 4 millions copies so far) to be adapted for the big screens CAN YOU KEEP A SECRET? has just signed Tyler Hoechlin to join Alexandra Daddario who is playing the lead role.
CAN YOU KEEP A SECRET? follows Emma Corrigan (Daddario), who spills
her secrets to a handsome stranger sitting next to her on a turbulent
plane ride. That guy happens to be Jack Harper (Hoechlin), the young and
elusive CEO at Emma’s workplace. And now Jack knows every single
humiliating detail about Emma!
'GREEN BOOK' TRAILER
WITH VIGGO MORTENSEN!
First poster and trailer have been released for period set drama GREEN BOOK in which Viggo Mortensen plays
a working-class Italian American bouncer who becomes the driver of an African American classical pianist
Green Book will hit cinemas in USA in the preaward season
(Mahershala Ali) on a tour of venues through the 1960s American South. Out November in USA, the film hits Europe in December and January.
The latest classic sitcom to get a reboot is DESIGNING WOMEN which finished airing almost 30 years ago! Airing for seven years at CBS (often next to Murphy Brown) it followed the lives of four women and a man working together at an Atlanta interior design firm! Sitcom's original creator is back, but it isn't known if any of the original cast (Jean Smart, Annie Potts, Delta Burke) will be back!
1ST 'THE AERONAUTS'
PHOTO WITH EDDIE REDMAYNE AND FELICITY JONES
Just a few weeks ago I showed you the first set photos ofEddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones in Tom Harper's historical adventure THE AERONAUTS in which they play pilot Amelia
Wren and scientist
Click on the photo to see it in bigger size!
James Glaisher who, back in 1862, find themselves in an epic fight
for survival while attempting to make discoveries in a hot air balloon, and today you can check out the first official photo above! Tom Courtenay and Vincent Perez also star.
'WHAT MEN WANT' TRAILER
STARRING TARAJI P. HENSON!
Max Greenfield also stars in the movie
In the trailer department, you can check out the first trailer for new comedy WHAT MEN WANT with Taraji P. Henson! When Ali is passed up for a well deserved promotion, she questions what else she needs to do to succeed
in a man’s world… until she gains the ability to hear men’s thoughts. With her newfound power, Ali looks to outsmart her colleagues as she races to sign the
next basketball superstar, but the lengths she has to go to will put her relationship with her best friends and a potential new love interest to the test.
