Tuesday, August 31, 2021

STUNNING TRAILER AND CHARACTER POSTERS FOR EPIC ADVENTURE MOVIE ADAPTATION OF PUCCINI'S TURANDOT WITH DYLAN SPROUSE, VINCENT PEREZ, SOPHIE MARCEAU!

TURANDOT MOVIE ADAPTATION
Turandot should arrive this year
STUNNING FIRST EPIC MOVIE TRAILER IS HERE
Your trusted spy was the first one to inform you that China was turning Giacomo Puccini's TURANDOT opera into a film starring Guan Xiaotong and Dylan Sprouse and now we are also among the first ones to present you with the first trailer and character posters for this extravaganza of an action adventure film! The movie, which was produced under the helm of  Xiaolong Zheng, also stars legendary French stars Sophie Marceau and Vincent Perez alongside Asian stars Hu Jun, Collin Chou and Lin Siyi! The film which was shot back in 2018 had its world premiere over at Shanghai
Vincent Perez and Sophie Marceau also star in the film
International Film Festival back in June, but does not still have an official release date in China nor rest of the world. Check out the trailer below and tell us what you think.

TURANDOT EPIC ADVENTURE
a fantasy romance, follows Princess Turandot (Guan Xiaotong), who is cursed by a mysterious power emanating from three Mazovian bracelets that
Xialong Zheng directed the epic fantasy adventure
were given to her as birthday gifts. The life draining effects of the bracelets cause the princess to become cruel, and gradually she loses her humanity.
The film is based on one of Puccini's most famous operas
Foreign princes who come to court her must solve three riddles, one for each bracelet, and only then will she be freed from the power of the bracelets. In the event any of the questions is answered incorrectly, the attempted solver would
Turandot was shot back in 2018 and then went into postproduction
be put to death. One day, Calaf (Dylan Sprouse), an ordinary citizen, risks his life to answer the riddles to save her and inadvertently uncovers his own extraordinary past.

Monday, August 30, 2021

PREMIUM SPOTLIGHT ON NEW HIGH END ADVENTURE MINI TV SERIES LA FORTUNA IN WHICH STANLEY TUCCI IS STEALING THE TREASURE OF ATLANTIS!

  LA FORTUNA TV SERIES 
STEALING LOST TREASURES
La Fortuna will hit Movistar this September
Admit it, you like Stanley Tucci just as much as we like that smooth, elegant hunk of a man. His new series LA FORTUNA will arrive to Spanish Movistar + this September and later this Winter to AMC as well. Inspired by the popular Spanish graphic novel "El Tesoro del Cisne Negro" ("The Treasure of the Black Swan") by Paco Roca and Guillermo Corral, the six part limited series sees Stanley Tucci playing treasure hunter Frank Wild, who travels the world plundering historic items from the ocean, alongside Álvaro Mel, who plays inexperienced diplomat Alex Ventura, and Ana Polvorosa, as Alex's colleague in work and adventure, Lucia.
  LA FORTUNA TV SERIES
is an adventure thriller straddling the historical voyage of the fated Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes and the modern day legal battle for the treasure claimed to be worth $500 million.
 
 LA FORTUNA WAS CREATED
by Academy Award winner Alejandro Amenábar who also co wrote it together with Alejandro Hernandez. Amenábar is also slated to make his
La Fortuna will air in six fortyfive minute long episodes
television directorial debut directing all six episodes. Additional casting includes Clarke Peters as attorney Jonas Pierce, and T'Nia Miller as attorney Susan McLean. Rounding out the main cast are Karra Elejalde,
AMC will air the series in USA, Canada and South America
Manolo Solo, Blanca Portillo and Pedro Casablanc. The series was a part of the official selection over at the highly controversial San Sebastian Film Festival which is currently on in Spain. 

Sunday, August 29, 2021

GEMMA ARTERTON TO LEAD PERIOD SET COMEDY SERIES FUNNY GIRL FOR SKY BASED ON NICK HORNBY'S BOOK! FIRST TEASER FOR 19TH CENTURY SET TV ADAPTATION OF ZOLA'S GERMINAL NOVEL

 GEMMA ARTERTON TO LEAD 
FUNNY GIRL SERIES AT SKY
It will be a period set comedy TV series adaptation of Nick Hornby's novel FUNNY GIRL with Gemma Arterton cast as Barbara Parker, a young woman from Blackpool finding her comic voice in the world of the
Gemma Arterton will lead Funny Girl
1960s sitcom. It’s the height of the swinging 60s and Barbara Parker has just been crowned Miss Blackpool – but there’s got to be more to life than being a beauty queen in a seaside town, right? She wants to be… someone. The bright lights of London are calling, and our determined hero sets off to find out who that someone is. The London she encounters is not as quite as swinging as the one she’d read about and seen on TV. However, after a series of setbacks Barbara finds herself in unfamiliar territory – an audition for a TV comedy show. Barbara’s uncompromising northern wit proves to be the X factor that the show has been missing. She gets the part and becomes part of a ground breaking new sitcom which will have an impact on British comedy for decades to come. Clare-Hope Ashitey, Arsher Ali and Alexa Davies also star. 

GERMINAL TV SERIES TRAILER
FOR EMILE ZOLA ADAPTATION
Premiering its first two of the six episodes over at SeriesMania festival next week is French historical series GERMINAL 135 years after the publication of Zola’s book, with the story diving into the Northern mines and
Germinal will air soon on France 2
an impressive young cast. The series recreates realistically the social climate associated to the world of miners at the end of the 19th century. In the Northof France, Etienne Lantier is hired and housed by the Maheu family to work in a coal mine, in Montsou. He falls in love with Catherine, daughter of theMaheus, also courted by the brutal Chaval. Acquainted with miners, Etienne protests against the misery in which they are kept. When the mining companylowers their wages, Etienne spurs them to start a strike: he is convinced that someday, the working class, still “germinating”, will come to terms with all the wrongs they suffer from. The series will air on France 2 this Autumn and on French streamer Salto as of 1st September.

Saturday, August 28, 2021

FIRST PHOTOS FROM DJANGO EPIC TV WESTERN SERIES WITH MATTHIAS SCHOENAERTS, NOOMI RAPACE! MORFYDD CLARK, DOMINIC COOPER, SAM RILEY TO LEAD DUCHESS OF MALFI COSTUME DRAMA

  DJANGO EPIC TV SERIES 
FIRST PHOTOS FROM THE SET!
As we're nearing September we will be talking more about the new series currently in production or soon to air, and today we're treating you with the first photos from DJANGO ten part period set series which is currently
Matthias Schoenaerts takes the title role in the new series
shooting over in Romania with Matthias Schoenaerts in the lead! The series set in the 19th century will be one of the most expensive ones this season. Noomi Rapace will be Elizabeth, a powerful and merciless enemy of
Noomi Rapace is powerful lady Elizabeth in the new series
John Ellis (Nicholas Pinnock). Along with his fiancee Sarah, John Ellis is the founder of New Babylon, a city of outcasts which welcomes everyone from any background, race or creed. Lisa Vacari will play Sarah, who is also
The series will air in ten hourlong episodes
Django's lost daughter. Our dear Tom Austen will also star next to Jyuddah Jaymes, Eric Kole and Benny Opoku Arthur, who will play John Ellis’ three sons! Django finally finds Sarah in New Babylon after the rest of his
Nicholas Pinnock is Django's possible new son in law
family was slaughtered eight years earlier. Gaining John Ellis’ hostility, he insists he must stay, arguing the city is in danger. Sarah fears, however, that
Lisa Vacari is Sarah, Django's lost daughter
his very presence in itself puts New Babylon in jeopardy. The series will air on Sky's channels in Europe and on Canal + in France, Switzerland, Benelux.

   THE DUCHESS OF MALFI  
DOMINIC COOPER, SAM RILEY AND MORFYDD CLARK CAST
Speaking of period set projects, Deadline reports that our new Elven queen Galadriel Morfydd Clark will play THE DUCHESS OF MALFI in a new movie adaptation of John Webster's play which will also star Dominic Cooper, Sam Riley, Freddie Fox and Frank Dillane. To shoot in
The Duchess of Malfi will shoot this November  in Italy
November in Italy, it follows the recently widowed Duchess who falls in love with her steward Antonio. Their union sets in motion a conflict with her cruel and vengeful brothers, the Cardinal and Ferdinand, who enlist the spy Bosola to keep her from escaping their control.

Friday, August 27, 2021

JACOB ANDERSON TO LEAD INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE TV SERIES WITH SAM REID! WHEEL OF TIME EPIC TV SERIES REVEALS NEW PHOTOS WITH ROSAMUND PIKE, DANIEL HENNEY AND THE CAST

 INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE
JACOB ANDERSON CAST AS LOUIS
Well, I cannot exactly say I'm thrilled, because he was so bland and unnoticeable in Game of Thrones and has zero charisma, but AMC has just
Jacob Anderson will be Louis!
cast Jacob Anderson in their eight part small screen adaptation of INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE which already has our dearest Sam Reid as Lestat. The story follows Louis who, born as an 18th century lord, is now a bicentennial vampire, telling his story to an eager biographer. Suicidal after the death of his family, he meets Lestat, a vampire who persuades him to choose immortality over death and become his companion. Eventually, gentle Louis resolves to leave his violent maker, but Lestat guilts him into staying by turning a young girl whose addition to the "family" breeds even more conflict. I've heard somewhere that the story will be changed a bit and Louis will be an owner of a brothel not a French plantation owner.
 
 WHEEL OF TIME EPIC SERIES 
FIRST LOOK AT THE HEROES
Wheel of Time arrives this November
Last month we got the first poster and starting date for  Amazon Prime's epic TV adaptation of famous saga WHEEL OF TIME and now they have released a few photos too and I must admit I'm a bit disappointed as they seem to reveal a series cheaper looking than I expected, just look at those subpar costumes! Set in a high fantasy world where magic exists, but only some can access it, the eight episode saga follows a woman named Moiraine who embarks on a dangerous, world-spanning journey with five young men and women. Based on Robert Jordan's famous saga, the series arrives this November!
WHAT IS THE SERIES ABOUT?
The cast of the new epic fantasy series is lead by Rosamund Pike as Moiraine Damodred and Daniel Henney as al’Lan Mandragoran! The series
Click on the photo to see the first look at the whole crew
follows Rand al'Thor (Josha Stradowski), who leads a small and humble life in a small town called the Two Rivers. There is danger lurking, however, in the potential attacks from the Dark One, an evil entity that wants to destroy
Daniel Henney and Rosamind Pike lead the cast
everything. A sorceress, and a member of the incredibly powerful, all female organization called the Aes Sedai, by the name of Moiraine (Rosamund Pike) takes Rand and his friends away from their home, as she believes one of them might be the reincarnation of the Dragon, an ancient hero who is prophesized to either save or destroy the world.

Thursday, August 26, 2021

JAKE GYLLENHAAL TO LEAD OBLIVION APOCALYPTIC SF MOVIE ADAPTATION! BENJAMIN BRATT JOINS CHRISTOPH WALTZ, WILLEM DEFOE IN DEAD FOR A DOLLAR WESTERN ADVENTURE

   JAKE GYLLENHAAL TO LEAD  
OBLIVION MOVIE ADAPTATION
Two movies set in wastelands, but in totally different timelines. First up, today, the word around the net is that Jake Gyllenhaal has taken up
Jake Gyllenhaal will also produce the movie
the lead role in the long awaited big screen adaptation of OBLIVION Song by The Walking Dead's Robert Kirkman. He will also produce the film based on the graphic novel from 2018 that brings an apocalyptic science fiction story of protagonist Nathan Cole, a man who makes daily trips to try and rescue those still living in the apocalyptic hellscape of Oblivion, a part of Philadelphia lost a decade ago along with 300,000 of its citizens. The movie, which has a potential to become a possible franchise, poses a question: When faced with a cataclysmic event that permanently alters our lives, what would we choose to save?
 
   BENJAMIN BRATT JOINS   
DEAD FOR A DOLLAR WESTERN
Benjamin Bratt will play a villain in the movie
If you're in the mood for some Western (a number of those are currently shooting in Hollyweird for some reason), you'll be happy to hear that Benjamin Bratt has joined Christoph Waltz and Willem Dafoe in DEAD FOR A DOLLAR. Currently shooting in New Mexico, the Walter Hill directed movie follows a famed bounty hunter (Waltz) who runs into his sworn enemy (Dafoe), a professional gambler and outlaw that he had sent to prison years before, while on a mission to find and return the wife (Rachel Brosnahan) of a successful businessman who is being held hostage in Mexico. Standing in the way is an infamous gangster (Bratt) who gets a piece of any action that happens along the Mexican border. Brandon Scott and Warren Burke also star.

Wednesday, August 25, 2021

SEE MELISSA MCCARTHY, CHRIS O'DOWD, KEVIN KLINE IN MOVING NETFLIX COMEDY DRAMA THE STARLING! DISNEY + UK PREPARING NAUTILUS EPIC ADVENTURE TV SERIES ON CAPTAIN NEMO

 NAUTILUS ADVENTURE SERIES
ORDERED BY DISNEY+ UK
Beside the already announced The Ballad of Renegade Nell, epic adventure series, Disney + UK has added a new one to the genre: NAUTILUS ten part series, based on Jules Verne's work, about the origin story of Verne’s most iconic character, Captain Nemo, and his famous submarine, The Nautilus. In the series, Nemo is an Indian Prince robbed of his
Nautilus will be a ten part adventure series
birth right and family, a prisoner of the East India Company and a man bent on revenge against the forces which have taken everything from him. But once he sets sail with his ragtag crew on board the awe-inspiring Nautilus, he not only battles with his enemy, he also discovers a magical underwater world. Beowulf's James Dorner is producing.
 
  THE STARLING TRAILER 
FOR MELISSA MCCARTHY NETFLIX NEW COMEDY MOVIE
Starling will stream this month!
It took years for it to finally arrive but it will finally sing at Netflix  September 24th, announcing the arrival of Autumn: THE STARLING that Netflix paid $20 million just based on the script. The film, which will first hitcinemas September 17th, sees  Melissa McCarthy and Chris O’Dowd playing a married couple trying to rebuild their relationship after suffering a tragedy. He heads to recovery, while Lily tries to heal in the real world, including getting attacked by a starling that has built a nest near the garden she’s trying to grow. She turns to a psychiatrist turned veterinarian with baggage all his own (Kevin Kline) for help. Timothy Olyphant also stars.

Tuesday, August 24, 2021

NETFLIX REVEALS AIRING DATE AND FIRST PHOTOS FROM COWBOY BEBOP SF ADVENTURE SERIES WITH JOHN CHO AS A CAPTAIN OF INTERGALACTIC SPACESHIP

  COWBOY BEBOP SF SERIES 
PHOTOS & AIRING DATE REVEALED
A treat from Netflix this Monday: they have published first photos and airing date for their new science fiction series COWBOY BEBOP, the live action adaptation of popular game which is coming to the streamer November
The series will stream on Netflix November 19th
19th with John Cho in the lead role. Beside him as Spike Spiegel in his famous blue outfit, first photos also reveal Mustafa Shakir as Jet Black and Daniella Pineda as Faye Valentine together with the spacecrew's little Corgi,
The series features his cult blue suit known from the anime series
Ein. The ten episode series was shot down in New Zealand with long delays due to Cho's injury at the set. The cast will also include Alex Hassell as Vicious, and Elena Satine as Julia. Geoff Stults will play Jet Black’s former
The series will stream in ten hourlong episodes
co-detective Chalmers and Tamara Tunie will be Ana, the owner of a Mars based convenience store and a particularly insightful informant. Yoko Kanno who was behind the cult soundtrack of the original anime series, will compose music for this one as well.

COWBOY BEBOP CENTRES ON
a rag-tag group of bounty hunters on the run from their pasts, as they hunt down the most dangerous criminals in the solar system. John Cho is Spike Spiegel, as an impossibly cool "cowboy," aka bounty hunter. He rocks a deadly
John Cho had a rather nasty injury during the shooting
smile and a wry wit, with style to spare. Spike traverses the solar system with his ex-cop partner, Jet, pursuing dangerous bounties, with his signature charm, charisma and deadly Jeet Kune Do. Jet was one of very few honest
Mustafa Shakir is Jet, the captain of Cowboy Bebop
cops in the solar system before a devastating betrayal robbed him of everything he loved. Thus, he started a new life as a vagabond chasing down bounties to put food on the table. Jet loves jazz and serves as Captain of the
Daniella Pineda takes the female lead as Faye Valentine
Bebop. Daniella Pineda is Faye Valentine, a bold, brash and unpredictable bounty hunter. She suffers from amnesia thanks to years of being
John Cho takes the lead role in the new series
cryogenically frozen. She does whatever is necessary to survive, be it lying, stealing, or just being a thorn in the side of Spike and Jet. Alex Hassell stars
The series will feature tons of cool music like the original anime
as Vicious, a man who enjoys a good kill, probably too much. He's the Syndicate's most infamous hitman, in addition to being Spike Spiegel's ex-partner and arch-enemy.

Monday, August 23, 2021

AUSTRALIAN SUNDAY: SAM REID, ANNA TORV LEAD NEW TV SERIES NEWSREADER COVERING THE BIGGEST NEWS OF THE 80S! HUGO WEAVING, BOJANA NOVAKOVIC TO LEAD LOVE ME TV SERIES FOR BINGE STREAMER

    HUGO WEAVING TO   
LEAD LOVE ME TV SERIES
We're Down Under today where a new romantic drama series is already shooting: six episode series LOVE ME explores modern love as
Hugh Weaving will lead the new series
experienced by different family members at different stages of life and is directed by woman who brought us two biggest of recent Australian dramas Stateless and Newsreader, celebrated Australian director Emma Freeman! Starring Hugo Weaving and Serbian actress Bojana Novakovic, as well as Bob Morley, Heather Mitchell, Sarah Peirse, Celia Pacquola, William Lodder, Shalom Brune Franklin and Mitzi Ruhlmann, the series is being done for Fotxtel's streamer Binge which was launched last year but already has almost one million subscribers.

 NEWSREADER TV SERIES  
WITH OUTSTANDING SAM REID
The series mentioned above has already started airing down in Australia. Six episode series NEWSREADER aired its first episode last Sunday
The Newsreader started last Sunday
on their national broadcaster ABC created by Michael Lucas. Staring our dearest Australian boo Sam Reid (whom you will watch next year at ACM as vampire Lestat in the new adaptation of Interview with a Vampire) and Anna Torv, the series depicts an unconventional relationship in a world on the cusp of change; a star news reader and an ambitious reporter join forces in a ruthless 1986 newsroom, as events unfold that will change their lives. The series sees them covering some of the greatest events that have changed the world back in the 80s and we see them report on them while they were happening: Halley's Comet, AIDS outbreak, explosion of Challenger etc. Amongst it all, newsreader Helen Norville (Anna
The Newsreader has six hourlong episodes!
Torv) is determined to build her credibility, while her colleague Dale Jennings (Sam Reid) is desperate to become a newsreader. From messy beginnings, they will form an unlikely bond that will transform the very fabric
Anna Torv  and Sam Reid lead the cast of The Newsreader
of the nightly news bulletin. The series also stars Robert Taylor, William McInnes, Michelle Lim Davidson, Stephen Peacocke, Chai Hansen, Chum Ehelepola and Marg Downey.

Sunday, August 22, 2021

JAMES D'ARCY TO LEAD CHANNEL 5'S NEW NOIR THRILLER SERIES DEADLINE! WILLIAM MOSELEY IS GLORIOUSLY GORGEOUS IN SAVING PARADISE MOVIE TRAILER

   JAMES D'ARCY TO LEAD    
James D'Arcy will take the lead
DEAD LINE CHANNEL 5 TV SERIES
Channel 5 is preparing a new four part noir thriller series DEADLINE and they have set James D'Arcy and Charlie Murphy as leads. In the drama, when Natalie Varga stands accused of murdering her husband in cold blood, disgraced investigative journalist James Alden finds himself captivated by the case. When James interviews Natalie for his documentary, he finds himself falling in love with the very femme fatale he is supposed to be dispassionately profiling, committing him to a dangerous path where reality becomes increasingly hazy. With the court of public opinion ruling Natalie guilty until proven innocent, can James separate the truth from the fiction? The series, which is currently shooting down in Hungarian capital Budapest, also has Indra Ové, Brian Caspe and Anamaria Marinca in the cast.


  SAVING PARADISE TRAILER 
FEAST YOUR EYES ON CRAZY GORGEOUS WILLIAM MOSELEY
Yes, I know we're superficial like that, but it IS William Moseley and he is brutally gorgeous in this one! We don't really know yet when his new
Saving Paradise doesn't have release date yet
drama movie is out but you can check out new trailer and poster for SAVING PARADISE which also features the last ever role of late and legendary Mary Pat Gleason. It is an inspiring story based on true events. A ruthless corporate raider is forced to return to his small town roots where he suddenly inherits his father's nearly bankrupt pencil factory, which is the heart and soul of the depressed community. With the foreclosure deadline looming, he must decide to either let it close, or join the community's fight to save it. Check out the new trailer below and tell us what you think and we will inform you when we get the opening date.

Saturday, August 21, 2021

IOAN GRUFFUDD, GREGORY FITOUSSI TO LEAD THE REUNION TV SERIES BASED ON MUSSO'S WORLDWIDE BESTSELLER! BBC TO ADAPT THE ENGLISH PATIENT INTO A PERIOD SET TV SERIES

    IOAN GRUFFUDD TO LEAD   
THE REUNION TV SERIES
Welsh star Ioan Gruffudd will lead the cast
As Variety reports, the French riviera set small screen adaptation of Guillaume Musso’s bestselling novel “La Jeune Fille et la Nuit,” has started shooting on location in the south of France with an international cast headlined by Ioan Gruffudd, Ivanna Sakhno and Grégory Fitoussi. Done for French television, Italian RAI and German ZDF, English language series THE REUNION opens in the present day, at a high school reunion in the south of France where three former friends reconnect. They grew apart and lost touch, but they are still bound by a tragic secret tied to the disappearance of a high school girl who went missing 25 years ago in the region. The book on
French star Gregory Fitoussi will also star in Reunion
which the six part series is based has been translated into more than 35 languages so far. Musso has been France's most popular writer for ten consecutive years now.

   THE ENGLISH PATIENT   
BBC WORKING ON TV ADAPTATION
Speaking of new series, BBC is apparently in early stages of adapting Michael Ondaatje's THE ENGLISH PATIENT into a period set TV series. As Deadline reports, it will offer a new vision of the story about four dissimilar
The series is in early stages of production
people brought together at an Italian villa during World War II! Emily Ballou (who also wrote Becoming Elizabeth for Starz) is penning the script which follows a unrecognisably burned man — the eponymous patient, presumed to be English — his Canadian Army nurse, a Sikh British Army sapper and a Canadian thief. Set behind the North African and Italian campaigns of the Second World War, the book is told out of sequence and moves back and forth between the patient’s memories before his accident and the current evens at the bomb-damaged Italian monastery.

Friday, August 20, 2021

WATCH OFFICIAL TRAILER FOR APPLE TV'S EPIC NEW SF SERIES FOUNDATION WITH LEE PACE, JARED HARRIS! MADELEINE COLLINS THRILLER TRAILER GIVES VIRGINIE EFIRA A DOUBLE LIFE

  FOUNDATION SF EPIC SERIES 
APPLE REVEALS OFFICIAL TRAILER
It will be the first major series of the new season when it hits Apple TV + on September 24th following  the stories of four crucial individuals transcending space and time as they overcome deadly crises, shifting loyalties,
Ten episode Foundation starts September 24th
and complicated relationships that will ultimately determine the fate of humanity. In FOUNDATION, When revolutionary Dr. Hari Seldon (Jared Harris) predicts the impending fall of the Empire, he and a band of loyal
Lee Pace leads the cast as the intergalactic emperor!
followers venture to the far reaches of the galaxy to establish The Foundation in an attempt to rebuild and preserve the future of civilization. Enraged by Hari’s claims, the ruling Cleons — a long line of emperor clones (Lee Pace
The series will start with first two episodes and then air weekly
plays one of them) — fear their unrivaled reign may be weakening as they’re forced to reckon with the potential reality of losing their powerful legacy forever. The ten episode series is based on Isaac Asimov's famous saga.
 

MADELEINE COLLINS TRAILER
IN WHICH VIRGINIE EFIRA GETS TO LIVE A DOUBLE LIFE
Speaking of good trailers, check out the first one for Antoine Barraud's drama MADELEINE COLLINS starring crazy gorgeous Virginie Efira as a woman who lives a double life: two lovers, two sons in
The film will premiere next month over at Venice!
France and one daughter in Switzerland. When her secrets start to unravel, both of her lives begin to shatter. The film will premiere in Venice September 4th! Jacqueline Bisset also stars.