ANIMATED MOVIES STREAMING ON NETFLIX IN JANUARY: STOP MOTION ANTHOLOGY MOVIE THE HOUSE WITH MATTHEW GOODE, HELENA BONHAM CARTER & ANIMATED MUSICAL RIVERDANCE WITH PIERCE BROSNAN, BRENDAN GLEESON

  NETFLIX' THE HOUSE  

ANIMATED ANTHOLOGY MOVIE

Three Visionary Tales. One Unforgettable Place. That is the tagline Netflix is using to promote its new animated stop motion anthology movie

The House will stream January 14th

THE HOUSE which consists of three stories directed by different movie makers with the voice cast that includes Matthew Goode, Miranda Richardson and Helena Bonham Carter. Across different eras, a poor family, an anxious developer and a fed-up landlady become tied to the same mysterious house in this animated dark comedy. First story is set in the 1800s, impoverished Raymond meets a mysterious benefactor who promises to restore both him and his family to their former status. In chapter two, set in the present day, a harassed property developer tries to make a quick sale from a renovation. In chapter three, set in the near future, the house survives a hugely changed landscape. The movie will stream January 14th!

 

    RIVERDANCE    

THE ANIMATED ADVENTURE

Riverdance aired on Sky already back in May

This one is actually one of Sky's spring 2021 originals but will be streaming on Netflix January 14th as well. RIVERDANCE: THE ANIMATED ADVENTURE features voices from Pierce Brosnan, Brendan Gleeson and little Sam Hardy as an Irish boy named Keegan who, with a Spanish girl named Moya, journeys into the mythical world of the Megaloceros Giganteus (aka the Irish Elk, who are actually extinct) who teach them to appreciate Riverdance as a celebration of life. Inspired by the global stage sensation and with new music by Grammy winner Bill Whelan, this is an animated adventure of sight, sound and dance as

The adventure was written and directed by Dave Rosenbaum

you've never before experienced. Dave Rosenbaum both wrote and directed the heartwarming movie. Check out the fun trailer below:

SEE KRISTEN BELL AND TOM RILEY IN NETFLIX COMEDY SERIES PARODY THE WOMAN IN THE HOUSE ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE GIRL IN THE WINDOW!

  NEW NETFLIX TV SERIES  

THE WOMAN IN THE HOUSE ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE

Comedy parody series will stream January 28th

GIRL IN THE WINDOW

Yes, you can already guess from the title that it will be a comedy series, a parody on similar thriller movies. The story of THE WOMAN IN THE HOUSE ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE GIRL IN THE WINDOW sees Kristen Bell playing heartbroken Anna, for whom every day is the same. She sits with her wine, staring out the window, watching life go by without her. But when a handsome neighbor (Tom Riley) and his adorable daughter move in across the street,she starts to see light at the end of tunnel.

British star Tom Riley takes the lead male role in the series

That is until she witnesses a gruesome murder... Or did she? The eight half hour episode series premieres January 28, only on Netflix. Netflix describes

The mini series will have eight half hour episodes

it as a darkly comedic, wine-soaked, satirical slant on the psychological thriller that will have you guessing who, what, where, why and how in the hell?! until

Anna falls for the new hot hunk in the neighbourhood

the very end. Since Kristen Bell said there will be massive cameo in the end, can we hope it will be Amy Adams, from the Woman in the Window?

GO ON AN ADVENTURE WITH DON QUIXOTES' GREAT GRANDSON IN QUIXOTES: THE HEIRS OF LA MANCHA ANIMATED MOVIE! TRAILER AND TEASER ARE HERE!

 QUIXOTES ANIMATED MOVIE 

THE HEIRS OF LA MANCHA

Something animated for you today coming from Studio 100 Film who have released official teaser for QUIXOTES: THE HEIRS OF LA MANCHA

The film will arrive sometime at the end of 2022

animated movie which will arrive at the end of the next year as a co production between Germany and Argentina. 

 

Based on the Cervantes classic the story follows 11 year old Alfonso, the great great great grandson of the famous Don Quixote, and his three imaginary and musical rabbit friends. When his hometown is threatened by a powerful storm, caused by an evil corporation who wants to own the land, capable of destroying everything in its path, Alfonso is joined by Pancho (the great-great-great-grandson of Sancho Panza) and

The movie was directed by Gonzalo Gutierrez

Victoria. Together they set out to save their beloved town of La Mancha and along the way Alfonso discovers the power of friendship and finds his first love.

FIRST OSCAR WW2 MOVIE TRAILER ON THE FIRST EVER DOCUMENTARY WINNER OF THE ACADEMY AWARDS IN 1943

 FIRST OSCAR MOVIE TRAILER 

ON THE 1ST DOCUMENTARY THAT WON AN ACADEMY AWARD

Story coming from Variety today is of Russian film FIRST OSCAR World War II drama inspired by the true story of the making of documentary

The movie will be out March 24th

“Moscow Strikes Back,” winner of an Oscar in 1943, the first year when documentaries had their own Academy Award. Out in March, it follows two student cinemato- graphers, Ilya Kopalin and Leonid Varlamov, who, as the Nazis approach Moscow, refuse to be evacuated and instead volunteer to be front-line cameramen capturing the horrors of war and bravery of the Soviet soldiers. The second storyline unfolds in the U.S. where one of the members of the Academy Awards selection committee tries to persuade his colleagues to launch a new category for Best Documentary at the upcoming

First Oscar will get an international distribution as well

Oscars event. Sergey Mokritskiy directs the film. Young Russian actors Tikhon Zhiznevskiy and Anton Momot play the lead roles with Michael Lerner,  Robert L. Wilson, Jordan Laesch also in the cast.

HOLLYWOOD SPY'S ULTIMATE GUIDE THROUGH ALL NEW EPIC, PERIOD SET AND HISTORICAL 2022 TV SERIES: FROM LORD OF THE RINGS AND VIKINGS, TO ROYAL COURTS, WILD WEST AND HISTORICAL VENUES

 UPCOMING 2022 EPIC SHOWS 

 WORLD'S MOST EXTENSIVE LIST

Your Spy is bringing you our traditional list of all the period set series to expect in the upcoming new year. We have a few ultra exclusive pics (Tom Jones, Hotel Portofino etc) and if you click on the links within the sections you will find out more about the series.

 

LORD OF THE RINGS

Without any doubt the most anticipated of the 2022 new epic shows and also, with the budget of over half a billion dollar, the most expensive series ever made is LORD OF THE RINGS which arrives to Amazon with

The second season is moving production over to UK from New Zealand

the first eight part season September 2nd. Set thousands of years before the events of the films, it will follow a group of characters as they confront the re-emergence of evil in Middle-earth. Morfydd Clark plays young queen Galadriel, and the second season is in works too.

 

SERIES FROM STARZ

Starz, the usual home of lavish epic dramas, is bringing us three of them this year: SERPENT QUEEN in which Samantha Morton plays famous

First photo from the sets of The Serpent Queen in France

Catherine de Medici with Colm Meaney as her hubby King Francis and Charles Dance as the pope . They also have a prequel to cult DANGEROUS LIAISONS 18th century French story with Alice Englert and Nicholas

John Heffernan as Duke of Somerset in Becoming Elizabeth

Denton as leads. Their BECOMING ELIZABETH will reveal young years of the Virgin Queen with Alicia von Rittberg, Tom Cullen,  Romola Garai, Jessica Raine, Jamie Blackley in the cast.

SHOGUN AT FX

FX has started production (which will last till April) on their small screen version of SHOGUN which means we might get it at the end of the year.

Cosmo Jarvis takes the lead role in new Shogun

Cosmo Jarvis takes the lead role a risk-taking English sailor who ends up shipwrecked in Japan, a land whose unfamiliar culture will ultimately redefine him! Hiroyuki Sanada will be Lord Toranaga.

SERIES FROM GREAT BRITAIN

BBC is bringing us Connor Swindells, Jack O'Connell, Alfie Alen in SAS ROGUE HEROES six part series on the creation of the famed Special Forces Unit. We might also get, over at ITV, a new version of Henry Fielding's

SAS Rogue Heroes will probably arrive rather soon to BBC

TOM JONES from the Poldark team. Solly McLeod plays the poor foundling in the story of the young man's complicated journey to find love and

Exclusive first look at Solly McLeod as Tom Jones

success in 18th century England. BBC is also bringing us GALLOWS POLE which follows a development of a criminal enterprise set against the backdrop of the coming industrial revolution in 18th century Yorkshire, with George

Ultra exclusive first look at the cast of Hotel Portofino

Mackay, Tom Burke and Michael Socha in the cast. ITV and BRITBOX will air HOTEL PORTOFINO 1920s Italian riviera set mini series starring Natascha McElhone, Anna Chancellor and Lorenzo Richelmy.

 

THE ESSEX SERPENT

Apple has Claire Danes and Tom Hiddleston leading six part THE ESSEX SERPENT which follows newly widowed Cora, who, having been released from an abusive marriage, relocates from Victorian London to the

Claire Danes will sport a lot of interesting costumes in the series

small village of Aldwinter in Essex, intrigued by a local superstition that a mythical creature known as the Essex Serpent has returned to the area. 

WILD WEST SET SERIES

We are probably most interested in BBC produced and Emily Blunt, Rafe Spall, Ciaran Hinds, Tom Hughes, Stephen Rea, Toby Jones starring THE ENGLISH six part saga about a woman who seeks revenge on the man

First look at Matthias Schoenaerts as Django

she sees as responsible for the death of her son in the Wild West. Rival Sky is bringing us DJANGO in which Matthias Schoenaerts plays a gunslinger in the Wild West who is searching for his daughter who he believes escaped the

Douglas Booth and Dominic Cooper in That Dirty Black Bag series

murder of his family eight years ago. Tom Austen, Noomi Rapace also star. AMC has THAT DIRTY BLACK BAG a raw, epic and romantic spaghetti western series about the dark side of the Far West. Travis Fimmel,

Tom Blyth as Billy the Kid in new Epix historical series

Douglas Booth, Dominic Cooper and Aidan Gillen star. Epix will have BILLY THE KID series in which Tom Blyth plays the young gangster. It comes from Michael Hirst.

 

WILLOW AT DISNEY PLUS 

Disney Plus has a new remake of the famous 80s cult classic WILLOW ready for 2022. Warwick Davis returns as a dwarf farmer who does magic.

First look at the cast that is shooting Willow over in UK

The story will take place years after the events of the film bringing new characters to the enchanted realm of fairy queens and two headed Eborsisk monsters! Ellie Bamber leads the now femalecentric cast. 

 

  NEW HBO EPIC SERIES 

HBO is of course headlining its epic offer with Game of Thrones spin off series HOUSE OF THE DRAGON! Paddy Considine, Olivia Cooke, Matt Smith, Rhys Ifans, Ryan Corr, Graham McTavish, lead the new saga

House of the Dragon is a Game of Thrones spin off

following the story of the House Targaryen set 200 years before the events of the original series. In January, HBO is bringing us Julian Fellowes

Gilded Age comes from Downton Abbey's Julian Fellowes

produced costume drama THE GILDED AGE set in the 19th century golden age of New York and following the clash between the new business families

Sarah Lancashire is famous cook Julia Child

and old aristocrats. They will also air JULIA series in which Sarah Lancashire plays famous TV cook Julia Child. David Hyde Pierce plays her husband.

 

 BOUNDLESS AT AMAZON

Amazon will take us on a sail across the seas in historical four episode saga BOUNDLESS in which Alvaro Morte and Rodrigo Santoro play

Rodrigo Santoro plays the lead role in Boundless series

Juan Sebastián Elcano and Ferdinand Magellan whose epic voyage around the world after they set sail from Spain 500 years ago is in the focus of the story. 

 

EPIC SERIES ON NETFLIX 

World's most popular streamer will launch this spring THE EMPRESS series on Austrian empress Sisi starring Devrim Lignau and Philip

The imperial couple in The Empress series on Sisi of Austria

Froissant as the imperial couple. They also have our dearest boys Leo Suter, David Oakes and Sam Corlett in VIKINGS: VALHALLA which

Valhalla already has the second season shot and done!

arrives February, set 100 years after Vikings series and centering on the adventures of Leif Erikson, Freydis, Harald Hardrada and the Norman King

Blood Origin is a six part prequel to Witcher series

William the Conqueror. They also have BLOOD ORIGIN prequel to their popular Witcher, with Laurence O'Fuarain and Michelle Yeoh leading

The cast aboard the ship in spooky series 1899

the cast of the series set in an elven world 1,200 years before the original show, centering on the origins of the very first Witcher. 1899 will be set on a 19th century spooky voyage ship whose journey becomes a trip to nightmare.

 

EPIC SERIES FROM FRANCE 

Another queen awaits us in Canal + series MARIE ANTOINETTE which will see Emilia Schule playing the 18th century queen with James

First look at the queen of France in Marie Antoinette

Purefoy also in the cast. Isabelle Adjani will play DIANE DE POITIERS in the two part series on the famous lover of French king Henry II, the

Isabelle Adjani is the royal mistress in Diane de Poitiers

husband of the above mentioned Catherine de Medici. They also have AND MOUNTAINS WILL BLOOM a six episode family saga set in 1837 in Provence with Guillaume Arnault in the lead. 

 

  EPIC SERIES FROM RUSSIA 

Russians are bringing us a historical saga on their tzarina ELIZAVETA in which Yulia Khlynina plays the heiress of Peter the Great. They also have Ilya Malakov playing a Russian boy who ends up in Turkish

First look at the tzarina Elizaveta in the new Russian epic saga

sultan's army in RUSSIAN PRISONER saga, and also DECEMBER in which Alexander Petrov plays famous poet Yesenin in his last days when he was in love with Isadora Duncan, the famous dancer. You will also see Ivan

Our boo Ily Malakov is Russian Prisoner

Bosilychich in CASANOVA IN RUSSIA where he is seducing Catherine the Great and LAND OF LEGENDS in which Alexander Kuznetsov play 15th century prince Mikhail who tries to unite the people of Rus.

 

GERMAN PERIOD SET SERIES 

Coming from Germany next year we have a number of period set dramas. HOUSE OF PROMISES, set in the 1920s Berlin inside a newly

First look at the cast of House of Promises series

opened department store. BONN will, meanwhile, be a six-part political thriller about the rise of Germany’s Federal Republic after the terror of WW2.

Hotel Europe will air sometime next year on German ARD

HOTEL EUROPA will be set between WW1 and WW2 in a hotel on the Rhine which hosted some of the most famous names of that time including Hitler and Charlie Chaplin. Currently we've no news on upcoming historical series coming from Italy or Spain, so if you have any info contact us freely!

LAURA HADDOCK, EDWARD HOLCROFT TO LEAD BIOPIC ON NOBEL PRIZE WINNER MARIO CAPECCHI! DEAD RECKONING MINI SERIES ON THE AFTERMATH OF TITANIC IN WORKS

 HILL OF VISION MOVIE 

SENDS LAURA HADDOCK AND EDWARD HOLCROFT TO WW2

Now there's a gorgeous couple if there ever was one: Laura Haddock and Edward Holcroft have already shot HILL OF VISION movie from Roberto Faenza and it is due to arrive sometime next year set in Italy during WWII. After his mother is arrested by fascists, Mario (Lorenzo Ciamei)

Laura Haddock and Edward Holcroft will be the Rambergs

spends his childhood on the streets. In 1947 they are miraculously reunited and start a new life in America. Based on the life of Mario Capecchi, 2007 Nobel Prize in Medicine. The film title is the name of the Quaker community that welcomed Mario upon his arrival in the United States, playing a crucial role in his formation.

 

  DEAD RECKONING SERIES 

ON THE TITANIC AFTERMATH

Andrew Nunnely is adapting the story

As Deadline reports, Andrew Nunnely is going to turn Nicholas Barratt's The Lost Voices From Titanic into a DEAD RECKONING mini series, a thriller set amidst the aftermath of the sinking of the Titanic that combines horror and supernatural elements with a never before told true story revealing the truth of what really sunk down the ship, and the otherworldly, haunting details that defy explanation to this day. Characters will include historical figures, heads of state, titans of industry, from Churchill, JP Morgan, and HG Wells to the halls of Congress and the White House, as they play world chess with the Titanic… While survivors and victims, their stories untold until now, have their voices heard for the first time. Sreda Global is producing.

INTERNATIONAL THURSDAY: SEE MONICA BELLUCCI AS A WITCH IN BEFANA COMES AT NIGHT 2: ORIGINS MOVIE, SERGEI STRELNIKOV AS UKRAINIAN 18TH CENTURY HERO IN DOVBUSH EPIC MOVIE

  BEFANA COMES AT NIGHT 2  

MONICA BELLUCCI AS A WITCH

Two non English movies for you today as Hollywood is in its prefestive slumber: a prequel to La Befana movie from 2018 BEFANA COMES AT NIGHT 2: THE ORIGINS will arrive to Italian cinemas a day before New

The prequel arrives December 30th

Year's Eve. Monica Bellucci takes the lead role of Befana, an old woman who delivers gifts to children throughout Italy on Epiphany Eve (the night of January 5). Little Zoe Massenti plays Paola, an XVIII century street girl, scam always looking for trouble, who inadvertently finds herself hindering the plans of the terrible Baron De Michelis (Fabio De Luigi), a hunchback always escorted by the trusted and mistreated Marmotta (Herbert Ballerina), with a boundless thirst for power and a boundless hatred of witches. The intervention of the sweet and

Monica Bellucci is sporting white hair in the movie

powerful Dolores (Monica Bellucci), a good witch who dedicates her life to children, saves Paola from an already lit fire. Between a magical apprentice- 

Herbert Balerrina also stars in the film next to Bellucci

ship, pursuits, incredible transformations and many, many, troubles, Paola will discover that destiny has something very special in store for her.

 

 DOVBUSH HISTORICAL EPIC 

UKRAINE'S MOSTEXPENSIVE FILM

Meanwhile, over in Ukraine we have historical adventure arriving to cinemas next May. DOVBUSH is a large scale epic movie about a unique Ukrainian hero, who gave his life for the freedom of his people more than

Dovbush will arrive to cinemas next May

three centuries ago, but his history has become immortal.

  The events of the film unfold in the Carpathians at the beginning of the 18th century. The brutal rule of the Polish gentry forces the Hutsuls to flee to the mountains. Two brothers, Oleksa (Sergei Strelnikov) and Ivan Dovbush (Aleksei Gnatkovsky), are outlawed. In search of revenge for the murder of their parents, the brothers become enemies to each other. One wants money, the other – justice. The Hutsuls start an uprising led by Oleksa. The gentry does everything possible to destroy Dovbush, but he manages to outwit them. Since then, the legend of the Carpathian knight has

Sergei Strelnikov takes the lead role of Dovbush in the film

been living and inspires generations of those who are fighting for the freedom of their native land. More than 1000 costumes were made for the movie with more than 600 people taking part in the production with more than twenty historically accurate sets being made for the movie.

1ST LOOK AT HOUSE OF THE DRAGONS, JULIA, WESTWORLD FINAL SEASON & OTHERS IN HBO 2022 PROMO TRAILER! SEE 1ST LOOK AT AMAZON/BBC SERIES LIFE AFTER LIFE WITH JAMES MCARDLE, SIAN CLIFFORD

  2022 ON HBO MAX  

SEE IT ALL IN THEIR TRAILER

HBO Max has announced everything that is coming up to the streamer next year in a trailer highlighting their new TV shows and if you watch

The House of Dragons will air next year at HBO

carefully you will see glimpses of some of historical, epic and fantasy shows as well. The trailer includes first clips from THE HOUSE OF THE DRAGON

Olivia Cooke will be one of the House of Dragons members

Game of Thrones epic series spin off, GILDED AGE 19th century New York set drama coming up January, and also first looks at the second season of RAISED BY WOLVES fantasy series and the fourth and the final season of

Sarah Lancashire as Julia Child in new mini series

WESTWORLD. You can also see first look of Sarah Lancashire as JULIA Child in new mini TV series on the legendary cook and also first scenes from

Aaron Paul returns in the final season of Westworld

THE STAIRCASE true story drama starring Colin Firth and Toni Collette. They also reveal first peek at THE NEVERS sf adventure series first season part two.

  

 LIFE AFTER LIFE SERIES 

FIRST LOOK COMING FROM BBC

Speaking of first looks, check out first two photos from Amazon and BBC One's four part series LIFE AFTER LIFE in which Thomasin McKenzie plays Ursula Todd, who is born to Sylvie and Hugh (Sian Clifford and James McArdle) one night in 1910, but dies before she draws

Thomasin McKenzie leads the cast in Life After Life

her first breath. On that same night in 1910, Ursula is reborn and survives. Time and time again, living and dying in different circumstances, Ursula is reborn into a new, alternative iteration of life once more. This compelling story follows Ursula as she navigates each new life, through a critical era

Life After Life will be a four part mini series

which spans two world wars, an encounter with Hitler and major life events. But what is it that Ursula so desperately needs to stay alive for? Can a perfect life ever be lived? Can the course of history ever be changed? Can Ursula save the world?